D'Good Cafe @ Takashimaya

Recently paid a visit to D'Good Cafe at #B1-56 Takashimaya. Previous visit was to its Holland Village outlet. Read more about that here.  It was post-lunch and the place was bustling as expected during the weekends and we were lucky to have the last remaining counter seats. The 65-seater cafe looked smallish when it was packed.

counter seats view

The cold brew menu looked pretty interesting and there was even one called 'Unknown'. Oooh...so mysterious! Ask friendly the friendly barista and he will explain to you on what to expect for the 'Unknown'.

cold brew coffee menu

One of the signature is the Coconut Infused Cold Brew @$9.50++, so we ordered one of that to try. Coffee brewed with coconut water for that light coconut fragrance and slight fruity sweetness.

are you ready for a multisensory experience?

pour some smoke over the coffee

now, let's do the same for the drinking glass

enjoy~

That was some display of effects and the coffee tasted pretty strong. Or, if you'd like a strong espresso with milk, get Dirty; a concoction of double espresso over 3 oz. of cold milk. In the menu, there is a prescribed way of drinking this. Sip, drink and gulp.

Dirty @$4++

For me, I've gotten the Maple Syrup Sea Salt Latte @$6++. Was disappointed that it turned out to be tasting like a regular latte.

Maple Syrup Sea Salt Latte @$6++

And, we just couldn't resist ordering the Deutsch Skillet Pancake that D'Good Cafe does so well. Chose the plain and simple Classic of sweet dutch pancake, served with maple syrup, lemon and cream cheese on the side. Added a scoop of white chocolate raspberry ice-cream with chocolate drizzle because who'll say no to ice-cream? Do order early as it takes about half an hour for the pancake to arrive piping hot to our table. That anticipation...was well worthed it!

Classic @$8++ (ice-cream additional $3++)

It was an indulgent to have it with the ice-cream for that contrast of warm and cold, and distinct sweetness jolt. It was refreshing to the palate to have it plain with just a drizzle of maple syrup and a squeeze of lemon. Totally yummy! A dab of cream cheese on the thin eggy pancake gave it another slightly heavier taste that was almost buttery.

Expect to spend about $10 to $15 per pax for coffee and dessert. Was great catching up with fellow foodies; Kris, Tiara and Justin over coffee. Thanks Justin for being the hand-model.

D'Good Cafe

Address: 391 Orchard Road #B1-56, Takashimaya S.C., Ngee Ann City Singapore 238872
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dgoodcafe
Website: http://dgoodcafe.com

Sun With Moon Japanese Dining & Cafe @ Wheelock Place

Located at Level 3 of Wheelock Place, this restaurant has been around for quite some time. Possible to walk in during weekends but reservation is recommended for larger groups. There were a mix of diners including solo diner, families and couples. Mostly are families dining out.

Let's get started with a Yuzu Highball. The price was right so couldn't resist ordering one. Refreshing with lots of yuzu sweetness. Thirst quencher on warm evening.

Yuzu Highball @$5++

Kyushu Yuzu Amasake @$4++

Another interesting drink was the sweet and cloudy Kyushu Yuzu Amasake. With very low alcoholic content of just 0.5% ABV, it tasted quite like a nigori sake mix.


For 2 pax, we chose a kamameshi dish and a salad to share. Chose the Salmon Avocado Salad with ample slices of creamy avacodo. The dressing was a simple soy-based sauce. Would have preferred a more citrus-y flavoured dressing.

salmon avocado salad @$13.80++

The kamameshi is basically flavoured rice in an iron pot. The whole setup included a small kettle of bonito broth, a cute small iron pot good for one pax and a side dish of ikura and seaweed strips.

kamameshi

how to enjoy Kamameshi

Chose the Seafood Mix Kamameshi and there were unagi, small scallops, salmon, mushroom and broad beans (soramame).

Seafood Mix Kamaneshi @$24.80++

海鲜釜飯

Lovely flavours that was not too strong. Equally enjoyable with the bonito broth. There was still room for desserts.

The sweet potato mont blanc was rather nice. Not overly sweet and has a light sweet potato taste.

Amasa Satsuma Imo Mont Blanc @$6.80++

cross section

Expect to spend about $38 per pax for a set dinner with a drink, or dessert. Service was good and staff was friendly.

NOW Noodles+ @ Novena Square 2

Occupying the space that was previously 天晴 Appare Udon and Tempura Japanese Restaurant (that has been left vacant for the longest time), is NOW Noodles+.

NOW Noodles+ has just opened its doors on 10 September 2016 and serves up Asian contemporary noodles from family recipes. Shop has a modern decor, warm lights, manned by a young crew and with a small menu for a start. Payment at the moment is by cash only and the style is semi-self service. Order and pay at the counter. Take your own utensils and sauces and take a seat. Your food shall be served to your table.

now opened

menu

The menu at the moment has five mains only of Dry Laksa, Dry Mee Siam, Mee Tai Mak with century egg, Vegetarian Mee Goreng, and Heng Hwa Noodle Soup. Sides such as Gyoza, Chicken Mid-Wings, and Sotong Balls and two desserts of churros and malasada. Drinks choices include coffee from coffee machine with choices including espresso, latte, cappucino and black coffee, and other drinks like black tea, chinese tea and mineral water.


The mains are all currently priced at $9.80, sides at $2.80 and desserts at $3.80. All prices are nett.

The Dry Laksa was nicely fragrant in all aspects. The prawns were of a good size, translucent and barely cooked, just the way I liked it.

Dry Laksa

Dry Mee Siam

At one glance of its menu, my choice would be the Heng Hwa Noodle Soup as this item is rather rare as compared to mee siam or laksa. The mee tai mak with century egg just seemed a tad too funky for me. I'll probably play safe and let someone else order and I'll just try that.

The noodle soup has plenty of ingredients in it including sweet pea, bok choy, egg strips, black fungus and dried lily bulb with a piece of chunky chicken meat. We got a drumstick!

Heng Hwa Noodle Soup

thin egg noodles

The broth of the noodle soup was robust but with bitter aftertaste. The smell of chinese wine was quite evident. Am not sure how many would like the bitter aftertaste though. I certainly enjoyed it less.

For desserts, we were eager to try the churros but unfortunately it was not available that day. So we tried the malasada instead. According to wiki, malasada is a Portugues confection much like a doughnut which is balls of dough, deep-fried and sugar dusted.

Customer can choose two choice-fillings from three flavours; Thai Tea, Kaya and Orange. We chose Thai Tea and Orange. The word malasada also refers to under-cooked. After taking a bite into this, and it was understandably true to taste. It tasted abit undercooked and doughy. The filling was nice and creamy though.

malasada @$3.80

As with all restaurants that had just began its operation, teething problems were bound to occur.

Will probably do a revisit after it has been in operation for another few weeks.

Expect to spend about $13 per pax inclusive of a drink.