Thursday, July 16, 2009

Hua Ting + Marmalade Pantry

So, we are now back in April when life was still slow and wanderful. How I dread those days, seriously. Came a Friday afternoon when I was able to do lunch (in town somemore!) with a few bloggers whom I’ve e-known for quite sometime. It certainly was a good lunch and what’s even better was the fact that it was an informal gathering, so everyone was at their funniest. Yeah, my first meeting with some of them was at a rather formal event where stiffness was not only referred to the texture of the dessert.

And so we ate. And ate. And ate even more!

At Hua Ting, a few dishes caught my interest. The Fried Scallop Pastry With Onion And Garlic was one of them. Think doughnut; the melting soft type which was flavoured with enough garlic to keep the carcinogens away for a good few hours. It would have been longer had we ordered just steamed dishes. What didn’t make sense to me was the scallop, which the flesh was nowhere to be found in the dough. Perhaps the shape was scallop-ish? Good art, nevertheless. And there was the Steamed Cheong Fun With Sliced Fish. Kind of like the popular sam lou (stir-fried flat rice noodle with fish), only steamed, this one. And the combination worked pretty well as the cheong fun had a nice rice fragrance and the fish was flaky. A piece of advice: don’t flood it with the rather MSG-ed soy sauce.

We were stuffed. But we were mostly hungry. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? With that, we adjourned to the nearby Marmalade Pantry, a café famous for its desserts. Well, everyone has a different interpretation of what a dessert really is. So, guess what I had?

It was a Foie Gras Burger with Sundried Tomato Relish. Hey, if it’s comforting, it’s a dessert. Agree or not? My insanity aside, we did order a few real desserts like the Chocolate Truffle Cake, Rose Cupcake, Chocolate Tart and the signature Sticky Date Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Can do but not top-notch, to be honest, as I thought the sweets lacked refinement, in terms of taste and texture. Back to my dessert, where is the foie gras? Unless the liver melted (in vain) in the searing process, I don’t see why there wasn’t any bit of foie gras in my patty. So, gone was the smoothness that I had expected. Having said that, the minced beef tasted rather good, with a nice aroma. Oh, the relish! Slightly smoky and spicy, it was everything tasty. In fact, I think the relish would go well with just about everything.

Reading this post, I can imagine that OMG-FINALLY! look on the faces of the group as this has wayyyyy passed yesterday. And to think that I’ve met up with them again (twice) after this gathering. Now, I can only hope that it won’t take another 3 months before I post about the other burger place that we’ve visited.

Fellow makan-ers:
AromaCookery
Bossacafez
Camemberu
Ladyironchef
TheHungryCow

Hua Ting Restaurant
Second Floor
Orchard Hotel
442 Orchard Road
Singapore
Tel: (+65) 6739 6666

Marmalade Pantry
#B1-08/11 Palais Renaissance
390 Orchard Road
Singapore 238871
Tel: (+65) 6734 2700
Website: http://www.themarmaladepantry.com/


19 comments:

ladyironchef said...

HAHAHA we are in july now dude. lol! i like the way you say it "e-known"; from online to offline :)

yes, where's the relish post coming?

Selba said...

This happened in April and you just got the chance to post it today in July? LOL

I wonder how many posts you got in your achieve and still waiting to be posted :D As for, I think I'm "out" of thing to post... Argh... need more makan-makan.

bossacafez said...

"my first meeting with some of them was at a rather formal event where stiffness was not only referred to the texture of the dessert."

i knowwwwww! HAHA.

you're right, better late than never. i posted the marmalade entry one but not the hua ting's. why u never take photos of the desserts??

Jason said...

Hahahaha, late better than never! Btw, Hua Ting sounds awfully familiar to me... hmm.

Rarebeet said...

I'll be in Spore in Dec! I know its a long way but one must plan carefully for maximum eating. :-)

Has Marmalade Pantry renovated yet? It was looking rather worse for wear and in serious need of Restaurant Makeover the last time I was there

Xiu Long Bao said...

I can seriously sense the excitement in this post. Guess it is not from the dimsum or foie gras but the 2 seats that u earned from ur 60 words of syiok sendirism :)

P.S Remember my durian tau seah peah.

ai wei said...

haha, april is still not long ago. i have lots more that have aged(more than 1 year, i think). still waiting in my archive, waiting for me to open them up and write bout them.

Jun said...

i have been wanting to go to the marmalade pantry ever since reading abt it a few yrs ago. i still haven't found the place- but i did manage to try their cupcakes at Toast, their subsidiary cafe ;)

Camemberu said...

LOL three months in the making, and there's still cheating! You really did the collage! hahaha!

But I love the first pic - gorgeous art in the carving!

ck lam said...

This is an interesting food hopping session.

Ciki said...

enough garlic to keep the carcinogens away for a good few hours?! but the thing is deep fried la fren.. even all the garlic in the world cannot mop up chor free radicals.. lol

erm.. what a WASTE of Foie gras.. haha.. embroiled in a patty like dat, ofkors cannot taste la.

I salute your selection of desserts. Your eyes collectively are larger that your stomachs!

(gr8 shots nic)

Rebecca Saw said...

this is Sg..at first i tot it was marmalade in Bsgr! ;)

qwazymonkey said...

I love Marmalade Pantry. It's one of my favourite breakfast joints in Singapore. I've not been there for a while now. I should make my way back there soon. Cupcakes are good there too innit?

Alexander said...

Fried Scallop Pastry With Onion And Garlic?!! That sound so delicious. Is that shown in the photo above? That's looks really good too!

Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

choi yen said...

Did u ask the waiter why there is no foie gras in ur burger?

sc said...

fried scallop pastry without the scallop and foie gras burger without the foie gras? kena conned ka?

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

foie gras for dessert? u might just have hit the jackpot with that combo!

HairyBerry said...

ladyironchef, relish? hehehehe...hopefully not in another 3 months! i'll try to ketchup la. :D

selba, woah, i think there are more than 30 makans to talk about! O_o! hey, take your time to post cos makan is supposed to be enjoyable, not rushed. have fun makan-ing! :D

evan 이벤젤린, on the stiffness..heheheheh...so farny hor, that day! oh, i did take pictures of the desserts but i thought i shd just post the dishes that i really liked cos there are too many photos la. din really like the cakes that day.

jason, i oso think that hua ting sounds familiar. it's just like a name of those Chinese clubs back in the days of Shanghai bund, right? hehe...

paprika, yessssssssss! hopefully we can meet up this time! u really know the good stuff in singapore la!

on marmalade pantry, yes, i believe it has been renovated cos it looked brighter but seats are still crampy. the deco reminded me so much of Chinoz at the gardens. hmmmm...

xiu long bao, woah, u such a psychic la. :P but yeah, it's true. hehe. i din get u durian tsp leh. but i think you'll enjoy what i got you la. :)

ai wei, OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! i guess we are on the same boat. i hope to finish them before the next cny..hehe

jun, talking about cupcakes there, well, i think you will like the rose cupcake. it looked pretty and tasted quite sweet. not my kinda dessert la..hehe. hey, check out m.p. before u leave for ozzy la. errrmmm, or hv u left already? hehe

camemberu, LOL! no choice la, definitely had to do the collage. in fact, i knew i had to do it when the steamers kept pouring on our table! haha! thanks for the complement on the 1st pic!

ck lam, yeah, i thought it was rather interesting too. the location helped too of course cos marmalade pantry is walking distance from hua ting.

HairyBerry said...

cumi & ciki, ya lor, that's why only a few hours. if steamed, can tahan longer. hehe...hey, isnt there a song by a something radical back in early 2000. kinda catchy tune but i forgot the name d...hehe

i've heard about foie gras + beef burgers a lot. that's why i tried it. i guess i hafta try a few more to know la..hehe

thanks for the complement on the selection and pics, dear! i so radical hor?..LOL!

thenomadgourmand, oh, that one is Marmalade Kafe, i think. i like that one in bangsar! :D

qwazymonkey, ohhhh, so the breakfast is good? i must go back and try la. it's such a reputable place and i shd give it a second try. i mean, i just had one out of soooo many dishes..hehe..the cupcake i had was pretty normal leh.

alexander, yupe, that's the one that looked like rings! :D it was one of the best dishes that afternoon. :)

mimi, haha, good one! well, we were too busy chatting away to talk to them. i shudda asked them! ok, will take note of that. thanks, mimi!

sc, now that u mentioned it, i rasa ada sikit kena con la, that day..haha! must be more alert of what i eat next time.

joe, burger over cupcakes, anytime, dude! ok, i still like tong suis la. haha!