An afternoon walk for cakes

My friend Steph came over today and took me out for a birthday treat at Cafe Icon Nature to try their Hokkaido rolls. Do not let it’s looks deceive you, it’s not a normal Swiss roll, it’s way so much better. There were four flavors available just now, strawberry, blueberry, mocha and Belgium chocolate. We tried the chocolate and strawberry, it was divine! Like a pillow, the cake was so soft, the strawberry filling was not overly sweet or creamy, perfect balance. The chocolate was to die for and I ordered 5 to go for the family. Their Tiramisu contained no alcohol or coffee, what I found interesting was that they used their own almond cookies instead of ladyfingers in it. The mascarpone was so delightfully creamy that you wished the cup was bottomless. The owner recommended that we try their Australian Flat White, I love the coffee art that he did. It was a darn good cup of coffee. We tried the guava tea, such a lovely sweet aroma and a pleasant aftertaste.

Afterwards we walked along Neil Rd, stopping ever so often to take pictures of the Peranakan Heritage houses. These houses are beautiful, one could just stare at the intricate and colourful facades.

Our walk led us to Everton Park, where we came upon Grin Affair. Grin Affair specializes in desserts in a jar. We were able to try only the Honey Lavender and the Matcha Adzuki. I quite like the Honey Lavender with the bursts of fresh blueberry makes it fun to eat. Whilst the Matcha Adzuki was pretty good, green tea and red beans one can never go wrong. I’m dying to try their Strawberry and Banofee in a jar.

What I really wanted was ramen what I actually bought was bento

The other night, we finished work really late. And most of the places that we want to go to has their last orders by 9.30pm. We could either go to Seoul Garden Hotpot at Cineleisure Orchard which closes at 2am on Saturdays, Siam Kitchen at City Square Mall which is pretty laid back with their last order timings or Ramen Ten at Far East Plaza which closes at about 1030. So we ended up at Ramen Ten this time. I actually wanted a steaming big bowl of oyakudon ramen. And then I looked to the left and the couple next to us were having bento, hmmm and I was easily swayed.

I had a chicken bento, the chicken was really moist, and was cooked in an eggy sauce. And so perfect with the hot rice. A meal without Idako is never complete, so we ordered a set. Idako is marinated baby octopus, sweet and chewy. The bento set came with sides like potato salad, a cup of chawanmushi (which they were out of and was replaced with agadashi tofu) and miso soup. So what I really like about their miso is that it’s milky, well probably because they add milk to the miso. But it’s just really really good. I dispensed with the formalities and just slurped from the bowl. It was satisfying!

Maple Swiss Roll by Iron Chef Sakai

Really loved this Swiss roll endorsed by Iron Chef Sakai. It comes in Maple, Matcha, Chocolate and plain. The maple Swiss roll was not overly sweet, it had a pudding like filling kinda like Creme Brûlée. As part of the current annual Kyushu fair at Tampines Mall, I rushed to get a few rolls. Chocolate was bittersweet and nutty, plain was nice and fluffy but the best was the maple, not so sweet and simply delicious. Loooooove it!