Pretty pastries, refreshing tea mocktails

Enjoy cakes and tea mocktails at Culture Spoon, a five-month-old co-working kitchen with a dine-in and retail concept in River Valley.

The concept has 12 brands onboard, two of which are artisanal bakery Cultured Bakeyard and crafted tea brand The Tea Affair.

Basque cheesecake was all the rage in 2019 and last year, and Cultured Bakeyard's version is worth the calories. Its signature Basque Cheesecake ($9+ a slice) is light, and not cloying and overly sweet.

Each slice is served with vanilla Chantilly cream on the side, that screams excessive, but the cream's foamy texture is the perfect foil to the cake.

Executive patissiere Shirlyn Song, 33, co-founder of Culture Spoon and co-owner of Cultured Bakeyard, came up with the cheesecake recipe in 2019, when she was working at the now-closed Gallery & Coat National Gallery Singapore. She took two months to develop her own version, using one type of cream cheese.

A new addition to the menu at Cultured Bakeyard is Violet ($9+), a dome of purple sweet potato paste encasing taro cream, coconut sago and almond sponge cake. The purple paste reminds me of Okinawa's Benimo Sweet Potato Tart. No food dye is used.

The pastry is topped with a miniature taro macaron, an exquisite touch.

Cultured Bakeyard also makes its own granola from rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, pecan, dried cranberry, maple syrup and brown sugar.

Its Fruity Granola With Greek Yogurt And Honey ($11.90+) is Instagram-worthy, with a colourful combination of mango, strawberry, banana, pomegranate, passionfruit and fresh edible flowers.

Wash down the sweet treats with The Tea Affair's tea mocktails.

I Love You Berry Much ($5.50+ a glass, $19+ a jug) is a refreshing mix of raspberry, mulberry and blueberry puree with jasmine green tea.

For a zestier beverage, go for Aloha Sunshine ($5.50+ a glass, $19+ a jug), a concoction of orange, pineapple, passionfruit and apple juices with jasmine green tea.

Items by The Tea Affair are available from 11am till Culture Spoon's closing time.

Where: Culture Spoon, 409 River Valley Road

MRT: Orchard

Open: 8am to 10.30pm (Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays); 8am to 11pm (Fridays, Saturdays). Closed on Tuesdays

Tel: 6980-3081

Info: Culture Spoon's website

One-for-one crab deal

Fans of the crustacean will love the Oh My Crab! promotion at Ah Hoi's Kitchen.

From April 30 to June 27, diners get a Sri Lankan crab free with every purchase of a king crab for $88++. The deal is available from 6pm to 10.30pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The roof-top restaurant at JEN Singapore Tanglin by Shangri-La offers four cooking styles for the king crab and six for the Sri Lankan crab. Each king crab dish comes with 500g to 550g of crab.

One new cooking style for the king crab is au gratin. The crab is simmered in a rich bechamel sauce with parmigiana and roasted garlic, then garnished with fresh tarragon and English parsley. The dish comes with three soft-boiled eggs and six small slices of garlic bread to mop up the sauce.

For those who prefer old-school flavours, order the king crab cooked in a superior broth with vermicelli. The flavoursome broth is made by simmering kampung chicken bones and red snapper bones for four hours.

Even with your mask on, the strong aroma of the hua tiao wine hits your nostrils. But I find the slices of ginger too chunky.

The complimentary Sri Lankan crab (500g to 550g each) is a whole live one.

A new cooking style for it is with Masak Lemak Chilli Api - a house-made spice paste comprising chilli padi, fresh turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, shallots and kaffir lime leaves which are chopped by hand. The coconut cream in the gravy is rich but not cloying.

With its creamy yellow gravy, the dish does not look spicy but watch out for the kick from the bird's eye chilli.

For a less fiery option, order the Sri Lankan crab to be prepared mala-style. It is mildly spicy, but you can ask for it to be cooked medium-spicy or hot.

The crab is tossed in a mala seasoning with onion, garlic and young ginger. The dish is well-balanced, with no overkill of Sichuan peppercorns and chilli oil to numb your tongue so you can still taste the sweetness of the crab meat.

Selected styles of cooking are available for the Oh My Crab! promotion for takeaway or delivery orders.

Where: Ah Hoi's Kitchen, JEN Singapore Tanglin by Shangri-La, Level 4, 1A Cuscaden Road (access restaurant through Tanglin Mall, take elevator to level 4)

MRT: Orchard

When: April 30 to June 27, Fridays to Sundays, 6pm to 10.30pm

Tel: 6831-4373

Info: For dine-in bookings, e-mail ahhoiskitchen.hjts@hoteljen.com or go to this website. For takeaway and delivery, go to JEN Singapore Tanglin by Shangri-La's website.