Blic: Ice Cream Parlour in the East!

Sometime back in January (Yes I know I’m really slow), the food bloggers travelled from our brunch at Halia all the way to Tampines, braving the sunny and hot weather for one purpose: A special invitation to the preview opening of Blic!






The concept of Blic is rather similar to other ice cream establishments like Udders and Island Creamery, serving classic flavours as well as a range of unique chef creations. Décor-wise, I like the clean and simple layout, with spacious tables for group chillout and bar seats for quiet people gazing on a lazy afternoon.



Being an invited review, we had the perfect excuse of greedily trying out all of the available flavours and kept returning for many more rounds!


Milo Dino, Ferraro, Double Choc, Vanilla Bean (On top)

Milo Dino tasted exactly like well, Milo, which would be suitably turned into a Milo Megatron (Okay I made that up) if you had a nice cold glass of Milo, dunk in a scoop of the ice cream and sprinkled with milo powder!

Double Choc was rich and thick, but it became a bit boring for me after awhile. My vote actually went for the remaining two, in which Ferraro tasted impressively similar to the chocolate and Vanilla was a simply joy, littered with many speckles of the black bean. They also had a Mexican Vanilla variant that was more yellow and sweeter in taste.


Lychee Mint, Coffee

Another selling point was that besides having them within, some flavours were furthered topped with the ingredients. The Lychee Mint was served with sweet, juicy lychee meat, giving it a more refreshing aftertaste. Coffee was nothing to shout about, but a decent flavour overall.



Bird Nest With Almond, Rum N Raisin

In the first place, bird nest didn't really have a distinct taste to it, so it turned out very almond-y, but the fact that they used real bird nest would be enough to make any girl rushing for it! (Minus the girlfriend though, she's allergic to bird nest, I'm serious)

Now the other was one of my favourites. The creation wasn't overbearingly choking, with a good balance between alcohol spiceness and fruit sweetness. And the size of the raisin was really way fatter than it looked! One of the best Rum n Raisin I ever had!


Passion Yogurt, Baileys

Now again, I don't remember how passionfruit tasted on its own, but we unanimously agreed that it really reminded us of sour plum instead. And the baileys was another good one that handled alcohol excellently!


Green Tea, Banana Peanut Crunch, Black Sesame, Seasalt Malt

The green tea and black sesame were very similar to the ones at Azubo Sabo, not in a bad sense definitely, while the seasalt malt would be the one for Horlicks fans! My favourite among the four would be the banana peanut crunch, with a natural taste of banana and crunchy peanut flakes. Good one!


Cempedek, Mao Shan Wang

We purposely left these two for the last, as we were told it would probably coat our tastebuds with their strong aftertaste! The cempedek had a really accquired taste, so its up to individuals to fully appreciate it, while I would prefer the durian king with its rich, smooth flavour!


Tiramisu

At the time of our visit, the tiramisu was still in its experimental stage and not yet found on the regular menu. At first we were a bit disappointed that it was stuffed full of plain vanilla ice cream, but we realised that we ought to dig all the way to the bottom and eat it together with the soft cake sponge and alcohol-soaked ladyfingers, made a really big difference!

For ice cream lovers in the East, Blic has the potential to become the hangout place without travelling far. They are constantly improving on their existing flavours, such as SCaM (Soursop, Calamansi and Martini) that didn't go too well with me, as well as coming up with new creations! (Butter Caramel, Roasted Almond with Macadamia)

Halia: Brunch in The Greens!

What do you do on a Sunday morning? Wake up late, free from work, and looking forward to a sumptuous brunch treat. Thats exactly what I like to do! Along with 17 like-minded foodies!



Located at Botanic Gardens, Halia became our choice of January gathering as all of us had not been here before. Built with wooden planks and matching furnishing, the restaurant resembled a posh kampong house amidst lush greenery, tweetering birds and running squrrels. While they do have indoor dining, that would be rather wasteful of the closer-to-nature alfresco seatings!


Halia Infusion ($9.00)

I took their house specialty for a morning cuppa, which was a blend of coffee with sun-dried ginger and wild mountain honey. The spicy taste of ginger was distinct yet not overpowering, while the honey probably added sweetness to the coffee without any notable flavour. I felt that it was a nice change from the usual morning brews, but the price would have deterred me from ordering it again.



Poached Egg with Back Bacon (top, $16.00) or Ocean Trout (Bottom, $24.00)

Most of us went with this two choices while there is also a vegetarian option ($14.00) available. Served with roasted mushrooms, spinach and tomato, it was a wonderful combination when eaten together with the toast, dipped in the runny york! My shot didn't bring justice to the trout as it was really much thicker on the other side! There were some comments that the Hollandaise sauce was too sour for their liking, something for them to improve on?


Kurobuta Pork and Portobello Mushroom Burger

Now this one gathered some rather extreme opinions. Phoebe and Zaylene was thoroughly disappointed, comparing it to Farmland or Ramly patties. Jia Yi and I, on the other hand, thought that it was pretty good! For me, I felt that it was great to have an alternative to beef, as the apple aioli sauce went well with the tender texture of the patty and the portobello mushroom shining with juicy earthy flavour. Taste really is subjective!


Cinnamon French Toast ($14.00)

Harris had this for his main, and he said that while it was rather enjoyable at first, the toast soon became a one big mixture of sweetness overdose and weak cinnamon taste.


Cappuccino Dunkin' Pit ($10.00)

Sadly, the general comment for this was that it was much better in look than in taste. The layer of white turned out to be whipped cream instead of ice cream, making one feel stuffed after a few mouthful.

With plenty of brunch options around, Halia wasn't exceptionally memorable for their food. But with laid-back nature settings and most importantly for me, the company I had that morning, taste really became secondary!

La Strada: Italian Lunch!

Sometime back before Christmas, the food bloggers met up for another outing. We splitted into two groups, with one visiting Gordons' Grill at Goodwood Park and the other (including me) going to La Strada, the Italian wing of Les Amis Group!



Kaelyn had made a reservation for six beforehand so we were able to have a rather cosy corner to ourselves. The place had a casual modern decor, elegent but not as stiff as fine-dining would be. Staffs were warm and friendly, dictating the lunch menu to us patiently and were meticulate in details.


Compliementary Bread and Oven-baked Pizza

The bread was pretty average but the pizza, which was offered halfway through our appetisers, was a pleasent surprise. Smeared simply with tomato paste and herb, it had a slight chewy texture with crispy edges. I would prefer the dough to be a bit more thin but really it was a nice bonus to our meal.



Duo Of Crostini, Apple and Carrot Soup

I opted for the first one as my starter, and it turned out to be a good choice! The olive spread topped with tomotos complimented each other perfectly, with the deep, saltiness of the spread pairing well with the light juicy tomatoes. The other bread was topped with pork ragu which the flavour faintly reminded me of canned tuna, but richer with a much better texture. Nice!

Gavin was the only one who had the soup, so you should read his review about it!



Salmon Salad, Tuna Salad with Poached Egg

Kaelyn asked for her salad to be served with tuna but it came with salmon instead, realising it only after a few confirmation bites. We joked that we should have eaten more of the salmon before asking for an exchange! The proper one came awhile later with a nice runny poached egg in the middle.



Char-grilled Sirloin, Pan-fried Salmon

All of us chose these two for mains, conveniently leaving out the chicken option. I had my steak to medium-rare doneness and it was wonderfully tender and juicy, good ol beefy taste with a charred flavour. Served with salad and mashed potato, there was no need for sauces at all!

Replacing mashed with roasted potatoes, the salmon was also commented to be very well-done. Seems like all of us enjoyed our mains rather well!


Pecan Tart with Basil Ice Cream

With a two course meal, you can choose to have a main with either a appetiser or desserts. The pecan tart was average for me, but the basil ice cream was really interesting. Usually used as seasonings, it had a savoury sweet flavour that was really unique!


Mini Madeleines

And what's a better way than to finish an excellent lunch with a cup of hot tea and freshly baked madeleines?

With the two-course set lunch at 28++ (three-course for 34++), La Strada is a nice place to pamper yourself for a slow, enjoyable lunch experience. And its even better to do so in the company of like-minded friends!

Royal Copenhagen: More Cakes, More Shots!

Things you expect at a food bloggers' outing: Cameras of differnt shape and sizes, dozens of pretty shots, and plenty of food! That was exactly the scene at Royal Copenhagen Takashimaya last weekend!



I had always known the brand more for its premium tablewares than its tea lounge, with the mentality that it was a resting place for tai-tais after their shopping sprees. It had a surprisingly small seating area but the packed crowd at teatime sure showed its popularity. Serving cakes and tea on their own label of plates and cups, the service was speedy and polite, with a senior staff memorising our orders and others refilling water promptly.



Assiette of Citrus ($11.90), Signature Scones ($7.90)

A definite plus point for presentation. The clash of zesty citrus slices and sweet almond cake was a pleasent one, while the lemon sorbet was really well, lemon, which somehow reminded me of a certain cleaning agent. The sponge pudding was too hard for my liking and tasted much like a normal cupcake.

The scones were supposedly one of the must-try, but I was rather disappointed with the ones we had. It didnt have the buttery taste I'm looking for and the texture felt like it had been left on the counter for the entire day already. Maybe it would be better if we had the right-out-of-oven ones? Also, the portion did not justify the price at all, although they did give plenty of spreads for it.



Upside-down Pineapple Carrot Cake, Cranberry Almond Cake

The carrot cake was my personal favourite out of the 8 slices of cake we ordered. With a layer of pineapple jelly, carrot and raisin bits were hidden in the very moist cake, completed with the sides coated in cream cheese and walnuts. I think I would very much like to finish this off on my own!

The other one had a distinct cranberry taste, along with almond slices in the smooth sponge. Another good one overall.



Danish Butter Cake, Orange Cake

While looking plain, the butter cake was great in taste. The soft custard and buttery flavour was simple yet delicious, being one of those comfort stuffs that you didn't really care how it look while you savoured the wonderful mixture of cream and cake!

The next one had a similar texture to the cranberry almond cake, but was instead infused with orange flavour. I thought it was rather refreshing until the artificial taste of orange essence kicked in after sometime.


All cakes are priced at $5.50 per slice.

(Clockwise from top left) We called the Cream of Layer the ugly cake as it refused to stand properly for our shots, while the Almond Meringue Cream Butter Cake was overpowered with cream. Taste-wise both were really normal and did not leave much of an impression.

The Banana Loaf was one that we could hardly bring ourselves to finish. Hard and dry, I think the others would agree its the least-liked one among all. The last one, the Mudslide Royal, had plenty of chocolate until it doesn't feel like a cake anymore. Unfortunately, there wasn't a distinct taste for it to be a favourite.

For the 7 of us, the $10odd we paid each was really worth the money after trying almost all their daily cake selections and two from their regular menus. Furthermore, the tea session was enjoyed by a group of like-minded foodies who despite meeting for the first time, we were able to click together really fast!