It looks big from the outside but FFT@8QSAM is actually really small inside, so reserve your tables early if you intend to pop by over weekends, or head over to their bigger outlet at the Botanic Gardens. Part of the profits generated by the restaurant goes to several selected goodwill missions and charities, so it lives up to its motto of "Good Food for a Good Cause" (see website for details).
Perhaps the centrepiece of this outlet, is its extensive light installation made out of food jars hanging from the ceiling. White tiles adorn the walls of the place- their signature look. Even the table we set on was covered with small tiles- giving off a very utilitarian kitchen vibe.
I had their Garlic Prawn & Red Capsicum Linguine ($16). It's pipping hot al-dente linguine- not too oily but a little dry for me. The garlic prawns served were huge and succulent, and the dish was garnished with bits of red capsicum and coriander leaves. The pasta dish was tasty, though I thought the portions were a little small (or I was probably hungry).
My friend had Mussels in Creamy Laksa Broth ($18), a dish that is part of their May menu promotion. You have a choice of linguine or french fries, in a fantastic laksa broth sauteed with roasted capsicum, thickened with fresh cream and garnished with laksa leaves. I am a huge laksa fan and the cream broth really captured the authentic laksa taste which went surprisingly well with mussels. I did think the laksa sauce could be thicker but after some thought that may not be as enjoyable. Thick creamy laksa sauce+pasta+mussels would definitely make a deadly jerlek combo.
FFT also serves out all day breakfast set. Here is their House Works ($12) with generous portions of scrambled eggs, fried bacon, toasted brioche, hash brown and thyme tomato salad.
And finally for dessert, we had Dark Chocolate & Stewed Cherries Pancake ($12). (BTW, pancakes are not on the dessert menu, they have a separate section, but anything with chocolate, sugar and flour makes the cut hurhur). So they serve out two freshly cooked warm pancakes (they even have a slight raw flour taste to it) generously topped with dark chocolate curvatures, cherries, fresh cream, drizzled in gula meleka syrup. How decadent can it get? The chocolate bits actually melt on the warm pancake, so the dark chocolate sauce spreads nicely throughout the pancake. The pancakes were thick and fluffy and definitely went well with the toppings. I wasn't able to detect much gula meleka from the syrup, it tasted like normal syrup to me, but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this! (Too bad the others were too full to eat anymore so I had the entire thing to myself muhaha).FFT definitely serves out decent food and the best part is, you get to enjoy good food while helping the restaurant further its charitable causes. Kill two birds with one stone ya? It might be a good idea to avoid walking in during weekends- the place gets really crowded and a long queue of hungry teenagers form outside the restaurant very quickly.
Address: 8 Queen Street. It's near the Singapore Art Museum, easily accessible from Bras Basah MRT.
I particularly like their Seafood Aglio Olio Pasta ($20.50++). It's perfect al dente spaghetti tossed in olive oil, chili flakes and garlic. The spaghetti is firm, has bite and goes very well with the huge pan seared scallop pieces and fresh prawns served in this dish. Garlic lovers will like the generous sprinkling of garlic over this dish.
tcc has also expanded its food menu and I tried this new item- Baby Crayfish Spaghetti ($20++) which is spaghetti tossed in luscious tomato cream sauce with generous servings of sauteed baby crayfish, topped with green wasabi fish roe. I felt the tomato cream sauce was actually a good combination of tomato and cream flavours; it is slightly watery and not too overly creamy thick. I quite enjoyed slurping the firm spaghetti strands drenched in the sauce. The baby crayfish served here were fresh and they were really generous with the portions. The wasabi fish roe added a nice crunchy, sharp peppery wasabi flavour to the entire mix which complemented the dish.
Oriole Coffee launched its 3C's Promotion: Coffee, Caramel and Chocolate. It's a collection of drinks and desserts made from this particular trinity of sin. This special menu is only valid from May 14 to July 15, and will help take you to the next level of indulgence (and weighing scale too).
This is part of their 3Cs menu- Bernini at Sea ($10.50++). It is a brownie served with a macadamia sea salt ice cream garnished with caramel sauce and a shot of Baileys. The brownie is not bad- it has a nice crusty, crunchy, almost cookie like texture that isn't too dry. Pairs very well with the fabulous macadamia sea salt ice cream which contains lots of crushed macadamia bits and biscuit crumbs. I wasn't sure what the shot of Baileys was for actually, and I speculated it could be an after dessert drink included to justify the $10 price tag or to satisfy alcoholics. I actually had both brownie and alcohol separately and thought the brownie dish could do without the extra shot of Baileys. It was only after talking to Jasper (
Oriole is also famous for its blend of coffee and I had their Piccolo Latte ($5.80++) from their regular menu. So here is a mini crash course on coffee: Cafe Macchiato is espresso with small amount of milk. Cafe Latte is espresso with lots of milk. Piccolo Latte is somewhere in between, where 1 part steamed milk (or more) is mixed into 1 part espresso, perfect for anyone who wants a balance of coffee and milk flavours. I favour this concoction as I was able to detect the fragrant coffee notes which were not overwhelmingly diluted by milk. I should have asked them to serve the coffee after the dessert as the coffee is best enjoyed when it's freshly brewed, not after it's left to cool while I attacked the dessert.
Maison Kayser is yet another Japanese inspired French bakery located at the basement of Scotts Square. Scotts Square is this atas mall located next to Tangs. It houses a Fairprice Xtra which is probably the only shop without a poverty detector.
In the end, I decided to get Campagne Gorogonzola ($5.40) which combines walnut bits in an incredibly soft, fluffy bread with subtle blue cheese flavour. The blue cheese flavour isn't too overwhelming, I like that the taste of cheese comes through as you chew on the bread. When I ate the bread the next day, it didn't turn too hard and still retained a certain moist and softness.
I also bought a couple of eclairs, which are perhaps this bakery's most popular, hot selling items. I got the Eclair Chocolat ($3.45) and Eclair Vanille ($3.45). I was expected perhaps delifrance sized eclairs, but these eclairs are longer at about 15cm a piece. The chocolate eclair is also a little skinner than the vanilla one. The chocolate eclairs come in two different versions- one dark chocolate and the other milk chocolate with praline(?). I had the dark chocolate one and I was impressed by the intense dark chocolate topping on top and the very fresh, sweeter chocolate cream inside. But the pastry was a little dense and it would be great if it had been fluffier. The vanilla eclair was also quite nice; the topping and generous fresh cream filling had a strong vanilla taste to it, especially with the little black vanilla pods floating on the vanilla topping.
Donq (it's 'donk' not 'Don Q') is a Japanese inspired french takeaway bakery, yet another newcomer to muscle into the burgeoning artisan bread industry here. It's located inside B2 Takashimaya Food Hall, near the Cold Storage cashier counters. Lovers of Japanese style bread will be happy to know there is a yet another bakery to turn to for soft, fluffy breads. And I, like the many middle-aged tai tais thronging this outlet one weekday afternoon was very keen to find out try out this latest bread craze.
We arrived slightly after 12pm (opening time for lunch) on a weekday, but the restaurant was already filled up to the brim. Business is bustling good here! We had to subsequently wait for about an hour to get a table for 3. So if you intend to come in a group with more than 2 people, I would suggest you make your way to the restaurant after 1.30pm when it's less crowded and more seats are available. Or you can start queuing at 11.3oam. (BTW, the restaurant does not take reservations.) While waiting in the queue, many passerby office workers actually know of this place but are simply unwilling to wait so long.
This is their incredible Angel Hair Pasta With Sherry Minced Pork And Sakura Ebi ($3.90) that has everyone swooning over its value for money quotient. I really liked this al-dente spaghetti tossed in olive oil and garlic, topped with bright pink dried shrimps and minced pork paste. Where can you find decent restaurant quality al dente pasta for $3.90? Wise Guy of 
Pan Fried Foie Gras With Lentil And Pickled Onion (70g- $14.90)- an affordable french delicacy. This is actually my first time sampling foie gras, but I understand the best foie gras should not have any lingering taste of liver. The foie gras served here melts in your mouth but did have a little liver taste.
Confit Of Duck With Orange Segment And Sauté Shittake ($8.90) is a dish adjusted for the Singaporean palate. The original french duck confit is usually very salty, but this dish is not salty at all, but still well done. The duck meat is very tender, not overly dry or tough. The duck skin is also roasted to a perfect crispiness. This dish comes with mash potatoes, very flavourful shittake mushrooms and random pieces of orange.
For dessert, we had this spectacular looking Chocolate and Hazelnuts dessert ($7.90) It does look like a smiling face, with a protruding hat doesn't it? It is essentially chocolate garnished with bits of hazelnut shavings and raspberry. The chocolate had a smooth, mousse-like texture- well balanced and not overly decadently sweet. My friend found the raspberry sauce too sour, but I thought it was a nice pairing with the chocolate.
In such pressing times of austerity, everyone is cutting back on spending. Should you scrimp on good food too? As much as I would love that this eatery serves restaurant quality food at affordable prices, I'm not sure if I would want to queue so long to get in. But if I do manage to get a seat, I will definitely savour their cheap and excellent angel hair pasta.
Headed down to Twelve Cupcakes at United Square. Haven't tried any of their cupcakes yet, so was excited to finally get a chance to grab a bite!
There was still a wide variety of cupcakes with various mesmerizing toppings to choose from when I visited during weekday lunch time. Each cupcake sells for $3 and they have daily special flavours which change every month, which you can check out from their 
I had an Expresso cupcake and Red Velvet cupcake (individually packed in their special octagonal plastic "enclosures" to go). I wasn't very impressed with the espresso cupcake; the espresso flavour wasn't strong enough for me, it just didn't really come out enough in either the topping or the cake. But I have to say I like their soft moist, cake like texture in their cupcakes, combined with its buttery cream frosting. The Red Velvet cupcake was not bad at all. The strong, cheesy flavour from the vanilla cream cheese frosting complemented the soft, fluffy red velvet cupcake. Can't wait to try out the other flavours =)
So first you choose your ice cream base (vanilla or chocolate ice cream), then you choose what you want to dip your magnum in (molten Milk chocolate or molten Dark chocolate), and finally choose the toppings you want (a large variety including nuts, cranberries). I guess there is a certain novelty factor in being able to decide how your dream Magnum bar should turn out!
Since this made-on-the-spot magnum bar wasn't frozen beforehand, the chocolate coating around the ice cream wasn't as crunchy hard as those sold in supermarkets. I really liked how the crunchy nut toppings, combined with a tinge of sour from the chopped cranberry bits went very well with the dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream!
I would love to upload all the photos I've taken, but I realised many of them are not very focused (still not very good at handling my camera) but I will post some highlights here. We were basically served a large variety of fresh sushi, like tuna, mackerel, flounder, eel, sea urchin and even shrimp, one after another.
