Lady M Confections & her Signature Mille Crepes @ Marina Square [Singapore]

Some of my old-time readers might be recall this post back in 2011 when i wrote about this unique mille (i previously thought it was spelled as millie) crepes at Classic Cakes [Sunset Way]. 

The mille crepes' popularity in the world actually spiked due to the success of a confectionery in New York known as Lady M. And as luck has it, that same confectionery has now opened its very first overseas store right here in Singapore! 

I was a few months late in trying but hey, better late than never right? Furthermore, the initial hype always means a long queue that could be very frustrating when the shop is still working out its local procedures / processes. 

My visit two days ago was the second as i lost quite a number of pictures taken in the first visit due to a faulty SD card. So, do note that all photographs published in this post were taken over two separate visits. 

With over ten cakes to choose from; each of them with an appearance as mouth-watering as the other, we were in fact very focused on what we wanted. The mille crepe of course! 

Signature Mille Crepes

Compared to Classic Cake's version, there was one thing that stood out from Lady M's mille crepes; the thicker layer of light pastry cream in between each piece of skin-thin crepe (there were twenty of those crepes, if you need to know).

Taste wise, i was primarily taken aback by the yummy lusciousness yet delicately scented vanilla paste with that irresistible hint of caramelised sugar!

It was only towards the end that i concluded that there was simply too much cream and i would very much prefer the more 'solid' texture by Classic Cake's mille crepes.

Green Tea Mille Crepes

I am deferring my comment to the Great Kon since i have never been a fan of green tea related foodstuff and in his professional judgment (as the main instigator for most, if not all, of our food expeditions), this would be very well-liked by green tea lovers.

For me, the tardiness and bitterness of green tea put me off. Likewise with the signature mille crepes, there was way too much cream and if you take too long, it would melt; making it extremely depressing to enjoy it further.

Strawberry Shortcake

When i talked to friends about strawberry shortcake, the ones at Gobi Dessert never failed to pop up in the conversation. Now, i would add in the one from Lady M which seemed to be more generous with strawberries! 

Tarte Aux Fruits

This was so pretty; it's hard not to get this! I admit i have had better (and maybe fresher) fruit tarts in Drips bakery but the shortbread crust in this tarte was definitely more flavorful.

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Location

No 6, Raffles Boulevard,

#02-103, Marina Square Shopping Mall

Website

http://ladym.com.sg/

Price

Signature Mille Crepes - $8.00

Green Tea Mille Crepes - $8.50

Strawberry Shortcake - $8.50

Tarte Aux Fruits - $10.00

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]

Menu

As above

Additional Information

Hungry for more than just dessert? Get your pick from the soups, salads and sandwiches available from the above tabletop menu.

For a relaxing afternoon after a heavy lunch, i would most likely order tea and refill the pot the moment it runs low. That should have been the case in Lady M. Unfortunately, there was no tea sachet and hence, no way for me to refill unless i order another pot. Bloody. 

Hakata Ippudo SG (一风堂) @ Westgate [Next to Jurong East MRT Station]

When Japanese ramen started gaining popularity a few years ago, i had the good fortune to try quite a number of reputable ramen restaurants that were specially brought in from Japan. 

The one that eventually caught my heart was Ippudo Ramen at Mandarin Gallery. Four years have passed since and today, i am going to blog on Ippudo's newest branch in Singapore's latest shopping centre; Westgate! 

You may refer to my original review here as i realised the items we ordered in Wesgate's Ippudo were exactly the same as what we had then. For example, the Hakata gyozas were as delicious, and as TINY as i remember. 

Tori Karaage was hot and juicy with a marvellous crunch; other than that, i could not find much flavour excitement in what was essentially a piece of deep fried chicken. 

Akamaru Shinaji - with miso paste and garlic oil, this tasted plain yet had a smooth savouriness that totally appealed to my middle-aged palate. It was a tad too oily initially although i eventually came to the conclusion i didn't mix as vigorously as i should from the start.

Noodles, surprisingly, didn't appeal to me. You could actually choose the texture you want (soft, medium, hard or very hard) and i guess i made the wrong choice; my fault, my responsibility. 

I didn't show the picture here but the main star for that day was definitely the two pieces of pork belly! The beginning dullness of the meat was quickly replaced with bursts of wonderful, succulent flavour as i slowly chewed through! Absolute bliss! 

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Location

3, Gateway Drive, #03-03, Westgate 

[Next to Jurong East MRT Station]

Price

Hakata Gyozas (5s) - S$7.00

Tori Karaage - S$8.00

Akamaru Shinaji - S$15.00

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]

Website (including menu)

http://www.ippudo.com.sg/

Additional Information

There seems to be more rules now; besides the common practice of not allowing you to be seated unless all members are present, you are not supposed to celebrate birthday in their premises and there is no such thing as takeaways or packing of leftover food! 

I took offence with the last one since i have a high tendency to over-order! And i don't see the point of wasting food i PAID for. 

Volunteering at Bukit Brown Cemetery Again and the Significance of 皇清 on Tombstones

It was a breezy Saturday morning at 9am and instead of lazing on my bed as i usually do on weekends, i was already standing right in front of the ancient gates of Bukit Brown Cemetery!

Our destination today was once again, a place i would unlikely venture to without proper guidance. See that red circle? That's where we were supposed to go and it was so deep in! 

The 'landmarks' would have to be these two Guanyin statues. Walk further in and you would reach the place where the four of us would be toiling our morning away. 

When i saw the patch of overgrown shrubs ahead of me, i thought it would not take too long for us to clear the area and i would likely be able to get back home comfortably by 12 noon.

Sadly, the facade was so deceiving! It was a few meters deep and after 30 minutes of hard labour, i honestly felt it was a mammoth task that bordered on the fringe of impossibility! 

Time to rest and enjoy the surrounding scenery!

After another 1 hour of continuous chopping, sawing and snipping, we managed to uncover more tombstones in lines of two at the back. Was this a cluster burial? There was also something very intriguing; the two words 皇清 on positions that would normally indicate the hometown of the deceased.

Ee-hoon called her friend to check out the tombs and before long, he came equipped with his trusty notebook, camera and chalk to record the newly exposed findings.

The chalk helped a lot to clarify the words! Anyway, i just checked the internet and there was in fact a post on the two words i mentioned earlier (in Chinese though; click here if you are interested). I was under the assumption 皇清 referred to the royal descendants of the deposed Qing dynasty but according to the post, it merely meant the citizens of the Qing dynasty. 

Anyway, it was another round of clearing and boy did we manage to clear a lot! To me, i thought this was way better than gym and in a way, more meaningful.

Found a liana that was shaped like a snake; my ultimate nemesis! It was so freaky to see it "bleeding" when i severed it. If it was a real snake, you would me scrambling far far away! 

More tombstones at the back! 

Ee-hoon striking a post! She loves to take our photographs even though we are very camera shy people and it was payback time! Not that it mattered much to her since she is a very sporty person.

Contrast this to the original picture i posted in the beginning of this post. Look so different right?!?!!? This was not even the "done" picture as I had to leave earlier due to a prior agreement to return home by 12 noon to return the car! The rest actually continued for another one more hour, i heard. 

Their commitment is really quite remarkable!

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Location of Tombs

Block 4, Division C

Peony Jade Clarke Quay - Food Tasting for a Wedding Banquet

I am hesitant to write of this food tasting session at Peony Jade as it was a done deal so long ago. Just to give you a small hint, i attended the wedding in September 2013 and the food tasting had to be much earlier than that!

Notwithstanding the above, i guess this post might still be beneficial for couples who are looking for venues to hold their wedding. I would have loved to blog about what i had on the actual day but the stress of being the emcee for the banquet made it impossible for me to concentrate on the food.

Sauteed Fresh Pawns with Salty Creamy Yolk

Creamy is the right word to describe the dish; this thick creaminess layered on the prawns set it apart from others competitors as it was infused with so much salted egg yolk flavour! 

Braised Premier Shark's Fin Bouillon 

with Dried Conpoy

Advocates of anti shark's fin soup would not be happy to see this but as i have mentioned to many, eating any living creature is cruel, even the hens who laid eggs are kept in horrendous conditions and they have to suffer all the way till the day they die! 

Coming back to the dish, the broth was really quite appetising and there were many thick pieces of fins that would appeal to the older generation who sees shark's fins as one of the must-haves in wedding banquets. 

Deep Fried Soon Hock Hong Kong style

I would have preferred the steamed version which could have easily brought out the freshness of the expensive fish even though this deep fried version was pretty good. 

Braised Broccoli with Abalone Mushroom

Abalone is an expensive ingredient that didn't quite impress me and i would rather put my hands up for abalone mushrooms! Besides the tasty mushrooms, the braised broccoli was a godsend featuring a soft yet crunchy texture. 

Roasted Crispy Free Range Chicken

Free range chickens would be what some farms tagged as "happy" chickens as they have a wider space to run about and hence, would not feel stressed compared to one living in a small hatch with hardly any room.

I, for one, loved the meat, the cracker and the thin, crispy layer of chicken fats! The rest found this quite normal; another piece of evidence to prove that i am in fact a very passive eater! 

Chilled Cream of Sago with Honeydew

Disregarding the last sentence for the happy chicken, this was just too normal and unfitting for a wedding banquet! In the end, a request was put in to change it to red bean paste on the actual day.

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A survey form was passed to the "newly weds" for their comments and it was obvious the feedback was taken seriously. Do take note, however, that cooking for one table versus cooking for twenty tables at one go can be incredibly stressful for anyone; hence, give and take a bit lah. 

After the sumptuous dinner, it was time to choose wedding favours! 

Selection was limited and i guess it would not surprise many that my pick was of course the uber cute piggies coin bank that came in bride and bridegroom outfit! 

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon (荷兰村xo鱼头米粉) - The Infamous One @ Block 19A, Dover Crescent [Singapore]

The famous Holland Village XO fish head bee hoon was at the same time infamous for their incredibly horrible customer service and this was something my friend personally encountered a few years ago when we visited.

As i mentioned, it has been a few years and the stall in Holland Village is now over at another place nearer to Singapore Polytechnic; which wasn't that far from its original location. The address has changed but from what i read online, the bad attitude remains as it is.

XO Fish Bee Hoon

XO鱼肉米粉

The milky broth was as delightful as i remember, with a heavy infusion of cognac that was surprisingly quite appetising for a man who doesn't hold his liquor well. Maybe it helped to have slices of garlic enhancing the flavour.

Fish meat was chunky although i would have expected nothing less for S$7. On the topic of XO in soup, Ms Thng brought up an interesting point; wouldn't it be easier if we bring along our own bottle of XO and add as much as we want.

Prawn Paste Chicken

虾酱鸡

In my honest opinion, the har cheong kai here was a much bigger star than the XO bee hoon; the crispy skin broke easily, revealing steaming hot chicken flesh that was optimally cooked and tasted so yummy with that desirable prawn paste aroma that wasn't excessively salty like some places! 

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Location

19A Dover Crescent, #01-05, 

Jumbo Coffee Hub [next to Singapore Polytechnic]

Map

As above

Opening Hours

11.30am to 2.00pm

5.00pm to 11.00pm

Price

XO Fish Bee Hoon - S$7 (1-person)

Prawn Paste Chicken - S$12