A Macaron Review :3

After trying out the macarons from Le Carpe Diem, I can say that I have fallen in love with these little tricky bites of delicious-ness. Every bite of macaron was like a little food-explosion in my mouth! I couldn't help but go back again, and again, just to buy their macarons! I think I've gone back like 3 times so far? Yes...their macarons are to-die-for! :) It also doesn't help that my chiropractor is like 15 mins walk away from this French cafe. :( So every time, after I'm done with my chiropractor, I take it upon myself to exercise and walk to that place and get my fix of macarons, as and when I need it. :P

Haha. I've even introduced my friend and housemates to the macarons and they loved it! Yay! :D Such a nice feeling when your recommendation is recognized and acknowledged! Happy. :) Anyway, while I was sharing + posting about these macarons, I heard of another macaron place in Adelaide, known as the Mac Factory (TMF). Intrigued, I searched it up online and realized that it was just <5 mins walk away from my chiropractor! What a coincidence! So being the foodie at heart, I felt compelled to check that place out and compare it against Le Carpe Diem (LCD). :) But apparently, it's even more 'popular' than LCD because it has funny working hours, and I had to make sure that they were open before I popped by. =/

Since I was going to do a comparison, it made sense to buy the same flavours as they have at LCD; salted caramel, lemon and raspberry.

Macarons from The Mac Factory

Macarons from The Mac Factory; Salted Caramel, Lemon & Raspberry

As you can see, the macarons from The Mac Factory looks just like all the ordinary macarons out there.

Macarons from Le Carpe Diem

Macarons from Le Carpe Diem; Salted Caramel, Lemon & Raspberry.

Yep. I bought the same flavours. But as you can see from the pictures, LCD macarons are smaller but the shell is higher and the filling looks to be more generous than TMF. TMF macarons are $2.50 each whereas LCD macarons are $2.80 each.

Review

Taste-wise, Le Carpe Diem macarons win hands-down. The flavours of each individual macaron was stronger than The Mac Factory and it tasted genuine. With TMF, I had this plastic after-taste in my mouth which was rather unpleasant to be honest. :( And only the salted caramel macaron was decent. There was barely any taste of lemon and only a hint of raspberry. Yes, TMF macarons are $0.30 cheaper and bigger too, but quality over quantity, LCD is the overall winner. Plus LCD macarons look so pretty, it's like a work of art! The pastry shell from LCD macarons are melt-in-your-mouth, it's truly how macarons should be! Whereas I found that the shell from TMF macarons were a bit too chewy, I can feel it sticking onto my teeth. :( Another thing that I really love about LCD macarons is the filling. Oh man! Their fillings are so delicious and it is different from TMF and the other average macarons out there. It's like a combination of ganache + buttercream. So, so, so, so good! It just makes me want to eat more of their macarons! :( 

The filling inside. (LCD macarons)

I did a time test too. In other words, I only ate the macarons (bought from both LCD and TMF) 2 days after I bought them, under the same conditions, barely a week apart. The LCD macarons tasted as good as I bought it on day 1, whereas TMF macarons tasted a little stale (probably explains the plastic after-taste that I had). =/

Summary

Le Carpe Diem 1: The Mac Fac 0

So yes, overall, I wouldn't buy TMF macarons again unless I have a really bad craving for macarons and LCD is too far for me to travel (which is not going to ever happen since LCD is just like 10-15 mins walk away from TMF). TMF's macarons are average at best, the only good thing is that they offer more variety than LCD. But quality-wise, I'm not really that taken in. 

With that said, I would really like to try out other macaron places to see if LCD's standard can actually be beaten by others. Or would the authentic French bakers win, in this case? ;) Stay tuned!

Le Carpe Diem Cafe Creperie // BEST Macarons

Bonjour!

Recently, I was searching online for a list of cafes/restaurants that I haven't been to, in Adelaide. And I found a fair few, some came with recommendations from friends. :) I chanced upon this quaint cafe while googling online and I'm so glad I came across it. I think Adelaide is doing pretty well recently, there's so much new cafes sprouting up and the food is really good too! :)

What made me sit up and notice this cafe was that it's French. Yes, finding a French cafe in Adelaide is like finding a gem in the coal mines! Haha. Okay, that's such a lame analogy. But it came with very good reviews too, such that I was so tempted to go and try it with a friend. And I was praying that she will want to go to that place too! And she did!! Yay!! :) I was very happy when I found out that she wanted to try that French cafe too! :D Great minds think alike! :) 

So off we went, on a sunny spring day, to broaden and explore our horizons on French food ! 

Writing the opening hours on the glass! :)

The French decor. I love the lamp at the corner. :)

This is where they make their coffee and the left is where they make their crepes fresh. :) 

The staff were all from France and spoke real French. It was really like coming to France without actually hopping onto the plane! It's a good place if you know French and want to practice your French. =P

Another thing I wanted to come to this cafe is because this cafe serves gluten-free food. And being a student dietitian, I was very interested in that! Haha. I've tried gluten-free food in the past, even though I don't have to, but I wasn't impressed with gluten-free food at all. The bread is just plain unpalatable, to say so in the least. It was more of a cake-consistency rather than a bread. :/ So I was very interested to try out the gluten-free food here! :)

The food menu. Simple yet informative. The names are mostly in French but the descriptions are in English.

Stated clearly that their galettes (savoury crepes) are suitable for those who have coeliac and diabetes. :D

Let's move on to the FOOD, shall we? After all, that's the main highlight of our trip. :) 

What's a French cafe without pastries? Yum.

French Puff Pastry filled with sultanas

The gateaux cabinet filled with yummy desserts! Top: Salted caramel creme patisserie, chocolate eclairs, chocolate mousse.
Bottom: Chocolate lava cakes (gluten-free), __ cake, macarons (lemon, raspberry and salted caramel)

Top: Lemon, chocolate and lemon meringue tarts. Bottom: Nuts and fruit tarts. 

The chocolate lava cakes with dried fruits inside that are gluten-free. :)

A special french dessert that's chocolate mousse with pear mousse on top of a praline peanut base.
Wanted to try this, if not for my sore throat. :(

My friend and I decided to start off with main courses first, since we haven't eaten lunch yet. So we both ordered the savoury galettes (crepes made with buckwheat flour). I ordered the Saint Malo Galette (mushrooms with swiss gruyere cheese, tomatoes and egg) with a sweet cider and my friend ordered the Brest Galette (chicken with goats cheese, tomatoes and olive oil) with Spring Juice (rose, strawberries and raspberries).

My sweet cider that came in a red 'bolee', a bowl-cup. This French cider is a little stronger than the normal cider. :)
And the cutlery that came in a metal tin with the table sign: 23! :) 

Saint Malo ($12.50)

This buckwheat flour crepe is indeed my first time tasting buckwheat flour! The crepe itself was crispy and light, it tasted a bit like wholemeal but a lot lighter. What I loved about this crepe was that it is super cheesy (every bite had this long strand of cheese attached to it), the ingredients were generous (heaps of mushrooms and tomatoes) and the runny egg yolk! YUM! :D This filled me up to about 3-quarts, just nice enough for dessert space. :)

Happy friend with her Brest Galette ($14) and Spring Juice ($8.90). :)

After our main courses, even though we were kinda full, we still went ahead with desserts because the pastry table and gateaux cabinet were too tempting for us to resist! We even chatted with the knowledgeable and friendly lady boss, Djani Goodes, where she introduced to us the variety of French desserts and pastries they had on board and even snippets of French cuisine. :) Gained a little bit more knowledge on French cuisine and how they managed to have so many delicious desserts yet they are not worried about gaining weight! It's because they eat quality food in small amounts. e.g. they only eat a small square of good quality dark chocolate and pair it with a fruit coulis.

We were so spoiled for choice with our desserts! Didn't know which to choose, in the end, we decided to share! :D Best decision ever! :D We chose the salted caramel creme patisserie and 1 each of the different flavoured macarons! :) 

Salted Caramel Creme Patisserie

This dessert was truly a delight to eat! The pastry outside was soft and light and the creme caramel was so light and fluffy! I thought it will be too sweet to eat, but no, the salted caramel had just the right tinge of sweet and salt to it, that it went perfectly well with the fresh whipped cream and sweet strawberries. Truly a sweet feast.

L-R: Lemnon, Raspberry and Salted Caramel

The BEST macarons I've had to date! Seriously. I don't usually order macarons because they are overly sweet, even with the fruity flavours! But THIS! This changed my mind!! They were absolutely scrumptious! Each macaron was infused with the actual real fruit/ingredient and they didn't taste like artificial flavours. These macarons had a gooey centre where I could taste really aptly lemon, raspberry and salted caramel in each of the respective macarons. It was not overly sweet too! Absolutely delicious! :D

After eating this, I'm sold on their macarons alone! This, I would come back for!! Haha. Actually I tried to do so 2 days after coming here, but it was closed on Monday, sadly. :( So I didn't manage to satisfy my macarons craving!

My chai latte ($4), which went perfectly well with the desserts. :)

This chai latte was a perfect combination with the desserts that we ate. :) I love that it's not too cloying sweet such that it clashed with the desserts, instead it complimented the desserts. And it was the perfect ending to my meal as well. :) This place is definitely a place I would go to, over and over again. :) 

Food: 4.5/5. Service: 4/5. Value: 4/5. Ambience: 4.5/5. 

Le Carpe Diem Cafe Creperie

230-232 Grenfell Street

Adelaide, SA 5000

-Closed on Mondays. 

-Tuesdays-Saturdays 8am-5pm

-Sundays 9am-5pm

Spring! :)

Spring is here!! :) And I'm beyond excited! Haha. I've realized rather belatedly on why I have survived winter for the past 3 years... it was because of the HEATERS! Yes, I had 2 heaters that I continuously kept on, especially at night. Being able to stay in the uni hostels is really a blessing. :) Moving out to a new place was when I realized that electricity is really very expensive in Australia. :( So I had to go without heaters during winter this year. And it was soooo cold!! No kidding. :( I was so not used to it... I could just wear 1-2 layers last time, and this time round, even though I wore like 4-5 layers, it still wasn't enough! :O That cold. 

So yes, I'm really excited for spring weather! Haha. And spring in Adelaide this year, has been a totally new season! One that reminds me of Singapore's heat minus the humidity, in the daytime, and then the weather turns chillier at night. But I'm enjoying it nevertheless. I can wear shorts, skirts, dresses and t-shirts without feeling too cold! I reckon it's time to keep away the thicker layers! Whoop! :D 

I'll probably keep my rain jacket though because it's forecasted to rain this weekend. :( Oh well, I'm happy and blessed to have glorious weather for a few days. I just hope it won't become chilly again. It's nice to see the trees turning green again, instead of bare and spindly during winter. :/ 

Have a lovely week! xx 

Busy with Uni. :(

It's been a long while since I've posted. Uni's started and it's been pretty full on! So I've been quite busy trying to catch up. And the after-effects from my car accident have came back in full force to haunt me. :( I've resorted to seeing a physio and taking lots of painkillers to cope with the agonising pain. :/ I'm going to see a osteopath next week and see if that helps! Hopefully it does some wonders and I never have back pain again! :) Additional to that, I'm also down with the flu. So the past week, I can say, that it has been a pretty 'sick' week. Battling a sore throat, blocked nose and back pain (thank God that it's managed well with painkillers) can be quite difficult. And I'm not really managing it well as I've got assignments due as well. I thought this semester will be alright, but it's not. :(

2 of my research assignments are due next Friday. I think I'll have to ask for extensions if not I doubt I'll be able to complete as my flu medicines makes me pretty drowsy in the day. :( And I have 2-3 tutes a week which requires 1-2 days to prep in advance for it. So that doesn't leave me much time to do the 2 research assignments. :( Quite scared, I don't know even if I have medical certificate, can I still have a extension? :( But I will have to try!

Anyway! I was actually watching some video on Youtube, and I chanced upon Campus Superstar 3. The grand champion is seriously so good! And she's only 19 years old! Whoa! To get a score >55/60 is seriously quite good, especially in the finals! She reminds me of Campus Superstar 1, Teresa, who wow-ed the judges with her voice too. I love her songs '心痛' and '记得'. This young lady is a lookout for sure! :)

心痛

记得

Enjoy her voice! I've uni early tomorrow, got to go and sleep now! :) xx

Taipei Trip Summary

I went to Taipei recently, and it was so, so good! =D It was my first trip there and I must say that it's my new-found favourite country to travel to now!!! It was such an eye-opening experience, and even my mum who didn't want to go with me in the first place, I dare say she enjoyed herself too! :) She bought like truckloads of stuff back... it was insane! I dubbed her as the 'Shopping Queen #2'! Hahaha. My aunt's the 'Shopping Queen #1', that's why, but my mum (her sister) is trailing behind her, by a close shot!

I didn't manage to go to much night markets as I had initially planned to go for with my friends. Due to a car accident that I had 2 days before my planned trip, I had to back out and let them go instead. Boo. :( Was quite bummed out, but thank God for His Grace that I was able to go just before I flew back to Adelaide. :) My mum just doesn't fancy night markets and after visiting one of it, I think I'm not that used to it either. Haha. But I ate A LOT of fantastic food at Taipei, including seafood! My tummy was super happy the whole trip! It was gastronomic heaven because everything is like so much cheaper that you just tend to buy and buy, without considering thrice. Haha. Seafood and sushi were like 50-60% cheaper than SG and so, so fresh! Pretty much like visiting Japan, but much cheaper, I reckon. :)

For myself, I bought quite a number of facial masks and facial products. The masks there were so cheap. I think the most expensive that I bought was 2 boxes (5 masks each) for NTD 189, that came up to an estimate equivalent of $7.56 for 10 masks, so one mask was $0.70. The cheapest mask that I bought was <$0.50 for one sheet I think. =D Singapore is like at least twice of that for the cheapest and can go up to 6x for the good range. :O Yes, I know Korea is cheaper definitely, but I haven't been to Korea yet, so I can't say.

Food-wise: bought some cup noodles back, the 满汉大餐 instant noodles that all my friends and relatives raved about; we bought back mostly beef (because it tasted so much better) and some pork. I also brought back some Taiwan snacks, which was meant as souvenirs for my friends in Adelaide. I just wished I had brought back more Taiwan snacks because they were soooo good! The 太陽餅 (Sun Cake), 鳳梨酥 (Pineapple cake) and 芋头酥 (taro mochi pastry) were really good snacks that I recommend anyone to buy!

Taro Mochi Pastry

I don't really like to eat taro because it's usually quite sweet (especially when it's served in the Chinese yam dessert, orh-nee) but I actually love this one! It's super good, this flaky pastry has taro paste and a chewy ball of mochi inside! And it's not too sweet. Mmm. It was really delicious! :) I think it can only be bought at the airport in Taipei so it's not that fresh, but still better than nothing.

This is my shopping cart of things that I bought from Taipei. It looks a lot but only because I placed each item as individually whereas for my mum, I had to stack them up because I wouldn't be able to take a shot of her cart otherwise! Lol.

My shopping cart! =D 

Photo's a tad blur because I didn't realize it much earlier on, if not I would have taken another shot. :( Oh well. Half of it is facial stuff, the other half is food and maybe a quarter of it is shoes. Haha. I didn't buy any clothes this time round, mainly because I didn't have any money left to shop!! Most of our money was spent on EATING the food there! 

My mum's. 

Actually most of my mum's loots went to our relatives. She just kept buying and giving, and in the end what's left was not much at all. Haha. We even brought fruits back because they were so unbelievably cheap! But I didn't get to taste much of them just because I flew back to Adelaide 1 day after I came back from Taipei. :( Sigh. It was so insane trying to cart so much things back though, I think we had the most hand luggage amongst the 2 of us. I was so tired after packing and carrying all these stuff. 

The cartons of fruits that were so cheap! =D

My advice would be not to ever pack fruits back, it's too troublesome, unless you check them in! But I dare say the next time I go Taipei and if fruits are that cheap, I would most likely do it again. (face palm) Haha. I would buy extra check in luggage and check them all in!! =D Then, my headache would be facing all these boxes at Changi Airport. Hahahaha. 

Maybe I'll do a day by day catalogue of my trip there, but I don't know if I have time. I have quite a number of backdated posts to do! =/ I'll see how! :) Maybe I will start and stop halfway, maybe I will start and continue on through the very end. :)