Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie

Ever since I did a food review for youth.sg, there was this inner nudgy no-good feeling that I was no different from those whose judgment had been affected by the free food and spec-iaal treatment. Ruth Reichl's ordeals in Garlic and Sapphires suddenly rang loud and true, and I thought it wasn't worth compromising my conscience for few slabs of meat (ooo, is that Argentinean steak?).

Eat My Words. (ok so this doesn't quite have the same effect as Kiss My Ass). HAHA

Hoping to hone my writing skills, I recently joind SMU Gourmet Club. Like most writers, I have an editor to answer too, though mine happens to be (yay!) un-Ogress-like. I have assignments to complete and as long as I exercise the same amount of dedication I put into my Ethics class, this shouldn't be a problem.

Payment to be made in Dessert Cheques, thank you.

I have to be honest: I'm a sucker for service and I enjoy the special attention the restaurant personnel pays to MOI. I love it when someone makes me feel like I'm not just another diner. I enjoy being treated like royalt- excuse me, a reviewer. At Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie (Robertson Walk), I felt like I was given a personalized tour in a museum whose Dalis and Michelangelos took shape in the form of heart achingly beautiful desserts and pastries.

Upon entrance, it is a visual feast as part-café part-store Canele proudly displays its jams, pralines, chocolate bars, cakes and desserts. A central kitchen that is perhaps bigger than the café itself is testament that virtually everything sweet is made in house. My dining companions and I were oohed and aahed over the dessert showcase- one would have thought we were picking out wedding rings at Tiffany's.

Speaking of weddings, we saw a multi-tier wedding cake in the making (hey I thought wedding cakes were fake!?). Upon further probing, we were told it was Chef Pang's own wedding cake. Like AWW-UH, how sweet is that. Clearly, the way to a girl's heart (at least for Diana and I) is clearly through our sweet tooth.

Cavities-causing treats aside, Canele has a surprisingly comprehensive variety of hot food such as savory crepes, sandwiches, pastas.

I gave the menu a quick check but as soon as I saw the burger, I didn't bother with the rest.


Brioche Burger

Roasted chicken breast slices, lettuce, figs compote, the usuals* and sweet Japanese mayonnaise sandwiched between kernel-tossed brioche buns. This was a burger for those didn't want to pay the price of sin.


(this photo was taken by me, not Kejie)

It was tasty and didn't leave me with an urgh-so-bad-but-so-good after effect. Fig compote jazzed up the otherwise-bland chicken slices and the soft brioche buns, which were lighter than traditional brioche but suitably textured for the burger, gave me reason to smile.


Country Bread

Country bread sandwich with smoked turkey breast, cranberry jelly, apple and the usuals* was a safe choice for those who swear by turkey and cranberry. Unfortunately, I almost pulled a muscle slicing through the thick country bread. With morbid "over-exertion, knocking over the glass cup and water spilling all over" scenes played out in my head, I decided to give the country bread (and my arm) a rest.

Next time I visit Canele, I will make it a point to try the Croque Madame and Club Honey Baked Ham but I also have to make space for the Danishes. Throughout lunch, I found it difficult to maintain eye contact with anyone as the cakes and pastries across the room were excruciatingly distracting. Gimme my crusty croissant! ARGH

*Usuals being tomatoes and lettuces.

Photographer: Tang Kejie . School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University
[ Webmaster . SISS | Photographer . SMUSAIC | Freelance Web Designer . Photographer ]
[ mob. +65 9847 9792 web. http://kj.sg/ msn. kejie.tang@gmail.com ]