Tuesday, December 7, 2010

ToTT store

After several attempts of cooking and baking in my kitchen, I looked at my empty kitchen, pondering where to purchase my bakeware and kitchenware. Particularly for baking, I realize different pastries require different bakeware.

Tarts is something that I have been wanting to learn and after looking through the internet for some recipes, I realized I needed pastry cutters or tart rings of a specific dimension. I thought these things were easily available considering my workplace is near Chip Bee Gardens with Poon Huat, Pantry Magic and Shermey's Cooking School within reach. I was wrong completely.

Pretty insistent on baking the tarts on that very day, I realize google wasn't of much help in identifying bakeware shops in Singapore and I only managed to call Sia Huat, Lau Choy Seng (劉再成), Spotlight and Ikea. Boy, I was so disappointed. Although Lau Choy Seng has what I want, I have two problems, first they close early (at 6pm) and second, these things aren't cheap.

In the end, I have decided to get a set of pastry cutters at $42 in one of the shops at Chip Bee Gardens and end up baking tarts of varying sizes that very night.

I don't know how many fellow newbies have faced this problem, at least, I did and when I got an invitation to visit ToTT Store and to attend a cooking class of my choice on the very next day after baking my first batch of tarts. I really appreciate this Kitchen Wonderland that houses a cooking school, a bistro and a retail area that stands at a massive 36,000 square feet.

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Judging from the tone of my writing, one would have guessed that I have managed to get what I want at half the price and what surprises me further is that the similar set of pastry cutters I have gotten was sold for less than $30. You can imagine how excited I was after getting my tart rings and yes, I did make my tarts of the same size which will be published soon.

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With a 20,000 square feet of retail space, one can imagine the amount of items sold here and having featured in the newspapers recently, one can expect a huge range of kitchen products and essential tools to aid one's cooking, baking and hosting endeavours.

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With such a comfortable shopping environment, most would be wondering the pricing of the items and for those who have read my introduction, the pricing of the items are reasonable, if not cheaper than the major retailers.

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My regular readers would have noticed us purchasing plates, cutlery and props to take photos of the take-aways. Since we do not have our own kitchen last year and that we are not buying in bulk, we tend to get these items from major departmental stores, ending with a huge burn in our pockets. As for Daiso, although the items are priced at $2, the plates aren't very suitable for photography, be it the size or contours.

So, when we saw such huge collection of plates, you can imagine the twinkle in our eyes. I was exhilarated when I saw the price tags.

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The items available are so extensive that you can find almost anything of varying sizes and the clear signage of each section makes it easy to navigate. Ample space between each section makes it relaxing to browse through the items.

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When you have everything under 1 store, it makes things alot more convenient. Not only do you save time, you also save money on transport and if you are a ToTT member.

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The Bake & Go corner at ToTT is another highlight of ToTT. Often, parents are faced with a dilemma to get a baking oven for their children, in particular when they are introduced to cooking shows or Home Economics lessons. Somehow or rather, it seems to be a dream for most to have a personal baking experience.

No? At least, this is applicable to Yuan, he has baked 5 batches of cookies ever since his ribbon cutting ceremony for the oven and he enjoyed every single one of them.

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Anyway, back to Bake & Go, this corner allows visitors and their children to experience the entire baking process without the fuss of cleaning up. Guests can purchase a can of dough at the corner, add in the cookie fillings, cut the dough into shapes, pop them into the ovens provided and enjoy piping hot cookies in 30 minutes.

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As seen from the photos, ToTT is set to become a lifestyle destination for anyone that is interested in cooking, baking and hosting. As mentioned, there is a cooking school and bistro within the premises; and we will blog on our hands-on cooking experience in the next post.

Lastly, we did dine at the bistro but due to time constrait and our poor tummy, we have set our cameras aside and dig in. The bistro is headed by Chef Xu Tianmu with Chef Sam Leong as the consultant chef. Food-wise, they are rather decent and the concept is pretty similar to Ikea. The Poached Salmon and Chicken Leg priced at $7.90 each were decent in portion and taste. Durian Fritter might be a highlight to some and I enjoyed the Mushroom soup thoroughly.

Time to sign off as I am going to search for more recipes before dragging Yuan to sign his card for more bakewares and kitchenwares.

ToTT Store
896 Dunearn Road
#01-01A
Sime Darby Centre
Singapore 589472
Tel: 6219 7077

Operating Hours (for store):
10:30am to 9:30pm (Mon -Sun)
Website

8 comments:

Amasou Umasou said...

Haha, this place tops my to-go list in the cafe category. Thanks for the review :)

Fen said...

You are most welcome =)

Anonymous said...

Dear ToTT Members, have you redeemed your Birthday Voucher yet? BEWARE of the trick of the vouchers that you're going to receive.

As you can see, before you signed for the membership, it is written on the benefit & privilege mentioned "50% cash voucher birthday treat". But I'm afraid it is not a treat, but a TRICK instead.

Both me and my husband is ToTT member. We've got two cards here. Today, we went to the store to redeem our Birthday Voucher. But to our surprise, we received 4 pieces of S$25 voucher, BUT THIS VOUCHER VALID ONLY WITH A MINIMUM SPEND OF S$100 IN A SINGLE RECEIPT. And the trick doesn't end here. It cannot be used for purchase of books, appliances and gift vouchers as well.

Oh! Interesting isn't it? And the vouchers only valid for ONE MONTH. Which means, if i want to make full use of that 4 pieces of vouchers, I will have to spend S$400!!! This is totally ABSURD! What a way to trick the customers!!!

So, i spoke with the Manager (CK ONG). To my disappointment, he says "Oh, it is like that. This is the management's decision. Nothing i can do" and bla bla bla...

I somehow feel that... Might as well ToTT store give 10 pieces of S$5.00 vouchers! And in order for customers to use their S$5.00 vouchers, they have to spend S$100. That would be even better! Because the customers end up will have to spend S$500 in order for them to enjoy their so-called "Birthday-Tricks" that you'd set up for the customers.

I had been introducing ToTT store to my friends, colleagues and family. All of them are members now. But this is totally a shame. If ToTT store cannot afford to give the so-called benefits, then, don't advertise!

I hope the management of ToTT store will not behave un-professionally by deleting this comment. And I hope there's explanation as well.

Fen said...

I have forwarded your complaint to ToTT and hopefully they will get back to you on the matter.

Just to clarify, this is a personal blog and is not affiliated to ToTT in any manner. Hence, please do not misunderstand should there be no follow up through this site as this is not the official channel for complains.

Fen said...

Anonymous, with regards to your complaint, ToTT would like you to channel your feedback to enquiry@tottstore.com as they would like to be able to answer to you not on this blog.

Anonymous said...

My friends said to go to Tott. What's Tott and they said, just go. With no idea what Tott was (did not read the papers either), it was a pleasant surprise. Good lay-out, pleasant staff (weekday), reasonsable prices (than expected), items well displayed - what is there not to like? I will go again to shop w a list.

ToTT Store said...

Hi Fen,

Thank YOU for the very kind review of ToTT. We hope you will come by again, and often!

With regards to the Anonymous comment, we'd like to add that this is a duplicate of a post made by an Annie Takeda Mok on our ToTT Store Facebook Page. If you'd like to see our professional response to her accusations, please visit http://www.facebook.com/ToTTStore.

Thank you!

Best regards,
ToTT Store

Anonymous said...

hi Fen,
thanks for giving a heads up for the tart rings. I'd been hunting high and low for them all over town but to no avail. Guess I hadnt been looking hard enough. :)

thanks once again!

Alan

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