Nectarie: a congregation of dessert monsters
without much further ado, I shall present my review for the most recent outing to Nectarie. Thank you to Ladyironchef, Vicki and Fen for providing the photos. It gets so much easier when you have all those DSLRs flashing around. I pity the cakes though. All the papparazi action probably contributed a little to its drier than usual textures.. *bah*
I'm sure it wasn't pure coincidence when a last minute invite sent to 7 of us, Fen, Vicki, Evan, Brad, Weili, Claire came through. Seeing the throngs of happy faces and gleeful smiles behind the camera lens on a lovely (but HOT) tuesday afternoon sure was nothing short of a miracle. The company was indeed precious as much as the stimulating conversation that flowed between the tastings and the horrible remarks being thrown around. Commends going out to the staff who turned a deaf ear to the racket we were creating at the corner of the elongated shop front. Perhaps silently, they shared the same sentiments regarding their products?moving on to the 'stars' of the day, first up, we had the fortune of ordering 7 cakes to share
amongst us since there was a tea time promotion for all cakes at half price with the purchase of a drink. First up (not in order of merit), the Pistachio White Chocolate (pistachio creme brulee between vanilla sponge and raspberry jam). To be honest, this was VERY VERY disappointing. The pistachio flavor failed to come through. The layers of colors though thoroughly vivid and captivating, was lacklustre in term of taste contrasts. overall, too sweet for my liking.
Next up, the Dark Chocolate Opera. Upon first glance, the parched texture couldn't have 
fooled anyone. Reluctant to try this, I took a tiny forkful at the tip of the rock-hard slice and nibbling the edges of the dry almond sponge, trust me, i never headed back for any more after. SKIP!
.jpg)
Moving on to the next platter. I was distinctively happy to spot this piece of cake perched beautifully in the middle of the plate drizzled with raspberry sauce (actually all the plates were decorated the same way.. *yawn* ..) The Carmelized Banana and White Chocolate (chunky caramelized bananas in white chocolate on a crunchy base with light banana sponge) was to be the primadonna of the entire cast. Excellent in its combination of flavors and contrasting textures. I fell in love with the slight bitterness of the caramelized bananas together with the sultry sweet flavor of the white chocolate mousse. This as Fen recommended was the star attraction. I say she was probably lucky for having picked the only two good cakes during her last visit. haha.
.jpg)
Shifting my fork across the table after a dreamy bite of the last cake, I attacked the Chocolate Terrine with Coconut Mousse . This had a dubious image entirely with two fudgey layers of chocolate sandwiching a white slice with a bit of agar-agar consistency. But with my first bite, I was sold. The chocolate sponge was incredibly moist, almost bearing resemblence to a cakey brownie and the traces of coconut rum soaked within highlighted the infusion of coconut and chocolate in this harmonious assembly. Many of my companions favored the coconut mousse within but i much preferred digging into the chocolate sponge.
Tiramisu.. bah.. nothing can hold a candle to the one I always have at Galbati. And true as it is, the Nectarie version was a bit odd with the ladyfingers within reduced to mush after being oversoaked in coffee syrup. The mascarpone cheese lacked a little somethin' somethin' and the liquor taste was almost invisible. SKIP!
introducing to you the poor Granny Smith's Apple Crumble that underwent the oven heating up procedure not once but twice.. gosh.. that probably explains why the overall texture of the dessert was a little on the dry side. And please.... be more generous with the apple fillings would you? gosh.. I'm not paying to eat a mouthful of dry crumbles.. Could do better with a scoop of vanilla bean icecream on the side. Give this a miss next time.
Last of all, the Parfait of Dark and White Chocolate. I don't even want to talk about it. This was such a let down. With its shiny and omniscent appearance. I was expecting much more. Only to be stumped by dry innards with an overwhelming taste of whipping cream. *bleah*Nonetheless, despite the horrible remarks being thrown around. What matters most is the company. For which i can safely say that was the best thing out of the entire afternoon. Looking forward to more meetups!
7 comments:
Alright, even Sihan has posted the Nectarie comments... I simply enjoy looking at various write-ups on the same cakes and same place...
No wonder LIC felt that I am holding back comments when I didn't... I think I am not that picky after all... hehe... or maybe I am too engrossed talking to all of you that I didn't scrutinize them enough...
Yea, so many place to hunt and we are all so excited that we don't know which day to go. Brad must be having a hard time...
all of u are such experts in write-ups, using bombastic terms & phrases. think i'm the worst (and laziest) among the lot, can't be bothered to write much haha.
sinny, we're going to seventh heaven w/o u on sat! sure u don't wanna join us? anyway its tentatively gonna be just fen, yuan & me.
omgawd sihan I don't where to post this comment but I was just randomly looking at Graze's dessert menu when I saw that they have "a warm Michel Cluizel bittersweet chocolate tart fresh banana, caramel and vanilla bean ice cream"! Check the menu out!
You all may wish to brunch and dessert(S) there haha. :)
omg the graze menu looks fab! thx for sharing ice. sinny, we shd check out graze one of these days too :p :p another good reason to go back to rochester park again? haha.
Fen: yeh! I love reading everyone's comments as well. Always a little different for each featured cake.
and poor Brad... too many places to go! haha. must be having a major headache.
ice: Thanks ice for the recommendations! my gosh.. bittersweet tart! gawd.. the thing about Michel Cluizel chocolates is that most of them have inherited this citrusy flavors. Which i don't quite favor. But with caramel and vanilla bean icecream thrown in! WHY NOT! haha.
have u been there before?
Evan: hey Evan.. doesn't that branch menu look great. I remember putting it down on my 'to-try' lists after seeing it featured on chubby hubby's blog a long time ago. But i kinda forgot. Always thought it would make a sunday morning complete! haha. we should go back!
wow wow, you wrote yr review already. the write-up's excellent, the words used are very nice, i must learn from you : )
haha i'm all right, used to organised outings already, so any outings just ask me organise. haha! yeah no problem, we can go graze, i got 30% discount for them. anybody game?
LIC: nah.. my english is lyke terrible sometimes! not to mention my spelling errors. *groanz*.
I'm up for graze!!! *raises hand for Evan too* hehe. brunch.. i love that meal!
Post a Comment