Smoothie King, 313@Somerset - Healthy Yummy Quick Fix

Smoothie King had first announced the grand opening of their first store in Singapore back in Dec 2012.

Apparently, they originated from New Orleans in 1973 and has since expanded regionally. 

Did not know that they are a US brand because I only knew of them when Nic and I went to Korea for a trip and they seemed really popular there. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to try the smoothie there in Korea but lucky for us, now that it's open in Singapore, we can finally get to see why the Koreans are raving about it.

So Nic and I excitedly went to one of the outlets at 313 Somerset. It's located at level one, right beside the entrance of the MRT escalator.

The first thing that we saw was that there were many comfortable seats around with wooden deco. The next was the menu with many different kinds of smoothies, wraps and salads. The menu has the amount of calories of the food/drink written right next to it; a trend that is very apparent in appearance-conscious Korea but which is rare in Singapore. The only down side to it is that there are not enough pictures to capture the attention of customers at once. We also got lost in all the food science lingo such as turbinado (which is a kind of brown sugar; googled), probiotic, antioxidant and collagen. These were the enhancers you could add to the drink to give your day a boost. The drinks also came in sizes of S, M and L. It was a lot of information to process at once so we decided to just choose a medium sized most popular drink there. The Angel Food.

Ok so... wow. Angel Food must be really good since well its food fit for angels right? But actually, it's just banana and strawberry, non-fat milk and soy protein. Taken this description from their website: "Angels have to be light on their wings—those things are delicate. In that case, they’d have no problem feasting on this fantastic low-fat blend of banana and strawberries. It’s creamy, delicious and fit, well, for an angel." Hmm.... ok. So we went ahead and placed the order and got a cute queuing device that alerts you when your order is ready. This is another very popular trend in Korea especially in cafes.

We waited for about 5 minutes and voila the device started vibrating and giving off alien lights and alerted me that my Angel Food is ready. When we got the drink, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of thought they had in the packaging. Instead of a plastic cup, the smoothie was actually served in a styrofoam cup! This actually helps to keep the smoothie cold for longer periods of time.

The taste was exquisite. Sweet but not too overwhelming, with hints of banana and strawberry. It totally changed my viewpoint of healthy food. It was so yummy that we regretted sharing a medium sized cup. We could totally understand why it is the most popular drink there. Upon opening the cup (after many tasteful slurps), inside was a gooey-slushy mix of goodness.

The drink was well worth the price - $6.70 for a medium cup. Made us feel so healthy that we immediately went for ice-cream. -.- Anyway, we will definitely return and try their other signature drinks and maybe tinker around with the enhancers in future.

For: Health-conscious people who do not want to sacrifice taste for healthy food or just ordinary people like me.


-Jem



313@Somerset #01-14/15
313 Orchard Road, S(238895)
Tel: 68362203
Opening Hours:
8am to 10pm on Sun-Thur & Public Holidays
8am to 11pm on Fri-Sat & Eve of Public Holidays
http://www.smoothieking.sg 

St. Marc Café, Vivocity Review - Great dessert!

St. Marc Café has been in Vivocity for awhile, but it was only recently that we had the chance to try it out. It is a Japanese cafe which was first opened in 1998 in Tokyo. You'll see a delightful showcase of food models situated at the entrance of the cafe even from a distance. After seeing the colorful and seemingly real dessert models, you'll definitely feel like ordering all of them!

The cafe logo

Assorted bread and pastries showcased for you to choose to your heart's content!

Beverage menu

The beverage menu was shown on the board behind the counter. The material of the board and the font reminded us of the cafes in Korea, which we recently visited during a trip there. The buzzer which we were given after we had ordered was also an essential item of the cafes in Korea.

Caramel Café Latte (M) - $5.50

Capuccino (M) - $5 [right]

The coffee were quite alright. The Caramel Café Latte was quite smooth and sweet. Besides the beverages, we also ordered:

Egg Salsa - $3.30

Little FUJI - $6.30

The Egg Salsa contains diced pork bacon, mayonnaise, salsa sauce, black pepper and egg. It looks special and tastes good too! The salsa sauce is a big plus for this item. Initially we were not very hungry but once we tried it we couldn't stop! It was very savoury. 

One of the 'must try' items goes to Little FUJI! Its one of the most famous items in this cafe. It has vanilla soft serve ice cream topped with caramel, all seated on top of the warm Danish pastry just like Mount Fuji. It tastes so good! The Danish was very crisp and flaky. Take a bite with the ice cream, Danish and caramel and you'll definitely want more! The combination of warm and cold was heaven. The caramel was a tad too sweet though.

You might have to wait for seats as the cafe was packed with people during weekend afternoons.


For: Those who want to relive their experience in Japanese/ Korean cafes right here in Singapore, and for addictive dessert


-Nic




St. Marc Café
1 Harbourfront Walk #01-108-110 
Vivo City Singapore 098585 
+65 6222 2309
Opening Hours: 10AM to 10PM 
http://saint-marc-sg.com/

Hatched, Holland Village Review - Cozy & Lazy Weekend Brunch

Saturday afternoon. Perfect for brunch after sleeping in. We decided that we'll try out the much raved Hatched at Holland Village on Sat and made a reservation the day before to make sure we have a table. Location wise its quite accessible, with the Holland Village circle line station right beside it. 

When we arrived at 1pm, the whole place looks pretty full. Luckily we made a reservation. We were served iced water prompty after we've sat down, without us ordering it. One thing unique about the service crew is that they don't have a uniform. 



Blackboard framing one side of the room

Pretty lights decorations

Cute menu, together with a wine/beer menu

Decided on 2 classics...

Sir Benedict

Smoked Royale

The English muffins on both dishes were very crisp and tasty. The combination of smoked ham and bacon together with the muffin is just heavenly for Sir Benedict! The mashed potatoes were pretty decent too. Only pity is that the poached eggs are a tad too watery for our liking. When you bite on the egg white you can feel the water oozing out. The smoked salmon in Smoked Royale is good. Salad is a bit too plain. In case you're wondering, "Just One" in the menu is what you can see in the photos above. "Do Two" if you have a bigger appetite and get the other half of the muffin topped with whichever goodness you've ordered.

At near 2pm we saw some tables empty. Good if you want to eat at your own relaxed pace. Overall we would say the service is pretty good and prompt.


For: A lazy afternoon of slow brunch eating while chatting with friends in a cozy place.


-Nic



HATCHED @ HOLLAND VILLAGE (Holland Village circle line station exit B)
267 Holland Avenue
Singapore 278989
+65 6463 0012
Opening Hours: 9AM to 11PM (Tue – Sun)
Closed on Mondays
http://www.hatched.sg/