Check out Au Chocolate’s website and you’ll get a pretty accurate feel of the whimsical, beautiful experience that greets you when you enter. It spans across a couple of shopfronts and incorporates a cafe as well as a retail shop selling lollies, chocolates and souvenirs. It’s the exact sort of place that sends me into a frenzy 😉

The interior is warm with soft yellow lighting and a cozy atmosphere. There’s a mini train track running along the ceiling with an adorable mini train circling around – this proved to be absolutely fascinating to Hunter who spent ages checking it out.

Their Chicken and mushroom crepe was done beautifully. It came in a large portion and was totally stuffed chockers with chicken and loads of luscious mushrooms… and drenched in a delicious cream sauce. It hit the spot and was thoroughly enjoyable.

The Aebleskivers (Danish pancake pockets filled with crunchy Granny Smith apples compote infused with cinnamo) looked really pretty on the plate but were rather standard. There were only 6 small balls of pancakes.. which I thought was fairly dismal for the price. Would not order this again.

Their Au Chocolat hot fudge was a teacup-sized pot of goodness and warmth. It was, literally, molten chocolate fudge. Not too sweet, which was good.. but rich and creamy. I think it would have been even better if served with a dollop of fresh cream! The $9 price tag is rather surprising though… as the cup isn’t very big.

Their selection of sweet stuff to takeaway is pretty astonishing. I spent ages trying to figure out what to get 😉 Everything is beautifully made and presented, and it all looked so enticing!

Walked away with a Raspberry brownie. Normally, it would never have crossed my mind to order a dessert with fruit in it.. but the friendly lady was giving away samples and one bite and I was sold. The raspberry is some sort of powder scattering on top of the brownie, and to be honest, has no taste – which was a relief to me. The brownie itself was EXCELLENT – easily one of the best brownies I’ve had. It was very very moist and dense, with zero nuts (cannot stand nuts in my brownies!) and decadent. I believe this was about $5 which I thought was reasonable. Loved this brownie so much I’d definitely get it again next time I’m at MBS.

Last Bite: A cozy cafe with a toy train track attached to the ceiling – a sure-hit with the kids. The crepes are delicious, and their fries are a winner.

Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: Yes, in the mall
Kids’ menu: No

Au Chocolat
Bay Level L1-03
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Singapore 018972
Phone: 6688 7227
Prices: $$$
Hours: Mon – Sun: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm

This food review was first published at Beverly’s Adventures!

Let’s be honest. You go to KU DÉ TA for the stunning views. Situated high in the sky at the Marina Bay Sands Sky Park, you’re presented with a beautiful and unobstructed view of Singapore. Normally, you’d pay $20 for the priviledge of going up to the SkyPark, but this fee is waived if you’re eating at this Modern Asian restaurant. If you’re now wondering if the food comes at inflated prices to ‘absorb’ this fee, you’d be right. The food is not cheap, even the set menu items. The price itself (ranges from $38-58 for the set lunches) is high but reasonable for fine dining, however the portions are really small.. if you have a hefty appetite, it won’t be sufficient.

That said, they do some beautiful dishes and I thought it was overall a nice place to have lunch at, especially for a celebration – we were there for Mum and Dad’s wedding anniversary 🙂

The cheaper ($38) lunch set is their Bento Box, which is always pretty exciting because who doesn’t like picking through a selection of little tidbits?! The food it contained was very well cooked and presented, but nothing outstanding. Be warned, too, that this portion size is pretty small..

For the Tasting Menu ($58), the food was served in courses. The portion sizes were still pretty petite, especially the ‘main course’. That said, I suppose it will do for a light lunch.

For the starter, the Crunchy mesclun salad with young ginger and citrus sakura was.. well, a salad. Very standard scattering of lettuce and that was about it. I guess you can’t really fancy up a salad 😉

I enjoyed the Chopped hon maguro tuna tartare with soya-pickled wasabi and ginger blossom much more. After all, sashimi anything always makes me happy! The portion was about a table-spoon’s worth, which was a bit sad as this was really lovely.

I seriously did NOT like the De raza iberico pork belly steamed with shaoxing wine with braised bamboo shoots and soymilk mustard. To be fair, it’s due to my personal taste.. I don’t like this sort of gelatinous pork belly that is 80%+ fat, which tastes really weird and has a horrific squishy texture to me. I found this absolutely inedible.

All was saved with the Norwegian salmon roasted over charcoal with chinese dates, choya and yamasa shoyu. It was OUTSTANDING! The salmon was perfectly seared and charcoaled, with a beautiful brown exterior and a very tender interior.. almost sous vide style. An excellent dish which left me yearning for a portion 3 times larger.

The Braised shitake mushrooms with brown butter and fresh thyme leaf was also an absolute stunner. I loved the fat and juicy mushrooms that were bursting with buttery flavour. Gorgeous.

We also were served with a bowl of Northern Japanese organic rice, which is supposed to be really special but just tasted like… rice. Perhaps I am not a rice connoisseur to be able to tell the difference 😛

Dessert was a very very small but pretty selection of Orange cake, sauvignon blanc jelly, soya ice cream and coriander mousse. It was cute to pick at the little morsels, but nothing overly exciting.

The Bento Box’s dessert proved to be a little more interesting to me.. mainly because it contained chocolate 😉 The chocolate fudge cake was excellent – moist and slightly chewy, but was the teeniest little square 🙁 It was served with a strong Bailey’s mousse, vanilla bean ice cream, and mandarin jelly.

I think KU DÉ TA is lovely for a scenic and lazy lunch, and the food is really not too bad. However, if you’re after value for money, then you’d be left sorely disappointed. Still worth a visit at least once though, just to enjoy the view!

Last Bite: A quiet spot for brunch with kids, overlooking all of Singapore. Take them to the balcony outside afterwards to stretch their legs and check out the scenery.

Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: No
Kids’ menu: No

KU DÉ TA
1 Bayfront Avenue
SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands, North Tower
Singapore 018971
Phone: 6688 7688
Prices: $$$$
Hours: Mon-Fri 12-3pm, Mon-Sun 6pm-11pm, Sat-Sun 11am-3:30pm

This food review was first published at Beverly’s Adventures!

We felt super special two weekends ago… because we had the pleasure of checking out The Bank Bar + Bistro‘s brand new Brunch menu!

I admit, just the word “weekend brunch” already has me in a bit of a tizzy. I just love the whole concept of having a long and lazy family brunch – bonus points if the kids are kept well entertained and behave like angels.

And, the stars aligned, because THE KIDS DID EXACTLY THAT!!!

*fist pump*

I super duper hate it (in a cringing “I’m soooo sorry my kids are making a ruckus” kinda way) when I have a fussy kid or two when we’re at a restaurant… particularly so if the place is UN baby friendly. For this reason, Chris and I just about fainted with pleasure when we discovered The Bank Bar + Bistro had a fully fledged play room for kids! It’s an enclosed private room converted into a child safe area, with padded mats, plus sofas, and thoughtful toys. Psssstttttt… the toys are rented so they have fresh ones monthly!

I also really liked the “gentleman’s club” vibe of The Bank Bar + Bistro (think whiskey and cigars). The dark wood, sexy bar, and dark leather sofas would be awesome for a dinner date. But in the daytime, it’s also lovely thanks to huge glass-pane windows where the sunlight can stream in.

So yes. They were launching their new Brunch menu that very day and invited us to check it out. Chris’ first reaction? “Man, the prices are great!” He’s not wrong. The dishes are cheaper than a lot of western brunch places around, with the same size portions. Off the top of my head, the Brunch menu was $10-15, whereas many other places are in the $20-25 mark for the same sort of ambience/quality.

I particularly enjoyed my Latte, which was executed well and full of flavour. Could have probably had two of these.. Chris and Hunter drained their orange juice (Hunter’s was included in his kids meal) but I’m not a fan of juice so I can’t comment.

The Eggs Benedict was cooked to perfection. Just look at the food porn picture below. Creamy egg yolk oozing out of plump round egg white balls. The smoked salmon added a lovely punch of flavour, and the brioche was soft and fluffy.

We particularly enjoyed the vine tomatoes, they were succulent and so sweet and fresh. The small pot of baked beans provided a different taste and texture to the meal, but wasn’t that exciting.

I opted for the 2-course Weekend Roast for $25. Get this if you have a robust appetite. It’s excellent value for money. My plate came laden with food! I opted for the beef striploin which was served in thick slices and perfectly pink. It was accompanied with juicy buttered corn, steamed carrots and broccoli, more of those excellent vine tomatoes, and a homemade Yorkshire pudding (much to my excitement).

Normally I steer clear of roast meat, because it’s often a bit tough and, heaven forbid, stringy and dry. Eeeek! But this version was perfectly moist, very tender and all round excellent. I’d get this dish again any day, especially because it filled me right up!

And, get this, KIDS GET A FREE SET MEAL when you order a main meal for yourself.

This is the most insane and ridiculous notion ever, because the kids meal is a fully fledged proper menu with good food (ie. what the adult menu would have), with large portions, and come with a free drink and dessert. When I see the words “free kids meal”, I assume it’ll be some bits of frozen fish fingers or something. If you think like me, you’ll be really (pleasantly) shocked with this restaurant.

The fish & chips I initially didn’t want to order, because all I think is, yep, a scattering of frozen fish fingers and chips – how un-nutritious is that?! But Hunter insisted he wanted it. We were pretty surprised when the fish was THICK and moist and done beautifully.

To give you an idea of the kids meal quality – many of you know by now that Hunter is both a reluctant and disinterested eater, with a tiny appetite. Well, he polished off the entire fish (I did remove most of the batter though). AND ate half of the Eggs Benedict we’d ordered. Pretty high praise coming from Mr Picky Eater 😉

I ordered the French Toast for dessert, though it’s listed as a main meal in the Brunch selection. It was made with brioche, I believe, because the bread was really fluffy and soft, with the aroma of butter. It wasn’t sugary (maple syrup was served on the side) and came studded with poached pears and fresh berries, as well as a lovely fruit coulis.

The mini Chocolate praline cake (I don’t really know the exact name) came as part of my 2-course Weekend Brunch. It was a petite serving but was alright with me as I was pretty full from my main meal! The cake was very rich and dense, so I don’t think I could’ve had more. I really liked the creamy mousse, and most of all, the deliciously crisp and crunchy layers within. So lovely!

The Bank Bar + Bistro nails it for a reasonably priced but high quality brunch. I thought the food was good, and my Weekend Roast was simply divine. We were also SO impressed with how child-friendly it is.. with the free kids meals, excellent quality food, and awesome play room.

And, if you don’t have kids, you’ll also breathe a sigh of relief that kids around you will no doubt get chucked into the play room which means less fussing within ear distance of you 😉

We will most definitely be back… this time with another family or two in tow.. so we can make use of that play room again!

The only downside of this place is the location. It’s probably excellent for the working crowds (hence why it’s always chockers on weekday evenings after work), but not easy for us to get to on weekends.. simply because it’s not located within a mall where we can let the kids nap in strollers afterwards.

Though, we were pleasantly surprised to find out it’s about a 10mins walk from MBS mall – so that’s not too bad!

PS. Some pictures nicked off The Bank Bar + Bistro’s facebook page.

Last Bite: The Bank Bar + Bistro nails it for a reasonably priced but high quality brunch. Extremely kid-friendly, the play room will be a hit with younger kids!
 
Highchairs: Yes
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: No
Kids’ menu: Yes

The Bank Bar + Bistro
1 Shenton Way
One Shenton #01-01
Singapore 068803
Phone: 66362188
Prices: $$$
Hours: Mon-Thu: 11am-12am, Fri: 11am-1am, Sat-Sun: 9am-12am
 
This food review was first published at Beverly’s Adventures!