Wellness Wednesday: Five Healthy Food Cravings

Hello fellow fitness junkies, it's #wellnesswednesday again! This week, I'm going to share on the 5 snacks I usually eat, which I feel are (somewhat) healthier as compared to other chips and crisps. And this is also my first attempt blogging using the blogger app on my iPad, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on how this post will turn out. 

Well, here goes.

1. Fresh Fruits

As our company has a 'fruit day' policy, it has slowly became my habit to grab an apple, snow pear or banana as my mid day snack in office. And in the evenings at home, my after dinner snack will usually be an orange, kiwi, strawberries, red dragonfruit (best fruit to cure constipation!) or sometimes, peach.

However, not all fruits are the best diet-friendly snack you can have with no limitations. Other than fats and calories, sugar content is also one of the most deadly diet-killer. And a cup of grapes contain about 23g of sugars while a cup of strawberries contains only a mere 7g. You can do your own maths here. :)

2. Chocolates

Yeah, I know most of you ladies will probably be going, "What? No, that's not healthy snacks!" But believe it or not, what I love is dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao and not the fattening milk or white chocolates, so I'm safe. 

No, I'm not going to listen to you telling me chocolates aren't good for me because I'm going to continue snacking on them. HA HA HA. 

And till date, scientific research has suggested of 4 main possible health benefits of dark chocolates.

1. Chocolate may help reduce LDL cholesterol levels

2. Chocolate may prevent memory decline

3. Chocolate may reduce risk of heart disease

4. Chocolate may prevent stroke

In addition, recent developments on the health benefits of chocolate has also observed that teens who eat a lot of chocolates tend to be slimmer and consuming high levels of flavonoids, which is found in chocolates, could significantly help protect against type 2 diabetes.

3. Almond Nuts

Almonds is my favourite nuts, ever. Well, actually I love hazelnuts more, but due to a serious lack of availability in my local marts, I ended up turning to my 2nd favourite most of the time. 

There's always a tub of baked, unflavoured almonds and another tub of walnuts (my brother's favourite) sitting in our kitchen and while watching TV programmes, both of us will always be hugging our respective tub of nuts and munching away. 

Okay, not a very good example here. Everything should be in moderation, yeah? A handful a day is more than enough. Heh!

Rich in healthy fats (monounsaturated fats), almonds are scientifically believed to have a handful of health benefits, such as:

1. Lowers LDL cholesterol and Reduce risk of heart disease

2. Provides double-barreled protection against diabetes and cardiovascular disease

3. Lowers risk of weight gain

4. Helps with body energy production

5. Helps prevent gallstones

But remember, for almonds to be a healthy snack, do away with the salt and sugar! 

4. Yoghurt

Once again, the issue with sugar content plays an important factor when it comes to yoghurt, so remember to check out your dietary labels! The healthiest yoghurt will undeniable be a low-fat, non-sweeten Greek yoghurt, but it's really too funky in taste and texture for me to crave for it at any time. So even though I'm 'cheating' with non-fat yoghurt instead, there's still enough health benefits packed within to make it healthier than other junk food snacks, mainly for the protein, calcium, vitamins and probiotics content. 

5. Edamame

Edamame, or soybeans, really make the best snack ever. Just by dumping a frozen bag of them into hot boiling water for a while, drain and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and viola, you got yourself the yummiest, most addictive TV programme snack ever.

Being low in fats and calories, and high in protein, fibre and almost every other essential vitamin and mineral, edamame is literally a powerhouse of nutrients, and it's said that just 1 cup serving will give us at least 6% of the recommended daily intake of all nutrients, with the exception of vitamin D. Magic or what!

So, what are the healthy snacks that you crave for most of the time? Drop me a comment and let me know of more healthy snacks to munch on!

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's Review: Spicy Thai Thai Cafe [Food-Tasting]

Located in the eastie heartland, nestled right behind the Basketball Association of Singapore, getting to the Spicy Thai-Thai Cafe from the nearest MRT station (Paya Lebar) might seem a little daunting on the map, but it actually only takes you a mere 15 minutes' walk on foot! And with a signboard so big, it's really hard to miss this restaurant once you turn in from the main road.

With the area of a regular kopitiam, Spicy Thai provides a large airy eating space, an awesome choice for mookata, with an absolutely no frills, minimalist set up to the big restaurant.

The boss himself, a homegrown businessman, Mr Ron Poh, is such a hands-on man, he has done up the ceiling lights all on his own too!

With two Thai chefs from the suburban North Eastern Thailand whipping up your orders in the kitchen, expect yourself to try out some authentic North Eastern Thailand style dishes, which can be even more flavourful as compared to the Bangkok style dishes usually served at our Thai restaurants here.

Organic Wheatgrass Drink - $3.50

Rather than going for the usual Thai Iced Tea, Janel and I wanted to try something more unique, and decided on this glass of the deadly green. Although healthy, we all know how palatable wheatgrass drinks can be, but this was surprisingly light and refreshing on my tongue. Even though there's still this distinctive wheatgrass taste, the usual turn-off of the 'raw bitter vegetable' taste was missing, plus it rewards you with a refreshing sweetness in the aftertaste too. A healthy drink that's easy on your tastebuds, so why not?

La La (Clam) Bee Hoon - $18

Yes, your eyes aren't playing a trick on you. There's really an overflowing amount of fresh clams tossed in this slightly spicy beehoon. They were so generous with the clams that I really felt that there's more clams than beehoon in the pot. Just imagine my surprise when I started tossing the piping hot beehoon around, expecting the 'overflowing clams' to start disappearing into the beehoon, and instead, tossed out even more clams that were stacked beneath the beehoon.
So for all those fellow shellfish-lovers out there who enjoys a slight spicy kick in your food, this lala beehoon is a must try!

The clams, albeit not monstrous sized like those I've eaten overseas, were still pretty fat for local standards and fresh. The beehoon, having soaked up all the flavour from the savoury and spicy gravy, will definitely have you going for seconds.
This is my favourite dish of the day and I strongly recommend that you try this out, peeps!

Basil Mussels - $15

Yes, another one of my favourite seafood, mussels! Cooked in a spicy and savoury broth, the mussels were just a little spicy and very flavourful, chewy and yet, not overcooked and rubbery despite served steaming hot above charcoal flames. The remaining yummy broth simply screams, "Get a bowl of white rice!"

Dill Pattie (Cha Om) Omelette - $8

 If you're not familiar with dill, it's actually a herb that packs a load of nutritional benefits, which includes protection against free radicals and carcinogens, anti-bacterial properties, and rich in calcium, dietary fibre and other minerals.

And frankly speaking when I first saw the omelette, I was slightly taken aback at the amount of greens in it. Well, I'm not exactly a carnivore, but I'm highly selective with the greens I put into my mouth. And with this dish, it seems like dill has made it on my to-eat list! Even though generously packed with the thai herb, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that dill actually doesn't taste herbal or bitter at all. In fact, there's a very subtle sweetness to it, which actually will get covered up by the taste of the well flavoured omelette, which basically means that the dill will be pretty 'negligible' in taste, unless you intentionally pull them out of the egg to get a true taste of it.

BBQ Pork Neck - $10

Grilled till perfection using charcoal and served with a tangy and spicy dip, this dish is a must try for all pork-lovers! Albeit slightly dry, the fact that it was charcoal-grilled also gave it a delicious fragrance to the chewy and savoury meat. I exceptionally loved the slightly charred bits. Heh, my sinful pleasures. 

Stir Fry Smelly Beans with Prawns - $12

Smelly beans, or better known as Petai, is actually also packed with tons of nutrition to give us health benefits, which helps with cases of anemia, HBP, diabetes, heartburn, hangovers, constipation and the list really drones on. However, due to its distinctive pungent smell and the raw and hard texture, it's also one of my most hated greens. 

But you know what, I actually went for seconds for this dish! The strong savoury flavour and spiciness of the dish really did well to mask the distinctive taste of the petai, which I'm not a big fan of. Although the raw, hard texture is still something I'm not really loving very much, the addictive taste of the gravy got the better of me and I just kept scooping more onto my own plate. 

Heh, petai can't stop my gluttony here. 

 Hommok (Thai Style Otak) - $16

This was undeniably Janel's favourite dish of the day.

Comprising mainly of seafood, egg, coconut flesh and thai spices, I will say that this is one of the most visually appealing dish we had for the day. I mean, just look at all that vibrant colours stuffed into a small young coconut. Can it get any better? 

And I have to say, this dish is all kind of tastes in just one bite. There was the freshness of the seafood, savoury from the egg, sweetness from the (huge chunk of) coconut flesh, and then everything was further oomphed up with a strong taste of Thai spices. 

Sleeping Fish Set - $15

Just like how they're usually served in Thailand, these Short Mackerel looks a little strange with the head tilt that's due to the fact that it gets its backbone broken just behind the head such that it can fit into the bamboo steamer used to cook it in salt brine. 

To enjoy this dish, grab a piece of the cabbage, pack in some of the vermicelli, basil, coriander, and a bite sized piece of the mackerel. Then, add in the chili of your choice (there's 4 types for you to choose from) before wrapping everything up and stuffing it into your mouth.  

And just like any other mackerel, the fish does have this distinctive 'fishy mackerel' taste, which I'm not a big fan of. But the addition of both the basil and the thai chili sauces really helps to mask the typical fishy mackerel taste. And you know what, I'm usually not a fan of fresh basil either. It's really interesting to find how 2 really strong tastes, which I happen to not be a fan of, complementing each other so well that I ended up enjoying the dish. 

And of course, how can we end this without desserts?

Tapioca in Coconut Milk - $3.50

To be frank, this is not something I'll call dessert. To me, tapioca is as good (and filling, obviously) as a main dish! 

Drenched generously in rich coconut milk and served comfortably warm, this is a dessert for sharing, and definitely not with an almost full tummy.

Lemongrass Jelly with Aloe Vera Cubes and Calamansi - $2.50

I definitely enjoyed this light and refreshing cold jelly dessert. The ice cold jelly was so easy to swallow and soothing to the throat and the tangy flavour from the calamansi just makes you want more of it. A good choice of dessert to refresh your palates after a feast on all the spicy, flavourful dishes. 

Spicy Thai - Thai Cafe is located at 

115 Aljunied Avenue 2, #01-35

Singapore 380115

Tel: 67478558

For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

Wellness Wednesday: Gym Routines Dos and Don'ts

Welcome back, fellow fitness junkies! This week on #wellnesswednesday, it's going to be a short sharing of my take on gym routine's dos and don'ts. 

However, disclaimer first, I'm no expert when it comes to fitness related matters or gym routines. These are just my own opinions and please share with me your dos and don'ts in the comments down below. :)

Let's start with my top 5 to dos for gym routines.

1. Do write up a set of fitness goals.

You have to know what you wish to achieve in order do know what you need to do. Do you have thunder thighs that's in desperate need of some toning up? Do you have butterfly wings (flabby arms) that's keeping you from waving goodbye to your friends? Do you have a flabby tummy so big, commuters are fighting to give up their seats for you on public transports, mistaking you as a heavily pregnant lady? Does your BMI and body fat percentage tally to OBESITY? Or do you have so little muscle mass that you're practically skin, bones and fats? 

Know your body, analyse out your problematic areas, and find out what action plan (fitness goals) you need to undertake to bid them goodbye in the most sensible and practical time frame. 

2. Do start small.

If you're just starting out on a new fitness plan for a healthy lifestyle, please remember. BABY STEPS! Be it with weights, or cardio, start small. Your current muscle mass and heart might not be able to take it if you kick start your first day at gym with an hour's running on the treadmill. Aim for perhaps, just 15 to 20 minutes if you're just starting out. 

3. Do find a gym buddy, and make sure it's a good one. 

It's a good form of motivation boost, and he or she will be the main pulling force on days you feel just plain lazy and plans to skip the gym. But please, find the correct buddy who will motivate you and not one who's even lazier than you. If that's the case, it's better you work up the independence and go buddy-less. 

4. Do diversify your routines. 

Especially true for ladies, whom I realised are the ones who tend to skip weights training to NOT build up any muscles (I shall touch on this further under don'ts). By sticking to the same old routine day in day out, not only will it tire or bore you out quickly, making you more prone to giving up or skipping gym, it may also give you unbalanced and unsatisfactory results in the long run. 

5. Do hydrate yourself!

Drink plenty of water throughout the day, and especially during and after your workouts. For myself, I will not drink water right before my workout, nor chug on too much water during my workout, as it tend to give me stitches. I'll usually chug down minimal 500 to 800ml one-shot after I'm out of the showers at the gym, and make sure I'll hit at least 2L of water intake on a daily basis. 

And now, for my top 5 don'ts for gym routines.

1. Don't skip your warm ups and cool down stretches.

Every week at the gym there bound to be some people coming in late (skipping warm ups despite instructors' repeated reminder that nobody shall join in after class commences) and leaving early (skipping cool downs) for group-x classes. And I really wonder, just how badly their body will ache the next morning. Or perhaps, they just do not work out as hard as they should be to not bear any dire consequences after?

2. Don't believe in spot reduction routines. 

I tend to hear people asking on how to cut down the fats from a specific area of their body without losing fats at other *erhm* important areas (yes, ladies tend to wish for spot reduction). Sorry ladies, you can't. When you work out, even if you think you're focusing only on a specific area, you're burning fats from all over your body. You can better spot-train to build muscle and tone up certain areas, but not to lose fats specifically from them. 

3. Don't associate perspiring with burning of calories.

Sweating like a horse actually just means you have a more active sweat glands, nothing else. Or at most, it can also mean you've purged out more toxins from your body. Sweating is all about water weight and that 0.2kg you've lost from sweating like a horse in that 55 minutes of "intensive" spinning will come back to you with a snap of the finger once you re-hydrated yourself. 

To lose weight, you need to focus on the intensity. How hard is your heart beating? At the fat-burning zone of 70%? That's not good enough if you have more to lose. Slowly work your way up and push for more. 

The point is simple. The harder you push yourself (but please first make sure your heart can take it! Baby steps, remember?), the more you burn. And no, you need not necessarily sweat like a pig. 

4. Don't get obsessed with losing weight. 

Do you know, muscle tissue burns roughly around 7 to 10 calories per lb per day, which is about 3 times more for fats, at merely 2 to 3 calories per lb per day? 

So, what does this tells you? Lose FATS, not WEIGHT. 

And while the saying that muscles weigh more than fats is just a big fat lie, adding in the magical phrase 'by volume' will make it right again. 

So what does that mean again? It simply means that if you do not have a scale tipping body fat content in the first place and really just need to tone up and build up some leanness, focusing your attention solely on decreasing the weighing scale reading will probably mean a further loss in your muscle mass and not necessary an actual fat loss. 

5. Don't avoid weights training for fear of building up muscles.

This is for all the cardio bunnies out there. Cardio is your monthly salary, but weights is like an investment. If you've gone through pointer number 4 above, you'll be able to understand why I'm saying this. 

You can focus more on doing cardio (I am, too), but do not omit weights/toning exercises totally to avoid 'bulking up' and putting on weight (for 'muscles are heavier than fats'). 

Remember, for every lb of muscle you developed, you'll burn more calories at rest everyday. 

So, what are your gym routine dos and don'ts? 

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's Review: Hoshino Coffee

Well, yes I know Hoshino has been around for quite some time but I just didn't have the chance to drop by for a meal. And just nice as YS was back in town for a while, we met up at Suntec's Hoshino Coffee with R on a weekday for dinner again!

-credits to Hoshino Coffee Singapore-

It was a pretty rocky experience for us, but thank goodness for the patience of their staff, everything still turned out pretty okay. And the issue was, BEEF. Fellow non beef-eater beware, if you ever patronise Hoshino Coffee, the only mains you can eat, are the pastas. Only the pastas (and sandwiches, if you consider that as a main dish too) and nothing else, for all their omu rice, doria, and curry rice contains beef.
And Hoshino Coffee does not entertain any kind of special orders to have any form of changes to their dishes, which came as our second problem of the night, for YS was pretty insistent on having their Salmon with Wasabi Cream Sauce Spaghetti, without wasabi. The chef, or should I say kitchen staff, was really apologetic as he kept repeating that Hoshino cannot entertain special orders, as their chefs are all trained to only follow the intended recipes for their dishes, and any changes might just ruin the taste of the dish.

Well, Hoshino Coffee, I truly commend your staff for his utmost patience with us, but not your inflexibility with regards to special orders. Perhaps it's the chef's pride, but you cannot expect everyone's taste to go the same direction. If wasabi is as good as poison to our taste buds, then obviously Salmon with Cream Sauce will be more delicious than Salmon with Wasabi Cream Sauce to us, don't you think so?

Anyway, YS finally gotten a KO from the staff and she eventually settled for something else....

Iced Sakura Latte with Ice Cream - $9.30

Frankly speaking, $9.30 for this is really expensive! But look, it's so pretty how can you possibly resist it?

That piece of flower garnish at the tip of the ice cream is acutely sour, so if you're not a fan of sourish food, do not attempt to eat it.
Otherwise, I'll say this drink is something worth trying, for sakura flavour is really not very common in Singapore, but the price tag doesn't really make it a good re-purchase. I'm a little 'cheated' by the word latte, thinking that it's going to be some sakura infused coffee, but it really turned out as a yummy sweet milky drink with pretty pink flakes all over.

R's Matcha Latte - $9

Frankly speaking I was really surprised by how small it was. It was, well, really tiny for a $9 drink.

YS's Hoshino Blended Coffee - $5.30

This is just so adorable, with that cute tiny tin of creamer at the side. But it's flavour was a little lacking for my liking, for it comes with the sour aftertaste, I'll say pretty typical of Japanese coffee, which I really dislike.

Mentaiko Shrimp & Japanese Herb Obha - $15.50

If you're not a fan of the mentaiko flavour, this might get too strong for you to handle, because there really is a generous blob of mentaiko served along with the pasta, along with 5 huge fat juicy shrimps. The pretty generous garnish of shredded seaweed, katsuobushi (dried fish flakes) and spring onions helped to add a stronger taste to the flavourful pasta. So, this pasta may look pretty light on the flavour but it actually packs a punch.

YS's Lobster Bisque Soup Spaghetti - $16

Even though named the lobster bisque soup spaghetti, expect prawns/shrimps in your pasta instead of real lobster meat. The lobster for this pasta is all 'dissolved' in the bisque used to whip this up. This pasta looks as heavily flavourful as it looks. I just stole a teeny weeny sip of the gravy and it was really very tasty and flavourful. Might be my next try-out if I drop by Hoshino again!

And then for R's food for the night, I didn't get to try any. So, pictures for your viewing only!

R's Clam Chowder - $6.50

R's Shrimp, Avocado & Egg Toast - $9.80

And that night, R seemed to be on a hungry streak and he suggested desserts after gobbling down the sandwiches and soup (served with a pretty thick slice of toast).
Being pretty full, YS and I decided to share one. Oh well, there's always space for dessert, yeah?

Our Chocolate Fondant with Ice Cream - $9.80

The chocolate lava cake is rich and moist at the cake layer, with the truly molten centre of yummy gooey chocolate sauce. Simply decadent! But, as the taste can really get pretty rich and heavy, it's really best to find a dessert buddy for sharing.
Well, same enjoyment with half the calories, why not?

R's Pancake Souffle Style - $9.80

Didn't get to try it because I was too full by then, but it looks so so so fluffy, I'm gonna dieeee....

Hoshino Coffee (Suntec) is located at Suntec City Mall, #01-651
For more information, visit their FB HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

Wellness Wednesday: What's your favourite workout song(s)?

And so I chanced upon Maureen's blog at scoopsofjoy, who did a collaboration with Rina from CuteCoconut on this Wellness Wednesday Linky Party and I thought that it sounded really fun. A scroll down their 14th January prompts got me super hyped up for "What's your favourite workout song(s)?" and so I said to myself: I'M IN! :)

If you didn't know, I'm with True Fitness for almost 1 year now and I've been diligently (well, most of the weeks) attending 3 group-x classes a week, namely, Spinning, Les Mills Body Balance, and Hot Yoga. At times I'll go for some pilates, and Les Mills Body Pump as well, though, very very seldom for Body Pump because it's always full and I'm not motivated enough for the class to hang around on the booking site at 11:59pm 2 days in advance to snatch slots for it.

So here are my favourite songs, I have 3 of them, for 3 of my favourite workout sessions. 

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us

This is my favourite song for abs training during Pilates and Body Balance. 

I love the "na na na na na...." part of the song, and it fits my spider-man plank section perfectly! There's just something extremely uplifting about that part of the song, such that it made the otherwise painfully difficult spider-man plank (done after almost all other abs moves) much easier to complete. 

Ellie Goulding - Burn

Best song for Body Pump (weights training), ever. 

It got me so hyped up at the "burn burn burn burn..." part and I always thought to myself, "HOLD ON TO BURN MORE CALORIES!" even when I really wanted to drop the weights and rest. The beats of the song somehow matches up with the lifting/squatting motions very well too. 

Train - 50 Ways To Say Goodbye

My favourite song for spinning. 

If you're unfamiliar with spinning, it's known RPM at Fitness Fitst and also as ICE now at True Fitness, which stands for Indoor Cycling Experience. It's one of my favourite group-x class at True Fitness, with Ram as my favourite instructor till date. 

And if you (somehow) follow Manhunt (or rather, Senior MH) in 2014, you might know him as Finalist #3, Ram Bala. Heh!

This is a good song for a flat road 'sprinting' part of the spinning workout. Usually, I'll just hum along to the catchy song and just let my legs pedal away to the beat, no stopping, no slowing down. 

So, here's my favourite songs for 3 of my favourite workouts. What's yours?

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's International Giveaway!

Yup yup, I've decided to host another small giveaway for all my readers. Before I ramble on about how to join this giveaway, shall we take a look at my humble prizes? 

Well, let me warn you, they're really worthy of the description of humble.

First up, the 'mains' of this giveaway, the full sized retail beauty items. 

1. Tony Moly Mr. Smile Patch & Kiss Kiss Lovely Lip Patch

2. Tony Moly Panda's Dream So Cool Eye Stick

3. Belleme U Can Cover Concealer (No.2 Medium) 

4. Nivea Lip Butter (Original)

Then we have some travel sized & Minis 

1. NOV Face Lotion (toner)

2. Creme 21 Body Milk for Dry Skin

3. Pond's Age Miracle Firm & Lift Day Cream SPF 30 PA+++

4. Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair Shampoo (for normal to stressed hair)

5. Loreal Paris Keratin Smooth 72H Perfecting Shampoo (for rough, unmanageable hair)

6. Klarity Lasertox CC Miracle White Lotion SPF 30 PA++

7. Bliv Squeaky Clean beads cleansing gel & Off With Those Heads blackhead sebum gel

8. The Face Shop Mango Seed Emulsion & Moisturiser

9. Nature Republic Snail Therapy 80 Emulsion

10. Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion

11. Pixi Lip Gloss in Ice Crystal

Then comes the sachet samples...

From beauty brands like....

1. NOV

2. belif

3. goodal

4. White Formula

5. The Face Shop

6. Tony Moly

7. Skinfood

8. Dr. Jart+

9. AquaMoist

10. GoodSkin Labs

11. Orbis

12. Etude House

13. Loreal Paris

And wipes from...

1. FrG

2. Zappy

Giveaway will run for 1 month and ends on 6th Feb 2015 at 2359 hrs and I'll randomly pick out 2 winners via rafflecopter.

This is going to be an international giveaway, so just check out the rafflecopter below and join in!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's Review: Bakery & Bar St Marc

Didn't even know that there's this new row of shops along ECP called the Parkland Green that has sprung up until T and I drove past one day when we're going prawning late at night. So the next day, we promptly returned to check out the shops and found another eating place! 

Lured in by the famous Chococro of St. Marc Cafe, we decided to give Bakery & Bar St. Marc a try. 

 And of course, the chococro isn't the only luring factor. Heh!

Salted Milk Chococro (left) and Original Chococro (right)

Smaller than an iPhone 4, it's definitely a pretty pricey treat at about $2.40 to $2.60, but SO WORTH IT!
Warmed prior to serving, the croissant is crisp and flaky with a strong buttery fragrance. The fillings (choco and/or salted milk)  were rich and made the otherwise dry croissant slightly moisten as you chew.
I've yet to try the marble chococro, do drop me a comment telling me your favourite flavour if you've tried all 3 yeah? :)

Garden Salad

They usually serve with the dressing mixed in, so if you take your salad without dressing most of the time, like me, do request that they separate the dressing (or omit). Yes, I know it looks pretty good and fresh, but.... pictures are deceiving here.
This is the saltiest salad I've ever, ever eaten. It's so salty my tongue hurts, and I had to force myself to finish this bowl of salted veggies by slushing my mouth with water after every bite towards the end.
I have no idea what went wrong in the kitchen, perhaps they mistook salt for some other condiments or what, or perhaps I should have just demanded they redo the salad for me. But I just didn't, and my poor tongue paid the price for it.
Never again, St Marc. I'll never try your salad ever again.

Fish and Chips

Once again, looks pretty when served, but tasted just like a normal fish and chips, with a little too much batter to 'fatten' up the fillet.

The Bakery & Bar St Marc is supposed to have a fuller menu (sandwiches, pastas and other mains) as compared to their cafe counterparts, which focuses mainly on pastries and desserts, but by far it seems to me that I'm better off heading to their more easily accessible cafes to indulge in their pastries instead.

For more information, visit St Marc's website HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo