This has been love at first sight. I’ve ordered this dish 4 times (every time I’ve visited Dumpling Darlings) and it has never let me down!

I love the crispy outer shell of the pierogi, it’s almost like the texture of a Mexican deep fried chimichanga.

Inside each one of the five fried dumplings is a warm, creamy filling of caramelised onion, smoked bacon, cheddar and truffle potato. Served with a thick, spicy sriracha crema, it’s a match made in heaven. Don’t miss this if you visit Dumpling Darlings! You won’t regret it.

(On a side note, after visiting Dumpling Darlings and knowing that every time I’ve visited has been very good and consistent, I hope they can shake things up and try rolling out a new special menu!

I’m sure a pan fried pierogi will be the next No. 1 hit at this much loved dumpling restaurant!)

Ordered this parfait from Uya on our visit a few weeks ago. When it arrived, we all felt a little misled because it didn’t look anything like in the menu, so here’s a more accurate picture 😂

The parfait consists of cereal, adzuki beans, green tea Pocky, green tea ice cream, mochi, and pudding.

Pros: The cereal was a lot, and very crispy and fresh. This dessert can be shared among lots of people, about 3-4 people.
Cons: Expensive for what it is, didn’t look anything like in the menu. Menu also didn’t provide a description of the parfait. Personally felt that the parfait from 7-Eleven in Japan is much better quality, tastier and a lot cheaper!

Finally made a proper visit to @brunettisg for the first time recently! (I’ve been to Brunetti once before as a child and had cake but can’t remember much.)

Brunetti is a Melbourne chain that’s opened an outlet in Tanglin Mall for as long as I can remember.

For local cafe standards, the food here is decently priced for what you get. It does get a little busy and on our trip down we found it to be a little under-staffed. I think there’s no service charge, so help yourself to the water! Also I think there was some misunderstanding over the phone as to whether we could use the @entertainersg app on the weekend, but when we were at the restaurant, we heard another customer using it but oh well, the food isn’t too expensive so we aren’t that disappointed 🤷🏻‍♀️

The scrambled eggs at Brunetti is the dry variety (don’t expect something soft and runny), and there’s a lot of truffle and a considerable amount of pepper mixed into the eggs (not that I’m complaining!). The salad was fresh and had lots of vinaigrette. As for the toast, it was quite normal, could be served hotter and crisper, but it was a generous amount.

On the whole, a filling breakfast that’s reasonably priced. It didn’t really leave that much of an impression on me but if you’re looking for a simple, quick breakfast that will leave you feeling full and not out of pocket, Brunetti is a safe bet! It’s also a pretty family-friendly place with a fuss-free, straightforward menu and there’s plenty of fanciful cakes and gelato on display.

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Not too long ago we decided to try the award-winning (apparently) Dutch french fries from Holland which opened in the second half of 2018 at Holland Piazza in Holland Village.

Found the menu hard to understand and the staff wasn’t very good at explaining the various sauces.

Personally, I think there are too many sauces to choose from and it’s hard to figure out what flavour each sauce is, when it isn’t very self-explanatory (e.g. the Kerrie sauce).

You’ll have to make a guess or read reviews online to figure it out. (Kerrie sauce is apparently kind of like BBQ sauce but more sweet and tangy.)

I decided to go with the frites sauce with tomato and basil. It’s basically sour cream with salsa on thick cut fries made from Holland potatoes. The salsa is nice, but to me good salsa is readily available (e.g. at most Mexican food establishments).

Price-wise, I think it’s rather expensive for loaded fries. But they do have a 2 for $10 promotion on their small fries with onion and frite sauce which might be a tastier combo and probably more value-for-money!

Ambience is so-so, there is a really strong outdoor air-conditioner/fan type of machine. The outdoor seating is on a slope covered with fake grass. The whole atmosphere feels.. like a staged replica of a European beer garden or outdoor area of a pub. There is also a lot of sun even though there is some shade provided by the outdoor patio umbrella.

Would I come here again? Probably not as I wasn’t very impressed by the Dutch fries and not something I would crave. Felt like it was missing something, maybe we chose the wrong sauce and onions would’ve been a better match with fries? Anyway McDonald’s french fries or KFC’s cheese fries are good enough for me and definitely less messy!

Martin Zwerts is located at #B1-07 Holland Piazza, 3 Lor Liput, Holland Village, Singapore 277725

For more food pictures and reviews, check out my blog rachelrawr.com and instagram.com/missrachelrawr

I recommend ordering this if you visit @tiposg, think it’s the safest and yummiest dish on the menu 😋 The shredded slow cooked beef is tender and the sauce to pasta ratio is just nice 😍 The portion isn’t big so there’s still room for dessert!

More food photos and reviews on rachelrawr.com

Have you ever had (or heard of) dessert dumplings? 😍 These sinful dumplings from @dumpling.darlings are filled with vanilla bean, amaretto, cream cheese and poached pear, and served with a generous dollop of Tasmanian honey ice cream 🍯♥️ From the first mouthful, we thought that the flavour and texture of the dumplings closely resembled a slightly crispier version of goreng pisang (deep fried bananas) 🍌

The cashier mumbled some disclaimer about “bowel movement ... constipation” (a totally misleading and inaccurate understatement tbh) and made me consent before I paid for this laxative in a cup 😫😭 I didn’t even enjoy it and within 5 minutes of drinking this, my intestines started gurgling 🙄 #badlifedecisions #chatrumue #neveragain #buythisdrinkforpeopleyouhate

Finally tried Halal pasta bar @tiposg after seeing it on Instagram 😋 Their homemade pasta looked soooo good that I had to go check it out for myself. I love how the strands of lemon and dill malfade pasta are incredibly long and beautiful (zoom in!) Got this as part of the lunch set, it’s pretty worth it because you get a delicious homemade iced tea as well. How does one review a dish that is pretty self-explanatory? This aromatic pasta dish was creamy, eggy and pretty mushroomy. I’m not a carbonara fan so I can’t really compare it to anything else, but if it helps, my brother polished it off!

Read more on my blog: www.rachelrawr.com

This à la carte tempura consists of 3 prawns, 1 slice of pumpkin, 1 slice of sweet potato, 1 slice of eggplant, 1 slice of carrot and 1 slice of okra. Pros: The tempura batter is nice and crispy and most importantly, cooked with fresh oil. Likewise, the dipping sauce is delicious! The only drawback I think is that the price is a little on the steep side. The sweet potato and pumpkin were a little undercooked inside and could have been a little less chunky! But on the whole, I'ld say this tasty tempura dish from @uya_sg is worth ordering 👍🏻

Decently priced vegan dish from newly opened HRVST Cafe at Downtown Gallery. This fusion style risotto is full of meaty BKT flavour. Think duck porridge. Vegan food doesn't have to be bland or boring!

One of my favourite things to order at PS. Cafe for brunch. Though the food took a while to arrive and the mash was on the dry side and I dislike frozen peas, it was a very hearty and yummy meal!

Was craving some hearty comfort food like pizza but settled for some pasta at Tanglin Mall instead. Caffe Beviamo has been in Singapore for about 17 years and today was my first time visiting (though I've watched their staff prepare pasta and salads at their open kitchen on numerous occasions).

Despite the babbling babies, I think before lunchtime is the best time to come and dine. After noon, things start to get rushed and hectic and the strong garlic smell begins to present itself.

The portion size is just right. The ravioli is nice and plump and filled with soft ricotta cheese and earthy spinach. Though it is hard to go wrong with ravioli, I did feel that more baby spinach would've been great and if the ravioli was cooked a lil bit longer so the edges were all nice and soft, that would've been better :)

I like how they had thoughtfully placed the strands of cheese in a small dish so one can decide how much cheese to pour (but having said that, the waitress did spill several flakes of cheese onto my lap without saying a word 😂).

Price is a lil steep for this simple dish but there's a variety of pasta you can choose from like gnocchi, lasagna, gluten-free macaroni, spaghetti, and penne 🍝 I might come back and try their pizzas next time round!