Z Chocolat - Premium Handmade French Chocolate

I was very excited when I arrived home to see a DHL parcel all the way from France addressed to me. Opening up the parcel, revealed a black cloth bag with a beautifully handcrafted mahogany gift box with my name engraved on the brass plate.

The gift is from Z Chocolat, an online seller of premium handmade French chocolate. zChocolat was founded in November 1999 in collaboration with Pascal Caffet, World Champion Chocolatier & Pastry Chef 2013.

Lifting up the lid of the box, revealed another brass plate this time with my blog name engraved. This is the Ruby Box (US$145.85) which is one of the Mahogany Collection and part of the many collections available on the online site. The mahogany box is handcrafted in the Jura region of France and each unique box is stamped with a serial number.

Welcoming me in the lovely ruby box is 30 chocolates handmade in France by Pascal Caffet, World Champion Chocolatier & Pastry Chef 2013. The unique shaped chocolates are numbered from 0 to 24 plus the Z chocolate representing 26 different recipes created with zealous adherence to French tradition, little sugar, no preservatives, high cocoa content, no colouring, no alcohol and 100% pure cocoa butter.

I am surprise that the chocolate is still in perfect condition after making the long journey all the way from France to Singapore. This is possible because Z Chocolat uses a special 'summer packaging' that guarantees the chocolate will arrive in perfect condition anywhere in the world.

Some of the chocolates I tried are,

White Z Chocolate - Combination of a soft, sweet and salty caramel and a crunchy praline made from slow roasted Piedmont hazelnuts covered in white chocolate.

Chocolate 1 - A distinctive Madagascar Bourbon vanilla ganache infused with the Provencale essence of lavender and covered in 70% Venezuelan dark choc0late.

Chocolate 11 - A bite sized version of molten chocolate cake drizzled with raspberry coulis: fresh seedless raspberry whisked into a creamy ganache of dark chocolate and cocoa butter and covered in 40% Ivory Coast milk chocolate.

Chocolate 14 - Finely ground caramelized Iranian pistachios mixed with hazelnuts from Piedmont and covered in 40% Ivory Coast milk chocolate

Chocolate 21 - This spicy ganache combines French gingerbread spices, Vietnamese star anise, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, licorice from Iran and Syria and pure ginger from China and Nigeria. All covered in 70% Venezuelan dark chocolate.

If you still cracking your brain for your next gift, Z Chocolat probably is an ideal gift that comes with delish premium chocolate handmade by renowned chocolatier. It allows one to customize their own message on the handcraft gift box. You can also pick your own personalized assortment of chocolates if you have a particular favourite flavour. Delivery to Singapore is about 2 to 4 days

To find out more about Z Chocolat, visit their website at http://www.zchocolat.com or you can download their Iphone/Ipad application.

Bistro@Changi @ Changi Beach Park

Compared to the other beaches in Singapore, Changi Beach is probably the quieter of the lot. Little did I know that there is a bistro, Bistro@Changi located at the idyllic stretch of sandy Changi Beach Park just beside the PCN Pitstop or bicycle rental kisok.

In the day, one can relax and laze at the alfresco cafe over an icy beer. At night, one can dine under stars enjoying the sea breeze. All these come with a scenic view of the sea, ships sailing by and airplanes touching down at Changi Airport.

I was at Bistro@Changi on a weekend around 530pm. We started with some ice cold beer relaxing and enjoying the idyllic surrounding and watching airplanes making their approach to land.

Topshell Salad 4/5

The ideal snack to go with beer is the Topshell Salad ($8). The refreshing salad was tossed with fresh onions and lettuce, dressed in chef's thai spicy sauce. Topshell itself is quite bland hence the sauce plays an important part in lifting the flavour and the spicy tangy sauce definitely did that.

Calamari 3/5

Only available on Thursday and Sunday is the Calamari ($8). While I enjoyed the fresh and crunchy squid, I felt that the batter is too thick to allow me to enjoy the texture.

Flame Grilled Chicken Chop 4.2/5

The crowd favourite is the Flame Grilled Chicken Chop ($15.90). The boneless chicken thigh was perfectly grilled, tender and succulent. It was beautifully topped with the delectable hickery barbeque sauce with salad and baked potato on the side.

Barramundi In Thai Sauce 4.2/5

The Barramundi in Thai Sauce ($18.90) was cooked perfectly and served with butter rice. Light crisp on the outside and yet moist in the inside. Topped with green mango and Thai sauce, it further enhanced the whole enjoyment of the dish giving it a fusion twist.

If you have the chance to visit the relax and casual bistro at Changi Beach Park, do check out the creative cocktails from the bartender too. Currently they are running a naming contest for their latest cocktail creation of vodka, lime and sour plum (picture above) which ends on 31 July 2013. Car owners will be delight that free parking is available after 5pm on Monday to Saturday and whole day on Sunday and public holiday.


Bistro@Changi
Changi Beach Park (Carpark 1)
260 Nicoll Drive
Singapore 498991
Tel: +65 65465229
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bistrochangi
Website: http://www.changibistro.com.sg/
Nearest MRT: Pasir Ris (EW Line), Tampine (EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu: 12pm - 11pm
Fri-Sat: 12pm - 1am
Sun: 10am - 11pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Pasir Ris MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to bus stop along Pasir Ris Central, opposite Pasir Ris Town Park (Stop ID 77171). Take bus number 89. Alight 18 stops later. Journey time about 25 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Tampines MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to Tampines Bus Interchange (Stop ID 75009). Take bus number 19. Alight 20 stops later. Journey time about 30 minutes. [Map]