If you've read my previous post on Bridge Cafe, Restaurant & Bar, you would've known how impressed I was with the food and so, I decided to bring my colleague there for his leave-do. Again, I ordered their Executive Set II but I went for the Chicken Roulade for the mains.

Again, I was heavily impressed with the tender and moist chicken meat that wrapped enoki mushroom and spinach. It was juicy and so flavourful without being too bombastic on the palate. It may seem like a small portion but for a set, it was perfect for me. The guys ordered the veal stew and they were really stuffed. So if you have a smaller appetite, the chicken roulade is really suitable for you.

Dessert of the day was brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that had bits of frozen raspberry. I wasn't that impressed with this because the previous brownie that I had was a lot more moist and therefore, decadent. I liked the frozen raspberry bits though but I felt that I would've preferred it to be sprinkled on the brownie instead of the ice cream because it was hard to try and scoop ice cream with raspberry to go onto the brownie.

Once more, the people whom I introduced this place to were thoroughly impressed and everyone was glad to have found a nice quiet cafe in the hustle and bustle of Singapore to just go and chillax with damn good food.

Bridge Cafe, Restaurant & Bar
31 Seah Street
Singapore 188387 (between City Hall and Bugis MRT, opp Raffles Hotel)

Tel: +65 63334453
Website: https://www.facebook.com/bridgesingapore
Opening Hours: 12pm-10pm (Tues-Fri), 10am-12am (Sat), 10am-5pm (Sun)

Chanced upon Henri Charpentier through a friend when we were trying to help my colleague find a proper gift for his step-mum. Despite me being a foodie, I've never heard of this popular (and famous) Japanese patisserie chain.

Opened in Japan in 1969, Henri Charpentier is a French style Japanese patisserie and its namesake is the father of Crepe Suzette. It's a no brainer that their signature dish is the Crepe Suzette. Other signature delectable pastries would be their Madeleines and Financiers. Alas, I did not get the chance to sit down for dessert because we were there simply to get a gift before I had to rush home.

Sorry, I was too busy talking to my colleague that I didn't get the chance to take photos of their first flagship store outside Japan. Located at Dempsey, it is just opposite my favourite House restaurant! What greets you is their distinct fuchsia pink carpet before you open the doors that have customised handles with their logo on it.

The service is a bit slow and the friend who recommended me to this place complained that they don't seem to answer their phones when she tried to make a reservation several times. The wait staff definitely aren't rushing along and they do tend to you in an unhurried fashion. While waiting for one of them to attend to us, I was sucked into their display fridge and I caved in...

I bought their Mille-Crepe (S$9+) and their Mont Blacnc (S$9+) and I loved how they packaged it with supporting blocks so that your cakes don't move about. They even have a protective 'fence' around my Mont Blanc! On the right, there's a small little box where they placed a ice pack so that my cakes aren't wilting by the time I get home. Brilliant! Ok...one up on Lady M.

Here comes the taste test.

Let's start with the Mille-Crepe. For S$9+ a slice, it is comparable to Lady M but you feel slightly better because you still have fruits on top of it whereas Lady M's version is just plain ole cream and crepes. However, when you put it into your mouth, I have to say that I prefer Lady M. Not that Charpentier's version wasn't tasty (my family loved it), just that Lady M's was a little more...fulfilling?

My Mont Blanc was a little damaged during transport despite the fences and cardboard boxes to keep it from jostling. The irony is that the chestnut cream stuck to the side of the 'fence', resulting in it's less-than-perfect reappearance when the box was opened. Nevertheless, we shall judge this Mont Blanc by its taste and not its looks.

First bite and I'm in Mont Blanc heaven. I finally found it! THE best Mont Blanc in Singapore! The chestnut cream was wonderfully rich with chestnut flavour while still being balanced with the tart and cream inside. They did something delightful in the centre of the cream dome - they added a marron glace (candied chestnut) as the centre. Mmm...yum! The cream that they used within the 'mountain' is also delicious and they definitely added something into the whipped cream as it does not taste like your typical cream. The pastry tart crumbles nicely in your mouth and not on your fork too. The dessert god is definitely smiling upon this.

Ok...this calls for a proper visit to sit down and eat their disgustingly expensive desserts (S$18++ for Crepe Suzette??!!) and do a proper review. One day. When I'm feeling rich. Or happy. Or both.

Henri Charpentier
9A Dempsey Road
Singapore 247698

Tel: +65 6479 5518
Website: http://www.henri-charpentier.com/
Opening hours: 11am - 10pm

I'm finally on Pinterest and if you'd like a more organised 'board' of my posts on my nail art plus my recipes, do follow me there at http://www.pinterest.com/themelissafann/.

Besides those 2 boards, do give me suggestions on what other boards I should put up as I'd love to hear from you guys. Big thanks in advance for the follow!

I had the pleasure of being treated to a delicious Japanese lunch by a vendor at Tatsu Teppanyaki, located at CHIJMES. After CHIJMES' recent facelift, Tatsu has downsized to a small restaurant which only has 1 main teppanyaki area further in and a small bar counter seating near the entrance.

All of us ordered the bento lunches (ranges from S$20++ to S$38++)because they're a lot more value-for-money compared to ala carte menu. The menu has definitely shrunk from their pre-facelift version.

I ordered the Sashimi Unajyu set (S$35++) and here's what made up the bento, starting from the top left corner in a clockwise manner:

• Salad with wafu dressing
• Hamachi head stew with radish and ginger (seasonal)
• Milk pudding 
• Sashimi
• Fish floss
• Unagi on rice

For the price, I was expecting everything to be super super delicious and here's where there were a few ups and downs. The salad was expected so nothing to fault.

The hamachi was ok but as it was from the head, there was quite a bit of bone and my boss (who ordered the same set) gave up eating it. Oddly enough, my bowl had radish while my boss' one doesn't. Same dish but they look completely different except for the colour and garnish.

The milk pudding was full of bubbles, resulting in a less-than-perfect smooth dessert, which would've been a delightful end to the meal.

The sashimi was very fresh! The fish floss was delicious but I didn't know whether to eat it alone or with the rice because it was rather sweet. The unagi and the sauce was one of the best that I've eaten in a very long time! The flesh was smooth and tender while the skin was not tough or chewy. The sauce was faultless. However, you'd think that for S$35++, we'd be served proper Japanese rice. Alas, the rice did not taste like it's 100% Japanese short grain. I could've gone 3 shops down to Onyasai Shabu-shabu to get Japanese rice and then my unajyu would've been perfect.

Was it delicious? Definitely. Was it worth S$35++? Mm...not quite. I sincerely hope that their Teppanyaki is better.

Tatsu Teppanyaki
30 Victoria Street
#01-08 CHIJMES
Singapore 187996

Tel: +65 6332 5868
Website: http://www.tatsu.com.sg/ 

I caved in and bought a bottle of Matte Top Coat from OPI the other day because I just wanted to try out this contrasting nail art between matte and glossy. To me, this adds in another dimension of texture and contrast while being relatively simple and classy.

So for the above, I used:
Ciate          Peppermint
Innisfree    #23
OPI            Matte Top Coat

I applied alternate nails with Ciate Peppermint and Innisfree #23. After which I then added the matte top coat. I found that the matte top coat dries really fast! Now, with a thin brush, dip it into the normal polish (Ciate Peppermint on the Innisfree #23 base and vice versa) and draw on the squiggles. Following +Robin Moses Nail Art - Nail Art Tutorials, Nail Art Designs, Nail Art Ideas, DIY, Easy Nails, I drew full squiggles only on my ring finger to make it an accent nail while the rest had the squiggle only at the bottom.

To make the squiggles more shiny, I added another layer of shiny top coat only on them. The contrast isn't very clear in the photo but it's ok because I like the subtle contrast. It reminds me of the Spot UV printing on catalogues.

Know any more designs and want me to try them out? Drop me a message in my chat box!

Does this look like I'm eating canteen food? LOL. This was my lunch at Pack'd and I ordered the Hearty Set Meal (S$12.90) which consists of:
1 hot main (choice of Beef Meatballs/ Pulled Chicken/ Stew of the Day on rice or pasta)
1 drink
1 dessert (choice of muffin or croissant)

I went for the Beef Meatballs on rice and chocolate muffin. Another set would be the Sandwich Set (S$12) which consists of:
1 sandwich (too many choices)
1 salad (2 choices of their salad spread)
1 coffee/ tea

There were a few ups and down eating at Pack'd. Let's start with the good: the bright coloured furniture of Pack'd and couple that with the fact that it is located next to window facing the Suntec City Fountain of Wealth immediately gives you an immediate perk up!  I love how the food was 'packed' into a metal square baking tin! It's convenient for us consumers to carry the food from the counter to the cutlery/condiments booth before heading over to a table. The food was surprisingly yummy too! I was also pleasantly surprised that they heated up my chocolate chip muffin. New favourite lunch spot found! If you're feeling a bit down, I think this place can provide that slight cheer.

Now...the not-so-good: the staff was obviously not trained because all of them behaved slightly like deer-in-the-headlight. A lot of them couldn't remember what the sets entail. They didn't inform my colleague that a cappuccino costs an extra S$2 before they brewed it for her. The bin meant for self-clearing was full so we couldn't clear up our table even though we wanted to. The staff was probably part-timers who are just working through their holidays before school begins in Jan, so we didn't really kick up a fuss. Besides, the delicious food, relaxing view and the cheery decor makes up for it.

I later learned that Pack'd is by the Les Amis group, which explained the high quality of salads and sandwiches. Great that besides the sets, you can also choose to get the salads/ mains/ sandwiches ala carte with prices ranging from S$6.90 to S$9. For the quality, Pack'd is really value-for-money and is affordable too!

Pack'd
Suntec City Mall
#B1-169/170 Temasek Boulevard

Website: https://www.facebook.com/PACKD 

I really shouldn't. But I did. I couldn't resist buying this limited edition Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary nail set (S$40) when I went to Sephora after work. I had an extra 20% discount thanks to my Black Sephora card, which really helped to push me into grabbing this for myself. Although I went into Sephora purely to find nice gift items for Christmas.

See the crystals just below the nail file? Those aren't simple crystals. They're Hello Kitty crystals! Each crystal is in the shape of Kitty-chan! The red ones? Apples!

How cute is the tin can that all the nail stuff was placed in? Gah...I'm such a sucker for cute things. There are other limited edition Hello Kitty cosmetic sets but I already have a lot of lip glosses and eye shadows, and unlike nail polishes, you don't really need that many of those. To me at least. I can't wait to use the stuff from this box but I'll have to wait because I broke 2 nails this week :(