147. Shimbashi Soba's Tea-time desserts II

It was 3 minutes before the minute-hand striked the number 6 on the watch. 3 minutes left to making your last order for a lunch set. 3 minutes more to making your order of their tea-time desserts. Before I arrived, there were a few people sitting in there just to order their desserts. Shimbashi soba....soba so good. Price also so good. The tea-time desserts only cost $6 which includes a choice of the Japanese desserts and a cup of tea/coffee/green tea/English tea. This is so worthwhile!

Special Dessert Set @$10 (usual $13.80)

I'm a dessert person. So I went for the bigger set which was enough for 2. There were the soba crepe wrapped with yam filling, drizzled with mango juice and topped with fruits, matcha ice-cream, 2 round soba balls, topped with greenish powder and sugar, red bean paste, matcha glutinous cakes with soba powder and the sweetened fried soba.

The soba crepe with the yam filling was the one I didn't like the most. I only ate a quarter of it. I didn't like the filling. Warm on the outside and a raw feel on the inside. It wasn't to my liking. I liked the soba balls best. They looked like the Hakka's abacus beads, formed a hole in the middle. The greenish powder (I suppose matcha powder) mixed with sugar. It was like eating muah chee and the granular bits of sugar.

The matcha glutinous cakes were good too. I liked the emerald green colour of it. Dapped the soba powder, it was like a supporting character. But no, don't be deceived by looks. Pop one into your mouth and you know that was the main lead. It was very tangy. Not too sweet. Light.

I'm going to try the soba cha pudding next time. :P

Tea-time desserts serving from 2.30pm - 5.30pm

Shimbashi Soba
290 Orchard Road
#B1-41 The Paragon
Tel: 6735 9882

146. Brach's Candy Corn

The Brach's candy corn. I have no idea what it was until I read about it on Ice's and another person's blog. Both of them raved so much about this candy which is only available once a year, during the Halloween month, October. Today, I happened to be in town to settle some matters so I went to The Market Place @Paragon to get 2 packs of the candy corn off the shelf before they are gone.

The candy corn were real sweet. On the package, it stated the candy was made from real honey. Yes. I could taste the honey. It was chewy but not to the extent of a gummy's chew. The texture was a bit like the sugar frost. Like those on the cupcakes? But of course, the candy corn tasted much better. And like what Ice said, once you start, you just can't stop eating. Haha.

It's available at The Market Place at Paragon, Tanglin Mall and Raffles City. Selling each at $3.95 per pack. I'm not sure if the newly opened branch at the Fusionopolis has this or not. But just once a year, you get to eat this candy....I'm those who will travel that far bit to get them. LOL.

145. Obolo

Cakes...it's no longer just the taste, we are talking about more than this. Bakery/confectionery sounds so obiang (outdated), nowadays we want it to be classier. So, we have brand names like Bakerzin, Canele and here, Obolo, associating themselves with patisserie, boutiques and not bakery/confectionery. And in these boutiques, no butter/pandan cakes but cakes which are made the French way. Cakes with French names. French pastries.

Over at Obolo, it occupies a space no bigger than a 4-flat HDB living room but the loud red counter and the flowery wallpaper made it a cosy place. The slim pickings of cakes in the display didn't make me reject the idea of buying one to eat. They looked so delicious.

And so, I got one of their best-sellers - Noisette @$6.70/slice (w/o GST).

Noisette meant flavoured or made with hazelnuts. At Obolo, their Noisette is a piece of dark chocolate mousse, added caramelized toasted hazelnuts and a layer of crunchy praline feullitine at the bottom. The Noisette was rich in taste. The hazelnuts were very crunchy but I felt the amount of hazelnuts could be increased. Else, why the name, Noisette?

The dark chocolate was bittersweet. I like the layer of praline feullitine. Added the crunch to the chocolate mousse. Again, I felt the layer of praline feullitine was not thick enough. The taste was a bit like eating the Loacker's chocolate wafers but lacked the oomph. Frankly speaking, I felt it wasn't so much of a genoise. I find the sponge layer slightly dry and a little too thick. My preference of Noisette is quite a bit of minus and add the thickness of the layers here and there.

After reading Evan's blog and how her wonderful macaron pictures looked, I wished for a macaron. I asked the guy at the counter which is the best selling macaron and he said this. The dark chocolate macaron @$1.80 each.

I felt the dark chocolate layer was slightly too thick. The bittersweet taste of the dark chocolate overpowered the taste of the macaron.

Obolo
452 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427665
Tel: 6348 9791

Opening Hours:
Tue-Thur: 12.30pm - 9.30pm
Fri: 12.30pm - 10pm
Sat: 11.30am - 10pm
Sun: 11.30am - 9.30pm
Closed on Mon & PH

http://www.obolo.com.sg/

144. Puteri Mas Durian Puffs

Divine! Simply Divine! Put aside the Emicake's and 717's durian puffs (So far, only tried these two). The durian puffs from Puteri Mas was finger licking good. One is not enough! I must comment about the durian filling. The smell was so aromatic. The penetrating power of our pungent durian is definitely something which make people fall their heads over. The durian filling was so rich and pulpous. Man, I tell you...that wasn't cream. It's the durian pulp! So shiok! The crust of the puff was a little disappointing though. It was a tad too soggy which I believe was due to being kept in the fridge.


Puteri Mas specialises in other cakes and nonya kuehs too. I saw that they have the cempedek swiss roll but my mind was set on their durian puffs.

I got a box, 20 durian puffs @$11. I think it's quite worthwhile. Highly recommended!

Puteri Mas, you see? They call themselves "The Durian Puff Specialist". I think they've got what it takes.

Puteri Mas Pte Ltd

475 Joo Chiat Road

Tel: 6344 8629

Operating Hours: Mon-Fri: 9.30am - 7pm

Sat & Sun: 12noon - 5pm

143. Lam's Noodles House

A picture speaks a thousand words and it works very well for someone like me who isn't considered a literary talented person. Didn't have my camera phone nor camera with me so I didn't manage to capture a shot of the Lam's noodles. Lam's Noodles House is located in a coffeeshop next to the Arena Club. I have been to the coffeeshop a few times. Their noodles seem to be famous and I didn't know they had a stall at the coffeeshop until this morning. It was patronised by quite a number of celebrities. The famous local Lee song composers and food variety show hosts took photos with the boss. Quite a lot of people ate their noodles.

The noodles they are selling are quite different. Shark fins noodles, abalone noodles....priced at $6 and up. Bak cuo mee seems to be the more normal bowl for breakfast. So, I queue for their bak cuo mee.

The quantity of the noodles is not any bigger than a piece of a traditional baked mooncake. No mushrooms, just some minced meat, a meatball and some crispy fried pork lard as toppings. Oh my god! It was so expensive. The guys could just finish the noodles in 3 mouths. It was not fulfilling at all. However, sometime to praise about was the noodles wasn't very oily. Many times, the bowl of bak cuo mee that I have eaten elsewhere was oil-laden. A result of the chili and the sesame oil.

Coffeeshop next to The Arena Club

511 Upper Jurong Road