Dulcet & Studio, Liang Court

Opened because its owner wanted to have a suitable place where people could enjoy the much coveted desserts from Tampopo, Dulcet & Studio stands as a casual eatery that boasts of mostly Western dishes, but retains its Japanese flavour through some of its fusion main courses and Japanese style desserts.


Dulcet & Studio's Entrance


 The counter was stacked with rows of gorgeous cakes and they all look equally good!


Cakes counter



Wonderful array of desserts



Food counter

We opted for the daily set lunch that costs $15 nett for a soup, main course, dessert and coffee/tea.



Soup of the day

 The soup of the day was clear vegetable soup, hardly impressive.


Jellyfish Salad
$4.50


Jellyfish Salad was not part of the set lunch, but an ala carte order. We loved the salad, it was wonderfully refreshing with shreds of crabmeat, jellyfish and vegetables. It's sweet and sour combination made it a superb appetiser!



Salmon Soupa in Mentaiko Crean sauce

There were two options for the set lunch so we got one of each. The Salmon Soupa in Mentaiko Crean sauce was interesting as it presented itself like a soup dish. The Salmon was nicely pan-fried and juicey and the mentaiko cream sauce was delightful.



 Slipper Lobster in Sambal with Fettucine

The Slipper Lobster in Sambal with Fettucine on the other hand felt a little fishy, probably due to the shellfish. The Slipper Lobster was not particularly fresh and I would have liked the pasta to be more al dente. I'd say, give this a miss.



Milk tea pudding & Custard pudding
$3.30 for ala carte

 We selected Milk tea pudding and Custard pudding for our dessert, upon recommendation from the staff. Unfortunately, both fell short of our expectations. The pudding was too sweet and it resembled some kind of low quality pudding that you would not expect to see at a cafe or restaurant. It was rather disappointing, I must say. 



Coffee




Matcha short cake
$6

We weren't about to leave the place without trying their desserts! The Matcha shortcake caught my attention and I knew it was something that I had to get. Alas, the cake was wonderfully soft with its lovely matcha flavours and light cream.



Signature Scoop cake
$6



One of their Signature desserts, the Scoop cake was recommended to us but I thought it was rather average. I would prefer the matcha cake to this. It's basically the same thing but the scoop cake is without the Matcha.

 

Cream Puff
1 for $2.60/2 for $5

The Famous best seller Cream puff is not to be missed. It's no wonder why these brown pastries are so popular. Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, the cream puffs were wonderful. I love the biscuit-cake crisp texture of the puff and the fragrant thick cream on the inside.

Lovely place to hang out for dessert. We'd be back for more!

Dulcet & Studio
177 River Valley Road, #01-41/42 Liang Court, Singapore

Food For Thought, Singapore Botanic Gardens

Sporting a different menu at its second outlet, Food for Thought at Botanic Gardens is spacious and child friendly with its outdoor playground, cafe layout and menu. 

 

Food for Thought Interior

Cakes counter

Slow Roasted Pull Pork
$8

One of my all time favourites, the Slow Roasted Pull Pork with homemade BBQ sauce never failed to delight with its generous chunks of well marinated shredded pork, sandiwched between two homemade potato buns and served with chips. Their burgers are served with caramelised onions, fresh tomatotoes and lettuce.
 
 

Grilled Ribeye with honey shallot chutney
$23

The Grilled Ribeye with honey shallot chutney wasserved with crispy fries and mushroom salad with caramelised chinese celery sauce. The meat was nicely grilled and went well with its sweet and savory honey shallot chutney sauce.



Grilled Barramundi Fillet
$20

The Grilled Barramundi Fillet in basil almond pesto sauce was served with a bed of creamy mashed potato and ratatouille. The fish was fresh but I was not a huge fan of the basil almond pesto sauce. The creamy mashed potato was addictive and I liked the way it was mashed until creamy and smooth.



Ratatouille

The dish came with a handsome pot of ratatouille and I thought it complemented the grilled fish better than its basil sauce.



Bacon and Sage wrapped Chicken Leg
$20 

The Bacon and Sage wrapped Chicken Leg in creamy chicken jus was served with rosemary mashed potato and mesclun salad. The chicken was nicely moist and tender and went well with the bacon.



Durian Mousse Cake
$7

There was not second of hesitation when we spotted the Durian Mousse Cake at the counter, and it was an excellent decision. The cake disappeared from the table before we knew it and everyone loved it. I wouldn't say it is as good as the Goodwood Park's durian mousse cake, but this cake stood pretty well on its own with its alternating layers of rich durian mousse and soft sponge cake.



Old Southern Red Velvet Cake
$6

I was looking forward to having the Red Velvet cake and was slightly disappointed to see that the rendition of this cake is much smaller than the Red Velvet at Queen Street. Nonetheless, it was good, although I would have preferred it without the orange-coloured chocolate swirls.



Black Forest Cake
$7

The Black Forest Cake appeared average in comparison to its alluring counterparts, I would give this a miss and go for the other dessert items.



Brownie and Marshmellow Cup served with a shot of Expresso
$7

Brownie and Marshmellow Cup served with a shot of Expresso presents four dense brownie squares neatly placed in a cup with a dollop of melted marshmellow in the centre and served with a shot of Expresso. The strong dose of coffee married the rich chocolate brownies well with a bitter sweet after taste and a tinge of candy vanilla scent from the melted marshmellow.

Good food, great ambience and friendly prices, Food for Thought remains as one of my favourite dining places!

Food for Thought
1 Cluny Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens,
Tanglin Gate, #B1-00, S259569
T: +65 6338 4848  F: +65 6479 1080

Lu Gang Xiao Zhen, Ion Orchard

An outlet by the familiar Asian Kitchen, we decided to give the place a go since it was considerably more crowded than the other restaurants on level B3 in the early evening.

 



 Taiwan Granny Meesua
$8.90

A specialty on the menu, the Taiwan Granny Meesua failed to meet expectations as the broth was salty yet it was not rich nor robust in flavours. I'd say, give this a miss.



Scallop Chicken soup
$9.80

I was once again disappointed when the Scallop Chicken soup arrived at our table. I had expected more ingredients and was dismayed at the small piece of chicken soaked in clear bland broth. The dish was supposed to be pressurecooked, sealing all the flavours of the ingredients, but the soup was awfully diluted.



Broccoli with Mushrooms
$9.20

The stir fried Broccoli with Mushrooms was decent, nothing spectacular.



Cereal Fried Rice
$9.90

The best dish of the night was the Cereal Fried Rice. The grainy rice was fragrant and the cereal added a delightful crunch to the dish.

Perhaps we ordered all the wrong dishes, but I still like the Asian Kitchen La Mian Xiao Long Bao best.

Lu Gang Xiao Zhen
2 Orchard Turn, #B3-22 ION Orchard, Singapore

Tel: +65 6509 1128

Paris Baguette Cafe, Wisma

The newly opened European style cafe, Paris Baguette, is no newcomer to many as it spans more than 3,000 outlets in Korea, China, and the United States. Its entry to the bakery scene was a welcoming move as bread lovers cheered with glee at the birth of another bakery located in town.  

 



Royal Mango Pudding
$4.50

We were greeted with adorable bottles of pudding upon entering the store. The bottles are prized at $4.50 per bottle and is also available in prepacked boxes of 6.



Sandwich counter

The sandwich counter was packed with various ready-to-go sandwiches such as the Ultra Club Sandiwch ($8.50), Double Ham & Egg Sandiwich ($8.00), Italian Ciabatta Sandwich ($7.00), and salads like Oriental Chicken Salad ($8.50) and Tuna Nicoise Salad ($8.50). 

 



Bread selection

As we were there at around 11am, most of the items were not out yet. The bread selection spans a range of bread selection like Milky Almond Cubic ($2.40), Choco half ring ($2.40), Flying UFO ($2.60), Pain Au Raisin ($2.90) and Springing Roll Cheese ($4.70).



Pastry selection

We couldn't resist the items on display and grabbed ourselves a salad and a sandwich.



Phat Thai Noodle Salad
$8.50

 The Phat Thai Noodle Salad is rice noodles with shrimps, grilled chicken and vegetables with chilli lime dressing. The chilli lime dressing was geared towards the sweet palette, but the salad was excellent. The dressing went well with the rice noodles and the prawns were wonderfully fresh with wild rocket leaves thrown in for enhanced flavour.



Drizzled with chilli lime dressing

Mini Croissant Family Sandwich
$7

The Mini croissant sandwich pack comprises of two ham and cheese croissants and an egg and bacon croissant. The croissant is more sweet than savory, and we thought it complimented the fillings well. The fact that they were bite-sized made them excellent for sharing.


The trio

Ham and cheese croissant

The ham and cheese croissant was simple and satisfying. The fillings were not overpowering and the vegetables were wonderfully fresh.


Egg and bacon croissant

The egg and bacon croissant had a good sweet and savory combination with varying textures and was a spot on.

The coffee was quite diluted so we would give it a miss. There are other items on the menu such as breakfast/brunch dishes like Scrambled egg brioche ($18), Ratatouille steak ($21) and Cheese Omelette with a Difference ($18). We also spotted a pretty selection of cakes at the counter. We loved what we had and we'd be back for more!


Paris Baguette Cafe
Wisma Atria, #02-02/03, Singapore

Ice Edge 2 Cafe, Upper Thomson

Ice Edge 2 Cafe is a second outlet located at Upper Thomson Road, after it's first outlet opened in Kovan more than two years ago. The cafe offers mainly western cuisine and a delectable selection of dessert and gelato.

 

Ice Edge 2 Cafe's Entrance



Cafe's interior is basic with minimal decoration

We opted for a set menu which comes with a soup and a drink (coffee or iced tea) for an additional $5 or $7 if you select their premium soup.



Crab Bisque
$7.80 ala carte

We went for the premium soup, the Crab Bisque, served with two slices of garlic bread. The soup was average and I wished there were bits of crab meat thrown into the soup for good measure. What I liked was that the soup was piping hot when it arrived at our table.



Seafood Aglio Olio Spaghetti
$15.80

The Seafood Aglio Olio Spaghetti comprises of fresh prawn, mussel and calamari cooked in pressed garlic, olive oil, chilli padi and chopped parsely and is chef's recommendation on the menu. I would have prefered the pasta to be done more al dente, but the dish was flavourful with it's chokeful of pressed garlic and seafood. This dish appeared almost on every table, I would say, go for it.



Salmon Steak
$18.80

Another chef's recommendation on the menu was the Salmon Steak, which was grilled salmon, served in cream butter sauce with potato gratin and salad with balsamic dressing. It scored high marks for it's presentation, but I was slightly disappointed to find that the portion of salmon miniscule. It's execution was only average at best, but I thought the potato grain was good.



Mao Shan Wang Lava Cake
$13.80

The highlight of the day has got to be the Mao Shan Wang Lava Cake. Served with a scoop of gelato of your choice, the standing tower promised immediate gratification when we sliced open its soft exterior to reveal its inner treasure. We cheered in delight as the golden trail of goodness oozed from the cake. Accompanied with Mao Shan Wang ice cream, this is a must have for durian lovers.



Mao Shan Wang Lava Cake



Iced Lemon Tea



Gelato Ice Cream

Ice Edge cafe also serves a decent range of gelato. We sampled a few flavours and they were all good- we were spoilt for choice!

 

Hits and misses for the main courses, but the gelato and desserts were wonderful. 

 

Ice Edge 2 Cafe

203 Upper Thomson Road, S(574344)

Second Outlet

 



Ice Edge Cafe (1st Outlet)
2 Kovan Road, Simon Plaza, #01-10, S(548008)