(Review) Dining at Cedele

There are times when I want to go out on a dinner date with the husband. But the same questions plague us, over and over again. Where do we go for dinner and not get charge an arm and leg? What can we eat that is not all deep fried and unhealthy? Then the invite from Cedele to dine at any of their restaurant came in handy. The husband and I have probably been to the one at Novena once for a snack during our dating days, years ago. I have a vague recollection of the husband telling me about their soup. Don’t think I ever had a full on meal or even ordered something the last time we visited. Probably because I have the impression that Cedele is a bakery, and I’m not into bread.

But when I went to their website to check out what they have to offer, I was pleasantly surprised! So we decided on the Cedele at Serangoon Gardens. It was a weeknight, and we arrived about 5.30pm. The place was bright, clean, and inviting, plus it was not overly busy (yay!).

The staff were very helpful and patient in explaining to me about the questions I had of the items on the menu. I was impressed with the menu selection! I was even more impressed with their kid’s menu! No fried nugget, hot-dogs, or any of those junk. It was real food. We also had a choice of regular or wholewheat pasta, and their soup options includes gluten-free, dairy-free, meat, vegetarian, cream-based, or low-fat. At this point, I got slightly distracted by the dessert display. Look at the cake selection!

I ordered my dessert first then went back to asking about soup and entrée. The staff politely pointed out the soup available that day and cheerfully took my order before sending me back to my table, our drinks and soup were served shortly after. We ordered the chicken noodle soup, which was wholesome and very hearty. The soup came with complimentary bread at the bread bar which was nice, but we didn’t want any that night.

Right when we finished our soup, the staff came out with our salad and main course.

I ordered the Grilled Shrimp in Garlic and Chilli, Avocado, Lemongrass Dressing. This was by far my favourite dish of that night. Everything in that bowl was fresh and crisp, and the lovely dressing was light and had a nice balance of flavours. The avocado added a creamy finish without the guilt. I loved it, and so did the husband.

The husband ordered the Golden Spiced Chicken. He commented that the turmeric spiced chicken was nice, but the overall sandwich seemed a little on the dry side.

I ordered the Black Pepper Crab Wholemeal Pasta. It was written black pepper crab & chilli crab meat, aglio olio pasta, with mussels on the menu. The pasta was not overly oily, and I liked it that the black pepper was not over powering. My qualms were that the mussels turned out slightly tough, pasta wasn’t al dente, and I could not get a hint of any ‘chilli crab meat’. However, I loved it that they used curry leaves in the cooking process, which made the whole dish really fragrant. The plus point was that they were very generous with their crab meat portions!

Just look at all the chunky crab meat in my pasta! And mind you, I was already halfway through this. When we were done with our main course, our table was cleared, and the dessert served. Very good service I must say.

I’m a sucker for black forest cake, so my dessert decision was quite a no-brainer. I saw the word black forest and I was sold, not knowing that it was black forest cheesecake rather than sponge cake. Took a bite and instantly fell in love with it! It was rich but not overly sweet. A very good balance between the cheesecake, chocolate, and beautiful crust. Overall, we had a very good dining experience at Cedele. And will most definitely return again, this time with the girls!

Find their restaurant location: http://www.cedelegroup.com/locations/