jones the grocer

it's CNY!!!!!!!!

finally had some time to update recent happenings in detail. haha. was so swamped with endless projects and presentations! =x just completed one presentation today, feeling quite satisfied! the sixers rock! hahaa just an imaginary name reina and i came up with lol! i think i'm getting the hang of doing a presentation every week seriously. haha

and i found a new secret hidout with reina today!! it's at chip bee garden, across the road from holland v's cold storage. =) it has swings, nice restaurants and a few bakeries! =D so cool.

Jones the grocer - Australian Mart

ventured up dempsey road last week with michelle to cover our australian mart article! =D it was a wonderful experience, we really felt so pampered and their people there were so friendly! i love them to bits haha!


we went to try their teas first, this is the mango with flowers tea, very refreshing and light, perfect for any day =) it tasted great when it's hot but after a few hours when we came back to our table to drink the tea again, we found out that it tasted fantastic chilled too! cool eh. don't have to worry about re-heating the tea. =D



tea leaves! try their french earl grey too. i bet it will taste great =D



we wanted to order their mains but found out that it was too late in the afternoon for lunch orders so we settled for bread with dips instead. =D purple one's beetroot with almond, orange is some salsa-like thingy (i'll post our article up after it's published. haha) those dips are sold in the store as well so you can grab one if you like their dish! i love the way they make the food very healthy, no lard, no gluten etc etc. absolutely sin-less =D


the highlight of the day is the cheese room!!! tucked away in a corner of the shop, it is separated from the main area by a glass door and it's freezing cold inside! (8-11 degrees) but you'll forget all the coldness when you take a good look at the wide variety of cheeses available!! mich and i went totally crazy and started examining every single cheese we find. hahaha!


TRUFFLES with cheese!! or cheese with truffles. either way, it's heavenly. it's smooth, creamy, with a hint of woody tinge, and it's great with the crackers. we were overwhelmed when sonia, the fromager (cheese expert) gave us free samples =D =D told you they were nice. heh i'll never forget that day man.



my beloved cheese with truffles. first time trying truffles and i think i like them. hahaa



once in a blue moon. blue cheeses!! this one is especially strong because of the heavy percentage of blue moulds. yikes. =x i tried a very very mild one and it's already quite strong. don't know how will i stomach this. hahaa! acquired taste i guess! =) you know they inject bacteria (the blues) into air pockets in the cheese to grow the blue moulds? humans are a strange lot.



quince paste! another fave of mine. all because it tastes very very sweet and like something you'll eat during CNY. haha i miss it already!



the wooden thingy that wraps around the cheese is to preserve it and give it a "woody" taste



moulds to help preserve the cheese! it'll take me a lot of courage to eat this. =x



very disney-like eh?



self-explanatory signboards!



tall, tall cheeses



seven years old cheese!! it's ancient. hahaa. and terribly huge. =D



mich and sonia!



yes, me and my truffle cheese. hahahaa. it's $14.10 for 100g so it ain't exactly very cheap. haha



pane cotta! (hope i spelled it correctly) it's very crispy, a light, flaky bread of some sorts. YUMMY-licious. i swear i'll buy it next time. haha. very suitable for munchies and snacks.


Da Mario Pizzeria!

Let me start first by saying the owners, (Mario and his girlfriend, Helena) have a very hospitable to us, giving us free meals (we felt so guilty because we were the ones who asked for an interview and stuff in the first place) and answering every single of our questions. =) it shall be my one-stop eatery from now onwards if i wanna eat good, authentic italian pizzas. =D =D

my friends, do spread the word about Da mario alright! i'll bring ALL of you down whenever i have a chance and you'll know why i raved about the place. =) they were so nice to us, and it didn't matter who we are, students or whatever, they just showered us with so much warmth and friendliness =)


the iconic man, mario!!


he makes his pizza dough fresh daily and all the ingredients are made from scratch! even the tomato sauce etc. only natural and fresh ingredients. =) it's an open-kitchen concept so you can even chat with him while he makes the pizzas!!



they got featured in Today newspaper before =) mario commented that he was very shocked when tons of people turned up at his restaurant after the article got published and his place was packed to the brim for so many months after that haha! he said that the power and influence of media in singapore is really huge ad people believed in whatever the media said. which place is good to eat etc. if it was other countries, he said people will just totally ignore it. hahaha! that's singapore for you lol!

and that is also why i'm writing this on my blog. =) the power of word-of-mouth (in this case, word-of-blogs) is not to be looked down upon too! heh heh. here i am, personally telling you that it is really a must-try!

i'll state more reasons to tempt you with but first let's talk about the location. haha! it's located beside singapore river in robertson quay, situated in The Quayside, first level, just opposite gallery hotel. =) i would say it is hard to get there by bus or train, but trust me, it is worth the walk. =D call me for directions anytime, and i'll be happy to provide. =)



reg and i!



very friendly filipino staff. =D tried speaking tagalog with them but failed terribly. hahaha



there's al-fresco seating available! =D



now, presenting the pizza!!! This pretty thing is Pizza Casarbccia, $16. their price range is from $16 to $25 and there's only one size and it's quite big haha. very suitable for two to share plus leaving a tiny bit of room for dessert! haha



focaccia bread, grace will squeal when she sees this



sandwich-made-in-pizza-style with parma ham and rocket salad and olive oil i think. very interesting taste, with the slight bitterness of the salad coupled with the salty taste of the ham - you'll fall in love with it. michelle did! haha



one of our interviewees. noah from new york! he's been in singapore for over a year now and he swears by this place. he comes here every alternate day! hahaha what a loyal customer. as expected, he raved about da mario when we interviewed him and i feel quite sorry disrupting his lunch haha! but he's very easy-going and i hope he enjoyed the company of five girls! hahaa



reg with her namesake dish!



Presenting capellini regina!! ($20) i think this is twice the portion cos there are 5 people sharing it haha. it's filled with generous toppings of crabmeat (real ones, mind you), abundance of mushrooms and a few more ingredients. slightly on the spicy PS: ask for the story behind this dish and the chef will blush. haha!



to-die-for tiramisu. ($7) mario took 15 years to perfect it! not too sweet, with chocolate shavings in between layers of very very delicious cream, and soft layers of cake. though i'm not that fond of tiramisus, this really made me smile in happiness =D hee hee. it is good for two to three to share, so the five of us literally gobbled the entire plate in minutes.



this experience really made me look at pizzas in a different light. it is just so different from the commercialized pizzahut and canadian etc. to quote huiwen, "this is what i call worthy of my calories." HAHA

kudos to niche markets! =) i am so gonna support them forever.