d'good cafe (Holland Village)

d'Good Cafe has been under my radar after having read it at one of my reading list (blog) because of the different theme decorations. Yep, interesting decorations is definitely one of the main reason for attracting me. The other being, whether the food is nice and value for money. Distance is never an issue :))

I was also recently being introduced to PPP Clinic at Holland Village and was happy to find that d'Good Cafe is just above PPP Clinic! Signed up for the 3 treatment session promo ($60 altogether) which I have since completed and my popping pimples have pretty much healed. Not sure it was time or was it the treatment that helps though. Not going to continue because 1) I really can't see much effect; 2) waiting time can be rather long on some days; 3) the packages cost quite alot actually.

Back to d'Good Cafe, there is actually two ways up - a lift at PPP Clinic and the stairs from the shopfront. The lift is basically a platform being raised from level 1 to level 2 or 3. Feel much safer with the stairs, no doubt!

d'Good Cafe
273 Holland Avenue
#02-01/02

Sun - Thu: 10:00 - 21:00
Fri - Sat: 10:00 - 22:00

The cafe is separated into a few areas - The Bar and The Lawn at Level 2, The Attic at Level 3 and The Balcony at Level 3 outdoor. We were seated at The Attic because it was much quieter there and well, The Balcony was too hot to be during the mid-day. The thing is, d'Good is mostly self-service and to balance a huge cup of mocha, a glass of iced latte and a cake up the stairs is not easy feat.

the food menu

some of the sweet stuffs

 The drinks and cake were pretty good and the mocha is seriously huge (not that I am complaining). The waffle is crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. Priced at $4 for the plain waffle with either butter/maple syrup, I think it is a MUST order at D'Good. Looking forward to drop by again :)

non-stop munching: Canopy, Habitat Coffee, Salted Caramel

It's finally March holiday and it means meetup with the teacher friends :) and it also means that I have been out of full-time job for quite a while. Not that I have been really lazing my ass off! It's either baking, meet-ups or relief teaching for me these days. Could really get use to this but reality is cruel.

Back to happy topic! Arranged to meet up with Yvonne last week so we could go cafe hopping together again. We started with Canopy Garden Dining & Bar at Bishan Park which I thought would be a beautiful place for alfresco dining but the weather is insanely warm and the outdoor area didn't appeal to us. Air con, that it is!

 Egg Benedict is my favourite brunch food but since Selfish Gene Cafe, I'm falling for Egg Royale. We ordered one each and decided to share so that we could try both. In my opinion, Canopy's Egg Royale definitely fare better than their Egg Benedict. Wish they had more veggie to pair with the food though or maybe add a couple cherry tomato to the salad for visual.

Canopy Garden Dining & Bar
1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 Bishan Park II, S569931
Tel: +65 6556 1533
Weekdays: 9am till late
Weekends: 8am till late

After our hearty breakfast, we found our way to the bus stop to get on our bus to Thomson for Habitat Coffee. I love pushing door into cafe with the aroma of coffee bean greeting me. Habitat Coffee has two area and we went to the upper deck for more privacy. I had my usual Mocha and Yvonne had a Iced Tiramisu Latte if I'm not wrong. Was surprise to find the Hazelnut Crunch cake and non-alcoholic Tiramisu priced at $3.90 each and decided to give them a try. But we didn't realize that the staff didn't catch our order of the Tiramisu. Good thing because we figure that good things don't come cheap, the Hazelnut Crunch cake has no hazelnut taste and no crunch.

look-crunchy-but-is-not Hazelnut Crunch Cake

tea for two <3

Habitat Coffee
233 Upper Thomson Road
Tel: +65 6456 2567

Tue - Fri: 11:00 - 22:30
Sat - Sun: 10:30 - 22:30



We had long chats and gossip session before moving on to Salted Caramel across the street. If not for stuffing ourselves non-stop, we would have ordered a waffle to go along with our ice cream. It smells so divine!

Chocolate Sorbet and Earl Grey flavor

Ended our day with window-shopping at Braddell's Phoon Huat. All the pretty cake decorating tools and display. Can't wait to meet them this Friday for baking!

recipe - chocolate brownie

Have kept this recipe in my folder for a long time because it is one of the rare few recipes that uses fairly cheap and easily available ingredients. Many brownie recipes call for expensive chocolate and what not but this, is definitely one good simple brownie. So densely good though I think I could have cut down the baking time so that it will be more moist and because I forgot to brush butter on the tray, my brownie came out looking a little awful.

Chocolate Brownie with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Ganache:
- 100ml whipping cream
- 100g semi sweet baking chocolate (from Phoon Huat)

1. Heat the whipping cream. 

2.Turn off heat and add the chocolate. Keep on stirring till the chocolate melted and becomes glossy. Set aside to cool. 

Brownies:
- 250g butter, melted
-150g granulated sugar, sifted
-150g brown sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 62g plain flour/ all-purpose flour, sifted
- 120g cocoa powder, sifted ( from Phoon Huat)
- 4 eggs

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degree Celsius.Grease the  baking tray. (MUST REMEMBER!)

2. Beat the eggs till pale yellow and foamy. 

3. Add both sugars, plain flour, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, melted butter and mix well.

4. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and place inside the oven for 40mins. Insert a toothpick or a fork inside the brownies. If it comes out clean, it means the brownies are baked thoroughly.

5. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the brownies to cool completely.

6. Place the brownies inside the fridge for 2 hours. 

7. Remove from the fridge and spread ganache evenly and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to set.

recipe adapted from Confession of a Baking Addict

Can't wait to try this recipe again and will remember to buy some walnut to pair with the brownie.

Happy Saturday : Selfish Gene, Little House of Dreams, Ambush

2 weeks back, I had a Saturday outing with Rina and Yvonne. It all started with the Groupon we bought with Little House of Dreams for their Cupcake Deco class. Thought it would be good to start the day with breakfast, and it was a choice between Selfish Gene Cafe or Group Therapy Cafe. Off we went to Selfish Gene Cafe because it opens at 10am which fit us just so nicely. The food were good, we had B.O.B and a Breakfast Plate. I love the smoked salmon with their multi-grain bread but can't say the same for their drinks. The iced green tea latte, iced chocolate and hot mocha, which we ordered, all of them seems too diluted.

After breakfast, we train-ed to Clark Quay for our class at Little House of Dreams. A little more about LHOD, it actually took us 3 weeks to confirm our class slot. Week 0 - I email them. Week 1 - finally reply to inform that all the slots taken up and offer other dates. Week 2 - no news. Week 3 - I decided to call up and probe further. Received email the following morning at 2am to inform about confirmation of class. Certainly didn't make me a happy customer. They weren't really happy to receive us on the day of the class either but we did learn a thing or two and getting more interested in fondant.

sample of what we will be making

piping in the dough

my work :))

Went to Plaza Singapura for our movie, Jack the Giant Slayer, before it was dinner time again! Not sure why, but eating time comes so quickly everyday. As usual PS is filled with people during dinnertime and we settle for the one with the shortest queue.

Yvonne recommended their clam pot but what we had that day was too salty for our liking

probably my favourite combi - potato and sausage <3

Anyway, we decided that we should have more regular gathering so look forward to the next Happy Saturday update soon :)

food log

With all the free time on hand lately, I have done more cooking and baking. Love how the internet has made my life easy because finding recipes is just a click away. Am still such a amateur cook, hope I get better at this! Will post up pictures and recipe of the brownie I made last week soon.

mashed potato with sausages. orange cake. favourite instant noodle. koko.krunch with strawberry. honey-baked chicken wing and tomato prawn with fried rice. strawberry shortcake - FAILED. fried rice with sauteed mushroom. pasta. mushroom omelette. chocolate chip cupcake. potato salad. super jelly sunny-sideup!