whine & dine

&ot

Macaron is an interesting concept, as far as Singapore’s dining scene goes anyway. A dessert restaurant that doesn’t serve you post-dinner sweets, but treats FOR dinner, it’s not a particularly common sight on our sunny shores. (It might well be the first one, but I’m not 100% sure of it so I shall claim ignorance for the time being.)

Now, my bunny is not that big a fan of desserts. Give her meat – cow, pig, poultry, game, anything – and she’s happy. But desserts? She’s the sort who’d swap her dessert for an appetizing-sounding appetizer, whereas I’m the one who’d forgo my starter to indulge my sweet tooth. (Actually, I’d probably just insist on all three, but nevermind that.) As you can imagine, it wasn’t too easy a feat to convince her to try this new-ish establishment.

Anyhow, with the help of two of our friends, I finally succeeded this week, and we ventured over to Robertson Walk for the rather generous High Tea set menu. Comprising 4 sections (2 savoury and 2 sweet), with a total of 13 selections each from 26 choices, the two platters of bite-sized treats (with coffee or tea included) cost us just over $30 each. Reasonably priced, if you take into consideration that all four of us were quite stuffed at the end of it.

Not surprisingly, their desserts far outshone their savoury items. All of us were reduced to a cacophony of moans and groans when savouring each bite of the macarons, eclairs, madeleines and other chocolate miscellany. On the other hand, the savoury items – while definitely not baaaaad – didn’t strike us as much better than a decent buffet spread of canapés. Of the 5 I picked, only the croque madame really sang out to me.

The other thing that left us slightly unsatisfied was the whopping 50 minutes it took for the first plate to arrive from the time we placed our order (and 10 minutes to get a waiter’s attention to place our order). If not for the good company, the rumbling noise in my ever-growing belly would have probably catapulted me out of there and into the nearest hawker centre.

All in all, it was a decent dining experience, and one that’s definitely worth its price – especially for those of you with a really sweet tooth. However, the discrepancy in quality between the savouries and sweets would probably mean that if and when I make a return trip here, it’ll probably be for dinner so that I can save the space on the mediocre “real food” and focus my energy and attention on the desserts. Those of you who often pick at main meals and snack on chocolate and candy bars throughout the day (and somehow remain stick thin – bunny and I hate you) should definitely give this place a shot. I think you’d all be enroute to sugar-high heaven, surrounded by clouds of candy floss.

Macaron

11 Unity Street
#01-09 Robertson Walk
Singapore 237995

+65 235 7277

Dinner: Tues through Sat 6pm to 12mn, Sun 6pm to 10pm
High Tea: Fri & Sat 3pm to 5pm
Closed on Mondays

(Click here to view a photoset of some pictures I shot at the restaurant.)