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28 Jul 2015

More opinions on Cafe Hopping (Food deals definitely attract my attention!)

Despite blogging for almost 3 years, I still felt that my blog is still lacking of something, something that would stand out from the pool of other food blogs out there. I tried limiting my blog to focus on desserts, partly because I am lazy since I tend to edit every single picture via Photoshop and adding in my own logo at the bottom of every picture. So does a dessert theme blog work? I doubt so since my rate of consuming desserts has been dropping due to being a bit health conscious these days as age is catching up on me. I wouldn't mind sharing my sugar diet with others but sadly, among my network of friends, I am considered the hardcore spender on food itself. Maybe once in a long while... Strangely, most people I know don't usually eat dessert!? Why is that so?
Another reason could be that café hopping is an expensive hobby. In order to survive the high rental rates in Singapore (to break even?) leads to expensive food and there is a need to keep an eye on our spending. I tried café hopping on a solo mode a couple of times, not that I did not manage to get any café kakis to accompany me. There is NOTHING wrong to be alone at times, which many people would find awkward or afraid that others might think they had no friends. I just enjoy my alone time at times. 
Right now, instead of the usual picture + description type of posts I usually did during my early entries when I first started my blog, I felt that there was a need to express myself more since I worked in the food and beverage field before but decided to leave. (More stories other time)

Some pictures of my solo café hopping mode below. (I self timer those selfies.) Every cake / dessert felt so mundane nowadays. Easy to guess the name of those desserts just by looking at the picture at times.
Café: Room for Desserts

Very small café with just 2 tables.



Café: Butter Studio


Bing Bing Ice Cream gallery (United Square outlet)

Bailey flavour

It definitely must be peer pressure from my friends that restrict me from café hopping and spending too much. However, in order to save a bit, I love scanning through those deals that has a % discounts where I don't have to pay the full amount! It is just normal of us to be cheapskate savvy, probably trying to get the best deal out of everything.

Criollo Cocoa Cafe - Nuffnang Lovin' Invite

I attended my first 'Nuffnang Lovin'' Event (hosted by Nuffnang) last Saturday at Orchard Gateway and am glad bring a +1 along. Dragged my blogger friend who had to book in to camp that night. My opinions will be as usual, based on my personal experience and nothing against anyone. Why I state that? You will find out right below.
Before the first dish arrive, the chef made the effort to explain to us about the first dish as seen below. Mainly about the description as well as the ingredients used in this dish. I wasn't exactly attentive to the details since the taste would be what matters to me most.
(Note each dish is shared among 4-6 people)

Breaking through the hard cheesy surface laid the watery-soupy tomato-based vegetables. Mainly the taste of green pepper which I did not mind. I felt like I was having minestrone soup since there were identical resemblance of the two. The yolks were over and did not exhibit fluidity as expected. 

Together with the crispy bread, it was comfort food to me.

A vegetarian option since the patty was actually portobello mushroom overlaid with cubed-cut vegetables (tomato, pepper, etc) and covered by a slice of cheese. (Double check if the dressing is mayo.) A smart move to prevent the cubed ingredients from toppling all over, provided if its for a single pax. As for the fries, the salt was slightly too generous...

So far this dish fared much better as compared to the rest in my opinion. The laksa inspired pasta was rich, had that kick of spiciness as well as fragrant from the coconut cream or milk. I would prefer this dish to be serve warm and not room temperature for a better taste. (Not quite sure how long it was on the table as my group went to view and had a bit of hands-on with latte art.)

The lovely red hues from the strawberries was eye catching but my eyes went towards the waffle since it was chocolate. I wondered if cocoa powder was used? It definitely acts as a drying agent in this waffle recipe, resulting in crisp, almost biscuit-like texture. Average chocolate ice cream with the passionfruit flavour macaroon being soft.

The other table had this plain waffle that could be drenched with syrup. Like a 'fruit basket' to me and I won't judge something I have not try.

The barista was really friendly and patient as she taught us how to do latte art in groups. One of the cuter designs she did was the 3 bears shown here. I did not try the coffee since I wasn't a coffee person but I did try doing the latte art too! (Picture still in my friend's camera.)
 
I enjoyed myself getting to know some of the other bloggers. However, my friend was pissed off with the service staff. He requested for a refill of water and the service staff told him to take the jug of water from the other table of bloggers. I even had to request for them to clear the table after watching them placing the waffle and going off without clearing the few empty plates that hog the table space.
Anyway,
 
Criollo Cocoa Café is offering SG 50 promotion right now! Quote ''Nuffnangxcriollo'' to enjoy 20% discount of your total bill!
 
Thank you #CriolloCocoaCafe and #Nuffnangsg for the invite.
 
 

5 Jul 2015

Cafe Hopping with Another Blogger #1 - Little Ice Cream Kafe

The term café hopping is already so mainstream, especially among teenagers? Not quite, but young adults who are more than willing to indulge into good food. At the same time, capturing insta-worthy images to boast a little.

 ''Oh, I have been to that café, check out my instagram images.''
 ''I had brunch there the other day with who-n-who and the waffles were so darn good that I would definitely go back!''
 ''Must choose the outdoor seatings! See my drool worthy pictures? All thanks to the natural lighting!''

Admit it, such typical statements of café hoppers which include me of course. Many other non-café hoppers would have only thought about the above point - The boasting rights. Seriously, there are other more meaningful reason other than that. The one and main thing I seek from sitting in a café is the interactivity part instead of the food. Sorry to say most places serves mundane food or copies that has no juxtaposition. I am totally bored and have zero interest in what's new in the menu. It's just about compositions and add on of ingredients.

Anyway, I went to meet another blogger friend of mine for a casual hopping session the other day. We knew each other on instagram and mutually know each other through our blog. Still stuck with the 2 years duty to serve the country, which makes him younger than me, just by a little. Edward, who blog on thedessertprince was also a hard core café hopper before he got bored of the now-stagnant trend. His posts are more towards the 'family orientated', emo, or should I say sentimental style?

It is not often that I café hop with someone who I do not know... or should I say it is always fun to try something new? I picked Little Ice Cream Kafe since I have wanted to try an ice cream buffet for quite a while. My second time travelling to Tanjong Katong area because it was so out of the way. I was early after reaching Paya Lebar MRT and thus decided to walk over. Walking over is not ideal and advisable unless you are prepared to perspire a little. 

I was still early and decided to take a selfie....

When he finally arrived, we chatted a little before heading to be overwhelmed by the selections of ice cream! Alright, he was gyming before heading over to meet me to indulge in our icy guilty pleasure. At least I also exercised by walking over right?  

I couldn't recall exactly every flavours that I had eaten.
(The order which I ate)

Green Tea Oreo - I would prefer pure green tea because the oreo was just too sweet
Black Sesame - Kind of decent and less sweet 
Lychee Martini - The lychee taste was just too subtle, same for the really light alcoholic kick
Chocolate Brandy - Not chocolaty enough, alcohol not strong enough as well (I am not even an          alcohol person)
Frosty Watermelon - Not my liking since watermelon is just not a popular type of flavour
Thai Milk Tea - I am just bias towards 'tea' desserts and I love them all
Creamy Caramel Crunch - It was just extremely salty that I couldn't continue after 2 mouthful
Butterscotch - Overly sweet for me
D24 Durian - Just average (best to eat last)
 

Just some random pictures despite them being just ice cream. How fanciful can a scoop of ice cream look anyway? We take pictures just because we are bloggers? 

Thanks for helping me take selfies! I know you don't take any since you hardly have any pictures of yourself in your blog..

Anyway, not forgetting to mention that the waffles were really to my liking. Crisp, fluffy, those usual descriptions everybody just used repetitively in almost every food blogs? I won't deny the fact that the vocabulary used to describe is just limited.
Time just flies when we were eating and chatting. 2 hours of camping in this ice cream café. For those who are interested, the buffet is only available on Fridays from 2 - 4pm or 6 - 8pm. Each pax is about $12 (couldn't remember the exact amount). We had our fill of desserts, but still, a proper meal after that. Yes, dinner after desserts. Typical desserts/food bloggers!