Where Tai Tais Come Together

I'm back after a manic four-day gastronimical tour of Singapore. Clean, efficient Singapore; where old buildings are treasured and people may have food on their minds even more often than Malaysians. When we got off the bus, we were picked up by Sis' old friend EJ. EJ is a yoga freak and serious foodie. The type who most people might mistake as arrogance but she is actually just very interested in everything gastronomical, a touch competitive and too frank for most. We had lunch at Marmalade Pantry, in EJ's words "bloody tai tai hangout". It was close by and Sis wanted to have a burger.

We ordered quite a number of things because we are kiasu like that. Sis ordered the burger with foie gras. It was very good. I was surprised they chopped up the foie gras into the patty but I suppose it makes $ sense because you can't tell exactly how much they put in it but you can still taste it. The duck fat really rounds up the meaty flavour perfectly. That was by far the best dish of our meal. She also ordered the soup of the day which was chicken and sweetcorn chowder. I must say that this soup was quite appalling. Not only did it look and taste like Campbell's soup, it was almost the exact same thing in EJ's chicken pot pie. Don't get me wrong, I love Campbell's but I'm offended when one has to pay SGD9 for it! Needless to say, EJ took one bite of her pot pie and turned a dissatisfied shade of purple. It came in a funny short crust container which looked interesting at least.

I had the sweet potato soup which was thick and tasty with just a hint of cumin to balance out the sweetness. We also ordered a crab caesar to share and that was tasty. I liked that it was not dripping with dressing. We exchanged the corn chowder for a warm spinach salad instead. Alas, it wasn't any better. It was as if they had poured butter all over the salad. It was so oily we just couldn't eat it. When the waiter asked if there was something wrong with the food EJ told him it tasted like "dog food". I know she meant to say "shit". Oh well, if we ever go back again, I'll make sure its not with her because they'll probably spit in our food. Apparently the Head Chef has moved to their other outlet hence the drop in standards. I did remember having a very nice meal there over two years ago. It is a little run down now. The carpets look slightly damp and worn down, paint in flaking off the walls, it looks slightly neglected. I've heard about the must-try cupcakes but EJ wouldn't let us have any. "Pleaselah! Your cupcake is so much better! Why pay SGD3.50?! Idiot...Stupid...Choi..." They do look pretty though... Marmalade Pantry fared better over at Boolicious' blog.