Banana Gelato Pie with chocolate almonds and hot fudge at Pizzeria Mozza. A side restaurant by famed chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich (you know, that bitchy/acid spitting judge on US Masterchef), is one of the few decent places to eat at Singapore’a Marina Bay Sands integrate resort.
The mains are pretty good. Of course, as the name of the establishment goes, the pizza is pretty decent. A real gourmet wood fire oven taste with delicious quality ingredients. But if you’re looking for one of those cheese oozing, New York slice type, forget about it. It’s pretty scant on cheese and looks pleasantly imperfect in a home-made sort of way.
But the real stunners of this place is the dessert. And this is my favorite. The banana gelato pie. Not overly sweet, and the almonds and thick fudge gives the dessert something to bite into. Crazy good, this.
While in Jakarta, I came about a lovely bakery with a penchant for everything superfluous and fabulous. It’s a shop called Cafe Sweets by Jacqueline Bastiaan Wijaya. They offer a variety of decorated cupcakes, macarons, cookies, all-occasion cakes, and customized wedding cakes.
So here I am, walking a relatively upscale mall called Pacific Place in Jakarta, walking past what looks like an Hermes Birkin bag. I took a second look and it is made of icing! Now how fabulous is this?!
Apparently they can customize anything you want on the cake. And you could pimp your butter cream cake up like your wallet only knows how. The sky is the limit. Apparently most of the ingredients are imported from France. So you could truly call this Birkin, made in France (sort of).
You’ve seen cute ones. Luxuriously decorated ones. Black ones. Greasy ones. Great tasting ones. Foul tasting ones. Sweet ones. Sour ones. (I am talking about cupcakes here).
But have you tasted cuntcakes?
(Sorry for the bad name. I just couldn’t help it. Apologies if I offended anyone)
Quite possibly one of the world’s best macarons. These tiny cakes are simply delicious! They aren’t just pastries, it’s essentially art pieces of colors, taste, aesthetics and perfection. So much so that the macarons in the patisseries around the world are imported from Paris. Yes, so that you don’t get to use the excuse - the chefs made it better in Paris. Every macaron you put in your mouth anywhere in the world is made the same, from the same people, at the same place.
The macarons are nice and lightly crisp on the outside, airy soft in the middle. Sandwiching a delightful whisper of luxuriously flavored ganache. A far cry from what your Singapore and Malaysian dessert places would be offering. Also really good! Try the millefeuille while you’re there.
Interesting Factoid: Laduree is known as the inventor of the double-decker macaron. With 15,000 sold every day.
Verdict: This is an institution. Laduree is a must-go for any visitor to Paris. (And now available in London, Tokyo, Istanbul and various cities in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, UAE, Luxembourg, Kuwait, Monaco, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland and the USA). Delicate, delicious and delightful to the palate. I dislike overly sweet desserts, and I love these macarons. Great for kids and adults. (And as souvenirs).
Must TRY in Kuala Lumpur! Ben’s at Pavilion. The red velvet cake. The banoffee sundae. And the delectable salads (for those watching their waistline). Ben’s (Another Bright Idea by BIG), Level 6, Pavilion Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
