Au Chocolat

 <Au Chocolat Hot Fudge>

Looking pretty intense huh? Well, it is! This is probably the first "hot chocolate" I've had that can be truly called Hot Chocolate. Gone is the milky taste and in place, a thick and velvety molten cup of chocolate. The marshmallows which were already half melted by the heat simply disappeared when you put them into your mouth. Warning, not for the faint hearted~

 <Classic French Onion Soup>

Simmered in a rich veal broth, this French onion soup packs a punch. The first thing that hit me when I went tucked in was that, the soup was black like chocolate. It had a very strong beefiness to it. You don't taste much of the onion in this. And although it was kind of one dimensional, it was still quite enjoyable. Portion is a little small for the price of $14 though.

 <Loaded Trio Potato Boat>

Crispy potato loaded with homemade tomato sauce and tasty guacamole topped with shredded orange cheddar & mozzarella cheese, finished with sour cream & spring onions. The combination was actually quite refreshing.

<Stuffed French Toast>

Behold~! The Eiffel Tower of sinfulness on a plate. Brioche coated with cornflakes loaded with light mascarpone cheese cream and a variety of berries resting on a bed of bitter sweet chocolate sauce. This is pure indulgence at its best. The slices brioche was crispy, light and fluffy but yet not oily at all. And the balance between sweet and bitter was perfect.

Verdict
Ambience - Good
Food - Good
Cost - $30 per pax
Overall - Try it!

Address
Bay Level L1-03, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956
http://www.auchocolat.com

Opening Hours
Sundays to Thursdays (10.00am to 11.00pm)
Fridays and Saturdays (10.00am to Midnight)

Han's

<Club Sandwich>

I never thought I would blog about Han's. But this Club Sandwich blew me away. Within the triple decker of toasted wheat bread, there lies a generous bed of bacon, ham, fried egg, tomato, cucumber, cheese and lettuce. Everything was spot on. Its just a little messy to eat. Overall, I prefer Han's breakfast menu over their lunch and dinner ones.

Verdict
Ambience - Average
Food - Average
Cost - $5 to $12
Overall - Try it!

Address
5 Changi Business Park Central 1, #01-51/52/53 Changi City Point
http://www.hans.com.sg/hans.html

Opening Hours
7am to 10am

Polar Puffs & Cakes

<Hokkaido Cake>

Can you believe it? Hokkaido Cakes seem to be popping up everywhere recently. It feels like anything related to Hokkaido or Japan will just sell well? I saw this and just had to give it a try. Just what was Polar Puffs trying to do selling Hokkaido Cakes... A box of 6 comes in 2 different flavours, strawberry and the good old vanilla cream. The sponge tasted alright, quite light and fluffy in fact. The cream was nothing special though. But at about $2+ a piece, I guess it is still worth the price.

Verdict
Food - Average
http://www.polarpuffs-cakes.com/

Eggs & Berries

Found a new decent breakfast and brunch cafe. Located at Changi City Point beside the Expo MRT station. They do serve lunch and dinner courses as well. But most people came for their all-day-breakfast meals. They have indoor and outdoor seats and the decorations are somewhat a little French.

<Corned Beef Hash and Eggs>

At $11.50 only, you get 3 butter-milk pancakes, a rosti, a bed of scrambled eggs and a pile of corned beef alongside some other side dishes. The food was great individually, but together it was just too heavy. If only the salad was dressed in Balsamic Vinegar, maybe it would have cut down the richness of the dish. The corned beef was also a little too wet for my liking.

 <Sweet Brioche French Toast with Sausage and Scrambled Eggs>

Served with pancakes and bacon as well, it was a commendable dish. A pity that the Brioche was not that good, it was just ordinary. At $13.50, I'd say it was decently priced.

Verdict
Ambience - Good
Food - Good
Cost - $10 to $20
Overall - Worth a try!

Address
5 Changi Business Park Central 1#01-37/38 Changi City Point

Opening Hours
8am to 10pm

Jones The Grocer

Jones The Grocer, a concept stall selling quite a few varieties of artisan grocery as well as gourmet meals that are sure to satisfy your cravings! My family and I went to the outlet at Dempsey Road. They have another one at Mandarin Gallery too. The above pictures are just some of the groceries that you can find there. The Amedei chocolate hazelnut spread costs a whopping S$32.90! Well, Amedei is one of the top chocolates in the world. ^^ However, the stand out is the balsamic vinegar. With a 12 year fermentation process, it is simply divine. They have a section whereby you can try dipping some artisan bread into it. Yum yums! Now, on to the food!

<Ice Mudslide Mocha & Ice Hazelnut Mocha>

Good and tasty drinks, wasn't blown away by them though. The mocha was nice, coffee was robust and it came in a hefty size as well! Each cup came with their home-made chocolate ice-cream as well. Talk about sinful...haha...

<Jones Club Sandwich>

Didn't really take a bite off Mum's sandwich, but it looked good and healthy! Packed with avocado, sunny side up, bacon and more!

<Jones Traditional English Breakfast>

This was what Dad had. The portion is huge! But he complained that the toast was a little too hard for his liking. But the rest was good. Order it if you are really hungry.

<Eggs Benedict>

Originally served with smoked salmon, my wife requested for a change to ham instead as she does not really like salmon much, and they acceded to her request. Everything was good except that the Hollandaise sauce wasn't enough.

<Croque Madame>

Took a little bite off my brother's sandwich. Not bad I guess. It had ham, Serrano ham, sunny side up and cheddar cheese. Pure pleasure? You bet! ^^ This was also one of their newer sandwiches on the menu.

<Organic OBE Burger with Tarago Blue Cheese>

This was what I had. Beef burger served in between a brioche bun with balsamic onion jam, beetroot pickle and wild rocket. It also came with wafer thin criss-cut fries. Everything was so balanced in this burger, the patty was moist, the balsamic onion jam had a nice kick to it, the beetroot was eye-catching and sweet! Last but not least, the Tarago blue cheese was good. Not too pungent. Definitely one of the more acceptable blue cheeses for me. Haha!

<Spicy Wings>

Totally forgettable... slight Indian spice, otherwise tasteless. The yogurt served was equally bland. Do NOT order this!

<Baked Cannoli>

Baked Cannoli with ricotta cream cheese and amarena cherries and crushed pistachios. It was okay. The pastry of the cannoli was a bit too thick for my liking though. Overall, an okay dessert.

<Beignet>

This was the first time I tried beignet and I must say it was quite nice. Served with pastry cream, blue berry marmalade and sea salt & caramel ice-cream (add-on). It provided a good fluffy-sweet ending to our meal. Will definitely order this again.

Verdict
Ambience - Good
Food - Good
Cost - $10 to $25
Overall - Must try!

Address
Block 9 #01-12 Dempsey Road or Level 4 #21-23 Mandarin Gallery
http://www.jonesthegrocer.com/

Opening Hours
9am to 11pm

Food for Thought

Had a break from work today. So I decided to check out a place together with my wife. It was a place that I had been wanting to check out for quite some time already. It took a hefty amount of time because reviews by others were pretty mixed. Food for Thought, a cafe housed in the Singapore Arts Museum along Queen Street. They actually have another newer outlet within the Botanic Gardens too. My first impression upon stepping in was that its design was simple yet modern and contemporary (Chic). I think it is a great place for friends to chill out and have some great food.

Let's move on to the main topic now, shall we? ^^ On the left, we have a cup of hot chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but dark chocolate! Many places that I have been to doesn't serve dark chocolate drinks. The chocolate was just right and simply chocolicious. To the right, you wouldn't believe it if I told you that... it is Ice Lemon Tea with White Wine. Yes, White Wine! Can you imagine that? I just had to try it when I saw it on the menu. I was a little skeptical about it at first, but with my first sip, I feel in love with it. It was really refreshing! The amount of wine was perfect, giving the ice lemon tea a hint of grape and zestiness that would otherwise be missing. Try it!

My wife had the House Works. It consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, toasted brioche (which my wife swapped with garlic mushrooms at an additional charge of $2), hash brown and thyme tomato salad. First of all, the salad was a let down. It came without any dressing at all. If we knew that, we would have swapped it  with chunky chicken sausages. Damn! However, the rest of it was pretty good. Not spectacular, but decent enough to wet our appetites.

Now for the main highlight! Duo of pancakes served with dark chocolate bits, stewed cherries, whipped cream and gula melaka syrup. This really made my day. Definitely the best pancakes I have had so far in my entire life. The pancakes were light and fluffy, tasty enough to be eaten on its own. The pairing of the other condiments were spot on as well. When you bite into the pancake topped with the cherries, dark chocolate and whipped cream, it simply lifted it to another level. Simply divine. A Must try!

Verdict
Ambience - Average
Food - Good
Cost - Value for money
Overall - Try it!

Address
8 Queen Street
OR

1 Cluny Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens, #B1-00


Opening Hours
8 Queen Street
Mon - Sat: 9am to 10pm
Sun: 9am to 9pm

SBC

Sun - Thurs: 8am to 9pm

Fri - Sat: 8am to 10pm

Hatched

Located at Evans Road, it predominately serves breakfast menu the whole day with its primary focus on eggs. Yes, almost every dish on the menu consists of eggs. So be sure to give it a visit if you are an egg lover.

Burly Benedict. A typical eggs benedict with a twist. Gone is the ham, replaced by corned wagyu beef. Out goes the hollandaise, in comes what they call the Mornay sauce. The egg was perfectly poached and oozing with love. The corned wagyu beef was saltiness at its best. The sauteed potatoes were rather typical. Only letdown was probably the under-dressed salad which needed more balsamic vinegar to balance out the richness of the whole dish.

Sir Benedict. This was the typical eggs benedict that most of you would be familiar with. The mashed potato side was great. It was tasty and you could still feel bits & pieces of freshly cooked potatoes in it. But what made this dish awesome was the fact that they actually grilled the black forest ham and that brought out the full aroma which it might have otherwise lacked. Overall, I preferred this version over the burly~