dean & deluca @ orchard central

Felicity.

This was a central setting for the characters in the show and I had the impression that this was no different from a regular Starbucks.

But stepping in to their brand new outlet on the 4th level of Orchard Central saw me walk through their grocery store aisle before getting to the main seating area of the bistro. So now I know. Dean & Deluca is a gourmet coffee/pastries shop mixed with specialty food products. There were meats as mains and sides on display. The sandwiches all wrapped and... ready to be reheated. I don't know about you but this was sorely unappetizing for me. It's like being in the deli section of a regular supermarket. Except this was gourmet. Which really just meant the prices were of a gourmet standard. And that's really just as far as it goes.

I wanted a bacon apricot roll and to my horror, I see the chef picking the last remaining one up with his tongs and that cleared the plate on display. So let's just settle with the one right next to it.

Quiche Lorraine. This was savoury. Good on taste but otherwise, the puff pastry was a bit thick to the bite from the reheating. Bacon bits were good. And nothing else really. Light bite it was.

And tempted though I was to pick up the breads from Maison Kayser that were on display, I decided I didn't need to spend that kind of money here after an unsatisfactory $8.20 slice of quiche.

And then there was the luscious looking rounds of beef tenderloin.

Just at $12 a pop, they looked like a real steal.

And while we were debating on the side salad with a list price of $18, we only realised at the counter that they charged the weight of sides by grammes.

I'm not sure if that applied to meats as well. But all the portion sizes for the mains (meats/ fish) were standard on display.

Turns out the side of grilled chicken salad was just $3.

With an array of graps, olives, green apple cubes and grilled chicken, I'd be happy eating just the salad really. :)

The beef? It was well done. Overdone perhaps. The sides were crisp and dry. And the meat within was just notquitetough yet. I enjoyed the meat more than my quiche. If that could be of any help as a point of reference.

This was a good cup of cafe latte. My love affair for steam milk, 70% never ends. And this was a small cup. I wonder how the large cup would look.

And the random walk down their grocery aisle was a real treat for the eyes.

Colourful sugar bits.

Lego block sugar.

Cheddar crackers and hey,

Sea salt chocolate. Mmm.

I would be back.

But not all that soon.

And definitely not for the quiche.

:)