I’d passed by The Marmalade Pantry when Chris and I were shopping around ION Mall in Singapore, and it caught my eye because it looked both refined yet casual, if that makes sense.. It tends to be busy on weekends but has more of the “ladies who lunch” crowd on weekdays. I actually like the open-air surroundings of the restaurant because it makes for great people-watching 😉 It was here that I met up with for a spot of lunch and catching up 🙂

Marmalade Pantry

The service here is top-notch. Very attentive, eager to please, and polite. My request to move to one of the sofa tables was promptly attended to and I liked how they kept an eye on us throughout, yet were unobtrusive. Their menu poses quite the dilemma though! Everything looked so appetizing!! And don’t even get me started on the Desserts section….. Even their Drinks menu looked fabulous! I had the Sakura green tea which was a delightfully subtle blend of green tea with a hint of floral.

The Crab linguini was a generous tumble of warm pasta with a swirl of crab meat throughout. There was an impressive amount of crab in here, and I really enjoyed the subtle flavour of it, matched with the tart tomato sauce. An excellent dish! The Mushroom and truffle risotto was another winner, with an impressive number of assorted mushrooms hidden under the creamy rice. The truffle taste really came through and the meal was lovely comfort food. Our French fries weren’t on the menu, but they obliged us when we suddenly decided “WE MUST EAT FRIES” 😛 Soon after, a large bowl of crisp goodness arrived. The fries were beautifully golden and crisp, but fluffy on the inside. It would have been even better with truffle oil and herbs IMHO 🙂

Crab linguini

Mushroom and truffle risotto

French fries

Dessert was a Red velvet cupcake, which are so so so hard to find in Singapore. Why is that? They’re amazing!! The deep red cake was moist and rich, and the cream cheese icing blended perfectly. We both weren’t fond of the coconut flakes on top though – but that’s personal preference as I don’t like coconut and thought the texture interfered with the smooth lusciousness of the icing.

The Sticky date pudding had me in foodgasms. A small pat of very moist cake, studded with sweet melty dates and with lashings of sticky caramel. The vanilla bean ice cream was the perfect match for it and it was one of the nicest sticky date puddings I’ve had in a long long time. I really enjoyed the luxe approach of the ambience and service, despite the casual location. It’s a nice combination so you don’t feel like you’re dining, yet you benefit from the quality food and service. A winner for me 🙂

Red velvet cupcake

Sticky date pudding

Fans of lazy lunches 😉