crepe it up!

last fri, finally got down to check out the creperie restaurant, creperie des arts, as recommended by my french teacher who proclaimed the authenticity of french crepes. the food was amazing, the service was outstanding and the ambience - i love it! quaint little stores always work for me. so everything was simply too good to be true.



it happened that i managed to be on time, but my 2 other mates were late, and i was getting annoyed. to my great surprise, she suddenly got me a cup of apple cider, and told me "this is on the house, you can drink it while waiting for your friends." when that cup of cider is selling at 7bucks! i thought it was a very friendly gesture, but thefadboy was telling me over the phone that i should check my bill later. pfft.

the shop has 2 sitting areas, i chose to sit indoor as i thought it was going to rain. inside the restaurant, it's rather small, i guess the shop could only house at most 3 groups of people dining inside. the interior was decorated in such a way that almost mimics the interior of a ship, or even the home of a seaman, or fisherman. on one side of the walls, there are nets sprawling over the wall, with paintings and fake crabs, and the other side, you could see there is one painting with a ship and a ship model on a drawer.



the chef went around talking to the customers, and asking how's the food. this is totally random, if you had seen the kit kat ad by jwt france, "take a break to outer space", the chef would be the life size version of the pixar-like animated lead. it's not difficult to tell that the chef is french, given his heavy accented english.



my friends finally arrived after a long wait that seem like a century had past. we ordered 3 crepes, aiguebelette, yvette and polvem. the filling for aiguebelette includes cheese and bacon, yvette's - mushroom and prawns, whereas polvem's - smokedsalmon. when the crepes were served, our 5 senses were almost immediately captivated by the smell of the piping hot crepes and the presentation was rather unique to me- it was rather different from the crepes at vilage or marche. as we were just chatting away after devouring our food, to our pleasant surprise, the chef actually came out with keroch - a crepe dessert with caramel on it, and spoke with us. this again was on the house!

aiguebelette

the 3 crepes

keroch

all in all, our bill of 3 crepes, one coke and one orange juice came to $86. (yes, they did not charge the apple cider and the keroch.) with reasonable servings, great service attitude, great food and plenty of surprises, what's there not to love!

get down to creperie des arts and check out for yourself!

creperie des arts is located at 44 prinsep street.

opening hours:
weekdays: 5-11pm
weekends: 12-2pm; 5-11pm
/Closed Mondays

lunches upon reservation
tel: 6333 5330

-tfc

Wine-ing about Fish&Co.

It's been quite quiet here at FAD. Since the three Fad people are nearing our graduation, job search and interviews are in place, so we've not been eating or playing as much :(

While we're at that, any interesting job positions anyone's gotta offer any of us?

I had dinner at Fish and Co recently and I thought I would talk a little about that. Since it was a spontaneous outing, I did not snap pictures. So if you absolutely cannot read, then you are free to move your mouse to the x-button now. Ciao!

So Fish&Co...

Apart from all the fish you can eat, their quirky staff tees with witty fishy-lines, I shall not bore you (or myself) with the mundane.

My gang and I had Seafood Platter for Two - always a good deal for three or four people to share. And a pasta dish of Prawns Fettuccini with Chili Cream.

The platter was not bad but I'd advise you to look out for foreign sea creatures because I once forked out a worm: fried crispy worm I almost puked when I saw it. But the restaurant compensated my nausea with a new platter and dessert (Could we finish that?)

The pasta was baaaaad because the fettuccini was not done al dente, so it was hard and plasticky.

The people who celebrated their birthdays at Fish&Co always receive a half hearted cheer from the crew. I don't know why people would do that - celebrate birthday there - and endure the humiliation. As the other diners, we were pretty embarrassed and amused by the awkward cheering. Thanks for the 10% off total bill birthday treat, Fish&Co, and why not keep it at that....

Or throw in a glass of wine...

What made me very happy was how cheap its cocktail and wine is! Being the wine lover, I ordered a house white thinking it's gonna be either
a) distilled water charged at $6.90 posing as wine
Or
b) good wine in tiny espresso cup bc it's too cheap to be true.

$6.90 for a glass or house white (Chardonnay) or red (Sauvignon) - Can anyone tell me where else there's a better deal?

When the wine arrived, it was *phew* a decent glass of glistening champagne gold. I took a sip, half expecting to be choked by horror but the wine turned out delicious!

Sweet, fruity and very palatable. I WAS SURPRISED!

So that's trialed and tested, and for all wine-buffs who love a good glass of fermented grape like all Europeans do (here goes my Euro-daydream) with your meal, feel free to get one (or two!)when you visit Fish&Co!

Cheers!

-the Fad girl

TheFadpeople goes to: Singho chicken rice

Every fri, theFadpeople meet to discuss about the week that comes ahead, so why not use this time to discover new eating places and introduce them to you, our dear Fadreaders!

So watch out for "TheFadpeople goes to" next week too!

Located opposite Paradiz Center, Singho Chicken Rice is quite famous in the area and we were drawn to it by the white chicken that were hanging from the stall.

So 3 hungry people rushed for a table at the side of the road(do not seat inside, it was soooooooooooooo WARM!).

However, if u are afraid of cats (like theFadgirl), perhaps its better if you sit inside and not be terrorize by the cute pussy that kept pacing up and down our table.



I was quite impressed by the chicken (juicy, soft and tasty) but the kangkong was too spicy.. as for the wanton soup, i
was not impressed. (not that it was bad, it was just... normal.. haha).

I will leave theFadgirl and theFadchick to comment about their experience in the comment box!

Collage from theFadchick and words from theFadboy.

Carnivore - For the Meat Eater in You...

Stepping onto the grounds of Chijmes, one could forget that one is still in Singapore. The setting is one of calm and tranquility. But today, I am not here to promote Chijmes but more specifically Carnivore @ Chijmes.


Carnivore, as the name suggest is mainly about meat meat and more meat! It is one of the more popular places in Singapore that you can get Brazillian Churrascaria (which is like BBQ meat!).

It is rather on the pricey side, if you enter between the times of 6 -7pm, it is $36++. Any time after is a whooping $42++. But I would say, go try it once.. or you will regret!

A bottle of house wine is $70 and above and a glass is $12 and above.


With a huge choice of meat, one would be filled by the time you tried every single meat that is served at your table. (The Chef would bring the meat to you and cut a slice onto your place directly.. )

The meal starts like this, a plate of condiments are placed on your table and the waiter starts explaining that the plate on the left helps to reduce saltiness of the meat and the right plate (tapioca powder) helps to reduce the oiliness of the meat.

While the cheese buns are just to accompany the meal.

He goes on to explain (actually, i would have guessed), that the circular disk on the table is to indicate to the Chef if you wan more meat. Green for "GO Ahead" and Red for "Stop, I cant take Anymore"

Just in case the meat eater in you is rather small, Carnivore also provides a huge selection of salad and sides to accompany the meat. So its more den just meat... its meat and much more!

Yes, you get to eat meat. I personally love the Beef. But I HIGHLY recommend that you try the Chicken Heart. I am usually not a brave heart but do not be a chicken! Do try it and you will not regret!

And if you really wan a 2nd helping, you will have to peel your eyes out for the Chef!

Even if you can't eat much, you can sit around and enjoy the wonderful laidback experience. Get a bottle of wine, put your circular disk to red and just sit back and enjoy... for the next 3hrs!

And when u feel like it, u can always start again!

This meaty meal was brought to you by theFadboy, very luckily paid for by theFadboy's Dad and happily shared with theFadboy's family!

Cicada at Portsdown Road

Nestled in the bosom of foliage and a sea of green, is a gem called Cicada.

Drenched in full golden glory, this sun-kissed bungalow converted into restaurant is the perfect chill-out spot after a hard day’s work.

I first chose to sit inside the restaurant because of the cozy ambience but decided it a waste to miss the sunset, hence I shifted outdoor instead.

The al fresco area was a great place to watch the coming of night, with the cricking of cicadas, an overture to a starry evening. Not many places in Singapore could dish out such an intimate experience with the nature nowadays.

I began the night with The Perfect Mojito. Perfect it was. Sweet and strong, a minty, refreshing kick right out of the Caribbean, I daresay. And it made me happy.



That was shortly followed by the Slipper Lobster Capellini. It was an explosion of flavors from the very first mouthful. I was very intrigued by the layers of flavor in the sauce - a tomato base cream with a hint of white wine quite pronounced. A hearty dish, best eaten whilst it’s warm.

Watch out for the big bites of fresh lobster!

Next up I had the Infamous Cicada Burger. I had expected to find the beef patty à la those served in fast food joints but was pretty astonished to see chunky silvers of beef hand-molded into a patty. Alongside the beef were caramelized onions, fresh mushrooms and two cheeses: Gorgonzola (the Italian blue cheese) and Gruyère (a sort of hard, yellow cheese from Switzerland).

I loved how the burger buns soaked up all the beef juices and the details that had gone into the side dishes. Uniquely seasoned fries and fresh salad marinated with special sauce – I’d say, eat the tomatoes individually to taste the marinate. Here was a brilliant case of Finesse meets Fast Food Nation.

I always maintain that one can’t have too many desserts. Succumbing to temptation, my sister and I shared three different desserts between us to satisfy the inner dessert goddesses: Caramelised Apple Crumble with Honey & Fig Ice Cream, Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie Crunch Cake with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream and Pavlova with Whipped Cream, Passion Fruit Curd and Fresh Seasonal Fruits. What sweet galore!


PAVLOVA, an immaculate mountain of ivory meringue baked to a crisp exterior. You’ll find a light candy-floss texture upon cracking the shell. I was so enthused by the discovery of it (‘cos we don’t see much of pavlova in Singapore), that I took the liberty to speak with the head chef, Norman, and he spontaneously entertained all my queries.

According to Norman, a French-trained chef, the desserts were all hand-made in the Cicada kitchen. No outsourcing, not outsiders. Just the ingenuity and skills from the maestro himself. How impressive?

I was also let in on an inside scoop that Cicada would start a ferry service. A chartered 11-seater would drive all customers from Buona Vista MRT to Cicada during lunch hour. That's quite cool I reckon.

My evening at Cicada was quite an experience I would say, in terms of being a gastronomic eye opener as well as a feast of five senses. Glorious food in a garden-like setting. For those who seek quality and exclusivity at a place you could feel like home, it’s time to start owning this piece of haven.

Address: Cicada 7 Portsdown Road Singapore 139298
Tel: 64722100
Website: http://www.thecicada.com.sg/

- the Fad girl