Marché® Natural Bakery, Discovery Walk at 313 Somerset

Swiss bakery concept..

Being a “bread” person, I look forward to the opening of Marché® Natural Bakery at Somerset313. And yes, it finally opens today. At about 8am, few customers (should be working in the nearby construction areas based on their hard hats and vest) were patronizing the Marche bakery.



Their breads & buns are freshly made at the “see-thru” kitchen daily and they are available for takeaway. At the glass panel, you can see their process of making the breads. Marche Restaurants is connected to the bakery and it is just one level below at level B1. The bakery opens at 8am daily whereas its restaurant opens at 11am daily.

There was an opening promotion - buy 4 mini selections and get 1 for free. Therefore, I picked 3 mini chocolate banana rolls, 1 mini raisin stick and 1 mini herbs roll for $2.40 ($2.55 with GST).

Mini chocolate banana roll – 8/10
The bread texture was sort of “chewy” and not as soft as Asian bakery such as Breadtalk or Swee Heng. I could not taste the “banana” as it was named. But, the generous chocolate chips make this chocolate roll tastes very nice.

Mini raisin roll – 7/10
The difference between this raisin roll and the chocolate roll is merely the fillings, I supposed. I still prefer chocolate chips to raisins.

Mini herbs roll – 8/10
My colleague ate this and commented that this was very nice. The texture was sort of a hard roll and it had a strong aroma flavor. She likes it so much.


Overall Verdict: 8/10


Address:
Marché® Natural Bakery, Level 1
Discovery Walk at 313 at Somerset

Marché® Restaurants
313 at Somerset
313 Orchard Road
#B1-39-46
Singapore 238895
http://www.marche-restaurants.com/

Operating Hours:
Daily:
Bakery - 8am
Restaurants - 11am

Daily Toast, Killiney Road

New Competitor besides Killiney Kopitiam..

I have not seen reviews on Daily Toast yet since its opening few months ago. It is located next door to Killiney Kopitiam. I walked pass this food outlet many times and it seems very quiet.

Two Sundays ago, we wanted to have our breakfast at Killiney Kopitiam but it was so crowded with all the seats occupied. Therefore, we went to the next door - Daily Toast instead. There was not much customers (less than 3 tables occupied) when we sat down.

We ordered our usual traditional Kaya Butter Toast Set each ($2.80 each). One set with Kopi and the other with Teh C.


Kopi was thick and the sweetness was to the rightness. It was unlike those bad quality coffees which one can taste the sourness. – 8/10

The thickness of the Teh C was also just right. It was not bitter. – 7/10

Soft boiled eggs were a disappointment. It was not as runny and beautiful as what I expected. I can still see some of the transparent egg whites. – 4/10

Kaya Butter Toast was very good. The crispiness was still there even when it turned cold. Also, the Kaya filling was generous and it had the “just-right” sweetness. – 9/10



This is their signature Fried Mee Siam $3.90. – 7/10
I still prefer Mee Siam that comes with gravy and with a hint of lime. Even so, the taste of this fried mee siam was still good when I squeezed lime onto it.




Overall Verdict: 7/10

I will still come back here again. Perhaps Daily Toast should come out with more food choices where others do not offer so as to attractive more customers.


Address:
Daily Toast
65 Killiney Road
Singapore 239524

Tel: 6235 0065

Operating Hours:
Daily: 7am - 7pm except Tuesday
For Tuesday: 7am - 9pm

Bedok Corner Food Centre: Yue Lai Xiang Cheng Tng & Homemade Springroll

Very far away from home but very nice food..

SP recommended this place to the few of us. Yesterday, we went to Ah Loon Ah Teck at East Coast Road for durians and followed by a light dinner at the Bedok Corner Food Centre.


1. Yue Lai Xiang Cheng Tng 夜来香清汤 $2 per regular size – 9/10

This stall sells only Cheng Tng (hot or cold); they do not sell their types of desserts. Their Cheng Tng consists of dried longan, white fungus, pearl barley, barley, pon da hai (大发籽 or膨大海), gingko nut, sweet potato, dried persimmon slice, dried winter melon strip, etc. The stall looks very simple with all ingredients neatly placed in big round bowls. The queue for their Cheng Tng is as and when but the turnover can be very fast.

The weather that day was humid, therefore we all ordered cold Cheng Tng. SP likes the Cheng Tng very much so she had an up-size bowl while the 3 of us shared two regular-size bowls. It was so refreshing, cooling and can quench your thirst.





Yue Lai Xiang Cheng Tng, Stall 31
Bedok Corner Food Centre
1 Bedok Road
Singapore 469572
(Junction of Bedok Rd and Upper East Coast Road)

Operating hours:
Tues-Sun: 12pm - 8pm


2. Homemade Springroll 富城食品自制薄饼 $2.40 for 2 pcs – 9/10

We came acoss this popiah stall with very colourful and attractive food pictures. As we already had durians earlier, we decided to eat popiah as our dinner.

I love this popiah so much. Yummy! The popiah skin was thin, soft and tender. The turnips (mang kwang in hokkien) and beansprout were so crunchy and juicy. Other than the usual ingredients & coarse peanuts, there’s another ingredient which was very crispy and crunchy. Not sure what it was made of but it didn’t taste like the fried pork rinds (fats/skins).





Address:
Homemade Springroll, Stall 22
Bedok Corner Food Centre
1 Bedok Road
Singapore 469572
(Junction of Bedok Rd and Upper East Coast Road)

Union Farm Eating House, Clementi

Limited Menu Dishes..

Union Farm Eating House is located very near to the Maju Camp, along Clementi Road. The place was a little ULU (remote). From the main road, we can still catch the view of this “kampong-type” restaurant.

Having passing by this place for several times, we decided to come by for dinner.





Their menu items were so limited. Example: For the fish, they only had the deep fried version that were served with gravy; for the vegetables, they didn’t even have kang kong, sweet potato leave, spinach, broccoli, etc..

Look at the below bill receipt on the items they served.


Items we ordered were:


1. Paper-wrapped chicken, Chee Pow Kai (纸包鸡) $12
The minimum order was 10 pieces for $12. The chicken pieces were too oily for us. The chicken pieces used were either from chicken drums or thighs.



2. Vegetable, Xiao Bai Cai with oyster sauce $7
The oyster sauce seemed to be poured directly from those that can be bought from the Supermarket. It was so thick and salty.


3. Bee Hoon, dry $3
The bee hoon was so bland. We could not even finish half of it.



Total bill came up to $26.60.

My Overall Verdict: -

We merely finished half of what were served to us. Perhaps the food really did not suit our taste. Therefore, don’t think we will come back here again.

Address:
Union Farm Eating House
435A Clementi Road
Singapore 599474

Tel: 6466 2776

People’s Park Cooked Food Centre

A Simple Dinner in Chinatown..

1. Tian Jin Fong Kee 天津冯记 - Steamed Dumplings (Jiao Zi) – 7/10

The fillings consisted of minced pork and chives. Be careful of the hot juicy fillings flowing out when you take the first bite. They could burn your tongue or lips. The proportion of the pork and chives were well balanced. The seasoning of the fillings was so good that it covered up the porky smell. I like to eat the dumplings with thin ginger slices and lots of vinegar.

Fong Kee also offers pan-fried version dumpling – Guo Tie. However, I still prefer the steamed dumplings to the pan-fried version. Reason being that the former was prepared using a healthier cooking method. Like this, you are likely to consume lesser calories and fats from oil.

Address:
Tian Jin Fong Kee
People's Park Cooked Food Centre
Blk 32 New Market Road
#01-1148
Singapore 050032

Tel: 6532 3318


2. Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee 高记食品 – 7/10

You don’t get to choose the Yong Tow Food items at the stalls. The Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo comes in a standard set – a bowl of Yong Tow Foo soup that comprised of stuffed bean curd with fish paste, soft white bean curd, fried bean curd, fried bean curd skin & fishball and their signature egg noodles topped with minced chicken.

The soup was sweet and tasty while the egg noodles were QQ (springy). It was neither too soft nor hard. You can add the sweet and chilli sauces provide in front of their stall or you may like it the original taste.





Address:
Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee
People's Park Cooked Food Centre
Blk 32 New Market Road
#01-1116
Singapore 050032

Cold Rock Ice Creamery, Holland Village

Creative? Create your own Ice Cream..

We came here for dessert after our dinner at El Patio. Cold Rock Ice Creamery allows customers choosing their ice cream flavours and mix ins and watch their staff blending and smashing them.






Each of us chose our own flavour and shared later.

SP’s – Large Ferrero Indulgence $11.50 – 5/10
Ferrero Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher, Nutella and Crushed Nuts. It was so-so only.


Mine – Rum and Raisin – 3/10
No Mix ins. It was simply sweet and I could not taste the alcohol.


MH’s – Chocolate – 3/10
Also no Mix ins. The appearance was as dark as charcoal which we thought that it could be bitter sweet chocolate which was our favourite. The verdict was that it was simply sweet again and we cannot feel the chocolate flavour.


LS’s – Chocolate Banana – 5/10
Mixed in with banana and chocolate. It was also so-so only.



Overall Verdict: 4/10

With such steep prices, we expect high quality of their ice creams. However, it did not meet up to our expectations. So disappointed.

Address:
Cold Rock Ice Creamery
24A Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 277683
http://www.coldrock.com.sg/

Tel: 6763 1323

Operating Hours:
Mon-Thurs : 11am - 10.30pm
Friday-Sat : 10.30am - 1am
Sun : 10.30am - 12mn

El Patio Mexican Restaurant & Wine Bar, Holland Village

Singapore-Style Mexican Food?

We went El Patio for Mexican food since we have been to Margaritas at Faber Drive for a few times already. Furthermore, the place is more accessible for the four of us.


Our orders:

Tortilla chips & Salsa sauce (complimentary) – 7/10
The chips were warm, crispy and addictive. SP couldn’t stop munching on them. The staff was kind enough to refill the empty basket for us.


Lime Margaritas in Jam Jar $48 – 8/10
They were very good and refreshing, especially when the weather was so warm and humid that day.


Combo – Chicken Burrito and Salmon Enchilada $16.50 – 6/10
The combo consisted of a Burrito and Enchilada. I did not find a difference between the twos, except one was filled with chicken and the other was salmon. Both were topped with creamy sauces and sour cream. Enchilada was topped with an additional kind of tomato or chilli sauce. They were warm and soft (I suppose they were meant to be in this way.)



The Fajitas were the restaurant’s recommendations. They were served in a sizzling hotplate and came with sour cream, guacamole dip (creamy avocado) and warm flour tortillas.

Sizzling Chicken Fajitas $20.50 – 7/10
Chicken breast meat was used. A healthier choice for us. The gravy was slightly too thick. To me, they tasted like the Cze Cha stir-fried onion chicken cubes.


Sizzling Beef Fajitas $22.50 – 6/10
The sliced beef would have been better if the tenderness can be improved. Similar to the Chicken Fajitas, it seemed that much thickener was used for making the gravy.


Flour Tortillas (served with Fajitas) – 6/10
The warm Tortillas turned cold and dried easily. Perhaps, they would have been prevented if they were covered with a dish towel.


Total bill came up to $126.50.




Overall Verdict: 6.7/10


Address:
El Patio Mexican Restaurant & Wine Bar
34 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 277691

Tel: 6468 1520

Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 5pm - 11pm
Sat/Sun: 11am - 11pm