I used to frequent Siam Kitchen as there was one nearby my previous staying place. The last time I came, I felt that the quality had somehow deteriorated. I wasn't sure if it was a one-time event, so I decided to give it a try again. 

Mix vegetable with tofu in signature sauce ($8.9)

If you are a tofu lover, you would agree that egg tofu is usually flavorful and silky soft, even though after fried. For this dish, the vegetable was fine but the tofu turned out mushy and bland. Understandably, we all took a bite and couldn't help but shaking our heads.

Hot and sour omelette curry with prawns ($10.9) 

Have you ever had a food that looked so different yet tasted so familiar? It took me a while to realise that this curry tasted like my favorite penang laksa. An interesting twist on this dish was the omelette, it was stuffed with acacia pennata. I think this was the only dish I like at the table.

Stir-fried kai lan with salted fish ($8.9)

A simple green for some fiber.

BBQ stingray with Thai sambal ($14)

The stingray didn't taste fresh, and the meat was kind of tough and chewy, as some would say 'logo'. We were expecting those BBQ stingray in Chinese Tze Char style but this was nothing like it. The sambal tasted just like plain chilli, we couldn't taste any belacan, shallot or other ingredients that usually attributed to a BBQ style sambal. Another round of shaking heads again. 

Oh... how I adore doughnut, but thinking about the calories accompanying each delicious bite always get me think twice before eating 'em. After reading many reviews and drooling over countless computer-screen-licking good photos of the Krispy Kreme doughnut, I finally made up my mind to try it. 

It was a Saturday morning, seems like the craze for Krispy Kreme had quiet down a little, the queue was not as long as I expected. Buying a minimum of 6 doughnuts entitle you to a box, but I decided that I am happy with just 2.

I love red velvet cake. Red velvet doughnut ($2.9)? Surely this is a must-try for me! The color was so attractive, I picked this up almost immediately. The red velvet doughnut was dunked in sugar glaze (or was it white chocolate? Pardon my ignorance, it was so sweet that I couldn't really tell) and sprinkled with crumbled red velvet cake. Biting down the doughnut, it felt like you are having a red velvet cupcake because of the dense texture of the doughnut. It crumbled easily and almost melt in the mouth. The milky white sugar glaze did not only perk up the look of the doughnut, it also gave me a real sugar rush. Imagine the explosion of sweetness in each bite!

I was attracted to this black and white combination - choco kreme cake ($2.9). After being placed in the paper bag, this doughnut was not at its tip top condition for photo. The doughnut was topped with soft whipped cream and oreo crumbs. Personally, I prefer this one over the red velvet one, because it was not as sweet and I could still taste the chocolate in the doughnut. The little kid in me was secretly begging for more.

It was love at first bite, the texture of the doughnut was simply awesome. But beware, it will surely send your blood sugar sky high!

What is the fun of having pancakes? To some it was the variety of toppings, others the taste, and me? The fun of making it!

A basic pancake batter at Slappy Cakes cost $8, you will be provided with a bottle of pancake mix, maple syrup and butter cube. For the batter, you can choose between buttermilk, wholegrain, peanut butter, chocolate and zucchini. Thereafter, you get to choose the fixings. Slappy Cakes offers both sweet and savory options for fixings. Our choice was banana and bacon bits which were at $1.5 and $2 each.

What set this pancake place apart was that you get to make your own pancakes. If you are bringing kids, this will be a fun activity over mealtime.

Here we go. Could you tell what those shapes were? We had a fun guessing game at the table.

Slappy Cakes offers whole day breakfast. The portion was rather big and surely provided us with enough energy for the rest of the day.

Classic breakfast $16.50
Feel the crisp in every bite! The bacon streak was fried to crisp and it goes perfectly with the soft scrambled egg.

Vegetable benedict $13.5
The 2 poached eggs were cooked just right. Poking through the egg with a fork, we watched the runny egg yolk flowed out effortlessly. It was so exciting try to scoop up the running egg yolk and bring it right into the mouth! The hollandaise sauce drizzled over the egg tasted slight lemony with smooth and creamy consistency. It was served with sauteed mushroom, caramelized onion, spinach and tomato over toasted brioche.

With our happy stomachs, we headed to our next stop - Pasarbella, a gourmet market place mirroring farmer's market in Europe/ US.

After our lunch at Slappy Cakes, we continued our journey to Pasarbella.

Pasarbella is surely not your usual market place. Spanning over 30,000 square feet of market space, housing more than 30 unique stalls from around the world, this is an up class gourmet market.

The style of this market is reminiscent of the farmer's market in US/ Europe. It has an interesting rustic design with assortment of specialty stores.

Organic fruits and veggies are available for the health conscious ones. The selection was not very wide but ample.

More organic food.

For a moment I thought I was in US. It invoked so much fond memories I had in San Francisco.

The cake that caught my eyes most was this pomegranate cake. It looked so delightful! Samples were available for those who wish to try.

Free-range and Angus beef sold here too.

 Gourmet kebabs.

 A Japanese seafood stall, the sushi counter was right beside.

I can vow for its freshness, I just saw it moved.

 A shop selling paella.

 

The gigantic paella pan.

They don't simply throw in the ingredients, the ingredients were arranged meticulously by the chef on the pan. I wonder how many people can this pan of paella feed.

 Meringue of this size, who is up to the sweet challenge?

This is a cheese specialty shop. We were welcomed by the cheesy smell lingering in the air once entered the shop.

Don't expect to find your usual cheese selection here, they sell rather specialised one.

  

The staff was arranging a cheese platter. So tempted to get one.

Drooling over the meat.

Ranging from flowers and balloons to seafood and wine, there are so many other shops that I didn't manage to take a photo of. The myriad of shops and the assortment of food and items sold here are indeed an eye opener. This place is recommended for all who longing for an out-of-the-city feel.

Pasarbella @ Grandstand Bukit Timah

200 Turf Club Road

 (S) 287994

Do you recall those school days we had, staying up late, hanging out with friends in canteen, restaurant, enjoying meals at an attractive subsidized rate?

It had been quite a while since my last visit to NUS. Then, DG told me that at the University Town Hall, you get to enjoy Italian food at a real good deal. I kind of miss the school days too, so why not?

Our appetizer was Caprese ($11.9). This is the classical food presentation of this dish - slices of tomatoes and fresh mozarella cheese arranged in alternating fashion, sprinkled with chopped basil.

This healthy stew of mixed vegetables and parma ham is called ribollita toscana ($11.90). Despite its look, it was actually quite tasty, but filling too.

Call me cheesy, the gorgonzola sauce on the gnocchi algorgonzola ($10.9) just wasn't up to my 'cheesy' expectation. This is when the parmesan cheese came to the rescue. 

When our filetto alla tartufato ($25.9) arrived, we finally realised our mistake - both main dishes were in cream sauce! Don't get me wrong, the sauce was nice, the truffle was not overpowering and the herbs used were ample. But, the cream certainly isn't easy on the stomach.

We were full but still couldn't resist the temptation to order a dessert. They ran out of their signature Tiramisu Si and the waiter recommended this cake of the day ($5). It was a tad dry and hard, and filling too. This cake was the only food that we had leftover on the table.

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri ($7.5), a sweet and sour mix blended. It was refreshing and just the right drink to accompany our creamy main dishes.

Cheers, where else can you find a $3.9 per glass red wine?