Secret Garden, Sathorn, Bangkok

Secret Garden in Sathorn sits in a beautiful English tea room styled house.  With a pretty front garden, this place is nestled behind a tall wall on the busy Sathorn road.

I guess it's not so 'secret' these days with so many other outlets (namely CentralWorld and Thonglor). 

In Sathorn there is parking, which can get full pretty quickly, especially on Sundays.  This place is famous for their crepe cake, which I must admit was the reason for my and my DM's visit today.

We arrived just before midday, so there were still a few car park spaces left.  

On entering the high ceiling restaurant, we were warmly welcomed by courteous and friendly staff

The Thai and English menu consists of fusion style Thai food.  We ordered a cooked salmon salad (240 baht), crispy spring rolls, shrimp paste fried rice and spicy glass noodle prawn salad.  

The staff all speak pretty good English, so no worries if you don't speak Thai.  

First out was the cooked salmon salad.  With fresh herbs and dried chillies, it was a little spicy, but not so much as to blow one's head off.  They also gave us extra dressing in a side bowl should we need it.  The salmon was lovely, but we both found the dressing a little bit on the salty side. 

The crispy spring rolls came with a slightly sweet syrupy sauce.  These were crispy, non-greasy and although not traditional in the sense of spring roll filling that I am used to, they were good.

The shrimp paste fried rice came with all the condiments on the side: dried shrimps, freshly sliced chillies, red onion, raw mango, sweet pork and slices of omelette on top of the rice.  We both really enjoyed this dish, dm especially.  

The prawn glass noodle salad came with plenty of juicy, plump prawns, fresh herbs and chopped peanuts (which so many foreigners, rightly or wrongly, associate with Thai cooking).  

The salad was fresh and maybe a little bit on the sweet side.  

Seeing as this place is famous for their crepe cake.  What better way to end than a cup of tea with cake.  All their teas are served in the one pot, one cup set.  How rather quaint and adorable I say!

The slice of crepe cake came drizzled with strawberry coulis on top.  It was delicious, soft crepe, fresh cream, not too sweet strawberry coulis.

All in all, we were pretty satisfied.  Service was excellent I thought, savoury food was pretty good and their crepe cake was just lovely.  In fact, I have heard that their cakes is the reason for why so many people come here.  And really, they serve a lot of crepe cake!

This is a lovely, tranquil hideaway from the hustle and bustle of Sathorn road.  It really did remind me of an English country garden in so many different ways . . . and I have to say, having been brought up in the Cotswolds, England (where I was surrounded by tea shops), it brought on a lot of nostalgia, in a good way of course.  

Secret Garden
117 Thanon Sathon Tai, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Bangkok 10500
Tel: +66 (0)2 286 2464
Nearest MRT: Lumpini Park, exit for Sathorn Road.  Take a taxi or walk about 8 or so minutes.  

HOURS

Daily 11am-10pm

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Cupcakes Are A Girl's Best Friend: Sparkles Cupcakery, Bangkok

'Add Sparkles, eat more cupcakes'.  Now this is one mantra that you can imagine Carrie Bradshaw from Sex And The City might have chanted back in the day.

Sparkles is not your normal cupcake bakery.  It is a gourmet cupcake bakery for grown ups who love a bit of the sweet life.  You won't find any artificial sprinkles or oreo cookies here.  All the ingredients are carefully sourced, and every cupcake is freshly baked and lovingly frosted by the one and only Thai-American Sophie. 

The bakery is small, but everything is beautifully laid out.  You'll notice how each cake stand houses just one cupcake.  Do not fret, Sophie has a whole lot more in her upstairs pantry should you request several others (which isn't hard to do by the way!). 

There is a little corner should you want to eat your cake there and then.  And you can also request a hot or cold beverage to go with it. 

Now, before I go any further, I have to tell you that I came to Sparkles twice, two days in a row in fact. 

On my first day, I had the 'Marbled red velvet cake'.  The sponge was moist, the frosting was light, it wasn't too sweet and it wasn't too dense.  I have to confess, this was the best cupcake I have had in Bangkok.

The next day, I decided to come back to make sure that this wasn't just a one-off lucky find.  On Sophie's recommendation, I tried the 'Champagne Diamond' (named after a gemstone); peanut butter cream cheese banana cake with maple syrup. 

Again, the sponge was moist, the frosting was light, the touch of maple syrup gave it a bonus oomph ... I was in heaven. 

These cupcakes are the real deal and Sophie is genius with her sweet combinations.

There are 55 flavours to choose from.  That means I need to come back 52 more times just to try each one and even then, I imagine Sparkles will have added more flavours to the list.  All I can say is, one can never have enough cupcakes!

Since everything is made from scratch, using only the finest ingredients including organic eggs, Madagascar vanilla, Canadian maple syrup and no trans fats, you can rest assured that Sparkles cupcakes are the ultimate guilt-free cupcakes that taste like real cupcakes should. 

And just to add, you can also get your fill of delicious American-style cookies here as well.

Sparkles Cupcakery

2/6 Sukhumvit Soi 53, (Soi Padi-Mani), Bangkok
Tel: +66 (0)81 136 3367

Nearest BTS: Thonglor, exit 1.  Walk straight ahead at the bottom of the BTS stairs, take the first turn on your right into Sukhumvit Soi 53 and Sparkles is just ahead on the right hand side.

HOURS
Mon-Sat: 9am-7pm

Sun: 11am-6pm

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Anyone For Sticky Toffee Pudding?

Sticky toffee pudding

A simply irresistible dessert;

From the stickiness of the toffee

To the moistness of the cake 

Add vanilla ice-cream

To make heaven on plate. 

                                                                     

                                   - My Food Odyssey

That's my take on it anyway.

It is said that sticky toffee pudding was invented by Francis Coulson of the Ullswater Sharrow Bay Hotel in Cumbria back in the 1970s. However, in a finding by the British journalist Felicity Cloake, Mr Coulson actually admitted to adapting the recipe from a Mrs Martin of Lancashire.

After leaving Melbourne - where this delectable dessert is served by most cafes and restaurants - I landed in South-East Asia where it isn't as readily available. 

So what's a girl gotta do in these times of sticky toffee pudding shortages?  Make her own of course!

I started to scour the web and by chance, I even saw Nigella make her own quick version on TV.  Amongst the abundant recipes to be found, I decided that I wanted to follow the legendary Francis Coulson's.  Afterall, if the highly renowned British chef Gary Rhodes endorses it, it must be good. 

However, trying to find Coulson's exact recipe is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  It is top secret and those who have been privy to it, have had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Still, I found a version of Coulson's recipe online at Miles Collins.  And I adapted it for my own kitchen confidential experiment.   As I couldn't locate black treacle anywhere, I decided to adapt Jamie Oliver's recipe for toffee sauce by reducing the amounts of butter, sugar and cream .  It came out divine.

Sticky Toffee Pudding With Toffee Sauce

Serving size: 6

PUDDING INGREDIENTS - adapted from Miles Collins

50g (2oz) unsalted butter (room temperature), plus a little extra for greasing 
170g (6oz) caster or brown sugar
2 free-range eggs, medium
175g (6oz) dates, pitted and chopped 
175g (6oz) self-raising flour, sieved
290ml (10fl oz) cold water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla essence

TOFFEE SAUCE -  adapted from Jamie Oliver

90g Unsalted Butter

90g Brown sugar

120ml Thick cream

Optional: Vanilla ice-cream

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350 F/gas mark 4.

2. Line and grease an 8" round baking tin.

3. Cream together sugar and butter until light and pale.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Sieve in flour and add vanilla essence. 

4. Meanwhile, place dates and water into a pan, boil for about 5 mins.  Add the bicarbonate of soda and give it a quick stir.

5.  Add the softened date mixture to the rest of the ingredients.  Mix everything together well, ensuring that there are no visible lumps of flour.

6. Pour the cake mixture into the baking tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and feels firm, but springy.

Tip: Insert a metal or wooden skewer to see if it comes out clean.  If so, the cake is ready. If not, put the cake back in the oven for a minute or more and test again.

7. Once cake is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the tin.

8. For the sauce, simply place the butter, sugar and cream in a pan over a low heat.  Stir gently for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened and darkened in colour.
NOTE: Please do not leave the sauce as it will start to bubble and rise fairly quickly, which is normal.

To serve, cut cake into equal portions, pour generous amounts of sauce and a spoonful (or two) of vanilla ice-cream for that extra touch of decadence.  Enjoy.

Storage Tip:  This cake can keep for up to 6 days in a cold refridgerator.  It also freezes well. 

I freeze individual portions with sauce.  When ready to eat, pop a frozen portion into a microwave on high for about 60-90 seconds.  It tastes just as good as when it first comes out of the oven.

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NYDC, Holland Village, Singapore

 

In the mood for some dessert, I headed down Holland Village way.  It has the usual TCC, Coffee Bean & Co and then I stumbled across this place, NYDC which translates to New York Dessert Cafe. 

It was busy, which in my book is always a good sign.  The signature colour red is big and bold, large booths line one side of the wall, pop art pictures adorne the walls and there is a buzz of chatter.

The counter at the front houses delicious looking, waist increasing, calorie rich desserts, which for me are hard to resist. 

The menu is somewhat playful and in the end I chose the traditional New York cheesecake.  Well, it had to be right?!  The last traditional New York cheesecake I had was from Eileen's Cheesecake in Little Italy, lower Manhattan.  And my goodness, their cheesecake is amazing by the way!

Back to this NYDC cheesecake in Holland Village, Singapore.  It was offered with ice-cream, but I politely declined.  I don't need more calories on top of the cheesecake and my waistline would not have been a happy one, let alone a good-looking one...

The cheesecake arrived dutifully in good time; a drizzle of sweet mango coulis with the cheesecake on top, but almost ruined by the childish looking dollop of cream with a sprinkling of 'hundreds and thousands'.  Seeing as this place also caters for children, I guess they have to make it appeal to all ages.

The biscuit base was thin and sponge-like which is how I like it.  The cake itself was creamy and smooth, and the taste of it really took me back to the days when I used to eat up cheesecake galore on my trips to New York. 

The waitress was all happy and full of smiles, which made for a pleasant 'American' dining experience. 

I had a camomile tea with my cheesecake which was a refreshing and light companion to the delightful sweet dessert.   

NYDC is a great place to come with friends, family, or purely solo.

NYDC

30 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, Singapore

Tel: +65 6469 2998

HOURS

11:30am - 12am (Sun-Thu)

11:30 am - 2:00 am (Fri & Sat)

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Just Fine Food, Sorrento

Lunch yesterday (Sunday) was another pitstop along our Ocean Road drive in the Mornington Peninsula.  Just Fine Food in Sorrento was bustling and there was an available table outside.

Famous for their Vanilla Slices, I decided that I should try it.  However, a late lunch was the order of the afternoon and therefore my savoury tastebuds needed satisfying first and foremost.

Consisting of mainly sandwiches - focaccia, open (with warning that they are large), toasted etc. The choice was simply immense - if you want a sandwich that is! 

However, seeing as I had already had two huge slices of sourdough in the morning, I was pretty breaded out.  The problem was, there wasn't a huge choice of dishes without bread.  So, I ordered the 'Spinach quiche with salad'.  I'll have fatty buttery pastry instead?!

It came out piping warm and was lovingly light and egg custard like.  It wasn't salty and the pastry was delicious.  For $16 though, I thought it was a little on the pricey side.

My other two companions ordered the 'Ploughmans lunch' - a very substantial chunk of ham; a generous wedge of cheddar; fresh salad including gherkins and picked onions; and a chutney pickle. 

Unfortunately none of us could manage any Vanilla slice.   We were all so full and eating any more would have been far too glutinous for words.  I concluded that I should save my calories for another day.

Still, I believe their Vanilla slices are probably pretty good. But seeing as I didn't try one, I am just going by the faces of all the vanilla slice diners around us - who all seemed to gobble them up quickly.

The deli counters inside displayed lots of various enchanting delights from pork pies to cheeses to vegetarian fritatas.  I imagine Just Fine Food is a good place to stock up on goodies if you are having a picnic on the beach.  This place really does do what it says on the tin.

In terms of service, it wasn't the friendliest and I almost felt like I would be asking too much if I asked for extra hot water for my tea.  Although the young lad clearing tables seemed the most approachable and in my opinion, did a much better job than the rest.  The waitresses just looked too stressed out - the sea air obviously doesn't do much for them.

Just Fine Food

23 Ocean Road, Sorrento, VIC 3942

Tel:  +61 (0)3 5984 4666 

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Brunetti Café, Melbourne

I have been told how good the cakes at Brunetti are by several others.  So given what a gorgeous warm afternoon it was today, I decided to stop by for a coffee and 'une petit' treat.

Brunetti City Square, as it is referred to on their website, resides on the corner of Flinders Lane and Swanston Street.  There is an upstairs seating room as well as an outside patio area with plenty of tables.  At the back there is a bench piled high with broadsheets and tabloids, providing free reading material for paying customers. 

It's a self service style café, where customers place their orders (of savoury and/or sweet) at the patisserie counter and wait at the bar to collect their drinks. 

Everything here looks utterly delectable.  There is a vast array of sweet mignons (dainties) which all look adoringly irresistible.  As usual, I want to have more than one.  But in the end, it was a toss up between the 'Vanilla Custard Tart' and the 'White & Dark Chocolate Mousse'. 

Seeing as I have to watch my (non-existent) waistline, I stuck with just the Vanilla Custard Tart.  At $1.80, this is hardly indulgent.  I ordered a skinny flat white (at what seems to be the standard Melbourne price of $3.50), picked up my Vanilla Custard Tart and made my way to the bar to collect my beverage.

There were a few seats available outside and I chose a seat at the back along the pretty mosaic tiled communal table.   

The Vanilla Custard Tart has a trio of layers - a short crust pastry base, a custard centre and a gelatin top with sour cherries.  With all the different textures and sweet flavours, this little tart comes together beautifully.  The pastry was slightly chewy, the vanilla custard was delicious - not too sweet at all, and the cherries were the right side of sour.  It reminded me of a good old fashioned English custard tart, only with sour cherries on top. 

(I forgot to take a picture before I stirred my coffee,

but at least I remembered before I ate my tart!)

My skinny flat white coffee was creamy yet strong.  There wasn't any bitterness and it was the perfect accompaniment to my delicious sweet treat. 

I can honestly say that I will definitely be back to try the White & Dark Chocolate mousse.  And I will most probably go out of my way to pass this cafe on several other occasions, just so I can try the many other gorgeous things on offer.   A girl can never have enough cake you know?!

A cautionary note of warning:  Just watch out for the greedy pigeons that flock here too!

Brunetti

241 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Tel: +61 (0)3 9663 8085

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Madame Brussels, Melbourne

I came across Madame Brussels late one evening.  I was doing an online search for places to visit for afternoon tea.  Suddenly, Madame Brussels popped up on my screen and I was immediately hooked. 

So the very next day, my fellow foodie and I felt compelled to pay this infamous Melbourne Madame a visit. 

It's located on Bourke Street in the CBD and having completely missed the doorway entrance, we had to pop into a nearby cafe to ask the owner for directions.  As we wondered back down the street, we came across an unimaginative office doorway leading into a murky brown tiled stairway.

We decided to ignore the lift and take the stairs.  We were there to eat cake after all! 

As we breathlessly climbed to the top of the stairs to the third floor, our eyes lit up as we saw what I can only describe as a sort of Old English country garden wonderland.  Complete with astroturf, a short winding brick path (not too far off from the Yellow Brick Road in the Land of Oz) leading to the trellis bar and a delightful roof terrace; any thoughts of apprehension were immediately dispelled.

We made our way to the roof terrace and took our pew at one of the duck egg blue garden tables, with white Provence garden chairs. 

A waiter (dressed as though he had just walked off a Fred Perry photo shoot), came to open out our carousel so as to shade us from the beating mid-afternoon sun.  He then proceeded to bring us two pretty pink hardback menus.

Inside, there is a brief bio of the lady Madame Brussels herself.  It makes for an interesting read and she was certainly no shrinking violet.  Then there is a list of thirst quenching cocktails from the 'Iron Fister' to the 'Horned Beast' to the 'Undress Me Sloely.'  I suspect they all taste mesmerisingly fabulous.  For those who fancy a light lunch, there is a snack menu of savoury treats such as housemade dips and bread, sandwiches, French cheese plate, Mother of Pearl sausage rolls and a few other deliciously sounding choices.

Nevertheless, we stuck to our afternoon tea theme and Miss Pearls (the glamourous proprietor and hostess with the mostess) was on hand to put in our order of a pot of tea accompanied by two lemon sponges with pink butter icing (at just $5 each).

Glancing around, I noticed a few other groups of ladies sharing an afternoon tipple and even a group of gentleman enjoying a glass of wine.  Despite its tranquil charm and quaint feminine surroundings (which are probably more at home with the ladies), this place obviously knows how to draw in both genders.  Another group of gentlemen arrived shortly after we had sat down and took their place in the corner of the sunny roof terrace.

As we relaxed in the afternoon sun, it wasn't too long before another Fred Perry-clad looking waiter arrived with our tray of tea and lemon sponges.  The knitted tea cosy was a cutesy pink and white in colour.  But on turning the tea pot around to face us, we were suddenly being stared at by a rather eerie looking doll face.  I imagined it coming from somewhere like a Stephen King movie set...

I proclaimed to the passing Miss Pearls what an intriguing tea cosy she had.  As she returned a cheeky smile, we became counsel to the story behind the doll faced tea cosies.

We learnt that everyone seemed to want a piece of Madame Brussels and in doing so, staff kept finding missing tea cosies, blankets and even menus!  In order to put an end to this light-fingered behaviour, Miss Pearls had asked her mother to buy the 'ugliest tea cosies' that she could find.

Her mother did not disappoint and came back with these doll faced knitted tea cosies, confiding in Miss Pearls that "these were the ugliest tea cosies that I could find!"  I have to say, I rather agree with her and I certainly wouldn't want to pinch one of these!

Moving on, the lemon sponges were divinely topped with lightly whipped pink butter icing and lovingly sprinkled with hundreds-and-thousands.  They sat serenely atop white paper doilies on little china saucers.  The hot pink paper napkins topped it all off rather beautifully.  It was a typical Victoria sponge (like mother used to bake), and with the butter icing and colourful sprinkles on top, I felt like I had gone back in time. 

Miss Pearls certainly pays attention to all the finer little details.  The staff are super polite and ensure that everyone is well attended to.  When the sun goes down and the cold air picks up, there are even blankets should you get a little chilly on the terrace.  However, with lots of outdoor patio heaters, I am sure no one is allowed to get too cold.  With these cute little touches and the quaint English garden décor, it all makes for a delightful and enjoyable time at Madame Brussels. 

There is even a function room at the back which is aptly named 'The Parlour', of which we were given a little preview.  It is wonderfully decorated in a fashionably frou-frou manner.  And in the spoken words of Miss Pearls, it is "The parlour, up the rear of Madame Brussels."  Of which it literally is!

What also makes this room even more special is that regular patrons can choose to purchase the sole use of one of the crystal decanters which are kept locked inside a wooden glass fronted cabinet.  In addition, owners can personalise their decanter by attaching individual charms to them if they wish to do so.  I'll leave you to guess who owns the one with the ivory pearl necklace.

It's all made to appear rather lavish here and Miss Pearls along with her staff make you feel very much at home.  Apart from the contrasting terrace views of the modern architecture outside, this place feels like a dreamy world away from the metropolis that surrounds it. 

 I simply cannot wait to go back for a spot of lunch!

Madame Brussels

Level 3, 59-63 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Tel: +61 (0)3 9662 2775

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