The Cafe Expedition

We all look forward to the weekend for various reasons.

Though it might only be two days, and technically (that is, if we want to be specific) only a mere 48 hours, it feels as if time does stop. For two whole days, your time is stretched, you are a bit more calm and you naturally have more time to do the things you've been planning to do all week.

Of course that's only a given if you do not have to work overtime or rush a deadline on a Saturday or Sunday. To sum it up - weekends are a luxury of many who are working and I am well aware of that especially since I relinquished my undergraduate status about 8 months ago.

Most of the time, I spend my weekends at home, relaxing with a cup of tea and a book. Mornings are spent reading the newspapers with soothing tunes chiming out of my speakers. At times there's work to be completed so I immediately switch on my laptop and busy myself for the rest of the day.

Then there are lovely weekends where my friends and I plan outings together and those, ah those are another thing altogether. Especially when it concerns the taste buds.

For some reason, I'm totally sold on the idea of weekend brunch. I would however admit that it's only a recent occurence to me. I never understood the idea because I like having my three meals and the anticipation that builds up as I think of what to eat for those three meals. I know it does sound really stupid but brunch just shortens my choices. Or at least that was what I used to think.

I won't deny it - I can be quite the greedy girl. I enjoy my meals thoroughly (delicious and tasty ones of course). Eating to me can never be a chore simply because I not only enjoy the process of consuming food that's carefully prepared, but also the excitement that comes with each bite or each new dish that I'm trying for the first time. This then leads me to another reason why I'm so eager to explore new eating grounds and if you love food as much as I do, I'm sure I don't need to explain further.

Also, other than the quality of the food and the ambience of the place, another major factor is of course the company.

Trust me, nothing dampens a bright perky sunny-side up (complete with crisp toasty bread!) than a companion who pushes his/her food around with a fork without ever intending to let that piece of food see the insides of his/her tightly sealed mouth. It might sound harsh but I see no joy in dining with someone who cannot understand why God created food. Believe me, I will cry if I ever have to eat pellets in place of food.

On a happier note, I will say that I have no lack of friends who share the same joy as I. The joy that is instantly recognisable from the tone of voice, a gleaming pair of eyes radiating with anticipation of what is to come from the kitchen, or a ready tummy all revved up to go. I really am thankful for these friends. You hear me (or rather read) mention them once in a while in this little space on cyberworld and alot of times, I wish I could share more with you, like the smells we smelled or the savoury, sweet, salty, spicy, sour tastes that we experienced and so on. But alas a simple blog can only do so much.

I know what I can do is to continue to supply you with photos (taken with the best of my ability, hopefully meeting your expectations) and wax lyrical with descriptive language. I try my best to make you salivate as do I, when I await for the food to arrive on my table, after a torturing time lounging in the well permeated smells of deliciousness.

Today is no different. Here's a peek into one of those planned weekends I have, and one filled with tasty things.

But first, let me introduce to you someone you most probably already know (since I mention her so often) especially if you had ordered cupcakes/cookies from me last year.

This is Butterscotch:



One half of Cocoa & Butterscotch which we created last year, this perky girl is a great friend of mine. She requested to remain anonymous, so you shall not get to see who she is. But yes, she is none other than my best friend Dot. Dot's a designer, and a very talented one at that. She's cool, quirky, cheerful, and upbeat and the best thing is that she loves food about as much as I do. And oh, she also has great fashion sense (in my opinion) and I always consult her whenever I face a style dilemma.

So anyway, she called me up two weeks ago asking me if we could go explore cafes for a project she's working on. So after discussing a bit on where we were going to go, it was set. The date, time and place of what was to be the first official documented Adventures of Cocoa & Butterscotch was born.

This first adventure was to be named The Cafe Expedition.

And so on a bright sunny Saturday last weekend, we set foot into town and proceeded to roam cafes, with a hungry vengence...




Yes we completed this expedition on foot. We are quite the energetic pair and love putting our sturdy feet to good use. :)

We went to three cafes located at two different places.

There was Dempsey Hill:



It was clearly touted as a paradise of which we have no violent objections. It is quite the charmer. I've been here before so it was nice to be back.

The two places we visited there was Barracks:




and of course (unsurprisingly!) PS. Cafe:




The other location was at Tanglin Shopping Centre. You should be careful not to judge this nondescript location because trust me, it will astound you with a gem such as this:



It claims to be the first deli in Singapore and although I do not have any evidence, I might as well believe it to be true. What gives, you ask?

Plenty it seems. From the chocolate peanut butter milkshake to their hearty sandwiches that come with a tame mound of coleslaw - everything here at Steeple's is authentic; authentically quaint and worthy of its 'first deli in Singapore' status.

A quick scan of their interiors send me back into the time machine. I would dare say that if I were to assume what a deli in the 80's would look like, this would be it. Afterall, they supposedly opened in 1981. Again, though I might not be able to prove that, I have photos to show:








Check out the chalkboard menu design and the ceiling-hung lamps. What about the wood furnishing and counter seats.



I loved every nook and cranny of this deli. I would describe it as a mild establishment with good food worthy of praise that need not be trumpeted out loud in order to lure steady customers. I do believe this place has a reputation for its sandwiches, burgers and milkshakes (yes I did google).

We had the BLT:




We chose rye bread and ordered a serving of sauerkraut to go with it:



It was memorable. Not so much 'knock your socks off' kind of memorable but more so in a home-style warm and fuzzy way. It's the place you would go to if you just want to down a sandwich with a good milkshake to go. In any case, the seating here will not allow you to lounge or chill-out long, unless you want to be the bane of other customers waiting for their turn at a delectable Steeple's Deli burger.

Of course it will not be fair to compare Steeple's Deli to PS. cafe, so I shall not. Instead, I will ramble on about the merits of the latter, on its own, as a gorgeous place to spend your entire Saturday afternoon at:



Don't ask me why but this area was closed when we were there. I forgot to take photos of the other section where we sat, but well, you can imagine yes :) Although you would forget that I even mentioned the decor when you see this baby:



The PS. burger is a sin worth commiting. It might very well be that apple in the garden of Eden that ever dieter craves they could chow on without having it affect their waistlines.

Indeed it is huge and it does look like it contains 5000 calories (or maybe more!). But you see, the cool thing about dining with someone who's game enough to eat bacon (fats and all) is that they are up for anything you offer, including a humongous burger that comes with crazy-good fries.

So the burger is a combination of juicy wagyu beef, crisp and smoky bacon, cheese, egg, spinach and tomato all packed in a big sesame seed bun. The buns are spread with a garlicky butter of sorts (if I remember correctly!) and act sas a neutral foil to the chockful of fillings.

The burger was shared among us and I was so excited that I happily announced to Dot that the burger was arriving as soon as I spotted the waitress carrying it and walking in our direction. Such is the extent of my greed - I have to spot my food because I cannot wait to have it.

That burger lived up to every ounce of our expectations. The meat was perfect, the bacon oh-so-good (i think it speaks for itself, really. bacon is bacon is bacon is divine) and the whole marriage of spinach with the rest of the ingredients is worthy of a silent W-O-W, mouthed with great effect.

Before I move on to the next eating venue, let me fawn over this elegant piece of china:



I had the digestive tea in this pretty little tea cup. I really like it. Then again, I love everything English don't I? I looked at the bottom of the cup and it said Queen Anne, Made in England. So hey, it's legit. Perfect prim and proper teacup ideal of those English afternoon teas. Hmmm..

Okay, you would think that after that burger, there was no way we could fit dessert into our satisfied tummies eh?

We did indeed feel full and therefore skip dessert at PS. Cafe, we couldn't help but order a strawberry shortcake when we sat down at Barracks after roaming round Dempsey for an hour or two. In that short time, I bought myself a bottle of Tetsuya Truffle Salt from Culina, while Dot bought some pistachio fairy floss from Jones the Grocer. Pretty efficient girls we are, aren't we? I do think we managed to squeeze out alot out of that Saturday last week.

Here's the strawberry shortcake with a shot of vanilla bean cream at the side for us to eat with the cake:




It was a relatively nice cake. No fireworks there although we did like that they presented it in a mess tin, which coincided with the Barracks theme. The two plump strawberries on top were appealing too.

We hung out at Barracks for quite a while because it started to pour, very heavily. We explored the place, we sat down a the sofa and looked out at the rain, patiently waiting for it to lighten up. When it finally did, it was about 5pm and we headed back to Orchard for some window shopping before going to Changi Village for somemore sinful food:



Fried oysters. Gosh, this oil-laden dish is heart-stopping (both sense of the word I'm afraid and happy to report). It is true how the tastiest foods are the most unhealthiest but when it comes to me and Dot, I don't think we care too much about it. Remember, moderation is the magic word. Don't worry, we don't have this everyday.

After dinner at Changi Village, we headed home with a big smile and a satiated tummy coupled with that occasional satisfying burp of course :)

P.S. We hope to have more food expeditions and will share them with you as we go along. For more photos, see our Cocoa & Butterscotch site. Have a great week!

________________________________________

Steeple Deli
#02-25, Tanglin Shopping Centre
19 Tanglin Road
Tel: +65 6737 0701

PS. Cafe
28B Harding Road
Tel: +65 6479 3343

Barracks
8D Dempsey Road
Tanglin Village
Tel: +65 6475 7787

PS. I love you

lf you don't like chocolate and cheese, you'd probably be bored by this post. Or you'd think that I'm just being biased because I happen to adore both said foods.

On the other hand, it might just be that I'm in love and you can't fanthom why. To some, it might seem trivial, but to me, it's the world.

Love happens when you discover your soulmate, or in this case, my soulthing! Hmmm or shall I say the dessert I've been dreaming about. I've found THE dessert and it's right smack in the middle of Dempsey, Singapore's latest culinary dream

I won't deny the fact that this is only the third time I've been to Dempsey. Until this year, I was still as student with a fixed allowance that would never suffice a meal at this delicious but a tad expensive classy gastonomical enclave.

Even if you're not familiar with the Dempsey Hill area, you would have heard of PS. Cafe. This well known cafe-style restuaurant sits right smack in the middle of the Dempsey area and has a beautiful ambience that reeks casual chic. Friends of mine who've been there rave about their desserts. This place has been one of THE places I knew I had to visit. I was elated when I found out my new foodie friend also wanted to go there. Trust me, had you been there and saw the excitement on our faces, you would have thought we had won the lottery.

Anyway, we went there on Wednesday and we were kind of lost at first. I forgot to take down the address and I didn't think there was a need to make reservations seeing that it was a weekday night. Nevertheless, we found the place, more so because the door we entered led us to this array of pure saccharine delight:



8 pretty cakes in the row - this has got to be PS cafe. It might have been my first time, but somehow I just knew this was going to be one helluva delicious night. Come on, don't tell me cakes don't tempt you? Okay, maybe I just love my desserts too much!

So we reached at 7pm and thankfully there were seats for Elsie and I. But here's the catch - we had to vacate by 8:30pm because there was a reservation at that time and they could only give us the table till that time. We didn't mind because we were really hungry.

The waiter saw me taking photos and told me it wasn't allowed. But they were really sweet - they told me I couldn't take photos of the food but I could take a photo of my friend and pan it down to the food so I would get a shot of the food still. Hmm... interesting. Well that's what I did... And Elsie took some shots too. Some photos you see here were taken by her.

Here's some shots of the interior:







I really like the red 'menu' wall where they scribbled all their new menu items. I was soooo tempted to get that dark chocolate banana cheesecake.

But we settled for something else eventually. And there were NO regrets.

Taking heed of many of my friends' advice to focus on desserts, I thought that it would be a better idea to just share a main course, allowing the limelight to shine on the desserts at the end. And that's what we did.

Oh and I would really like to give credit to whoever wrote the menu descriptions. Vivid and visual writing sure makes one drool and convinced. I was convinced the moussaka (SGD$22) was good, just from the item description which looked more like a 150 word bio than a one-liner that I'm so used to seeing in your typical restaurant menu.

Kudos too, to the chef who delivered. The moussaka was exactly as described and we loved it so much that I made sure every morsel was in my mouth. I'm afraid I didn't take a better shot of it, but here's just a version of what it looks like... well partially, after we scooped it out of the deep round baking dish:



That's Elsie, enjoying her portion :)

You'll see alot of her in this post. Remember what I told you the waiters said? Yes, I really took them seriously and 'pretended' to shoot Elsie while secretly taking shots of the food.

Sounds desperate but I really couldn't do without photos can I? How then would I be able to share with you dear reader the fantastic desserts?



May I now introduce to you the star of the night, the one who stole the limelight: Mr. Double Blackout Chocolate Cake (SGD$13.90). Drizzled with chocolate sauce and frosted with what must be the perfect dark chocolate fudge icing and served with a simple vanilla icecream, THIS dessert nearly knocked me off my seat. Trust me, it was so good until we nearly cried. I kid you not. I was smiling to myself and with enough forkful, I just beamed and beamed and kept repeating how this must be the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten.

Am I exaggerating? Maybe. But I still stick by my tastebuds. There's just something about this cake that's so sexy and so irresistable. It's the perfect cake to have when you're feeling down. I think any depressed person will snap out of their depression if given a slice of this cake. The cake was moist and not too sweet, and the chocolate sauce was more like melted chocolate, which is fabulous because I don't really like those artificial chocolate flavoured syrups.

The cake was so good that we neglected the other dessert a little. Okay, maybe we sort of nearly forgot about Mr. Carrot Cake (SGD$8.90). The carrot cake was good too, and it was a good pairing we felt. I don't think I could have done with two heavy cakes. Mr. Carrot Cake helped provide that balance we needed. Here's Elsie consoling Mr. Carrot Cake, trying to convince him that we loved him just as much:




There's one thing I'm curious about though. I just wonder who in the world came up with the recipe for the chocolate blackout cake. Or better yet, who was the pastry chef. I even told Elsie that I would marry the person who could make me that cake for the rest of my life. Hahahaha... Hopefully I will find a person like that some day. I am dramatic am I?

Soon enough, 8:30pm came and it was just nice. By then, we were done with our food and dessert and all set to leave. We decided to head off to Jones the Grocer to chill for a bit.

A friend had told me about the cheese room and I had to go see! So Elsie and I went into the freezing room at Jones the Grocer and got a Cheese 101 lesson from the Cheese Guy in charge for that night. I believe his name was Jan? I can't remember! Well we shall call him the cheese guy then! He was nice enough to let us try a couple of cheeses. All tasted really good and each had its own characteristics. I was pretty impressed. A slight warning though - if you really hate the smell of pungent cheeses, do not go in there. The smell can be quite strong. That said, it really dissipates after a while - I think that's when your nose gets accustomed to the smell.



Can you see the cheese room at the corner? It's a bit small, but hey, it's something! It's the first time I've ever been in a room with so many cheeses. Both of us were pretty intriguied and decided to get ourselves a cheese platter (SGD$19.50). The platter came with a nice wedge of quince jelly and 3 different cheeses: a brie, a blue cheese and a sharp cheddar like cheese.







And they served it with crackers and some figs as well. I must say, the quince jelly they gave really matched well with the cheeses. It provided an opposite tinge of sweetness that balanced out the sharp and sometimes salty cheese taste.

I was really into the whole cheese tasting thing, and here's proof:



I looked so serious! Elsie was trigger happy and decided to take more shots of me in my cheesey happiness with a really cheesy smile and cheesy pose with some yummy brie:



Yep that's brie I was spreading on the crackers. I think I could get the hang of cheese tasting. I love the idea and it's amazing how much depth there is to various cheeses depending on the type of milk used to the subtle changes that come with the addition of herbs, fruits or spices.

That night was super fun and after we were done with the cheeses (no we didn't finish all, we're not gluts! I packed the rest home for further tasting) we explored the rest of Dempsey. We ventured into House and I was seriously enthralled. I didn't know Dempsey was this beautiful. Have I been living under a rock?!

Perhaps! But it's okay because Dempsey's going to be seeing alot of me, and of Elsie! We're going to eat the whole of Demsey a little at a time. We are already planning on going back to PS. Cafe, this time with reservations so we don't need to rush through our desserts!

I want to try the sticky date toffee cake! And the flourless orange cake and the berry chocolate cheesecake and the brownies....... yes the list goes on. PS. Cafe, watch out, you're going to see alot of me, and Elsie of course!



Here's one more for the cameras - can't you tell how happy we were? Well I think our tummies were happier. This was the highlight of my week. Good food never fails to perk me up. And thanks Elsie for being such great company! It's always good to have a foodie friend who doesn't fuss about calories and gamely agrees to try anything! That's the way it should be. Food is all about exploring, not limiting; tasting and not just eating.

I love Dempsey and I adore PS. Cafe and of course Jones the Grocer. The cheeses are still in my fridge and I'm going to savour them slowly, a little at a time.

Cheers to good food and great company!

____________________________

PS. Cafe
28B Harding Road
Phone: 9070 8782/ 6479 3343
(Check website for opening hours)

Jones the Grocer
#01-12, Blk 9, Dempsey Road
Phone: 6476 1512