Au Chocolat;

Was a quite a disappointment.

Maybe we ordered the wrong stuff, maybe it was too cold, maybe the chef was having PMS, maybe it was just way over-rated.

Le sigh.

Anyway, we had a girls' outing there and the interior was quaint, with a mini railway built into the ceiling and a train was choo-choo-ing along. Cute!

We settled in pleasantly into a cosy cushion seat, after we requested to changed from the metal chairs we were seated on cos our butts buay tahan.

The truffle fries came first, and it was well infused with the oil, chunky and crunchy with each bite. So we thought: "Wow, nice place with awesome fries! The food should be good too la." But some times in life, reality and expectations don't meat. I mean, meet.

Then the soups -onion and mushroom arrived, which were pretty decent but one can get sick of it after a while as they were done thick and heavy.

Mains ordered were:

1) Duck Confit: 

When the duck confit came, it was a tad too salty albeit served with good mash. But still palatable, just really salty. Go to Barnacles at Sentosa for a really good one!

2) Pacific Crabcakes:

It was a chef's recommendation, and I can see why, as it was packed with fresh, juicy chunky crab meat atop the same nice mash. Quite yummy...... la. 

Sorry, my bad, the most yummy dish of the day was gone before a picture could be snapped but it looked like this:

3) Pancakes from the all day Breakfast menu: 

This is not the usual fluffy texture you get at places like Strictly Pancakes or Spruce, where the texture reminded me more of man chian kueh or in English, chinese pancakes filled with peanut, coconut etc. I liked it, though it did not sit well with R who ordered. The rest of the sides were good, so this one pass.

4) Crispy Pork Belly: 

It should be taken off the chef's recommendations. 

Apparently the term crispy was taken to another level, where the skin was so hard that our jaws actually hurt from just one bite. Poor SJ who refused to take a second bite for fear of her braces breaking. (Mai siao siao ok, happened to me before. Culprit: a very strong chicken wing.) So, this dish was tossed aside, barely touched. This dish should be renamed CPF: Crispy Pork Fail. Then, at least we can all manage our expectations. :p

After the epic let-down, (fyi, all of us did not finish the food) we decided to just go for desserts, in an attempt to feel happy once again. But their sweets were reaaallly sweet. Even for a person with a sweet tooth like mademoiselle, it was too much.

We had the
1) Dark chocolate tart 2) Apple cheese cake crumble and the 3) Minty brownie bomb
Again, none was finished. Can cry already.

I am doing my best to salvage the place, and the only things I can think of are: nice decor, nice truffle fries, nice crabcakes/pancakes. The rest,  别提了。Some things are best left forgotten!
I'd say go if you want a nice place to chill and catch up with friends, but you can forget about blowing away your palette. Blow away your wallet yes, but any other tastebud-related stuff.... no.

But I must say, the cakes look good. And sometimes in life, looks can be deceiving! #@#%$#

p.s: I might go back again, just to see if the standards have improved and redo this post if it has.