I’m no Yogi Bear (although I reckon I’m well on my way, if my growing Buddha belly is anything to go by), but I love them picnics. So I wasn’t about to pass up a tasting session at Pique Nique (#B1-01 Ngee Ann City Tower A, 391A Orchard Rd., 6238-6705), despite my schedule already being jam-packed. And boy, was I glad I went.
For those of you who haven’t heard about this two-week-old American café yet, it’s the first offering from the Sugar Daddy Group, with several more to come in a very short time frame. They’ll also be opening Antoinette (30 Penhas Rd., 6293-3121), a retro-inspired French bistro-pâtisserie due to open by the start of next week, with the second one slated for early July at #02-33/34 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Rd., 6836-9527.
I showed up fully expecting to be met by my PR contact, but I was greeted by the pastry wizard, co-owner and man of the hour himself, Pang Kok Keong, which was a very pleasant surprise. It’s been a while since we last met, so it was really nice to chat while munching. We started with The Normandy ($13), a beef burger with blue cheese, Fuji apple, Dijon mustard and caramelized onions, perfectly crisp thick-cut Whoopie Fries ($8) and one of Pang’s personal faves, The Hottest Dogg ($10), a pork sausage smothered with spicy meat sauce and relish, stuffed in a homemade bun and topped with melted cheddar. We also shared beer-battered fish fingers ($12) and my newfound obsession, The ***** Mac ‘n’ Cheese ($16), made with five different cheeses: Montery Jack, mascarpone, blue cheese, gouda and cheddar. Heavenly.
There was also a classic sticky date pudding ($10), just stodgy enough to be decadent but not cloying, complete with homemade vanilla bean ice cream and butterscotch sauce, a giant serving of waffles with maple syrup, whipped cream and yet more ice cream ($8.50) and a mug of uber rich hot chocolate with a housemade marshmallow cloud ($6.50) that I could’ve sworn I was floating on. It was enough to make any girl swoon. And I hadn’t even started on the display counter of sweet pastries to be had. Needless to say, I had to roll myself out of the place. Now, I’m really looking forward to the opening of Antoinette.
Thanks so much for all the delish treats Pang, you can be my sugar daddy any day.
