Delis and Other Places for Good Food

I've been looking for a deli to replace Sänti's as my source for party food. A concerted search over a few afternoons turned up the following:

The Cellar Door Deli

I didn't buy anything from the deli in the end but it was still a great find, if only for the delicious food in their restaurant. I ordered a basketful of bread chunks served with two dips. There was basil pesto, which I loved, and hummus, which was a little bland for my taste. I stole the pile of parmesan slivers (more like small slabs, really) from John's lamb pasta, and had it with the pesto and bread.

The deli has a lot of choices, ranging from dips (basil pesto, tomato tapenade, sundried tomato & basil pesto, and the aforementioned hummus) to bread, to limoncello at S$45 a bottle.

Prices are a little on the high side though. The same box of wafer twists selling for S$8 at Cellar Door goes for just $5.90 at Market Place at Paragon. Speaking of which...

Market Place

It's known as "the expat supermarket", and rightly so. This is where I picked up the bulk of my supplies. Fresh basil, bright red roma tomatoes, basil pesto, sundried tomatoes, sliced black olives, stuffed olives, maraschino cherries with stems, cocktail toothpicks... you name it, it's bound to be here somewhere. Looking at the wide variety of imported food on sale, you'd never guess these upmarket stores are run by the Cold Storage supermarket chain.

For the lazy, Market Place also makes up party platters and rents wine glasses, although I've never tried booking with them.

Marché

Jill and I happened to be at Marché for lunch, so I picked up 4 loaves of foccacia bread on the way out.

Lazy Gourmet Deli

In hindsight, it should have been obvious that Lazy Gourmet would be on the outside of Shaw Centre, facing the street and directly across China Black. As it was, Steph and I wandered around Shaw Centre mall and searched in vain for the non-existent second floor of Shaw Centre building before finally being directed outside.

Lazy Gourmet sells vacuum-packed soups and full meals. Not exactly cocktail party fare. We did have a yummy afternoon snack though; try the mushroom quiche, which is delicious, but avoid the too-sweet rum cake.

Espirito Santo Latin Deli

On the day of the party, Steph brought over yummy slices of various hams and delicious mushrooms from Espirito Santo. I've got to make my way over and check that place out sometime...

Corduroy & Finch

A few days after the party, John and I wandered over to Sixth Avenue for dinner. With Brazil packed to the rafters, we opted for Corduroy & Finch instead. The mushroom soup was good but came in a tiny portion size. Their beef tenderloin turned out fairly well, and the chicken penne pasta was okay - subtly flavored by dried herbs. For the price, though, dinner was nothing exceptional... but it's just fun going to C&F to browse through all the things they have on sale. The selection seemed heavily dominated by German deli items this time around, and their intense chocolate mousse was nowhere to be seen.

Getting There

The Cellar Door Deli - 619 Bukit Timah Road, 6463 5296

Market Place and Jason's - Paragon, Tanglin Mall, and Raffles City basements. Click here for the full list of branches.

Marché - #B1-01 and #01-03 at The Heeren on Orchard, 6737 6996

Lazy Gourmet Deli - 1 Scotts Road, Shaw Centre, #02-01 (at the back, facing Pacific Plaza / China Black. 6333 8722

Espirito Santo Latin Deli - 376 River Valley Road, 6256-5070

Corduroy & Finch - 779 Bukit Timah Road, 6463-8038. Near Sixth Avenue.

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