OK so today after the combo breaker of Lit + Econs on the same damn day 2 hours apart, Fuli and I (Liren to most people) went to go nom and shop, which turned out to be a rather harsh day for my wallet, still reeling in schock from the expenditure of it all. I swear it was like:

<blockquote>ALLEE? What R U DOIN? ALLEE! <b>STAPH</b>!</blockquote>

But obviously since I'm young and reckless I paid it no heed.

So yes, <b>Dean & Deluca</b> was awesomeeee. It's kind of like a gourmet food store, like Gastromania at Serene Centre. So they have a full selection of food and stuff and a menu that's laid out right in front of you, in one of those glass display cases with the name of the food, description & price, you pick what you want and eat it. Pretty simple. It's self service so it reduces all those unnecessary service charge things. There's also a wide variety of drinks & a range of gourmet food gifts, like an entire spice set of 40+ different spices (including whole Clove, fresh Corriander, etc) for $108, aprons, different sort of gourmet pastas and like tiny tin boxes of chocolate. So it's a good place if you want to get gifts for your domestic mother and all. Or aunt. Or sister. Or friend who really likes cooking, the good life and spices. Whoosh.

(OK maybe your mother isn't domestic. Like mine, who cooks every weekend when she's in Singapore and flies the rest of the week on an INDEPENDENT JOB. Not sure whether that makes her a new woman or not. Heh okay too much Lit.)

Anyhow, pictures tell the story better than I will ever be able to:


So basically it's completely self service, meaning you go there and find a table yourself and sit down then go to the counter to order/buy food. Your food is then served to you at the table after they re-heat/re-cook it, so it's pretty nice and toasty don't worry:)

Glass display cases full of noms. Some things, like the salad they charge by servings (half servings + full servings). Some things, like the rosemary potato or pumpkin they'll charge by weight- e.g. $8/1kg. Or like the quiches/tarts they'll charge you by piece. Whatever's most reasonable, really. Also look at those leafy leafy greens the salad dressing- virgin olive oil + balsamic I think, was awesome:)

Our mains:
 1. Lasagne- really cheesy and awesome. The layers of pasta were wonderful and well calculated. Was my favourite dish out of everything we had!
2. Salmon + Spinach quiche- they used smoked salmon, which was a nice touch since the fishiness was particularly striking against the cheese/egg/spinach background. Uh, wasn't very impressive though because they had to reheat it and some of the middle parts weren't as toasty as I would have liked it to be. Still pretty good, decent! :)
3. Quiche Lorraine- it's basically quiche with cheese + bacon. Didn't like their version of this, quite sadly, because the bacon came in these large chunks that were too oily for me tbh. Also after it got colder the bacon chunks just did not taste nice.


Our desserts:
1. Almond & Apricot tart: really, really liked this! The pastry was really crumbly and well knit together. The crust was not teeth-breakingly hard (not a word), which is always a plus point ahha. Fresh apricot too so it was an awesome touch.
2. Chocolate cake: unassuming, but absolutely freaking gorgeous. Can safely say it is one of my favourite chocolate cakes ever. Ever. Was all moist and chocolatey and <i>silky</i>, just melted in your mouth. Love this, was like eating actual chocolate without the cloying stickiness afterward. Had frosting + milk chocolate flakes on top. LOVE THIS.

In summary you guys should totally check this place out it's pretty affordable actually for some nice food, it's best to go there for tea considering their coffee is supposedly super awesome and their desserts + bread are reputedly the best on the menu! The only irritating thing is the fact that it's located in Orchard Central, i.e. the mall that hardly anybody goes to because it's so out of the way and close to places like 313 and Cineleisure/Scape*.


<u>Dean & Deluca Singapore</u>
#04-23/24 Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road, Singapore 238896