Baumkuchen is a traditional layered cake that is popular in Japan. Since "Baumkuchen" refers to a type of desert, are you wondering why are there pictures of soba instead? Wheat Baumkuchen started as a desert cafe in Singapore, selling baumkuchen pastries that became very popular in 2010. In 2011, they move towards encouraging a healthy lifestyle by introducing salad and soba dishes to their menu. Their increasing popularity has shown that healthy food can be as delicious as well. Apart from their original outlet that is tucked in the middle of Toa Payoh neighbourhood, they have opened another outlet at Asia Square Food Garden. Among the two outlets, I actually prefer the one at Asia Square Food Garden. Asia Square Food Garden is the most beautiful food court i have been to in Singapore. However, it is extremely crowded during lunch hours despite their spacious layout (that reminds me of Changi Airport). So, I was thinking of a suitable place to have dinner and catch up with my friends after work. But cafes in the CBD district such as The Plain, Selfish Gene etc... usually close by evening on weekdays. I think I made a wise choice coming to the Food Garden for dinner because it was pretty empty by dinner time. I was able to choose a nice seat and slowly enjoy the food while catching up with my friends without feeling pressurized to leave. The price of the soba dishes hover between approximately 8 to 12 dollars. Overall, it is a pretty enjoyable experience at the Food Garden. 

Bull Run: $8.00

Teriyaki grilled chicken served with shredded vegetables and green soba that is tossed with a creamy dressing. This is one of their recommended dishes. That big piece of teriyaki grilled chicken is really delicious. 

Salmon Soba: $9 

The soba is tossed with a light and refreshing Japanese Yuzu sauce and served with some enoki mushrooms and grilled salmon. Personally, I would prefer the yuzu sauce to the creamy dressing above. 

Phoenix: $10

Fried chicken served with salad and green soba tossed with the same creamy dressing as Bull Run's. Their chilli is delicious. This dish is not on their main menu. Personally, I prefer teriyaki grilled chicken to fried chicken. 

Ice Cube: $3

This silken toufu with thai sauce and crab meat is really delicious. I can finish this on my own. I am going to learn how to make this! So, watch this space!

So today, I've decided to put my experiences with Real Food Cafe in 1 post altogether. This is one of my all time favourite cafes because they not only serve delicious but healthy organic food at affordable prices. Whenever we talk about healthy food, the most common food that are perceived to be healthy would probably be salad. But there are other food apart from salad that are healthy too! The best part about this place is that it is a vegetarian cafe. Before you start to doubt how vegetarian food can be delicious (especially guys..), hey give vegetarian food a chance! Food don't need meat to be good all the time right? My heart was completely bought over after my first visit. They have expanded from just 1 outlet at The Central to having 4 outlets ( Central, Square 2, Killiney and West Coast) across the tiny island now. I have been to all except Square 2. Well, if you're going with a big group, perhaps you can consider going to the Killiney outlet because it is pretty big. So, if you are health conscious, dieting or looking for a healthier restaurant or cafe for lunch/dinner, I highly recommend this place!

 

Dumpling Noodles: $9.80 

This is my favourite dish and it is really satisfying. I love the texture and chewiness of their udon noodles and I would consider that it actually has a generous serving of both noodles and dumplings. It comes with 6 big dumplings! The dumplings are made of a mix of vegetables and they tasted a little like "soon kueh". 

Orange and Pumpkin Vinaigrette: $10.80

This is what I would usually order in the past too. This bowl of salad contains my favourite sweet potato and pumpkin. I am not joking about this but they have the best sweet potato I have ever eaten. To all sweet potato haters (some of my friends do hate sweet potatoes), you really need to give these sweet potato babies a chance?! And to all sweet potato lovers out there, you definitely got to eat this! How can you call yourself a sweet potato fan if you don't try it! It is mouthgasmically delicious! Well, on the other hand, $10.80 for this dish is a tad too high especially when the size of sweet potato and pumpkin has been shrinking every time I order this. If you just want to try their sweet potatoes instead of getting the entire salad, I think they do have a sweet potato & potato side as well. 

Stuffed Veggie Salad- $9.80

The vegetable patties were made from grated beetroot, carrots, mashed potato, onions, fresh parsley and millets. It was my first time eating vegetable patties. At first i was quite skeptical about the color of the patties but they turned out quite nice! 

Organic Mushroom Aglio Olio: $7.80

Brownies are one of the easiest desert to bake and I've baked these countless times. I've taken a long break from baking partly because the inner glass door of my oven has dropped. So whenever I open the oven door when the oven is hot, I had to wear a pair of gloves and be extra careful to place the inner glass door down and try to stick it back to the door. The tape that holds the glass and the oven door together becomes less sticky when the temperature is high. Hence, it is extremely troublesome to bake especially when we need to open the door several times to check the doneness of our cake. Finally, I went to the "Self Fix DIY" store to get one of the High Resistant 3M tapes to stick the glass door back. So far, it has been working pretty well and that means I am going to bake more often! I had a stron urge to bake these oreo brownies after eating the oreo brownie at Cake Spade. The oreo topping on the brownie that I had at Cake spade was soft and similar to a cake like texture. However, mine still remained as crunchy like a it's original state. Does anyone knows how to soften the cookie? I was thinking of leaving the cookies uncovered for a few hours before baking but I am unsure if this is an absurd idea hahaha! Nevertheless, the brownie still turned out great and well received by those who tried it. Despite reducing the sugar level by 40% from the original recipe, I still find it a little too sweet. I would probably reduce sugar level to 80g in future. 

Recipe: (Original recipe adapted from Laura Vitale)

141g Butter ( 5 Ounce) 

198g Chocolate 

120g Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1Tbsp Cocoa Powder 

2 Large Eggs 

2 Tbsp Warm Water

1 Tsp Espresso Powder 

80g All Purpose Flour

8 Oreos, separated

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and line 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix warm water with espresso powder in a small bowl and set aside. 

3. Melt chocolate using a microwave. 

4. Whisk butter and sugar until fluffy and add eggs, vanilla extract and espresso mixture. Beat until well combined. 

5. Add melted chocolate and whisk. Fold in dry ingredients. Do not over mix. 

6. Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for about 40 mins or until when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs but not wet batter.