Chewy Junior (Singapore)

NOTE: This is a guest post from my officemate who went to Singapore. Since she’s shy, she said that I just hide her under the name of CottonCandy Cupcake. I think that’s her Ragnarok name, lol. Hope you guys enjoy her review of the places she visited in Singapore!

I always eat with my eyes first. In a place like Singapore, food courts make me go nuts. Everything looks really good… then the next thing you look at is the contents of your wallet to finally decide what to eat. A snack, like a single stick of tori balls can cost as much as Php 54.00 and a plate of food can cost about Php 300.00. Everything is really expensive.

The very first snack my husband coaxed me to try was Ya Kun Kaya toast. Its about Php 126.00 for 4 sandwiches of 3”x3” buttered bread with some secret spread (Kaya), 2 1-minute eggs, and milk tea or coffee. When I first saw the beat poached eggs with soy sauce and pepper, I wanted to run. It looked really gross. After insisting that he eat it first, and seeing no signs of gagging, I tried it as well. At first bite, there’s the crunchy toast, together with the soft parts already drenched in the egg-dip. Kaya itself is sweet, and the soy sauce was salty, there’s the richness of the butter and the egg. I would label this as comfort food, relaxing to eat, interactive (since you get to play with food), and very filling. Yes, the two eggs and the small pieces of bread can actually make you forget about your next meal.

The next few days I went about trying everything in the foodcourt, it’s a foodcourt for snacks and on-the-go meals, since it was just above the MRT station. There’s J.Co, which at first I thought was J.Lo, a doughnut and ice cream shop. The doughnuts were not so interesting to me, so I tried their gelato, which were fashioned in an interesting wavy design.

At Php114.00 per scoop, I had high expectations. The first flavor I tried was Donatella, then Chocolate, then Strawberry. All were very good, it wasn’t too creamy, and the texture was relatively more firm, unlike Gelatino in Greenbelt, which was too soft, almost like it’s on the verge of melting. Amici comes close, but still a little too runny, J.Co’s gelato’s consistency is like you’re eating off the freezer. The flavor comes alive in the mouth, much like Haagen Daaz’s ice cream; and there’s no weird coloring like when local chocolate ice cream turns your tongue violet.

The most noteworthy of all foodcourt snacks would be Chewy Junior. It’s a small pastry shop, no seats, just a counter and a display of their puffs. Just like doughnut shops here, you can see through a window where bakers are making fresh batches of Chewies. They have 12 kinds of cream puffs, and some interesting almond sticks. One puff is Php 39, its about the size of a Starbucks muffin. My favorite is Strawberry Dream, since I like the color and the combination of tart and sweet. Their puffs are soft and of course, chewy, a bit airy, and the cream filling is not sweet, and there’s only a hint of confectioner’s sugar. The toppings are fresh, like the blueberry angel and the apple delight are obviously not out-of-the-can and are made by their crew.

Actually, the quality of their cream puffs and the presentation make it seem posh, like Bizu pastries, but they’ve found a way to downplay it, with a comical logo and fast-food feel. They’re trying to serve cream puffs like doughnuts. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chewy Junior comes to the Philippines (after the recession that is) and sells like Go Nuts used to during its one-branch-only days. I guess they just need to correct their tagline before entering the country. Franchise, anyone? Please? Hehehe!

Thanks again to CottonCandy Cupcake for the guest post! Next up will be a review of a Spanish restaurant where Mich and I had our dinner last week. Really nice place with fantastic Paella. -Wauks