Antoinette at Palais Renaissance

I am sure the brand name "Antoinette" sound familiar to those who love cakes, pastries or French food. Following the success of Antoinette’s first three outlets (Penhas Road, Mandarin Galley and Scarlet Hotel), Owner-Chef Pang Kok Keong unveils Le Jardin d’Antoinette which is also one of their largest outlet at Palais Renaissance.

Last Saturday I was invited to a lunch tasting at their new outlet, located at Palais Renaissance together with Celes (Celestial Delish), Derrick (SG Food on Foot) and ShiTing (Lobsterpaints).

After some self introductions between Chef Pang and us, we started to look around at their cake and pastry counters while taking some photos. Below are some of the pastries and cakes which are available at Antoinette.

Array of Cakes available

Array of Assorted Macarons on display

Pastry Section: with Danish Puffs, Brownies, Muffins and etc

The Main Dining Area designed after Versaille’s expansive outdoor garden which is a unique round shaped dining space decorated with vintage furniture featuring floral accents such as flower print upholstered seats. The outskirt of the dining area is also surrounded with hanging vines as well as floral arrangements. Furthermore there is also a special elevated gazebo sits at the centre of the dining area too.

{Soup} We started with their new Classic French Onion Soup (S$16.50) which is prepared using caramelised onions in a rich chicken and veal broth accompanied by cheese toasts made from Antoinette’s signature 24-hour baguette. To perfect it, the soup is topped with a cheesy crust which resemble "cover" and it is made using parmesan and gruyère cheese.

On the 1st try, the soup taste a bit sour but when you dig in more, it actually release a hit of sweetness from the caramelised onions and it goes well with that crispy cheese crust.

{Entrées} Next we had the Tartine de Nicoise (S$26.00) which is an open face levain sandwich hide beneath some butter lettuce, French beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovy, a three-minute egg and some seared tuna.

According to Chef Pang, these Levain Bread (sourdough) are made from their own kitchen in Antonietta and the process for making this bread is quite tedious and it takes up to 16 days to cultivate the yeast from scratch plus another 2 more days to proof the bread before baking. So when having this dish, we must really appreciate each and every bits of its ingredients especially the Levain Bread which has a unique flavour and texture.

{Main Course} During the tasting, we tried 3 main courses and first to serve was Confit de Poitrine de Porc (S$36.00) is a traditional French confit of pork belly that is first cured in a mixture of sea salt, brown sugar and aromatics before it is cooked and covered in duck fat at 90 degrees Celsius for 12 hours.

The dish was plated with 5 pieces (about 2 cm each) of thick, tender and fragrant pork belly together with decent amount of garlic mash (which you might thought is mashed potato), seasonal vegetables and mustard sauce. Although I am a "pork belly" lover but I find this dish a bit on the salty side unless you are having it with some water or wine to balance the taste.

{Main Course} Next we had Bouchées aux fruits de mer (S$30.00) which is a luxurious seafood medley that consists of scallops, prawns, squid and mussels sautéed with white wine and cream. It is then served in a puff pastry case which resemble "vol au vents" but it is made with a unique reverse folding method which results in a flakier and crispier crust.

I love their fresh and seafood and taste of the sauce is is not overpowering to the whole dish but on the down side, me and ShiTing find that our scallop is kind of overcooked which makes it chewy and difficult to bite.

{Main Course} For the last main course Chef Pang brought in Prawn crumble pasta (S$26.00) which is an aglio olio-style pasta dish featuring spaghettini tossed with parsley pesto instead of basil and sprinkled with their homemade anchovy crumble.

During the introduction, Chef Pang mentioned to us that those crumble was made using Antoinette’s pain de mie loaf as well as a kalamata olives and Spanish anchovies tapenade. No wonder when all mixed together it has such a unique taste which you might mistook the breadcrumb with grated cheese.

{Dessert} For the dessert, Chef Pang shared with us 4 of his new 2012 collection which you could read more on the post below. Above we shows  Chloe (S$9.00 per slice) which is a combination of refreshing and fragrant yuzu cremeux with white chocolate vanilla mousse on a light sponge cake and almond sable.

This is one of the lighter taste cake which we concluded out of the 4 that we had tired so if you prefer something light and refreshing perhaps this would be great hit for you.

{Dessert} Forbidden Fruit (S$9.00 per slice) has a delicate layered creation that features granny smith apples in various incarnations including green apple mousse, vanilla caramel apple and green apple jelly, complemented with maple cremeux on a financier cake.

On 1st bite you will feel hint of sourish taste perhaps from the apple jelly but when you slowly savory it with a cup of tea, you will fell in love with it because of it sweet, fragrant and sour combination. I guess this is similar to feeling of "falling in love" taste.

{Dessert} Kyoto (S$9.00 per slice) is a Japanese matcha crowd-pleaser with green tea mascarpone mousse, chestnut cremeux, almond crumble and a green tea finger sponge. It has a very fragrant matcha aroma and after taste which we all loved. A "must try" for matcha lover.

{Dessert} I personally love this Tarte Exotique (S$8.50 per slice) which I think I can conquered two at one time. It has an almond base with a luscious gula melaka cremeux, finger sponge and light coconut mousse crowned with a delicate fruit coulis sphere. Because I love almond base tarts and as well as the unique aroma from the Gula Melaka, I highly recommend this dessert which I am sure you will love it as much as we do.  

Just to share there is a private dining room which is perfect for groups of 8 - 10 pax to hold function such as Formal Dining, Gathering, Birthday or etc.

Antoinette at Palais Renaissance

390 Orchard Road, Palais Renaissance,
B1-08/09/10C,
Reservations No.: +65 6735 6392

Operating Hours:
11.00am to 10.00pm daily (last order 9.30pm)


Lastly I would like to thank Hsian Ming (from Sixth Sense Communications and PR Consultancy Pte Ltd) and Chef Pang (Antoinette at Palais Renaissance) for this tasting invitation. For more photos of this tasting, you can click on Cuisine Paradise Facebook page HERE.

PrimaDéli's Celebrates Their 20th Anniversary With Monthly Promotions

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

From now till 20th October 2012, PrimaDéli has lined up a series of monthly mouth‐watering promotions, such as “Scratch And Win” lucky draws, $20 Cakes, 1‐for‐1 deals and 20¢ Waffles to show appreciation and reward for their loyal customers.

So if you have missed out their July's 20 cents Waffle deal and S$20 Cakes, here is another upcoming promotion tomorrow Friday, 20 July 2012 on their 1-For-1 Egg Tarts @ S$1.30. And for your information on the 20th of every month (till October 2012), PrimaDéli’s 1‐For‐1 deal will enable you to enjoy their signature classics to the fuller.

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

PrimaDeli Waffle Day: If you are a Waffle lover, don't forget on every 2nd Friday of each month (13 July, 10 August, 14 September, and 12 October), PrimaDeli's waffle will be selling at 20 cents each (usual price: S$1.30)! And it is limited to 100 plain waffles per outlet. (one plain waffle purchase per customer and the promotion starts at 2.00pm).

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

On top of the cake and pastry promotions, their Hunt for the Golden Bun will be held from 15 Jun till 30 September 2012, to encourage customers to try out their new and improved recipe. And for every two golden buns purchased during this period, customers will receive one Scratch And Win card, which gives them one chance to win and redeem delectable PrimaDéli products instantly!

Moreover, customers who received the special “Golden Bun” ticket will receive a S$20.00 PrimaDéli voucher AND be eligible for the Golden Bun Grand Draw on 20 October 2012 at Causeway Point to win the following prizes:

~ 1st Prize: Osim uDivine (worth $5,488) + $100 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 2nd Prize: An iPad (worth $658) + $50 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 3rd Prize: Digital camera (worth $350) + $50 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 4th ‐ 20th Prizes: $100 PrimaDéli voucher

KOHII - A Japanese Style Café in CBD Area

Located in Central Business District(CBD) which is less than 10 minutes walk from Raffles Place MRT, KOHII is a newly open Japanese cafe which serve busy executives, families and passer-by who is out looking for fresh and healthy meals other than those usual eateries available around Shento Way area.

At KOHII it offers a modern style Tokyo cafe and sandwich bar concept that is specialising in high quality coffees from imported from Japan as well as handmade sandwiches and soup to start of a healthy meal for the day.

While flipping through the menu, KOHII has a wide selections of beverages ranging from hot to cold drinks such as premium coffee from Japan, Tea, Soda, Smoothie and etc. Above show two of it's signature smoothies which named after the cafe owner's daughters; Ichigo Nana(front, S$6.30 each) which is a mixture of fresh strawberries with banana whereas Mango Momo(back, S$6.30 each) is a refreshing combination of Mango and Peach blended.

Compared the two smoothies that we had that day, ShiTing(author of Lobsterpaints) and me preferred Mango Momo more than Ichigo Nana as it has a very light and refreshing after taste fragrant which makes you crave for more.

KOHII has two types of home-made soup such as Pumpkin (S$7.50 per bowl) and Mixed Mushrooms (S$9.80 per bowl). Each order of soup is served with some freshly toasted bread and ours for that day is their Premium Mixed Mushrooms Soup which is popular among the ladies.

Indeed I was caught off with the taste of their soup which is quite different from the usual mushroom soup that I used to have. Kohii's mushroom soup which used 5 different types of mushrooms has a unique homecook taste which is light and flavorsome compared to those thick and creamy western mushroom soup. No wonder we saw most of the customers ordered mushrooms soup during our visit to the cafe last week.

The salad and sandwich bar where the customers could see how the food are prepared before being served or take-away.

Out of the 10 different fillings used for their Sandwich, we tried the Teriyaki Chicken Breast and Marinated Mushrooms. We love the Marinated Mushrooms which is something special and definitely worth trying. Each bite into the sandwich you could taste the assorted mushrooms bursting into flavour in your mouth together with the accompany vegetables and wholesome bun. And according to the serving staffs at the bar counter all their mushrooms used are imported from Japan and customer can also choose either plain or oatmeal bread for the sandwich too.

Teriyaki Chicken on the hand was a bit on the tough side perhaps due to the used of chicken breast meat but overall the marinated sauce and flavour of the chicken blends well with the sandwich.

As for Salad, Kohii has 6 different types of choices such as Plain(S$5.80), Teriyaki Chicken(S$8.50), Japanese Curry Chicken(S$8.50), Pesto Chicken(S$8.50), Assorted Mixed Mushrooms(S$9.80) and Assorted Seafood(S$10.50). Each is served with Kohii's homemade dressings (Soy Vinegrette, Goma and Miso) which would complement the light and fresh mix of salad greens.

For S$10.50 you would be able to enjoy a bowl of Assorted Seafood Salad which has very Fresh seafood that is air-flown from Japan. As you could see from the photo above, it consists of Alaska Snow Crab Meat, Octopus, Scallop and Prawn mixture together with Goma(Roasted Sesame Dressing) dressing.

And for those who wants some quick bite, KOHII also offer daily High Tea Specials from 2.00pm - 6.00pm @ S$7.90 nett. You could choose between, 1 sliced of cake/pie/muffin plus either coffee/tea to perk up your afternoon break or light dinner before heading for movie or meetup.

KOHII

1 Shenton Way
#01-06
Singapore 068803
Telephone: (65) 6509 9639
Website: Facebook Page

Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 8:30am - 8:30 pm;
Sat: 9:00am - 3:00pm

Closed on Sunday and PH

[Must Try] Shunfu Mart Food Centre

Upon stepping into Shunfu Mart a few days ago, we spotted "Chocolat N’ Spice" outlet near the entrance,  facing the bus-stop. As when you walk nearer to the stall you will be perfumed by the fragrant of those freshly baked muffins. Over at the stall they have around 13 different kinds of muffins(such as Double Chocolate, Cheese, Carrot, Orange Peel, Mocha, Blueberry and etc) ranging from S$1.20 to S$1.50 depending on your choice. For a chocolate lover I definitely cannot resists on getting their popular double chocolate muffin and walnut brownie. Their brownie is so soft, moist and delicious that my boy finished it off even before I could take a photo of it. 
Price: Chocolate Brownie @ S$1.40 per slice, Double Chocolate @ S$1.40 each; Banana Walnut @ S$1.20 each and Pumpkin @ S$1.20 each

The muffins from Chocolat N’ Spice’s are incredibly moist, soft, fragrant and most importantly it is not too sweet which makes it a healthy choice for everyone in the family.

Chocolat N' Spice

Blk 320, #02-12
Shunfu Mart (Shunfu Market)
Singapore 570320
Website: http://www.chocnspice.com/

Phone Orders (No delivery)
Mobile No.: 9383 0413 (Every Tuesday and Thursday; 4.00pm - 8.00pm)

Opening Hours:

Tuesday to Friday: 9.30am – 2.30pm;
Saturday: 10.00am – 2.30pm
* Closed on Monday and Sunday

Apart from those delicious muffins that we bought home, our mission at Shunfu Mart is to try out some of those delicious hidden gem that we are not aware of. First we spotted Hakka Suan Pan Zi(abacus seeds) from Mei Zhen Hakka Delicacies(美珍客家美食) which is also recommended by a few local TV food programmes, Newspapers and Food Magazines. So without hesitate, we order a plate and try. Overall the texture of the abacus seeds was soft and fragrant but on the down side it was slightly toward the salty side and was quite oily which makes it a bit greasy for our liking.
Price: Hakka Abacus Seeds (Yam Balls) @ S$3.50/S$5.00/S$6.00 per plate

Other than Abacus Seeds, this stall also sells Hakka Style Mushroom Soon Kueh, Steamed Yam Cake, Glutinous Rice, Yam Porridge, Chee Cheong Fun and etc. Perhaps next round can their yam cake and soon kueh. For your information, they also have a outlet at 2 Orchard Turn, #B4-04C ION Orchard too.

Mei Zhen Hakka Delicacies(美珍客家美食)

Blk 320, #02-26
Shunfu Mart (Shunfu Market)
Singapore 570320

Opening Hours:
Wednesday to Sunday: 7.30am to 2.00pm
* Closed on Monday and Tuesday closed

Next we also tried LEONG, Hainanese Chicken Rice which is recommended some patrons next to our table. Indeed the rice was very fragrant, well cooked, fluffy and infuse with trace of minced ginger together with garlic and chicken broth that makes it so delicious. Secondly the rice itself is not oily like those served in some other chicken rice stalls that sometime even drizzle of extra sesame oil or light sauce sauce.
Price: Chicken Rice with random parts @ S$2.80 per plate
Price: Chicken Rice with Drumstick @ S$3.50 per plate

The chicken at this stall is so smooth and tender with juicy meat and springy bite that makes you keep eating it. Somehow the few of us who tried the chicken also agreed that it has indeed being cooked and properly chilled to achieve the firm and yet not oily skin. Other than our favourite drumstick portion, we also tried their skinless chicken breast, which I thought it might be just another plate of tough and tasteless chicken breast meat. But I was wrong, after trying a piece of it I was surprised on how soft and fragrant it taste. And it  was till then I get to know the name of this traditional Hainanese home cooked dish that most Hainanese woman prepared at home was known as “妈妈的味道” translate as “Mum’s flavour”.

Leong Hainanese Chicken Rice

Blk 320, #02-22
Shunfu Mart (Shunfu Market)
Singapore 570320

Lastly let's look at this so called "Must Try" dish in Shunfu Mart from this stall known as "Fu Shi (Traditional) Roasted.Wanton Mee - 富市（传统）烧腊.云吞面" which is managed by an ex-taxi driver who loves food and decided  open a Char Siew and Sio Bak(Roasted Pork) stall for his passion  and love on eating  his favourite Char Siew and Sio Bak. The Char Siew at this stall is not those usual "Reddish Brown" coloured but rather light and natural in with a layer of honey glaze and tender and juicy meat. For me, I prefer their Sio Bak over Char Siew as I love it's crispy skin(on top) with the soft texture from the meat that infuse with a light fragrant of spices which makes it that goes well with white steamed rice.

Other than their famous Char Siew and Sio Bak, this stall also have roasted duck, dark soy sauce chicken, wanton noodles and etc. From the ieatishootipost forum, on and off the boss will come out with some new products or improvise the version of his char siew with new ingredients or even having some hearty soup such as Salted Duck and etc.

Fu Shi (Traditional) Roasted.Wanton Mee - 富市（传统）烧腊.云吞面
Blk 320, #02-25
Shunfu Mart (Shunfu Market)
Singapore 570320

Opening Hours:
Wednesday to Sunday: 8.30am to 1.30pm
* Closed on Monday and Tuesday


If you have being to Shunfu Mart or as a regular patron(s) over at those stalls, do share with us your dining experience and what are some of the "MUST TRY" items that we have miss out.

Bamboo Charcoal Bread @ Lavender Cake

Have you seen this "BLACK" colour bread before in Singapore? If you have being to any “Lavender Cake Shop” in Malaysia, or even other bakery shops Japan or Taiwan. I am sure you will not be shock like most reader, because this bread are made of "Bamboo Charcoal Powder" which is one the common ingredients found in their countries.

So upon entering the Lavender Cake Shop in City Square I was immediately captured by all their Bamboo Charcoal bread. I have read about it from baking books and etc but I have not seen the actual product till today. So without hesitate, we grab 3 of their bamboo charcoal bread products. First on the photo is this “Bamboo Charcoal Bread - 竹炭健康包” which consists of nut, sesame seeds, cranberries and most important ingredient, the “bamboo charcoal powder” which makes the natural black colour of this bread.

According to write-up Bamboo Charcoal has high mineral contents such as potassium, calcuim, iron and sodium. And for many years, people from Japan used bamboo charcoal in many area such as household items, kitchen tools and etc.

The second photo above is "Charcoal Mochi Bread - 竹炭麻薯面包". It has a very chewy and fragrance texture.

Sugar Donut is one of my dear son's favourite. But when he saw this "Charcoal Donut - 竹炭甜甜圈" he was kind of back off due to it’s colour. Although the colour might not look attractive compared to those “fancy donut shops”, I must admit this taste great compare to the other two above. The texture is kind of elastic when bite and it has a very light and sweet taste when you chewy it, which I can say it, taste rather different from those usual donut that we have.

Another interesting item that I found in Lavender Cake Shop is this "Tau Hu Sau - 豆腐沙" which mean the cake is soft and smooth like "Beancurd - 豆腐" and sandwich with "Red bean paste - 红豆沙". We all agreed that this is a very nice sweet pastry, which I think the white portion might be some steam sponge cake. Most important of all, it is healthy and not too sweet to our taste. A recommend item when you visit their shop.