Maison Kayser, Scotts Square

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.

There are seats in the basement for dine in customers, but be warned, you will be charged additional service and GST charges for lounging around with bread and coffee. So if you are on a budget and don't crave for coffee, go for takeaway. (Or head to the nearest Ya Kun for your coffee fix).

Perhaps there weren't many people when I visited, but the guy behind the counter was super nice to me. He offered to let me sample almost all the bread available and even explained the flavours and ingredients of each bread with great detail . At one point of time he even sliced up a new piece of bread, just so I could sample it. I felt somewhat obligated to buy something from him from that point.

BTW all the breads have french names and being the country bumpkin that I am, I couldn't really make out the names. I managed to try a couple of breads like Thé Orangé (with the french accents please. It's earl grey flavoured bread with orange rinds), Pain Aux Yuzu (moist bread with yuzu flavour). I'm actually very impressed by the nice citrus flavours of these breads and how incredibly moist and soft their insides are. I could imagine how well they would go with butter or truffle oil. (drools). I was also wowed by their Delice Blanc, a delightful soft bread infused with white chocolate flavour.

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.

I would love to come here for fresh bread and pastries but it would really burn a huge hole in my pocket.

Donq @ Takashimaya B2

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.

The Cherry Danish ($2.80, left) has a very nice soft crusty danish pastry with fresh cherry jam on top of it. Unlike most bakeries which up the sugar of their danish fillings to  diabetes-causing levels, the cherry danish sold here is not very sweet at all, all in all, it's a very nice delicate balance of sugar. The Cinnamon Apple ($2.80, right) is likewise, not over cloyingly sweet or glazed with excessive sugar and cinnamon. The highlight is probably the fresh apple filling which is not cooked too soft and each diced apple piece still retains a little bite. This is complemented by fluffy soft bread around it.

Colonnade (Choco) ($2, left) was flying off the shelves the moment a fresh batch came in, so I snatched one too. The conical bread had dark chocolate filling inside which was good, but otherwise it's quite normal. Twin Stick ($2.80, right) is like the bread version of yuan yang- a combination of chocolate and plain bread.

This is Dutch Bread ($2.40) a chewy bread with polo bun like crispy crust filled with cream cheese. I ate this the next day, but by then the bread became rather tough and the cheese didn't taste really fresh anymore =(

I have been eating most of the breads freshly bought from the bakery and I enjoyed them. But I suspect the breads do not cope very well in Singapore's hot and humid weather. They are best enjoyed on the day they are bought, with minimal exposure to the heat (just like pampered Sgreans who can't do with air-con). Take them out of the air conditioned comforts of Takashimaya at your own peril.

Saveur @ Purvis Street

Saveur (pronounced as sah-vere, 5 Purvis Street #01-04) has recently received a lot of publicity for serving (really) affordable French food, but does it live up to the hype?

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.

The white-walled eatery is simply decorated and unpretentious. The service staff were really polite and apologized for the long wait. One waiter actually asked us three times whether our good was up to mark.

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 RERG compares this dish to "bak chor mee" and I have to agree in terms of taste and texture there are similarities. This italian mee kia may be a tad oily for some but it just has such intricate balance of flavours at an affordable price.

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.