D'zerts Cafe

Update: Download the Holler Out app and enter promo code "weekendeatwhat" to enjoy 10% discount off spending more than $20.

Found this little cafe called D'zerts Cafe along a stretch of shophouses in Tanah Merah/Simei area. It was slightly drizzling on a Saturday afternoon and probably that's why I was the only customer when I arrived. The rain later stopped and there were more customers. However it wasn't overcrowded and hence I enjoyed a quiet nice afternoon.

Very simple decor..

Had some trouble initially trying to decide what to order because there weren't a lot of desserts that stood out from the rest. Not sure which were the hits. For cakes, they have matcha latte, blueberry cheesecake, yuzu green tea cheesecake, dark chocolate cake, carrot cake. For tarts, they have chocolate tarts and passion fruit tarts. they also has lemon meringues, mango pudding, creme brûlée, raspberry cream cheese pudding (? Not sure can't rem)

The Matcha Latte Cake ($4.50, below) was really good.. the matcha taste was strong and solid..  It's a perfect cake for me as it is actually a mousse cake. Hence the matcha taste was not overwhelming and the texture is light. loved how the chef topped it with a strawberry which made the cake perfect as the strawberry's sweetness balanced the matcha taste. 

Do you also know that matcha is very good for your health? According to Wikipedia, it contains antioxidants which are 3 times more than normal green tea. Matcha is grown in shaded fields and the whole matcha tea leaf is grounded into matcha powder. Hence, the whole leaf is ingested which gives more benefits. Matcha also has the ability to reduce stress, increase energy and concentration levels. The caffeine release from matcha is not a sudden kick but a steady one. So by right, it doesn't result in a slump in energy at the end when the caffeine wears out.

The Passionfruit Tart ($4.90, below)  was overly sweet for me.. Best for the super-sweet tooth..

The Yuzu Green Tea Cheesecake ($5.50, below) was very soft and creamy. Could taste a bit of green tea and yuzu which gave the cheesecake a slight citrus taste. Quite an interesting combination and I loved it a lot. But I also wondered how it would taste if there was more yuzu and green tea in it? 

Also ordered their tea to try. They have an assortment of black, green and non-caffeine teas. The tea is from this brand called Allerines which is a local company. I ordered the Mango Tango Green Tea ($3.50, below) which was fruity. However quite ex for a normal hot tea hor?

The service crew was also very friendly and came by to seek my feedback on the cakes. The cafe also sells waffles and I heard their waffles were pretty good.. Shall order next time.

Below's the full range of drinks at D'zerts. They have some alcoholic drinks in the form of ciders and beer. You can take water from the green dispenser.

And one of the best things about D'zerts is they have a lot of power plug points. So you can bring your laptop to get some work done there. The metal bar below is actually a power track.. I first saw something similar in Xiaxue's blog first and I was like "ok I must get this for my new house".. Its supposed to make space neater especially if you have only one power point. No longer need to use extension cords. You can add as many power plugs as you wish to the power track.

Also they have free wifi (limited to 3 hours). Just ask the boss for the wifi username and password.

With power plug points and free wifi, plus a quiet environment, this makes a perfect place if you want to do some studying, get some work done or just chilling out with your ipad/laptop.

Oh did I also mention there is no GST or service charge?

If you live, work or study nearby, this cafe's worth a visit! Apart from driving, you can get to this cafe by taking bus 10, 2, 9, 531 or 48.

Address: 30 Jalan Pari Burong, Singapore 488696

Telephone: 6448 6707

Opening hours:

Tue - Thur: 11 am to 11 pm

Fri - Sat: 11 am to 12 am

Sun: 11 am to 11 pm

BonChon Chicken

Had a serious craving for fried chicken on Saturday night and headed down to BonChon chicken at Bugis+ to get my fix. The restaurant is located on the first floor and split into 2 with a corridor in the middle which allows patrons to get to the other restaurants next to it e.g Ma Maison and Kungfu Paradise. Apart from normal seats, there are also bar tables.

For the chicken, the menu allows you to choose either ala carte or combo set. We went for the small combo set ($14.90) which comprises of 6 wings and 2 drumsticks. You need to choose which flavor : soy garlic or hot. You can also mix the flavors for medium and large sets. We chose hot flavor.

We were famished (it was close to 9pm).. but luckily we didn't have to bang our tables to demand our food to be served immediately.. That's because within like 2 minutes after we made our order, the delicious fried chicken arrived. We were quite amazed at the serving speed. And we were grinning like happy kids after we bite into the chicken..

Look at that skin on the drumlet below.

The moist fried crunchy skin that cracked in my mouth. My craving was instantly fixed as I chewed on the skin which was coated with flavorful sweet spicy sauce. It's definitely different from KFC. It was not overly oily. We loved the wings more than the drumstick. The drumstick meat was bland and dry. Overall, i think the wings and drumlets, not the drumsticks, were the highlight.

Fond memories of munching that end parts of the wings.. 

We also ordered a seafood tofu kimchi soup ($8.80, below). Based on menu description, it was supposed to contain squid, prawn. However, I only managed to find a miserable piece of prawn meat, not even a full prawn. There were a lot of tofus and kimchi instead. I was wondering if they made a mistake in serving the wrong soup.

I also learnt that unlike other fried chicken, Korean chicken is fried twice so that the skin is crispier and less oily. Korean fried chicken also uses younger and smaller sized chickens and hence the meat is supposed to be more tender. BonChon chicken also claims it has no trans fat.. So does it mean I can eat more of it in the future ? Yippie!!

Address:

01-11 Bugis+, 201 Victoria Street

Telephone 6884-4768

Website: http://www.bonchon.com/?page_id=2463

Opening hours:

M to S - 11am to 11pm

Hill Street Char Kway Teow

Gordon Ramsay was in town on Sunday after accepting a challenge from local hawkers. I have always thought that our local hawker tastes as good as, if not better, than those in restaurants. Char kway Teow or steak? Give me my Char Kway anytime! I also love to dine at hawker centres because that's the place that I can find familiar Singaporean accents and behavior. And one of these behaviors is queuing. Some people just join in the queue when they see one, (that's guilty me ^^) assuming the food must be good since there is a queue. Most of the time, it is a safe assumption.

I had a craving for Char Kway Teow.. And the more famous Char Kway Teow that is nearer to my house is Hill Street Char Kway Teow at Bedok South. There was a long queue of about 20 people when I went there on Sunday at 1pm. Bad timing. Nevertheless, this somehow made me even more determined to queue and I waited for about 30 min before it was my turn. The chef of the day was not the old uncle but his son. The Char Kway Teow costs $3 a plate.

A final look before this mixture of Kway teow, egg, pork lards, cockles, Chinese chives and black soya sauce before it goes into my tummy. 

Not sure if it's due to the preset high expectations, but I felt the Char Kway Teow was a little overrated. It's still very nice.. The croutons of pork lards were crispy and the cockles were fresh. The egg was fragrant.  But I thought the sauce can be more intense. Nevertheless, it's worth the calories and artery choking.. 

The hawker centre is just opposite my old school. Below is the road that I crossed every day for 2 years in the past.. Flooding of past memories..

Interesting fact: In the old days, Char Kway Teow was served to laborers as it was a cheap source of energy given its high saturated fat content and calories.

Being a hawker is a very tough job as there is no air con and it's a sweaty task. Kudos to all the hawker heroes and hopefully this Singapore culture continues to be kept intact for generations to come.

  

O Coffee Club

I loved GSS! Besides the shopping deals, there are always promotions on food. O' Coffee Club has a GSS promotion until 28 July which you can get free soup of the day and a drink if you purchase 2 pasta dishes and pay by UOB card. However, the pasta choices are limited to only a few only.

The soup of the day was mushroom soup (below). It was creamy and tasty. The addition of spring onion was a bit weird though.

For the drink, we were given two choices: green apple mint or strawberry soda. I got the strawberry soda (below) which came with slices of real strawberry. It was very nice and not overly sweet.

Ordered the Mad Seafood Pasta ($18.50, below) in tomato pesto, mussels, prawns and squid. The pesto sauce tasted a bit diluted for me. The seafood would be better if it was fresher. Overall, not excellent but still good.

The Teriyaki Chicken Pasta ($17.50, below) had quite a generous amount of teriyaki chicken pieces. The teriyaki chicken was yummy and tasty.

Overall, it was quite a good deal. Looking forward to the next GSS!

Interesting fact: Actually I didn't know what is pesto. I did a Google and found it is a sauce made up of crushed garlic, basil, pine nuts blended with olive oil,  parmesan cheese and Fiore Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk). Pesto means pound and the ingredients are pounded in a mortar.