Snack Monster Omnomnomzxzxz

Some Singaporean favourites delivered in cute crab-shaped pastries launched by BreadTalk for National Day. These crab pastries come in two flavours - chilli crab and curry crab (curry flavour has some crumb specks on the crab shell to differentiate).

The pastry was decent - it was flaky and crispy even though the pastries weren’t warm by the time we ate them. The chilli crab filling was more on the sweet side rather than spicy, but it went nicely with the pastry. I could taste the crab meat, but there wasn’t a lot of it. I can’t complain since one piece is approx $2, though I would have preferred more filling to pastry as I felt like I was eating pastry 80% of the time since the “claws” didn’t have any filling in them. Also, isn’t it sad that the crab eyes pop out and are asymmetrical?! I think more care should be placed into the presentation especially since they’re marketing this mostly on looks. Not bad if you’re craving chilli crab but don’t want to deal with de-shelling or shelling out for a whole crab, but I wouldn’t order this again.

A jar of chocolates from the new eco-conscious grocer Scoop Wholefoods as a gift from a friend. I’ve heard a lot about this grocer and really wanted to take a look for myself, so I got excited when I received these chocolates!

I love that the items are packaged in glass jars, definitely more eco-friendly. As for the taste of these chocolates, they’re really good! The dark chocolate is rich and slightly bitter, with a subtle fruity berry taste and chewy texture. Although I’m more of a fan of chocolate nuts, I’d gladly make an exception for this. It’s good quality chocolate, and I completely support their mission to reduce food and packaging waste. Can’t wait to visit in person to buy more items from Scoop Wholefoods!

This is for all the people who can’t decide what dessert they want. The 3-in-1 riceballs come with beancurd, soy bean milk, and four glutinous rice balls (sesame and peanut fillings). You can choose your sugar level for the soy milk. For this bowl, I went with 25% which I felt was just right for my tastes. The beancurd is the traditional kind. It’s soft, silky and melts in your mouth. The riceballs are decent but not the best as the skin is a little on the thick and doughy side. I did enjoy how fine the creamy fillings were, although the peanut one might’ve done better with slightly larger peanut chunks. The fillings were neither overly sweet nor bitter in the case of the black sesame, so this is a dish that can be enjoyed by anyone. Very convenient to pick up at any of the Mr Bean outlets if you’re craving some good ol’ local desserts and can’t make up your mind!

Omg the Hazelnut Royale Pancake has quietly made its way back to Mr Bean! I have seen this at a few outlets sporadically but the it’s finally back in full force at the NUH outlet. I love the spongey-soft pancake which encases a thick and rich hazelnut filling. It’s full of Nutella-like chocolatey hazelnut goodness, with some crunchy bits inside! If you love Nutella or chocolate, be sure to pick this pancake up! Here’s to hoping that this flavour stays on the permanent menu this time!

The taiyaki fillings tend to be concentrated in the middle, so the edges are just pancake kosong. The cream cheese is thick and just salty enough to balance out the slightly sweet pancake. Might work a bit better if the cream cheese were spread out more evenly, but it’s easy enough to take a mouthful of the edge and eat some of the cream cheese.

MUST pick up every time I’m around Ngee Ann City. So good especially when you get a bite with both the peanut butter and mochi with creamy, chewy and cakey texture all in one mouthful.

Seriously atas and expensive cocoa dusted chocolate almonds at artisan chocolatier Läderach. This small box cost upwards of $25.

I really love cocoa dusted almonds, but artisan chocolate or not, this wasn’t fantastic enough to pay $25++ for one box. More worth it to buy the freshly made blocks of chocolate from Läderach or buy cocoa dusted almonds from Royce or another chocolatier instead.

Läderach freshly made artisanal chocolate is a treat, but an expensive one at that! So you gotta make your money count if you’re going for it.

This is my pick for the BEST chocolate at Läderach. If you love dark chocolate AND nuts, the 70% dark chocolate with hazelnuts is perfect! Although almonds are usually my favourite, I was surprised to find that I loved the hazelnuts way more. The 70% dark chocolate on its own isn’t bitter, but ultimately the taste falls a little flat. The addition of caramelised hazelnuts adds a whole lot of contrast and flavour - sweet, nutty and crunchy all at one go. Super delicious! 😋

Only realised that this was a product of Malaysia AFTER bringing it back to Singapore, but it was too late. Anyway, no regrets buying these biscuits from the local supermarket Rimping as they’re really good! They’re individually wrapped, so it’s great for snacking and sharing with colleagues or family. The chocolate/butter mixed biscuits are filled with a thick coffee chocolate cream, which complements the biscuit and isn’t too strong in taste. You don’t even have to heat the biscuit up to melt the cream! We demolished this pack in a day at the office, so my only regret is not buying more, but I guess a trip across the causeway can easily solve this!

I recall having tried this flavour a long time ago, but OCK was running a promotion for their cute old-school tingkat carrier where you get 4 puffs plus the tingkat for $18 (U.P $49).

The chilli crab puff is a decent stand-in for chilli crab. The filling is spicier than Jumbo’s chilli crab sauce, but then again, Jumbo’s is just plain sweet. I appreciate the slight heat in the puff personally. Don’t expect real crab meat in a $2 puff, and it’s all good. The filling is generous and yummy, although I do think this particular outlet has too much pastry crimped at the ends.

Japan represent from OCK’s Flavours of the World line of curry puffs. The shredded chicken is cooked with shiitake mushroom slices, onions, and glazed with teriyaki sauce to give rise to a sweet and juicy filling. I did find this less satisfying than the other puffs as the chicken was in shreds rather than chunks, and the other ingredients seemed to outnumber the meat - making me feel that this wasn’t as ‘worth it’ as the other puffs stuffed with meat. I also didn’t find the teriyaki flavour strong enough when eaten with the puff. Perhaps a sweeter or more savoury teriyaki sauce would be better in this puff so that the filling doesn’t get too diluted by the pastry.

I’d give this a pass and go for the other more unique flavours at OCK instead.

This puff was stuffed with moist and juicy minced chicken char siew. The sweet and savoury filling is generous, and tastes pretty good especially if you like your char siew soft and tender. I did find that the texture tasted a little like vegetarian char siew but maybe that’s just me. While it was a nice puff, I probably wouldn’t order it again simply because I prefer the regular curry flavour or would prefer to try the other exciting flavours that OCK so regularly launches, but this would be a nice option for those who can’t handle spice!