Nice - Where we had the best pasta

helloooo there! (: i'm so excited to talk about the food in Nice because we had one of the most gluttonous escapades there :D haha. (not to mention that we spent a bomb, but it was SO worth it). as you can see in the title, we had the best pastas ever while we were here, so i shall start with that! 

this one picture is probably not the best representation of the gourmet pampering we gave our tastebuds, but La Storia simply has the BEST pastas E.V.E.R. and mussels. and dessert. haha i can go on and on. it's been a long while since we were here. but i cannot forget the satisfaction we had that evening. with the storm brewing outside, we were happily seated in a sheltered area, with a lovely heater right next to us, and huge plates of piping hot food in front of us. *rubs belly* it was amazing. i was so torn between going for the pasta (everything looked good) and getting the mussels. in the end, the fact that everyone else was ordering pasta helped me make my choice and i went for the mussels! ^^ that way, we could share :D and South of France is famous for its seafood :) obviously, since it's right next to the sea ;) (oh oh but i have to say that the ones in scotland are even more amazing). yummmms. i ordered the Les Moules Marinieres (€13) which was mussels in white wine with onions. ooh gosh. just hearing that combination makes you wanna drool already right? ;) hehe. the best part was that it was such a huge pot! i swear, it felt like a bottomless pit. i kept eating and eating, until i was almost scared of mussels already, haha, and i still couldn't finish it! glad that we shared our food, so that it was a good balance :) all the cholesterol!!!! but you know, YOLO ;)

Sam naturally attacked the Les Spaghetti Aux Palourdes (€16), which was the vongole (clams) pasta. and it was so so good!!! okay the thing is, the plates of pasta here are HUMONGOUS. i'm not kidding, just looking at it would make you salivate. haha sorry, am i sounding very gross? but it really looked very appetizing!!! and it tasted so good! i'm so glad that i learned to appreciate seafood, because i absolutely fell in love with the vongole pasta. perhaps even more than my mussels (no prizes for guessing who was trying to swap the mussels for clams hehe. good thing sam likes both :P)

we also had the Les Spaghetti Du Chef (€13), which sounds like the most amazing combination of spaghetti with minced beef, cream, tomato sauce, onions and cognac. oooh la la. such a delectable concoction and it tasted every bit as good as it sounded! 

and finally, Les Tagliatelle Au Foie Gras Et Aux Cèpes (€15) was our only encounter with foie gras throughout our whole South of France trip (unbelievable, i know), and it was soooo yummilicious as well! sinful, but so worth it!! we were in such a happy mood that night that we ordered a bottle of wine to share as well (Y) french rosé!! :) you have to drink Rosé wine in South of France too. it's a specialty! haha you must be wondering why there are so many specialties here. i have no idea as well! :p it's what i heard! haha and i'm just passing on the advice ^^

and of course, we couldn't forget dessert! :D heehee. and who had to worry whether i could sleep at night after tiramisu (€7)? that's the best part of being on exchange/holiday :D (omg bring me back to europe nowwwwww!!) oh gosh, they had such a long list of desserts. i couldn't resist! none of us could :p haha why did we order so much italian food while in Nice?! i have no idea. i suppose it's because Nice has pretty international cuisines, which is good for us! and the service staff here are really so much nicer. and they have english translations on their menu!!! italy really made me appreciate little things like these so much better. haha. anyway, the tiramisu was SUPERB - evident from how it disappeared within five minutes :p 

and the Le Moelleux au Chocolat et sa Boule de Glace (€7) was a molten chocolate cake with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream, which all went perfectly together! a heavenly combination if you ask me ^^ this was our last meal in Nice, and the BEST way to end our trip of this pretty place :D

Restaurant La Storia

3 Cours Saleya 06300 Nice

(it's located at the flower market!!)

Tel.: +33 04 93 80 95 07

okay i need to stop hyperventilating over the previous restaurant haha. so that was the last meal, and now these are pics of our first meal! where we began our indulgence in MUSSELS. *slurps* a really generous portion of mussels, and so affordable! they were having some dinner specials i think, and the mussels were going at €13.90 for a pot! with fries on the side. we first started off with one pot - the Moules a l'arrabiata, which was tomato sauce-based. and it was so delicious that we couldn't help but order another one!

now this, the Moules Curry, was ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVE. i kid you not. it tasted nothing like curry (ha ha), but it was super delicious anyway! my hand was on autopilot with a mind of its own, either prying open mussels or dipping fries in the sauce. i ate so many fries that day that i don't even dare to think about the calories. haha. it was just so amazingly flavourful!!!!! full unglam-ness unleashed, i was just using the mussel shells to spoon sauce into my house. what utensils? haha there was no need for them :p

and hey guess what! even their pizzas seem more interesting than italy's. haha okay i'm biased. but the reason why i liked it was because the flavours were much more creative than those in italy! which is what we're used to. not that italian pizzas are bad. the quality of ingredients they use there is unbeatable. the crust is unbeatable. but the flavours were just way to limited and therefore, boring. in Nice, i had the Au Salmon pizza (€14) which was finally a pizza with REAL meat on it (instead of cold cuts). it was pretty good! not fantastic, but definitely decent.

this restaurant was located along this whole stretch of food places, so just stroll down the street and take your pick! 

Restaurant Le Milo's

15 Rue Massena 06000 Nice

Tel.: +33 04 93 88 76 03

Nice has so many specialties as i've been mentioning so far. and one of the must-eats there is socca. it's a hot, crisp chickpea pancake, that is one of their famous streetfoods here! you can find it in the Cours Saleya markets, or in food stalls along the streets of Vieux Nice. i liked it for its simplicity in taste - even though it wasn't heavily seasoned, it had this subtle nutty flavour that appealed to me. i tried socca at Chez Rene Socca, along with a bunch of other street foods ^^ the queue was really long, so im assuming that's a sign that it's good haha. i think the item right in the foreground is Pissaladière (can't rmb :p) which is a tart topped with onions, anchovies and olives. didn't fancy this one too much, but it's also a popular street food there! one more thing you must try in Nice, is the Niçoise salad! (of course, since it's named after this place). i don't have a pic of the one i ate (just bought it from a random shop), but it was nice! :)

Chez Rene Socca
2 Rue Miralheti, 06300 Nice

for dessert, you HAVE to go to Fenocchio!!!!! this photo is a gross under-representation of what it is. imagine like about a hundred (perhaps?) ice cream flavours - all the possible fruit flavours you could think of, both in ice cream and sorbet textures, an unimaginable number of chocolate variations, plus the very Nice-like flower flavours (when in Nice, try everything lavender haha) and a bunch of others. #tooawesome :D

Fenocchio
2 Place Rossetti, 06300 Nice

ahhh and my French love :') croissants :))))) haha those who went on the trip with me will know how i went absolutely ga-ga over the croissants in South of France. (and i did the same in Paris too). after taking ONE BITE of the croissants in France, i never touched an italian croissant EVER AGAIN (omg how can the italian croissants even be called croissants?! it's a disgrace!). i love how the french croissants are so crisp and crackly on the outside, while absolutely fluffy inside ^^

i finally had the chance to try Pierre Hermé!!!! *in heavennn* ~ it was sooooo good. expensive, but worth it. we didn't even buy it in the box because it didn't seem very worth it to do so. but of course, the focus is on the macaron itself, and we loved each and every piece that we bought :)) you can find the Pierre Hermé outlet in Nice in Galeries Lafayette ^^ 

Nice: C'est si bon

gosh i really need to catch up on my travel posts!! just a few more to go and i'm doneeee ^^ it's been so many months after exchange ended already. haha. 

travelling to Nice marked the beginning of our Easter holiday (: actually it started with cinque terre, but i'm not gonna blog about that because we went there during the most unfortunate rainy season, where everything looked absolutely gloomy, and we ran into a series of problems like a train strike and didn't manage to eat at the good seafood restaurant :'( i'm sure many people would have a much better experience to share, so i shall just skip that and go straight to SOUTH OF FRANCE :)))

when you think of Nice, the first thing that comes to mind is...the beach! of course ^^ (as you can see, the sky was pretty threatening in South of France as well...but at least it wasn't a thunderstorm haha)

and the unique thing about Nice's beaches is that it isn't made of sand! but rather, lots of rocks and pebbles like these ^^ it's really interesting, and it makes this beach so special :)) i could spend half a day walking along Promenade de Anglais, just soaking in this view (it's a really long stretch of beach!) and sitting on the rocks by the sea. Nice is actually really small, and you can easily walk around the entire city/town (??). if you're in a rush, perhaps one day would be sufficient. but why would you do that do yourself?! spend some time here to enjoy the atmosphere :) being a really touristy city, the good thing is that the people are generally much friendlier than anywhere else in France. at least, that was my experience. 

the highest point in Nice is Parc du Chateau. quite a climb, to be honest! haha. then again, everywhere in Europe involves some form of climbing :p we spent quite some time hiking up the hill, and were rewarded with this view :))) i'm really amazed at the expanse my camera managed to capture! it looks so beautiful doesn't it? :) i wonder how much of it is Nice, because it's supposed to be really small actually! and if you've been there, you would probably be able to identify the main areas in Nice from this bird's eye view! pretty cool ;) love how the beach looks from here as well!!

at the expense of sounding very lame, i have to say that every part of Nice is a favourite of mine ^^ it's really hard to identify a particular spot, because each has its own charm, and Nice is so small that there really aren't many places to choose from. but i really loved each and every one of them :) Cours Saleya is an open market that sells all sorts of things, with different markets on different days of the week! there is an antiques market on Mondays, and i was surprised at how much i enjoyed it! never thought i was interested in all these old stuff, but there were really a lot of gems in this market, and i actually bought something! a gorgeous vintage postcard to add to my collection :)

most of the other days, there is a flower market going on! so prettyyyyyyyy :)))

and i get my own flowers! courtesy of the sweet boyfriend ^^^

there is also a fruit and vegetable market on most days, and that means...foooood ^^ hehe. we totally went crazy over madeleines on this whole france trip!!!! :) starting right at Cours Saleya in Nice :D omg they are SO AWESOME. sam does not understand this hahaha. the madeleines sold here were really pricey, because they're supposed to be 'gourmet' ones. but we managed to find some really good ones in the supermarket (at a much cheaper price) as well! only one brand was good though, and i can't remember the name unfortunately!! :( can only recognize the packaging. but try those in bakeries as well! they should be good too :)

you can check out the schedule for the markets here!

Vieux Nice (which means 'Old Nice' in French) was another favourite of mine too. i just loved waltzing down the quaint streets and popping into random shops which sold all sorts of interesting products! oh, a must-buy when you are in South of France is their soaps! it's a specialty there and you can find it in many many shops ^^ lavender is also a specialty! you can find virtually anything related to lavender here.

we found this most delightful-smelling store in one of the little streets! Péchés Gourmands sold all kinds of local sweet things! they're edible!!! haha they totally looked like soaps (and according to the boy, tasted like soaps), but i loved eating them! the mantecaos are these powdery biscuit-like things which were super yummy, at least imo ;) try the almond one!! and the violette one was super interesting. i thought it was nice! it has a really strong lavender taste if you like flowery-tasting foods ^^ haha. to each his own i guess!

Péchés Gourmands

15 Rue Pairoliere

the new area of Nice is at Place Massena, and that's where the big shopping street is! with Galeries Lafayette and all.

just half an hour train ride from Nice is Monacco! where all the yachts and high-fliers reside ;) it's so cool to just BE THERE. revel in the luxury for a bit eh? ;) haha. it's pretty boring there though. unless you're planning to gamble at the casino, otherwise just exploring the place would take you, say, half a day? i didn't even have any meals there because i heard it's really expensive! it's gorgeous though :) plus we had the most amazing sunny skies while we were there. adds to the whole ambience :D 

at the back of the casino/palace or sth! haha. anyway, the train tickets cost €1.20 for one way if i remember correctly, and there are many timings, so you can just buy the tickets at the train station itself!

heh yep, so that's about it for Nice :) it's really small, so there really isn't much to talk about it. but you have to be there to experience it! :)) it's worth it. next post will be on the food! we had the BEST PASTA in Nice (and yeah, we came from italy. ironic, but true story. haha). look out for it! :D

Navigating the Italian train system

why am i doing such a specific post on this? well, for one thing, i was completely bewildered by the italian train system when i first came to the country for my exchange. and i took such a long time figuring out how to even navigate the trenitalia website and the different train options available. it was totally mind-boggling and exasperating for me, and i hope that this post would help you to understand it better! (:

this is going to be a wordy post without many pictures, but i hope it helps! it's mostly my experiences and anecdotes which might be useful for you to know and be mentally prepared for! (: 

so, random things that you need to know about the italian train system...

firstly: type of trains. there are SO MANY varieties with different pricing structures that it is so confusing -.-

Frecciarossa/frecciabianca/frecciargento are the high speed trains. they'll take you from Rome to Milan in around 3hrs? they're the fastest but also usually the most expensive. buy early and the super economy prices can be REALLY affordable though! like from €20+! (: but as the cheaper tickets get sold out closer to the travel date, the prices just get more and more expensive!

Intercity trains in contrast, are the oldest and slowest trains ever. they are usually in pretty terrible condition and are honestly not very nice to be in. but they're cheap (can start from <€10). if you take an overnight train, it would be an Intercity Notte train. and honestly, i would tell you NOT to ever put yourself through such torture. i tried it ONCE and i'm never going to do it ever again. it was worse than sleeping overnight in the airport (which is the second worst ordeal haha) because it is just absolutely claustrophobic in the small cabin, and the train c...r...a...w...l...s...which is really unbearable and exasperating if you are already feeling so uncomfortable. if you are traveling in a group with multiples of 4, you might want to consider the type of cabin with beds (couchettes), but i'm not sure how different it is since i've never tried it. they only allow you to book the whole cabin though, so if you have a group of <4pax, it wouldn't be worth it anymore. 

Regionale Veloce trains are the in-between trains that are the most convenient in my opinion! ;) no need to buy tickets in advance actually, because the price doesn't change, and there are usually quite regular timings available. even if you want to buy tickets in advance, they are only purchasable within 7 days before the travel date. no assigned seats for this, just purchase the tickets from the ticket machine and they can be used within a few hours from the purchase/the day itself (something like that, check the tickets for the validity)

secondly: to search for the trains, you need to know the italian names of the cities. here are some common ones and their most central stations:

Milan = milano (milano centrale)

Rome = roma (roma termini)

Florence = firenze (firenze santa maria novella)

Venice = venezia (venezia santa lucia)

Naples = napoli (napoli centrale)

thirdly: always remember to validate your tickets at the ticket machine before boarding the train!!! even for tickets which have specific timings written on them, you might still have to validate them (if i remember correctly). for regionale tickets, you DEFINITELY have to. only after doing so, they are considered "valid" (duh :p) for the ride. otherwise when the train conductor checks and you didn't validate the tickets, you might be fined anyway, even after paying for the tickets! :O ridiculous, i know. but that's how it works.

fourthly: the trenitalia website allows you to book international trains as well, e.g. trains from italy to switzerland or france etc. but my advice is NOT to book from the trenitalia website. especially when going to more stable/efficient countries (*ahem*) like switzerland, get your tickets from their train companies instead! if things go wrong, it's much more likely that you can get your problem solved by them, rather than the lousy and unfriendly italian train station people who wouldn't lift a finger to help.

one thing you need to be prepared for is the unreliability of the italian train system. 

#1: they can go on strike anytime. apparently they give a warning on the website, but still, most people are caught unaware.

#2: they can change the train schedule for all sorts of random reasons, such as a public holiday, even after you've bought tickets for the train that was supposedly operating -.- (and if you were to board another train, you would have to pay much more to buy that ticket from the train conductor on the train itself). 

#3: the ticket printing machines don't always work. ridiculous, but it does happen. and if you don't speak italian, the italian train staff very conveniently don't help you with your problem. (my advice: just board the train anyway, with whatever confirmation slip you have and try to explain it to the conductor. it might work. no promises though.)

#4: trains can be delayed. severely. and if you have a connecting train that is within 10mins from the time your first train is supposed to reach the station, it's pretty hard for you to catch it. (my advice: don't arrange connecting trains with such a short interval in between!!! always expect the unexpected)

because trenitalia has been the monopoly for years, that's how all these inefficiencies came about. a competitor, italo is giving it a run for its money with newer high speed trains! they might be a little more expensive and don't travel to many cities (or the major train stations), but they're worth a try! especially since their trains are newer ;)

haha idk whether i sound like i'm complaining about the italian train system :p but it's really not very user-friendly :p makes me appreciate singapore much more!!! <3 haha. 

Glasgow day trippin' - Edinburgh

hiiii i'm totally supposed to be sleeping now after a complete lack of sleep last night but here i am blogging about Edinburgh! haha.

anyway, Edinburgh is quite a small city that can be explored in....one day! (: i took a day trip there from Glasgow and pretty much managed to cover everything. i've gotta admit though, that i skipped some of the really hardcore parts of it, such as *points below* :p oops! 

What to see in Edinburgh

climb Arthur's Seat which is the hilliest part of Edinburgh and when you reach the top, you'll be rewarded with magnificent 360 degree views of the whole city! :)) haha it doesn't look very steep, but it's honestly no joke climbing this :p we climbed about halfway, and the view was pretty good already and so we gave up then haha! but i definitely encourage you to go all the way up to Arthur's Seat itself (:

the Royal Mile is a succession of streets where the business of the Old Town of Edinburgh flourished in the past! just walk down the street and you'll see stores selling all sorts of knick-knacks that are pretty cool! we also went to this museum (free entry) where we explored how Edinburgh developed from its history till now! pretty cool ;)

i just think this photo of the Royal Mile is superrrr pretty :) it was such a bright sunny day when we were in Edinburgh! feel super lucky to have good weather ;)

and you'll see load of bagpipers and street performers throughout the entire stretch of road! one of the street performers could seriously win an award for the longest performance EVER. i think we stood there for more than an hour before finally giving up and going off because he never seemed like he was going to do whatever trick he was saying he would do haha. but he was definitely very entertaining and charismatic ;) (at least up to an hour or so...haha)

right at the end of the Royal Mile is the Edinburgh Castle! the view from up there is pretty amazing too, but that's about it :) i heard lots of advice that it isn't worth paying to go into the castle and so i skipped that ;) 

and this pretty much rounds up the main attractions to see in Edinburgh! (: of course there are streets to explore and stuff if you want to. but instead, i chose to spend the rest of my time pigging out :p hehe!

My foodie recommendations for Edinburgh

wondering what this is? it's another exotic Scottish dish that i had! the other was the black pudding in Glasgow. this is haggis (£8.50), which is a savoury pudding that is made of...(guess what) sheep's intestines :O omg. can you even believe that i ate this?! haha like neither sheep nor intestines and yet we ordered this haha! but we really just wanted to try it, and it turned out to be not thaaat bad ;) i wouldn't order seconds, but the taste of the sheep was pretty minimal thanks to the generous serving of whiskey sauce.

we also had the handmade 100% scottish beef burger (£9.50) which was humongous! i didn't take a picture of the Scottish mussels we had, but please order it!! ^^ it's definitely worth it ;) fat, juicy and succulent, just like those i had in glasgow! (: 

i also had a glass of pear cider which was super yummy!! and it came in a 500ml size :O haha so shiok ;) 

Whiski Bar & Restaurant

119 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SG 

Tel.: +44 131 556 3095 

we were pretty full after lunch, but we weren't done with the food yet ;) this pork bun may look simple, but it sure packs a punch! hog roasts seem to be really popular in UK! i saw it in quite a number of places, and it's sooooo delicious :D the hog roast roll was a freshly carved hog roast - smokey, piping hot, and super juicy - served in a bread roll with a choice of sage & onion, apple sauce, chili relish or haggis (omg. haha).we opted for apple sauce and it was amazing!!! the light sweetness of the sauce went perfectly well with the pork, and the flavours exploded in our mouths with the juice dripping all over the place as we devoured the bun amongst the three of us. there are three sizes to choose from - the piglet (£2.80) for the small eater, the oink (£3.80) which is the standard size and the grunter (£4.80) is for the hungry ones ;) MUST TRY!!!! no matter how full you are ;)

Oink Hog Roast

4 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2JW 

Tel.: +44 7771 968 233

and girls always have a separate stomach for dessert! ;) i'm always amazed at the amount i can eat. :p we trekked for like...half an hour before we finally found Patisserie Madeleine, which was said to have the BEST macarons, as claimed by my friend who's stayed in edinburgh for quite a few years. it's a really small shop and we totally walked right past it initially! unfortunately, they didn't have the flavour that we wanted to order!!!!! :'( imagine our disappointment! :( the worst part was the thought of having to drag ourselves for another half an hour walk to get back to the train station...imagine that haha. anyway, we ordered other flavours, and they were really quite nice! :) some of them were a bit too sweet for my liking though! anyway, if you are there, you HAVE to try saffron pistachio flavour which is supposed to be the awesome flavour we didn't get to try! 

Patisserie Madeleine

27b Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, EH4 1HU

Tel.: +44 131 332 8455

walked through this gorgeous park on the way back, and i totally fell in love ^^ hehe. i'm always just so fascinated at how the Europeans have such an amazing way of relaxing on a nice sunny day :) if only we do this in singapore too! 

Glasgow day trippin' - Scottish Highlands

hi!! :) this post is actually going to be more of a spam of pictures of my day trip out to the Scottish Highlands from Glasgow ^^ pictures speak a thousand words, and i have 5 or 6? haha so imagine that in words :P 

i never knew that Scotland was so beautiful, and it really has so much to offer with its AMAZING scenery :') i took the tour from http://www.highlandtours.com/ but you can really just google and you'll find many similar tours. i would think the quality, prices and tour options are about the same, so it's really your personal preference! i really enjoyed how the tours here are much cosier and personalized than all other tours i've taken so far though! the only downside was probably the transport, where a group of around 15-20 of us were in a mini-van. there was sufficient space for each person, but no extra space to move around much. but this made for a more intimate experience i guess, where our driver was the tour guide and he literally gave us the entire tour while driving, telling us about the history of the place, what are the various sights etc. and he was a huge camwhore haha, and so we had numerous stops along the way for photo ops and to just take in the scenery and fresh air ^^ 

i went for the Loch Ness, Glencoe and Highland tour for £39. there are actually more tour options from Edinburgh if you are staying there too btw! anyway this tour brought us through the hills and mountains, the lakes (i didn't get to see the Loch Ness monster, boo!) and castles. some options entail additional costs though! such as visiting the castle or taking a cruise on the lake.

okay, enough words! take a look for yourself ^^

Scotch whiskey! take the whiskey tour if you like it ;)

breathtaking loch ness :') 

Of teapots and pretty cakes - York Part II

cafe-hopping? pfft. in York, this is taken to a wayyy higher level ;)

TEAROOM-HOPPING. 

how cool is that? ^^ haha i bet yi came up with that term herself, but i like the sound of it ;) sounds so classy and lady-like doesn't it? :D haha. totally living the life of a tai-tai. it was quite sad that while i was in europe i didn't find many cafes that were good for chilling in. in italy, that was definitely not the case. but in UK, it's a different story altogether! and York is the perfect place for tea ^^ so many places to go! 

Tea-rooms in York

what's the difference between tea-rooms and cafes you may ask? i guess the best way to distinguish between them would be their focus - tea, obviously, for tea rooms. and for cafes, i suppose they have a bigger focus on coffee? and the decor is strikingly different. it's hard to explain, but it's just a feeling that you get. when you step into a tea-room, you just feel that it's so...pretty (: it's whimsical, it's dainty, it's lady-like. it feels like it's fit to serve the royal ladies of the palace, who would enjoy a pot of tea in the afternoons, as opposed to coffee which was considered crude. okie enough introduction, it's time for the SHOWCASE :D

btw, all these tea-rooms are in no particular order. i don't have any particular preference for one. i loved ALL of them ^^

The Earl Grey Tea Rooms was our first-stop on our tearoom-hopping day! (: and i was so excited to have a real english afternoon tea set ^^ we ordered the traditional afternoon high tea set (£10.99) which consisted of a choice of sandwich (we chose tuna!), fruit scone with cream and preserve, fresh cake of the day and a pot of tea for one. i looooved the scones ^^ as i mentioned in my royal garden post, i first fell in love with scones when i was in york :') scones in uk are something else altogether!!!! never really liked them in singapore, but ohgosh, they are so good here, they taste great even on their own without any condiments! :))

the tea room also has a lot of lovely merchandise for sale such as jams and stuff, which are great to look at even if you don't want to buy them ^^ 

The Earl Grey Tea Rooms

13/14 Shambles

York YO1 7LZ

+44 1904 654 353

next, we headed to Molly's Tea Room! i'm SUPER devastated because i just had no fate with the apparently yummy cakes that day :( yi said that Molly's had the best strawberry cheesecake ever, but it wasn't for sale that day :((( i guess the way to console yourself is that the menu changes everyday, so it's kept interesting and means that everything is baked fresh! (: we tried the lemon drizzle cake (background) and the raspberry almond cake (foreground). both were yummy! loved the lemon cake for its tangy-ness and the almond cake for its nutty crunch ^^

Molly's Tea Room

41 Stonegate

just the first two tea-rooms kept us pretty full for quite awhile! that was our 'lunch' and we took a long break just shopping around while we digested our food.

and around 3pm, it was time for tea! ;) hehe. we tried a victorian sponge cake at The Vanilla Cafe! (: this cafe (and the next one) were located in a small quiet street just behind the York Minster. it's very quaint and cosier than The Shambles, and i simply loved the atmosphere there. 

The Vanilla Cafe

12 College Street, City Centre

York YO1, 7JF

Tel.: +44 1904 658 852

and for cupcakes, you should head to none other than Crumbs Cupcakery! (: they have a daily selection of cupcakes and the all look soooo pretty! we had a caramel/speculoos flavoured one and the other was peanut butter if i remember correctly! the icing was too sweet for me (seems like i don't like the icing on cupcakes in uk much haha) but the cupcake was delicious!! 

Bettys Tea Room is one of the most famous tea rooms in York and there are queues to enter the premises at almost every time of the day! we had to queue for around half an hour to get a seat and it was in the lower level of the restaurant, which is supposedly less popular! but it was worth the experience :) it's such a pretty shop!! and their afternoon tea was yummy ^^ i would say that it could perhaps be slightly overrated/overpriced though? because there are also other tea rooms which are definitely comparable (: 

we had the Bettys Afternoon Tea (£18.30). it came with a variety of sandwiches (plus points! ^^) and in interesting flavours too! scottish smoked salmon & cream cheese, roast Yorkshire ham and roast free-range chicken breast, egg mayonnaise & cress. loved loved loveeeed the sultana scone with strawberry preserve and Yorkshire clotted cream. there were a selection of miniature cakes - yummy raspberry tart! and also a pot of Tea Room Blend tea :) delicious :)

i've heard that Bettys has the most amazing victorian sponge cakes ever! unfortunately they're only in whole-cake size, so we couldn't order it because we would never be able to finish it! but do give it a try if you can! 

Bettys

6-8 St Helen's Square, York YO1 8QP

Tel.: +44 1904 659 142

Restaurants in York

i got my ribs fix in york!!!!! WOOTS! The Slug and Lettuce is a restaurant chain that can be found in many parts of UK. they have amazing deals every single day of the week, and on Mondays, the food goes for half price!! which means that a rack of ribs (originally £11.25) costs less than £6!!! :O i wouldn't say the quality is very good, but for that price, it's definitely worth it ;)

one of the best meals that i had in York was at Rustique. it's a french restaurant! (: again, love how UK has such a wide variety of cuisines :D they have a set menu - two courses £12.95, three courses £14.95. we opted for two courses each so that we wouldn't be exploding after that. haha we were still super full, but it was so worth it ;) we ordered one appetizer, two mains and a dessert between the two of us. started with the cromesquis de crabe which was a lovely deep fried crab cake with fluffy meat inside and served with a sweet chili salsa. 

for mains, we had the beef bourguignon which was pieces of super tender meat in a lovely red wine casserole.

we also had the jarret de porc an cidre which is a slow cooked pork shank braised with cider. loved the coarse grain mustard mash that came with it!! it's much more interesting than your average mash ;)

our dessert was so yummy!!! always go ga-ga over chocolate hehe ^^ we had the pot au chocolat which was this lovely little bowl of rich, creamy, luscious chocolate with a piece of shortbread to top it off!! SO DELICIOUS. i can't resist chocolate for nuts *hee*

Rustique

28 Castlegate

York YO1 9RP

Tel.: +44 1904 612 744 

Mon-Sat 12pm-10pm

Sun 12pm-9pm

i had spanish tapas in York too! ^^ and guess what, it was better than my experience in Barcelona. #theirony -.- we had the introduction to tapas set at £25 for two people at Ambiente. i wished i could have chosen stuff i really wanted, but i guess it was just easier to order the set. anyway, there were just so many to choose from that i was completely bewildered :p the introduction set includes the Pan (mediterranean bread & dipping oil) - simple & good, Chorizo patatas (caramelized chorizo and potato) - the sauce was da bombz!! you have to order this and just dip everything inside haha, Albondigas (meatballs in a chili and lemongrass sauce) - loved the texture of the meatballs ^^ , Caldosa (seafood risotto) - wish it was a bigger portion!, Championes (mushrooms with caramelized shallots) - simply addictive, Gambasal pil pil (shelled prawns cooked with garlic and chili) - can't really remember how this tasted, Patatas bravas (crispy potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce) - this was really super spicy!!!! 

overall a good meal (:

Ambiente Tapas Restaurant

14 Goodramgate, York YO1 7LQ

Tel.: +44 1904 689 784

scream with me!!! JAMIE OLIVER!!!!!! :D :D :D heehee so happy to be here!!! and omg it's in singapore now~ woohoo! haha i'm just quite a big fan of him - always so fascinated by his cooking shows where he looks like he's just plucking and throwing in random ingredients to come up with a dish which looks and tastes so awesome. 

Jamie's Italian is known for its pasta, and so that's what we ordered. i was really excited for both our crab spaghettini (£7.75) and black angel spaghetti (£8.20). there are two choices for sizes - the appetizer and main course size. we opted for the appetizer size for both, so that we wouldn't overeat. i think it was a little small, but just nice (: the crab spaghettini had fluffy pieces of meat in it ^^ yumms! i loved the black angel spaghetti, most importantly because it didn't stain our teeth haha. and it was sooo delicious! it had a pretty generous amount of fresh, fat scallops, and was well-flavoured with a wine/parsley/garlic/chili sauce. delicious! 

we also had a serving of posh chips (£3.25) which was basically truffle fries with parmesan. unfortunately, i felt that it was just lacking in both :/ could have been better.

i can't wait to try the outlet in singapore!!!! :D

Jamie's Italian

26 Lendal, York YO1 8AA

Tel.: +44 1904 283 979

Snacks on-the-go

cornwall pastys are the yummiest snacks ever!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!! and West Crornwall Pasty sells the best ever :D they look pretty much like our curry puffs, with a thicker crust that is more crumbly, kinda feels less oily (or maybe not haha) and has a variety of fillings which i had so much joy choosing from. 

Milkshack has over 180 flavours of milkshakes!!!!! :O :O :O :O does the *hands on face with mouth open emoticon* expression. sooooo shiok!!!! i had the hardest time choosing a flavour because they all sounded so awesome. yi dabao one back for me please!! haha. this place is a great stop to drop by in the midst of your shopping in the shambles. the perfect sugar rush to perk you up for more shopping! ;)

Milkshack

14A Church Street, York YO1 8BE

so you see, there are really lots of things you can do in york! (: i stayed there for around...4-5 days if i remember correctly? and it was just perfect. so many things to see/shop, and eat! this little town is really a hidden find worth visiting ^^