Sparklette Magazine » Esplanade

Christmas Tree of the Day #12 (2011 Edition) – White Artsy Christmas at Esplanade

Veron Ang — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 03:00:04 +0000

Keep an eye out for this unique Christmas tree when you visit Esplanade, a performing arts venue in Singapore. Comprising Japanese-style lanterns, this tree is illuminated with a beautiful glow from within. The lanterns have been given an extra Christmasy touch by their snowflake patterns, made of hologram aluminium foil.

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We like the way that the unusually shaped tree is juxtaposed with the eccentrically shaped building (like durians) in the background. If you like, you can even walk right through the tree via its walkway.

Credit

And that wraps up the Christmas Tree of the Day 2011 series! We hope you enjoyed this showcase of unique and beautiful Christmas trees in Singapore. Many thanks to Mr. Choo Yut Shing for letting us share his gorgeous pictures with the world.

And to you, Merry Christmas! Thanks for staying with us all year long through Christmas, and gracing Sparklette with your virtual presence. Have a blessed Christmas!

All photos here are taken by Mr. Choo Yut Shing and used with permission on Sparklette.

Have Your Say!

Have you seen any gorgeous Christmas trees this festive season? Share pictures with us in the comments!

For more Christmas trees, check out the Sparklette Christmas Tree of the Day series.

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Barossa – All-You-Can-Eat Ribs by the Waterfront

Veron Ang — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:00:49 +0000

The Australian-inspired restaurant and bar Barossa has dished up a very tempting all-you-can-eat ribs promotion at Esplanade Mall. Vegetarians, you may want to give this a miss. We’re talking baby back ribs, lamb ribs and grilled pork in an eat-all-you-can feast that is a carnivore’s dream come true!

Barossa at Esplanade boasts a relaxed waterfront setting, with the staff engaging diners in friendly chatter. The alfresco dining area allows you to enjoy the light breeze that seemingly blows your troubles away. And if it doesn’t, there is always beer.

All-You-Can-Eat Ribs

All-you-can-eat ribs
S$45++
Every Thursday from 6pm

The all-you-can-eat ribs promotion takes place at Barossa once a week on Thursday evenings.

Braised lamb ribs

If you are fond of lamb, the braised lamb ribs exhibit just the right shade of pink. The meat is very tender, with my knife slicing through easily.

BBQ baby back ribs

The BBQ baby back ribs come smothered in a tantalising barbecue sauce that is so alive with flavour, it literally dances upon the tongue. The restaurant spends 4 to 6 hours making the sauce, reducing it to a thick concentration of flavours.

While these may not be the fleshiest ribs around (like Tony Roma’s but unlike Jerry’s BBQ), I eagerly ask for a second helping nonetheless; the painstakingly-made sauce is simply irresistible.

Grilled Kurobuta pork

For the time being, the grilled Kurobuta pork replaces the oven-roasted pork ribs on the menu due to some health concerns. It is one meaty chunk of white meat, mildly seasoned and great for making full use of the dips.

The ribs are partnered with four dips (from left): tomato jam, honey mustard, red wine sauce and lamb sauce. The tomato jam and honey mustard are certainly the most robust and delicious of the lot. I can’t help but drench all my meats (except for the BBQ ribs) in them.

To cleanse your palate, a selection of four non-meaty sides are served alongside the ribs (clockwise from top left): sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, sautéed vegetables and potato gratin. But let’s face it; who’s really tucking into those when you have the succulent ribs right in front of you?

Barossa salad
S$13++

If you do really love the greens, the Barossa salad is a refreshing and healthful choice, a sweet mix of tomato, pine nut, walnut, bacon bits and avocado dressed in cranberry and mustard.

To wash down the ribs, beer is a perfectly acceptable beverage. You can top up S$10 for free-flowing Archipelago beer. Can’t seem to make up your mind on which beer to go for? Get the beer sampler set which has four types of beer in 30ml glasses: Belgian Wit, Summer Ale, Bohemian Lager and Irish Ale.

If you pride yourself on being a confirmed and committed carnivore, you definitely do not want to miss the all-you-can-eat ribs at Barossa Esplanade every Thursday. Just be sure to go there on an empty stomach.

Have Your Say!

What are the best dining destinations in Singapore for carnivores? Share with us in the comments!

Barossa
Website | Facebook

Opening hours:
Mon to Fri: Lunch 12noon – 3pm
Mon to Thu: Dinner 6pm – 1am
Fri: Dinner 6pm – 2am
Sat: 12noon – 2am
Sun: 12noon – 1am

Barossa Esplanade

Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-11
Singapore 038981
Tel: +65 6534 5188
Service:

Barossa Holland Village

Holland Village
22 Lorong Mambong
Singapore 227681
Tel: +65 6468 4688

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The Cookie Museum – Most Beautiful ‘Museum’ [Video]

Veron Ang — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:42:39 +0000

At this museum, an entry pass is not required. All you need is a love for tea and cookies.

(Note: If the photographs below look somewhat ‘different’, that’s because I was playing around with the vintage lomo effect.)

I am referring to The Cookie Museum, of course. This place was formerly known as The V Tea Room, where V probably stood for Victorian. Each time I walk past this tea lounge at the Esplanade, I can’t help but slow down for a better look. The quaint Victorian theme is so beautiful it really takes your breath away! Throw in the motif wallpaper, gold-rimmed mirrors and largely pink decor, this is one place that is perfect for an afternoon tea session with the girlfriends.

Another place that boasts similarly gorgeous decor is Tea Cosy by Eclectic Attic.

Here, you sit on plush chairs with ornate carvings and feel like royalty.

Obviously, the namesake cookies are a huge draw. Have you ever come across unconventional flavours like Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Hainanese chicken rice, masala and tom yam crab?

Photo by lion kim ball

Laksa cookies
S$38-45 for a 500-gram tin
Rating:

We sample the Laksa-flavoured cookies, and my, they taste just like the real thing! This is the first time we have tried cookies that are actually spicy. It may seem a little weird at first, but I can get used to the taste.

Has anyone attempted baking these unique Singapore-flavoured cookies? Would adding coconut milk, shrimp paste and a dash of sambal chilli conjure up Laksa-flavoured cookies? If you have done this, please share your recipe with us!

Aside from the cookies, there is a large menu just for the tea alone. The staff would roll the tea cart right to your table and delicately serve the teapot, sugar, etc.

You can see how the tea is being served here. It’s a rather long process so the video cuts off before the tea has been poured! But you get the picture.

I just love, love, LOVE that dainty floral teacup! I wonder where we can buy something similar for our homes?

Darjeeling Margaret’s Hope
S$14.90++
Rating:

In the past, they would refill the teapot with hot water, so you could practically drink the tea forever! But nowadays they have stopped doing it. Each teapot fills about 2 cups of tea.

If this isn’t your cup of tea, Max Brenner next door serves up wonderful hot chocolate, too! Speaking of which…

Have Your Say!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Is the Cookie Museum the best place to enjoy tea and cookies, or do you know of any other place? Share with us in the comments!

The Cookie Museum (formerly V Tea Room)
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-02/04
Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6333 1965 | Website
Service:

Opening hours:
Mon – Thur: 12noon – 10:30pm
Fri & Sat: 12noon- 11:30pm
Sun: 12noon – 9pm

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Ichiban Boshi – More Than Just Sushi

Veron Ang — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:39:15 +0000

When it comes to Japanese casual dining, my restaurant of choice is Ichiban Boshi or Ichiban Sushi. Both fall under the same parent company and the menu is largely similar.

Aside from their innovative sushi that have won me over from rival conveyor belt sushi chains, the main courses also keep me going back for more.

In particular, one ala carte dish that I love enough to make my staple order during each visit is the chicken cutlet with scrambled egg. It looks nondescript, it sounds nondescript, but the taste is really out of the ordinary.

Chicken Katsu Tamago Toji (chicken cutlet with scrambled egg)
S$10.80++
Rating:

The chicken katsu is served on a sizzling hot plate with the egg on top. It sits in a delicious soup gravy, which is the part that makes it extraordinary. This gravy is mostly sweet with onion slices tossed in, and has a nice flavour that is highly addictive. Ichiban!

The chicken itself is a huge portion occupying the whole of the shallow round pan. Sure, you can add a side order of steamed rice. But normally I can’t even finish all that chicken by myself! There’s really a lot of it, and that’s great. Good things are meant to be shared :)

Sizzling black pepper beef
S$11.90++
Rating:

In recent months I discovered another dish on the menu that may well surpass the chicken dish. It’s the sizzling black pepper beef.

The beef is similarly served on a hot plate, an elevated one with a flame underneath in this case. The black pepper sauce is really quite something. Normally I’m not a fan of this sauce, but this isn’t your regular black pepper sauce. For one, it’s way sweeter, and, uh, actually less peppery so the other flavours aren’t masked. The beef slices are tender, too. Ichiban!

I actually like these dishes more than their sushi. Let me know your favourite dishes at Ichiban, too!

Ichiban Boshi
- The Centrepoint #01-49/52
- Esplanade Mall #02-14
- Great World City #B1-07
- Marina Bay Link Mall #B2-14/15
- NEX Mall #B1-04
- Novena Square #02-13/14
- Parkway Parade #02-12/12A
- Suntec City Mall #B1-062
Website

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Max Brenner – Melting Marshmallow Delight

Veron Ang — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:00:09 +0000

Well, I’m not one to readily resist the temptation of chocolate. And I know I wouldn’t be the first to admit this. So it wasn’t long before I paid my second visit to Max Brenner, the wonderland for chocolate lovers!

I can still vividly remember the richness of their hot chocolate from my first visit late last year. The chocolate is so thick and rich, a (hug) mug of it is practically enough to curb all chocolate cravings for a week.

But this time round, we got to sample something even better from their desserts menu. This particular dessert is filled with all things nice and good, and I feel it warrants a whole blog post of its own!

It’s the Melting Marshmallow Crêpe!

Melting Marshmallow Crêpe
S$10++
Rating:

I’m not a huge fan of crêpes in general, but with a name as delicious-sounding as that, who can possibly say no right? With all the chocolate sauce drizzled generously over the crêpe, the whole dish just looks so pretty, delectable and lovely! It was definitely love at first sight.

Plus, it has everything a girl would love…

Strawberries, check.

Chocolate sauce, check.

Vanilla ice cream, check.

Melted marshmallow, check, with extra, extra brownie points!

Look, there are even gummy bears! That is so adorable! I can just imagine the chef arranging those colourful bears on the side of the plate with glee. With so many different goodies spread out on one plate, it’s hard not to spend minutes gushing over it.

For me personally, the warm melted marshmallow is the best part. This gooey goodness forms the entire filling for the thin French crêpe. Wait, I think there might have been melted white chocolate in it too. I love the way it stretches on the fork, kind of like cheese on a pizza slice! And I swear it tastes even better than it looks.

The sides of vanilla ice cream and strawberries are just the right complements. If you find that you have had too much chocolate (if there even is such a thing as too much chocolate), then the melting marshmallow crêpe really is the perfect counterbalance for you.

Max Brenner
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-06/08
Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6235 9556 | Website
Service:

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Max Brenner – Chocolate Seduction

Veron Ang — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:55:42 +0000

Many of us enjoy a love affair with it. Some of us even have secret fantasies about it. Such is its seductive powers that few are able to resist its temptation. I would be lying if I told you that I don’t want it all the time. That sensuous mouth feel is too hard to say no to. At times it gets so good, it’s pure ecstasy.

Chocolate ecstasy.

While we’re on strict dieting regimes, we still attempt sneaking in that piece of caloric chocolate. Even as we go out on shopping sprees, we may find ourselves snacking from the chocolate stash we have in our bags, relishing the guilty pleasures as the chocolate butter melts on our tongue.

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Up for a chocolate rendezvous? Have it all at Max Brenner the chocolate bar. Chocoholics would be totally spoiled for choice!

So just who exactly is Max Brenner? It is actually a combination of the two owners’ names, Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner. The latter is bald, hence the slogan “Chocolate by the Bald Man”.

Upon entering the place, brace yourself as the first whiffs of chocolate aroma penetrate your nostrils — it’s chocolate wonderland! No prizes for guessing what the colour theme here is. Shades of chocolate brown, of course! I would expect nothing less.

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I especially enjoy checking out the various chocolate products displayed on the wooden shelves. Those on the top shelf grab my attention the most. They are brown paper bags containing cacao! Cute!

First-time visitors may be slightly overwhelmed by the substantial menu of chocolate delights — there are just too many to choose from! A must-have is something from the hot chocolate section. Here they call it “Chocolat”, the cappuccino of chocolate. It is served in a Hug Mug!

The Hug Mug – a specially designed mug for the chocolate drinking ceremony. The mug is shaped specially for hugging in both hands so that it creates the ultimate drinking experience of coziness, warmth and fragrance.

Whoa! That cute story got to me immediately. I wasted no time in ordering myself a Chocolat — the Venezuela milk chocolate drink.

Photo by Harrier

Venezuela Milk Chocolate
S$5.90++
Rating:

I was supposed to cradle it in my hands. But boy, was the hot chocolate hot! Of course, it was also deliciously good. I was surprised at how thick and chocolaty it was; I could practically see the frothy chocolate bubbling!

Love, love, love that mug too. It made the chocolate drinking ceremony all snug and warm and cosy :) “hug me,” it seems to be saying. I think I’ll hug it for Christmas!

Espresso and Milk Chocolate Truffle Frappé
S$8.90++
Rating:

Another adorable cup they have is the Alice Cup, used for serving Choctails, a.k.a. frozen chocolate frappés. If you guess that’s Alice as in “Alice in Wonderland”, you are right!

She found a little bottle on it (‘which certainly was not here before,’ said Alice), and round its neck a paper label, with the words ‘drink me’ beautifully printed on it in large letters. Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee and hot buttered toast), she very soon finished it off.

Whoa! The Choctail was even thicker and richer than the Chocolat; it’s almost like drinking molten chocolate! The vanilla ice cream was definitely necessary in toning down the thick chocolate.

So tell me, are you ready for your next chocolate indulgence? Whether you like it dark, milk or white, Max Brenner is definitely a choice pick chocolatier. Also check out their desserts.

Max Brenner
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-06/08
Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6235 9556 | Website
Service:

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River Hong Bao

Veron Ang — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 15:45:14 +0000

The River Hong Bao is an annual Chinese New Year event in Singapore.

Over here, the area has been transformed into one thick with the lively Chinese New Year atmosphere. Red, yellow and purple little bulbs, as well as huge peach lanterns adorned every tree.

A very colourful pavilion structure was the stage where performances entertained the mostly elderly crowd. In this particular performance, the dancers were elderly women who were still active and fit at their age.

fu (luck), lu (wealth), shou (longevity), xi (happiness). Everyone was queuing to get a picture with these four giant Chinese characters. I managed to get only fu and shou.

The twelve zodiac animals also came on display. I was born in the year of the rat.

And as usual, there was the 20 metre tall statue of the god of prosperity. The folks at the Singapore tourism board love to brag about this every year. But looking at pictures I took last year, I found that they reuse the same statue every year.

But I guess the Chinese love the idea of having the god of prosperity around. This statue sprinkles down golden confetti at the crowd on and off. Now for the god of prosperity in person…

He held this huge gold liang (tael, an olden Chinese currency) which everyone in the crowd was clamoring to get a feel. The actor himself wasn’t spared either. I think I saw a hundred hands touching him no less. No wonder he looked stressed and sweaty.

There were many food stalls at the carnival, mostly Chinese ones. One stall was selling these mai ya tang (malt sugar candy) shaped in the different zodiac animals.

The candy was all hand-made! The stall holder was making them on the spot and selling them for three dollars each.

Another interesting stall was this particular one selling brown rice tea. The tea was supposed to help prevent night urination.

One stall was peddling Thai food, most of which looked very colourful and pretty.

louk chup that looked like miniature fruits and flowers.

Tiny pancakes with (what I think is) coconut filling.

Mango rice, durian rice, etc. I fell in love with the mango rice during my trip to Bangkok two months ago. But here they used rice of different colours, such as blue and green. I thought that was very unique. The Thai stall holders sold each packet of rice at five dollars each, which was kinda expensive.

At 9:30pm, there was a fireworks display.

And that’s it for River Hong Bao! Happy Chinese New Year!

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The Cookie Museum (formerly V Tea Room) – Back to Victorian Times

Veron Ang — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 17:01:15 +0000

Update: The V Tea Room is now known as The Cookie Museum.

A pretty tea boutique opened recently at the Esplanade, known as the V Tea Room. Boasting a Victorian theme in a cozy setting, everything about the V Tea Room looks beautiful! There is so much detail in its decor. Thick volumes of Victorian books decorate the counter. Masquerade masks hang on the walls. Dainty little cups are used to serve tea. Even the menus are very exquisitely designed!

I am most impressed with how beautiful the menu looks. First of all, it’s large. Every menu has its own unique cover with gold pop-up patterns. I have never seen a better-looking menu! At first glance, they don’t even look like menus, but more like the covers of thick, valuable antique books.

True to its name, the V Tea Room has a large selection of tea. I’m no tea connoisseur as I am more of a coffee fanatic, but the queen’s tea we had was good. And the best thing? With the tea leaves in the pot, we could simply keep refilling it with hot water. In the words of my friend, we could practically drink the tea forever!

They had a large variety of teacakes too, including ones filled with liqueur. My belly was still full from an earlier meal so I couldn’t really eat much. But I would be sure to visit the V Tea Room again for its affordable tea and cakes, beautiful decor and excellent service.

The Cookie Museum (formerly V Tea Room)
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue #01-02/04
Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6333 1965 | Website
Service:

Opening hours:
Mon – Thur: 12noon – 10:30pm
Fri & Sat: 12noon- 11:30pm
Sun: 12noon – 9pm

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/cookie-museum/ | 7 comments

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