Mia's Review: Cake Spade

credits to Cake Spade

Yes, I know I'm supposed to be on a eat healthy diet (with the B12+Folate deficiency anemia going on) but I cannot do without cakes! T.T 

I first stumbled onto Cake Spade after a google search of "cake cafes near tanjong pagar" due to a pretty sudden cake craving while waiting for T at the mrt station. And subsequently, I returned with A recently for a quick cake fix. 

Located around Orchid Hotel, I have to be honest to say that Cake Spade is a cafe so small and humble looking, with just 6 seatings in the interior and a couple more humbly plain looking tables and chairs laid out on the outside, that you probably will just walk right past it without a second look or the slightly recognition that that's a friggin awesome cake cafe right there. 

Chinese Apple Pomegranate Green Tea

I first saw this selling at Cedele and instantly got attracted to the pretty bottles! But due to the price (it was about $4.50 or so), I didn't want to buy it then for I tend to spend less on a pick-and-go as compared to a cafe-hopping trip. So yup, tried it at Cake Spade instead. :)
But frankly speaking, judging from the fact that you probably will not be keeping the bottle after consuming the beverage, the price tag does not justify the purchase at all.

Nutella Fudge Crumble - $4.50

A layer of fudge and nutella sandwiched between a buttery short crust pastry and a layer of crumbs! Sounds yummy, eh?

And to show how runny the fudge-nutella layer is.

First bite, heavenly! The bottom crust tasted like an exceptionally short (buttery and crumbly) shortbread and the top layer of crumbs added just the right amount of crunchiness oomph up the overall texture of this decadent treat!
But as you slowly polish the entire bar off the plate, things might get a little difficult as the taste is way too rich, both the chocolate-nutty richness of the filling and the buttery fragrance of the bottom and top layers just made it too jerlat (strong, overpowering) for me.
Best to visit with a friend (or two) and share a few other choices of goodies together so as to not experience a sweet-richness overkill.

Oreo Cookie Brownie - $3.20

Come on, oreo cookies, brownie, and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. What more can you ask for?
The brownie was rich, chocolatey and very dense. I remembered it was a little too dry and dense for my liking and the oreo cookie were somehow, too soft and soggy. Would have been a perfect match made in heaven, but oh well, it somehow fell short of my expectation, which I have to admit that I might have unknowingly set them a little too high?

Red Velvet Cake - $5.90

Of course, with T around how can we not have red velvet cake? Look at the moist layer of red sponge cake and pretty swirls of cream cheese icing on top!
But I didn't really try out the taste, for I'm really not a fan of red velvet (mostly due to the cream cheese icing).

And on my 2nd visit with A, I got myself a cup of Iced Latte due to the hot weather.
The coffee was just so-so, and quickly got washed down when the ice started to melt.

Chocolate Blackout Cake - $5.90

A classic chocolate cake with moist chocolate sponge cake and iced with rich and smooth chocolate ganache.
This cake is truly decadent and is a must try for all chocolate-addicts out there. The sponge layer is (obviously) moist and soft, and the ganache velvety smooth and rich. But once again, the taste can be pretty jerlat even for a chocolate-lover like me, so sharing with fellow chocoholic friends is highly recommended.

Lastly, Strawberry Tofu Cheesecake - $5.90

Yeah of course, how can we miss out their signature cake?
And with just one bite, both A and I nodded our heads and said, "Yummy!" Worthy of the signature tag indeed! The cheesecake was truly of an almost tofu-like consistency, super smooth and finely textured, which literally melts away in your mouth. Topped with quite a generous chunk of fresh strawberries encased in sweetened jelly, this is a remarkably light and refreshing cheesecake. A pleasant surprise indeed, for I've always feel that cheesecakes are the most jerlat cake of all.

Cake Spade is located at 1 Tras Link, #01-06, Orchid Hotel
For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then
Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Keisuke Tonkotsu King Ramen

Once again, it's my favourite food. Japanese Ramen! :) 

This shall be a review of my... 2nd visit to Keisuke Tonkotsu Ramen located at Orchid Hotel, which is within walking distance from Tanjong Pagar MRT station exit A. They do have a mid-day break time, which I'm guessing is between 3-ish pm to 6pm. But you may start queuing as early as 5:30pm, for when we got there at about 5:45pm on a weekday, we were 3rd in line. 

One reason why the queue is (almost) everlasting is because the ramen shop is really, truly, extremely small.

The interior is decorated with poster-plastered walls like so and that's the entire width of the shop, really. Just enough to place 3 sets of tables across. There's another line of table right behind us, and then another 1 or 2 near the entrance and that's it. But fret not, for the queue does move moderately quickly as patrons will never hog the table to chit-chat, it's really the last place one will ever want to chillax over a bowl of ramen. So everyone is basically a eat and go. 

Right in queue, you will be handed the order sheet to make your order first before giving it to the greeter/server located at the entrance. My advice, go for NO oil and light. Less oil is not good enough, remember, NO oil. :)

Upon seated, you shall find 3 items set on your table. One grinder filled with white and black sesame seeds for every seat, one whole basket of hard boiled eggs (they're free flow, yes!), one tub of marinated bean sprouts. The marinated bean sprouts is really good! I'm never a fan of bean sprouts, but for these, I'll gladly go for seconds! 

As for the sesame seeds, you grind them down as fine as you'll like them to be and later on add them to your ramen for extra fragrance. :)

 And here's my red ramen, before and after mixing. In case you're wondering, the 'red' refers to rayu (chilli oil). There's also a black ramen option, which I believe is pepper. 

I first tried Keisuke last year and I checked less oil and light flavour then, it was served with a thick layer of oil over the broth and I was pretty grossed out even before I started eating. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy it at all. But this time, no oil seem to have done the trick. I actually found my ramen pretty yummy. :)
However, as I'm still a sapporo miso ramen lover, it still failed to top my list of favourite ramen in SG.

Even though Keisuke Tonkotsu is a famous Tokyo ramen chain, I find that their noodles resembles more of a Hakata/Kyushu ramen instead of the typical Tokyo style ramen with thin curly noodles and shoyu based broth. The broth is obviously a milky white pork bone broth, and the noodles relatively thin, straight and hard.

Lastly, the most important factor of a ramen. The ajitama (flavoured egg). As you can see, their egg somehow pales in comparison to other chains like Santouka, Ippudo and Marutama, which serves ajitama with yummy runny yolk and whites just done it jiggles.
For Keisuke, the egg is indeed well flavoured, but obviously overcooked.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,
Mia

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