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Showing posts with label - Toast. Show all posts

Saturday 9 November 2013

After You Dessert Café at Siam Paragon (Thailand, Bangkok)

Shibuya Honey Toast with Honey Syrup 165 Baht (S$6.88)

After You Dessert Café; a cafe chain started by a 30 year old Thai lady called Kulapat “May” Kanokwatanawan has been highly raved about online. The cafe specialises in serving toasts and desserts. After You Dessert Café has several outlets in Bangkok. We visited the outlet in Siam Paragon (next to Siam Exchang BTS station) on a weekday at 930pm. The cafe is located at the basement of Siam Paragon, the same level as where Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is located at.

After You Dessert Café at Siam Paragon was modern, cozy, clean and bright. With its wooden furnishing, it looked so inviting and homely.

Although we arrived at 930pm, the cafe was full. There were a few benches located in front of the cafe which gave an indication of the crowd during peak hours. Fortunately for us, the screen located in front of the cafe started flashing our queue number soon after we got the queue number. We were lead to a table located at a corner of the cafe. The cafe seemed popular among the younger generation.

This was the menu on the table. The words were relatively small in size. If you would prefer you can get the A3 menu located at the entrance. It was more enticing as there were colourful photos of the toasts and desserts on it.

Customers would need to order and make payment at the counter.

Honey Syrup and Utensils

There were two staff at the counter where I made my orders and payment. One staff keyed in my order and collected payment while stood behind listening and preparing the utensils for my table. When I got back to my table, the utensils and honey syrup was already brought back to my table! So efficient! We were given the honey syrup as we ordered the signature Shibuya Honey Toast.

Chocolate Lava 145 Baht (S$6)

The Chocolate Lava priced at 145 baht (S$6) was one of the items highly raved about on the internet.

The Chocolate Lava consisted of a small, soft, warm chocolate sponge cake with molten chocolate in it. A scoop of vanilla ice cream and chunks of strawberries were served with it.

Chocolate Lava 145 Baht (S$6)

Look at the molten chocolate flowing (oozing) out! The chocolate sponge cake was delicious! It was not sweet and not overly fluffy. The molten chocolate was out of this world. The bitter warm chocolate flowed out slowly as it was so viscous. Each bite of the sponge cake together with the molten chocolate literally got us on a high. Irresistible! Shiok!

The vanilla ice cream deserved a mentioned too as it was not only sweet and yet flavourful.

Shibuya Honey Toast 165 Baht (S$6.88)

The signature Shibuya Honey Toast cost 165 Baht (S$6.88).

The Shibuya Honey Toast was essentially a thick big chunk of oven baked toast with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sugar icing on top. At the side, there was another scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. As you can see from the photo above, the toast has been partially sliced into 9 pieces.

The toast, the most essential component (which can make or break the whole experience) was very well executed; baked to perfection! The exterior of the toast was crispy and slight hard (an important factor for not only the taste department, but also to ensure that the weight of the ice cream on top does not cause the bread to sink in) whereas the interior was warm, soft, fluffy and full of buttery fragrant! Yes, butter was probably added into the toast when it was still hot just before serving!

The burst of different temperatures, flavours and textures in one mouthful was overwhelming (in a positive way) as the different senses in the tongue were teased. Superb! Even the non-dessert person in the group praised this.

Matcha Toast 195 Baht (S$8.13)

The Matcha Toast was similar to the Shibuya Honey Toast. It cost slightly more than the Shibuya Honey Toast. The main difference was that instead of vanilla ice cream, Matcha (green tea) ice cream was used. In addition, Matcha powder was sprinkled on top of the ice cream. The Matcha ice cream was surprisingly good with a great balance in sweetness and green tea flavour. Outstanding!

As the portion of the toasts are big, this is best shared between 2 to 3 persons.

Although we might have seemed to have ordered too much, we polish off all 3 items! The tag line in After You Dessert Café says it all "There's always room for desserts".

There was free flow of ice tea at the side of the cafe for all customers.

I highly recommend After You Dessert Café! This is a die die die must try! We had no regrets ordering the 3 dishes. Ironically, this place which I am highly recommending does not serves authentic Thai Food. Price wise, although it was on the higher end, I thought that it was money well spent (worthwhile) as the food good! The Chocolate Lava and Shibuya Honey Toast were totally out of this world. Do give it a try and let me know what you think.

ps: if you intend to patronise during peak hours, be prepared to queue/wait for as long as half an hour.

After You Dessert Café (Thailand, Bangkok)
Siam Paragon Ground Floor (basement), beside Gourmet Market
991 Rama 1 Road
Khet Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Tel: +66 02 610 7659
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 1030pm
Website

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Saturday 25 May 2013

Wang Cafe (Changi Airport)

Wang Cafe first started off in Bugis in 1953 and was known as Wang Jiao. Over the years, it has restructured, revamped and rebranded itself and is now known as Wang Cafe. Having built up its reputation slowly, it has expanded into a chain of outlets specialising in serving kaya toast, soft boiled eggs, coffee and tea. A similar concept to Ya Kun and Toastbox.

The outlet at Changi Airport Terminal 1 basement was filled to the brim with customers. Had to wait a fair bit before we managed to get a table.

There was also a long queue as there was only one counter. I ordered the Chicken Macaroni Set which comes along with drink, Kaya Butter Toast and Chicken Macaroni Toast. Changed the drink to Milo.

Chicken Macaroni Set $6.20

This was what was served. Nothing fantastic about the milo and toast. In fact, the standard of the toast was terrible when compared to Ya Kun's version.

Chicken Macaroni

The reason why I ordered Chicken Macaroni was because, I had wanted something soupy and is a Chinese dish (before I fly off to Europe).

The Chicken Macaroni was disappointing. The portion of chicken and macaroni given was pathetic and the soup was laden with MSG.

I can't believe that I wasted my last meal in Singapore having such food.. Even the food on the airplane tasted so much better. I am boycotting Wang Cafe.

I hope no one would be offended by the 'harsh' honest post..

Wang Cafe (Changi Airport)

Changi Airport Terminal 1 Arrival Hall

80 Airport Boulevard

Tel: 6448 7300

Opening Hours: Daily 24 hours
Website

Thursday 7 March 2013

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe 早安南洋 (Sembawang) 2nd Post

*Edited on Aug 2013: Good Morning Nanyang Cafe at Sembawang Shopping Centre has closed*

It has been almost one and a half years since I came back to Good Morning Nanyang Cafe. Good Morning Nanyang Cafe has a similar business model to Toast Box, Killiney and Ya kun, specialising in breakfast sets such as kaya toast, coffee, tea and half-boiled eggs. In addition, they also ventured into serving Local Delights such as Laksa, Mee Siam, Egg Noodles and Mee Rebus. A smart move as they not only capture the breakfast crowd but also ensure that they capture the lunch and dinner crowd with these piping hot dishes.

As usual we visited its branch at Sembawang Shopping Centre on Saturday at 9am in the morning. The cafe was full of customers. We had to wait a short while before we could get a table. Although Good Morning Nanyang Cafe was not big in terms of floor area, they had many tables and chairs position systematically in rows. Coupled with the fact that the turnover was fast, I noticed that most customers did not have to wait more than 5 minutes for a table.

The process to order and collect orders are similiar to their competitors (i.e. Ya Kun, Toast Box). Customers will be required to proceed to the counter to queue and make their orders. After that they would be required to collect their drinks, half boiled eggs and a queue tag number. The queue tag number is used by the serving staff to identify the customers who have ordered toasts and/or local delights items (items that would require sometime to prepare).

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe decoration is simple with a rustic feel.

The Toast Sets.

Local Delights.

I ordered Set C - Orange Ciabatta Toast which is priced at $5.20. I was served with two half-boiled eggs, Orange Ciabatta Toast and a cup of coffee or tea.

2 Half-Boiled Eggs

Ya Kun's half boiled eggs are still the best. They are always big and perfectly cooked. In this case, I felt that Good Morning Nanyang Cafe's version is slightly undercooked as some of the egg white were still transparent. Nevertheless, this was still quite well-executed and delicious. I have encountered much worse off half boiled eggs. The main issue I have with Good Morning Nanyang Cafe's eggs were that I wish the staff would crack the eggs for us like Ya Kun instead of requiring customers to do it themselves.

Orange Ciabatta Toast

The Orange Ciabatta Toast was the highlight. This was the reason why we came back to Good Morning Nanyang Cafe.

Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made from yeast and flour, normally elongated in shape. In this case, it was flat and baked into a square shape. In addition, as it's name suggested, it was infused with orange flavour which is likely from to have come from orange peel. The Orange Ciabatta Toast was served with butter and kaya spread sandwiching two pieces of toast. The kaya is freshly made daily. It had a more aromatic compared to Ya Kun's with more coconut flavour. Shiok! This is a must try when you are at Good Morning Nanyang Cafe.

Coffee

The coffee was much better than the tea I had during my previous visit. In addition, it was aromatic.

If you are interested to read about my review on their Laksa and Mee Rebus, you may click here for my previous post.

I would strongly recommend Good Morning Nanyang Cafe's Orange Ciabatta Toast. It will be an entirely different foodie experience compared to Ya Kun's toast.

Sembawang Shopping Centre Shuttle Bus

Sembawang Shopping Centre Management has recently changed the free Sembawang Shopping Centre Shuttle Bus Service routes (effective date - 18 Feb 2013). Quite sad to note that the shuttle bus no longer ply the route near my house. It is now less convenient for my family and I to visit the shopping mall. Used to visit patronise Giant, Gong Cha, Daiso, Popular and of course Good Morning Nanyang Cafe quite often. With the change, I am unlikely to visit the shopping mall anytime soon. After all, I have another shopping mall 10 minutes walk away. I wish that the management will revert to the original bus route. But well, that's very unlikely..

~~Good Morning Nanyang Cafe 早安南洋 (Sembawang)~~
~~604 Sembawang Road~~
~~#01-01 Sembawang Shopping Centre~~
~~Tel: 8133 1882~~
~~Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 9am – 9pm~~
~~Sat–Sun & PH 8.30am – 9pm~~
Facebook

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe 早安南洋 ( Hong Lim Green Community Centre)

20, Upper Pickering Street Singapore

Tel: 8133 1882

Opening Hours: Mon–Fri 730am – 730pm

Sat, Sun & PH 830am – 530pm

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe 早安南洋 (Turf City)
200 Turf Club Road
The Grandstand #01-34A
Tel: 8133 1882
Opening Hours: Daily 9am to 9pm

Saturday 17 September 2011

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe 早安南洋 (Sembawang)

*Edited on Aug 2013: Good Morning Nanyang Cafe at Sembawang Shopping Centre has closed*

First ate at Good Morning Nanyang Cafe at its Chinatown’s outlet. Back then there was only that outlet and I have not started this blog. The Chinatown outlet was too far for me to visit frequently. I was thrilled when I heard that they have recently opened another outlet at Sembawang Shopping Centre. I have been craving for their Orange Ciabatta Toast for sometimes!

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe is similar to Yakun, Killiney and Toast Box seling breakfast sets such as Kaya Toast, half boiled eggs, coffee/tea. Their differentiation point is their kaya(which is home-made) and Orange Ciabatta Toast.

Decided to visit this place for late lunch (230pm) on a Sunday.

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe seems to have undergone some changes. The signage has changed. The menu has changed with some new items. The price has also changed. One thing I must mention is that their location at Sembawang Shopping Centre is a prime location! It is located Just along the main entrance of the shopping centre. With the glass walls, anyone who walks into the shopping centre will definitely see Good Morning Nanyang Cafe!

Moreover, noticed that the shop was quite crowded (230pm to 4pm). More than Fish & Co next door which was virtually empty except for one customer.

Notice the sink hidden at the left? Now you can crack your half boiled eggs and eat your toast with ease without the need to walk to the toilets to wash your hands.

Menu: Toast Sets and Local Delights

Tea

The tea was too sweet. Should have ordered their coffee instead since everyone (online) has been praising about its coffee.

Queue Number Tag

Queue number tag for the rest of the orders (Orange Ciabatta, Laksa and Mee Rebus).

Laksa $4.00

Surprisingly, the Laksa was served faster than the Orange Ciabatta. There were pieces of dried toufu, fish cakes, hums, 1 whole piece of hard boiled egg, a piece of prawn accompanied by thick bee hoon. The prawn was firm and has been de-shelled, it was fresh. The laksa gravy was slightly spicy. As a whole, it was not lousy nor was it fantastic. Felt it could have been more fragrant and that more dried shrimps could be added. For now, I would still prefer 928 Yishun Laksa (have been almost 1 year since my last visit there).

Mee Rebus $3.60

I am not an expert in eating Mee Rebus (can’t comment much). The sauce was not bad accompanied by yellow noodles, beansprouts, toufu, 1 whole hard boiled egg, 1 piece of lime and pieces of green chilli.

Orange Ciabatta Toast $2.80

Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with yeast and wheat flour.

The Orange Ciabatta is unlike the tradition toast you get in Yakun and is much softer. It is baked with orange peel served with butter and kaya spread. It arrived warm and came slightly later than Laksa! (though that Laksa would come later as some cooking is required. Much effort has been done to make this Ciabatta.) Oh yes, did I mention that the kaya is home-made. The Kaya tasted different from Yakun’s and was much more fragrance (not overly sweet) with a hint of coconut. I can eat this everyday! Yummy

The Orange Ciabatta is a must try! Because of this item, I would rate this as a ‘die die must try!’ store.

Shuttle Bus Schedule

The good news is that there is free shuttle bus to Sembawang Shopping Centre for residents living in Yishun, Sembawang and Woodlands. The bus service is quite frequent. Operating hours of the bus service is stated in the flyer above.