dean & deluca singapore, town

incredibly disappointing and wholly vapid food – even after tempered expectations – at the dean & deluca cafe in orchard central. I’ve been to their pretty shop – with highly magnified prices – before, read the dismal reviews everywhere on the blogosphere – and I still went because I was drawn to an image I saw online of their pancakes. it was a regrettable experience, and one that’s made me feel quite a bit foolish.

I feel like I should apologize for the fact that their food made gorgeous photos – take it from me that it’s akin to finally meeting that beautiful person from across the room, only for them to open their mouths to some sort of inaneness. a bimbo experience in all – don’t fall for it yourself.

heike japanese restaurant, ho chi minh

located at the New World Hotel: 76 Lê Lai, Ben Thanh ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh.

pretty darn terrible japanese food at this beautiful hotel in downtown saigon. the worst meal we’ve had this trip – and that’s not just because we had been eating very well, it was also just terrible taken objectively – my dad walked out toward the end of the meal to wait in the lobby because he just couldn’t be bothered any longer.

we’ve been coming to this hotel for years, because their lobby cafe had amazing pho and japanese food. I know this sounds sort of crazy – don’t people escape from their hotels to get decent food outside? – but they did truly have value-for-money japanese bento sets and very good cooking in a fantastically modern cafe. this year though, we arrived only to find that the cafe had undergone a revamp – which was why we ended up at the japanese restaurant. a highly regrettable choice, though it was so bad it stepped right into ridiculousness, and made me laugh.

pandan chiffon cake, strike one

I have an insane gadget obsession, and most especially when it has any sort of connection to baking and cooking. no real surprise then, that when I found out that the happy call pan could also be used for baking, I immediately sourced the ingredients needed.

you non-asians (and men in general) probably have no idea what this pan is. It’s a two-sided saucepan wonder marketed very heavily in asia at housewives; it’s designed to be two-sided so that instead of flipping your food you flip the pan, and it’s sealed between both sides to prevent splatters and also keep steam in that keeps the food moist. this isn’t a paid advert, y’all.

taverne massena, nice

mediocre food in nice. this was our last meal in nice, and boy was it a letdown. we had walked by countless times on the way back to the hotel, and were always enticed by the wood-fired oven. I think we are all trained to expect great food from good ovens, but this restaurant is an example of how good equipment does not mean a place can churn out good food.