Canele Patisserie Chocolateria (Raffles City Shopping Centre)

Its difficult to miss Canele in Raffles City Shopping centre since its situated in the middle of the pathway and further accentuated with a jet spraying fountain as its centerpiece. Of course, another draw would be that Canele is a part of the Les Amis group and has an excellent display of tasty treats adorning its front counter. I've heard much and felt compelled to try it out to see if it was worth the fuss. Conclusion? Coming soon.

Jupiter ($7 ) Strawberry Shortcake ($6.50 )

Price wise, its acceptable given the pedigree and given the brand. However, portion size for both is much smaller then first perceived. I'd like to talk a little about the service because i felt that the man who started off serving us had a stand offish attitude the moment we mentioned we were only here for dessert. In fact, he took away the menu and for some weird reason, did not bother to take our orders. In the end, i had to flag down another waitress to get the job done. Management take note on this please. On the plus side, i was informed that Canele does not serve ice water but was pleasantly surprised when we received a glass. That is worth commending.

Jupiter - It looks simply divine but i can't help comparing it to Ambrosia which i had in Ah Teng's Bakery. The glistening chocolate layer looks and tastes similar to Ambrosia with a slightly bitter aftertaste which i enjoyed. The interior is different since Jupiter has a slight crunch in the center layer which was quite enjoyable. However, the sponge layer which forms the base had a weird sourish taste which remained me of spoiled rice. I would have appreciated a sourish tinge of orange on that layer but thats just a suggestion. The beautiful looking top layer was also rather disappointing in that there was minimal taste. Apart from being a decorative piece, it had potential to be so much more.In the end, my gf and i concluded Ah Teng's Ambrosia tasted better for a similar dessert. It helps that it cost lesser as well.

Strawberry Shortcake - Another winner in the looks department, i liked the casual appearance of the wholesome strawberries and the thick pieces they came in. I also like the sponge layer which was moistly soft and mildly sweet. I was more or less in the mood for a mild dessert at this point. The strawberries were juicy but not sweet enough according to my gf. She compared this with Four Leaves version and voted Four Leaves version as the winner in terms of taste and price. For my part, i remember Four Leaves rendition having a stronger strawberry taste on the sponge and cream and the strawberries themselves were sweeter. The sponge on Four Leaves was dryer though. Tough call actually.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Last Word: For the price, i honestly have to say its a little too expensive. Substitutes for the offerings seem easy enough to come by and seems as though apart from losing to Canele in the looks department, delivers in the taste and quantity department better. Overall, i'd say Canele ain't bad but really, with the price charged, it's natural to expect more and at this point, i'm inclined to say its not up to standard yet.

i've always wanted to try the macaroons from canele, looking at how pretty they are and how they're often so highly raved. so i went down to raffles city a few days back and finally set my hands on them!

asked the staff there for recommendations and he suggested coffee, pistachio, caramel and the milk choc feullitine. i had one of each. oh and they looked so small and cute!

i first sank my teeth into the caramel one and i was wondering how did it get so many positive reviews?! sure enough im not a fan of super sweet food, and definitely not caramel. to be fair, it was crispy on the outside and really chewy on the inside. texture wise this prolly was also the most exciting of the lot.

thankfully, the coffee and milk choc feullitine saved my day! i find their taste just right, not too sweet and flavourful enough. my fren found feullitine a tad too sweet for her liking tho, and loved the pistachio most, which was quite light in flavour. if you shld eat this combi of flavours, i do suggest that you finish the light-flavoured ones first before moving on to the rest. or else, like me, u can barely taste the pistachio!

ambience wise it's really nice at this outlet, esp if you can get a seat just beside the fountain, so you dont have to be distracted by the crowd wheezing by beside you..