Canelé's version of Egg Benedict is the Eggs Florentine ($13.50++) which is basically poached eggs with hollandaise, sautéed spinach, Paris ham on toasted brioche. I really love the presentation of this dish. Unlike the emptiness offered at Choupinette, Canelé has it nicely spread out with a generous serving of salad. Both poached eggs were nicely cooked with runny egg yolks and the introduction of spinach improves the overall taste. However, the amount of vinegar is too much in the hollandaise sauce, making it slightly sour to both our likings and that the texture of the egg white has changed alittle, probably due to excessive use of vinegar.
We had Canelé's carbonara ($13.50++) before and the impression of this was positive to get us to order again. As described, this is served with onion and bacon cream sauce sprinkled with aged Parmesan cheese. The addition of a poached egg makes it very different from a conventional carbonara which gets very cloying after several bites. Moreover, the spaghetti was perfectly cooked with just the right texture softness and that the fragrance of the bacon is so strong and overwhelming.
This is the 3rd time which we have eaten Le Royale and we felt that we needed to update our previous review. The mixture of taste when you bite would be: Chocolate mousse, Caramel, Hazelnut. Just based on the taste of the hazelnut praline, it lacks the crunch. Caramel as readers know, Yuan is not a fan of it and that I am neutral with it. This leaves the winning factor of Le Royale to be the chocolate mousse itself and chocolate mousse of high cocoa content. Overall, it is worth another try but Yuan would preferred to have a greater proportion of their chocolate mousse while me, a creamier and smoother chocolate mousse.
There is definitely an improvement from the last time we had this cake and now I love it so much that I have gladly finished the entire slice on my own. The texture is so much softer than the last time I had. Although the cream is not as light as Rive Gauche and BakerZin, the overall combination is worth mentioning and I would recommend it to Strawberry Shortcake lovers.
However, Yuan felt that apart from the softer texture. it still retains the grainy after-taste. Overall nice but does not really stand out from its rivals.
Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie (Shaw Centre)
1 Scotts Road
#01-01A, Shaw Centre
Singapore 228208
Tel: 6738 9020
Operating hours - 11am to 10pm daily
http://www.canele.com.sg/
19 comments:
didn't know canele serve poached eggs! glad that yr opinion towards the strawberry shortcake has changed.
and 咸咸的? LOL
i LOVE canele!... for their tarts, macarons & mousse cakes. seems like i should try their pasta soon =D
wah.. i like the poached eggs... is it avail thruout the day??
fen, classic Hollandaise sauce is made with butter, egg yolks and lemon juice so it's always a little tangy. Hence it may not be due to the vinegar in the hot water. Eggs benny uses muffins too, but sadly many places now replace the conventional muffin with toast/bread/focaccia (horrors). And to further clarify, traditional carbonara sauce does not use cream, only pure unadulterated butter, parmesan & ham/bacon is used & raw yolk added at the end to be cooked by the heat of the pasta.
As for the cakes, I'm biased against Canele's cakes HAHA so I've got nothing to say... expensive and sour. :)
Evan: Hehe, I have been eyeing for their poached eggs long enough and finally convinced myself that their strawberry shortcake is worth a second try. Anyway, I can't think of a better tag... hehe...
Elaine: They sure have a large selection of pastries... I haven't try their other pastas but I do like the way they do their carbonara.
FoodGymmie: Yep, available all the time but they are only opened at 11am apart from the branch @ Robertson Quay...
Ice: Yea, I understand that Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of butter, yolks and lemon (attempt to make my Eggs Benedict after my visit to Choupinette) but I specifically scoop some sauce and taste it on its own, the sourness is not one with slight sweetness which lemon juice has but rather a sharp one (thus relating it to vinegar).
As for carbonara, I guessed pasta is another abused dish in US since the bulk of the pasta we have encountered in Singapore has a creamy or milky base. when cream is not even used in Italian recipes. I have not really pay attention to original recipes and I guessed I can only make comparisons to what I have been eating all this while...
Anyway, I was biased to Canele's cakes too but as I get to try more, they are not bad after all. My issue with their cakes is that the serving is so huge that I feel like puking when I attempt to eat more than one... Poor Yuan is always absorbing the excess calories...
the-most-expensive-eggs-ever. haha. yeah didn't know canele serve eggs. hmm really ar, the shortcake was better? the last time i tried, wasn't impressive. doubt i will try again, there's so many others at canele i haven try
fen: That said, there're still quite a few places with good carbonara. :) I thought Canele's cakes are small and pricey. Big meh? You should have a bigger appetite for cakes haha. And from your experiences with their strawberry shortcake, do you realise Canele's not consistent with their deliverance? I mention sour coz I ever had sour cakes from them before. And I'm not the only one who has gripes about their cakes & desserts.
LIC: Haha, shouldn't miss out on their Le Royale. Ultimately, that is their signature...
Ice: Any recommendations? Yuan likes Carbonara but the places I know are pretty limited...
Be it inconsistent or an improvement from their old recipe, Raymond did mention that several customers did feedback about the dry texture of their Strawberry Shortcake so maybe the chef did do something about it...
Sour cakes? I fished out all your Canele's entries and I realized you had their Cafe Caramel, crepe and sandwich... Cafe Caramel, sour? Anyway, that is something I doubt I will try again... Just don't like dry cakes too...
Big in the sense that their cakes are only nice in the first 2-3 bites and subsequently I just don't even feel like eating it anymore... I don't mind a smaller portion at a lower price...
fen: I've eaten more cakes, macarons, desserts, sweet crepes, ice creams from Canele before I started this blog & during, l'amour, choc eclair, strawberry profiteroles, chloe, french toast (was good), souffles (all since retired from menu), tarte citron, gateaux chocolat, le royale and many others I can't remember, to name a few. With the exception of tarte citron (even if the meringue sinks) & earl grey icecream, most did not leave a good impression & I feel not worth a mention. Most often I do not like to blog bad food. I have reason to say the cakes are sour. And I really don't wish to say this here, but I once found a basketful of erm...ants on their pastries at Robertson. hahaha see my review on hgw. The dry cafe caramel was the last straw.
Still, I don't mind giving the cheesecakes a chance. Can't go very wrong with cheesecakes? I hope I'm right.
Hmm... not wanting to take more than 2-3 bites says alot about the cakes lol. :)
Ice: Hmm... I thought L'amour is Canele's signature and OMG, they actually served souffle in the past? Evan mentioned about their tarte citron being good but I am never a fan of lemon tart, apparently the equivalence @ Double Bay Australian Dining & bar and Aerins are better...
Saw your review on the ants alert at Canele... Frankly speaking, their staff are easily confused particularly on crowded days and I don't deny the fact I can easily point out an issue or two...
Out of the entire bunch of cakes, macarons and crepes I have tried at Canele, only Le Royale, macarons and probably Strawberry Shortcake deserved a second run... Cafe Caramel is dry (totally agreed), Caraibe, Gateaux Chocolat and Jupiter, to me, seems to be a solid block of chocolate but to Yuan was value for money, Tiramisu was well-received by Yuan but I dislike the sweetish bit on top of the cake, Matcha was good at the first 2-3 bites but... Haven't try their cheesecakes though...
Despite this, somehow or rather, I do get a fair share of people who felt that Canele is way better than BakerZin and I dunno why I have been going back on and off despite saying I wouldn't want to waste any more money and calories on it... Weird...
As for the cakes, you can't deny the fact that the ingredients used in Canele are of quite good quality but I thought it was overloaded and abused. A little is good and memorable, excessive use leads to it being cloying and extreme...
see.. i told you the strawberry shortcake isn't that bad. hha.
lol! sinny funny, suddenly pop in one line saying the strawberry shortcake isn't that bad. haha! but that time i had it, no good.
fen: Yes they did have souffles in their menu before but they sink haha so it's bad. There's a chestnut souffle & for the life of me I can't remember what's the other 2. The L'amour I was referring to is not the pink box that's available on display now, the latter is very new. I don't have a picture of the awesome old L'amour creation but here you go...
http://numbnymph.blogspot.com/2007/04/canele-my-favourite-ptissier.html
Brad: maybe the pastry chef was having a bad day that day lar. Give him a break. haah
Sihan: I guessed u prefer strawberry shortcake with abit more texture rather than just soft and springy... but I have to admit the one I had on Fri is good...
LIC: That was the leftover from BakerZin outing.
Ice: Thank you for the link, didn't know they have so many things in the past... So is the old L'amour creation good or is it sour till it puts you off?
Sihan: That is not professional if the cakes are inconsistent wor...
haha. true.. consistency is impt. But everyone is entitled to some off days. haha. I'm rather forgiving. haha.But its true.. I just need that extra texture. That's why I usually don't go for mousse-y cakes.
fen: You heard me say awesome l'amour creation... :)
Sihan: Oh, I didn't know you don't fancy mousse cakes... something I didn't know... No wonder you like Perla's.
Ice: Why am I always missing out the fine prints... Geez... Now I know your rating for their extinct L'amour... *Still pondering which is the sour cake*...
Had the Carbonara and Strawberry Shortcake on 20th Oct 09 during an office lunch... Surprisingly, Strawberry Shortcake gets too cloying when I attempt to finish it on my own.
On first bite, the smoothness of the chantily cream and moist sponge layers lingers perfectly on the palate but as I take more bites, I realized the milky cream becomes too much for me to stomach.
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