Baking, Loving it!

pictures to feast on.

Lemon Madeleines

Vanilla Almond Biscotti

Walnut Brownie Traybakes

Japanese Light Cheesecake

Pandan Kaya Swissroll

Cranberry & Raisin Scones

Homemade Waffles

Paper-lined Sponge Cupcakes

Apple Custard Streusel Slice

Apple Crostata

Macarons

I'm madly in love with baking.

Here's just a prelude to my upcoming series of bake-ful entries.

stay tuned (:

Hibiki

Like a girl with virtuous appearance, charismatic attraction, sensual appeal, yet an alluring naughty touch.

this is one gorgeous babe.

salmon sashimi ($12)

Lunch at Hibiki began on many quality notes. From the satisfyingly soft, fat-lined Salmon sashimi trio arranged over freshly crushed ice (hear the sound of the ice-grinding machine!) .. to the multiple components of my carefully-chosen set meal. Dum dee dum.

Cubicles of dainty assortment made up my partner's Set Ichi ($24)- takosu, prawn mayo, salmon hand maki, hijiki, kinpira renkon, ika miso, chicken roll, mochi, siro hana mame, sumi udon. Smiles for the variety, boo to the passable staging. Nothing more than the decadent mayo-coated prawns and its marine relatives scored.

salmon carpaccio

My Set Go ($30)- salmon carpaccio, cheese chawanmushi, grilled chicken misoyaki, seafood nasu dengaku, asari soup, rice- deserved more positive valuation, credits to particular highlights. Heading first, a Salmon carpaccio that set my expectations floating upwards.

seafood nasu dengaku

Grease-intolerants should take caution of the Seafood nasu dengaku, a block of deepfried eggplant bathed in cloudy bean sauce. Stop at the shrimp if you wish to avert a tummy disaster. Or wash it off with the limpid Asari soup.

Asari soup

That gorgeous babe. again.

The ultimately smooth, silky steamed egg custard topped off with sinful cheese shards = miss cheese chawanmushi at its finest. Amazingly beats any tauhuay legend.. including mr rochor-pretentious!

grilled chicken misoyaki

Nothing to rave. Grilled Chicken Misoyaki was merely an average seared chicken thigh piece lifted by an optimisstic miso lotion.

*mind floats back to the chawanmushi.

sumi udon

Grey and jelly, Sumi udon is free from clumps nor unfavourable starchyness. A cup of dipping sauce and its on par with soba done with care.

gohan with a wooden lid!

We couldn't resist it.

plain chawanmushi ($8)

Gorgeous babe no.2!

Our patience was tested as we waited a torturing 20 minutes for another round of savoury custard. The non-cheese version, adeptedly prepared ala-order, was still no doubt steaming with fascinating brunts. Loved.

carrot pudding ($6)

I did not surrender before desserts. Thank goodness for my exceptional stomach capacity. Beta Carotene comes into full play with Hibiki's atypical Carrot Pudding, packed with aplenty of cooked carrot nibbles in creamy surroundings. Think (healthier) panna cotta, japanese style.

Chefs are japanese, kimono-clad waitresses trained in their nippon language.

Now im clear about heaven & hell.

and here i meant Sakae Sushi.

Hibiki

21 Cuppage Road

Cuppage Terrace

6736 0326

Midst of Blocktests... & Cedele!

i should be abstaining from blogging right now...

I just found a handful of reasons why not to eat out when you're right smacked in the first quarters of exams.

It was an impromptu decision to dine-out with Dad one weeknight.

An example of eating in no tranquillity.

Location: Cedele, Wheelock Place

Absentee: EOS 400d.

i wouldn't plan for any food-whoring during days like such. my mind was occupied by the turmoil of my weakest MATH paper about 12 hours ahead.

chope chope, eat & leave was chanting...

Dad chose his old-time favourite Fish Pesto Garlic Pasta ($16.80) as partner for this timerace, a dish untouched for months since the obsession. Used to be so regular i could already keep an album of its pictures! He'd probably figured the oil-glazed spaghetti, butterfly-cut fish and flavoursome coriander pesto could grant him a champion title in the unofficial who finishes their food first contest.

After enquiring that Cedele charges an insane $1++ for every prawn addition (man, these are not crystal prawns but grey prawns that you get in your hawker hei-mee!), i abolished the mushroom salad+prawns idea for the Seabass Tango Salad ($15.80) instead. Grilled seabass, three prawns, salad mix, assorted seeds. Might as well, this can satisfy a day's protein intake.

And i can't live without my carbs: fave breads from Cedele Depot~ Wholemeal Linseed for today, two superly thick slices at just a dollar. Toasted, crusted with a coffee powder-resembling aftertaste.. and hundreds of linseed dotties (:

Keeping the vectors in sight...

Having cleared the savouries,i entangled in a self-battle with desserts.

How NOT an apt time for fancy cake enjoyment. But how a good time for some sugar to aid in stress-comforting. Well i eventually succumbed to the sweets anyways. When do i ever resist desserts lol.

Picked the healthiest-sounding Blueberry Maple Cake ($6), in hope to deceitfully excuse myself from some guilt. Then observing Dad eye the three-tier slice with skepticality, i voiced my only sentence for the night before he began to tuck into his rightful half.

"its wholemeal"

DRY. The block instantly disintegrated into tiny crumbs with just a prick, its wholegrain components looking like an epidemic-infected patient suffering from dehydration. Only saving grace: layers of maple frosting with an uncanny resemblence to caramel popcorn! Mmmmmmm..

oh yes, and the healthy compromise of Cedele's bakes.

Thats what keeps me & dad returning~

Fast and unglam was how i ate.

And it so wasn't a nice sight.

i should be abstaining from blogging right now... BACK TO THE BOOKS!!

Ristorante De Parma

I admire Ping for her enthuse interaction with bloggers.

While a handful are principally concerned over shunning negative blogospheric-attention, some adamant about their no-photography stance... Parma wields a different approch.

My first encounter here was one-of-a-kind.

Mango Tango

Foccacia Bread


The foccacia bread got my eyes inexplicably glued once it met the table. These rosemary-flecked rectangles resembled Modesto's complimentaries, but are done a slick better. Moister. And even a mocktail distraction became oblivious.

Mango Tango, Ping's recommendation, was like any other employment of fruit and milk.



Soup-of-the-Day


Sipping their tomato & potato soup was a nuzzle. The starchy character of potatoes brilliantly curtained of the acidity of tomatoes... no stifling sour darts! Plus an airy-crackly breadstick worth a mention.

my kind of soup~

Antipasto Misto Petite ($16.90)

And how PETITE. Parma's antipasto misto petite, quiescently laid, is strictly for the dwarfy-appetited. Single portions of prawn, mussel, parma ham, mushroom, sundried tomatoes, roasted capsicums and black olives violently signalled as a deplorable choice.

Warm Spinach Salad


I would have much less to quibble about Ping's diet-friendly meal. A sauteed spinach and button mushroom salad copious in balsamic intensity i loved. Toe-curlingly sour but cringingly good! For me.

Pizza e Ananas con Pomodoro, Pizza Marinara ($27.90)

We did a half-and-half for the pizza, pairing Pizza e Ananas con Pomodoro (spinach, pineapple, mushroom & semi-dried tomatoes) with Pizza Marinara (prawn, squid, mussel, slipper lobster, scallop). My vote deflects more towards those tasty seafood players, scattered over a decent homemade crust and overly thick cheese blanket.

Dismissing the stop-when-you're-70%-full priggy, we nodded for desserts to parade in. Parma's not the place for such adherence- not when raves of their tiramisu already painted melodious covets in my mind...

Tiramisu ($12.90)


Ta-dah. Parma's Tiramisu. Wholly liqueur-soaked fingersponge harmoniously clamped between mascarpone mousse concocted to perfection. I was captivated.

It would be a sin to nullify this.

Note: Have it here. I've had takeaways that weren't as justifying.

Italian Carrot Cake ($8.90)

I couldn't resist ordering the italian carrot cake as well. A substantial slab heavy on carrot and walnuts, drizzled with a liquefied cheese icing, but nothing more than average.

Personal thought: the in-house baker was something.

Ristorante De Parma

14B Kensington Park Road

Serangoon Garden Estate

6281 3380

Marmalade Pantry

i experienced the pantry magic too.

Spending a liabilities-free afternoon on chic nosh is utmost delight. I can only recall everything nice of my virgin visit to posh Palais Renaissance.

Posh Nosh.

Then came along the invariable notions of a tai-tai.

Tai-tai. a privileged lady of means. married and jobless. bounds of leisure time and money. decked in brands. obsessive beauty upkeep. mingles only in reputable social circles. feeds on posh nosh and gossip-exchange.

You see them at Marmalade.

Pan-Roasted Red Snapper ($24)

For the hearty and balanced.

Pan-roasted red snapper with almonds herb crust and chickpea salad depicts protein neat and polished. Crested by 80% breadcrumb-20% almond goldens, troughed by a measly scatter of oil-tossed chickpeas.. and oomph-filled vine tomatoes. that splurts.

The Ultimate Beef Burger ($22)

For the hearty & hungry.

They call it the Ultimate Beef Burger.

Nothing comes baby except for that blackish beef patty downsized in visual comparison. Huge mayo-dubbed buns, bountiful straightcut fries pile, yet a disappointingly overdone centre.. let's falter before we even pronnounce it again.

Sticky Date Toffee Pudding ($12)

Here is the magic.

A sticky DATE toffee pudding?! Utilize the mouth. I got a heavenly smack of sugar rush perfumed with mcdonald-hotcakes-alike goodness. And doubly bilssful when paired with the graceful vanilla bean icecream.

Yes, this is a sticky date toffee pudding.

Never judge a book by its cover.

Homemade Lemon Tart ($12)

The homemade lemon tart with wildberries & raspberry coulis also contained much fairy-appeal. A tartwall-to-fillings disproportion delighted... where chilled, flowy sour-sweet yellow avalanched out of its broken enclosure. berries are my thing too (:

I'd love a slice of the tai-tai life.

a-bra-ca-da-bra.

Marmalade Pantry

390 Orchard Road

#B1-08/11 Palais Renaissance

6734 2700