A Japanese Provence

When we speak of bakeries in Singapore, it would be a cardinal sin to leave out Provence. Provence is a (check this out) Japanese bakery, despite its French name, located in Holland Village. It is hugely popular and offers a wide range of breads. It is so popular they have since set up Petit Provence, a small store selling their most famous items, in the basement of The Central.

Presenting, my favourite bakery in Singapore. It's not just a bakery, it's also a cafe, with indoor and alfresco seating, so you can sip on coffee while having a tea-time snack, all while watching the world go by, very French indeed.

This is Provence's new layout. They have such an extensive selection that they have to pigeonhole all their breads and make use of all the vertical space they have. Very Japanese indeed. ;)
And if you think that's all the bread they have, you are sadly mistaken. They have even more! The choice is simply staggering.


First, we had the this custard roll. Sharon is absolutely in love with this. The custard is so smooth so eggy so milky.. It's very, very good. The custard melts in your mouth and then the taste lingers and erupts into pure warm comfort. I found it peculiar that the custard was cold while the bread was not. The bread was soft and fluffy and warm. The warm-cold combination of the two added to the sensory pleasure. It is a must-have for those with a sweet-tooth. I don't really like sweet stuff and I quite like it, so this must really be good.

Actually, it is a bit too sweet for me, but as I said, I'm really weird, I don't like sweet stuff. But Sharon just adores this one. I expect that most people will too. :)

The milk pan is also very good. The custard is a milky white and, like the custard above, so very smooth. It's like silk draped across your tongue, but richer and thicker. It's like a more solidified version of milk foam.

It tastes somewhat like the custard pan but different. The milky taste is a lot more prominent in this one and there is a slight tinge of sourness in the milk custard. This balances out the sweetness so that it is not treacly. The bread is also a little salty compared to the other breads. Again, this emphasises the taste of the custard. This is one of their hot favourites and for a reason too.

This is their brown rice anpan. One of my favourites.

The anpan is not too sweet and the texture is very coarse because the anpan is not grinded very finely. This is good. This is very good. You can taste and see the anpan skin. The skin is excellent. The top-most part is a bit 'crisp' but the inside is moist and soft.

The anpan is possibly the best I have ever had. It's sweet, but the sweetness is muted and does not overpower the bread. Many red bean buns out there are so sweet you only taste sugar and nothing else. Those are nauseatingly saccharine. Disgusting. You don't get to savour the bread properly. This anpan tastes healthy not decadent and is nothing short of first-rate. No other an pan has even come close.

This is my favourite of favourites. The brazilian cheese bun. It looks so normal and boring. And it costs a whopping 80c for that tiny bun. I would never have thought of trying that. But Sharon wanted to try it because she thought it sounded interesting. When I first tried it, I was in awe. These babies are Exceptional, with a capital E.

It's crusty on the outside, but the inside is exceedingly moist and chewy. It's like a crusty mochi except much better. The bun is also salty and very addictive.

I don't know how to describe it. You have to try this for yourself. It's one of a kind.

This is also available in The Central but those are sweet because there's a sprinkling of icing over them. The ones sold at Holland Village are so much more palatable. I love them.

The only thing is that you have to eat them while they're fresh if not they get too chewy and hard. Unless you are looking for a jaw-workout, eat it freshly-baked!

Look at the chewy chewy chewy bun! You can tell its really just air inside. It looks plain but its so scrumptious!! There is no filling just straight-up brazillian cheese bun goodness. The crust on the outside combined with the moist chewy inside is the most curious combination ever. Who needs filling with buns so good.

Provence

17A Lorong Liput

Holland Village

Singapore 277731

Fosters, the Steak Cafe

We never planned on going to Fosters. We wanted to check out the all-day brunch menu (burger inspired) at Relish but it was closed for an event today. We wanted to go to Bistro Petit Salut but we were too late for lunch. It seemed that almost every place was closed for lunch. Sharon wanted to go to Monster Mash but I didn't want to. She suggested pizza but I didn't feel like Italian. Fosters was like our last choice.

Not that Fosters is not good. In fact Fosters is one of my favourite places. Why? Because this is the only place where they know how to get my steak a beautiful medium-rare. And I always insist that steak is wasted unless it is done medium-rare. There needs to be a bit of blood, a bit of that raw fibrous texture. You need to taste the beef. 'Nuff said. Sorry to those who like their beef well-done (like Sharon who has since seen the light), but that's not the way to eat your beef.

We started out with a bread basket. The bread's most probably from Delifrance but they did a really good job of toasting it because the bread was nice and hot and crusty when we had it. Nothing to boast about though.

Sharon ordered the Pan-Grilled Marinated Chicken dusted with seasoned flour served with black pepper sauce. I ordered the Pepper Steak, juicy tenderloin coated with crushed black pepper.


This is my steak, my glorious steak. It is not merely coated in black pepper, it is encrusted, to be exact. Do not order this if you do not like black pepper. Every mouthful is an explosion of biting, full-bodied succulence. The robust meat paired with caramelised onions, don't even get me started.

No place has ever given me steak like this before. It's a thick slab but look how evenly done the steak is. See how the steak is such a deep pink throughout? Marvellous job. It's actually a bit overcooked for a medium-rare and there isn't much blood at all. It's like in between medium-rare and medium, to me. But it's good enough, one can't be too picky.

Although Fosters doesn't always get it right, it is the only restaurant that has ever given me a proper medium-rare steak, that is medium-rare throughout. I don't know what they do, but they do it so well. Tell me, do you know anywhere else which serves up such thick steak, so evenly done?

The steak came with a jacket potato. Sharon had it, I don't like baked potatoes. She didn't seem to like it very much.

Her order of chicken. It was done quite nicely. The pepper sauce was delectable. It first tastes like barbeque sauce but the sweet-savoury sensation on your tongue quickly gives way to the peppery punch. It reminded me of the chicken chop at Jerry's. Other than that, nothing great. The fries were double-fried and the vegetables were limp. It's a reasonable dish.

Come here for the steak.

Fosters
277 Holland Ave
Holland Village
Singapore 278994