Canele Patisserie III: Four times a year

June 1, 2009 | 19 Comments

The four of us, will meet up four times a year, you guessed right, for four of our birthday celebrations. After the initial awkwardness go away, we chat like old friends (we are anyway).

Here are some of the things we always do:

(1) I always choose the place

Being the guy that is deemed to eat good food, my friends always ask me for nice places to dine, naturally, I get to decide where to meet up, which also indirectly makes me the organizer for all my friends gathering.

With a poached egg sitting pretty on top of the pastas, the Carbonara ($13.50) looks great and tasty when it first arrived. But when I finally got to try it, the cream base pasta was a tad too strong; it was great for the initial few bites, but the cream was way too overwhelming.

(2) I take a lot of shots for every dish

It was almost like a magazine photoshoot; in place of the skinny models we have food instead, and the restaurant became the studio for the shoot. I took a lot of shots, a lot, especially so since the lighting didn’t exactly helped by being dim and romantic.

Spaghetti tossed in a classic rich tomato meat sauce and aged Parmesan cheese, the classic Bolognaise ($14.50).

(3) My friends are always very impatient

In the midst of getting engrossed in taking the perfect shot of my “models”, they would hold their utensils and sent eye-signals of ‘we-are-hungry’ to me. This was the moment, I knew it’s time to stop, much to the delight of everybody.

Bolognaise and poached eggs doria ($16), the traditional baked rice covered with cheese, and did you saw that? Poached eggs!

(4) We start to gossip, about everybody.

Croque Madame ($13.50) Homemade pain de mie (white toast bread) baked with ham, Swiss Gruyere cheese, sunny side up and side salad with house dressing.

“Sandwich for dinner?” You raised your eyebrow. “Why not?” Don’t look down on this Madame, she can sure hold her weight with the others; the thick slice of bread, the heavy cheese, the egg, ham, and salad – everything you need for a filling meal.

(5) Something sweet, to end the meal, before we continue elsewhere

One of us had the Earl Grey ice cream ($8) from Canele before, and she was bend on having it, wish acceded, it’s her birthday that we’re celebrating after all. The very distinctive earl grey flavour, the seemingly-smaller-scoop-than-my-previous-visit, and the milk chocolate shards.

(6) We laugh, fight, make merry and have fun

We almost fought over this, the madagascar ($8) was way too, common (read:plain), to worth the money. But I was proved wrong; open your eyes wide, that’s vanilla beans you’re looking at! Ooh, ah! That, alone, made me felt better about paying eight dollars for a scoop of ice cream. Fresh strawberries that were not very sweet, and almond crumble at the bottom to provide a crunchy texture to the smooth and soft ice cream.

(7) It is time to say bye-bye

I looked around the adjacent tables, throwing envious glances to the mont blanc, the tiramisu, the macarons, that the others were having. Unfortunately, the rest (on my table) did not have the same feeling as me, they never like cakes you see.

Even though we hardly see each other, well four times a year to be exact; the divergence of different routes in life that it may seems like we are strangers and drifting apart, but, we always had a good time when we met, again.

* * *

I wasn’t really impressed with the main course that Canele offered, but, to be fair, I think they are priced reasonably. And if I may, I’ll also like to think that the ice cream here are under-recognised; people always rave about the cakes available, but I don’t think much people know that they serve good ice cream too.

After three visits, I haven’t try enough of their beautiful creations yet. And I preferred the raffles city outlet, for better lighting.

(8) I want to eat cake.

Read my previous visits to Canele here, and here.

Canele Patisserie
1 Scotts road
#01-01A Shaw Centre
Tel: 6738 9020

Comments

19 Responses to “Canele Patisserie III: Four times a year”

Jacelyn
June 1st, 2009 @ 1:11 am

Which outlet is better in terms of food? I’ve only went to Robertson’s outlet once. Gave up on the one at Raffles City cos there are only like 4 or 5 tables? Never been to Shaw Centre though I’m more interested in the sweet stuff rather than the main courses. The Earl Grey ice cream looks good!

Jacelyns last blog post..Hort Park – The Gardening Hub
Sugar Bean
June 1st, 2009 @ 1:32 am

Haha, definitely have to agree with you that friends can get a little impatient while waiting for photos to be taken. And that dim lights, although comfortable, is a threat to taking nice photos!

Looks like a nice restaurant. Love it when food are well presented.

Sugar Beans last blog post..The Loaf
Fatkuraprincess
June 1st, 2009 @ 2:58 am

YA!understand the “we are hungry” stare~I always got that! LOL~ Tisdays dunno why, my photography skill deprove damn lot..all the food i have to take zillion shots to get acceptable shots. damn sad. And i hate it when the place is dimmed. DSLR still can make wonder. my sony cannot la~

Fatkuraprincesss last blog post..KuraPrincessEatNonStop@ICE3 Cafe + Prawning Session
Life for Beginners
June 1st, 2009 @ 1:29 pm

“We start to gossip, about everybody.”

Hahaha, that’s what I do with my best friends too… it’s not so much a sin as a sinful pleasure, just like chocolate! Oooh…

Life for Beginnerss last blog post..Let Me Be The Cricket
Jo
June 1st, 2009 @ 8:19 pm

There are so many eggs in this post. Definitely going to try Croque Madame since it consists of both my favorites – egg and bread. I always thought the Shaw branch looks pretty cosy too…

Jos last blog post..
elaine
June 1st, 2009 @ 8:31 pm

ive only tried the icecreams at their raffles city outlet. they give really BIG scoops… eat till super shiok! =p

elaines last blog post..Gunther’s
ladyironchef
June 1st, 2009 @ 8:45 pm

Jacelyn: not so sure abt food, but i like raffles one better. No la, there’s more than 4-5 tables!! the other side also! heh try the nougatine ice cream, it was super good.

Sugar bean: Yeah dim light is good for ambience, but a bane to photographers. haha its more of a patisserie, they serve very nice desserts, look at my second post for more cakes

fatkuraprincess: HAHA yeah we are hungry. Don’t worry, just take more shots and practice

LFB: hahahahahaha yeah sinful pleasure. lol! our gossips are very tame one :p

Jo: haha they also got eggs ben i think, shld go back try next time. heh i prefer the raffles to shaw though, shaw is only good if can get interior, otherwise the al fresco area quite stuffy and warm

elaine: i have to agree on that, the last time i went raffles my nougatine ice cream was such a big scoop, it seems like shaw give much smaller scoops!
FFichiban
June 1st, 2009 @ 10:13 pm

Hee hee that pretty much sums up nicely for me too hee hee! The first creamy pasta looks sooo goodd and love how they have a poached egg on top mmm too bad it was too much.. mayb you needed more cheese ?
And something sweet to end with, a MUST! (sometimes 2x sweet things XD)

FFichibans last blog post..New Shanghai – Chatswood, Sydney
harris
June 2nd, 2009 @ 11:11 am

really well-written post with gorgeous pictures!

harriss last blog post..California Pizza Kitchen
martini
June 2nd, 2009 @ 12:36 pm

Don’t worry about the hungry stares, the photos are excellent and it takes time and effort to get such good shots!

martinis last blog post..Martini Recipes
ladyironchef
June 2nd, 2009 @ 8:27 pm

Ffichiiban: hahahaha looks like we shared the same sentiments. Cheers! yeah must look for a better carbonara. Something sweet, always a must

harris: thanks dude! but my photos here quite ugly la! very bad lighting. heh

martini: yeah i sort of got used to it, and not only hungry stares from my friends, also curious glance from the nearby tables and staffs. lol
zay
June 3rd, 2009 @ 9:23 am

heya! i think that the raffles city outlet is much better in terms of service, and the portions are generally larger than other outlets, and the quality too. hehs.
ladyironchef
June 3rd, 2009 @ 4:02 pm

zay: yeah agreed. i probably will just go to the raffles city one next time, there better lighting too. heh
lauffabug
June 6th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm

my all time fave is the xotique crepe coz i love how the blend the banana n passion fruit in the ice cream . the seafood baked rice is one of my fave. try the chicken stew, it makes you feel comfy immediately. the madame is my fave as is one of the savoury crepes which has poached egg too

are u a crepes person LIC? should try their crepes one day..

i always like the paragon branch, though small i think the service there is better than the others. i hate the one as scotts though, sevice sucks big time n the staff are arrogant.. :p
ladyironchef
June 7th, 2009 @ 5:31 pm

lauffabug: ah i never try their crepes before! okay next time! but i still got many of their cakes haven try too. haha. didn’t really fancy their mains, but they are good value. I probably find a group of ppl to troll down and try all of their cakes soon. nv been to paragon, i just went to their raffles one again last week
lauffabug
June 7th, 2009 @ 6:40 pm

hmm… i tried their cakes, i think so so only. the tiramisu was quite a disappointment, perhaps i tried better ones. but i always liked their crepes. hehe enjoy!
ladyironchef
June 8th, 2009 @ 3:08 pm

lauffabug: haha i dont know man, haven manage to try ALL their cakes, yeah will try crepes next time.
jeremy
June 8th, 2009 @ 3:35 pm

happy Birthday Brad.. may ur wishes come true!

jeremys last blog post..Boon Tong Kee @ River Valley
ladyironchef
June 9th, 2009 @ 8:00 pm

jeremy: thanks my birthday just passed a while back, but this wasn’t the celebration of my birthday, it was my friend’s!