Say No to Bad Food

It's an absolute heartwarmer.

First it was the brochure outside the cafe, which I couldn't help but pick up (for the punchy lines and great graphics!) but didn't have time to check out the place itself due to time constraint. Then it was coincidence 2 weeks later when Shareen (a very old friend of mine, with whom I hardly meet up but always have loads to catch up whenever we did) suggested we try this new café, which was exactly where I had in mind. Finally, it was the place. And it greatly surpasses our expectations.



This place has a lot of soul. I have never seen an open kitchen so packed with friendly staff, whisking, mixing, churning, brewing, cooking and smiling! Food for Thought exudes an inexplicable charm of familiarity (though it's our first visit!) and a vibrant sense of community. We got ourselves a bench seat, ordered a roasted pork sandwich and a lemon tart. Homemade goodness! (Sorry I didn't have my camera with me then) For those who have seen Ratatouille, do you guys remember the scene when Anton Ego had a flashback in time when he tasted the humble dish:- Rémy's recipe? Well, though mine wasn't drastic like Ego's (no no, please don't imagine me with that shocked blank face), I felt a little reminiscence seep in, it wasn't a singular experience but a recollection of hearty times with old friends, the same vim and vigor of youth, the passion and drive, the binding belief of the group.

When I was there last week, they were calling out for creations from hidden bakers! If you have something good to feed, they would try and might buy it from you to sell at the café. Go for it!

All in all, I'll be back for more, and with some very dear friends.

Food for Thought

420 North Bridge Road
#01-06 Norh Bridge Centre
+65 6338 8724
eat@foodforthought.com.sg
www.foodforthought.com.sg

Trainstation-Spotting

This entry doesn't have anything brownish nor creamy... it's a little dusty, blue-grey and not that yummy. ^^

I normally sleep on trains, but on one particular ride from Taichung to Kaohsiong, I didn't sleep a wink. A whole collection of train stops form an interesting album, different font types, different medium.







My favorite is Jhih Ben.

Gourmet luxurious bread

It's a pity the pecan roll was hungrily chewed up before it could make its way before the camera. I wanted to stop myself midway of the relishing moments, but it was hard (and not to mention unhygienic) to make a half eaten roll look good. I continued chewing, and chewing, and chewing. It's hard to tell you how much was packed in that portion of bread. Crusty, heavily-textured, moist, chewy (sorry I have to use this word again!) with a generous dose of pecans, flavoured lightly with cinnamon. Mmmmm..... Mmmm.... "Maison Kayser..." I looked at the paper bag and checked out their website. For those who can read French, you have more luck than me to check out their product lines and bread making stories.

I don't eat a lot of bread though I love them. There are loads of native carbos in Asia (and I do like them too) and great bread is not too accessible where I reside. And when you do feel like having a sandwich for lunch (and spot a cafe with good loaves) you could face some mild objections from friends/colleagues who have cravings for laksa, fish noodles (鱼片米粉）and many other local delights. Huh... "okie lor, chew kee chicken rice also can..." is an usual answer. I am not very picky on food, though I enjoy good food tremendously. I guess I don't qualify as a foodie do I? ^^




What a sidetrack. Back to the pecan roll. The reason why I am writing about it is because I found it exorbitantly priced. Though NTD 85 (SGD 3.90) did not burn a big hole in the pocket, I start to wonder why this bread (the size of 2 fists put together, about 9 cm in diameter) costs more than the usual, and why people were making a beeline for them. Most have an average of 4-5 rolls/loaves on their trays. It was more out of curiosity that motivated the purchase. Conclusion: I enjoyed the bread tremendously and I do think I would buy it again (probably the same flavour as I tend to eat the same good thing repeatedly) when I get a chance to go back. Probably only 1 roll though... ^^




What started out as a trip to the Dean & Deluca store in Taipei gave some other nice surprises. The French gourmet bakery and chic haven for food lovers are just side by side in basement 2 of Breeze Centre (微风广场）at No.39, Fu Hsing South Road Section 2.

Darker Than Dark Chocolate Cake

Good morning Taipei! I was craving for some hot you tiao (deep fried dough, 油条), but ended up getting some chocolate cakes instead when I saw 2 interesting looking cafes. Just a side track, and it's purely my guess:- I noticed there are plentiful "Yong He Dou Jiang"s (永和豆浆) in Singapore, China and Taiwan. Please don't quote me on this, but I think I have chanced upon the place of origin. Yong He （永和）is a district in southwest Taipei, and yes I witnessed more than a handful of shops with the same name, with almost the same palate of delightful morning snacks, with a steady stream of patrons on scooters and regulars from the neighbourhood.



Yes! Back to the cake. And no, I have not added a black filter over the picture. I had a shock when I unwrapped the translucent wrapper, (though I had expected it won't be a regular choc cake since it's named Black Chocolate Cake "黑炭巧克力蛋糕" and I hope I remembered that correctly as I don't read traditional Chinese too well). It revealed to be charred-er-than-charred-brownie cake! Pleasantly amused and not-too-hungry, I decided to keep it back in the fridge for some better photos tomorrow morning.




Having bought 2 cakes from 2 shops just 3 metres away from each other (added some night shots of the 2 when I passed them again), it is interesting to find similar looking packaging in similar colours. I got home with a choc mousse cake from Cafe 85°C and a dark (a-hem, i mean a really dark) choc cake from Cafe 8. The cakes don't come with ribbons actually (sorry to mislead!). They are some of my rewards from 2 hours of ribbon shopping at the wholesalers'. I am not sure if anyone of you reading this share this fetish (or being anal, as a friend has put it), but I really have this thing for double faced ribbon; They do a neat job of completing a knot effortlessly. You need to twist and turn single faced ones to have the shiny-sides-up! If you bother, that is. ^__^




I am overall very impressed with the cute and chic appeal of the cake boxes. They are especially neat in such small packages. I don't do them justice with such bad lighting and photography. If someone have some good tips on photography (especially for food), please do drop me a note!

On a finishing note and a prelude to some sweet dreams, I will try to hit the Taipei store of Dean & Deluca tomorrow. It would be tempting not to window shop, and almost insurmountable to exit the shop without aa long and big lunch, but we should always press on when we are in a city with such a street-food galore and some of the best Chinese food around yeah? (in my opinion that is!)