Nectarie le'Dessert Patisserie

Nectarie is a true delight for dessert lovers. All the desserts especially the chocolate items and tiramisu are extremely good. While the place is a little small and the high chair is a little uncomfortable, the food makes up for it. The manager is extremely attentive to the clients and service is excellent. They will even remember the items you like and recommend new items for you in the menu. Must tries include the Warm Chocolate Cake, Tiramisu, Chocolate Mud Cake and the Peanut Butter Latte.

Nectarie's located at the heart of Clarke Quay amidst the mish-mash of watering holes and restaurants. Rather quiet on a Saturday afternoon, which suited me just fine. The interior of the store resembles an oven - long, rectangular and stuffy. I do wonder how the staff can tolerate being inside for long hours. My kakis and I stepped inside and decided on the outdoor seating after one second in the stifling environment.

Service was prompt and we decided on the following items:

Strawberry short cake
Loved the crust and generous strawberries on this one. The cream was light and fluffy.

Pistachio white chocolate
I couldn't get past the first bite. Perhaps its an acquired taste but I felt that the nutty flavour did not go well with the white chocolate elements whatsoever.

Chocolate fondue
Came with the usual assortment of marshmellows, fruits etc. Thumbs up to the crispy biscuits though. The most important part of the fondue - chocolate did not meet my expectations. It tasted flat and wasn't rich enough for my liking.

Peony jade tea
This was listed as a speciality and for good reason. Fragrant and light, it was just perfect. Boo to no refills though.

Nectarie does know how to package itself well - the deserts are showcased nicely and tantalise any passerby. However pretty packaging cannot be enough. There has to be substance and while Nectarie doesn't totally fall short on this, there could be some improvements.

After reading reviews on how fantastic the banana cake was, i decided to go down and have a go. It was indeed FANTASTIC! It was a little crispy, yet soft, but it requires you to chew it and it will not really melt in your mouth. I just love it! Its the type of cake you just want to sink your teeth into. However, you got to prepare a cup of water beside you. I got really thirsty after a few bites and was screaming for water. I guess it was a little too sweet. The other cake I ordered was the tiramisu. I wouldn't say it is fantastic, neither would i say that it is bad. It just wasn't my kind of tiramisu. It was a little to soft and i couldn't really taste the cheese. The rum was overpowering.

I wouldn't recommend going there to chill as i didn't find the chairs comfortable. They were all plastic chairs! I was a little shock when i reach as i was looking forward to a nice high tea session. Another turn down was the weather. It was super hot that day! And they didn't blast the aircon. So, if you want to go, i would recommend take outs. Or go during the night, provided there will be seats available.

Our initial plan was to go for a nightcap, but we got distracted by Nectarie le'Dessert Patisserie.

There weren't many choices of pastries to choose from in this patisserie, but we were already having a hard time selecting since all of them look so good.

Our choices in the end - Caramelized Bananas with Chocolate and Double Chocolate Mudcake.

I always think bananas and chocolate make good partners. Both possess this sweet taste with textures that compliment each other. The base of the cake is a crunchy foundation, which is crisp and just enhances the experience further. This "couple" should NEVER break up.

I find the Double chocolate mudcake slightly dense. Its nice but forgettable. I have tasted better.

This was followed by the classic Granny Smith Apple Strudel, which crackled with a sharp sound when it is being sliced, that signifies how crisp the crust is. The generous chunks of apple cubes within the strudel are soft and sweet and goes well with the fresh cream.

I scream at ice-cream! Lavender and chocolate ice cream, that is. I particularly like the former, as the lavender wasn't overwhelming or tasted anything like potpourri.

With a sigh of happiness, we left that place, promising to go back for more.

http://wildrocketing.blogspot.com/2009/08/only-for-sweet-tooth.html

After a satisfying meal at Sun with Moon at The Central with some girlfriends (we had a full meal complete with desserts!), we headed for TCC. There was a long queue which put us off so we decided to walk around and somehow ended up at Nectarie.

I like the name of the place and we were drawn by the lovely desserts (despite already having had one round at Sun with Moon) but I guess more importantly we wanted a place to sit and chat.

The indoor seating is limited as the patisserie seems to have been allocated a very strange shop space. Basically the shop is long but not wide. Outdoor seating, thankfully, was not a problem perhaps because most of the people in that part of The Cannery are looking more to go clubbing than eat desserts.

Anyway, it's not a good idea to go on a weekend night (although they open very late, till 2am). Reason is that most likely you will end up sitting outside where it's very noisy and smoky (think thumping music from clubs and lots of chatter from clubbers hanging outside to take 5). You literally have to speak quite loudly to be heard above all that! And of course, breathing in second hand smoke is hardly my idea of a relaxing ambience to enjoy desserts.

Having said all that, the place does have its saving graces. Firstly, service was quite good. The wait staff were polite and prompt in re-filling the tea we had ordered. This is something that certainly caught our attention. These days it seems that we are hard pressed to find a decent place which is willing to serve tap water/ hot water and asking for re-fills for your tea pot somehow results in the wait staff giving you stares that scream "cheapskate". The only hiccup was that they initially forgot our drink orders and we realised that because another group who came later got their drinks first. But at least they apologised for their mistake.

Since we already had a full dinner, we decided to go for desserts round 2. We ordered 10 macarons (yes, that's how they spelt it) ($8++) which were on promotion, lavender honey ice cream, peony jade tea, marigold tea and iced latte.

They were nice enough to serve us 5 of the macarons and pack the other 5 (we knew we couldn't eat all 10 macarons at one go). I think the most outstanding flavour was teh tarik. It really tasted like milk tea and I love that it's a local flavour. The next best is coffee. The others like green tea, lavender and chocolate were really only so-so.

The lavender honey ice cream tasted like something you would like on your face/ body. Credit must be given in that they really did use alot of lavender to bring out that taste. But it's not something that I would fancy eating.

The peony jade tea is very fragrant...it would make a lovely perfume. I just thought it's funny how their food just smells so good and how it would be great if they converted into bodycare products!

I didn't try the iced latte but my friend (who's a big coffee drinker of late) says it was good.

They have a lot more desserts to offer which we did not order but sounded interesting. So we decided that going back on a lazy Sat/ Sun afternoon would probably be much better than a weekend night. Hopefully the ambience would be much improved.

I've been there with my geefs for 4 times by now, and i'm about to return for a 5th time tomorrow lol. i've never been a dessert-person until i tried their signature Caramelized Bananas with Chocolate with skepticism for the first time. i hated bananas for their high carbo content and its ridiculous sweetness..but this cake was out of this world. i especially love the pairing of bananas with the crispy bottom--the texture was heavenly. there was only a very subtle hint of chocolate, which worked out perfect for a dessert that wasnt overloaded with sugar. it looks probably the most un-extraordinary cake in the rack filled with pretty cakes, but trust me, you shouldnt miss out on this one.

i also had the grilled ham&cheese and cajun Chicken with jack cheese&guacamole sandwiches. both were equally an enormous treat to my tastebud. the mayonnaise in the first sandwich had a very slight fragrant fruitty taste and the cheese melted perfectly on top of some premium ham. cajun chicken needed more character in my opinion. it wasnt that fantastic, but enough to make you finish at least half of the plate. go multi-grain bread if you can, because the nuts/sunflower seeds are really crunchy and added another layer of flavor to the whole setting.

my advice would be, dont be fooled by the appearance of the spread in front of you--it's usually the unimpressive that comes out as the 'underdogs'. take for instance: Caramelized bananas with chocolate, Dark Chocolate Opera. the strawberry shortcake unfortunately, didnt taste half as good as it looked...the texture and flavor clashed and the only saving grace was perhaps the light sponge cake layers.

service needs to be improved on--1 didnt understand their menu items well enough, 1 cleared our table looking like we owed her a million pounds, and another wasnt attentive enough to our orders. the cashier was either oblivious to my presence in front of her, or had better things to do than accepting my money. i was kept waiting for at least 6 mins (imagine standing in front of an unresponsive cashier that long!). one of my geefs commented that the manager is a 9 out of 10 though, in terms of cuteness.

oh and one last thing, it's probably not a good idea to sit indoors if you cant stand the heat or if you're claustrophobic.

Their caramelised banana chocolate is in the SG Top 50 cakes. However, i would also like to introduce another cake that is worth ur visit here-The strawberry shortcake.

The strawberry shortcake is decorated with generous strawberries and almond flakes. Light vanilla sponge with strawberries. They do not use any chantilly cream but some light cream and simply several layers of light vanilla sponge with strawberries in between. People often comment that their cakes are on the dry side. However, this strawberry shortcake taste quite alright to me.

Hazelnut Chocolate mousse

It's hazelnut chocolate mousse shaped into a dome. There's a thin layer of hazelnut praline in the centre but it's not crunchy enough. The mousse is quite alright-infused with hazelnut flavour. OK, the bad: Dry sponge! I kept emphasizing dry sponge as nectarie's desserts are often on the dry side. I think they shld do something abt it.

Have earlier wanted to visit TCC @ Clarke Quay. We passed by Nectarie and was attracted to the desserts on the display. Decided to give it a try. Yes, their red wine pear with apple strudel is good choice but not for the multi-grain tuna sandwich, its a little too tough. The service staff was ok. Just that I was perspiring in an airconditioned cafe, well, the glare from the sun through the clear glass , was one and somehow the cafe was just hot, without much airconditioning. I found myself perspiring , luckily i was in black shorts if not, others might think i wet my shorts. Another point to mention is, the cafe doesnt serve ice water.

I walked past nectarie n several desserts caught my attention thus i went in to take a look. They are new creations! The choc tart, lemon n r/berry. They r having a promotion having launch on thur(30/4). Going at 2 for $9.90, it's pretty worth it. However, i only bought one as nobody in my family except me who love desserts. It cost $6++for an indiviual pc.

I got the lemon version. There was this sour curd which taste like lemon meringue n i quite enjoy it. The taste is crispy n not soggy. A milk choc ball is decorated on top of the tart. It has a special filling in it n i cannot make out wad is that. Great for breakfast as it would refresh u.

According to the staff, there would b even more new creation at the end of may so i would be waiting to try them all.

YTD was valentine's day so nectarie has got a 3 ay promotion of the orange n grand marnier mousse wif s/berry. I went there on thur but found out that d promotion starts only on fri n ends on sun. I came here on sat jus to get myself this dessert.

The dessert was displayed on d display case. It looks pretty n i think that was d last piece since the staff took d one that is one display. It looks pretty wif 2 s/berries n 2 chocolate heart shaped topped on it.

It does not come cheap though. It is priced at $9.90++.

The dessert was nth special i would say. It's basically some white choc mousse sandwiched wif pitted orange sponge n choc sponge. The choc sponge was quite soft. I didnt really enjoy the orange sponge as it's kind of nutty i think. There's not a scent of any taste of grand marnier at all. Would not pay for the price, it's not worth it.