Wild Honey @ Mandarin Gallery

After we watched Masterchef US season 4, one of the pressure test challenge is to make Egg Benedict. Suddenly we I craved for Egg Benedict. The weird thing is, I never like runny egg yolk. But I was so curious about how holandaise sauce taste like. Runny egg yolk, I will give you a second chance, for the sake of holandaise.

So the hunt for egg benedict is on! Decided to go to Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery for the easiest access place for all day breakfast.

homey exterior

full house, most of the diners are ang moh (meaning 'bule' in Indonesia)

Before you go in, you just have to register yourself on their ipad, and when the table is ready, you'll get a phone call. We expect that the hostess is the one who will call us, but it was a machine. Technology this day...

 After 30 mins waiting time, finally we got our table, we have to go to the cashier to make order and pay. They placed the menu on a huge board hanging on the wall. If you need to see some photos, there are some ipads with food photos. But for the price you have to refer back to the board.

They provide wide selection of breakfast, coffee and juices. They use "country" as the dish name, e.g: for "Spanish" they serve chorizo and poached eggs on top, which I ordered. Maybe it was inspired from what's the most popular breakfast item from each country. No wonder ang moh are very attracted to dine here, maybe because they miss their hometown.

order here

breakfast from around the world

Spanish
It's sauteed chorizo, beef and potato cubes, topped with two poached eggs and holandaise sauce. Accompanied with 2 sliced of bread. This is not the original egg benedict actually, but even better! I can have all my favourite food all in one plate. I've been missing chorizo ever since and I love everything about potatoes. When I saw this menu, I'm sold.

Finally I can taste how holandaise sauce taste like. It's smooth, a bit buttery with a hint of sour. The overall taste is not so strong, once you break the egg, the taste will be blend with egg yolk taste.

The down side of this menu is only the bread. They're just too plain. I think if they're being toasted, it will give a crunchiness and a stronger feeling for the entire dish.

egg benedict's long lost spanish cousin

Belgian

We decided to order something sweet for the other dish. Not so much options for the "sweet breakfast". They have some pies and cakes. But a slice of cake or pie won't enough for two of us.So we choose "Belgian". It is waffles with some cream, grilled mangoes, drizzled with roasted coconuts and accompanied with Maple Syrup (waffles' soul mate). Oh, and some blueberries (as seen on the photo).

For me, the waffle is not fluffy enough, maybe that's how the belgian eats their waffles. I don't know.. Not really my liking though. I prefer fluffy and moist waffle in the inside but crispy on the outside. What I like about this dish is the grilled mango, I never thought if we can put mangoes on those fire.The mango taste become sweeter and the texture become softer, two small slices definitely in not enough.. I want more...

Overall the food is decent. The place is cozy with dim lights. Perfect place to hang outs with friends. Didn't try the coffee. We're not coffee lover, sorry.... There is one thing that irritates me though. The waiter keep coming and asked if she can clean our plates, like three times! The first time she asked when obviously there's still some food on my plate. Hello!! we queued for 30 minutes, let us sit here longer can or not? I know there's still long queue out there, but please.... Maybe next time should go to the Scotts Square branch.

four slices of waffle

Wild Honey
Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road #03-02

Nearest MRT : Somerset
(long queue, no reservation)

Scotts Square
6 Scotts Square #03-01
Nearest MRT : Orchard
(bigger space, can do online reservation)

www.wildhoney.com.sg

Barcelona Shopping and Visit to Nou Camp! (part 3)

The day has come! Finally a day for shop till drop. The main reason I came to Spain is just because of Zara, Mango, Pull & Bear, Berskha and Stradivarius. I've been stop buying those brands in Singapore for few months. I better wait for cheaper price so I can buy more! Actually on the first day I already visited some store nearby the hotel, but I was still very tired and jet lagged and not in the mood of shopping. I just want to sleep. On the second day, it was Sunday. Nothing open.

We don't have other itinerary for that day except shopping. So we decided to visit the Camp Nou in the morning then continue with shopping in the afternoon. At first thought, we didn't really feel to visit Camp Nou, because the admission ticket is a bit pricey, 23euro/person. But we might not have a chance again, maybe it's only once in a lifetime opportunity. There is a match between Barcelona and Bayern Munchen on 30th April. Sadly we will be in Paris on that day. But even if we still there, the ticket is crazy expensive. The cheapest is 198 euro.

messi... messi.. everywhere

match ticket price

looks like 'quidditch' uniform

soccer ball from decades ago

messi was here, and probably naked

"Early birds catch the worms". This quotes applied everywhere in Europe's tourist attraction. If you come a little bit late only, like around 11am, the queue is already long. After pay the entrance fee, we were greeted by a huge store, selling FC Barcelona's merchandise like jerseys, towels, socks, shoes, mugs and so on. We didn't buy anything, we just proceed to the next attraction which is a museum. It tells the history of the club until they become number one football club in Barcelona. I'm not really into football. I only learn that Messi belongs to this club only on that day. Hahaha… After you get bored of the museum, you can go downstair and proceed to see the Stadium. You can see the changing room, press conference room, try the seat and touch the grass. And it's the end of Camp Nou Experience.

long queue in the afternoon

On our way back, we passed by local groceries store and decided to go in. And I was mesmerized by the local products packaging (designer weakness). Everything just looks so different. We bought some snacks and of course frozen chorizo! If you want to buy something to bring back and give to your friend but don't want to spend much. Groceries is the answer. You can buy 2 euros snack with a nice packaging and it will look more pricey. We bought so many things, so we decided to took a bus back to our hotel. You must be wondering how come I'm so smart and know which bus to take. Actually once you mastered how to take bus in Singapore, you can take bus everywhere (not Indonesia). In Barcelona there is even a route map of the bus. So it's even easier. Just make sure you really know your hotel neighborhood so you know where to alight. The metro ticket can be used for bus too. One ticket per destination, no matter short or far. Riding a bus really complete the whole Barcelona experience. I can really observe local people, because when you're tourist most probably you'll only be in tourist attractions and surrounded by tourists from different countries. No chance you can feel how's life in that city will look like. The bus went trough small alleys, main roads and we really see many sides of the city.

not so touristy area. I guess this is how normal apartment here looks like.

the basket got wheels and handle

try to produce a 'cool' photo with the birds but failed

Right after we put our shopping bags at the hotel, we headed to Mercat de La Boqueria for lunch. It is a market located at the La Rambla. This market is very colorful. I really enjoy being inside here, just see the pictures below to understand why:

that's the "Mercat de La Boqueria. please ignore the trash can behind me

pretty flowers at La Rambla

eating fishballs

those are real fruits

nuts!!

jellies!!

truffles!! OMG!!

how to not buy, the display is really appealing.

eating again

After seeing all those pretty fruits and candies, we decided to eat at the most crowded food stall. The name of the stall is Bar Central. It's located at the end of the hall. It sells fresh seafood. And it was THE BEST SEAFOOD I'VE EVER HAD. Really. It's an open concept bar. Just a long table and high chairs. There isn't a proper queue, you just have to stand behind a person chair. We waited for our seats around 20 minutes. It's worth to wait. We ordered Red Tuna and Bamboo Clams, because we never eat those kind of things before. Wanted to order more but again they are not cheap, it cost 18euros for the fish. But I tell you it's really worth the price. If we knew that this meal was our last nice meal during the journey, we surely will order more. Because the food at Paris is worse. Now I regret.

me, queuing while starring at the menu decide what to order

bar central

red tuna. THE BEST fish i've ever had

zoom in

bamboo clams

After a happy stomach session, finally it's shopping time! Start with Pull & Bear because my brother ask me to buy something. The price in Spain isn't that cheap actually. Only 20-30% cheaper compared to Singapore. And the products are the same, made in China. Lol. I thought when we purchased in Europe it will become made in Europe.

cold weather doesn't stop me to buy gelatos

this is the BIGGEST apple store i've ever visited

I can't really shop till broke here. Just bought 5-6 items only. Not until really damaged my wallet like what I've imagined before. Zara is still expensive. Even if a dress is S$50 cheaper, but still S$100 for a dress is still expensive to me. And also I have laziness to try on so many clothes at different shops. Because it was so cold and I wore layering clothes. So troublesome to take off one by one and then put it back again. And have to do it again and again in every shops.

For our last meal in Barcelona, we don't feel like having tapas anymore. So we just went to a cafe near our hotel. It's a place called "Cafe Viena" (like my name, but with style). It sells sandwiches. I don't put a high expectation on this meal, because it's my husband who choose this place. And it's just sandwich, what can you expect? But it turn out to be so good. The bread is very crunchy with melted enamel cheese inside. Not too expensive also. Our cheapest meal so far. Such a perfect meal to end our journey in this city.

inside "Viena"

simple sandwich but taste good

This is end of this post. Sorry I didn't take photos of my shopping goods. See you in Paris...

Camp Nou

Calle Arístides Mallol, 12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Nearest Metro :Palau Reial or Les Corts

Line 5: Metro stop Collblanc or Badal

(We took Les Corts, and walk for like 15mins)

Mercat de La Boqueria (La Boqueria Market)

Rambla, 91 08001, Barcelona, Spain

Nearest Metro : La Rambla

Cafe Viena

Carrer de Pelai 16, 

Barcelona, Spain

Nearest Metro : Universitat