The shopaholic in me loves a cheap thrill as much as a good bargain. 50% storewide at Arinco caused much buzz in the foodie community, given that Arinco has always been placed high on the pedestal for the island's most expensive sponge roll.
A huge model!
5.5inches at best, I've seen the ladies behind the counter measure the prized cake down to the exact centimetre. Priced at 18 dollars and with its accolades given by the Japanese in Japan (think never ending queues), logically speaking, it had to be better than awesome-fantabulous-mindblowingly good!
Berry Sand Cake ($1.50)
For comparison and gluttony's sake, I had a go at Berry Sand Cake. A slice of their famous sponge cake with a dollop of cream and preserved berries. You get handed a fork and the dessert gingerly wrapped in paper.
Cake was soft like steamed cake, cream was bland...and berries were, not the most complementary accompaniment.
At this point, I thought it could be the wrong choice made.
Caramel Seasalt Roll ($9)
This was sold out days in a row and a pre-order for this was made.
Painted a lovely brown, caramel seasalt looked delicious. A bite was all it took to seal the verdict. Sheer disappointment. So this is what all the fuss is about. Yes, pillow soft steamed cake with flavoured cream. That's all.
Perhaps there should be many benefits of the doubt given, they could be clearing stock hence the drop in standard. Or, this really is not my kind of cake.
Promotion is already over but just to prove a point; taste is unfortunately very subjective.
Arinco
Ion Basement
When Arinco King first opened, I tried their sandcake and we thought it was so-so. For a swiss roll to cost $15/$18, I expect it to be heavenly addictive.
ReplyDeleteSubsequently, I started seeing many blogging and raving abt it and I was trying to convince myself to get one and try it. Alas, it was not bad but not worth the tag. In fact, my family was put off by the salted caramel that I practically ate the entire roll myself...
But my recent experience with their strawberry shortcake does make me appreciate their sponge. It didn't become extremely soggy like most jpn strawberry shortcakes do and the shape remains clean and neat without compromising on the light, fluffy cream and soft sponge.
have to agree with the sponge not being compromised but I figure I overexpected with all the hype and buzz about it.
ReplyDeletesalted caramel's quite acquired I must say...only my sis and I appreciated it. =P However that being said, arinco's salted caramel's easier on the palette as compared to cedele's. :)