PAUL Boulangerie et Pâtisserie Français @ Marina Bay Link Mall

Located at Marina Bay Link Mall, Marina Boulevard. It's easier to access via Raffles Place MRT, or Downtown MRT than Bayfront MRT.

PAUL first came to our shore in 2012, with its flagship store at Takashimaya and since then, it has grown to a total of 5 outlets with another one coming soon in December this year.

Was invited to try PAUL's new menu which was launched not too long ago. The Marina Bay Link Mall area was actually pretty quiet on a weekend morning. Hence, this would make a great place to dine if you prefer a quiet environment.

shop front

which one to choose?

Asked a little girl what would her choice be, and she pointed to the macarons. Such a cutie!

colourful macarons

Lunch begins at noon, so we adjourned to our tables.

in the restaurant

menu

For the hungries, a small bread basket was served along with soft butter, imported from France.

beurre

bread

PAUL was established in 1889 in the city of Croix, near Lille in Northern France. Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, one can enjoy traditional rustic taste of France when one dines at PAUL.

What's in its new menu, you asks? There are 26 new items and we sampled 6. Here we go:

Salade de la mer @$20.90

Plate was visually appealing. Loved the colours. Sweetness of the grapefruit really bursts forth and the cooked prawns were firm and yums.

Next up, Tartine boeuf. Rustic bread with crispy edges, topped with sweet caramelized onions, herbed cream cheese and a tender slice of sirloin steak cooked medium. Gone in two bites. Enjoyable.

Tartine boeuf @$19.90

For mains, one could try the classic Confit de canard (duck confit).

Confit de canard @$28.90

Herb marinated leg of duck, that required two days of preparation and 4 hours of cooking. Fork tender, a tad salty at first, but the sweet cranberry sauce managed to balance it out.

Otherwise, a cold drink from the menu might do the trick as well.

Iced tea of the moment @$7.50

lemongrass iced tea @$7.50

According to the staff, the lemongrass iced tea is this outlet's current bestseller amongst all the iced teas.

Back to the mains, we also tried the Longe de thon (tuna loin).

Longe de thon @$29.90

Nicely pink, with a good sear around its sides and adequately salted. Cranberry sauce was outstandingly sweet and well complimented by the slight hint of spice in the peppers. Zucchini was well cooked and rather juicy. Nice.

Moving on to desserts, I had a coffee that could qualify as desserts as well! Café glace, which had a whole scoop of icy cold deliciously creamy vanilla gelato swimming in coffee. It was like having an affagato with more coffee to drink. I like.

Café glace @$10.90

For desserts, we had a huge tower of waffles; Gaufre avec glace (waffles with ice-cream).

waffles with ice-cream @$13.90

another angle

The waffles were seriously crispy! Waffles and ice-cream, what's not to like?

However, do save some space for Eclair Paris-Brest.

Eclair Paris-Brest @$7.50

This traditional choux pastry with hazelnut cream and the crunchiest of hazelnuts, is a must-eat. Yup. Try it. Best to share it with a friend (or not!)

Special thanks to all the friendly people from PAUL, and not forgetting Hsu Lin, Sheryl and Rachel. Thank you for the lovely lunch and it was a great introduction to PAUL's new menu.

The new menu is available at all PAUL's outlets in Singapore. Starting Nov 20th, do look out for PAUL's new jams; strawberry and apricot. An idea for Christmas gift, perhaps?

PAUL

Location: Marina Bay Link Mall, B2-07 8A Marina Boulevard (please refer to its website for more locations)
Website: http://www.paul-singapore.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PAUL1889.singapore

Johan Paris Boulanger Patissier @ Westgate

Located at basement level, next to Isetan. Usually popular, and a queue at cashier is common. A quick look-around revealed that the shop seemed to have more sweets as compared to savouries. Had tried their mini-cheese cakes and caneles and those are expectedly sweet.

Recently tried the butter melon pan and onion bread @$2.60 each.

melon pan

Hmm, I think melon pan is similar to polo bun and mexican bun. Much prefer the onion bread. It's not actually called onion bread but I can't recall what was its actual label.

bread unwrapped

two types of cheese

Popped the bread into toaster for a minute before eating. Totally loved the fragrance of the onions. The slightly chewy bread worked well with the cheeses. Yums.

Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier @ Raffles City

Was at Raffles City B1, so went over to Tiong Bahru Bakery after lunch to check-out their breads. Well, curiosity got the better of me, so bought home some of their much raved about pastries.

$15+ worth of baked goods

What's in the bag? Kouign Amann (since it is like one of the much raved item), chocolate croissant, a brioche ('coz been looking for one) and a pandan flan (now, this was what caught my eye!).

kouign amann (@$3.50)

round and round it goes, the layers

buttery and very sweet

Hmmm, kouign amann felt like a candy to me. Very sticky, sweet and buttery. Like a treat that one can have, once in a while.

Chocolate croissant was of a large size, and it probably should, since a piece of that, is the same price as a plate of chicken rice.

chocolate croissant (@$3.20)

can you find the chocolate?

The croissant was fragrant after toasting it, but could do with a few more bits of chocolate. It's like a plain croissant that once in a while (make it rare!), you'd stumble onto an accidental choco bit.

natural brioche (@$2.50)

Popped the brioche into a toaster oven for a few minutes prior to serving, and one gets a soft, fluffy buttery roll. Yums. Ate mine with some jam and emmental cheese. Nice.

brioche, the inside story

found this in my fridge!

add some sweetness

topped with emmental cheese

The very truth that attracted me to the bakery that day (besides curiosity about Monsieur Gontran Cherrier's recipe), was this bright yellow looking pie. Turned out to be a pandan flan. It looked huge amongst its neighbouring treats. And packed in a nice yellow box too!

cheery looking box

flaky pastries for crust

pandan flan

The flan smells like tofu and tasted like kaya. Hahaha, that'd how I'd think it was, for me. The pandan fragrance was very faint, and it doesn't have the strong pandan taste. It's texture was softer than it looked. Very likeable!

soft, with just the right sweetness

Sun Moulin @ Isetan Scotts (Shaw House)

Was nearby at Isetan supermarket, so decided to head over to this bakery to grab some carbs home.

(from right, counter clockwise) cheddar scone, cheese bread and okinawan cake

okinawan cake @$2.80

This brown coloured okinawan cake reminds me of the local Malay cake (马来糕 or malai gao). It was rather huge and tasted like 发糕 (fatt gao or steamed rice cake). Best eaten with a cup of coffee, otherwise a tad too dry (and a bit too much) to finish on its own.

has a cake plus kueh texture

The cheddar scone may look smallish but it is adequate as a simple breakfast. Its texture is actually a cross between scone and cheese bread. The cheese is not as pronounced as anticipated. Toasting it brings out the cheese smell.

cheddar scone @$1.40

with cheesey bits layered in

The 'cheese bread' (actually I had forgotten what's the actual name for this, so let's just call this cheese bread) was bought on a whim. Was probably thinking of having it with soup or something.

cheese bread @$2.20

ooh, didn't know it has a cheese cube in it~

Decided to margerine up the bread, and toast it with ham ends and cherry tomatoes. The bread was nicely soaky and has a slight chewy texture. Should do well in mopping up sauce or soups.

bread for lunch

slightly chewy bread

DONQ @ Takashimaya

Located at B2 of Takashimaya, this bakery is nestled deeper inside the food hall. Its latest offering, Mini One, is located nearer to the entrance/exit.

Went there at about noon time on a weekend and there wasn't a queue. Bought home a Tart Bresson Fruit and a Colonnade (Choco).

nice plastic bag

Tart Bresson Fruit @$2.80

Colonnade (Choco) @$2

Liked the Tart Bresson. It's sweet and tangy.

topped with sweet cherries, raspberries, cheese and sprinkling of sugar dust

slighly chewy pancake-like airy crust

The Colonnade Choco was nicely filled with ample chocolate cream that's not too sweet. Would've better if the bread texture is slightly more airy and fluffy.

I forgot that at most Japanese establishment, the cash for payment should be placed onto the tray at the cashier. Hee. The girl at the cashier placed the $10 that I gave her onto the tray, but she handed the return back to me as per norm. Hahaa, is this what we called meet halfway?