Another waffle cafe that is on the hit list of SG Instagramers is the FATCAT Ice Cream Bar, located in sleepy Bedok. Do a quick Google search and you'll definitely see photo after photo of what i call the the 'Salted egg yolk Pour-over method'. And here's my contributing photo to add to that never ending list. 

Fatcat is known for their waffles first and there are 2 types- Original Waffles ($4) and Gourmet Waffles ($6). The first is a brown butter waffle served with salted caramel, chocolate fudge sauce and a sprinkle of lavender and the latter is slightly more fancy looking with its dark charcoal appearance. It has an added element of salted egg yolk sauce.

I think people are kinda too easily distracted by the waffles. If i can bring your attention to their name, it's Fatcat Ice Cream Bar and not Fatcat Waffles Bar. Get your priorities right people because the ice cream is pretty yums! It's $3.90 for standard flavor (white tag) and $4.50 for premium (black tag). Some of the popular flavors include butter beer, hay and honey and thai milk tea. 

We added pistachio and thai milk tea ice cream to our charcoal waffle. Don't you love the big round spheres of ice cream? The pistachio was very creamy and had an intense nutty flavor. It's a little on the sweet side though. I thought the Thai milk tea was so so, but it's definitely better than Sunday Market's which was more icy and diluted.

I liked the waffle at Fatcat. They are crispy on the outside and didn't get too soggy even with the ice cream. The plus point is that they are CHEAP. I wouldn't mind paying a little more for that extra bit of salt in their batter though. Having tried the charcoal waffle with salted egg sauce, i thought the normal ones would be sufficient. The superb smokey salted caramel and that hint of lavender were more than enough actually (it wasn't like the salted egg sauce was anything close to spectacular. i found it diluted in fact). I would however gladly have more of the salted caramel.

I suppose it's possible to finish 1 waffle on your own.

Fatcat also does a plated dessert menu that changes once every 2-3 weeks. Desserts come with an amuse bouche as well. Well, it's a gimmick that works i guess, though i think that Fatcat's waffles and ice creams can hold their ground. 

FATCAT Ice Cream Bar

Blk 416 Bedok North Avenue 2 #01-25 Singapore 460416

12/1pm till 10/11pm
Closed Tue

Can't complain about the lack of coffee spots in the East anymore with so many sprouting like mushrooms! I actually visited Craftsmen Specialty Coffee at Siglap V, just opposite Siglap Centre, when they first opened (that was months back). Well, it took this long because well.. it's just another cafe... who gets its beans from somewhere else, and in this case from Dutch Colony Coffee Co., which opened its outpost a few streets down... And as the story goes....

There has been a slew of Japanese dessert cafes and bakeries opening in Singapore and one of the latest is Pantler, a little outfit in the Tanjong Pagar/ Telok Ayer area. Opened by young (and cute) baker Matthias Phua and helmed by Chef Tomoharu Morita (both previously from Grand Hyatt Tokyo and Joel Robuchon Singapore), Pantler features high quality baked goods using ingredients from Japan and France.

The sweets selection was well balanced between pastries and cakes.

Expect croissants, tarts and danishes. Coffee is from Dutch Colony ($3.50 for Espresso, $5.80 for Café latte and Cappuccino). 

The Pithivier ($7.50) filled with almond frangipane was a nice layered pastry with a generous filling. The Frangipane wasn't too sweet which was great but I thought it could have more crunch and bite to it.

Something refreshing (or bitter) would be the Ruby Tart. 

Pound cakes are $22 each but also available in slices. The Madeleines are a whopping $3.50 each (are you for real)! 

The Choux bun ($5.50) is only meant for eating in. The thick vanilla perfumed cream is only piped in when ordered to ensure the crispiness of the Choux pastry.

Everyone loved the flavor of this but only the girls are willing to pay $5.50 for this. I think the boys will be happy with the regular Beard Papa. That said, the cream was much better in terms of flavor and quality though!

The Yatsura ($8.50) was my other favorite. The intense dark chocolate will hit you squarely on your first bite but it mellows out. And i loved that cunchy hazelnut feuilletine.

The Pantler cheesecake ($6.80) was similar to the regular light Japanese cheesecake in terms of texture but you could still taste the distinct sharpness of the cheese. That said i'm not a fan of this one. 

The other cheese option is the Ricotta Cheese Tart ($8.50) which had a light moussy filling. The sharp contrast between that airy ricotta and that crisp short crust tart threw the balance of the dessert off. A thinner crust would have made the dish a perfect alternative to the cheesecake. 

Of the lot, I thought the Pantler roll cake ($4.80) fared the worst because it was too sweet. The cake however was delightful if you eat it without the cream or icing. It's typically Japanese in terms of the texture but with the french butter flavor once again. If you have eaten those Hokkaido cakes, you'd know what I mean.

In all, Pantler is not a bad spot to satisfy your post lunch sweets craving. I'd certainly pack and go if i'm in the area but make sure you eat that choux bun on the spot.

Pantler
198 Telok Ayer Street
Singapore 068637
Weekdays: 8.30am - 5.30pm
Sat: 10.30am - 5.30pm

I've visited Hatter Street months ago but wasn't compelled to write them a review since they are already so packed and the crowd also played a part in my lacklustre dining experience with them. 

Despite the whimsical theme, the space was uncomfortable. I think their main purpose is to pack as many people in as possible so it was rather cramped. Also, you have to wait for a table before you can place your order, even though everyone knows that there is going to be a long wait time for the waffles. Do i make sense? Ok maybe i was just (H)angry (hunger induced anger) and i wanted my food fast but that did not happen.

So what's to eat here? Desserts, just desserts. Yvette Chua, who owns the place, trained at Singapore’s Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed at Hong Kong’s 3 Michelin-starred Bo Innovations for four months and she decided that desserts are gonna be it. Well, there's the famed Smoked sawdust pudding ($5) which is essentially a milk pudding with graham and some smoke. Well, i don't fancy the schmancy for desserts. I just want hearty calorie full options. Next. 

Other items such as some passion fruit and chocolate tarts, popcorn cake etc. But honestly, let's face it, you're just there for the waffles.

Waffles ($8.90). We went for the Pandan ice cream with gula melaka sauce which is a hot favorite. The waffle was crispy, and by crispy i meant it was like a giant potato chip. As with potato chips, once you start you can't stop so don't bother sharing because you can easily finish one on your own. Nice lingering aroma from the pandan ice cream but we could do with more gula melaka sauce. I reckon that the sea salt caramel waffle with vanilla ice cream wouldn't be too shady. 

Oh my 天 ($7.50) is a cookies and cream brownie with oreo ice cream and it came recommended. I should have trusted my own judgment because i thought the brownie was too tall and dry based on its appearance. I was right. The texture was a bit more cakey but with greater density but it was lacking in flavors (it had a one dimensional sweetness). I would not recommend this. The oreo ice cream was good though.

The Matcha latte ($5.50) was rather sweet and very milky. Thankfully it had sufficient matcha taste. 

I would love to be able to make this my regular dessert joint in the hood because the waffles are quite wow but i would never visit on weekends. The staff's mild hao lian beng attitude was also a put off. Moral of the story, do not stand between an hangry girl and her food.

Hatter Street Singapore
212 Hougang Street 21, #01-333 Singapore 530212
Tel: +65 6988 4591
Tue - Sun: 1-10pm

Finally another brunch place in Orchard Road! Seasons Bistro, a casual dining outlet at Triple One Somerset offers seasonally-changing menus based on Americas inspired cuisines. What's Americas you say? Well it's the melting pot of cuisines in US duh. Dishes are inspired by Chef Benjamin's travels and Seasons Bistro using seasonal ingredients to give you the freshest flavors at pocket friendly prices.

From brunch to dinner, drinks to desserts, you'd be hard pressed not to find something to eat. The menu is pretty extensive. On weekends, brunch is also served and we gave it a shot alongside dishes from the main menu. Make it a happy brunch with the sweet 2 + 1 promotional offer on Moscato wines.

Starters from the main menu. I really enjoyed the Seared Yellowfin Tuna Taco ($14). The flavors were light and refreshing with the pickled onions, crispy shallots, cotija cheese and cilantro jalapeno watercress salad. I obviously cannot resist anything with avocado in it (it's in the mayonnaise) and also crunchy tortillas!

The Pan Seared Foie Gras ($16) - came with chocolate ganache, bacon jam, caramelized bananas and granola crumbs. The bacon jam, made from molasses, maple, onion and bacon, had the right amount of tartness and sweetness. We felt the dish could do away with the banana because it made the dish too sweet. The pain de mie was also too dry and porous. The foie gras was faultless.

The Grilled Portobello Salad ($16) was marred by the overseasoning of red wine vinaigrette. Cut that down and the dish would be delish. I couldn't help picking at the homemade candied walnuts.

The mains such as Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($22) and Surf & Turf Gumbo ($27) failed to impress. I was expecting the full blown Southerness but got a watered down version instead as both lacked in the flavor department. The brunch items were also meh-ish. Yes it was edible and filling (the portions were more than huge) but it's just the usual fry-ups. The pancake in the Lumberjack was a little more chewy than I liked and still lacking in buttermilk. The bagel offering (Montreal & Lox, $15) did nothing to quench my NYC bagel thirst. It was, like the typical bagels in Singapore, bland and hard.

Seasons Bistro is not all that bad and brunch was saved by the delicious Sangria Loco Cocktail Pitcher ($45 for 1.5l). They add elderflower to the red wine sangria and I swear I could have this as a main course with their generous serving of cut fruits.

The day was saved by desserts. Clockwise from top, we have the Lemon, Basil & Olive Oil Cake ($8), Chocolate Fudge, Deconstructed Banana Split ($12), Red Velvet Cheesecake ($10), Carrot Cake ($12) and in the middle, the Mojito Tart ($12). Of the lot, the carrot cake fared the worst with a dry texture. The Lemon basil cake was rather intriguing with its strange powdery texture. As for the chocolate fudge, well it's impossible to get it wrong.

I loved the Mojito Tart ($12), a toasted crunchy coconut tart with mint lime curd and rum cream. It had the right balance of tartness with an amazing crust. 

The Season’s Red Velvet Cheesecake ($10) was absolutely amazeballs. Rich, creamy chocolate cheesecake with a yummeh Oreo base. I would come back to Seasons just for this cake!

Hits and missed at Seasons Bistro but certainly a good spot for some cakes and drinks hic*. 

Seasons Bistro 

111 Somerset Road, #01-11/12

Triple One Somerset, Singapore 238164

Tel: +65 6836 5841

Mon - Thu: 11am - 12am

Fri: 11am - 2am

Saturdays: 10am - 2am

Sundays: 10am - 12am

Weekend Brunch: 10am - 4pm

Super delayed post because i've been caught up with all the other eating and just got reminded by this post sitting in my draft box! So here the delicious Cake Spade which you guys probably all know about already but nevertheless worth a mention because their cakes are so yummeh!

I've been meaning to give them a try for the longest time but every time it comes to my mind, they're usually closed. So i was determined to buy some back when i passed by, even though i had no cake craving whatsoever. The 3 flavors featured here are (from top to bottom), the Strawberry Tofu Cheesecake, The Hummingbird and the Spiced Carrot Cake.

On the much raved about Strawberry Tofu Cheesecake ($5.90), i'd say it's just the regular strawberry hearts from the traditional bakeries. There was a nice graham base but the rest of the cake (could i call it that?) was very gelatinous (think Jell-O consistency). And that imo is not a good thing unless you're 5.
I was surprised by the Hummingbird Cake ($5.90) because i didn't expect to like it so much. It's a banana cake with pineapples and coconut. It may sound really heavy but it wasn't. In fact, it was a moist and light cake with a tinge of banana and a trace of pineapple. The coconut was simply the icing on top.

I liked the Spiced Carrot Cake too but not everyone would take to this really dense and flavor packed cake. Chunks of carrots with nuts and dense moist cake spiked with cinnamon. This tasted of Fall. Mummy thought it was more like a fruit cake though. The layers of vanilla cream cheese made this cake even more so addictive. Yums!

While the cakes did a great job, the brownies were just bleargh. The Oreo Cookie Brownie ($3.20) was really oily and bland. The brown paper bag that carried the brownie was soaked in no time and if you squeeze the slice a bit, you can see the oil oozing out. I only tasted sugar and fats in this one and the chocolate was sorely missing.

Cake Spade is really small so it quite made sense for takeaways. To locate it, well, it's around the corner from the famous Keisuke Ramen (read review here) shop at Orchid Hotel. Cakes are sold by the whole too and are priced $52 onwards. Tarts are also available ($4.20) and they have a small selection of coffee and tea should you choose to dine in.

Cake Spade

1 Tras Link, #01-06
Orchid Hotel, Singapore 078867
Tel: +65 6444 3868
Mon - Thu: 12 - 8pm
Fri - Sat: 12 - 10pm

Slowly checking items off my cafe list and this one is Drury Lane at Tanjong Pagar Road. 

Do not be deceived by the crowded 1st level, i was deterred once but decided head on back to check them out. The cafe spans 2 storeys so head on upstairs to escape the oily food smells as cooking and brewing are all done in that little space. Oh but do note that you gotta come down to place your orders still. 

It was a terribly hot day and we headed up to level 2 as W had already gotten us a reservation. I was hoping for a cool reprieve from the crazy heat but there was none. The AC was super weak and hardly cooled the heated 2nd storey of the shophouse. It was obvious that they have issues with the power rating as well because we had 2 blackouts in the short span of an hour.

and there i have a model (no i don't know him)

Well brunch was meant to be a birthday gathering for Cliff and i felt so bad for suggesting Drury at that point. It was also impossible to hear each other because the acoustics were terrible. Throw in 20 other people and it's just deafening. Not a good place for a date certainly.

So i had the Iced Mocha because it was simply too hot to have a hot drink. The drink was pretty good imo with melted chocolate instead of bottled syrup and it didn't overpower the mellow coffee. 

We had one of the specials which is the Garlic toast with sausage patties, sauteed mushrooms, spinach and truffle scrambled eggs ($18). This was the best savory dish out of the lot due to the garlic spread i guess. Scrambled eggs were too runny in my opinion and that sausage patty was just a joke with its bland flavor and dry nature. Eeks. For $18, it's not quite worth it. I've just had the pulled duck with apricot croissant at Symmetry and it was way better than this at the same price.

The sandwiches are at least decently priced at about $8 ish. The Steak and Cheese Sandwich was supposed to be awesome but they didn't have that when we visited. The Smoked Salmon and Mushroom alternative were just alright.

DO NOT EAT the Sausage Baked Eggs ($12) with spinach, homemade baked beans and cheese. We saw that familiar cardboardish sausage patty. Well this pot of food is terribly bland and pedestrian. I'm sure i make better stuff than this. I thought the baked beans were more canned than homemade though.  

Maybe try the Cloud 9.4 which is bacon infused pancakes with honey if you please.

Well, would i go back to Drury Lane? Not for the food certainly. But the desserts were quite divine. Not to sure about the 'Pay as you wish' muffins but the Banana Bread with Espresso Butter ($2.50) had W and i takeaway a portion each.

The moist bread with chunks of banana was naturally sweetened and i'm glad they didn't add more sugar. The espresso butter wasn't that good because it was oily (not the good kinda butter way) and lacked espresso flavor.
The Carrot cake was also one of the best i've had as well. It's of medium density but very well flavored with spice. We liked that there wasn't too much cream cheese because they didn't ice the sides but those between the layers were just sufficient for the added flavors and moisture.

Verdict of Drury Lane- I may drop by again for the sweets and a quick drink but certainly not for the food.

Drury Lane
94 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088515
+65 62226698
Weekdays: 8.30am - 9pm
Weekends: 10am - 6pm

When it comes to French Toast, the most talked about one currently has got to be Miam Miam. With all the raving going on, I had to check it out for myself and French toast for dinner is always a good idea in Ms Skinnyfat's food world.

Miam Miam is a French-Japanese cafe and they serve the usual Fusion Japanese cafe stuff e.g. pasta, baked rice, soufflé, matcha latte and of course french toast. Knowing that they do not take reservations, we made it down early to the Bugis Junction outlet on a Friday evening and an empty restaurant welcomed us (but not for long).

Drinks first, the Iced Matcha Latte with Softee ($8.80) was actually pretty decent. Great green tea flavor with a milky flavor, though I still prefer the intensity of Nana's Green Tea.

Iced Earl Grey with Softtee ($6.80) was bleah. The tea was too weak and the softee lacked in the cream department. Take note that water is charged at 50 cents a cup.

Gave the other savory dishes a try as well. The Riz Noir ($15.80) is a Squid Ink Black Rice and Scrambled Omu Egg. The portion was surprisingly small though. A rather disappointing dish that lacked in smokiness. The rice while moist was also on the salty end. Eggs were nicely done though.

The Miam Miam Spaghetti ($15.80) was typically Japanese with a light savory sauce made from French butter, shoyu and some secret sauce. Well, looking at the ingredients (processed sausage, bacon, some vegetables and mushrooms and a soft boiled egg), it seemed like a randomly thrown together plate of home cooked noodles and indeed it tasted kinda like that as well. Not to say that it's not nice but i would expect better ingredients. 

If you are a fan of saucy food, then the Riz Au Curry ($15.50) would be for you. Sweetish rich Japanese curry with soft rice, minced meat (almost non-existent) pork sausages, broccoli cheese and egg. Everything kinda drowned in the curry. The flavor of the curry was alright but maybe just go easy on the sauce?

Now the redeeming grace of Miam Miam would be their desserts and there are pancakes, souffles and parfaits. Honestly, there's one thing that you definitely should order and that's the French Toast.

Disappointing mains aside, the French Toast ($9.80) was every bit as good as everyone promised. Soft fluffy brioche cubes that had the texture of clouds. They're paired with the thoroughly whipped heavy cream, it is close to clotted cream but lighter in taste (but sweeter) and texture. Absolutely delicious with the smoky maple syrup. I would have drenched the toast with it but there wasn't enough. Have this as a main course instead!

Matcha Souffle ($10.80) was undercooked and very wet inside. The texture is that of whipped raw egg whites that are pandan flavored. I could hardly taste any matcha. 

The Chocolate Molleaux Dessert ($9.80) fared better with the rich chocolate taste though i found it on the cakey end. The softee was too icy and lacked in vanilla. That said, i wouldn't mind having this again.

Conclusion, Miam Miam is better for its sweets. The mains will fill you up but you wouldn't be quite satisfied. Maybe the pasta is alright. I don't know. But as for me, i'll stick with the French Toast and Matcha Latte for now.

Miam Miam
Bugis Junction #02-14, 200 Victoria Street

Weekdays: 11.30am - 10pm

Weekends: 10.30am - 10pm 

There's another outlet at West Gate, Jurong East Singapore.