Loewen Garden's Farmers' Market

Who'd have thought there'd be a farmers' market in Singapore?  Thanks to my cousin, we've discovered a new spot to head to for breakfast "overseas".  Organised by The Pantry Cookery School, the Farmers' Market is held twice a month on Saturdays.  It's not quite the Borough Market that I love so much, but it's as good as it gets in Singapore I guess! 

There are stalls selling French Provencal produce, Spanish jamon & paella, Cornish pasties (I never thought I'd find them in Singapore!), artisan breads, UK beers & ciders (if I weren't preggers I'd prob pick up a pear cider!), pretty cupcakes, jams & spreads, and tapas-y olives, stuffed tomatoes, and artichoke hearts which I love!

You get the feel of being overseas, but you also pay as if you were overseas.  Things aren't cheap.  But since we were there to enjoy ourselves and the experience, we just closed one eye :)  

 The stall by Little Provence which imports foodstuff from that area in France.  The tapenades looked great, and I had difficulty choosing just one to buy home.  Will probably go back again sometime to buy home another flavour (or two, or three) :)  The one I got - green olives with sun-dried tomatoes - was heavenly!

 

 The 'rib-stickers'!  Didn't get one that day cos wanted space to try other things :)

Too pretty to eat!

A rare sight here

We bought a box of paella to try, and it was not bad, though I think I've tried better.

Yum yum yum

 

Bacon butty.  Can anything with bacon go wrong?

 

There's also a little shop called The Childrens Showcase that sold many pretty and unique things.  Not seen many of these products anywhere else, which arguably makes the price-tag worth it.  Lots of colourful melamine ware too (Jane!!  Are you still looking for them?).  I picked up 2 pairs of kid's chopsticks, and a giant bubble maker - which Asher currently enjoys playing with in a non-bubble-making way (more on this in a next post) :)

If I had a daughter, I think I'd be sooooo tempted to buy this!

 

I particularly liked that the place was very kid friendly.  There were many play areas and play things available - blocks, bead-chasers, riding toys, wire jeeps for pushing around, and a proper playground.  Asher made a new friend there too, a sweet older girl called Chloe.  She took a liking to him, and helped him climb up climbing frames, up the ladder to the slide (which is high and very fun!), and even slid down with him in tandem several times.  And Asher looked so happy, heh.   

Two very sticky children :)

 My breakfast the next morning - organic bread, tapenade, artichoke hearts, and sardines.  What a great way to start the day!

Firestation Gastrobar

Took the train and a bus from home to get to the old Bukit Timah Firestation. Brunch with the cousins again :) Asher was making eyes at a baby girl on the bus on the way there, so I think the trip was enjoyable for him :) The only downside was that it was such a hot day! Even though the walk from the bus stop to the cafe wasn't that far, I felt like I had melted away by the time I got there!









As usual, ordered Eggs Benedict. Think I'm unconsciously on a mission to find the best Eggs Ben in Singapore. How did this one fare? So-so. The Hollandaise sauce was not too bad, but the rest of the dish was forgettable. Nothing special to remember about it.










I think Anya and Asher's antics were far more memorable! They were happily chomping on Hoegaarden coasters :) I don't think we'll be seeing babies do beer endorsements on print adverts any time soon though.

Brunch @ Rider's Cafe

Went for lunch at Rider's Cafe with the cousins again.  I loved the drive to get there.  To me, it really felt like we were driving in a different country.  And it was especially amazing because we were just a stone's throw from the busy Bukit Timah Road, yet it was so tranquil with no tall buildings in sight.

The food was alright.  I had eggs benedict, as usual, but found that it was a little rubbery.  Can't beat the one at Prive Cafe which still tops my list of the best eggs benedict around. 

Anyway, the children were entertaining us with their antics.  Asher was sharing some corn rings with Anya, and while she seemed to thoroughly enjoy them, Asher took his corn ring and started rubbing it in Anya's hair!!  The sweet girl just happily continued eating her corn ring.  But eventually, she decided she had enough of Asher's nonsense, and started tugging at his shirt - "stop it!!"

Then they made up.  Asher fed Anya some of his corn ring - yes the one he rubbed through her hair :)

But the real story is that Asher was just resting his hand for a while and Anya stole a bite :)  She continued to eye his corn ring for quite a while thereafter hoping for another little nibble.

After our meal I brought Asher for a walk around the stables to look at the horses.  Actually, we sneaked in cos it's technically meant only for members, but I figured no one would really object if I was there just to show a baby what horses looked like!  I think he was quite intrigued. It would have been more fun if he could pat the horses though, but I didn't want to do that since they were someone's prize horses.  Didn't want to get blamed should the horse not perform well, fall ill or something...

Anyway, as a random side note, the vicinity of Rider's Cafe is really lovely for taking wedding pictures if you like wide, green, open spaces.  Don't think I've seen anyone's wedding pics taken there yet.

Well, I think Rider's Cafe is definitely somewhere we can go back to again just for the ambience.  For a good eggs ben, I'm sorry, I'll be headed to Prive Cafe again :)

Brunch @ Prive Cafe

It had been a while since I met up with Joce and Joanne, and in the spirit of continuing with these early Saturday morning activities, we agreed to meet at Prive Cafe at Keppel Bay for brunch.









I had heard that the restaurant Prive was very expensive, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that Prive Cafe had an affordably priced menu! I simply had to order the smoked salmon eggs benedict, one of my all time favourite breakfast dishes. My gosh. Prive Cafe has the best eggs ben I've tried so far, ever! The eggs were done to perfection! Not chewy, not hard, not too soft - just perfect. The yolks were firm on the outside and runny on the inside, and they could even separate easily from the whites! The sauce and salad complemented the eggs wonderfully, but surely, the stars of the show were the eggs. Mmmm....I must go back there to have them again! Hopefully the eggs ben will be as I remember it!

As always, it was fun to watch the babies interact. They even had a baby conference to discuss...I'm not quite sure what...but I'm sure it must have been important :)





















Anyway, a funny snippet from the morning. Asher was active as usual, but at one point he was quiet and was sitting still on my lap. I thought it was quite curious and looked down to see what he was doing, only to discover that he was happily chewing on a packet of sugar! No wonder!!! Thank goodness it didn't really tear open. Imagine the sugar high he would have had (and that I would have had to deal with) if it did!

Brunch @ Jones the Grocer

Yes, more brunch appointments. Jon and I have found Saturday mornings to be the best time to meet people cos we're already up anyway. But precisely because it's a Saturday morning, we find we tend to meet with people who themselves have children. Why else would anyone else by up so early on Saturday?? Unless, as in Debs case, it is because of work.

Met Del, Debs and Anya at Jones the Grocer. Jon and I have been there to browse through their stock of groceries, but we've never actually eaten there. The prices are a bit steep, but the food is good. In particular, their pancakes were superbly fluffy! I have since found a way to replicate that - it's all about the egg white! :)

Anyway, we had breakfast, the kids had breakfast, Aunty Debs kindly and generously treated us, and we all were happy :) What more can you ask for on a Saturday morning?

Dolce Vita

A couple of girlfriends and I have birthdays which are close to each other, so instead of celebrating multiple times in a short span of 3 weeks, we decided to just combine the celebrations into one splurge.

Brunch at Dolce Vita at Mandarin Oriental was definitely an indulgence. It was an a-la-carte buffet, and there was a wide variety of starters, mains and desserts to try. They offer a free-flow champagne option, but we decided to just go for the juice version of the buffet, which I thought was good enough since all the juices were freshly squeezed.

Everything on the menu sounded really good and we wanted to try them all! Unfortunately, there just simply was not enough tummy space. Still, I think we covered most of the menu!

Here's what I had for starters (yes, just me! I've not yet included the other stuff my friends had!):


Complimentary selection of cold cuts, drizzled with pesto








Fresh rock oysters with mignonette sauce & lemon








Terrine of fois gras with fig chutney and caramelized brioche








Raw marinated beef tenderloin with truffle vinaigrette and mushrooms






And actually I had the veloute of asparagus as well, but I had dived into it forgetting to take a picture :) I thoroughly enjoyed the starters, especially the veloute and the fois gras. The veloute was so creamy and smooth, it was like silk running down your throat. The flavour was subtle, yet rich, making it a lovely and warming starter. It was so good, I had two! For a quirky twist, they served it in little espresso cups :) The fois gras was good too, done in two different styles - pan fried and as a terrine. The flavours were bold and the fois gras melts in your mouth - perfect!

Mains:


Cod fish fillet with artichokes and capers









Pan fried beef tenderloin with potato gnocchi and rosemary jus








Aquarello risotto with black Piedmont truffles








Osso bucco served with polenta







Again there another dish I did not take pictures of - the baramundi fillet with basil risotto. I'll be hard-pressed to say which main course I liked the best. The truffle risotto was creamy and not too heavy, beef was superbly tender and had a robust flavour, the osso bucco was hearty and comforting, and the fish dishes were just very well done! Try them all!

And finally, for desserts:


Tiramisu with almond-coffee











Variation of Valrhona chocolate











Red wine poached figs with gingerbread ice-cream








Pistachio sabayon gratinated forest berries with pistachio ice-cream and raspberry sorbet







Caramelized vanilla form with marinated citrus fruit ragout and vanilla sorbet








As you can tell, I definitely saved space for dessert. In fact, I had two tiramisus, and two caramelized vanilla foams! I liked how all the desserts came with the Oriental motif on a little square of chocolate. Again, if you go for the buffet, just try all the desserts! You won't be disappointed. The vanilla foam was something new that I had never heard of before. It was a refreshing dessert, light, cool and citrusy. A good way to end a heavy meal! The fruits and sorbet were not evenly spread throughout the foam, which I liked, because that made each mouthful a bit of a surprise.

Surprisingly I was not as stuffed as I thought I would be though, and it was probably because we had a slow and leisurely brunch which lasted three hours! We were one of the first to arrive, and the last to leave :) I thoroughly enjoyed the spread, and it's something I would certainly consider going back for again!