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Weekend eats

I don’t do brunch on a regular basis. In fact, I even suck at sleeping in. Any random Saturday morning, by 11am – the time when most people (or hispters?) grab their first bites of the day – I would have done my grocery shopping, ran a load of laundry, and probably planning what to cook for lunch. Nowadays, I’m even throwing in a swimming date with a friend into the mix. And on Sunday morning? F is supposed to “encourage” me to take a long jog in nearby parks.

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

Going to brunch is still a special occasion to me, usually for a irregular catch-up gabfest with a friend. Or to hangout with a visitor. I don’t have a favourite place to brunch, but it does give me an excuse to try out different spots around town. Most recently, when SL was in town and we were meeting in the neighbourhood around Canal St Martin, she let me led her to Holybelly so I could finally check it out.

I arrived a few minutes ahead of her and quickly slid myself into the growing queue, while praying we won’t have to wait long for a table. We were happy to see the tables turning quickly and à deux, we had an easier time to be seated than the party of six just behind us. Some 15 minutes since I joined the wait, we had a table, at about 11am, the time we had planned for in the first place. Cool.

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

We scanned the clipboard menu as well as the big blackboard on the wall at the back of the room, dithering, because everything looked good and trying to choose just one dish each was tougher than it seemed. SL finally settled on a stack of pancake, bacon, poached egg, pancake, bacon, poached egg, and maple syrup, while I went for the weekend special of egg, mozzarella, tomatoes, rockets and parma ham. (It appeared I had extended my Italian holiday in Paris!)

The food that we were served was simply top-notch. Accompanied with a cup of cappuccino and a cup of hot chocolate, we were indulging in comfort food to the max. We stole from each other’s plates and next trip I make it here, I want that combo of pancake, bacon and egg. It was so good. Now I see why Holybelly is receiving rave reviews all these time, even after nearly a year in business. With efficient and friendly service, it is not difficult to build a loyal fan base. We left satiated and happy, and all too ready for our walk.

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

A few hours later, with the mercury climbing and nary a cloud in the sky, an ice cream break was called for. While I was on holiday, a little bird told me that Glaces Glazed had set up shop on rue des Martyrs. It was not exactly close to where we were, but it was not difficult to get there either. The next we knew it, we were deciphering the “menu” in the shop and trying to select which flavours to take.

None of the flavours here are conventional. One of SL’s selection was mango sorbet with espelette chilli pepper! The chilli pepper was subtle but left a pleasant heat on the tongue in the aftermath. She cooled it with a sorbet of coconut milk and pomelo. I made the error of choosing two flavours that are modeled after cocktails – mojito and caipirinha. Between mint, lime, rum, more lime, and cachaça, they began to taste all the same to me…

Weekend eats

Weekend eats

SL was not the only friend who happened to be in town this month; I also received an unexpected message from G to meet up during his layover after attending a conference in Marseille. After a week of French food, he was ready for something different so we went to Kunitoraya for a satisfying hit of udon. We also had a couple of “snacks” to start the meal: a somewhat overpriced dish of “spring roll” and a couple of pieces of succulent layered omelette. (No pictures of noodles – we were hungry and attacked the food right away!)

It was admittedly decadent to be eating out this much, so you can only imagine a lot of home-cooked meals after that for F and me. I drooled while processing these pictures and recalling just how much each tickled my tastebuds. At times, I wish I have a job where someone would pay me to eat all these wonderful things, but then I realised, that could very well kill the fun of eating leisurely. I prefer to keep these dining experiences rare and memorable.



Category: Food & Drink, Paris

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8 scribbles & notes

  1. med says:

    Super yummmsssssss….2 thumbs up!!!

  2. sila says:

    looks scrumptious! :) should have warned me it was going to be a food post!

  3. Chloé says:

    I still remember the Glazed “Mojito” bite I stole from Alex’s cone… It was really good!

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