1-Caramel

1-caramel has a sort of special significance for me, and it just brought back feelings of nostalgia when i visited it again last week. this time, it was at a different location though. i got an invite to attend a food tasting at the outlet at Rochester Park :) sadly the one at Handy Road has since closed down >.<

anyway, it was a really interesting experience for me to attend this food tasting! and i got the chance to sample quite a wide array of the selection of desserts there.

\1-Caramel's focus is on DESSERTS, and thus doesnt have much lunch/dinner options. the brunch menu is fairly extensive though! and i got to try my favourite brunch dish - eggs benedict :D with smoked salmon ($14). i felt that the hollandaise sauce here was especially fragrant and i loved how it complemented the beautiful wobbly poached egg sitting atop a toasted English muffin. the exquisite arrangement of roe on top of the egg (literally) added a burst of flavour as they popped in my mouth :D so cute! and i have to rave about the fried potatoes that came with this dish!!! they were fried till they were slightly crumbly (i really loved the texture!) falling apart easily in my mouth and the seasoning for the potato was really unique and delicious.

we also had the posh platter ($22) which is a selection of canapes including a smoked salmon tart with creme fraiche and ocean trout caviar, asparagus wrapped in basil and prosciutto and truffled brie & cherry tomatoes on a toasted brioche. my favourite out of the three was the tart! as always, i really adore pastries and i was completely intrigued by the combination of flavours of the smoked salmon, caviar and creme fraiche. :) and the asparagus felt SO HEALTHY haha despite the prosciutto! but this is something i can eat again and again without feeling too guilty ;)

on to desserts! we had a stream of souffles ($14) parading down our table! haha it was fascinating. the ones we tried were the hazelnut souffle with chocolate ice cream, miso souffle with yuzu ice cream and passionfruit souffle with banana-passion sorbet.

yes you saw right, MISO souffle! haha it was super interesting!!! and i have to say that it was my favourite out of the bunch! i really enjoyed the slightly savoury taste of the souffle, it didn't feel out of place at all, despite the fact that souffles are typically sweet. the yuzu sorbet was citrus-y and refreshing! i also liked the hazelnut souffle - the moment i put it into my mouth, the first thing that came to my mind was FERRERO ROCHER! :D hahaha. love it to bits. it was wonderfully spongy yet soft, great texture! and the chocolate ice cream that came with it had to be one of the richest, most decadent chocolate ice-creams i've eaten. mummy would have loved it. it was not too sweet! ;) the passionfruit souffle didn't really appeal to me much though.

and we had the chance to try the 1-Caramel Assiette which was a really gorgeous platter of 5 desserts ($24)! it was certainly a feast for the eyes. you wouldn't be able to resist it.

it is a sharing platter of petite-sized portions of 1-Caramel's signature desserts, and the ones which were on our platter were the earl grey creme brulee, raspberry lychee rose panacotta, midori macaron, baked alaska, tropical vodka trifle and death by chocolate ($14 each for the original portion) - the most gorgeous array of desserts ever! :O

i especially liked the raspberry lychee rose panacotta which was a super light wobbly pudding with a subtle hint of the lychee rose flavour. i liked how the lightness of the textures and flavour were such a perfect match for each other!

the intensity of the earl grey struck me the moment i took a mouth of the creme brulee. it was wonderful how each flavour of the desserts in the assiette platter were so clearly distinct from one another, each providing a different experience altogether when i sampled each of them.

the death by chocolate was a dense rich spongy cake with a full-bodied chocolate flavour. i was just a tad disappointed though as i expected the 'chocolate lava' to flow out of the cake, but it didn't.

the baked alaska was one of the most interesting desserts i had! we all thought the white dome on top would be some hard biscuit-like kind of thing, instead it gave easily when we dug our spoons into it. the brownie underneath was pure delight! :) and the strawberry sauce went perfectly with it.

the last dessert was the tropical vodka trifle which was a refreshing mix that helped to cleanse my palate at the end of all the desserts :) the pineapple gazpacho jelly and sponge cubes, together with the coconut sorbet just made this feel like a super healthy dessert - the perfect way to end a meal :)

for drinks, i had the mango strawberry ice blend ($8.90) which was a delightful combination strawberries and fresh pureed mangoes. a surprisingly delicious combination that was utterly pleasing :D

Many thanks to Yen, from  1-Rochester, for the invitation :)

1 Caramel

1 Rochester Park, Level 2

Tel.: +65 6774 1302

Mon-Fri 11.30am-10.30pm

Sat-Sun 10am-10.30pm (brunch 10am-4pm)