Croissants from St.Marc Cafe (Vivocity)

The crowds at St.Marc Cafe were always a deterrent for me. I don't really like places where it's difficult to find a table or it's hard to relax when the whole place is filled with people. As such, even though I've always wanted to try the food here, I've never done so because of this reason. I thought that it must be fated that I couldn't visit a St.Marc's Cafe because it seems so popular and is never empty, be it in Singapore or Japan!

When I passed by the Vivocity outlet on a weekday night, it was still pretty crowded despite it being after 9pm. However, I was feeling a bit peckish and decided to buy St.Marc's croissants as takeaway instead despite feeling an urge to try their desserts as well. Given the difficulty in finding a table, I dropped the dessert idea and headed for the pastries. The natural choice was to buy the signature chococro and there were a number of different flavours being offered. Anything matcha or green tea would catch my eye most of the time so I got really tempted by the green tea-azuki version and decided to get it along with chococro because it was difficult to pick either one of them.

The chococro's croissant was quite fragrant and the layers were rather crispy and tasty. However, the chocolate filling didn't impress me too much so my overall view of this is that it's a bit overrated. I've tasted better versions of the chocolate croissant where the filling is not as hard as St.Marc's version as if it's a frozen chocolate bar. Luckily, the green-tea azuki version won me over with the two fillings which were compatible with each other. Just a side thought though, the azuki paste seemed to look like taro so I wouldn't have known that it's azuki if I didn't see the product tag.

Will I go back for more from St.Marc? Maybe, only if it's less crowded. Will I go back for the croissants? Yes for the green tea version, not so much for chococro, I guess. It's just a case of personal tastes so don't let my views deter you from giving this a shot because you may just like it better than I did. ^__^

Sneak preview of "La Cure Gourmande" (Ngee Ann City)

Visiting La Cure Gourmande was unplanned, if not totally unexpected. It just so happened that yesterday was their opening day and coincidentally, I was at Ngee Ann City and their colourful shop decor and enticing display of biscuits and chocolates etc. lured me to check things out. I don't know if they publicised their opening anywhere else other than through their Facebook page but there were quite a lot of people in the shop so I guess they might be curious first-timers like me or people who have been to their shops in France or elsewhere.

La Cure Gourmande originated from France in 1989 and sells chocolates, confectionery and biscuits. Although there are other stores selling similar products, La Cure Gourmande's shop front is somewhat different in a few ways. In other places, biscuits are usually sold in pre-packaged form while candy is sold in clear displays and sold on the basis of their weights but in La Cure Gourmande, the biscuits are displayed in a clear shelf at the front of the shop and sold by weight. You can do a mix-and-match if you buy in this manner. For those who prefer prepacked biscuits, there are mini versions which are sold in single or mixed flavours. The chocolates are also sold in a similar manner. In addition, it does look like there is a lot of thought put into the packaging with the boxes for the biscuits said to be designed by the founders. Last but not least, the staff at the shop (who are called Sunshines as per what their Facebook page says) are very friendly and eager to introduce their products but this being their first day, I think they still need some time to get on track because one lady was stumped when I asked where I can see the expiry date on the madeleines' packaging and had to ask her colleague.

As there were only two varieties of cookies which could be sampled, I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy so many biscuits at one go especially when I didn't have the time to choose. It was then when the madeleines caught my eye and the variety of flavours was quite enticing. There were the plain, chocolate, orange, raspberry, blueberry and caramel versions which were either sold on their own at $2 each or sold in a package of 10+2 free at $20. I selected the blueberry, orange and chocolate versions as pictured above.

With regard to the texture of the madeleines, I felt that it was a bit too dense and dry. I don't know if it is due to the packaging which seemed a bit crumpled as if the air-vacuuming wasn't done properly so it could have affected the taste. As for the flavouring, I liked the orange version best because the orange scent could be picked up easily and the taste was consistent in the parts with the filling and without. For the blueberry version, the filling was kinda insufficient so for the parts where the filling couldn't be tasted, it was too bland for my liking. The chocolate version was fine overall but I think it didn't wow me in any particular way.

Since there are still many things which I've yet to try from La Cure Gourmande, I may follow up with another post about their biscuits and chocolates. If you have any thoughts about their products or would like to share your recommendations about their products, please kindly share them with me.

Unexpected discovery in Tanjong Pagar - Quarter to Three

After a less-than-satisfactory dinner, I was on the way to a cafe further down the stretch of shophouses along Tanjong Pagar Road with a friend when we chanced upon this little and cosy cafe named Quarter to Three. Noting how it seemed to be a good place to continue our chat (noisy and crowded cafes are not our cup of tea), we decided to give this place a shot instead. And it proved to be a good decision after all.

Due to the fact that the place is not big, the cafe can fill up pretty quickly. Sometime after our arrival, there was a big group of 10 but they had to split themselves up into two tables since there wasn't a table to accommodate everyone As such, if you are here with a smaller group, it will be easier for you to find seats and save yourself the agony of having to split the group.

We were seated just in front of the cake display fridge and it took us a fair bit of time to decide what we wanted to order. I counted at least 6 cakes in the regular size and another 6 in the "elevated" size (as in the cakes were taller than the usual type). Variety is definitely not an issue here and in fact, I felt like I was spoilt for choice.

The flavours also featured rather unique combinations not seen elsewhere (or so I think because I've not seen these flavours at another place) e.g. cherry and lemon cake or peanut butter brownie cheesecake. I also like the fact that they had some quirky names for their cakes e,g, Her Majesty for the red velvet cake and She's so heavy for the double chocolate cake. Usually, in cafes of this size, the selection of cakes is pretty limited but Quarter to Three defied my expectations in a good way. Perhaps due to the fact that it is also a bakery which supplies whole cakes for takeaway or business is brisk, they can afford to make so many types of cakes. However, it does seem like the offerings can differ from time to time so you may find some flavours not available at times. Besides cakes, there were also light bites and desserts in the menu so you'll probably need to come here multiple times to try everything.

My friend ordered the tiramisu in a jar and one mouthful was all it took to blow me away. I even bought one jar as takeaway because I couldn't resist the temptation after staring at it in the cake display for the whole evening. I'm quite particular about my tiramisu but it's been quite disappointing not to find anything with that perfect texture and dosage of liquor to satisfy my taste buds. Sometimes, the mascarpone cheese was too overwhelming. At times, there was too little of the liquor. On some occasions, the tiramisu was too soggy. Quarter to Three's version was everything I wish for in a tiramisu. Perhaps it might not be so for others but at least for me, it had the best texture, the right amount of liquor without being too underwhelming or overwhelming and best of all, the liquid chocolate poured into the jar and mixed with the tiramisu just before serving was literally the icing on the cake. I will definitely go back for more of this and try other cakes too.

As for me, I decided on the rainbow cake almost immediately because I've never eaten rainbow cake before and the colours were so welcoming. There were two versions i.e. the while cream version and the chocolate frosting. When it was served, I was quite surprised at how good it looked with the dripping chocolate sauce. Some cafes usually just place the cake on the plate but Quarter to Three actually bothered to draw something on the plate (no doubt simple as it looks) for which I think is worth commending. The texture of the sponge cakes which form the rainbow layers was just nice for me, not too dry and not too moist. However, if you just eat the cake on its own, it didn't really impress me. Maybe that's how rainbow cakes should taste like? On the other hand, when eaten together with the chocolate layers sandwiched between each layer of the cake, it accentuated the flavour and improved my view of this cake. The chocolate, although not overly sweet, does taste a bit rich so can be a bit overwhelming who prefer lighter flavours.

On the whole, Quarter to Three is a nice place to hang out and have some nice desserts. Note that they only accept cash and Nets and you must pay at the time of ordering. If you wish to find out more about them, you can go to their website or Facebook page. It would have been nice if they feature the range of cakes they have on their website which looks very bare and not very informational. I surely won't mind looking at photos of delicious cakes! Although I wasn't that impressed by the rainbow cake, the whole ambience and laid-back feel of the cafe plus the tiramisu which won me over means that I'll be back there again pretty soon.