Swedish anyone?

Marché Restaurant ain't foreign to most people in Singapore. Previously, they had outlets in Suntec level 1 (a really huge dining place) and Heerens basement 1. But after some changes and I'm seriously not too sure what happened in between, the outlets closed one after another. They are seriously missed. Who can forget their famous (but very oily) rosti with sausages? And also, their crepes with Movenpick ice-cream!!! I was indeed sad for a while...

But not for long! A new outlet in Vivocity opens at level 3 since the opening of the mall itself!!! It's not my first time been to this new outlet and I had been enjoying the spread in the restaurant since its opening. So, probably highlight my most recent finds in Marché that you must try.

I've grown out of their rosti because they are really too oily. Have to look for healthier choice (or at least I don't feel sinful eating them) as a replacement. And look what I found!!! Spanish Paelle!!! Or I will term it as Spanish seafood rice.

Large plate of steamed rice with a tint of tomato sauce with huge tiger prawns, chunks of chicken, mushrooms, tomato and bits of pepper (both red and green). The dish is an eye-candy. Colourful. Fragrance. Mouth-watering. It taste even better than it looks. The sweet taste rapidly covers all the taste buds and you will want to shaft in a second spoon. It's not oily. Steamed to perfection. Portion large enough to fill you up. Single portion at $15.90. Must try!!!

How about a main course to a meal for two? That rice is definitely not enough to fill 2 people. Saw this on their board for the catch-of-the-day -- Brown Garoupa with pumpkin and mashed potato. I'm not too sure if this is coming back on their daily menu but if you do see it, please try.

Two large portion of brown garoupa pan-fried till crisp, topping with mashed potato with pumpkin and sauce. The fish was soooooooo fresh that it goes in smoothly. The item I was curious on the dish was the mashed potato with pumpkin. Mashed potato is so common that we can now find them in 7-11 stores. But mixed it up with pumpkin? Hmmmmmmm... It deserves a try. And it is heaven!!! The smoothness of mashed potato with the sweetness of golden pumpkin. Try it with the brown sauce and it brings out a more instense taste within your mouth. $14.90 for a portion like this. Worth it.

But I ain't sure if the mashed potato with pumpkin was made for Halloween only. From what I can remember, they serve only the standard mashed potato previously. Do ask the staff for more details.

Need some vegetables for disgestion? Grab a plate from the vegetables counter. Comes in small, medium and large plates. You are free to mix whatever vegetable you see on the counter (cooked of course). My favourite is the mushrooms and baby potato. They usually have the greenies like kailan as well, but my dear prefers the above combination too. Can't remember the price but I think it ranges from $3.90 to $8.90, depending on the size.

Thirsty? Marché serves a huge variety of drinks to quench your thirst. From juices to beer. They have everything for everyone.

Saw this on the shelf -- lemongrass green apple tea. I usually go for their lemonade or ice lemon tea but this caught my eye almost immediately. My first thought was lemongrass + green apple = weird taste. But think again, Marché don't put up food that cannot go down your throat in the first place. Moreover, a glass like this ain't cheap. $5.90 for a glass is super expensive!!!

So, to try, I grabbed a glass and off with a sip (after swipping the payment card of course). It's NICE~~~

The lemongrass is not over-whelming and should be acceptable for most people. Good drink to cover up the bad breathe actually after all the oily food. The green apple tea ain't too sour. At least for me of course.

And to end off the dinner, get a dessert. I usually take their crepes but it's time for a change.

We had fruit tart for a change. It's not those petite sized tarts you find in your neighbourhood confectionary shops. This is the real deal. Large portion with generous fruit servings. Strawberries, grapes and dark cherries. Nice! The crust had chocolate coated over before the custard was laid over, following by the fruits. But the crust was a lil too hard. There seems to be a hint of over-baked and burnt after taste. Not exactly a good impression.

Think it's about $5.90 per piece. Probably will try their other cakes instead. They had brownies, fruit cakes and many other small desserts like bread pudding and etc.

To enter Marché, you will need to queue for at least 25min. So do reach early to avoid a growling stomach. The queue explains it's popularity ya? Or maybe it's herd instinct?

And the verdict...

Taste - 4.5 / 5
What more can I ask for? Slight improvement needed for the fruit tart.

Appearance - 4 / 5
Good but could have been better. Sometimes they do use a large plate to serve small portion, which make it looks weird.

Portion - 4 / 5
Large for ladies but just nice for men.

Price - 3.5 / 5
Some items are really quite expensive while some are seriously value for money.

Ambience - 4 / 5
Love it. I need to go Sweden one day.

Location: Vivocity level 3

A new kind of assam experience

I am not exactly an assam fan but rather a chilli fan instead. As compared to other Asian spicy and chilli flavours, I am more inclined towards rendang, sambal and curry. But I do go head over heels when it comes to assam fish. Totally thumbs up.

Happened to pass by this fried dough fritters (油条) store in Square 2 quite a long while back and there was this mysterious signage outside that says "Lunch". Weird. A store that sells fried dough fritters selling lunch? Out of curiosity, my colleague and I was staring at the rather short menu on lunch sets. The first one that caught our eyes is the "Assam Rendang Chicken with Nasi Lemak".

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Are you kidding me? How to put assam and rendang together? Wait... Plus nasi lemak? No way man..."

That was our reaction at that point of time. But really. Assam and rendang are very different kind of spice with totally different taste that challenges individual's taste buds. Putting them together, though felt interesting, might also turn disastrous.

Moreover, this store specialises in fried dough fritters. No doubt there are posters over the store to proof that they were on the news previously for selling unique taste fried dough fritters like green tea and almond flavours. Going on something so adventurous like this might be a little too risky I felt.

Assam has this really sour and unqiue taste that most spices does not have. Many might dislike the taste in fact and find it very much close to an expired yogurt. The gravvy tends to be watery unlike the commonly seen curry gravvy from the nasi padang stores.

Rendang, on the other hand, are thick gravvy usually used on beef, lamb or chicken. Not only in appearance, the taste is also thick and heavy and the taste of spice will cover the mouth in speed of sound. This unique taste had soon became really popular since the successful making of the Channel 8 TV drama, Little Nyonya, as rendang is one of the popular dish in the peranakan culture.

Bringing up the courage a couple of days back, my colleague and I decided to give it a try. Went to the store and ordered each a set of the Assam Rendang Chicken with Nasi Lemak. It is going for S$4.90 per set. We did not queued long but not because the business was bad. We were early actually to beat the lunch crowd. The queue started growing slightly after 12.15pm.

Each set is served with a seperate bowl of the assam rendang chicken. On the main plate served with a straw tray similar to that of the ayam penyet straw plate, the portion of nasi lemak rice seemed huge for a lady but just nice for an average male. Pretty large portion of ah-char and halfed hard-boiled egg. And wait, halfed fried dough fritter? Weird combination but probably it is because the fried dough fritter is their signature.

Close up on the assam rendang chicken.

The gravvy still soupy and there is indeed a strong assam taste. However, the rendang taste was really too mild to feel it. But you can still taste it lightly. The chicken, sad to say, was not marinated long enough. Though cooked close to perfection and not too tough to chew on, the taste was really very... erm... chicken!!! I could not taste any form of spice marinate on the chicken itself.

On the nasi lemak, it is too dry and a little tough to swallow. Even though the taste of coconut is strongly accounted, it felt like the rice was not cooked. We had to mix some gravvy to the rice but that will cover the original taste of nasi lemak. The ah-char was probably one of the best in the whole set. The cucumber was crunchy and the portion was generous. Not too spicy for those not into chilli. On the signature fried dough fritter, seriously speaking, nothing special. It tasted just like any other fried dough fritter we find in the wet market food centres. But, it is alot less oily as compared to the others. So, for the health concious eaters, you might want to consider this if you have the craving for fried dough fritters.

Hmmmmmm... Just realised that their "set lunch" does not include drinks or soup or desserts! So where is the "set"?

Will I go back again? Probably for the others on the lunch menu instead.

Taste - 3 / 5
Not exactly the kind of taste I was hoping for. Could have been better. At least improve the rice please.

Appearance - 3.5 / 5
Nothing fantastic. Very hawker style.

Portion - 4 / 5
Just nice for an average male. Might be too much for a lady unless you have good appetite.

Price - 2.5 / 5
The set does not include any other stuff except the main course itself. So where is the set? At least a drink right? So, paying S$4.90 for this, I don't think highly about it. Not exactly value for money.

Ambience - 4 / 5
Clean! I love the place but probably because I was early. I like the way they make it close to something familiar for many eaters. Very 70s.

Location: Novena Square 2 Mall level 2