Mia's Review: Alfero Artisan Gelato [Sponsored]

For those ladies out there who loves to indulge in an ice cream feast once in a while and yet lament over your newly added flabs, did you know that you can actually indulge in a more guilt-free alternative?

The astounding difference between Alfero Gelato and your usual ice cream! Mostly importantly, there's only 2 to 9% fat content compared to the #fatdieme 18 to 30% fat content in a normal ice cream. 

And that's Marco Alfero, owner and founder of Alfero Gelato, who came from Turin, Italy to Singapore in 2009 to deliver us this gelato heaven.

Alfero Artisan Gelato is prepared with a mixture of high quality ingredients – milk, cream, sugar, eggs, fruits, chocolate, nuts, etc. with a high nutritional value. Italian gelato contains less fat than ice cream, has less incorporated air and is served at a higher temperature (-11 degree Celsius). Our gelato provides a greater flavour experience because there is less fat that coats the tongue, more flavour per spoonful (due to less air), and the taste buds are more alive since the temperature is not so cold as to numb the sensitivity. The lower fat content also means fewer calories to burn. 

-credit to Alfero Gelato-

And I got to visit the branch located conveniently at a quiet corner of Marina Square level 2 for this small and cozy food-tasting session with fellow bloggers Finaldust, Hazel, Oyhz and Janel.

And I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they serve coffee as well!

 Macchiato

It comes in a really cute, small sized coffee cup and I felt rather dainty sipping it. Coffee wise, it was pretty good if you enjoy a bitter coffee. Somehow I felt that there's a slight sour aftertaste after I added in the sugar, so I'll probably go sugarless the next time I'm there.

Couldn't help but snap a  picture of the colourful selection of their English Tea from Gryphon Tea Company.

In order to achieve perfection during the conservation phase, a special cabinet called pozzetto is used to store the gelato, where no air and light contamination will affect the quality of the gelato. Marco strongly believes in serving only the best-tasting gelato, which is why he is the only man in Singapore who keeps his gelato covered while on display. 

And of course, this marks the start of our crazy photo-taking session, which truly is a race against time because the gelato melts so quickly! 

And there's Janel with her hugeass DSLR and Oyhz holding on to her pink Samsung camera, the mother of my Samsung NX Mini. *rofl*

The total 11 flavours we've tried from top left in clockwise direction:

Lemon, Bacio, Dark Chocolate, Yuzu, Strawberry Milk, Walnut, Pistachio (both nutty flavours were in a sorry state by then because they were the very first cup to be served), Mango, Durian, Avocado, Passionfruit.

Having tried all with the exception of Durian, I have to say that I really cannot decide on my favourite flavour. 

Despite being a chocolate lover, Dark Chocolate and Bacio, which tasted like Ferrero Rocher, somehow got a little bit 'common' in spite of the rich and creamy texture and I found myself getting addicted to the strong nutty fragrance of Pistachio and Walnut. It felt like I was munching on the roasted nut itself, albeit with a smooth and creamy texture in my mouth.

Strawberry Milk was surprisingly yummy as well, with a slight tangy flavour of fresh strawberry instead of the usual artificial flavouring we taste in the normal ice creams. 

And for ladies with a love for lighter, icy citrus flavours, you can't go wrong with any of the sorbets, with Yuzu, my personal favourite sorbet, and Mango winning the popularity vote at the table. 

Cendol Gelato Waffle

Yes, you saw it right. It's a cendol flavoured gelato, the brain-child of Marco after being introduced to the flavour of Gula Melaka. 

As I'm not a fan of cendol at all, I only took a test-bite of the gelato and found the flavour pretty mild and manageable. But for one who loves a good Cendol with flavours that pack a punch, this might be a little to bland for you, as mentioned by Hazel.

As for the waffle, in spite being pandan-infused, there wasn't much of the distinctive pandan fragrance, which might be a good thing as overpowering pandan flavour tends to be an acquired taste. They were also slightly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, which makes the waffle itself a pretty good choice if you're craving for something more filling.

Brownie with Snow White Gelato

If you're wondering what's a Snow White flavour, it's actually just milk.
Rich milky taste with a smooth creamy texture, I can see that this will be one of the hot favourite for young children, and the generous glob of gelato really did make the dry and crumbly brownie more appetizing.

Alfero Artisan Gelato is located at:

Marina Square #02-226A/B 

81 MacPherson Lane #01-37

Orchard Gateway #B2-06

For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Lady M

It was a pretty impromptu visit as I was craving sweet treats after my gym session, and I basically googled up cafes & bakeries in Marina Square (since I'm heading there with T) and Lady M just caught my attention. I love how the cafe is so bright and white (clean) and very spacious.

My usual favourite of Cafe Mocha.
As you can see at the bottom of the mug, there is a generous amount of chocolate added in so the chocolate taste is pretty rich and gave the mocha a very sweet taste. Too sweet for me.

 Banana Mille Feuille
A gorgeous composition of flaky, golden puff pastry, whipped cream kissed with just a touch of triple sec, layers of vanilla sponge cake and perfectly ripe bananas.
-credits to Lady M-

And of course, it tasted just as delicious as it sounds. However, too much whipped cream for my liking. Like, way too much! Compare the thickness of the yellow (vanilla sponge cake) to the white (whipped cream)! There's even times I ate nothing but just whipped cream with flakes of puff pastry. The generous topping of puff pastry flakes also made this yummy cake a pretty messy eat. Oh well, the taste is pretty awesome but the overall texture is kind of lacking IMO.
I'll prefer more sponge, less cream.

Checkers Board
(photo bombed by a partially eaten BMF)
Striking black and white in appearance, our popular Checkers Cake weaves together a precise and tender checkerboard of vanilla and chocolate sponge cake. The lightest fresh whipped cream comes tucked between the squares, all outfitted in a silky dark chocolate ganache.

-credits to Lady M-

And obviously it wouldn't be that striking a black and white when served on your plate. First impression and I was pretty disappointed because the cake really looked kind of ruined. I had the picture of this in my mind as I ordered this cake.

But what came to my table was far from it. Even the outer layer of chocolate ganache wasn't evenly coated. Mehhhhh....
But taste wise, it was really good! The sponge cake was soft and fluffy, the whipped cream within kept to bare minimum in order to stick the checkers together, and the chocolate ganache was so rich, it was simply decadent.

And with merely 2 cakes out of the so many tried, I'll definitely be returning to Lady M some other time for more yummy sweet treats.

Miroir Caramel and Cateau au Chocolat, I'm watching you. :)

Till then,
Mia

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Review from Mia: Bangkok Jam @ Marina Square

Actually, review on Poulet at Bugis+ should come before this. But I've decided to do Bangkok Jam first because this is actually my second time dining at Bangkok Jam, albeit at a different branch. I apologise beforehand for the lack of pictures for this post because I didn't intend to do a review on it, since I've already been there once (PS new wing) and the experience was, well....mediocre. Mediocre service (even at a less packed dining time of 5pm and most of their crew was idle), mediocre food (had their Pad Thai & special item Earl Grey Milk Shake then) Nothing good, nothing bad.

Not blog-worthy.

But this time round at Marina Square, the level of service & food seemed to make a turn for the worse. Was actually reluctant to dine at Bangkok Jam, but since YS kept suggesting we go there as they have a shorter queue compared to Hi Fu Mi and the others (with the exception of this sorry looking cafe called Addictions, which was empty) and I sensed that she was eager to try it, I agreed.

There were two couples in front of us in the queue, and from the outside I can easily notice that the restaurant is horribly understaff. There're dirty tables left uncleaned, along with a few empty tables staring invitely at us to just walk straight in and take our own seat as those particular few servers just threw us a blank stare as they zoomed by to tend to other seated customers. Finally, one staff dressed in white oversized chef coat came out to ursher us to our respective tables. Or perhaps, their resturant manager dress up like a chef unlike other servers in black? I doubt so.

Anyway, YS and I ordered similar dishes. Seafood in Red Tom Yum for her (plus an additional sunny-side-up), Clear Tom Yum for me, and we both ordered iced Thai Milk Tea. Our orders took roughly 20 minutes to arrive, yes for a soup dish it is friggin long waiting time. Never mind, see how our (or rather my) food was served.

Let's not even complain about the tiny bowl of soup (with exactly 2 small pieces of fish, 2 squids, 2 shrimps ONLY) selling at $7.90 (a total ripoff, yes!). My main focus was, where are my utensils and serviettes?! How do you expect me to eat? Soup with that black mini ladle and rice, with my hands?

Now, obviously not very happy, I reminded the waitress about the missing utensils, and also our missing drinks (which restaurants serves drinks later than cooked food, and mind you ours took 20 minutes to come!) YS also took the chance to remind her that her red tom yum has yet to be served, to which the waitress interrupted curtly, "I can speak Chinese."

YS and I exchanged glances of bewilderment before she turned back to the waitress and told her again in English, that her red tom yum wasn't served.

Seriously, what has your customer's language abilities got to do with the orders not served?

And yes, we do speak Mandarin too, but sorry to say YS doesn't speak it well.

After a few minutes, YS's red tom yum was finally served and our utensils handed over by the same waitress, just as YS pulled out a strand of long hair from her bowl of rice, to both of our horror. The waitress immediately apologised and snatched up the bowl of rice, saying she'll change it for us. She returned shortly after with a bowl of rice that seemed to be 'disrupted' instead of how it looked like in a pretty dome shape. I really hoped that they didn't just pul the hair out and re-served it to YS.

And yes, with our food served, we finally started eating our dinner. The first sip of my clear tom yum brought a frown to my face. It wasn't spicy at all. NOT ONE BIT. Previously when I visited the PS branch with Ade and Boon, Ade had red tom yum and she liked it because it's spicy. I remembered Boon commenting that the clear tom yum will be even spicer, for that's how it's supposed to be, because clear tom yum is cooked with chopped chilli padi. Then, I asked to try YS's red tom yum to compare. Hers was much more spicier than mine.

Clear Tom Yum is spicier then Red Tom Yum. Really?

Oh, nevermind! Being really hungry, we just gobbled down our food quickly. I shan't give much comment on the food because it really isn't fantastic. The ridiculously small serving aside, the fish definitely wasn't fresh as I can taste the fishiness even when it's cooked in Tom Yum soup. The squid was overcooked, hence tough and rubbery. Shrimp was too, but at least not as horrible as the squid. And when we're both halfway into our meal, YS exclaimed, "Where's our milk teas?"

Ahh, yes! Our milk teas weren't served. So once again, we desperately raised/waved our hands at the pathetic few servers, only to have the chef coming to tend to us again. It took a couple more minutes after he has left our table before he returned with our milk teas.

Which really isn't fantastic. It's just a tinge sweeter with a slightly stronger tea fragrance as compared to any other milk teas.

And back to my clear tom yum, I finally realised the reason why it wasn't spicy at all when I polished it off (not because it tasted heavenly please, because it's really a tiny bowl!)

There's only a pathetic 1/3 piece of a chilli padi inside the entire bowl of soup. How to make it spicy?!

I remembered when I told Sa I enjoyed dining at Porn's (Pornsak's Thai restaurant), she scoffed that I have no taste for Thai food.

I don't blame her for being overly critical. She hasn't tried Bangkok Jam.

Till then,

Mia



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