Antoinette

My sis is quite mad about all day breakfasts, cakes and pretty pastries. So when I asked her to suggest a venue for a we-are-on-half-day-leave-(yippee) lunch, I wasn’t exactly surprised when “Antoinette!” came up. Antoinette has had a lot of press lately, apparently it’s opened by Chef Pang from Canele and he sounds like a master of desserts. I was definitely psyched to check out the place.

I love it when nice joints like these open up in the east. Penhas Road is quite an obscure area but it’s very near my place. It looks quite out of place amidst its semi-industrial neighbours, but once you walk in, what a lovely setting!

White walls and wood fittings, plush velvet chairs and huge floral arrangements. Copious trays of pastries and meringues. Neat rows of beautiful cake creations that ALL look so good!

It was like walking into wonderland, Sis and I were quite impressed. It was fortunate we had reservations, because the place was packed for a weekday lunchtime crowd.

I am amazed by the amount of food we ordered AND polished off. Sis wanted her favourite French toast (for lunch?) and I wanted something savoury so I ordered the marinara pasta. We also ordered the parma ham and cheese crepe.

I went “wow” when the French toast came. It looked and tasted absolutely delish. The salted caramel and chantilly cream combination was amazing. Definitely something I’ll order again in a heartbeat.

The pasta fared well too. It was cooked al dente with just the right sauce consistency. They were generous with the seafood and I loved the spicy kick in the sauce. Try it.

The crepe looked pretty and it was nice bursting the molten yolk in the centre. Tastewise I found it lacking, the ham was not flavourful and the crepe wasn’t outstanding. Would skip this the next time.

You know what they say about girls having a different stomach for desserts. It’s true. Both Sis and I were stuffed but we couldn’t resist ordering a cake each. At $9 each for the Antoinette and the Tart Cafe Caramel, the cakes were expensive. But they looked so pretty and tasted so good! I really liked the sea salt caramel of the Tart Café Caramel, but the Antoinette’s earl grey infused chocolate mousse and crumble, as well as the raspberry coulis (oohh it oozes when pierced) left a deeper impression.

Overall it was a lovely afternoon and quality time spent gorging with my dear Sis. Would I recommend this place? Most definitely.

Dona Manis Cake Shop

Katong Shopping Centre was THE mall of the east when I was young. Those days, mum used to like shopping there and I used to tag along, taking in the buzz from the billiard saloons, food courts, computer shops, pet store and comics store. I remember there even used to be a bowling alley, how cool is that? Haha.

Then the new malls such as Parkway Parade came up and KSC slowly became defunct. In comparison, it seemed to be stuck in the 80s without any real exciting shops to pull in the crowds. That is, of course, for basement cake shop, Dona Manis. I grew up eating their banana pies. It’s touted as "Singapore's best pie" but to me, it’s just a slice of old fashioned goodness. They also do apple and peach pies ($2 a slice, $20+ for the whole pie) which are good too (but banana is still the way to go).

Almond nuts sprinkled on top of crisp flaky pastry, with coconut and banana baked inside. OMG it's just so good! Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and be transported back to the wonder years.