X'Mas 2010 Team Lunch @ Patisse, Waterloo

Our Menu 

Apart from our company Christmas party , each department would go out for team lunch as well :)

This year I thought we'll go somewhere different, somewhere casual with good food (and cakes) and most importantly not too far from the office.

Because there were 12 of us coming in , they suggested a reduced menu for us, to make it easier for the kitchen and to avoid long waiting time for the foods to be served.

Bill, the manager, rang me a day before to discuss the menu and we made the executive decision on what will be on LOL

Christmas in Patisse

Chairs & Tables

Bubblies ^_^

It's the festive time of the year so of course a few bottles of bubblies were in order. There is a BYO corkage charge at Patisse which is very reasonable I think for $5.00 / bottle.

All the ladies at the table had the sweeter Riccadonna Asti while the gents had stronger stuffs.

Don't worry, that glass is not mine, borrowed from my friend who was sitting next to me :P

I had a few sips and they were delicious ! Not overly sweet and not too strong either (7.0% alc.), but that doesn't mean I didn't get tipsy by the end *hic*.

When the foods came out, it was a cue for me to go round the table and take shots of everyone's order :P

Smoked Salmon & Caper Linguini  $17.00

Ocean Trout Nicoise $16.00

Warm Kipfler Potato & Chorizo w/ Poached Egg $14.50

Knowing that I was going for some sweets afterwards, I opted for something light and I'm very pleased with my choice.

Love the perfectly cooked kipfler potato, the skin was crisp with creamy buttery flesh, the chorizo added some spice to the dish. The poached egg was done perfectly, look at the oozing yolk...yummm....

The portion was decent as well, may not look much on the plate but I was pretty full by the end of it and very satisfied.

I'd order this again if it's still on the menu next visit :)

Grilled Fish of The Day, Fries, Salad Greens $21.00

The fish of the day was Atlantic Salmon, served with french fries, lightly dressed salad and aioli on the side.

Gourmet Beef Ragout Pie, Salad Greens $13.50

When discussing the menu, Bill mentioned that their beef ragout pie is a popular item at the cafe so of course we have to put them on.

The pies were served with a side of homemade tomato sauce, those that ordered the pies commented that the fillings were tasty and the crust was done perfectly. So thumbs up for the pies !

Pie Filling Shots
Gourmet Chicken, Celery & Leek (L) & Gourmet Beef Ragout Pie (R)

Steak & Frites $23.00

After everyone finishes their meals, it's time to hit the sugar display \^o^/

Patisserie Display
(which one which one....)

Christmas Goodies @ Patisse

How cute is the gingerbread house, comes with macaron shells trimmed roof and a French Snowman - complete with a beret, moustache and a baguette in hand - CUTE !

There were also bags of panforte for sale as well, they looked so chocolatey and nutty good ^_^

Bread & Butter Pudding ; Macaron Tower ;
Macaron Tower Up Close ; Truffles X'Mas Tree

Chocolate Honeycomb taster plate by the register

Skim Capp for moi

Mini Croquembouche ; Pistachio, Rose and Olive Oil Cake ;
Orange & Blueberry Polenta Cake ; Lemon Créme Tart

I had the last mini croquembouche on display (score !!), the filling was tad too eggy for me but the choux pastry was nice and so was the crunchy toffee.

The pistachio, rose and olive oil cake is one of my favourite sweets here at Patisse - it was a moist cake with delicate pistachio & rose flavour.

Syrup drenched orange & blueberry polenta cake was lovely as well, not too sweet and the burst of juicy blueberry was a bonus.

Didn't get to try the lemon créme tart but it does looked pretty good :)

Gingerbread Houses 

So that's it !! The last festive themed post which is also the last post of 2010 \^o^/

It may only been 8 months and 6 days since I start this blog and I'm pretty impressed that I'm still doing it.

I tend to start something and doesn't follow through to the end - maybe I should make this as my new year resolution - keep blogging and eat more ? LOL

I've met so many new people since then and made some good friend with them too ^_^ 

Thank you for reading my posts and leaving comments on them too, it's nice to know that there are people reading my babbling and motivate me to keep writing and eating hehehe :P

I hope I'll get to meet all of you guys over the coming years ^_*

Have a great New Year everyone \^o^/

Christmas Day Lunch 2010

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny X'Mas Tree

How's everyone's Christmas celebration ? Hope you got lots of presents from Santa (if you have been good of course!) and had way too many foods ?

In the past years we usually had Christmas Day lunch feasts at my aunt's place. Since this year she's overseas still (nursing back her fractured knee cap - hope she gets better soon!), we just had a simple lunch at my place, prepared by my mom who is visiting us this year for the celebrations :)

Rudolph Phoenix The Red Nose Reindeer

Presents Galore !!

A little red nosed reindeer decided to drop by and brought with him the X'Mas cheers ^_* 

The accessories didn't stay on him for long - it was off within 5 minutes he stepped into the house LOL

For some odd reason, there seemed to be more presents under (my non existence) X'Mas tree. I suppose it is unevitable when you have such big family like mine (did you know I have 32 first cousins ? Imagine if all us are here !)

Nasi Uduk

My mom just made something simple yet so tasty, an Indonesian rice dish called Nasi Uduk. 

The rice is cooked with coconut milk along with bay leaves and lemongrass, the rice is rich and so fragrant. Usually there are more side dishes that goes along with the rice, but my mom just opted for the toned down version LOL

So what we have on the sides are fried chicken wings, pickled cucumber, ribbons of omelette, anchovies & peanuts and a sprinkle of serundeng. 

Serundeng is deep fried grated coconuts mixed with heaps of spices and lots of chilli ! They are so damn good, perhaps not the healthiest, but oh well, they taste good :P

My mom actually brought over the anchovies and serundeng with her from Indonesia, at times I'm amazed at the foods my parents managed to get through customs whenever they come over (which means 99.99% of the time we have to wait for at least an hour for them to clear customs !).

Macarons by i eat sweet...

Yet once again, there were more sweets than savouries - we just can't help it....

First up, a platter of macarons from Ony a.k.a. i eat sweet...

The flavours were black sticky rice, tiramisu, red velvet, raspberry white chocolate, caramel fleur de sel, chai, milk chocolate honey and black sesame. 

Black sticky rice macaron is always a hit !! 

Pecan & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cella (Ony's sister, sometimes assistant baker and currently studying to be a vet) brought along with her 3 Tupperware full of these delicious cookies.
They had the right level of sweetness, lovely nutty roasted pecan aroma and slightly soft and chewy, just the way I love my cookies.

Cornflakes & Sultana Butter Cookies

My friend who joined us for the lunch, gave me a jar of her homemade Cornflakes & Sultana Butter Cookies. The trick was to roll the dough in the cornflakes right before baking instead of mixing them in. That way the cornflakes retains their crunchiness complimented by the juicy sultanas.

They were soo moorish - so good that my little nephew ate almost half a jar by himself and my mom decided to give him the rest of the cookie in the jar *sob*my cookies...*sob*.

Spiced Apple Upside - Down Gingebread Cake
w/ Kahlua Vanilla Cream & Hazelnut Brittle

Yet once again I made a last minute decision to bake for the lunch - obviously I don't learn from previous experiences :P

After watching the night fireworks at Darling Harbour on Christmas Eve, stopped by Coles on the walk home to grab some ingredients. To my horror, they are closing early so they have packed off all of the fruits into crates 0_____o

And of course the pears had to be at the bottom crates and I can see from the look at the Coles dude that there is no way he's gonna get them for me LOL

Thankfully the Granny Smith apples were still on display so they will just have to do, not quite sure how they'll turn out but c'est la vie !

Kahlua & Hazelnut Brittle ; Spiced Brown Sugar & Granny Smith Apples

I am so in love with Jennifer Lindner McGlinn's Gingerbread book !! I've made 3 recipes from this book and each one of them tasted so damn good - if you love gingerbread, you must must must get this book :)
The original recipe calls for pears but I've substituted it with green apples and they worked just as well.

Spiced Apple Upside - Down Gingerbread Cake (adapted from Gingerbread by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn)
(makes one 9 - inch round cake)

Spiced Apple

• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
• 2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1tsp Ground Ginger
• 30g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 - 3 Granny Smith Apples (peeled, cored and cut each quarter into 3 wedges)

Cake 

• 1 1/3 cups Plain Flour
• 1tsp Salt
• 1/4tsp Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon 
• 90g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup Molasses
• 1 Egg, large
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk

 Kahlua Vanilla Cream

• Thickened Cream
• Kahlua
• Vanilla Bean Paste
• Pure Icing Sugar

Layer of Apples ; Topped with Cake Batter

How To :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and butter a 9 inch round cake tin.
2. To prepare the spiced apple : stir together the brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the melted butter evenly over the bottom of the buttered cake tin and sprinkle the spiced sugar mixture evenly on top. Arrange the apple wedges in a circle over the sugar mixture. Set aside while you make the cake batter.
3. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Put the softened butter in a bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or hand mixer will also do the job) and beat until smooth.
5. Add the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
6. Pour in the molasses and beat until smooth.
7. Drop in the egg and mix until well mixed, stop and scrape the side of the bowl at least once.
8. Reduce the mixing speed to low and alternately add in the flour mixture and milk - always begins and ends with the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
9. Pour the cake batter over the apple and smooth out the surface.
10. Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre come out clean.
11. Allow the cake to cool on a rack for 15minutes then ran a palette knife around the edges to loosen it a bit.
12. Invert into a serving plate carefully.

The cake can be served warm or at room temperature, but I think it tasted so much better when it's warm (just nuke it in the microwave for 5 - 10 seconds per slice).

Making the Kahlua Vanilla Cream is idiot proof, just whip everything together and add as much or as little of each ingredients, however you like it :)

I used hazelnut brittle that I got as x'mas goodies from a colleague, but of course you can make your own if you wish.

Oozing Spiced Caramel

The cake was tender and the apple still retains a little bit of it's crunch, and the oozing spiced caramel....well...enuf said....

When you make the accompanying whipped cream, try not to make it too sweet as the cake itself is already sweet.

Having the cream along with the cake kind of balance out the sweetness :)

Bird's Eye View ^_^

Pressies Time !!!

After we filled our tummies to the brim, it's time to open up the presents !

Once again we have nominated Ony to be our presents "MC" ^_^

I've got a few goodies that will come in handy, but this from Ony took me by surprise 0__0

A NEW LENS FOR MY DSLR ?!??!?!

It's NOT a lens , it's a Tumbler !!

How cool is that ??!?! It's a coffee tumbler shaped like a lens, that you can even zoom in and out !

She got it from Photo Jojo, an online store with photography knicks knacks in the US.

It is such a dangerous website to visit and of course with the Aussie dollar being so strong now, it is so hard to resist to order something :P The damage has been done to my credit card.....*yikes*

So that's how we spend our Christmas this year - with lots of sugar ROFL

Gingery Christmas Goodies for 2010

2009 X'Mas Goodie Box

That above was what I gave to my friends & work colleagues for christmas last year, 4 type of cookies and a mini loaf of Earl Grey pound cake.

At that time, I was home sick pretty much the whole week leading up to christmas so I did have a lot of free time at home (don't worry, no one was reported coming down with a flu after they ate them lol).

This year however, due to my lack of planning, the X'Mas Goodie Box has been downgraded to this :

A Pack of Cookies

I felt really slack T___T

I almost resorted to just buying instead of baking - but decided last minute that I must keep the tradition up (and they did ask beginning of the month if they are gonna get baked goods again this year - the word  "modest" is not in my colleagues vocabulary ROFL).

So, decided to make something that is easy to bake with the taste and smell of christmas :)

The smell of warm spices wafting from the oven was heavenly. It was definitely worth the time spent rolling 276 x 20g ( plus minus 2g) into a ball, rolling them in raw sugar then icing sugar before baking them a dozen at a time.

A dozen baking ; Cookies cooling

The recipe is from the "Gingerbread" cookbook by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn. If you like gingerbread, you must get this book.

I've only tried 2 recipes from this book and both of them worked perfectly and tasted good !

Didn't have to do much adjustment except just reducing the amount of sugar added as American recipes tends to be a tad too sweet for me.

The best part is the dough does need to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours and preferably overnight, so you can make the dough ahead of time.

Chocolate - Ginger Crinkle Cookies (recipes from Gingerbread by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn)

Makes about 35 x 20g cookies

• 3/4 cup Plain Flour
• 1/4 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 115g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 215g Bittersweet Chocolate ( I used Lindt Piccolli Bittersweet Couverture Chocolate, 58% Cocoa)
• 2/4 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 Eggs, Jumbo
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Crystallized Ginger 
• Raw Sugar & Icing Sugar for rolling

How To :

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients EXCEPT the sugars, set aside.
2. Roughly chop 130g of the bittersweet chocolate, set aside.
3. Combine the butter and the remaining un-chopped chocolate (85g) in a heatproof bowl over simmering water (make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl) - stir occasionally until all has melted and the mixture is smooth. (Alternatively, you can melt them in the microwave with 20seconds intervals and stir in between). Set aside for 10minutes to cool slightly.
4. Into the chocolate/butter bowl, stir in the caster sugar and brown sugar - just use a wooden spoon or spatula , not a whisk.
5. Add in the eggs, one at a time, whisk briskly until smooth.
6. Stir in the vanilla extract and gradually incorporate the flour and spices mixture.
7. Fold in the chopped chocolate and crystallized ginger.
8. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover with a cling wrap. Set in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight (the dough is ready when it has firmed up and you can roll it into a ball).
9. Pre-heat oven to 180 C and line baking sheets with baking paper.
10. Shape the chilled dough into walnut - size balls (about 20g), roll in raw sugar then a generous rolling in icing sugar (make sure the balls are well covered with the icing sugar to get the pretty white snow effects :D).
11. Place in the baking tray about 2 - 3cm apart, they will expand quite a bit during baking.
12. Bake for about 12minutes, rotating the tray halfway.
13. Let cool completely on cooling rack before storing them in airtight containers. 

Note : If the dough becomes too sticky to roll, return them to the refrigerator to firm up. What I did was roll up as many dough as possible before they start to turn sticky and return them to the fridge to keep them chilled until ready for baking.

Chocolate - Ginger Crinkle Cookies

These snow capped cookies are slightly cakey, with rich chocolate flavours, warm spices and bits of sugary ginger. Quite addictive actually, had to resist trying more than one in fear I won't have enough to pack away :P

I must say, packing 23 dozens of cookies in the middle of the night is quite fun !! Thanks to my cousin who helped (read : forced to help) :D

Marbled Gingerbread - Almond Loaf Cake & Cupcakes

One of my colleague have an even more sad allergy than my story with alcohol - he's allergic to CHOCOLATE !! How depressing would that be ???

Since I'm not planning to give him a big migraine during christmas, I baked him something else - a chocolate free super delicious gingerbread.

It may have a strong spice taste but my almost 4 years old nephew didn't mind it at all :) 

(Then again, he loves eating pickled ginger lol)

Marbled Gingerbread - Almond Loaf Cake ( recipe from Gingerbread by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn)

• 1 1/4 cup Cake Flour
• 3/4 cup Almond Meal
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 115g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
• 2/4 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 Eggs, Jumbo
• 3/4 cup Whole Milk
• 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
• 1/4 cup Molasses
• 1 1/2tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

How To :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C , butter and flour your loaf tin (or cupcake liners)
2. Whisk together the cake flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Put the softened butter in a standing mixer attached with a paddle attachment and beat on med-high speed until smooth.
4. Add the caster and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat for about 2 minutes (scrape the sides of the bowl occasionaly).
6. Reduce the mixing speed to low and alternately add in the flour mixture and milk. Always begins with flour mixture and ending with it.
7. Remove half of the batter into a bowl and stir in the almond extract.
8. To the remaining half of the batter, stir in the molasses and spices. 
9. Drop large dollops of each batter into the prepared tin ( cupcake liners, not as large of a dollop of course, and only fill to 2/3 up, the batter expands).
10. Using a wooden skewer or a cake tester, swirl the batters together to produce a marbled effect.
11. Tap the pan lightly on a hard surface to remove any trapped air pockets. 
12. Bake in the oven for about 50 - 55 minutes or until a skewer came out clean when inserted in the centre ( less baking time for cupcakes).

This gingerbread almond loaf has a soft fluffy texture and moist due to the use of almond meal. The combination of almond and the spices worked surprisingly well. 

Hopefully I'll get to write up a few more posts before the year ends, although it is not looking promising as this stage LOL

My parents came over from overseas to spend time with us kiddies here this holiday season, so I will be pre-occupied (with lots of eating) for the next 3 weeks !

So, wishing all of you a safe and joyful Christmas, eat lots and hope you get lots of presents too !!!

\^o^/

Duke Bistro, Darlinghurst

Bar @ Duke Bistro

A last minute dinner outing with Nut and her mom (who was visiting) before she goes back to Thailand for good - another fellow blogger that I've just get to know and now have to say goodbye too *sob*.

Managed to drag my usual partner in crime too - Ony.

At the helm of Duke Bistro's kitchen we have the talented duo of Thomas Lim (of Tetsuya's fame) and Mitchell Orr (the recipient of 2010 Young Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of The Year and was at Sepia), pretty sure we are in very capable hands tonight ^_^

The decor is very cool with vintage asian themed decors and colours of rich red, green and dark brown. 

Somehow the bistro reminded me of my late grandma's house back in the days, it brings back nostalgic memories :)

Recycled Water Bottle

Got some tap water while I waited for the others to turn up and how cool is that bottle ?

It was used to be a whisky bottle maybe ? On the other side of the bottle you have "Made In", a British whisky perhaps :)  

Ceiling Fan ; Hemmingway The Bar Hog

Asked the waiter if it's okay to take pictures, he said I may, under one condition *oh ouw....*

Friendly Waiter  : "You have to take a photo with Hemmingway"

Confused Blogger : "Who ?"

Friendly Waiter  : "Hemmingway, The Bar Hog"

Hemmingway, you looked too scary with that bottle of Shiracha in your mouth, so I'll just take a shot of you from far far away.....

Hotel Nacional Cocktail ; Bar ;
Strawberry & Guava Mocktail ; Ginger Ale, Lime & Pineapple Juice Mocktail

Ony ordered something off the cocktail menu, Hotel Nacional (light rum, fresh pineapple juice, apricot liqueur & peach bitters) was recommended by the waiter.

While the rest of us opted for mocktails which were not on the menu but can me made to your liking.

Nut's mom got the Strawberry & Guava mocktail, while the two of us got the same one, a simple concoction of Ginger Ale, Fresh Lime & Pineapple Juice. 

Cute Tea Light Tea Cups & Cool Cutleries

There were 15 dishes in the Share Plates menu, it was easier to eliminate those that we don't want than choosing what we wanted, so that's what we did :P

Just need one more person and we could have ordered everything on the menu ! 

After reading out to the (slightly shocked) waiter, I asked if that would be enough - 9 share plates for 4 of us, plus we are going to order 2 desserts later on (advanced stomach space planning).

His reply was that would be enough if we are hungry , to which all of us nodded LOL

Kingfish Gin & Tonic $18.00

Our orders were served 3 dishes at a time, progressing in groups from lightly flavoured to a more heavier and richer dishes.

First up is the Kingfish Gin & Tonic, served in a glass as you would gin and tonic. The kingfish sashimi was firm and fresh, topped with roasted coriander seed, micro coriander and curled ribbons of cucumber. The gin & tonic jelly at the bottom was interesting, you can definitely taste the gin and the fizz from the tonic water gives the tingling sensation on your tongue - fun !

Char-Grilled Watermelon & Fresh Herbs $10.00

A new seasonal dish that was highly recommended by the waiter and I must agree 100%, this was one of my favourite dishes of the night.

The warm and nicely charred watermelon slab was topped with a fresh herb salad with Vietnamese flavoured dressing. The herb salad consisted of a medley of zucchini flowers, mint, coriander, eschalot, cucumber and chilli.

Simple flavours but tasted oh so good and light - delicious !

Fritto Misto $16.00

The fritto misto was a plate of lightly battered and crisply deep fried school of prawns, squid, white bait, a very tender octopus and the very interesting "octopus pops" - as the waiter described it.

Octopus pops, as I later discovered, were the little suction cups found on octopus tentacles - those little suckers hehehehehe.

They pops were removed then deep fried till very crisp ! The platter is served with a wedge of lime and yuzu mayonnaise.

Night Time Ambience

As the sun sets, the place gets really dark, which equals to blurry shots T___T

I was so tempted to bring out the plates to the balcony area where there were tables with so much better lighting.

Fried Chicken Wings, Coleslaw Milk, Hot Sauce  $10.00

Fried chicken wings will always put a smile on my face :) And it was done perfectly here at Duke Bistro, the wings were very crispy and juicy. Squirt some Shiracha Hot Sauce if you like hot and spicy wings.

I liked the coleslaw milk that was quite interesting. It tasted like coleslaw, but in a puree form, except for the random bits of crunchy cabbage.

Egg, Seasonal Mushrooms, Almonds $15.00

The other favourite of mine for the night - a mixture of seasonal mushrooms (I think they were eringi, enoki, wood ear fungus, white cloud ear fungus, shiitake, oyster), sprinkle of curly parsley and scattering of almond flakes. 

Break the perfectly poached egg, mix with the mushrooms and pour over the hot consommé that came in a little beaker. 

What you end up with was a warming, slightly soupy dish with earthy flavours, loved it !! 

Tater Tots, Duke Gravy, Edamame $15.00

The tater tots were potato hash, served with Duke gravy that came with tender braised veal, edamame and pea shoots.

The portion was the smallest for the price compared to the other dishes. The tater tots were too salty for my liking as well.

Wagyu, Herb Dressing, Baby Gem Lettuce $24.00

The wagyu steak was quite tender and served medium rare. The tangy herb dressing compliment the wagyu well, but the star on the plate for me would be the grilled lettuce *lettuce over wagyu ?!?!*

We were instructed to squeeze the wedge of lemon over the chargrilled baby gem lettuce and it was very good ! 

The lettuce was tender and sweet with a slight charred flavour, lifted up higher with the spritz of lemon. 

Again, so simple but oh so good :)

Lamb Belly, Cumin, Eggplant, Pearl Onions $16.00

Obviously not a dish I would usually order, but I still gave it a go (in the name of research).

The lamb belly was tender but had very strong lamb flavour that I just can't take. The lamb belly was served with a gravy with barley, eggplant puree and sweet caramelized pearl onions. 

Beef Shortrib Pancakes $20.00

Another seasonal special, beef shortrib pancakes ala Peking duck :D

Grab a disc of pancake, a ribbon of pickled daikon with crushed pink peppercorns, then some beef shortribs, sprinkle some shredded shisho (perilla) leaves an a drizzle of jalapeno sauce, wrap and straight into your mouth *chomp* - thumbs up !!

It was a mixture of different textures and flavours, although I wish the shortrib were more tender and it would be perfect. 

Knickerbocker Glory $12.00

As planned, we ordered just 2 desserts to share :)

The Knickerbocker Glory is a trifle of mango jelly, sliced fresh strawberries, beetroot meringue, whipped cream, pannacotta ice cream and topped with an edible pansy.

This was one interesting dessert, with the obvious odd one out being the beetroot meringue. 

If you eat them all together in one spoonful it was good, but I did the mistake of eating the beetroot on its own (not knowing what it was prior) and it kind of put me off a little (and I love beetroot).

"Peaches & Créme" $12.00

This special dessert of the day was described as the chefs take on the classic peaches and cream.

The inside shots didn't turn out well so you just have to bear with me and use your imagination ^_^

At the bottom of the ramekin we had poached peaches, then a layer of whipped cream, scattered almond brittle bits, pipe some meringue and last but not least, some blow torch action !

The peaches was nicely poached, tender but not too soft and the crunchy almond brittle added some nice crunch and caramelized nutty flavours. A tad too sweet because of the meringue but it was a delicious spin on a classic dessert. 

Lovely Note :D

The bill came with a lovely thank you note - well, thank you guys for the very friendly and attentive service ^_^

At the end of the night, we end up spending $50/person including the drinks, which I found was pretty good for the amount of food we had.

The flavours combinations were not the norm but they worked well together and interesting in some of the dishes.

The portion on some of the dishes may be on the small side but we left feeling satisfied without being uncomfortably full.

The bistro's noise level does gets higher as the night progress, but it is still a great place to hang out with friends, perhaps not a romantic dinner :P

Good luck Nut in your future and I'm sure you will reach your dream of becoming a court judge ( be fair  ^_* )