Dona Manis Cake Shop- Katong

Dona Manis Cake Shop is a long-established bakery located at the basement of Katong Shopping Centre. It is just a one unit shop where the cakes are made and sold in stall. Everything from the shelves to the pastry counter and the flour churning machines are all out dated. However, recipes are still well preserved by the veteran baker. When I was there, there was only an old woman behind managing the churning machine and baking the cakes and an old man overseeing the front counter.

Chocolate eclair, chocolate cake, cheese cake, chocolate rice ball, durian puff and cream horn on display

Signature Banana Pie ($22 for entire plate, $2.20 per slice) - Real chunks of bananas are sandwiched between the buttery and crumbly crust which is topped with crushed nuts. It is not cloying at all and the portion of butter and sweetness is well balanced.

Chocolate Tart (5 for $4) - Rich and creamy chocolate filling, not too sweet.

As more French pastries are introduced to Singapore, prices of cakes and pastries are marked at  competitive prices. As for Dona Manis, prices are still kept low over the years for these quality pies and pastries. Do not give this old school bakery shop a miss! 

Verdict: 4/5

Hours: Mon-Sat 10.30am - 7.00pm, closed on Sunday

Address: 865 Mountbatten Road, B1-93 Katong Shopping Centre Singapore 437844

Tel: 6440 7688

Pancakes on the Rocks - Darling Harbour

Pancakes on the rock is a cafe located in Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour.

There are many branches of this restaurant and we visited the one at the basement of Harbourside Shopping Centre. Queue starts to form as early as 6pm. The crowd include the locals, office workers as well as the tourist.

Lots of seating place

Chicken & Bacon Pizza ($17.95) - Thin crust pizza with generous mixture of chicken breast, bacon, tomato, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese on top of it. It was a very big piece of pizza, good for sharing on the table. 

Devils Delight ($14.95) - A stack of 3 chocolate pancakes topped with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, chopped bananas and strawberries, and drizzled with chocolate sauce all over. Pancakes are thick, fluffy and served warm. The generous serving of fruits are large and fresh as well. Portion is big enough to be share among at least 4 people. It would be too sweet and sick to finish all by oneself.

Beef Crepes ($15.95)  - thin layer of crepes filled with minced beef and topped with cream and tomato paste. Minced beef is nicely marinated and the crepes is not that oily. I don't really like the cream but the tomato paste is delicious, sweet and savoury  

Verdict 3/5

Overall satisfactory with the food and environment. Serving of all dishes were big and very filling. Food was palatable though not outstanding. 

There is another branch nearby at The Rocks which opens 24hrs everyday, so you can have pancakes anytime of the day!

Address: 227 & 229-230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Habour

Opening Hours: Sun - Thur 7.00am - 11.00pm

Fri - Sat 7.00am - 12am

Tel: 02 9280 3791

Adriano Zumbo Patissier - Queen Victoria Building

Located in Queen Victoria Building, Zumbo sell nice looking little cakes and tarts and are well known for their Macaroons 

Delightful tarts and cakes on display

Freshly made colourful macaroons with unique flavours and fanciful names

Top 

The best selling Salted butter popcorn & Passionfruit honeycomb ($2.50 each) - This sweet and savoury salted butter popcorn is certainly a unique flavour of Adriano Zumbo and it is unlikely to find this flavour elsewhere. Macaroon biscuit was cripst more than chewy, hardness done just right. Cream was thick and flavourful. Passionfuit honeycomb had a sweet and sour taste, very refreshing too.

They also collaborated with Tim Tam and came out with their our flavour of Tim Tam too. Check it out at the supermarket. 

Verdict: 4/5

Grab some cakes or macaroons along the way when you are shopping along George street!

Address: 455 George Street, Shop 58 Ground floor, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 7.00 to 6.00pm

Sun 9.00 - 5.00pm

Maco Vintage - Johor Bahru Cafe

Maco Vintage - Cafe Johor Bahru JB

Unfurnished shophouses selling local food are usually seen everywhere along the streets of Johor Bahru, and that is what they are famous for and what Singaporeans are looking for when they visit Jb over the weekend for food trip. Unlike the usual shophouses, Maco Vintage is a fairly good ambience themed cafe which serves French pastry, desserts, coffee and main dishes.

Modern and sleek interior design with widely spaced tables

Prompt service received whenever service button was pressed

Menu

Range of sweet and savoury dishes with very affordable prices

Trio Choco Mille Crepe Cake (RM8.50) - White, milk and dark chocolate layered accordingly from the top till bottom of mille crepe. Not fantastic as it appears due to its lack of texture.

Croissant Smoke Salmon (RM18) - One of the best dish ordered in this cafe. The mini croissants were buttery and crispy, while the generous serving of smoked salmon was thick and fresh. Quite worthy for the price paid for.

Chicken Ham Pizza (15RM) - Thin crust pizza was thin and crispy, taste ordinary.

Waffle (RM12) - Waffle was too chewy with mochi texture. Overall too sweet and hard to chew.

Assorted flavours of Mille Crepe on display

This cafe is very well furnished and thus I had set higher expectation for its food and dessert. Food could be improved to match with its good ambience.

Verdict: 3/5

Price: RM30 per pax

Address: 18, Jalan Ibrahim, Johor Bahru 80000, Malaysia (located next to Hiap Joo Bakery which sells banana cake and opposite Kin Wah coffeeshop, 10 mins walk from city square jb)

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 1230pm-11pm

Sat 11am-12am

Sun 11am-11pm

Taste(3)

Environment(4)

Service(3)

Clean(3)

Price(3)

To-gather Cafe - Bedok

To-gather Cafe

I was around the vicinity during the last public holiday, since bedok is famous for the bak chor mee hence i decide to eat it again. Due to the long queue, I u-turn back and drop here to try on this cafe. The cafe is packed and there is a waiting list, hence i left my contact number and went for a stroll nearby. 

When i was shown to my seat, the cafe is still full. You will have to make your order at the counter and pay your bill right after ordering. Nets and Credit card payment are available

Different cakes for selection. Chocolate lava cake is their best seller while the matcha lava cake is limited quantity

Caller, but it is actually table number. Guess they will use it when they are short handed

Simple menu

Mocha ($4.50) - Lots and lots of foam on the top of the mocha. I wont say this is one of the best i had but still ok, only that i dislike the too generous amount of foam that was on the top.

Seafood Aglio Olio ($8.90) - I am bewildered by the amount of seafood that was served with the spaghetti. There are squid, salmon and prawns in this dish. Abit spicy but still delicious. I really recommended this dish if you drop by.

Grilled Pandan Chicken ($8.90) - Unique pandan flavour, i can only savour this taste at the bottom of the grilled chicken, guess it was the sauce that give this pandan taste. Overall, still taste not bad. 

Matcha Lava Cake with Ice Cream ($6.90) - The cake is soft and mist, matcha flow out once you cut the cake. Vanilla ice cream taste good when you eat the the matcha cake. Recommended to try. But if this is not available, you can try their best seller which is the chocolate lava cake. 

Can you see the matcha flowing out at the middle section of the cake?? Yummy

Address: Block 84 Bedok North (Street 4), SINGAPORE 460084

Opening Hours:
Tue - Thu: 11:00 - 22:00
Fri - Sat: 11:00 - 23:00
Sun: 11:00 - 22:00
Closed: Mon

Tel: 65 6445 1011

Verdict: 4/5
Price: $8.9 onwards

I like this place very much. Cheap food with good service, only negative area is that the seats are limited. Beside this, they also provide reservation service, you can leave you contact number and they will call you once the seats are available.

I love the matcha lava cake. This dessert is newly launched i guess as the quantity are limited. The other best seller is the chocolate lava cake. You can try it too. The ice cream taste good and should eat with the warm cake together to give you a warm and cold sensation.

The other most worth waiting dish is the seafood Aglio Olio. Alots of ingredients are added in with such a cheap price. Waiting time for this dish is a bit long, but i guess it is really worth it.

• Taste(4)

  
• Environment(4)

  
• Service(4)

  
• Clean(4)

  
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  Price(5)