Ciel Patisserie

Invited Food Tasting 

This is my third visit to Ciel! The first time was when they were still located at Midlink Plaza, the second being a couple of months back and now a third time for an invited food tasting session! [:



Ciel means heaven or sky in French. And the bolded letters C and L would represent the initials of the founder and patissier, Chara Lum. Chara studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Paris and concentrated her knowledge, talent and expertise into opening a patisserie that aims to serve pretty, delectable and affordable desserts

Now located in Hougang, Ciel still receives a steady stream of customers as we see the patisserie almost fully occupied when we arrived at 1 in the afternoon.








Simple and cozy


On-going promotions :

1) Student promotion : 15% off pastries and cakes on weekdays before 5pm
2) Cake and tea set promotion : $6.80 nett on weekdays from 1-5pm
3) NUS and SMU promotion: 10% off






Madeleines (Honey or Caramel) - 3 for $2


Raspberry Italian Soda- $2.80


Lychee Italian Soda - $2.80
The sodas are refreshing, and not too overwhelmingly gassy!


Unadulterated goodness, here we go!


Scone - $2.80
Dreamy cream scones, perfect with Ciel’s homemade red fruit jam.

X and I felt that the slightly fluffy scone was optimally buttery. It was good, especially with the smooth and light cream. However, it lacked the hard and crisp crust of a scone and felt more like bread or sponge cake.


Quiche (Ham and mushroom) - $3.20
Savory flaky tart shell baked with royal cream and your choice of ham, mushroom, or caramelized onion filling(s).

A savory quiche that contains two of my favourite things! Ham and mushroom! The quiche was rich, soft and delicate. Every bite was tasty and I adored the hard tart shell!


Lemon Meringue Tart - $4.20
Buttery sweet and crisp crust covered with luscious, pleasantly tangy lemon cream, topped with a smooth Italian meringue.

My favourite of the six! The meringue was so smooth and sweet and the feeling of it melting in our mouths is mmhmm, heavenly indeed! The lemon cream was refreshingly sour, and optimally sweet. Just the right balance between sweet and sour! Not many lemon tarts get that right! The soft texture of the meringue and lemon cream contrasted with the thin but hard tart shell really made me fall in love with this. It's no wonder that this is their bestseller for tarts!


Fuji - $5.20
A light green tea mousse complemented with a lychee gelee insert and a soft green tea sponge base.

Green tea lovers will definitely love this! The sweet lychee gelee spiced up the strong matcha and prevented it from getting boring. And the sponge base was a delightful addition to the delicious mousse!


Tiramisu - $3.60
Layers of lady-finger sponge and light Baileys-infused mascarpone mousse, dusted with cocoa powder, served in a cup.

The tiramisu is an intricate concoction of many ingredients and the one at Ciel managed to achieve a fine balance among all of its ingredients, making this tiramisu one of my favourite! In this tiramisu, you will be able to taste coffee, mascarpone, cocoa, a hint of alcohol and you'll be able to bite into fluffy sponge! The tiramisu was moist but not soaked. This is why we were able to bite into the sponge and every bite was a careful infusion of all the lovely flavours!


Strawberry Shortcake - $5.60
Lightly sweetened whipped cream and juicy fresh strawberries, sandwiched between layers of soft sponge cake.

The Strawberry Shortcake is the bestseller at Ciel. Having eaten this a couple of times, I can totally understand why. The sponge cake is very fluffy and light and when moistened with the sweet whipped cream, I don't see why anyone would not fall in love with it! I'm not a fan of sponge cakes, but this is one sponge cake that I'll not mind having any day!

Having tried many of their items, such as the Chocolate Caramel Tart, Chocolate Almond Tart, Satine, Oreo Cheesecake and Bombe, I have to say that my two favourites are undoubtedly the Chocolate Caramel Tart and the Lemon Meringue Tart! The Bombe is really good too! If you're looking for yummy desserts at affordable prices, look no further than Ciel! It's a pity that Ciel is so far away from where I stay.. They really should have an outlet in the west!

Do check out more of their goodies here! They do whole cakes, and customized ones for special occasions too! Also, they have another collection point at Newton if Hougang is too far away for you [:

We'll like to thank Chara and Jonathan for the invitation and for the wonderful desserts! [:


124 Hougang Ave 1
#01-1444

Tues - Thurs: 11am to 8pm
Fri - Sat :11am to 9pm
Sun : 3pm to 9pm

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Love, K

Choupinette, yet again

I honestly lost count of the number of times that I've been to Choupinette. Read about our last visit here! X and I decided to come here for brunch one weekday afternoon after our failed visit to another restaurant.

It was quiet and serene, unlike the crowded weekends.

As usual, I MUST HAVE MY FAVOURITE PEACH DANISH! Love it love it love it love it


Anyway, they have a new menu now!

We each ordered a brunch set that comes with a juice and a hot drink. So I had apple juice and hot chocolate while X had an apple juice and mocha.



My thick hot chocolate [:


Egg Royal's - $23
As always, this was awesome! Perfect poached eggs with generous portions of smoked salmon and one of the best hollandaise.
What could go wrong?


Tristan - $21
I chose scrambled eggs and a pork sausage
The scrambled eggs were fluffy and nice. The baguette was too hard for my liking but the soft white part of it went really well with the light butter. The pork sausage was pretty yummy and the mushrooms were not bad.

We were both too full after the meal to have desserts. We were still choosing which macarons and which dessert we wanted to have before our food came hahaha

Warm and friendly service, just like always. Still one of my favourite brunch places to date. Not forgetting, my favourite peach danish [:


607 Bukit Timah Road
Next to Coronation Plaza

Tue - Thu:	08:00	-	20:00
Fri:	08:00	-	22:00
Sat:	08:00	-	22:00
Sun:	08:00	-	18:00

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Love, K

K's rating of Choupinette: 8/10

Pierre Herme

Exactly a month ago, on 13th June, 

X told me that he had a craving for Lao Ban tauhuey and that we should go to Old Airport Road for dinner. I kept suggesting that we should go to Maxwell instead since it's alot nearer when he finally broke the news that he had a surprise for me! I was really excited. So my surprise was at Old Airport Road, I thought he was going to bring me to watch some netball game again hahaha. However, he drove me to a block of flats and I was told to wait in the car. A few minutes later, he returned with a paper bag and handed it to me. I opened it excitedly and to my utmost surprise,


PIERRE HERME MACARONS!!!

I was so super happy and we said we should take a picture of every individual macaron!
However, we were gone too long for dinner and the macarons kind of melted and were destroyed ):


So we hurriedly put them in the freezer after dinner!


Took them out a good 20 minutes later


They weren't in great shape to be photographed individually ):

Pierre Herme macarons are known to be packed with surprises, unconventional and daring.

Here are the 12 flavours :

Fresh Mint
Chocolate and caramel
Olive oil with mandarin orange
Peach, Apricot and saffron
Milk chocolate and passion fruit
Rose and rose petal
Pure origin Venezuela Porcelana Dark chocolate
Salted-butter caramel
Creme Brulee
Pistachio, Ceylon cinnaom and Morello cherries
Vanillas from Tahiti, Mexico and Madagascar
Orange and carrot with Ceylon Cinnamon

The dark chocolate was my favourite, followed by chocolate and caramel and salted butter caramel. Guess I'm quite traditional... Hahaha. The more unique flavours were interesting and a few didn't quite suit my tastebuds. Others were really strong and left a lingering aftertaste. They were a delightful twist to the usual macarons found in Singapore. All in all, I enjoyed my macarons!


X surprised me with the macarons as it was the 13th, and it marked the 13th month that we've been together. Today, it's the 13th again. And X has been in Korea for 2.5 weeks now. Happy 14th month favourite boy. See you soon [:

I'll be flying to Korea tomorrow night to find him and we'll be back on 11th August! We'll be updating pretty regularly about the cute and popular cafes and attractions in Korea!

Also, I'll like to take this chance to thank all our readers. We've come a long way now. It's been a year since Strictly Ours had been set up. It started out as a diary for X and I but it evolved into a food blog that has brought us many opportunities and fueled our passion for food. Thanks for all the support [:

Love, K

(CLOSED) Hediard

Hediard has been around for a long time. I always looked at it and wondered when I'll be able to dine there as it looks really posh and expensive. Little did I know that it is actually extremely affordable to dine there! X and I arranged for brunch at Hediard one Sunday morning with 4 other friends. This was kinda a farewell gathering for X before he left for Korea for summer school.

 

 



 



 




Hot Chocolate - $7
This was served with a little jug of milk with froth, a chocolate coated biscuit and a piece of candy that they're selling.

You can decide how much milk you want in your hot chocolate since the milk comes in the cute little jug. The hot chocolate was extremely thick and dense. It was however, too sweet. The chocolate coated biscuit was a delight but I can't say the same for the rose-flavoured candy that most of us abandoned after a bite. It was really sticky and sweet.


Cute jug

 
Iced mocha - $10
This was really good! Everyone liked it! A little pricey though


Bro Z ordered the
Hediard Breakfast Set - $19
- Madeleine blend coffee, chocolate or Hédiard blend tea
- Orange juice freshly squeezed 16.5cl
- Choice of one viennoiserie (croissant, brioche or pain au chocolat)
- Soft boiled egg or hard boiled egg or fried egg
- Hédiard country style toasted bread and butter
- One 30gr jar of home made jam and one 30gr jar of honey

Country Style Toasted Bread & Brioche
Bro Z said that the bread were really good and that he could eat it alone without any jam or butter haha


Butter inside


Homemade Jam & Honey
Bro Z brought home the remaining jam and honey!
I think it's a really great idea to serve jam and honey in this manner. You can be sure that the jam and honey is fresh and also, you can bring them home! How thoughtful!



Soft Boiled Egg
This is damn cute hahaha. Bro Z had a hard time eating it before we came up with a bright idea of pouring the egg into the cup


Salt & Pepper


Madeleine Blend Tea


Orange Juice


Pure Butter Pain Au Chocolat (top up to the breakfast set) - $3.50
Sweet, crispy and definitely the best I've had!

 
Eggs Norwegian - $19
2 poached eggs on toast with Norwegian smoked salmon, parmesan and hollandaise sauce

XM and N ordered this. The eggs were slightly overcooked but overall, they enjoyed the dish. The portion was pretty small though


One of XM's poached eggs was really overcooked and he told the waitress about it. It was, then, replaced. This poached egg was runny and nicely done.


Eggs Benedicte - $16
2 poached eggs on toast with Parma ham, shaved parmesan and hollandaise sauce
Instead of the usual cooked ham, this Eggs Benedicte comes with parma ham. The toast was crispy and really yummy. I could hardly taste the parma ham as it was overshadowed by the hollandaise sauce. The portion was too small for me

 
Croq Germaine - $18
Grilled bread with Parma Ham, gruyere cheese, mornay sauce topped with a fried egg
X and CP both ordered this. They both liked it. The cheese was thick and they said that this was pretty delicious!


Moelleux chocolate cake with vanilla crème Anglaise - $8
The chocolate cake was really good! The chocolate was oozing out as we dug our forks into it! It wasn't too sweet and your eyes will sparkle with joy when it melts in your mouth haha


Large Macaron - $8
Flavour of the month : White Coffee
We'd wanted to try more flavours but there was only one flavour available. Everyone was excited about this. I mean, who doesn't like macarons! XM was excited because the macaron looked like a burger hahaha. This was fragrant, not too sweet and had a great texture! We all loved it!

 
Unique products by Hediard

 











Everything in Hediard is elaborately designed and branded. Service was pretty good. The waitresses were attentive and generally quite friendly. The portions were a little small but all in all, we had a pleasant afternoon at Hediard

I'll be back for their macarons haha

123-125 Tanglin road, Tudor Court
Everyday: 9.00am-8.00pm

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Love, K

K's rating of Hediard : 7.5/10