Penny University - 29th Jan 2013

Might as well call this the Penny blog seeing as I'm always here and can't seem to get enough.

The guys saw me coming this day and promptly told me that there were no cupcakes because the goddess was ill.

That's ok, I had been wanting to try their macaroons anyway which are a new offering at Penny, and having just eaten half a loaf of home made bread with cheese and proscuitto back at my place, these delicious little dots were all I needed, washed down with a cup of their perfectly brewed English Breakfast Tea. (Remind me to buy a teapot because leaf tea does indeed taste better.)

Hanging out behind the counter was the nice young man who had made these morsels of salted caramel or earl grey - got to love a guy who can bake!

I have always wanted to try baking macaroons. But alot is said about how tricky they are to get just right and just right to me is a lovely crunch on the outside, a slightly chewy middle and something yummy sandwiched in between. These ones were exactly that so I think I will put my macaroon making thoughts behind me and wander over to Penny whenever I feel like one.

Although, really tough decisions are going to have to be made. Cupcake or cookie? Coffee or tea? Gee, my life is tough!

Sandwich Saigon - 28th Jan 2013

Stopped into this little shop for a quick bite after going to Pilates today. It's been here for a year maybe but I've never been. You see, I have a few Vietnamese friends who make the most awesome food you can imagine so I've never felt the need. But somehow today as I was wandering by, I felt like seeing what they had on offer.

Ordered me their cold cut trio and a lemon juice and soda (with less sugar). Perfect little lunch for me! Crunchy baguette and really tasty meat with smooth pâté, a dash of their type of maggi sauce, fresh herbs and pickles (which I would have liked a bit more kick too but only cause my friends make pickles with a bang and I love them). They make everything themselves, from the baguette to the cold cuts to the pickles. It was a really tasty Banh Mi.

Next time I'll try their Pho. They have a chicken one all day but only serve the beef one on the weekends as it cooks for 8 hours and quite tiring to make (said the lovely girl who was serving). The chicken one doesn't take as long and both are made without MSG which is really hard to find. Another customer had one of these steaming bowls and they were going on about how good it was, I almost ordered a bowl for me. But after feeling so proud that I even made it to Pilates, I thought I should try to be reasonable and not eat two lunches right after!

Ok, better get going now. I've been procrastinating all morning! i think you'll find me procrastinating here another day. And really soon because now that I've got the idea of Pho in my head, it won't stop til I try it.

About Sandwich Saigon:
Kid friendly – It's a tiny shop though mostly empty when I went. But why would you? I loved having my little lunch on my own with very little distraction other than my iPhone with which I am blogging.
Opening hours – Mon to Wed & Fri: 11.30am-3.00pm & 5pm-10pm (last order at 9.30); Sat, Sun & public holidays: 11.30am-10.00pm (last order at 9.30pm).
Location – 93 East Coast Road. Park at I12, across the street or anywhere around there and walk.
Web – http://www.sandwichsaigon.com/

Baker & Cook - 23rd Jan 2013

I love this name - Baker & Cook. I wish i were a baker. I know in this no-carb society that perhaps i should eat less bread. But who can resist a fresh new loaf, hot out of the oven, a spongy slice all covered in butter? I can't. I wish i were a baker and sometimes i wish i were a cook too. So perhaps i like the name because it is made up of two things i would like to be. But i know myself well enough that i wouldn't have the patience for it though am more than happy to sample what other bakers and cooks have made. 

I have never been to this street-side, corner cafe but a girlfriend suggested we meet there yesterday and i was more than willing because i spend most of my time on the east coast of Singapore and any excuse to leave is always good. Especially if it's to try out a cafe i've never been too. So here i was at Baker & Cook, Martin Road (apparently it's their 2nd shop). It was a lovely cool and breezy morning in Singapore so despite wearing jeans (which is not that great an idea in this weather - what was i thinking!), i felt rather comfortable sat outside on their sidewalk. There is hardly anywhere to sit inside. Just a bench and stools along the window (i think, or perhaps i imagined them). The table seating is outside but with the fans going and being a lovely morning, it was a really nice spot to spend a few hours chatting and sipping coffee.

When you go inside to order there are beautiful pastries, breads and cakes that line their display and me being who i am, would have liked a bite of almost everything. However, i hadn't had breakfast yet so opted for their scrambled eggs and toast.

Another girlfriend ordered their meusli which looked spectacular and i would have loved it but was told that i would probably find it too fruity. (My weird quirks in regard to fruit are well known). So i declined the offered bite and stuck with my eggs. The scrambled eggs were creamy and served with seedy bread (not in the bad sense - it just had lots of different seeds and grains in there). I put some salt and pepper on it and then it was perfect.

I love their Golden Syrup cutlery and napkin holders and their pots of jams sitting on the table for you to help yourself to. The service is friendly and your coffee is served with a mini brownie. Yum! Not to mention that the coffee is pretty good too.

I finished my visit with a pot of tea and a cinnamon scroll (you can just barely see the one my girlfriend had on the end of the table. I ate half of hers and then got one for myself! But ate it too quickly and forgot to photograph it.) 

About Baker & Cook, Martin Rd:

Kid friendly – there is space on the sidewalk for young 'uns to run around, but i had a lovely time without them around.

Opening hours – Sunday to Thursday: 8.00am-6.00pm; Friday to Saturday: 8.00am-6.00pm

Location – 38A Martin Road, #01-01, you can't miss it sitting pretty on the corner there. There is parking on the street for 50c per 1/2 hour and though it was really easy for me to park, i think i must practice my parralel parking because my park was atrocious

Web – http://www.bakerandcook.biz/

I hate bananas...

I do like banana bread. Weird, right. Hate banana in any form. But banana bread, i'll totally enjoy. So since I had a few going black and stinky on my shelf, I thought I would make myself a loaf. I didn't buy these bananas. My poor child is going to be potassium deficient cause I hardly ever buy bananas and she loves them. My dear husband must have felt the need and bought them, but whenever we do have bananas, there are always going off. And I find them icky. When that stinky, going off banana smell starts in my house, i usually send them right into the bin.

This time i persevered. Not for long, i couldn't stand it!  I think my new bigger kitchen has something to do with my wanting to bake some banana bread. Having no oven in this newer, bigger kitchen, we decided to buy a little table-top oven and i've been putting it through its paces. I've been doing teriyaki chicken alot. Bread rolls. Cinnamon rolls. Have even made 2 carrot cakes in there. One day i am going to roast beef and do a rotisserie chicken! That says alot cause i never really cook meat. The banana buyer is a vegetarian so what is the point?

Anyways, i made this banana bread and it is delicious. Even though i had to hold my nose while i mixed up the recipe in my Thermomix. And even though my kitchen bench ended up being covered in banana juice (one of the offending fruit had gone a little bit too off - don't worry, i did not cook with it even though hubby said it would  have been fine). The process was icky but the banana bread that was produced was yummy.

Here's the recipe if anyone feels the need. It's super easy, i found it on cooks.com and i would buy bananas just to tolerate them going brown so that i can make this again soon. Come by for a slice if you want. But be quick cause i don't think it will last long.

Banana Nut Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 crushed bananas

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

A pinch of salt

1/4 cup of nuts (i used walnuts)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp of spices (i used nutmeg and cinnamon and didn't measure it well so i'm sure there was more than a 1/2 tsp)

Cream butter and suger

Add eggs and beat well

Add bananas, flour, soda, salt, nuts, spices and vanilla and mix.

Pour into a greased loaf pan

Bake at 175 degrees for an hour or until done.

Jones the Grocer - 18th Jan 2013

Jones at Mandarin Gallery is one of the few places that i would make a trip to just to drink their coffee. I think about their coffee during the week, wishing it were local and i could pop in there every day just for a cup. Like i said, i'm more than likely to drink coffee anywhere so long as the setting was attractive. But the first Jones coffee i had was perfect to me. I always get the regular size because the larger size doesn't seem to be as strong or perfect. And hey, i might as well have 2 perfect cups of coffee while i'm there, right?

When i do go to Jones, i usually am there for breakfast which they do really well. Creamy scrambled egg, perfect toast, with two slabs of butter which is a bit too much but very nice of them to give. Their banana cake is really yummy so if i've already had breakfast, i'll usually get a coffee and their banana cake. While i'm there something beautiful usually comes out of the oven and you can smell it wafting through the shop, tempting me with whatever it is. I also like to sit and watch the bread bake. Getting all puffy and golden before they pull it out and i just want to go home with the whole batch of freshly baked sourdough or whatever loaf they have made. They do breakfast til noon on weekdays, longer on the weekends.

This day, though, we were there for lunch. I ordered the wagyu beef pie which was nice but maybe a tad too sweet for my liking. The pastry was lovely and crumbly. Dunno if i would get it again but it sure was satisfying. I thought the salad in the cone shaped bowl was awkward to eat cause it kept tilting while i was trying to spear the leaves, but it's all in the presentation and the slab looked lovely so i got over the bowl thing quickly.

I love the service at Jones, everyone seems to know their stuff. Over christmas, i had them put together some cheese and bread for me and their suggestions for pairings was so helpful. They even put it all into a beautiful box with ribbon for me. If their things weren't so pricey, i would probably leave with a a bag of goodies every time i went because their jars of truffle and olive oils, snacks and take away meats and cheeses sit there so beautifully begging me to take them with me.

They have another branch at Dempsey but as a girlfriend rightly said, it has a different vibe. So much more warehousey and loud. I am much more drawn to the cosy atmosphere at Mandarin Gallery where you can have a nice quiet breakfast just yourself or with a friend or two.

About Jones at Mandarin Gallery:

Kid friendly – Could be but the working lunch people might disagree because i think they would prefer not to be distracted by boisterous young ones running about. They have a nice mini kids menu and there are usually mums with prams.

Opening hours – Monday to Sunday: 9.00am-11:00pm

Location – 333a Orchard Road, Level 4 #21-23 Mandarin Gallery (i usually park at Paragon and walk over because i want to shop while i'm at Orchard or sometimes i valet my car at the Mandarin Orchard because it only costs $15 and no more which can be cheaper than Paragon or Takashimaya if you're hanging about Orchard for a while)

Web – http://www.jonesthegrocer.com/

Penny University - 17th January 2013

I came back and i am happy! These cupcakes to me might just be what alcohol is to other people. With a wee sense of trepidation, i bit into the Red Velvet. What if it didn't live up to expectation? It certainly looked as pretty as i remembered. But what if it was just a dry bit of cake and tasteless frosting?...

Well, it wasn't. Beautiful soft cake, cream cheese topping and yep, the gooey Nutella center. Well worth the wait. Their cupcake maker is a goddess (and i got the pleasure of meeting her  as well). So i really couldn't stop at the Red Velvet could i?

Hello Salted Caramel... 

Please forgive me if i can't decide which one i love the most. I would eat almost anything with salted caramel and the cupcake goddess's signature must be to fill each of her beautiful cakes with a surprise because these were filled with salted caramel that had just the right kick of salt to gooey sweet caramel.

I think the thing to do would be to order one of each. They are not very big. Yes, i'm certain that is the thing to do!

And now a few pics of Penny University. And did i mention that there is free wifi?

Penny University - 16th Jan 2013

Give me a nice setting and i'm happy. I'll drink coffee just about anywhere as long as the ambience is nice. So no, i'm not a connoisseur of anything but i do like what i like and am rather picky about places and things.

Penny University is a lovely little spot on East Coast Road near the crossroad of Telok Karau. I found it a few weeks ago after reading a blog by Lady Iron Chef. So there i went and was not disappointed. Their Red Velvet Cupcake is the best cupcake i have had in forever! Trust me, i have had a fair few cupcakes in my day. But this one. This cupcake is the best ever. So since that fateful day where i met that cupcake, so soft, topped with icing and a teeny pink heart and best of all, filled with nutella, i had fallen in love.

A week ago, i was there, with a hankering for their Red Velvet and was told that their cupcake maker was on her honeymoon and would return on the 16th of January. So i put a note in my calendar, determined to return on this day for a taste of that perfect cupcake.

Picking up the usual suspects along the way, we got to Penny University only to see empty cupcake trays. No Red Velvet Cupcakes! I was in depression. Apparently they would not be in until 11am. (We were there at 9.30 and having to leave by 10.30, so eager we were, but Penny opens at 8.30 and i would probably have been there then except that i had to drop my darling daughter off at school).

Trying to pull myself out of my disappointment, i ordered their Cheese Toastie with Marmite and Poached Egg (minus the cheese). Perfect eggs, oozing out onto crusty bread, lovely with perfectly made flat white. i suppose i was satisfied but still feeling like a bit was missing as i left, having missed the cupcake delivery by 30 minutes.

So cupcake craving has not been satiated but i think you'll hear alot about Penny University because i love that place and will be back for the cupcake and their other things.

About Penny:
Kid friendly – Not really, it's a bit squashy. They have a baby chair but i would hate to go there with a hoard of kids anyways. I go there cause it's a lovely quiet place.
Opening hours – Tues to Thur: 8.30am-6pm; Fri: 8.30am-9.30pm; Sat, Sun + PH: 8.30am-10.30pm
Location – 402 East Coast Road (i usually park around the corner on Telok Karau for 50c per 1/2 hour)
Web – www.pennyuni.com

Red Velvet Cupcake

 

This is my original Red Velvet cupcake which i had with the loveliest cup of English Breakfast tea. They take their tea seriously, i'll tell ya. Real leaves and a lovely pot. They leave it with instructions to brew for 2 minutes before pressing the button. Doesn't give you a whole lot, but i'll take a little cup of perfectly brewed tea over a big cup of crappy tea any day!

Poached Eggs in Whipped Greek Yoghurt

Sounds weird but before you write it off, let me tell you, it's delicious. Perfectly poached eggs in thick, tangy yoghurt topped with a ton of chilli flakes and some chilli oil. I have not seen this anywhere before!