Yet another crepe…

Jingwen and I met for the final time last night. It is most probably our last meeting because she has to go to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, and will only return Sunday, which is the exact day I’ll be leaving. Hopefully we can at least meet up in the airport; I’m crossing my fingers that we might have sufficient time to maybe even have one last dinner together.

We had a wonderful time together today, but this time was a bit more solemn because at the back of my mind, I could not forget the fact that this might be the last time I’ll be seeing my dear friend for a very long time…This is a small world, but when it comes to this, the world seem to vast for me!

Jingwen treated me again last night! I felt a bit bad about it, but I think the fact that I’m eating well and clearly gaining some weight makes her very happy. Originally she wanted to go to Out of the Pan again, but since we’ve already been there three times and I’ll be visiting that place tonight with my old gymnastics friends, we decided to try someplace new.

We went to Canele, a French patisserie chocolaterie that also serves classic French cafe-style foods. It seems that in Singapore, every coffee shop, ice-cream parlor, pastry/bakery shop, chocolaterie, etc. all doubles as a restaurant! I find it kind of weird, but since they seem to serve good food anyway, I’m not complaining. But you don’t see Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Daaz in America selling burgers along with their ice cream, do you? Though Starbucks seem to be getting just as ambitious with their broadening menu…

Anyway, Canele was quite awesome. It has a very romantic, modern and sleek atmosphere, with dark lighting, posh couches, and a big fountain in the middle.

The food was amazing, too, though I might as well have gone to Out of the Pan because I ordered crepes again! Please excuse me for ordering the same kind of stuff again, but I’m indulging myself in as many crepes as possible before I leave because I can’t find any where I live in America!

I ordered a savory crepe:

Roasted chicken, figs compote, tomato, gruyère cheese sauce

I was pleasantly surprised to see the different presentation of this crepe. Instead of being rolled up like a wrap, the filling was scattered on top of the crepe like a pizza, and then sealed along the edges and baked briefly again, so that the whole thing came out big and square-shaped and flat. Cool, huh?

The greens that came on top of it was lightly dressed in some sort of vinaigrette, which I pushed to the side because I don’t really like salad dressings. But the rest? 

It was freaking amazing.

Honestly, what can go wrong when you have figs compote in your food? And a rich, creamy layer of gruyère cheese sauce? The figs were so chewy and sweet and sort of caramelized, and went amazing with the smokiness of the cheese and roasted chicken, the juicy tomato, and the eggy crepe.

I think if there was a bit more of that delicious gruyère cheese sauce, this crepe would be better than all the other crepes I’ve had at Out of the Pan. But unfortunately, Canele isn’t as generous as Out of the Pan with their fillings! (Perhaps that explains the different crepe presentation. What a scam!)

Jingwen ordered the Rustic bacon and pea soup:

Bacon and peas with baby corn and caramelized onion in a rich chicken broth

It was…weird. It tasted like an Asian-style French onion soup. If only they left out the baby corn, it would have been quite good. The baby corn ruined the whole dish, and none of us touched it besides a few slurps.

The soup came with these bread:

Sort of dried out, but that’s okay since they’re for dipping in the soup.

Jingwen also ordered a smoked salmon pasta:

Spaghettini sautéed with onion, white wine, cream, smoked salmon and fresh dill.

Fortunately, this one tasted pretty good. The cream wasn’t overbearing, and the smoked salmon was the perfect flavor, not too bland but not too salty.

I’m kind of surprised. When I first came to Singapore, I thought I would be craving local food all the time. But after sampling some of my old favorites, I found myself satisfied with just a taste of them, and now I just crave western food like sandwiches, wraps, pasta, soup, steak, etc! Things I can readily get in America!

And the more surprising thing is, I really really want to sink my teeth into some good Mexican or Middle-eastern food. Which is so weird, because they never really appealed to me when I was in America. I mean, can you believe I’ve never even tried Chipotle?

Part of the reason was because of my eating disorder. I never dared venture to other foods besides my “safe” prepackaged, microwaveable meals from Lean Cuisine or Kashi. But now that I’ve kicked the habit of having to know the exact nutritional information of everything that enters my mouth, I can’t wait to try everything I didn’t allow myself to!

Oh, and the sweet, lovely Katherine from Smoky Mountain Cafe passed me this amazing award!

The Renee Award is one of the most meaningful awards in blog world because it honors someone who is incredibly inspirational in her intelligent and witty writing. And by doing so, this award celebrates women’s smart, strong and inspirational spirit! It honors women who spread joy and love like an Acorn……a small package growing into a tall and sturdy oak tree which gives more acorns…………..

Aaaww, I’m so touched and flattered! Thank you so much, Katherine! You’ve been the most wonderful angel to me with all your comforting and encouraging comments.

I would like to pass them down to these other beautiful people:

Megan from Sunshine ‘n Spice
Marta from Just Call Me Marta
Debbie from Oh so Ravenous 

This time I managed to withhold myself and stick to only three, so that there are more to pass it forward to!

Have a great week, everyone! I’ll be back from my dinner from Out of the Pan (are you groaning or drooling? Heh heh!)

Question of the day: Is there a certain restaurant you always frequent and can never get sick of? What is it, and what do you usually order?