A french holiday evening in singapore.

 

With only a couple weeks left in Singapore, AJ and I decided to take our little family of three out for a fun evening in this very family-friendly city! We hadn't been to Marina Bay Sands, so we headed there last Friday night for dinner at Au Chocolat, and to watch the Nutcracker on Ice.

There are SO many options when it comes to finding great food at Marina Bay Sands, but a lot of these restaurants are REALLY expensive and not very "baby friendly". We heard about Au Chocolat from a friend, and decided to have dinner there because they said the food was outstanding and very reasonably priced. These friends were NOT joking around!

My dinner: Pacific Crab Cakes. Nom!



Think she's a fan of the Frozen Hot Chocolate?!

When we walked into Au Chocolat, we saw so many delicious-looking chocolates, ice creams, and candies, all made in-house by their chefs and chocolatiers. Running over-head, is an adorable choo-choo train that Linna stared and pointed at all evening! Au Chocolat is a French-Inspired Bistro, but it is very "American-friendly". To start our evening, AJ and I ordered the truffle fries and french onion soup. I am STILL raving about the truffle fries! I have sampled truffle fries all around Singapore (they are one of the most delicious types of french fries I've ever eaten), and Au Chocolat has THE BEST truffle fries. They sprinkle a little sea salt on the hot fries, and at $15, I would have been satisfied having these fries as my meal. The french onion soup was also outstanding, and was served in a cute little crock pot.

French Onion Soup. Nom!

Linna's dinner: Stuffed French Toast. Amazing!

For our main courses, AJ had the Steak Frites, I had the Handmade Pacific Crab Cakes, and we ordered Linna the Stuffed French Toast (which was the size of her head). The three of us couldn't get enough of not only our dinners, but each others' dinners, so we ended up sharing everything! If you've ever been to Singapore, you know that restaurant food prices are either REALLY expensive, or really cheap. There aren't a lot of "middle of the road" options that give you good value for your money. Au Chocolat is that option we had been looking for! Both AJ and I had delicious, filling, dinners for around $30 (yes, in Minnesota that price is kind of expensive, but it isn't in Singapore).

Singapore's BEST Truffle Fries.

AJ's dinner: Steak Frites. The salad even had a chocolate balsamic dressing. Nom!

But why stop there! We were at a restaurant known for it's mouth-watering chocolate dishes, so we HAD to try their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate. WOW! The serving is large enough for a few people to share, and isn't too sweet. It was such a rich chocolate, with a refreshing cooling effect from the icy slush. It's very similar to the Frozen Hot Chocolate at New York's Serendipity. They have so many desert options to choose from. We even watched with our jaws on the floor as the table next to us dug into their Tower Cake (6 layers of what looked like chocolate heaven). By that point, however, we were completely satisfied with our meals. We're planning on going back to Au Chocolat when AJ's sister and brother-in-law are in Singapore this week!

Just us girls before the show.

After dinner, we walked over to the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theater to watch the Nutcracker on Ice. It's HOT in Singapore, so we needed something to get us ready for the cold Minnesota weather we'll be flying into next month:) This ice show was unlike anything I've ever seen in Minnesota. In Minnesota, ice shows are performed at a hockey-type arena, so the audience is above and looking down at the ice rink. At this show, we were in an actual theater and the stage was made completely of ice! Instead of actors singing, dancing, and walking around on stage, the Nutcracker on Ice performers were actually ice skating on stage. It was pretty cool!

Linna and her Papa doing their own ice moves
during intermission.

Linna enjoyed every second of this performance, and for a 14-month-old to stay interested for more than an hour, that says a lot. She loved the Nutcracker music, and the performers sparkly costumes. Her favorite part of the show was when the "mice" came out and skated around, and she couldn't get enough of the actual Nutcracker character! She kept pointing and saying "ohhhhhhh" and "whoa". She danced along to the music, and her eyes were glued to the performers' every move. I am really looking forward to taking her to some kind of ice show when we're back in Minnesota.

Although it was a late night for Linna (she crashed as soon as we got into the cab to head home), this was a night out in Singapore that the three of us will never forget!