Pierre Marcolini : Pierre Herme of the Chocolate World

If you know Pierre Herme very well, then you should know the Pierre Herme of the chocolate world, Pierre Marcolini. This former disciple of Pierre Herme had rose up the ranks to become of the most coveted chocolatier in the world and one need not be surprised at the enduring popularity of his flagship shop in Ginza.

Many, ladies especially, flocked to his cafe on 2F for the signature parfaits and waffles. But those with an extra budget to indulge would buy some of the exquisite pralines in his retail shop at 1F. 

To kill two birds (waffles and ice cream) in one stone, I instinctively picked the waffles.There are two categories here: one is Marcolini Waffles and Simple Waffles. The menu did not explicitly explain the differences but it seems like the Marcolini Waffles is blended with some extra ingredient X.

Anyway, I was relief that the quality of the waffles justify the hefty price tag. True to a classic Brussel waffle, it was light, yeasty and made into perfect regular square. It was music to the ears as the delicate crunchy sound echoes through the air. 

It is topped with fresh whipped cream that is not sweet at all. So most of the flavours emerged from the vanilla ice cream, caramel ice cream and the to-die-for salted caramel sauce. Somehow, I can feel that my waffles attracted envy looks from other tables as no one else was ordering this except me (they had parfaits). 

But the waffles come in a set, implying that one has to choose a drink no matter what. I highly recommend the Marcolini cacao tea because I guessed it is the only place in the world that one can taste chocolate in tea. Sounds illogical but the cacao flavour is highly pronounced in the pot of tea. 

While the waffles are heavenly, I think nothing beats the wickedly rich and bitter Belgium Soft Serve (see below) at his takeaway booth in Shibuya Hikarie. Despite being a bigwig in the chocolate industry, Pierre Marcolini personally searches for the cacao bean and create everything from scratch. Good to know that he has stocked up some skinny eclairs exclusively available only at this store. 

For the true gelato without incurring the dine-in cost, head to his outlet inside Tokyo station which is easily distinguished from the rest with its chic minimalist black interior. Buy the rich chocolate drink to sip on your Shinkansen ride. I bet that will attract the envy eyes of other passengers. 

Pierre Marcolini 

Ginza Outlet

〒104-0061 Ginza 5-5-8 Chuo-ku, Tokyo
TEL：03-5537-0015
OPEN：11am-8pm ※(Sun/PH)11am-7pm

For more details about the outlets and menu, visit here

Ramenplay : All-New Japanese Shabu Experience

There are so many ramen houses in Singapore but I think none would have conceive the idea of adding shabu-shabu, (Japanese hot pot usually eaten during winter) to its existing menu.


Ramenplay, a brand by BreadTalk and Sanpou Co.Ltd, has launched an all-new Shabu Shabu sets where customers can personalize their own by choosing between Australia striploin beef or Brazilian pork collar for the meats and Clear/Kimchi for the soups, alongside a staple, raw egg and pickles.

The fire from the Kimchi Soup was not as intense as I thought, but enough to pique my tastebud and made it difficult for me to stop slurping spoon after spoon into my mouth.

Made with chicken bones and shoyu, the Clear Soup did not disappoint too. It had a very pleasant sweetness that emerged gradually as the assorted vegetables of carrots, cabbage, leeks began to soften and release the flavors into the soup. Both soups also include tofu and trio of mushrooms; hon shimeji, shiitake and enokitake. 

The meat may be the highlight of the meal but the best moments of a shabu shabu experience comes only at the end when you add in rice/udon into the leftover broth. I highly recommend the premium Niigata Koshihikari rice instead of the udon because it soaks up the broth better.

The only problem is to exercise self-discipline not to  finish your rice right from the start. Throw the entire bowl of rice into the hot pot at the end, break in the egg, wait as the grains simmer to form a delicious pot of "risotto". 

The soup can be topped up for free while additional meat or rice/udon can be served with an extra charge if one is craving for more. Considering the price tag of $13.90/$14.90 for the pork and beef set respectively, I think the set is really very value-for-money, which is in fact, a consistent trend in their regular menu featuring Kyushu ramen, donburis and crispy gyozas, etc.


I decided to leave those to the next visit and doused the heat of the shabu-shabu with the Matcha Ice Cream Warabi Mochi ($6.80 ala carte/$4.80 with any order of main course). A quick sweet fix to a satisfying meal.

Ramenplay

Available all day at Jem and Novena Square and after 5pm at BreadTalk IHQ.

Novena Square Outlet

238 Thomson Road #01-05 Singapore 307683

Sun-Thu 11am-10pm

Fri, Sat and eve PH 11am-10.30pm

For other outlet details and more info, visit www.ramenplay.com.sg

Fumon-an 普門庵 : Kyoto Cafe with a Hundred Blessings

Most people easily walked past this place while heading towards the Kiyomizu shrine but I highly recommend anyone to drop by for a visit because the concept revolves around "fuku" 福. This site is believed to be blessed with fortune and luck being situated (not directly) in front of Kyoto's most renowned shrine. Walk into the retail area and you can find an array of samples for its unique snacks such as the Hyaku-fuku Manju, a traditional bean paste wagashi which has a very nice and chewy skin.

The matcha flavour is made from Ichiban-cha, the first batch of green tea leaves that is harvested and thus widely prized for its clean taste and aroma. 

Meant to be paired with a bowl of matcha or the unsweetened matcha latte shown in the picture, these kind of Wagashi may not be the cup of tea for everyone since their sweetness are dialed up, so just be forewarned. This Hyaku-fuku Manju set is available at their cafe right next to the shop. 

八福細めうどん。本わらび粉入りうどん。鱧と鮎のおだし

The menu offers only one savoury option but this is a case of simple dish done well. You won't demand for other options once you take a sip of the dashi broth that is made from two types of fish (Hamo "pike eel" and Ayu "sweet fish"). Clear and hearty, the soup embraced the chewy Hachifuku thin udon made with warabi-mochi flour.  In fact, Fumonan takes pride in the warabi mochi flour that it uses and you can enjoy it more in their signature warabi mochi that comes along with the set as dessert. 

Despite having so much green tea and parfaits up till the point I came here, I am still very impressed by the Ofukuhan Matcha Parfait (¥980), even much more than Iyemon or Marufuji. Everything from the crispy Matcha Cream Wafer to the Warabi mochi and jelly is produced in house. The more parfaits you eat at these places, the more you realize how poor most parfaits at Izakayas or cafes fare in comparison. 

The matcha soft serve is also available for takeaway with black beans and red bean paste. Skip those soft serves ice cream at those average souvenir shops along the trek and come here for the real good stuff. It is unlikely that you will walk away empty handed as there are plenty of yummy snacks to load in your shopping cart. 

Fumon-an 普門庵
10am-5.30pm daily
〒605-0862
京都市東山区清水2丁目246番地
246 Kiyomizu 2-chōme, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 605-0862, Japan
TEL：075-533-8282 

http://fumon-an.co.jp/index.html
 

Rive Gauche Singapore : The Royal Guanaja

Way before Cake Glacé, Flor and Chef Yamashita opened in Singapore, I think Rive Gauche is one of the few that established itself as patisserie that sells French-Japanese fusion cakes. There are many chocolate royaltine or crunch cakes around but I think the signature Guanaja qualifies as the cream of the crop in Singapore.

With a deep mellow chocolate ganache over a crisp and sharp feuilletine, this is the only cake here in which the chocolate components are blessed with the premium Valrhona genes. 

The Strawberry Shortcake reined in on the excess of sugar  but I thought the texture of the sponge could be more exquisite.There was no major flaw with the Cheesecake, but neither did it arouse any huge excitement in me. This was a typical baked cheesecake which I thought could be tweaked for greater complexity. 

The milk chocolate mousse might override the earl grey components with its sweetness as the tea flavour was rather elusive. Nonetheless, this Earl Grey Tea Cake is still pretty arresting when it comes to the textural contrasts in the crunchy caramel biscuits, even though it might not be the most eye-catching item on the shelf. 

The banana omelette is a large crepe wrap filled with lusciously light and fresh cream around banana but I wished there were some sponge cake elements ambush within to relief the creamy uniformity. Likewise for the giant cream puff whose custard filling was rather clumpy.

That said, the Matcha Swiss roll was quite a beauty, not because I am partial towards green tea, but simply due to the discernible tea fragrance and the right amount of sweetness. Both the raspberry and almond cookies are shatteringly crisp and good but the raspberry cookies surpassed the latter with its the extra buttery-ness and tartness.

Prices go quite friendly on the wallet at an average of $6. Most of the cakes here belong to the classics but to fight a pie in the competitive cake scene, I think the range of creations can be further explored to spark fresh interests.

Rive Gauche

Takashimaya Outlet

391 Orchard Road

#B207-9-2 Food Department

For details of other outlets, visit: http://www.sapporolionsg.com.sg/rive-gauche/

Cheese Garden Tokyo : Japanese Cheese Heaven

Nope, this is not your neighbourhood cheesecake shop. It's a restaurant cum cheese grocery store that is dedicated to their royal brand of cheese "Goyoutei Cheese 御用邸チーズ. The cheese is produced at their own farm in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture. I'm not sure if they are the selected brand for the Japanese royal family but the term "Goyoutei" refers to the Imperial villa that is currently situated in the same prefecture .

 

Even before you stepped into the shop, you will definitely stopped in your foot steps as the staff will distribute generous samples of their above signature Goyoutei Cheesecake (¥1230 for a whole cake). It's rich, dense yet not over cloying like a typical NY cheesecake. One of the secret is that the cake is baked at 3 different temperatures in about 1 hour. 

But the best way to sample all their lovely cheesecakes is to get their Cheesecake Platter (¥980), which contains Shirasagi--the most expensive cheesecake of the lot (¥3300 for one whole cake). On top of the cookie base is a baked layer made with 4 types of cheese and a light sour cream made with yoghurt and fresh cream. 

The third type of cheesecake is the Sappari Creamy Cheesecake, the typical Japanese rare Fromage blanc baked in a pie with a layer of French Strawberry conserve sandwich in the middle. I forgot what the last cheesecake is but this platter is so delicious and offers a interesting contrast of cheese textures! 

Cheese Fondue? Nah....that is a little out of fashioned. The team here has created an original dine-in only dish called Pandue (pan means bread in Japanese and this is a uniquely Japanese created word combining Pan+Fondue). The bread is cusped with soft molten cheese in which you can dipped the spare greens and potato wedges into. I have no complaints about this simple platter since I can even devour the bread in the end, leaving no trace of food crumbs behind. But I do wish there were more items for dipping. 

Not a fan of cheese? The Pandue is also available in Clam Chowder, Minestrone, Curry and Beef Stew. But I doubt any cheese hater would have step into the shop in the first place. 

Cheese is front and center here, so do not leave without getting their Goyotei Cheese Cookie. Made with Edam and Parmesan Cheese, these buttery almond delights translate so well onto the palate that you question if you are actually dreaming or living in reality. There is not only salt, but black pepper and some unknown spices that kick in as you chew on. 

Eventually, I ended up not only with boxes of this cheese cookie but also cheese galette, langue de chats and the wickedly sinful white chocolate cranberry cheese bar (¥280)

This is only outlet in Tokyo that includes an exclusive dine-in restaurant. The outlets at Seibu Ikeburuo and Haneda airport are retail-only spaces. I highly recommend you to drop by one of these three outlets as their products are really of superb quality. Otherwise, keep a lookout for their shops when you are in Tochigi prefecture! At least you know now that Tochigi isn't a place just famous for its strawberries! 

 

Cheese Garden

〒131-0045  1 Chome-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida

Tokyo Sky Tree Tower, Tokyo Solachi 2F

10am-9pm daily. 

http://cheesegarden.jp