one thousand angels.. that would rather be in heaven.

a suggestion by claire.  its actually called tea cozy.. but i think everyone just calls it one thousand angels.  she hadn't been able to make it for brunch lately because of her kid and was trying to get everyone together for a sunday meet up... and i think plaza singapura was a central location.  let's go with that idea.  god knows why else you would go there.  ok.  maybe i'm a biased snob.. but come on.  a tea house.. in a mall.. beside a spotlight?  i went a bit early thinking i would get a cup of tea in and relax before anyone else arrived.  and i did have time.  just that no one came over to take my order.  for a half an hour!  claire did make a good reservation.  we got the luxurious leather chairs (with price tags asking $1000 for each, even though people had been sitting in them since the beginning of time and they were scratched and stained.. and....).  the menu was interesting - offering high tea things like scones and cupcakes as well as wannabe american items like club sandwiches, steak and potatoes and lasagne.  and.. more interesting.. they had a full page for their special cupcakes.  yum!  until i stood up to look at them.  and i couldn't see them. not because they weren't on display, but because they were the size of my thumbnail.  ok, maybe not THAT small.. but for $15.00 a piece?  cup-morsels they should be called.  humph.

so not many ladies actually showed up.  not that i blame them.  it was kinda dusty, and drab and the place was chock full of small little white angel statues.  you know the ones that your grandmother's friend, the weird quiet one down the street that offers you stale cookies has all over her house.  yep. and they were all for sale.  it was busy, crowded and noisy.  and super over priced.  like raffles high tea prices.  only this ain't raffle's baby.  and the food was miniscule.  laura just ordered hot chocolate because honestly, the menu was odd.

i ordered the tofu salad and scones.  the scones were the size of a silver dollar.  the tofu salad was just that, cold tofu over iceberg lettuce. what the? the english breakfast tea was nice though.  but then.. how can you go wrong there?

yeah.  i don't know. meh.  meh place. meh conversation.  meh food. meh service. crazy stupid prices (for said meh food).  1 star.

Tea Cozy aka One Thousand Angels.
05-10 Plaza Singapura.  beside Spotlight. yay!
68 Orchard Road
Tel: 6341 9318

the barracks or house or who cares.....

this was a weird one.  everyone i've talked to in singapore told me this was the place for brunch. especially for their world famous sliders.  which essentially are small pork burgers with steamed buns.  which was not something i would order. ever.  so yeah.. 

i called the day before and it was quite hard to actually nail down the name of this place.  its listed as the barracks or house or i'm not really sure.  i called a few numbers before i could finally make a reservation.  and then, really did it matter?  there were loads of empty seats when we arrived.

it was just me, lizzie and laura for this morning's feast.  laura didn't order pancakes, cause why would you? 7 layer pancakes - 7 layers of fluffy butter pancakes with hidden gems and spreads like nutella, green raisins, dried apricots, maple syrup,  hazelnuts and pistachios. ok, maybe they sounded good, but not like brunch good, more like dessert good.  so instead she ordered  the very berry stuffed french toast  she's vegetarian, so i love going for brunch with her. it doesn't make me stand out as the only freak in the group.  lizzie ordered the asparagus and poached eggs  from the 'good for the heart' menu .  and me?  huh.  i ordered the macadamia crusted pumpkin with argula salad.  actually it was very nice to be able to order something off the menu that was pretty much vegan.  it only had some weird cream sauce thing on top...so i didn't have to call out the chef and get him to whip me up a special dish. since it was just salad...and our brunches usually last for hours i thought i might be hungry so ordered taro chips on the side.

the service was odd.  i think its a singaporean thing, where different meals come out at different times, and apparently it takes an hour to make a cappuccino. ok, in reality it was more like 45 minutes to make 2 cappuccinos.  lucky for me i had ordered english breakfast tea. the taro chips came right away and we all dug in.  but then, ugh.  waaaay too much oil  i'm not sure if it was the tea or the chips.. but i was nauseous. i never get nauseous in the morning.  especially when i am eating.  and no,  it was not morning sickness, so don't even ask.  it went away after i stopped eating the chips and had a few bites of lizzie's dry toast.

the macadamia encrusted salad i ordered was bland. essentially it was a massive slice of baked pumpkin covered in a weird mayonnaise wannabe sauce on one side and a rocket salad on the other.  ok, the salad was ok.  really, how can you screw up rocket with oil and lemon?

laura and lizze were patient; as patient as one can be waiting an hour (right, 45 minutes) for a cappuccino.  but they didn't finish their meals either and we didn't  stay for dessert which sucks because they have warm chocolate toffee cake on the menu which in my mind must be a delectable mix of hot lava cake and warm sticky toffee pudding.. two of my most favourite things on earth.. mmm....

maybe i should have been worried when i went to the bathrooms.  actually, maybe not.  the bathrooms are pretty damn cool with quotes and poems and stuff on the walls.  and they are clean.  and they are attached to the building.. .what?  but.. but...what respectable restaurant titles their bathrooms 'pussy cat' and 'rooster' ladies and men's respectively?  guess it could have been worse.  they could have called the men's 'cockadoodledo'... or just right to the point.. 'cock'.  but the real story of the day was that a) i'm seeing someone new and b) laura has invited her boy from bali to visit her for two weeks.  what?  i know!  which one of those is hardest to believe?!?!  oh and c) lizzie was not impressed at all about either... mwha....

one thing i'll say, dempsey hill is the shit.  its a really cool little village. and it makes one (me) wish she still had her car.  but its an easy taxi ride from holland village. and worth it just to wander round the furniture shops after eatings, dreaming of furnishing that massive old colonial house with hand carved teak chairs and gorgeous silk throws by the riverside that one (me) will have one imminent day.  dempsey hill, i think was made for sunday brunch.  and the barracks did serve me my tea, early, and really, there are not that many things better whilst living in hot humid singapore than a cup of hot tea in sub zero air conditioning on a sunday morning.  so, not a complete fail. so 2.5 stars. 

Dempsey House
80 dempsey road
tel 64757787

baci....blah....

Life is simple and beautiful.
Be grateful for what you have.
Want little.
How to be happy?
Find something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Even little things count.
A strong hot coffee and sweet biscuit will help start the day right.
When the sun shines, be happy for the light.
When it rains, be happy for the earth.
Love and respect the people around you.
Be kind to yourself.
If it's time to eat, enjoy every bite.
If it's time to work, enjoy every effort.
Every single moment of life is precious, so be there in the moment.
Your presence is beautiful.
- Love and kisses, from Baci.

baci re-creates an authentic italian experience, serving quality Italian coffee and fresh, café-style food in a neighbourhood setting inspired by European coffee culture, where people relax, share, and enjoy each other’s company. together with highly experienced chefs, baci’s deliciously unique recipes are inspired by italian classics, using only natural, fresh ingredients. it also strives to avoid adding any artificial additives such as colours, flavours and sweeteners...... which is what the menus said..... AND.... which looked fantastic!  seriously.  it was such a quaint little cafe.. you could literally taste the cappuccino on your lips when you walked in. clean, italian, white, crisp and empty.  a perfect place for sunday morning brunch.  and because it was so lovely italianio i decided to go a bit loco and bruschetta.  cappuccino and bruschetta.  are you kidding me?  i was drooling with the possibility of the deliciousness of my breakfast (not to mention the insane chocolate lava cakes on the menu for desert)  and then laura ordered pancakes.  DOH!  no pancakes.  what the? what?  pancakes were right their written in lovely italian script on their special 11-2 brunch menu, and it was just past 11 on sunday morning but they were out of pancakes.
"out of pancakes?  how can that be?  can your chef not cook some more?" i asked.
"no," the waitress said.
"i don't understand," i said.
"we are out of flour," she said.
"huh." i said, completely perplexed.  a restaurant at 11:00 am on a sunday morning with a special brunch menu....out of flour?!?!?
there was no making of any sense out of that one.  and laura could not be made to order anything else.  not that i blame her.  when one's heart is set on a lovely description of banana pancakes, fluffy and light with real maple syrup on the side, its hard to settle for scrambled egg on toast.  which would explain why the restaurant was empty.  on a sunday morning.  just past 11.
so we got up and left.

we wandered around 112 katong looking for someplace, somewhere else, for breakfast... and finally settled on a random restaurant, chinese wannabe western, where i had to order pasta because there was no brunch menu, no toast, no vegetables, no recognizable anything. well, maybe there was something but at the time kathy had just told me that whitney houston had just been found dead and my brain was in shock.  i mean, what? how?  why?  my heart is broken.  what a waste.  what a sad sad waste. 

ha!  baci you suck.  you and your lame flour.
1 star (for the possibility)

 Baci Italian Cafe
#01-07  112 Katong    112, East Coast Road
 Tel: 6636 3544

wild honey... that's not so wild.

 this wasn't a brunch thing, more like a lunch thing, just me and laura.  but wild honey serves all day breakfast.  and its a popular little joint.   a bit hard to find on the third floor of mandarin gallery on orchard.  not as hard to find as the washrooms though.  NOT included with the restaurant but in the mall, down the hall, and around the corner, and then down another hall.

i was excited to go to wild honey.  their website is awesome.  it just makes you drool. their restaurant is nice... but small... there was only two of us, so we fit nicely at our table.  but as i looked around the restaurant it was hard to picture where all 5 of us brunch ladies would sit and how long would we have to wait for a table on a sunday morning... and then there was the attitude.  you know the one when you walk into a louis vitton store or a a tiffany's. a hush in the air, a slight shift in the eyes as you are upraised, a small tilt to the head as you majestically led to your table.. yeah..a bit pretentious for me.  i mean its breakfast for god's sake. 

after we were most graciously shown to our table, because we were so lucky that they had space for us...we had to go up to the cash register to order.  why? there were servers milling all around.  why is it so difficult for them to take orders?  maybe they were trying to go for a new york deli style.  which would have been cool and fitting, considering the menus were written with chalk paint on a large blackboard but then why have servers show us to our seats?

the manager or owner or head honcho was there to take our orders.  a chef from new mexico. which was cool to talk to the chef. who showed us through his suped up menu on the ipad with lovely professionally done photos.  but damn.. can i say confusing?  and odd.  i know he created the dishes so he's all proud of them, but he was so, almost difficult, when i asked for the californian without eggs. he was almost insulted because then the vegetables wouldn't stay together as well. i'm well aware of what eggs will or will not do for a dish.  but i am also aware that i am the customer and a vegan and i don't want eggs.  same for laura, she ordered the mexican without ..... and he wasn't happy about that.  so then you have to pay straight away. which made life totally difficult when i ordered a cappuccino later.  and can i say fack me?  that's one expensive breakfast. over $50.00 for two dishes?

and as the owner/manager/head honcho spent an eternity taking us through every menu item on the ipad a line formed behind us.  a long line.  of hungry customers.  who had to go through the same spiel after us.  with growling stomachs.  odd.  just give me a damn menu at my table and be done with it.

the food, was fantastic.  even without eggs.  it was really well done.  the bread on the californian was lovely.  toasted to perfection. soft inside, crispy outside.  and on each table is a small dish of real sea salt, like the big chunky kind, that really gives you a good kick of salt for your sprinkle.

so me and laura had lots to talk about, she having just returned from weeks of touring bali and being romanced by the balinese and me just having returned from a week in yoygakarta and not being romanced at all.  not true.  i am/was being romanced by a lovely singaporean local who is burning up my whatsapp daily.  he's smart, handsome, and makes me laugh.  he's also only separated from his wife and a lawyer.  hence my dilemma.  not sure what makes him harder to trust; the separation from his wife or that he's a lawyer.

after about 2 hours of in-depth conversation, laura has advised me to not think too much about it and just enjoy it.  huh.  easier said than done to a virgo.  i think too much about what i'm going to eat (no. really?  cause i only write a blog about the food i eat, nothing OCD about that).

so wild honey.  huh.  an enigma.  either a deli or an expensive restaurant?  what are you?  cappuccinos are

divine. even with soy milk.  food was delicious.  restaurant set up is odd. ordering is a nightmare.  prices are way too high, even if your address is on orchard street.  its breakfast for god's sake!  so yeah 3.5 stars.  provided you do NOT go on a sunday.. and before the crowd.... cause there's no reservations... what?

Wild Honey
Mandarin Gallery   333a Orchard Road  3rd floor
TEL: 6235 3900

i loves me some bali thai

 kathy, isa,bella me and laura hit bali thai after our vacation... and had a mini re-vacation.  it wasn't really a brunch place... no eggs, bacon or toast.  but really... who cares when you can have awesome food and awesome conversation?  did i mention awesome food?

we got to the restaurant around 11ish and left at 3 ish. we had a beautiful seat by the window. the decor was all green and white and dark bali wood, the kind of decor that makes my heart sing.  so relaxing. so fresh.

bali style lime iced tea for all to start.  refreshing.  divine refreshment. (i had to order it again!) then green

curry for me.  yay!  so good, not to spicy.  lovely jasmine rice and green tea.  oh..my green taste buds in overdrive.  kathy and isabella split a curry soup thing (they eat fish and meat so it had all these weird tentacles sticking out.. which they seemed to enjoy).  laura had pad thai.  yeah, i didn't pay too much attention to what anyone else was eating as i was in love, IN LOVE with my food and the gorgeous little green and black ornate dishes it was served on.

kathy and isabella had just spent a month, (a month!) sailing around thailand by themselves.  they spent a few nights in a small town in the north, up in the rainforest, living in a tree house with no walls, sleeping under the stars. can you imagine anything as delightful?  i went to phuket, actually kamala beach which is just a small beach nearby, and relaxed.  i woke up every morning for a jog down the beach, followed by a fantastic smorgasboard of breakfast then suntanning all day (with the occasional dip in clear turquoise calmness and fried mango pancakes) then massage, then green curry and pad thai then watching the sun set over the water with the smell of plumeria flowers wafting through my windows every night. damn.

this was delicious. brunch or no brunch.  damn fine.
4 and 1/2 stars.  i would probably even give it 5.   if it wasn't so far away from central
...........and if someone else paid.:)

Bali Thai
#02-11 112 Katong 112 East Coast Road
Tel: (65) 6636 3877

the long bar

 what can i say?  the long bar is apparently a must do.. and so it was done.  and enjoyed.  the peanuts were an odd touch.  i gotta say.  they reminded me of 90's chain eateries, that were big on serving big bowls of peanuts so customers could throw the husks all over the food.  and peanuts in singapore are small.. and not really crunchy.

but really, i wasn't there for the peanuts. it was the singapore slings i was after.  and they, my lovelies, were lovely.  expensive at $27 a pop, but lovely.  they actually have a list of sinagpore sling choices.  the original ain't the only game in town.  to be honest, i didn't even have the original, i had the summer sling.  most of the choices are named after a season.  how eco aware the long bar is.....

the decor was lovely, big old fashioned straw fans overhead, gorgeous colonial architecture inspired by the malaysian plantations of 1920's. the singapore sling itself is a cocktail that was developed sometime before 1915 by ngiam tong boon, a bartender working at the long bar in raffles hotel singapore. the original recipe used gin, cherry heering, bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from sarawak pineapples which enhance the flavour and create a foamy top. written notes that they were able to discover regarding the original recipe is still on display at the raffles hotel museum. huh.

the current raffles hotel recipe is a heavily modified version of the original, most likely changed sometime in the 1970s by ngiam tong boon's nephew. today, many of the "singapore slings" served at raffles hotel have been pre-mixed and are made using an automatic dispenser that combines alcohol and pineapple juice to pre-set volumes. they are then blended instead of shaken to create a nice foamy top as well as to save time because of the large number of orders. however, it is still possible to request a shaken version from bartenders.

not sure why it makes it into the 'worlds best bar' list tho'.  although its a pretty chill place, its not really a comfortable local hangout.  however, it is a good place to watch the honeymooning tourists. and don't go by yourself, or you'll end up looking like all the other depressed traveling businessmen getting a few cups of expensive liquid courage before they venture out to the seedy side of orchard in search of their nightly companions.  (i didn't go by myself.... just sayin)

Long Bar at Raffles Hotel Singapore
1 Beach Road
Singapore 189673

why, i'm at raffles, darlin'

high tea at raffles is a thing of beauty, indeed.  i don't know why, what it is about high tea, but i adore it.  i

love getting dressed up in the afternoon and sitting around a posh table with my girlfriends, eating next to nothing, and sipping tea.    and it always seems that the old colonies seem do 'english' better than the english.  i've been to high tea in london. and its good.  but it's almost common, an everyday thing, housed in busy shopping malls or in hotel lobbies beside rushed business commuters coming and going. but in india,and more so in asia its majestic.  almost as if its been stuck in a time warp, jetting high tea goers back to the 1930's to how high tea was when it was trying so hard to be so perfectly british for those expats away from britain.  LOVE IT!

so i was uber excited to meet laura and lizzie at raffles.  i made the reservation a week in advance. crazy, i know. but it's that busy.  raffles is gorgeous. full stop.  what a magnificent hotel.  just chock full of old world elegance. its the type of place where you can just breathe in the past, the elegance, the money dripping off the walls.  the tiffin room is no exception with its high high ceilings, marble columns, polished silverware, crisp white linens and exceptional service. ok. one exception.  the chairs were odd.  straight backed, so straight backed they kinda leaned forward making one almost slouch to be comfortable.  you couldn't sit up straight and be comfortable.  and you certainly couldn't lean back, cross your legs and relax.  odd the slightest angle makes the chair all wrong. we all ended up resting on our elbows on the table (oh my word, the manners!) 

two small 3 tiered dessert rings elegantly (and by that i mean frugally) displaying petite finger sandwiches, freshly baked pastries and scones served with clotted cream and homemade jams were placed on the table, and we were given a choice of tea or coffee.  sadly no elaborate choice of what tea we would like.  just english or chinese tea.  huh.

and... like most things in asia... the cakes and scones were beautiful.. and pretty much tasteless.  can you

believe we didn't finish the top tier with the desserts? they weren't good enough even to eat.  but never fear, we didn't starve, because, because, they also have a buffet.  now we are talking.  and what a buffet!  the same small desserts as are on the table, plus a whole row of chinese dumpling and dim sum, an area of baked desserts such as apple crumble and bread pudding with vanilla sauce, another area of indian curries and rice and a whole table of gorgeous fruit salads and fresh tropical (well local) fruits.  fantastic!  we all loaded our plates and gorged. elegantly of course.

our conversation was of course, elegant and refined to match our high tea settings.  we discussed how the use of squatter toilets is prolific in asia and why asians (mostly PRC's i am told) tend to think that they are more sanitary than a regular throne mechanism. so much so that there are posters in many local washrooms asking people not to stand on the throne seat and squat.  what? why would you even think to do that? how would you do that? how to balance and not break the seat?  and spillage? splashing?  W.T.F.!!?!?

there are two seatings at 3.30pm and 4.30pm. raffles quotes its high tea at $55 for adults. however, everyone in our party paid $65 each. huh. however, IMHO, damn worth it.  a lovely afternoon. even it was raining non stop outside, it was non stop luxurious gastric enjoyment inside. make sure you book early.  its usually full. and dress up. 'smart casual' is the recommended dress code. seriously, they remind you when you make a reservation.  no shoes, no shorts, no smart casual, no service.

and so i'm giving high tea at raffles 41/2 stars cause hello?  high. tea. at. raffles.

Raffles Hotel Singapore
1 Beach Road
Tel: +65 6337 1886