SINGAPORE: Group Therapy Cafe

You know how when you're hungry, everything tastes good? Well, I turned up absolutely starving at Group Therapy cafe and for once, my hunger did nothing to sugar coat the food quality. I had been pleasantly surprised by the warm colours and rustic-looking signs and plants that adorned the cafe and I was pleased to see that it was relatively empty at 10.30am so it was massively disappointing that each dish churned out was frustratingly mediocre. 

Some cafes thrive with carefully constructed dishes made by cooks with real passion, and some cafes simply exist to fill a demand as Singapore's cafe culture thrives. Group Therapy cafe undoubtedly belongs in the latter. Its recipes are sorely in need of an update: the avocado and smoked salmon sandwich went down like glue in my throat; the eggs benedict might have looked impressive but the hollandaise sauce was so cloying that I barely noticed the poached egg below. Though the eggs were warm, my sister commented that she'd visited Group Therapy cafe the previous afternoon and they'd served their eggs benedict with cold eggs. 

Group Therapy might have had potential with a certain charm, but atmosphere alone isn't enough to disguise the complete lack of passion or real investment in its food menu. 

BLT croissant plate 

Group Therapy's key lime crumble: a poor excuse for a dessert. 

Group Therapy Cafe

49 Duxton Road

089513

SINGAPORE: PS Cafe at Dempsey

I came back to Singapore thinking I had, in London, successfully weaned myself off dessert. How naive I was. The first chance I had to visit PS Cafe at Dempsey, I couldn't help myself from ordering my favourite Flourless Orange Cake. I love any cake that starts with "flourless". It implies "carbless" and makes me feel a little less guilty. Unfortunately, I've tried making flourless banana and chocolate cake before and what they take away in flour they put back in egg yolk so I'm not so sure it's particularly sinless.

PS Cafe's flourless orange cake melts into your senses in a burst of sweet citrus and comfortingly warm sponginess. As much as I love London, the London cafes never did know how to heat their cakes up before serving them. They were usually left out to dry on counters without any transparent lids which always irked me. On the other hand, it's always a pleasure to have your cake served warm but service at PS Cafe was slow on a Sunday afternoon and the ice cream was disappointingly melty. 

This milkshake really seemed like 5 scoops of vanilla ice cream blended together with oreos. It was so luxuriously decadent I could only manage about 4 teaspoons full before stopping. 

PS Cafe's interior is wonderfully bright and spacious; it's floor to ceiling glass panes look out to Dempsey's greenery. It's really the perfect spot for a photoshoot so I was lucky to have the opportunity to collaborate with Andrea Cheong from The Haute Heel on her latest blog post. I never get as much fun from photographing food as I do people and Andrea was a pleasure to work with - don't forget to check out her blog for your daily dose of fashion! 

Top 5 Personal Favourite Affordable Restaurants

So, I've graduated and I'm back from London for good now. Unfortunately, I am still suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I miss not being able to walk in the cool summer sunshine to get to the tube (yes, I even miss the tube - it was my last vestige of complete independence) or to waitrose to buy my favourite yogurt (the yogurt selection in Singapore is dismal). And it saddens me to think that I now no longer live 10 minutes away from a train station that could take me to Paris in three hours. I would go on but I risk spiraling into despair. 

Nevertheless, if these things could have lasted forever, I wouldn't appreciate them nearly as much as I did. This post will be my last on London and I'm going to reveal the restaurants I enjoyed most - those that my friends and I would visit after a 5 hour stint at the UCL library or just wanted something hearty and inexpensive to fill our grumbling stomachs with.

In no particular order -

1. Koya

Koya is one of the first Japanese places I visited upon landing in London and remains my favourite with consistent honest to goodness udon. Tonkotsu and Bone Daddies have since cropped up in Tottenham Court Road but the soup at Tonkotsu isn't always served scalding hot the way I prefer and Bone Daddies' ramen soup is far too salty. Go early to avoid queues, but don't worry, they aren't as long as the ones stretching out from Burger & Lobster and Bone Daddies at dinner time. 

See the blog review here!

49 Frith Street  

London W1D 4SG

2. Texture

I've only been here once but for two courses and the promise of a Michelin starred meal at 20 pounds, it's very good value for money. See the blog review here! 

34 Portman Street

London W1H 7BY

020 7224 0028

3. Naru

This (relatively) little known restaurant serves the best spicy chicken and korean green tea. Bite-sized and tender, the spicy chicken is coated in mouthwateringly succulent sauce with a zesty tang. The bimimbap rice is fluffly, light and a delightful complement to the chicken. 

I'm surprised Naru isn't always teeming with people but that's one of its charms. I wanted to keep this place to myself for as long as possible so I selfishly refrained from blogging about it, until now that is. 

230 Shaftesbury Avenue

London WC2H 8EG

02073797962

4. Gold Mine 

Gold Mine has the most succulent, tender roast duck and my personal favourite "House Special Tofu". If you're an Asian living in London, I need say no more - you've probably already been. I've probably eaten here more than 10 times. My mother brought me here when we touched down in London before I enrolled at King's; I had a friend who made it a point ALWAYS to eat here whenever he visited from Warwick [which he did regularly] and having another good friend who lives in Queensway meant we ended up at Gold Mine alot. 

102 Queensway

London W2 3RR

5. Yalla Yalla

Hummus and Baba Ganoush [from my instagram]

It doesn't seem so from the lack of Mediterranean/Lebanese food on Cafe Creatures but I actually adore Mediterranean food. I cannot get enough of hummus (I tried to make my own once but I think I'm going to stick to commercially made hummus). Yalla Yalla does the creamiest, most velvety hummus peppered with pomegranate seeds and the most flavourful Baba Ganoush that comes with piping hot pita bread. It's always a long [30 minute plus] wait for a table if you go past 7pm but, at the risk of sounding cliche, it's worth the wait. 

1 Green's Court

London W1F 0HA

020 7287 7663

For those of you lucky enough to be studying abroad in London, don't complain about the weather, don't curse at the tube and don't judge that crazy person on the bus - it'll all be gone before you know it.