Foodies Queen

371. Tawandang Microbrewery

2011-01-09T14:04:00.005+08:00

YUM SENG! The last dinner of year 2010 has to be good and it was! Decided to try Tawandang, it's new outlet at Suntec. Woosh! The place was huge.

Pork Knuckle! It was very cripsy and dipped into the special chili sauce, it was heavenly.

Another fried dish and it came with a different dipping chili sauce. It was so nice as well.

Cockles and nah.....I'm not a lover of it. But the rolled vermicelli went very well with the peanutty sauce.

This is a die-die must try dish! I love it!! Squid in a lemongrass soup and as the warmer warms the soup, the juicy squid immersed in the soup makes the soup sweeter. There was also roe in the squid. Yummilicious!!

Pineapple rice was moist and with the raisins and nuts, it went well with the rest of the dishes we had.

Overall, we were all very satisfied with the food we had because we find every dish yummy. However, it was on the rather pricey side. Final bill worked out to approximately $220+ for 4 pax. Singaporeans, always willing to pay more for nice food! I'll be visiting it again soon!

Tawandang Microbrewery

Suntec Convention Centre #01-01

370. Manbok Korean Seafood Restaurant

2011-01-09T13:33:00.005+08:00

Salad topped with five-grains goma sauce alike
Pan-chan served at Manbok. I loved the black beans the most!
Tteobokki was very nice except that it was a tad spicy. Yummy!

The pork belly was a little to our dismay. We felt it was not oily and not well-marinated enough. Lacked the fragrance and thus the oomph!

Seafood Pa-Jeon

I didn't like it. The big leeks were a little too much for me. Perhaps the amount of seafood added was a tad too many and thus the middle of the pancake turned out to be mushy like it was not thoroughly cooked.

The beef was good. Well-marinated, tender beef is the one that you should not miss.

The kimchi hotpot makes a good dish for cold weathers like now......rainy seasons. It will just warm your body up. Topped it with ramen and it's woolala.....more pleaseee......

The steamed egg was with compliments from the boss. Steamed egg.....not very much to our liking.

Manbok Korean Seafood Restaurant
63 Tanjong Pagar Road

369. Shashlik

2011-01-09T13:07:00.004+08:00

Chicken A La King @$19

Foodies gathering at Shaslik. It was located Far East Shopping Centre and the thought of it being there gave me the feeling that it is old. Heavy wooden doors but there were the old turned yellow see-through window panes just right at the side which gave verification that the place is in operation. The place was very dimly lit which boosted a feel of nostalgic. I thought the feel was quite like Ma Maison and Jack's Place combined except that the former was even dimly lit then Shaslik.

Seldom use my DSLR now as I find carrying a point-and-shoot more convenient and that explains the poorly taken photo. Ordered Chicken A La King and was rather disappointed. It turned out that it was mere chicken chunks cooked in thick chunky campbell soup alike coupled with chick peas mixture. I thought Jack's Place was even better for the price I'm paying. Surprisingly, business was very good.

Check out the other food blogger's review

Harris, Jer Lin, Daniel, Yuan&Fen, Xin Li

Shashlik

Far East Shopping Centre #06-19

368. Table 66

2010-12-04T20:06:00.007+08:00

It was my birthday treat. The buyer suggested Table 66 and I agreed. Have seen many rave reviews about it. Table 66 serves modern European cuisine. All of us had the set lunch which comprises of 1 starter, 1 main course, 1 dessert and a cuppa tea or coffee. Table 66, hidden along the shophouses at tras street which some are pre-conserved war buildings. The other three chose the salad with poach egg as their starter. I tried some and woosh....it was as good as it looked. Yummy.

I had the soft shell crab that was laid on top of a mixture of avocado and diced tomatoes. The mixture had a tangy taste which sort of lessen the greasy feel of the fried main. If you are a fan of soft shell crab like me, you will go for this starter. Prawn linguine. We got to know from the waitress that the dish in the next photo, that is, the chicken, is the recommended dish among the other 2 mains available. Pasta is my favourite and my eyes immediately locked against the two words, PRAWN LINGUINE. This was what I had. Linguine tossed in basil, 6 big tangy prawns and sun-dried tomatoes. Nice!

Grilled chicken if I'm not wrong. Very nicely done and it is no doubt a hot favourite. I tried a mouthful. The chicken was tender and the coating sauce had a nice chargrill taste.

Dessert - lavender panna cotta. I liked their panna cotta because the lavender taste wasn't overpowering and the panna cotta had a creamy thick texture. Completed with a nice berry sherbet to end the meal. Refreshing!

The rest had apple crepe which was filled with apple chunks. Not a bad choice either, I thought.

The set lunch was $29 which I thought was very worthwhile and definitely worth return visits.

Table 66

66 Tras Street

367. Paradise Dynasty

2010-12-01T22:44:00.006+08:00

酒酿丸子@$4.20

This was my favourite when I was residing in Shanghai 3 years ago. It's a die-die must have dessert for me if it's available on the menu then. It is a hot dessert. I loved the rice dumplings, especially if they were made small. So easy to chew. But, it was the fragrance of the osthamus that captured my likes. The one at Paradise Dynasty had a nice osthamus fragrance and the rice grains were well-soaked. But, the quantity was too small to satisfy my craving.

Chilled Aloe Vera @$3.50

Nice chilly dessert. If I didn't remember wrongly, there was a nice ginseng taste. Can't remember exactly if ginseng was stated on the menu.

Braised Pork Ramen @$10.80

Mixed Dumplings @$13.80

A colleague of mine was sharing with me the assorted dumplings she had and I was intrigued. In fact, I was more interested in the black truffle and foie gras dumpling after hearing what she had shared. It so happened that these dumplings were also featured on the morning papers and so I decided to have them for that day's dinner. Well, the black truffle taste was there but not really evident. Whereas for the foie gras dumpling, I felt it was a tad overpowering in taste. The dumplings were nice when hot. After a short while, they were chilled and it didn't really taste nice.

Dan Dan Noodles @$7.00

The dan dan noodles was nice! It has a nice peanuty taste and there was a tinge of sourish aftertaste which I liked as it somehow dismissed the greasiness of the peanut sauce. It was a tad spicy which I find it rather different from the other dan dan noodles. Again, I felt the quantity was quite small.

Chilled Sliced Pork @$7.50

Another of my favourite cold dish. Thinly sliced pork topped with garlic mesh. So appetizing, I thought. Never a favourite for people who dislike garlic.

Chilled Assorted Eggs @$6.00

Very nicely done. Every quarter has a fair bit of the 3 different types of eggs, that is, the salted egg, the century egg and the egg. However, me and my company thought it was quite bland despite the salted egg.

Overall, I felt the food was decent. Price looked decent but quantity was quite small for the price stated for some of the dishes.

Paradise Dynasty

#04-12 Ion Orchard

366. Moi Lum Restaurant

2010-11-14T12:40:00.005+08:00

A colleague of mine made reservations at Moi Lum, a quick 5 mins walking distance from our office on friday. It was to celebrate another colleague's birthday. It is always very occupied and luckily we made reservations. We chose the set menu and food was served very quickly. First was the scallop fish maw soup. I thought it was quite good because the soup had lots of ingredients and the degree of starchiness of the soup was to my liking.

This is a die-die must try dish. Braised roast pork with yam. Triggered my taste buds at the first mouth. The sauce was delicious. The roast pork juices combined with the powers of condiments showed their good relationship with the fragrant yam. This dish will go very well with plain rice.

Moi Lum's legendary cripsy fried chicken. Hmm.....nice, my heart said. Skin was very crispy, just like tissue prata.

Dessert-of-the-day was pomelo mango. Hidden underneath the yellow sea was a spoonful of mango pudding which I thought makes a nice dessert overall. Just that, the mango was sour so did the dessert a disservice.

The set menu was $168 and serves 6-7 pax.

Moi Lum Restaurant

38 Maxwell Road, Airview Building

#01-01/02

365. Munch

2010-11-13T23:12:00.004+08:00

Munch has opened another outlet at Marina Bay Link Mall recently. I have totally no idea of where Marina Bay Link Mall is and it took me some time to locate it. From afar, I heard the loud drumming and I know I'm somewhere near the outlet. The auspicious lion dance performed at the outlet gathered the curious crowd.

I tried a fair bit of the variety of salads available. In fact, I frequent Munch's first outlet quite often. It is at Robinsons road and is very near my office. I think their salads are nice. I personally like the vermicelli the most. And....I realised wild mushrooms, baby cabbages are nice too! If you have not tried Munch's salad before, I think you have to give it a try, they are good.

Thanks to Edwin for hosting.

364. Tanjong Rhu Pau

2010-11-13T22:47:00.003+08:00

A boss of mine raved at how good the Tanjong Rhu "yuan yang pau" was and he was surprised that I have not tried it before. "Yuan yang pau" as its name suggests, a combination of two different substances. There, in the filling was red bean paste and lotus paste, accompanied by special guest, Mr Salted Egg Yolker. The sweetness of the two paste was reduced with the salted egg yolk. The overall feel resembled eating a mooncake except it was with a flour crust.

Got to thank boss for going all the way to Tanjong Rhu to get the pau admist his busy schedule. So nice of him! It's always nice to know people who share nice food!

363. Uncle Lee's Hong Kong Noodle & Rice

2010-10-09T22:38:00.006+08:00

The wanton mee stall in the telok blangah crescent market and food centre that is always with a queue. The owner with a greyish beard (胡须佬) managed to capture the likes of many patrons. It was highly recommended by one of my bosses and there we went to our lunch on a beautiful friday. There was a queue but nice food is always worth the wait.

Soy sauce chicken, the chicken steeped in a sweet soy based sauce. You wouldn't want to miss this. The fat tender chicken is calling out to you. I felt the marinade and the sweet braise sauce said it all. It was great. The breast meat was juicy, needless to mention the tender parts. The slight flaw lies in the chicken being not cooked through at some of the innermost areas.

Wanton mee. The noodles were good, perfect chewy, the wantons were wrapped with springy prawns, toothsome combination. The wantons' partner, Mr char siew, did the plate of wanton mee a disfavour. They didn't put up their best. It may not be the best wanton mee but it was above average.

Further 2-3 stalls away, you may also want to try the chewy handmade fishballs that were pretty good. A tad saltish though due to the uneven distribution of salt.

Comfort food for the stomach and with great company, there is no reason to reject eating!

11 Telok Blangah Cresent

#01-127

362. Fou De Fa Fa

2010-09-01T21:43:00.004+08:00

Jay's Pizza @$28

A little cafe tucked away at a corner of Capital Tower. I have always mistaken it to be Hibiscus, only to realise much later that Hibiscus actually belonged to the floral shop next to it. Have seen people having the skinny pizza alike pizza and it looked like I needed to find time to try it. And one fine day, I did. After much deliberation, two of us chose Jay's pizza despite that there were just 4 choices to choose from. We had no idea what is nice.

Finding seats is a challenge, especially during lunch time and there are always people who refused to move their butts even though they are done with their lunch. We didn't wait for long before the pizza arrived. So much greens.....no...I should say so leafy. A flaky biscuit crust topped with generous chicken strips, turkey ham, sliced hard boiled egg and chili flakes. It was like having keropok with chicken strips, very much different in taste to our 'dial-a-pizza'. The later comes with more evident taste while the flaky pizza at Fou De Fa Fa is what-you-see is what-you-get. Back to the origins.

A point to note. Never underestimate that piece of flaky biscuit. Find more kakis to share the food.

Smart & Sexy @$13

That's a tacky name for a salad. Taste it and you will love it as much as you would feel like it. A mixture of greens. It looked like some plain Jane but always learn not to judge by appearance. The dressing was very compatible and it makes a good starter to whip up your appetite for the main. Ladies, you are smart & sexy!

Fou De Fa Fa

Capital Tower

168 Robinson Road

#01-05

361. Jakarta - The Taste

2010-08-01T21:34:00.012+08:00

It was already late afternoon after we have checked in to our rooms. Our dear friend who has been residing in Jakarta for many years, brought us to the nearest mall, Grand Indonesia, for an Indonesian meal.

Nicely presented, I felt.

Not wanting any Avocado juice, she opted for the dessert with bird nest to quench her thirst. And to be exact, jelly strips.

Fish goreng with a gravy very much like the sweet and sour sauce.

This was our second order, and.....the gravy was served in a bowl. Hmmm, so how exactly is the fish served? Everything mixed ready or fish strips and gravy separated?

Egg Telor. A mesh in the interior. Don't know what was in it except knowing it was wholly egg. It was very crispy and went well with the spicy peanutty sauce.

Kid's Meal! The mould the rice in a teddy bear shape. The kid at the table was so fascinated.

What's in there? It was fish roe, mixed with some greens and then grilled. Some liked it, some didn't.

Sambal Squid. There were 8 of us and they served us this one tweeny squid. Does it makes sense? Anyway, the sambal and squid are non-separable, they made a great pair.

Sop Betawi. This one was better than the one at Mangga Dua in my earlier post. Cumin taste was less.

We were all hungry and we didn't much care on what kind of food we were eating because our local friend knows best and decided for us. But, he was very pissed with the service. First of all, the place seemed like having no consistency and order in the way food was served. We asked for sambal chili and they only served it after we finished all of our food. Worse still, the chili wasn't sambal chili, it was just pounded chili. Then, the waiter who took our order didn't listen to what our friend was saying and he walked away when another table's customer called out for service.

Food was decent but poor service. It cost about SGD 80+ for 8 pax if I didn't remember wrongly. Price was reasonable, I thought. However, in my opinion, I wouldn't mind paying more to eat at another place with better service.

The Taste
Grand Indonesia

360. Krish

2010-07-30T23:30:00.015+08:00

Krish is located in one of the few English Colonial style alike houses in the West part of Singapore, Rochester Park, a short walk from the Buona Vista MRT station. The restaurant is illuminated with refracted light from the interesting downright hanging bottles of various shapes. Who says it must be chandelier?

Chapati Chips

The first hint of the type of cuisine Krish is offering. It was nice and definitely a great snack for the hungry waiting for food to be served.

Appetizer - Roasted Onion & Garlic Soup

Warm and comforting thick soup. I tasted a spoonful and the taste of parmesan was rather evident. It looked like lentil soup. The onion, garlic and parmesan gave the soup a unique taste.

Appetizer - Seared Foie Gras

Please give me another portion. I loved the seared foie gras, aka the 'fat liver'. It was very nice, the flavour and texture was virtually hard to describe. I can imagine the sizzling sound of the foie gras as some of the fats got purged out by the heat on the pan. It was so delicate and it simply melted in my mouth.

The naan underneath was coated with a generous spread of home made peanut butter, I tasted the crunchy bits of the peanut. The slightly sourish onions strips (probably with lime/lemon added) and the sweet pureed diced strawberries relieved the over richness of the foie gras. Must-TRY!

Appetizer - Hamachi Tartar

The greenish patch is pressed avocado. A light appetizer. You are seeing naan again. I'm sure by now, you would have guessed correctly the type of cuisine Krish is offering. It is contemporary European dishes with South Asian accent.

Naan, the flatbread, is one of the popular varieties in South Asian breads.

Seared U.S. Diver Scallops

Braised Oxtail, truffled lentils and parsley yoghurt

It was delicious. The sweetness and juice of the seared scallops concealed. What more can I say?

Herb Crusted Korabuta Pork Chop

The portion was big. Look at the thick cut of the pork chop. The herb crusted pork exuded a nice fragrance. Despite the desiccant look, the meat contained a fair bit of moisture. I wondered if the other fair bit got lost in the midst of cooking. And I also wondered if it was due to the thickness of the pork, somewhat the meat lacked the oomph! factor.

The tamarind risotto and the unattractive eggplant contributed the oomph! to the dish. The sourish tamarind enticed the taste buds and you wouldn't mind having more of the tamarind risotto. The mint emulsion served more of a decorative purpose to me.

Malleable Chocolate Ganache

Spice Port Granita and chocolate chip. Something different to end your dessert craving. I thought it was quite creative but is one that not many can appreciate.

Blackcurrant Parfait

I was expecting a tall glass, a parfait that was ice-cream layered with pudding, yogurt, fruits and drizzled with sinful syrup but no, it wasn't. Nonetheless, the cardamon-coconut ice cream was very nice. The purple domes made of blackcurrant appeared frozen but it was just chilled. I thought the ice-cream complemented the blackcurrant domes well. Interesting presentation, I thought.

If you are thinking of holding a party, be it your engagement or birthday party, Krish has a nice and cosy place for you to hold the parties.

Thanks to Krish for hosting the wondering dining experience.

Krish

9 Rochester Park

Check out their promotions @ http://www.krish.com.sg/

359. Jakarta - Sop Betawi @Mangga Dua

2010-07-18T21:50:00.005+08:00

Sop Betawi

If you visit Indonesia, you will be able to see sop betawi at almost every eating place. It is a very common food. I had sop betawi for a few of my meals in Jakarta. Looked like soup kambing but not exactly the same taste. Instead, it contained beef, with chopped cabbages and chunks of tomatoes, garnished with big spoonful of fried shallots. The soup itself has a rich taste of beef, cumin, cloves and other spices. I felt the cumin content was slightly overpowering. The sweetness of beef in the soup coupled with the cumin content made the soup a tad heavy for the Chinese taste in my own opinion.

The chili sauce had diced cucumber and tomatoes added to it. It was sour, not so much of spicy. The locals have the sop betawi with rice which I think the later really complemented it well. Else, they have the emping (aka melinjo nut crackers) with the sop betawi. The emping is by nature with a bitter taste.

For your info, Mangga Dua is a wholesale complex, full of clothes and accessories and yet in between the messiness, you will find small stalls that sell the local delicacies, like sop betawi and all the kueh kueh.

358. Jakarta - The Cream & Fudge Factory

2010-07-18T16:34:00.007+08:00

We were at Grand Indonesia, one of the big shopping malls in Jakarta. The highest levels, level 4 and 5, house the food restaurants. The interior decoration made me feel as if I was in Genting with the palace like lightings, indoor amusement park and tiled flooring. We chose The Cream & Fudge Factory over Haagen Daz, Gelatissimo and others which could be found in Singapore.

Green Apple topped with M&N chocolate @RP 30000 (SGD 4.60)

The green apple taste wasn't very evident. The milk powder taste was stronger. The ice cream texture was a tad too chewy i thought. If it is what the name suggested, then I think it fit perfectly.

Strawberry Shortcake double scoop @RP58000 (SGD 8.90)

Strawberry shortcake was mixed into the vanilla ice cream and topped with strawberry fudge. Too sweet. With the addition of the strawberry shortcake and the chewiness of the ice cream, somehow, I felt the ice cream don't taste cold at all. I didn't like it as much as Haagen Daz. I was attracted to the waffle bowl instead. Similarly, it was with a tad of chewiness but would work perfectly fine with any ice cream, I felt.

The Cream & Fudge Factory

Grand Indonesia, Jakarta

357. Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

2010-07-03T22:33:00.008+08:00

The Sa-Jang-Nim (Supervisor) showed us to our table and the waitress laid the pan-chan. My friend who is having Korean food for the first time widened his eyes. Variety over quantity.
The mustard gluey bowl was pumpkin soup. Sweet and thick. Red bean paste was added. Could well be a dessert rather than an opening.

Honeycomb Herb Pork Belly @$28

We had the marinated chicken ($22) as well. I realised pork and beef taste best for any Korean BBQ. Chicken on the other hand loses out a fair bit. I felt it is because of the lack of fat components in the meat. The fats for chicken is mostly on the underneath layer of the skin whereas pork and beef has fats laid in between their meat, like pork belly and marbled beef.

Seafood Pancake @$20

Capsium was added. I seldom see capsium in seafood pancakes. It's always just leeks. I wouldn't rate the pancake very nice because it was greasy and when I picked up a piece, it was filmsy. Only the sides were with a tad of crispiness.

Ginseng Chicken Soup @$22

A tad bland, not too sure if it was supposed to be so. The soup base was cloudy, a result of the glutinous rice that was stuffed into the chicken. Multi-grains were added which made the soup seemed nutritious.

Total bill worked out to be $114+ for 3 pax. We didn't manage to finish all the food because there were too much food. Food was decent. Because of the BBQ, the indoor air wasn't very well-ventilated. Air-con seemed to be not working or not functioning at appropriate temperature. We could feel the difference when we stepped out of the restaurant. Saw a friend who was in queue and understand from her that even though a reservation was made earlier, they did not have a table for her when she arrived. She ended up waiting for 20 mins, equivalent to not making any reservations.

Ju Shin Jung
27 West Coast Highway

#01-18/19

Singapore 117867

356. Tetsuya's Truffle Butter

2010-06-27T20:16:00.004+08:00

Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa @$22

Ever since I tried the black truffle butter at Shutters, I have been thinking of it. A month ago, I was reading some women's magazine and chanced upon this product by Tetsuya - Black Truffle Salsa. I have been surfing the net for black truffles and came across summer truffles, winter truffles, black and white truffles, black and white truffle oil and even from different countries, Italy and France. Not a truffle connoisseur at all, I am confused which product to buy from overseas. I decided to try my luck at Dempsey's Culina.
My eyes landed on Tetsuya's black truffle salsa. It said for butter on the label. I thought it may be a better choice for me to use this for my truffle butter than to start with fresh truffles. Anyway, Culina does not have fresh truffles. The smell of the truffle exploded as I opened the seal.

And here's my black truffle butter. Simply mixed it with butter and this is it. Spread it over warm bread and you will crave for more.

355. Chef Daniel's Kitchen

2010-06-25T21:38:00.006+08:00

Soup of the day - cream of carrot

It didn't look like it was purely carrot because as much as my knowledge in Science tells me, beta-carotene is a strongly coloured red-orange organic compound. It looked like cream of pumpkin. The taste of carrot wasn't very evident, shadowed by the heavier cream taste. The crotons had a nice buttery garlic taste and it did sprung a little surprise.

Black Cod Casino

No description was found on the menu. Weird. The rest of the dishes had description with them. The only word we all could make out of the dish was COD. It is a fish dish. Guess what? The cod was coated with mentaiko. Judging by the appearance, it is akin to having salmon mentaiko sushi where the piece of salmon was coated with mentaiko and fire glazed over the mentaiko to give it the slightly grilled effect. If you are a mentaiko lover like me, you would know what I'm trying to say. It was nice. The saltiness of mentaiko accompanied by the sweetness of clam juice and fresh cod. I see a fusion of Western and Japanese style.

Grilled Ribeye Steak

Didn't remember the full name. The steak comes with a special brown sauce which tasted like wine was added. Friend commented the salad was nice. Quite a normal dish, I would say. I felt it was enough to make a comfort steak meal.

Wok Charred Salmon

This dish won the praises of 3 people, including myself. Behold its beauty. Taste it and you won't deny its reputation of an award winning dish. Pretty similar to how a steak is cooked, the exterior of the salmon was grilled till charred and yet the interior was practically untouched. I tasted a tinge of sweetness on the exterior and I suspect the presence of the artificial agent - sugar. The mashed potato made with soya butter was with garlic fragrance. Rather unique, I thought. The Chinese leeks with roasted pork fighted for some recognition. The leeks and roasted pork protrayed a strong belonging to the Chinese cuisine. The salmon enjoyed both the Western and Chinese's intrusion.

Dessert of the day - brownie with vanilla ice-cream and berries compote

At first, the waitress told us it was creme brulee when we were at the door and then it turned out to be brownie when another waiter took our order. We were fine with brownie. The friend having his steak has yet to finish and then his dessert was served without cue. I thought it wasn't so appropriate because the ice-cream was melting and it was like he was rushed to finish his main.

The celebrity chefs wave, just like the hallyu wave, is becoming more and more signficant with the mutiple inserts of food related shows to the golden hours tv schedule. Chef Daniel is always seen to be very fatherly and I'm pretty surprised with his interest towards fusion style.

The dinner set we had comprised of 1 soup, 1 main and 1 dessert and it cost only $28 nett. I personally think the main alone was worth the money. The dessert could be better though. The lunch set menu is more alluring with the price of just $10.50 if I didn't remember wrongly. We ordered one special order, that is, wok charred salmon without leeks and the garlic but the waiter served the usual. The service staff should be better prepared with the serving procedures.

Chef Daniel's Kitchen

Illuma

201 Victoria Street

#07-02/03

354. Kki

2010-04-14T21:54:00.004+08:00

Souffle, Mona, Antoinette

I am not at any suburbs of Japan. The new Kki (pronunced as cake in Japanese) at Ann Siang Hill has drawn much attention to their cakes. The little drom store which is sharing the same space as Kki made the whole place looked so retro with the vintage toys and so many kinds of polariod cameras. And probably because of the cemented floor, the clean and neat furnishing gave the gush of relaxation the moment I walked in.

The baker is a guy. The Husband who was previously from the manufacturing line turns to baking and the wife collects money from the bakes AND the other couple aka good friends working together under the same roof. What a nice environment!

The cakes didn't look like the die-die must try kind but you would not say so once you have tried it. There were only 3 choices left to choose from when I reached there. Antoinette was the best among the three I have tasted. Wife said it was named after their best friend, Antoinette. White chocolate with mango puree embalmed in the middle of the cake. The exterior white chocolate had a texture akin to mousse that melts in your mouth. Mona with the banana infusion, tasted bitter. Souffle, on the other hand, lost to her two counterparts with strong identities.

Kki Sweets

7 Ann Siang Hill

353. Truffs

2010-04-10T21:15:00.004+08:00

Dark chocolates. Sometimes, I think taking dark chocolates do curb hunger pangs and stops me from having sweet cravings and sometimes helped to de-stress, not sure if it works for others.

Truffs, with handmade chocolate truffles, made her way into the CBD area 6 months ago, just across the Amoy Food Market. The boss is a guy who gives up a stable job for his passion for chocolates. To be exact, dark chocolates. He gives loyalty to just dark chocolates, there is no other kinds of chocolates in his shop.

I had the 66% antilles dark chocolate and 70% honduras dark chocolate. The 66% antilles had a tinge of sweetness. The other, the honduras, was more to my liking. I personally felt that it was bittersweet. The ganache in the truffles was delicately flavoured with mild richness in butter. Dark chocolates can be very alluring too, not to mention handmade ones.

I ate a piece of the chocolate fudge cake. The sponge was moist and soft. The finished ganache was nicely spread over the sponge. It was smooth and not any bit like the jello kind.

9 pralines @$24

They have a double-decker box which could contain double the amount of pralines if you find that 9 is not enough.

Thanks to Ei Liang, Hui Ling and Indra for hosting.

Truffs
179A Telok Ayer Street
S068627

Opens:
Mon-Fri : 12pm-7pm
Sat: 12pm-4pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

http://www.truffs.com.sg

352. Shutters

2010-04-04T17:38:00.001+08:00

Truffle Butter. Ask for more. The black truffle was so fragrant and you simply forgot that the slab you were eating was butter as you popped it with the bread into your mouth. One serving is definitely not enough!

A shooter glass of a-char and lotus root (renkon) chips. The asian snack.

The olive that burst in your mouth. Not my kind.

Yusheng......always a healthy choice.

Satay Wagyu Beef Skewer. Ask for more. Yummilicioussss~

Shark Cartilage Soup.....with bursting flavour of the mushrooms.

Laska pasta. A fusion of east and west recipes.

Hokkien-'pasta'. The strong flavoured basil leaves is not very much to my liking, a tad overpowering.

Otah with Cod fish. A nice combination.

Yuzu sorbet to cleanse your palate.

Lamb Shank....with herbal infusion. Nice!

Cheek Confit that simply melts in your mouth!

Soya pudding.

This was a special occasion. All the food we had was at an extended price.

Shutters

Amara Sanctuary Sentosa

351. Chang Korean Restaurant II

2010-04-04T14:19:00.008+08:00

Serve the pan-chan (side-dishes). We digged into the pan-chan as we waited for our lead to appear. This dinner served as a farewell gathering for our nana-san who will be leaving for Japan in mid-Apr and probably won't return to Singapore in another two years. Always thought that pan-chan is free-flow until we were told that there will be a charge of $1 when we wanted a refill for the third round.

Mocca Sweet Potato Shake @$6

The mysterious purple sweet potato combined well with mocca. I naturally picked it over the other common drinks such as watermelon shake. No doubt, my choice was right when I had the first sip. It was very nice. Mocca, or rather, mocha, was not overpowering.

Teok-bokki @$9.80

Not very spicy. I wondered why koreans made their rice cakes so hard. Instead of being chewy, I felt the rice cakes would be a tad too hard for the fragile gastrics which would suffer from indigestion. If more kim chi was added, it would have been better.

Fried Dumpling with spicy noodles @$12.90

Probably sweet potato noodles, the texture was tangy, chewier and definitely thicker than our tang hoon (glass vermicelli). The gyoza were fried till crispy, mixed together with the korean spicy sauce, the plate of noodles was the noodle version of bibimbap.

Johnson's Soup with Rice (Large) @$42.50

The large portion comes with 4 bowls of rice. It's simply the comfort food for winter food-goers. Ingredients were pretty simple. Tofu, ra-myeon, ham, luncheon meat, sausages, spring onions and guess what? I discovered soy beans (the kind in tomato sauce, sold in cans) underneath the floating items. Of course, lots of kim chi. The soup was great...everyone of us kept scooping for more until we see the pit.

Marinated Pork Ribs @$22

The outlet at Illuma does not have BBQ stoves. Customers simply order and the kitchen staff BBQ-ed the food, ready to be served. Not much fun, we all thought and the food got chilled easily.

Overall bill worked out to be about $127 for 5 pax. If you wanted to experience a Korean kind of dining ambience, I would suggest going to their outlet at Dempsey Road.

Chang Korean Restaurant
Illuma Bugis
#04-04

350. Chennai Arya Restaurant

2010-04-02T00:08:00.007+08:00

Vegetarian Set Meal @$4

It's interesting. I joined 2 of my Indian classmates for lunch the other day and one of them brought me to this small eatery located just in one of the shophouses behind The Verge at Little India. First of all, being vegetarian, I wouldn't expect much from my meal. True indeed. I chose the set meal and what was presented made me more curious. First of all, our food was served in a big serving tray with the 5 small containers in it. Secondly, I'm surprised by the portion of rice served. It could jolly well serve two persons.

What's in the small dish? Left to right: The first was a yogurt drink. Next was the greenish sago dessert which I thought was one of the condiments to go with rice. Luckily, my classmate stopped me in time. Next came the soup which I would say taste more like the very diluted and made a tad more sour curry. Then, it was the curry which had a thicker base and with a tinge of sourness. The last was sambal which was thinner and could be mixed with rice to make it look like you are eating risotto.

For side dish, in orange, you have the curry potato and in yellow, the mixture was a kind of vegetable akin to melon cooked in curry. I would say it was tasty but just not so satisfied with 2 side dishes. The shocking news came was the side dishes could be refilled. Gosh! for just $4, you can really eat your fill with the scoops of vegetables. But, I could only finish half of it and I raised the white flag.

Coffee @$1

Coffee served in an interesting way. Two layers. Metal saucer and cup containing the coffee. Why such a design, I asked. Similar to us, for cooling purposes. Pour your coffee to the saucer and your coffee chills fast.

I would say Chennai serves the economic kind of food for our Indian vegetarians. Cheap and good.

Chennai Arya Restaurant

Behind The Verge

Opens: 8.30am - 10pm daily

349. The Patissier

2010-03-27T00:51:00.008+08:00

Passion Fruit Meringue @$6.95

Lauded as the best-seller at The Patissier. A walk to find the outlet at Ann Siang road led me to discover more places for lunch and architectural photography. The nostalgic shophouses make a good spot for classic black and white films.

The meringue was no doubt one of the best. Soft and fluffy and wrapped with passionfruit mousse and mango bits.

10% discount for members and it cost $6.20.

The Patissier

18 Ann Siang Road

#01-01 S069698

348. Patisserie Glace

2010-03-05T18:09:00.004+08:00

Strawberry Hill @$44 (18cm)

Take a ruler and measure. Alright, it is indeed small. The Japanese bakery has indeed attracted many office working population to its outlet at the ICON village ever since the shift there. Btw, it is probably the only outlet at ICON which I always notice that has a queue at its door at lunch hours. The cakes were expensive but it was the quality and taste of the cakes that made customers return for more.

The generous amount of strawberries on the cake was the lure and there was more. The sponge was good, it was fine. A thin layer of mascarpone was spreaded between the layers, giving the soft sponge the sweet tinge. My only dislike of the cake was the charred almond crust. Some like it, some don't.

Recommended: Rin Rin Cheese Tart - Earl Grey, Mont Blanc, Banaan Chocolat, Green Tea Tofu Chiffon

Patisserie Glace

Icon Village 12 Gopeng Street

#01-33/34

Singapore 078877

347. Peony Jade Restaurant

2010-03-03T14:34:00.005+08:00

I have not been posting any entries recently. Tied up with work and study. Let me do an entry on my CNY meal after such a long hiatus. I treated my family to Peony Jade for dinner. Surprisingly, there weren't many people.

Lotus Soup @$8/pax

I called it the auspicious soup. Contained lotus slice, pork, 1 dried oyster and the black moss of "hair" (fatt-choy). It was not very salty but I felt it was not flavourful enough. Mum kept repeating that she could have done it better. Homecooked soup versus commercialized soup?

It has an auspicious name for it as well but couldn't remember the 4 chinese words. “哈哈大笑” or what....couldn't really remember. Anyway, the manager pointed out that the prawns were more expensive for the CNY. Not taking his words into consideration, we ordered prawns anyway simply because we wanted to eat prawns. And indeed, it was very much more expensive. This dish cost $68, which meant the 6 prawns on the plate were indeed levelled up in price. But, I liked the small "abalone", made like the cold dish topshell, pretty appetizing.

Tea and camphor wood smoked duck

It smelled great. The tea infused into the duck meat but not overpowering. The smoked duck with its sakura pink meat was enough to make our saliva drool. It was a pity the hua-bao or the bun was made very small, in bite size. There was hardly enough space to wrap the duck meat dipped with the always-welcomed black plum sauce and spring onion.

Tofu with mushrooms

We also had the Hong Kong style steamed soon hock @$120. The manager had it mutated before I could even take a decent photo of it. But, it was simply delicious. The fresh fish meat simply melted in my mouth.

And last, we had the fried ee-fu noodles. I loved ee-fu noodles but I realised that my family members preferred fried rice to noodles when it comes to staple food. I thought the noodles was good, just a little oily. Sis had half the portion to herself and it made me raise my eyebrows even higher. Her petite build was just a disguise.

Total bill was $400+. With OCBC credit card entitles a 15% discount and our bill was $346+ for the 6 dishes we had. Food was good but too expensive.

Peony Jade Restaurant

Clarke Quay

Blk 3A Clarke Quay #02-02

346. Duo Le Restaurant

2010-01-30T18:08:00.007+08:00

Sitting on 8th level of Orchard Central, Duo Le is much higher than just 8 storeys. You can see Singtel building clearly. Since it started, I have not been there so I took some time off my hectic schedule to take a walk there last week.

I thought there will be more than just a few tables but no, there were just a few tables.

Braised peanuts and thinly sliced potatoes.

红杏鸡@$9.80

I like to eat cold dish chicken, not just from Duo Le. I think chilled chicken taste nice and the tinge of numbness from the chili gave the fair bit of shiokness. Sliced cucumber gave the refreshingness. But, the chicken was immersed in chili oil which I felt too much would not do our body good. Try it once in a while.

干贝焖冬瓜@$26.80

This was good. The combination of beans complemented the colours well. Not to leave out the taste, especially the kidney beans. The winter melon was not too soft and being blandless, the sauce made the dish tasteful.

陕西卤汁蒸面@$12.80

Have you noticed? Potatoes appeared again in the dish. I felt it has a rather different braise taste which I'm not accustomed to.

海参麻婆豆腐@$26.80

Very much covered in oil. I could felt a tinge of numbness after eating the tofu. I felt this dish was just average. The difference being we won't cook our sea cucumber with tofu in this way.

陕西手工卷饼@$4.80

It was like Taiwan's cong you bing wrapped with sliced potatoes. The exterior was bland. The overall gave a starchy taste. It would have been better if there was dipping taste but there wasn't.

We had a pot of Pu-er tea at $8 and our bill worked out to be $115.10 which I felt was rather expensive.

Duo Le

181 Orchard Rd

#08-09/10

Orchard Central

345. Banana Leaf Apolo Restaurant

2010-01-25T22:15:00.008+08:00

Rice Crackers

Chicken Masala

Quite spicy but if chicken masala is not spicy, where is the shiokness? Some of the chicken were in big chunks and some were merely bite size. The inconsistency in size resulted in us leaving the big chunk of chicken breast untouched.

The curry went well with the rice.

Mutton Mysore

Didn't manage to taste it.

Tandoori Chicken

Tender but could not really taste the marinated spices. The taste of char was stronger though.

Spinach with cottage cheese

It has got an acquired taste which didn't make me go for a second spoon. The colour played a part too. But fellow makan kakis loved it.

Free flow of cabbage and eggplants. The eggplants were cut in a quarter size. I didn't like popping the whole quarter egg plant in so I had it cut into smaller size. To my dismay, I found a big fat worm in it. Gross. I knew it was common for worms to 'reside' in eggplants. If you don't know, hope my experience here stays with you. I didn't want to complain but fellow kakis insisted and I thought it could be an alert for them to be more careful for the next wok of eggplants.

And I got the traditional dessert - gulab jamun as the compensation. Understood from my Indian makan kaki that it was made of milk powder and was immersed in sugar syrup. Very sinful.

Banana Leaf Apolo Restaurant

56/58 Race Course Road

344. Tokkuri Japanese Restaurant

2010-01-25T21:57:00.003+08:00

Unagi with pork belly set @$17.90

A new Japanese eatery opened at Icon Village so I had it on my tasting list. It had a short counter which could the most take about 8 persons. It was full house at lunch time so me and my lunch kakis waited for a while. They were having a promotion of 2 specified lunch sets at $10.80++ each, a choice of the salmon or tonkatsu set if I didn't remember wrongly. The promotion could be still on currently.

I didn't go for the promotion lunch set. The unagi with pork belly simmered for 8 hours got my attention. And boy, it was good. Dipped a little of the mustard, the pork belly simply melted away. How I wished I had more than just two thin slices. It was thankful that the rice was good. The fat and satisfying short grain rice. I would feel quite cheated if the rice served was not a least bit like short-grain rice. The unagi was good too. In fact, I felt it was worth the money. I would definitely be back.

Tokkuri Japanese Restaurant
Icon Village
#01-35/40
Lunch : 11.30pm-2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm-9.30pm
Closed on sun

343. Ko Ryo Jeong Korean Restaurant

2010-01-25T21:40:00.004+08:00

Fish set @$12

Hidden at the second level of the International Plaza(IP) which sits directly on top of Tanjong Pagar MRT station, Ko Ryo Jeong korean restaurant is not any inferior to the nearby Dae Jang Kuem Korean Restaurant.

One of my makan kakis brought me to this place for lunch some time ago. The fish was nicely grilled. Served hot and crispy on the exterior, it was good. The only flaw being there weren't many choices to choose from. Even for ramen, only egg and vegetables were added, no pork, said the lady boss. Only a few pan-chan was served. It could have been better if more were served. Very unlike the usual korean restaurants where more than 3 pan-chan would be served. Business was good and my lunch kaki shared that the night business is even better.

Ko Ryo Jeong Korean Restaurant

International Plaza

#02-59

342. Thasevi Food Roti Prata

2010-01-09T16:11:00.005+08:00

Fried Chicken
They said it was good. I think it was well-fried.

Strawberry Prata @$5

I remembered clearly that it cost $5 because it was too expensive. A prata with some strawberry jam and it cost 10 times more expensive. Geez.

Mutton Briyani

You must be wondering where was the mutton. It was just a mouthful piece hidden underneath the briyani rice. Good thing about the briyani was it was not oily.

Indian Rojak

Indian rojak, quite a few varieties to choose from. I felt the dipping peanut sauce is the most important thing in Indian rojak. Thasevi's was not spicy at all and thus made the Indian rojak not so wow. We asked for another bowl of sauce but the boss waited till we almost finished the rojak then he came over to ask if we still wanted another bowl of sauce. I felt his actions explained he didn't want to waste the sauce but what about customers who didn't like sharing?

We had 3 teh-tarik. The teh-tarik was good, not-so-sweet and fragrant. Total bill was about $34 which I think was a tad expensive. Further up the road, there is the famous chocolate cake from Jane's cake station and a new prata outlet just next to the public carpark. I think the new outlet offered a greater variety. Mum said the nasi lemak and ginger tea was nice. I have not got the chance to taste it.

Thasevi Food Original Jalan Kayu Roti Prata
237/239 Jalan Kayu
Singapore
Tel: 6481 1537

341. Riders Cafe

2010-01-09T09:47:00.004+08:00

I finally got my laptop back and thus uploaded my pictures. Brunch at Riders Cafe a week ago was a casual food blogger's affair. Met up with Harris, Elaine and Angeline&Sis. Brunch on a beautiful Sunday is nothing more you could ask for especially after 2 hectic weeks with all the year-end public holidays buried in a pile of work.

Riders Cafe is located at Bukit Timah Saddle Club, a rather inaccessible place but thanks to our Harris for the ride.

Morning Pancakes @$10

I love Pancakes! A slab of butter, a spoonful of berry compete and the very important maple syrup and maybe just a bit of the sinful whipped cream, they comes in a set with the pancakes, aren't they? The very much flattered pancakes rose to "stardom", tagged as the hot favourite at Riders Cafe. And it was not at all overrated. Fluffy and light. The way the pancakes were stacked looked like stacked-up Michelin tyres.

Frankly speaking, it made me wonder if I am eating more soda bicarbonate?

Elaine's pick

The smoked salmon looked good. Elaine had the portebello mushrooms replaced with smoked salmon. And she commented the prawns were dry.

Harris's pick

Harris let us tried a bit of his beef patty. Not sure if I'm lucky, I actually had soft bones in the bit of beef. Not sure if Harris had a fair bit of them in his beef patty. If that's so, it would be quite disturbing. Haha. But, taste wise was fairly good and because it turned cold after the photo-taking, I think it could be better if eaten hot.

Angeline's pick - Eggs Florentine

Angeline said her poached eggs were not runny enough. I think likewise and the hollandaise sauce was not enough.

It was a pleasant brunch, getting to know the people who shared the same passion. We saw a brown and white horse but we didn't manage to take photographs of the horses. We were seated nearer to the carpark so we didn't smell the urine smell of horses which some had mentioned of.

Riders Club
51 Fairways Drive
Singapore 286965
Tel: 6466 9819
Opens: Tue-Thu, Sun 8:30am-10pm
Fri-Sat 8:30am-10:30pm

340. Munch

2010-01-06T22:15:00.003+08:00

3 picks, a soup & a glass of iced tea@$13.20

Went light for lunch today. Photo taken with my iPhone and if you have heard about it, you know the camera is a flaw of this android phone. The salad bar @Munch offered a wider range of salad to busy white-collars who would love to have more greens than meaty treats. The movement towards a 'greener' meal was not cheap. I dropped the idea of having pasta in my picks and went for a more oriental kind of salad with vermicelli. I loved the tomatoes with cottage cheese. So simple and so healthy. I would not mind having salad everyday if my budget allows.

Munch

HB Robinson
112 Robinson Road #01-01
Singapore 068902

339. Once Upon a Milkshake

2009-12-28T21:41:00.004+08:00

3 scoops @$7.20

We had the mocha, rum&raisin and cookies&cream. Hidden at the back of The White House at Tanjong Pagar, it was not at all unfamiliar to the working population at Tanjong Pagar. The obvious sexy purple borders accompanied the see-through window panes. It's very much you-see-what-you-get as much as the name suggested. Milkshakes and then.....there was ice-cream.

Frankly speaking, I wouldn't say the ice-cream was the mama-mia kind. But others said the milkshake was good. I have not tried it so I hold my views on that.

Once Upon a Milkshake
Maxwell Chambers
32 Maxwell Road #01-08
Mon-Sun, 11am-11pm

338. Patisserie Glace

2009-12-22T22:17:00.008+08:00

I finally got the right time to taste Chef Yamashita so well-raved cakes. Their previous location was rather out-of-my-way so I never managed to find a good timing to turn up at the outlet even though many foodies have tried and gave the thumbs up. And now, it has shifted to Icon Village, so much nearer to me. Still, I have not tried it till today. Reason being usually after lunch, there is no room for cakes and I give up the idea of getting them.

Double Rare Cheese Mango @$4.70

Cheese and Mango, together they presented a slight sourish taste. My colleague and I both felt this cake is not very much to our liking, probably because of the sourish taste.

Mont Blanc @$5.60

We liked this best. The chestnut cream was not too rich and there was a big chestnut laden in the middle. It reminded me of the an-pan I had at Tsukiji Market, Tokyo. Yummy~

Strawberry Shortcake @$4.80

Another favourite amongst the OLs.

But still, I think Mont Blanc is the best among the 3. The fluffy sponge played an important role and it wasn't too sweet.

Patisserie Glace
12 Gopeng Street
#01-33/34 Icon Village
Singapore 078877
Tel/Fax: 6400-0247

337. First Thai Food

2009-12-22T21:50:00.008+08:00

Soft Shell Crab @$15

I would recommend the soft shell crab served at FTF. First of all, it wasn't very oil-laden. Secondly, the fragrant oat flakes together with the curry leaves aided the overall taste of this dish.

Fried Chicken Wings @$8

The all-time favourite.

Chicken Tom Yum Soup @$12

The tom yum soup was to my dismay not as spicy as I would thought it would be. In fact, I find the tom yum taste rather mild. Slender chicken strips made the soup not so apealing. Should have gone for the seafood tom yum instead.

Pineapple Rice @$12

The pineapple rice was with a strong buttery taste which I felt made the overall didn't taste like pineapple rice. The yellow curry paste or curcumin (if I'm not wrong) was not so evident.

Overall bill worked out to be about $65 if I didn't remember wrongly, along with 3 glasses of bandung and 2 plain rice. Price was considered economic. But, if you asked for my opinion, I would most probably pay a bit more to visit YhingThai for better quality Thai food at the other end of the row.

First Thai Food
23 Purvis Street

336. Pierre Hermes

2009-12-20T22:52:00.004+08:00

Pierre Hermes Isaphan @Yen840 (~SGD13)

Yum Yum...what more can I say?

335. DisneySea - Maple Churros

2009-12-20T22:28:00.003+08:00

Maple Churros @Yen250 (~SGD3.90)

The saying goes curiousity kills the cat, I said curiousity makes a foodie poorer. Take a look around when you visit DisneySea. Many will be holding this stick called maple churros. It tasted like buttery pastry dipped in maple syrup, coated with a coat of sugar. It smelled great but I don't think it makes a good snack during the cold winter.

334. DisneySea - Aladdin's Castle

2009-12-02T13:33:00.002+08:00

Chicken Curry with rice and naan @Yen760 (SGD11.90)

It was fore-prepared so the queue moved very fast. Expensive but it was quite good. A tinge of sourness in the curry. Not the Japanese curry kind but something similiar to our Indian curry. 2 pathetic pieces of chicken. The short grain rice and naan with curry was enough for me to have this order.

Coconut Custard @Yen360 (SGD 5.65)

A tad too sweet. The coconut taste was rather strong. Sweet sugar caramel that surrounded the custard made the dessert even sweeter. Dispensable.

333. DisneySea

2009-12-02T13:27:00.003+08:00

Hotdog Bread @Yen380 (SGD6)

The weather was slightly chilly. Some warm food would definitely bring on the energy. There were many food kiosks located along all roads in the DisneySea. One of which sells mainly the hotdog bread. It was just hotdog bread and yes, it cost $6, no kiddin. There were packets mustard and tomato sauce but no chili sauce. That's going to bring the frown from Singaporeans. But still, it was comfort food. And guess what? My sister, the petite gal wanted another one. Who never grows fat during winter?

332. Kuriya Dining, Tokyo

2009-12-02T13:09:00.007+08:00

Mentaiko, Cream Crab Croquette @Yen138(SGD 2.20)

Alas! I'm back from Tokyo. Have not been blogging for some time. Bad times. Laptop spoilt. Worse still, my photos looked worse than before so I didn't bother to watermark them.

Croquettes from Takashimaya, Tokyo. I was shocked when I saw the crowd at the basement of Takashimaya, the food level. I was even more shocked when I saw the prices and the people were buying like there's a sale. Geez.

Anyway, the croquettes looked so appealing, they tricked me into buying them off the display cabinet. And yet....well, it wasn't hot so it was not like what they looked.

Prawn & Salmon Salad @Yen 767 (SGD12)

I always have the habit of getting for myself a salad while having my holidays overseas. Reason being it seemed that most of the times we hardly had any greens as we feasted on the meat and snacks.

Takashimaya Basement 1
Shinjyuku, Tokyo

331. Canton-i

2009-10-25T17:19:00.005+08:00

Caramelized Cashew Nuts @$3.50/dish

Munch some cashew nuts while you wait for your main course. At first I thought it was walnuts but no it wasn't. 2 servings were served.

Prawn Wanton Mee @$7.80

Canton-i's signature dish. The texture of the noodles were different from those we could get in Singapore. It was made the Hong Kong taste. But, it came as a big disappointment. The noodles though with a tinge of tangyness, was too dry.

Twin combination of duck and roasted pork

The portion was too pathetic.

Abalone Porridge @$17

It was made slightly more runny instead of the thick type which we usually have that would have stuck on to your spoon. It was good but too costly.

Beef Brisket Noodles @$7.80

The beef brisket was good but the same thing with the noodles. I think they should have added more sauce to the noodles. Too dry.

Seafood Fried Rice

Eat Faster! The hotpot was so hot that you should eat with a fast pace to prevent the rice from being burnt. And with this, the rice became dry and hard, drowning the tastes of the fried rice.

Roasted Duck Noodles @$7.80

The praise for the roasted duck laid in the skin. It was very crispy and not so much of fat. I supposed the fats was melted off.

Overall bill worked out to be about $112 for 5 pax. I lost the receipt so I couldn't remember the cost of some of the dishes. We had tea which came at $3 per pax. In my opinion, paying $112 to have just noodles and porridge was too expensive. What's more, the food we had were pretty normal, not so much to the extent to make me return for the second time.

Someone said the higher level in Ion you go, the pricier it gets. Canton-i is located on level 3, standing together with Marmalade Pantry and other big retail brands.

Canton-i
2 Orchard Turn
#03-14
ION Orchard
Tel: 6509 8368

330. Sofra Turkish Cafe & Restaurant

2009-10-11T16:47:00.004+08:00

Sesame Bread @$3.80

Ka-bom....the bread seemed like it was blasted. Topped with sesame seeds, the sesame bread was served warm and even without any hummus, it was still good.

Vine Leave Roll @$4.40

Bro got puzzled and thought the vine leaves could not be eaten. Hey, how could it be? If the vine leaves are to be unwrapped from the measly bits of glutinous rice and pine nuts, what is left to 'nibble' on? We are not hamsters eh. The vine leaves looked sturdy like the lotus leaf but no, it was actually very soft. It was like eating fresh seaweed wrapped with glutinous rice.

Sofra Fish @$14.60

It wasn't dory fish as stated on the menu but tilapia. Drenched in the tomato base, fats from the tilapia fish made the sauce oily. Lemon was added and I felt it was a tad too sourish.

Beyti Kebap @$16.50

We opted for chicken fillings. Again, tomato sauce was drizzled over the kebap but less the sourness. A highly recommended dish by the waitress but disappointment set in after having a bite. Somewhat I felt the taste of the kebap would have been more evident without the tomato sauce. Where's my mayonnaise?

Doner Kebap Rice @$8.50

The chicken had a nice smoky flavour that complemented with the slightly sticky rice. To balance the meal, a generous portion of the chunky bits of salsa accompanied the chicken kebap.

We also ordered Turkish iced apple tea @$2.80 each which tasted a tad too sweet and we had to add water to make it not-so-sweet. Overall bill was about $68+ for 5 pax. We shared 3 mains. It seemed like Turkish food used a considerable amount of tomatoes. As much as it is a healthy green, having too much of it at a go will just dampen the desire for more tastes.

Sofra Turkish Cafe & Restaurant
100 Beach Road #02-42/43/44
Shaw Tower Shaw Leisure Gallery
Singapore 189702
Tel: 6291 1433

329. Curry On!

2009-10-10T21:00:00.005+08:00

(Mr Anil & partner Pamela)

About a week ago, I got an email invitation from Mr Anil to taste his curries at his newly opened stall - Curry On!

Curry On! focuses on just 3 kinds of curries. The recipes were passed down by Mr Anil's mum.

Eat your mutton chop curry with briyani (@$1.20).

Curry On!'s briyani appeared different from the briyani which we have seen at the Indian stalls. As we all know, in Singapore, we are accessible to a mix of the Northern and Southern Indian food. Curry On! is from the Northern. Their briyani was dressed in a lighter coat. Less yellowish and lighter in taste. But not any less aromatic.

Mutton Chop Curry @$5

Treat yourself to mouth-watering tender mutton chops drenched in the curry which has no coconut milk. Even without coconut milk, the curry gravy was thick. Mr Anil said their curries were cooked using their own mix of freshly made curry paste every morning.

The briyani worked perfectly well with the heavy taste of the mutton chop curry. And one thing I have noticed about the briyani was it was not oily. The achar was very good!

Chicken Curry @$4.80

Or you can eat your curry with plain rice or baguette.

Mutton Rib Dalcha @$5.50

Something special on the menu. This curry contained coconut milk and tamarind. Tamarind made the curry with a subtle finish of sourness at the back of the throat. It worked perfectly well with a bowl of plain rice or baguette. The chunky ribs exuded a strong aroma with fats on the meat melted into the curry. For the mutton lovers, you would not want to miss this lip-smacking curry. Mutton ribs for just $5.50 was a great deal!

Never mind the high calories, eat with gleeful abandon! Eat Curry On!

Thanks to Mr Anil & Pamela for the hosting!

Curry On!
7th Mile Coffeeshop
Blk 18 #01-97
Toh Yi Drive
Singapore 590018

328.Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant

2009-10-10T15:16:00.005+08:00

The slow music complemented the dining ambience and later into the night as we lazed on the cozy sofa, drinking chilled beers and clinking of beer bottles livened the ambience. The singers decided to sing songs of faster tempo. It is a nice to chill-out place.

Rosco de Cerdo (Chef's crispy pork leg with romesco sauce)

OcKtober Fest Platter @$49.90++ with 2 pints of Erdinger beer

I was attracted to the the big and crispy pork knuckles that were sizzling quietly inside the heat ventilated transparent cabinet. The chef with his small station at the Al fresco area quickly came over to ask if we wanted a portion. "Yes, please."

OcKtober Fest Platter included sausages, pork knuckle and 2 pints of Erdinger beer which seemed like a good deal, so we ordered this.

The skin of the pork knuckle was very crispy and it went ka-cha, ka-cha as we bit into it. Dip a little honey mustard over, it was mama-mia~ Must-try!

Erdinger. After a pint each, we ordered another jug (@$42) which gave each another pint. Still not enough, we ended the night with another bottle of koghi (@$10++).

Paella Valenciana @$40 (for 2 persons)

A winning signature dish. It stated for 2 persons on the menu. When it was placed on our table, we stared at the paella for a while. The portion was small, just nice for 1. Served with onion cream, the taste was just mediocre. I still preferred the paella from Marche.

Total bill cost us $222+, with AMEX card comes 15% disc. So, total bill was just $200 for 4 pax. The range of food is not so wide but I felt most of the diners were there to drink and relax than to eat.

Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant
#01-98/99 VivoCity
Singapore 098585
Tel: 6376 8185

327. Mooncakes 2009

2009-10-02T20:46:00.005+08:00

All the atriums in the shopping malls or rather whatever space you can see had been taken up to sell mooncakes. And in recent years, other than the taste of the mooncakes, the packaging also played a vital role. As much as many people still regard Da Zhong Guo's mooncakes as the most traditional ones, people are eventually giving in to the presentation of the mooncakes. The mid-autumn festival is not just about reunion. I felt from the careful choosing to buying and giving of mooncakes showed the sharing spirit.

Tomorrow is mid-autumn festival but for the past 2 weeks, I have been eating mooncakes. Lucky enough, I managed to eat mooncakes made from different hotels. But, I was more interested in their packaging.

Carlton Hotel

Carlton's walnut mooncakes were the size of scones. With the addition of the walnuts and a small amount of lotus paste filling in the mooncake made it stand out different from the others. Crunchy and yet not too dry. Mid-Autumn festival is a Chinese celebration. Appeared in an octagonal container, did Carlton Hotel get their idea from the Chinese's octagonal mirror?

St Regis Hotel

"Who stole my jewellery box" ? St Regis came out with an exquisite two-layered box for their mooncakes. It's like storing mooncakes in tingkat. The box with its gold exterior speaks of elegance and magnanimous.

Ritz Carlton Hotel
Going for the arts, Ritz Carlton Hotel presented their mooncakes with the auspicious loud red colour and a painting. Simple and yet presentable.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel

The China Club

The baked mooncakes from The China Club were pretty good. Though smaller in size, the crust was not too thin and not very oily. The China Club's packaging caught my attention the most. Everyone was fanscinated by the orange box that was made like a lomo camera, with mooncakes kept in drawers at the back and the front had a pull-out that exposed a photo. As much as DSLR is the 'one' now, the orange box kept me pretty occupied for a while. So cute. It was very well-made. The box was solid-hard and even had screws screwed at the handle. You know where was your money spent on?

326. Peach Garden Lotus Paste with Double Yolks Mooncakes

2009-09-30T21:58:00.002+08:00

I tried it quite some time ago when I went to Peach Garden for dim sum. This time round, it was a gift. I was surprised when I saw the yin-yang fillings. Not that I have not seen before but rather it seemed that the others aren't doing this anymore. The red bean paste and the lotus paste, together with the melon seeds. I felt the addition of red bean paste made the mooncake not so dull. However, the mooncake crust was made too thin and a little oily.

325. 717 Trading Mini Snowskin Durian Mooncakes

2009-09-29T21:31:00.003+08:00

D24 Durian mooncakes 9 pcs @$38

It is known that Goodwood Park Hotel's signature desserts have to do with durian. This year, they introduced a combination of durian, cempedek, mango and soursop @$44. Goodwood Park Hotel's snowskin mooncakes were all sold out when I went to visit the booth they had set up in Lot One mall. I got to taste the cempedek from the sampling tray and from the box that my colleague bought but I was not attracted to it. It was filled with the cempedek fruit, was pulpy with the fruit flesh but I felt the taste was a little weird. I still didn't manage to get to taste the durian mooncake!

The durian mooncakes from 717 was one that I felt tasted fully of durian pulp. Some others (not to compare it with big brands) that I have tasted was mixed with lotus paste and as a result, tasted like durian cake (those brown chewy kind) wrapped in snowskin. However, I felt 717's mooncakes were a tad overpriced for the size was just 'pop-in-your-mouth' and it's gone!

Today, I tasted Fullerton Hotel's snowskin mooncakes which consisted of blueberry, cranberry, apple and chocolate with bailey flavours in a box @$52. I was immediately attracted to the mooncakes. The snowskin was soft and it just simply melted in my mouth. Good gracious that sugar was not 'poured' into the paste fillings. I wanted more.

324. Kim's Family Restaurant

2009-09-26T23:52:00.008+08:00

I passed by Kim's a few times. It is so near my house and yet I have no idea how 'hot' it has been until I visited it last night. The small eatery was flooded with customers and many were koreans. Fellow floggers have raved so much about the place and I said I must try it some day. The lauded pan-chan (the whole salted fish) was not served for dinner. Was it just served during lunch? Some of the pan-chan were nice and some not.

The one that particularly caught my attention was this piece of pancake alike food. It tasted floury and it was with a tad of chewiness but it was like our chye-po egg with the salted vegetables in it. I didn't like it.

Tteokbokki @$10

This is a must try! They even had ra myeon added. I for once felt like I was in Korea but the spiciness brought me back to reality. Still, it was very shiok!! Best eaten when it's piping hot.

Bibimnang Myeon @$10

This is the reverse of Tteokbokki. It was chilled. The cold noodles were a tad too much and there weren't much ingredients other than the few strips of cucumber, pear and half an egg. Should be mixed quickly, else the noodles will stick together into a lump and mixing becomes hard. I felt they should have cut the noodles to make eating easier. The chili paste was spicy!

Total bill was $38.50 for 2 pax with a 10% service charge but no GST eh? Overall, my friend and I felt the food was cheap. There was also BBQ but it was also this that made the whole place smoky and yet poor ventilation.

2 couples (all girls) cut our queue. We were there before them and when they reached the place, they simply ignored the people waiting in the queue and walked to settle down at the tables when the lady boss had just clear it. Where are their manners? The owner's son aka the cashier did nothing and showed us a helpless expression. I was disappointed with the increased number of ugly Singaporeans, counting from my past experiences.

I personally felt to have better presented food or to get the best deal, it may be wiser to visit Kim's at lunch time on weekdays when it is not so crowded. The place was very untidy and uncomfortable when it was very crowded. I went to the toilet, it was also very dirty.

Kim's Family Restaurant
17 Lorong Kilat #01-06
Singapore 598139
Tel: 6465 0535

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323. Pu Tien

2009-09-21T21:13:00.007+08:00

"Pu Tien" Style Century Egg @$7

If you are wondering if century egg has transformed, my answer is they have been disguised. They are battered and coated with sweet and sour sauce. Due to the deep-fry process, the surface of the egg white of the century egg became harder to chew. The sweet and sour sauce was just a mere thin coat. Even as this was so, the taste and pungent smell of the century egg was completely disguised. Not so shiok!

Stir-fried Greens @$12
The plate of greens looked pathetic and the cost of $12 for that quantity was definitely a tad too expensive.

Deep Fried Pig's Trotters with Pepper @$3.80/pc

The trotters were calling out to me. They were fried till very crispy and you just want to have more. It was not oily and there was not much fats. 'The coast is clear', ladies. It is very considerate of Pu Tien to provide plastic gloves for this dish. It would have been troublesome to have forks and knives with the chopsticks and etc on the table just to have the trotters. Let's have it the primitive way but with hygiene.

Claypot Sea Cucumber with Chestnut @$32

It was good with rice. With the roasted chestnuts and mushrooms, the oyster sauce gravy was very fragrant.

"Pu Tien" Lor Mee @$12

One of the chef's specialities. It was really good. Especially with their chili sauce. Yummy! $12 portion can serve 6 pax.

Homemade Beancurd @$12

Braised Beancurd with Chinese Cabbage @$18

Chinese cabbage was cooked till soft. The sweetness from the clams and cabbage went into the soup. The soup thus had a natural sweetness.

The total bill was about $120 after a 10% discount with Passion card. Their VIP card has to give way for Passion card. It is recommended to make reservations, else you may have to wait for quite some time. The branch at Kitchener road provides free valet parking as it is located along the roadside where finding a parking lot is very much a hassle.

Pu Tien
127 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208514
Tel: 6295 6358

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321. The French Stall

2009-09-18T22:33:00.006+08:00

A friend of mine highly recommended this place because his friend highly recommended it to him. It all started with passing words through the mouths and we decided to check out the place. Located just by the roadside, one can easily spot The French Stall.

Garlic Bread

Escargots

One of my friends decided to change his leek salad to escargots as he has not tried escargots before. He said it tasted a tad like mussels and I joked they are snails but with a nicer name. I would say they have similar texture. The escargots were hidden in the mini greenish mud pool. There was a mild mint taste which I guessed was probably to rid off the soil smell.

French Onion Soup

All of us ordered the executive set meal which consisted of an entree, a main and a cake. I liked the french onion soup. It was sweet and the onion boiled till soft turned pulpy and the cheese that melted in the soup. It warmed the hungry stomach.

Homemade Suckling Pork Terrine @$8.80

It was very similar to the Teochew's pork trotters jelly. The Teochew's has had more gelatin in it. The one here had much lesser gelatin. Shredded suckling pork was shredded and some not and they were all pressed together, presented like a piece of pork cake with mustard sauce. Nevertheless, it was something new to me. Still, I preferred the Teochew's which is dipped with the vinegary chili sauce.

Grilled Beef Sirloin Steak (200g) @$25.80++ (with soup and cake)

I had mine grilled till medium. The meat was tender and juicy. I liked the sauteed potato slices cooked with thyme. It was very fragrant and it made the starchy potato flavourful. In fact, the price for the executive meal is quite standard but judging from the slab of steak, it looked like it was quite a good deal afterall. Just that, if there were some greens, it would have been better.

Pan Fried Salmon

The salmon which looked so normal was actually very good at disguising itself. The exterior looked like it was grilled until a tad dry but no, it was soft and moist on the interior and it melts in the mouth. The salmon taste was strong. I felt I was eating it raw.

The executive meals included a dessert which is chocolate cake for the beef sirloin steak set and honey cheesecake for the salmon set. I didn't manage to get a good photo of the cakes due to the poor lightings so I am not posting them up. Simple cakes.

The French Stall has a laidback environment which made diners felt relaxed. The staffs were friendly too. Overall, the bill cost about $130. Thanks for the treat, my friend.

The French Stall
544 Serangoon Road
Opening Hours: 3-6pm (for desserts)
6-10pm (for dinner)
Tel: 62993544

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320. Watami

2009-09-16T23:11:00.007+08:00

The loud red walls called out WATAMI. I have not visited the first outlet at ION despite its grand opening in July 09 nor did I know that 和民 is Watami until the familiar Japanese characters told me so. The saturday prior to its opening on 15 Sep, I was invited for a tasting session at Watami's second outlet at Clarke Quay.

Green Tea Ice Shake @$5.80

Half Watami Salad @$4.80

A garden salad with big chunks of well marinated chicken and a scoop of Watami's special creation - Tuna Mayonnaise. The salad was delicious with the tuna mayonnaise. It had a mild vinegary taste and the addition of peppers, cherry tomatoes and cracker strips gave the salad the crunch and colour. Flavourful and satisfying. It was this good that I recommend you should double the 'half' and get a watami salad at $7.80.

Ika Korikori Yaki @$5.80

Grilled squid soft bone. It was something different. We're not just eating ika (squid) but also their soft bones.Eat it while it's hot. I took some time to take the photos of the food that were placed on the table and when I had it, it turned cold. I bet it tasted better while it's still hot.

Ishiyaki Bibimbap @$8.80

You are not seeing wrong. Yes, bibimbap, the Korean stone pot rice dish. Here, we had beef and kimchi. It was very considerate of them to design a wooden square holder to contain the hot stone pot, avoiding scalds. It was superb hot. The ingredients sizzled as I flipped and tossed them like rojak.

It was this hot that the rice turned charred and crispy after a few minutes. For crispy and charred rice lovers, do try the bibimbap. For the hot stone pot and tasty kimchi, I highly recommend the bibimbap from Watami.

Tori Yasai Kushi @$3.80

Big chunks of mildly marinated chicken with mixed peppers. Logically, the mixed peppers should complement the chicken chunks but they were pretty much strangers. Each to its own, they drew a clear line. Taste was quite isolated.

Teppan Bou Gyoza @$6.80

I was attracted to the picture of the sizzling big gyoza on their menu and so I decided to order one. I thought I will see the gyoza sizzling on the hotplate but the 'aftermath' was presented instead. On the hot plate, I saw a gleam. It appeared shiny black, all thanks to the layer of oil. I find the gyoza slightly too oily. I feedbacked on this. Hope that it is better now. The interior contained diced cabbage and pork but somehow I felt the cabbage did not made the filling sweet.

Cassis Grapefruit @$5.80

I'm glad that I had this drink. The bittersour grapefruit helped rid off the greasiness from the gyoza. The sweet syrup at the bottom less the bittersour content.

Mango & Ichigo Daifuku @$3.80

Initially, I was hesitating if I should take the daifuku or I should change it for some alluring desserts like strawberry or chocolate parfait because I always felt the daifuku served in casual restaurants were mostly made-ready some very long time ago and stored for use at any time. Luckily, I didn't. The daifuku was different.

The rice cake was made into thin, soft and chewy strips. Diced mango and strawberry cubes, cream and red beans were evidently seen to be wrapped into rolls with the rice cake. But hey, I tasted chocolate and I saw there was a thin chocolate sponge at the bottom of the roll. Overall, the taste was great!

Seated at the second floor of Central, it overlooks the Boat Quay. Dining was comfortable as ample space was provided, not squeezed together. Service was excellent during the tasting session but not sure if it will be maintained when Watami is opened for business to the public with the long queue. Good range of food is available. Looking at the menu, I felt Watami wants a bit of everything, trying to provide anything that can be made possible. Ramen, hotplate, sushi, sashimi, Nabe, Korean dishes and etc.

No reservations is allowed so it is best to go early to avoid queuing. The outlet at The Central has something different from its first outlet at ION, that is, a long red sofa at the entrance is provided for customers in the queue. Also, Watami's entrance is located along a corridor hidden from sight from the other floors. Do look out for the word 和民, which also means Watami.

Lastly, Thanks to Watami and Kit for the hosting.

Watami
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-82/83/85/102/108/109
Singapore 059817

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319. Manhattan Fish Market

2009-09-14T21:41:00.004+08:00

Garden salad with citrus dressing

Salads...have always loved salads, easy to make but always have the whole lettuce plant to myself and I couldn't finish it. What a waste. Sometimes, it will be better off to just have it outside. So, my friend and I decided to try something different, instead of the usual fave-caesar salad. Citrus dressing was just citrus juice with olive oil. So, the salad was not really special in anyway.

Shrimp Soup

So you thought that this was the bosch or tomato soup? No, it wasn't. It was shrimp soup. I asked the waitress because it did not taste like any of the two. I thought it tasted a bit weird. It was pulpy but the shrimp taste was very bland.

Country Mushrooms

Grilled Platter for One

The grilled platter was good. I liked the garlic rice which was mixed with cream sauce drizzled onto the grilled prawns. The rice was sticky and chewy like having had mixed with coconut milk like the Thai glutinous rice dessert. The fries were fat and crispy. We added $4.90 to the dish to make it a meal with the shrimp soup and a tall glass of ice lemon tea.

My friend and I paid about $15 each with her $10 voucher for the food we shared. It was a long wait to get a table. It is just like the second Fish & Co. Although there were many young waiters and waitresses, service was not as prompt. I requested water for my friends at the point of order and requested again for another 2 times before I got my water. It was minutes after we finished our food.

Manhattan Fish Market
68 Orchard Road #06-07
Plaza Singapura
Tel: 6835-9300

318. Raffles Hotel - Snow-Skin Mooncake with Champagne Truffle & Ganache

2009-09-10T21:09:00.006+08:00

Snow-Skin Mooncake with Champagne Truffle & Ganache 8pcs @$52

The mooncake festival is here again. In celebration of the mooncake festival, we get to savour all kinds of mooncakes. This year, the first one that I have tasted was the snow-skin mooncake with Champagne Truffle & Ganache, the highly sought-after mooncake from the prestagious Raffles Hotel.

The small sized mooncake was filled with lotus paste and in the centre, a vanilla truffle filled with vanilla ganache. The snow skin was exceptionally soft and light. The lotus paste was not too sweet and it complemented well with the vanilla flavour. In fact, the champagne taste was rather light.

Someone said he do not go for such mooncakes when offered. He preferred the traditional kind. Baked. His words struck me to connect the taste of the mooncake to romantic. Gentle and dainty sweet~

317. Mart Boulevard II

2009-09-08T22:15:00.010+08:00

Phad Thai @$4.90

I would like to call it the Thai char kway tiao. No cockles, no sausages and no black sauce. In place, there were tofu, crushed peanuts and fish sauce. This is Phad Thai. A simple dish it is, yet one of the national dishes of Thai. Phad Thai is sweet because of the addition of fish sauce (which I felt is the crux condiment) and for some had added sugar. I like the Phai Thai served here. It was delicious. The fish sauce was not overpowering. The slight sourish taste due to the tamarind juice made the phad thai appetizing. The only flaw I found was it was not served piping hot and this led me to suspect the food was pre-cooked to handle the lunch crowd. Probably.

Thai Fish Cakes @$5.50

News headline. "Counsellor attacked by patient, Manslaughter murderer on the prowl".

Victim: Foodies Queen, the counsellor.
Weapon: Fish bones.
Murderer's Features: 'Notorious'. Clad in a rugged attire, skinny and not highly distinctive. Accompanied by a sexy partner.
Victim's Statement: I adviced and talked to him. I thought I have pried his heart, I saw his inner soul, unbothered by his unappealing appearance. I urged his sexy partner to stick through thin and thick with him. He looked like a simple man. But....never did I think of his sudden attack against me.

If you see the above murderer, please report.

Green Chicken Curry w rice @$5.90

The green curry did not look appealing but do not judge by its appearance because it is definitely not that yucky. I am not sure if it is the same across all Thai restaurants to cook curry using a high content of coconut milk but the one here did. It was fragrant and sweet. My mum always say to cook tasty curry, you need to add more sugar and coconut milk. I did not eat the green curry but I saw lots of onions in it. Onions will make the gravy sweet. Just like when you cook vegetables curry, the vegetables which were fried will give a sweet taste than those not.

3 of us had a quick lunch which cost in total about $25. To me, Mart Boulevard is a Thai food restaurant with Indochina setting and yet working in an express mode during lunch. There was also the al-alfresco dining area outside the restaurant. I preferred to sit indoors with the intricate sculptures keeping me occupied while waiting for my food to be served. The normal pace returned during the off-peak hours. Service staffs were very amiable.

See previous entry

Mart Boulevard
#01-08 Temasek Tower
8 Shenton Way
Tel: 6227 3487

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316. Boon Lay Raja Restaurant II

2009-09-05T21:35:00.006+08:00

Chili Crab @$38.50, Steamed & Fried Buns @$2/3pax each

Was the chef changed? Yes, they changed the chef. Out of the uncountable times I have been to BLR, I have never seen once where the pincers were arranged nicely like this. BLR engaged chefs from China. The chili crabs tasted different from the last visit. It was not spicy. The chili gravy was more of like sweet and sourish tomato gravy. Thus, the shiokness was not there. Also, they did not serve the buns in steamers last time but they did this time round. Marks were added for the presentation.

Fei Cui Beancurd @$10

I liked the idea of the addition of greens to make a dish healthier. It would have been great if the beancurd were crispy. But as seen evidently from the photo, they were more like tau pok. I would like to point out the vegetables that were laid underneath the beancurd. They were vegetables from China. I knew it because my mum used to grow them from the young plants she had gotten from China. They called it the China cabbage. And they grow like big green roses in soil. The texture was harder than the white cabbage that we usually eat. I think we are not able to get the vegetables in supermarkets.

Pork Ribs @$20

It was not marmite ribs and it didn't taste like either. They named it 青椒白酒烧排骨 but I didn't see any green peppers either. It was a tad too salty. Unfortunately, it didn't make me wow-ed. But, the honeycomb crispy crackers which I supposed were made from rice flour were nice. It tasted like the Indian keropok.

Celery with Scallops @$20

One more thing which I have noticed. They changed the plates. It was nicer. In fact, the food tasted better with the current chef. And business was better.

Roasted Chicken (half)@$8

If you have been a regular reader here, you would have known that I often sing praises for the roasted chicken from BLR. Unlike previous visits, the chicken appeared in a light brown shade. But, the roasted chicken was crispy, tender and juicy as usual.

Overall, we spent $120 on this dinner. I got a 10% off with the discount card. Food was decent and price was reasonable. As it is one of the few bigger Chinese restaurants located in the West, sometimes weddings are held in BLR. It is always wise to call if there are availble tables. Also, BLR has rooms with KTV functions.

See previous entry

Boon Lay Raja Restaurant
Blk 135 Jurong East Street 13
#02-337 Singapore 600135
Tel: 6563 6643

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315. Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood

2009-08-30T17:18:00.004+08:00

Otah

The otah they are selling was made ready and packed in boxes but when it was not served as it was seen. Ah...they flattened the otah. Hmm, I felt the flattened otah tasted nicer than it was in a rectangular size.

BBQ Stingray

Many said their BBQ is good. My friend has been craving for BBQ stingray for some time so I suggested trying out Banana Leaf's. Business was quite good for them. My friends and I felt the BBQ stingray was just mediocre. The sambal chili was hot, hot and hot. Too spicy, I felt. The stingray was a tad overgrilled as the meat was slightly dry and hard.

Fried Sambal Kang Kong

I reminded the auntie who took our order to let the kitchen staff know of less oil for our plate of kang kong but still it was oily. It was a tad too salty too. Must go with rice.

It cost $32 for all. I'm not sure how the rest of their seafood taste but the stingray alone didn't make me or my friends agree that their BBQ seafood was nice.

Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood
Blk 450 Clementi Ave 3
#01-271 Singapore 120450

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314. Grafitti Cafe

2009-08-30T16:26:00.005+08:00

I seldom shop at far east plaza after my secondary school life ended. Just half a day in school and the rest of the time to myself. I think I had the most free time as a secondary kid and yes...I missed those days. Now, like 'Money-not-enough', 'Time-also-not-enough'. I didn't know and wouldn't have known if my friend had not tell me that there is this cafe at Level One.

Grafitti Cafe as its name suggested, the walls were full of scribbling left behind by the diners. My friend said the mess made on the walls made dining uncomfortable. I personally felt that it was cool. Well, those 'work' may not well be categorized in the artistic section but it was a form of communication.

Pontian Wanton Mee @$3.50

Anyway, Grafitti Cafe sells the pontian wanton mee which we could also see in hawker centres, along with bubble tea and desserts. So, it is like a convenience eatery for shoppers who want to grab a bite before getting on with their spree.

I felt the mee tasted alright but had too much oil added. I poured some of the soup into the mee and was quite disgusted by the appearance of a thick layer of chili oil that was washed off the mee. Please excuse me, I feared for blockage of blood arteries. My friend said the portion was small, I felt the amount was enough.

But hey, try their yam fragrance ice blended drink. It was nice.

Grafitti Cafe
Far East Plaza
#01-18/19

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313. Happy Realm Vegetarian

2009-08-30T00:39:00.007+08:00

Last Sunday, my bro had a sudden whim for a vegetarian meal so we decided to go to Happy Realm. We had wanted to go to another but could not find its address. Happy Realm is not a new place to us. We have been there a few times when I was still a child. I remembered vividly that business was brisk on the weekends. The place was like a Hong Kong style cha-can-teng with hot piping egg tarts and an array of vegetarian pastries like curry puffs, dao sa piah and etc. The sunday that I went was no longer like before.

That's fried potato strips! Sweet, spicy and it had a mild sourness taste. I think it makes a great ~~beer~~ snack.

Yam Ring @$15

Dad's favourite. Crispy on the exterior, finely smashed on the interior, it was a tasty yam ring. Ah...what's more important was the fried veggies cooked with gravy was tasty and made the yam ring not too dry.

Curry Vegetables @$4

My mum is a big curry fan. Mum did not like it. It was not very spicy. I find it a tad diluted.

Mushroom Fa-Choy Soup @$10

I only took the picture of a small bowl of the soup. For a better view, I decided that I need to scoop up what's in there, else what we will see would be just a mass of black 'hair-like'(Fa-choy) stuff. There were tiny mock meat strips, mushrooms and ginger slices. Very simple but also very bland. Dispensable dish.

Fried Bee Hoon @$6

The bee hoon had a nice sesame oil fragrance. Notice the colour contrast of the bee hoon. Some were darker and thus more moist in colour. I think the sesame oil was not evenly spread. Still, the bee hoon was nice.

Luo Han Chai @$7

Claypot Noodles @$4

Even though there wasn't any meat, the noodles was tasty with the tau kwa and greens. In fact, a group of elderly was there when we arrived. Each of them ordered the claypot noodles. Cheap and tasty.

Our bill cost about $56. Some of the dishes was cheap and some not. Mum felt the food was rather oily and so the idea of having vegetarian means eating healthy somehow didn't quite fit in this scenario. I personally felt that the food was just mediocre.

Happy Realm Vegetarian
100 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-16
Pearls Centre S059812
Tel: 62226141

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312. Tetsu (哲)

2009-08-22T23:45:00.010+08:00

Tetsu (哲), prides itself on being Singapore's most famous Japanese restaurant for authentic Kushi-style (meaning on skewers) Tempura and Tonkatsu menu. They have come up with a new menu recently. It was my first time to Tetsu even though I have always put Tetsu on my list after seeing the raved reviews by LIC.

Kani Tofu @$8 (L), Sashimi Salad @$9.80(R)

Kani, or I should say imitation crabmeat was added to the tofu. The tofu was not the silken kind but the kind with egg added. Kani gave the sweetness to the tofu and the slightly pungent century egg balanced out the eggy taste.

Sashimi Salad, greens with sashimi cubes. Drizzle the vinegary sauce over and you get a healthy dish. I realised that carrot was very finely minced and added in the sauce. That's one more vegetable to your garden salad. This is the Tetsu's specially concocted wafu dressing. I felt it's always good to have a salad before feasting on the fried food.

Fugu Mirin Boshi @$10(L), Kawa Ebi Karaage @$8(R)

Again, it's my first time to taste fugu (puffer fish). I have seen chefs in a drama preparing puffer fish sashimi. Don't be deceived by the cute appearance of the puffer fish. Cute can also kill! Fugu is lethally poisonous. It is the second MOST POISONOUS vertebrate in the world. On Tetsu's menu, what you get is dried puffer fish seasoned with sake. It tasted like bak kwa minus off the greasiness. It's a great beer/sake snack. You should give it a try!

The kawa ebi karaage, deep fried river shrimps, were not small. They were short and fat. Sashimi Moriawase @$55

Assorted Sashimi. I looked at it, I beamed. I ate them, my beam broke into a laugh. Amari desu~ Oiishi desu~ The sashimi was very fresh and they were sweet. DELICIOUS.

Yaki Niku @$16

Grilled beef tenderloin slices. The succulent hand-grilled beef slices were coupled with a sauce which tasted like the Japanese worcestershire sauce newly created in the hands of Tetsu's chefs to suit this dish. It managed to seduce one who turns away from beef everytime to say that the yaki niku was tasty and didn't reject a second slice. It was this good. Must-try!

Hiyashi Udon @$6.80

I like udon but most of the time I had my udon fried. This udon was very different from those that we get from supermarkets. 3 reasons why you should eat udon. First of all, it was air-flown from Japan. Second, it was thinner. Thirdly, the udon was surprisingly very tangy. The cold udon was light and refreshing.

Katsu Curry Rice @$16.50

I loved curry but my heart is more receptive to the Japanese curry. Singaporeans loved spicy food. Tetsu's curry rice had a mild spiciness and hey, it did not have a powdery taste. Once, I watched a Taiwanese variety show on food, featuring a famous braised pork trotters outlet in Taiwan. When asked why is it that their pork trotters is so good, the chef replied that it was because they have been using the same pot of braise sauce to cook the pork trotters for many YEARS!

Fear not, Tetsu's curry has not been re-cooked for many years. I came across Tetsu's interview on papers and got to know that their curry could only be served after a night of rest. The chef said this will make the curry tastier as the contents in the curry had submerged, thus making the taste matured and then it's ready to serve. Ah....the cooking knowledge in there. The pork katsu was very different. The breaded crust went "ka-cha" as I took a bite. So crispy. The meat was juicy. If you like curry rice, try Tetsu's.

Grilled Wagyu Slices

Extra. Out of the menu, a courtesy of Chef 谢. While waiting for our other dishes to arrive, Chef made us this dish. Take a closer look at the marbling and notice the hand-grilled to perfection skills, I don't mind another plate. It was very delicious, chef!

Yuzu Ice-cream on Strawberry Sherbet @$5.80 (L), Goma Ice-cream

The yuzu (柚子) ice-cream was unique because usually we see the very common choice, matcha ice-cream in Japanese restaurants and not yuzu. The ice-cream was smooth and also very refreshing as it was with a tinge of sourness. It tasted like a hybrid of lemon and grapefruit and/or sour mandarins. A citrus fruit. Lots of vitamin-C. Makes the perfect ice-cream in this hot summer.

Tetsu's new menu at a whole new level brought with it good food and service. I had a very good lunch at Tetsu.

Extra: Tetsu's "Summer-licious" brings you summer favourites at a special price from just $4.80 on Mon-Thurs evenings.

Thanks to Tetsu and Racheal for the hosting.

Tetsu
163 Tanglin Road
#03-18 Tanglin Mall
Tel: 68363112

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311. Toast II

2009-08-22T01:02:00.008+08:00

Rose cupcake @$4.50

Toast. Go for their cupcakes. But hey, I'm not saying that only their cupcakes are nice, it's just that I'm always there for their cupcakes. Ya know, grab-and-go kind. Having had tasted their limonata, we fell completely, entirely in love. I happened to be at Raffles Place yesterday and I wanted to grab a cupcake or 2. Too late, they are left with just the rose cupcakes.

Rose cupcake contained glacing made of rose,raspberry and lychee if I didn't remember wrongly. It was a pleasing smell. Reminded me of rose isaphan. The cupcake was moist. And I was for a moment, shocked when I found something whitish in the middle of the cupcake. I thought....don't tell me that is some plastic or tissue. Gosh....embarrassed. How could that be? It's actually a lychee.

Some people may resist the taste of rose as rose has quite a strong floral smell. I was once so but I think for the rose cupcake here, the addition of lychee made it better.

See my previous entry.

Toast
OUB Centre
Unit 01-09
OUB Centre1
Raffles Place
Singapore 048616
Tel 6534 1755

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310. Wine-infused Macaroni

2009-08-22T00:02:00.006+08:00

Some time ago, I bought this pasta sauce at NTUC. It's creamy tomato sauce with chardonnay. Wine-infused. I wondered how would it taste with the chardonnay, having been made into ready-to-cook sauce and not added when preferred. So, I decided to use it for my pan fried macaroni. It's easy and what's better than your home cooked food?

My Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of Macaroni
1 egg
2 tbsps of pasta sauce
2 cloves of garlic
1 clove of shallot
half cup of water
2 crabsticks (cut into shorter lengths)
1 chicken frank(sliced diagonally)
chopped coriander(add as you wish)
some parmesan cheese powder and chili flakes for seasoning.

Directions

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling water. Add a pinch of salt. Drain them in a strainer when cooked.

2. In a pan, add some oil. Sauteed the diced garlic and shallot. Add in the chicken frank and crabsticks. Stir-fry for a while.

3. Add in the pasta sauce and add the water. Mix well. Allow the sauce to come to a boil. You may wish to add a pinch of salt if you find the sauce not flavored enough.

4. Add in the cooked macaroni. Stir well.

5. When the sauce is about to dry up, crack the egg over the macaroni. Allow it to be cooked for some time before tossing the macaroni.

6. Add in the chopped coriander.

7. Serve on a plate. Topped it with parmasan cheese powder and chili flakes. Done!

309. Jing Hua Fish Head/Sliced Fish Bee Hoon

2009-08-16T21:21:00.008+08:00

Sliced Fish Bee Hoon @$4

The Maxwell Food Centre is crowded on working days and even on a Sunday morning! As usual, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice had a very long queue and I could see the other hawkers "hawking" at the queue with their big big eyes. I once saw how the neighbour stall owners talking curtly to the people queuing for Tian Tian to move away from their stalls.

Walking further in, I saw another queue and I decided to join the queue. A table directly in front of the stall sat 3 persons savouring on their fish bee hoon, slurping in the hot bee hoon and I wondered if it was really so delicious. I noticed the young chef used a very big fire. The fire flames engulfed the pathetic aluminium pot which has been 'working' non-stop and I wondered again how healthy is this way of cooking? Definitely not on the top list. So after a cool wait of approximately 20 mins, I got my bowl of sliced fish bee hoon.

The fish slices were cut in big slices, doubled the size of batang fish slices we usually have for fish bee hoon. And of course, they are not using batang fish. However, I also have no idea what kind of fish they are using. The bee hoon smelled nice with the sesame oil and huadiao wine. The stock was tasty. The sliced fish bee hoon was slightly above mediocre but I wouldn't say it was heavenly nice.

There was also a long queue for the Hainanese Curry Rice in the same row of stalls. Ah Singaporeans!

Maxwell Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Road
Singapore 069184

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308. Le Pasta

2009-08-16T20:45:00.005+08:00

Pesto @$4.80

Bukit Timah Market & Hawker Centre, my fingers and toes are not enough to count the number of times I have been there. It's a place I frequent since young. These days, the hawker centre has turned 'international', offering not just the usual hawker fare but also Japanese and Thai food and even pasta.

The greenish pasta, Pesto, caught my eye as the boyish looking boss served it to a man in formal attire 1 table away from me. I walked to his stall, there was no one and I saw the young boss hurriedly ran back with beads of perspiration trickling down his face. One man did it all.

With fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and grated cheese makes pesto. I specifically ordered my spaghetti to be cooked softer and not al-dente. I don't like my pasta made al-dente. The pesto was aromatic and the taste was nice. A light pasta. What's more, it's cheap. If you didn't want to spend a lot on your pasta and yet hoped that you won't get a yucky one, you may want to consider Le Pasta.

Bukit Timah Market & Hawker Centre
#02-158
116 Upper BT Timah Road

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307. Bolu Gulung Meranti

2009-08-12T10:29:00.003+08:00

Bolu Gulung (Keju) @Rp 40,000 (SGD 5.80)

Bolu Gulung, it means roll tart in Indonesian language or what we see here, a swiss roll. The bolu gulung from Meranti, Medan, is a famous food souvenir that tourists will buy back home. Once, I asked my Indonesian friend what is there to buy from Indonesia. And food was her reply. Narrow down from the word 'food', the usual buys will be Indonesian bakes; cakes or cookies.

In Singapore, we have our Bengawan solo, known for its 'green' cake (pandan chiffon cake); in Indonesia, they have Meranti, known for their bolu gunlung. Checked it out with my Indonesian friend and she said she heard Meranti has had no preservatives added to their cakes. "Tidak Ada Calang" was printed on their package box. I wondered if it meant no preservatives added.

The one that I had has had shredded cheese (keju) in it. The sponge was sweet and soft but it was very oily. Too much butter and oil? If you have noticed from the picture(above), the package box was already oily having had absorbed the oil from the roll. Overall, the taste was nice but it didn't make me attempt another slice. It is cheap and makes a great souvenir but if you have health-consious friends then you may want to select another souvenir for them. I have also heard that advance orders have to be made for their cakes.

Bolu Gulung Meranti
Jalan Kruing No. 2-K, Medan
Tel (061) 453-8217

306. Familie Oven

2009-08-08T02:49:00.008+08:00

Familie Oven. The name suggested bake. Yes, cake(s). The online media has grown so much to our convenience that we do not have to go to the supermarkets to get our groceries, shopping malls for our clothes and even to bakeries for our cakes. Familie Oven operates via its online website (www.familieoven.com) with the home bakers, Lim and his wife. With the belief that a cake bonds everyone together and Lim's fondness for chocolate fudge cake, the couple started out Familie Oven.

Familie Chocolade

Familie Chocolade- a two layer dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate fudge. I have not tried any of the very much raved about chocolate fudge cakes from Lana cake shop, Jane's cake station and etc so there will not be any comparison made and I shouldn't for Familie Oven is just a starter in this industry.

A thin layer of velvety alike chocolate ganache covered the chocolate sponge cake. The sponge cake was spongy. I felt the two most important things I looked for in a good chocolate fudge cake are the moisture in the fudge cake and the taste of the chocolate ganache. Familie Oven's had the moisture but I felt it will taste even better if it could be made a tad more moist.

The chocolate ganache was bittersweet and Lim told me that they have made the cake not-so-sweet. I liked the cake not-so-sweet. In fact, I felt the level of sweetness was just right. I have tried some chocolate fudge cakes which were made slightly too sweet and I did not like it as much as Familie Oven's. I was looking for one where the ganache amalgamates smoothly to the sponge but somehow Familie Oven's still a little far from that. I realised that the chocolate ganache had a texture akin to gelatin, not very much, just a little. The chocolate ganache was dense but don't expect the very moussey kind.

I personally feel that Familie Oven's chocolate fudge cake is good and decent enough to warrant a try. In fact, my family and I liked the cake as it is presented and of course, welcome the better.

Lastly, thanks to Lim for the wonderful cake.

Familie Oven

E-mail: sales@familieoven.com

Phone : 9 029 2191

305. East Coast Lagoon Food Village II

2009-08-08T02:30:00.003+08:00

10 km ? Yes, I can...Thriathlon? No..no, spare me. It was a big event, the Osim Thriathlon 2009, held at East Coast Park (ECP) on 1-2 August. I went there for cycling. I think it's great that such events are held at ECP. ECP was burstling with energy that weekend. We ordered some satay, barbequed wings and hokkien mee. The food was mediocre but it was the people, environment and the energy that made eating filled with joy, especially the satisfaction on the faces of the participants.

See previous entry

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East Coast Lagoon Food Village
1220 East Coast Parkway
Opens : 11am to 10pm

304. Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake

2009-08-08T00:36:00.008+08:00

Phew! Finally, I managed to post. My lappy went on a 'strike' and I sent it for a week of 'free counselling'. It came back to me with a healthy 'heart' but when I wanted to post, blogger has had problems with its post editor which made me keep my post for another 2 days.

During this period, I came across a few readings on the different perspectives towards living life and I pondered how the rest of the people perceived this food blog. Frankly speaking, I am no food critic nor connoisseur, I merely shared my dining experiences. Be it good or bad or even to the extreme, I blogged my felts. Everyone has a different taste and acceptance level when it comes to eating. I particularly hate it when people take my words and twist the meaning behind it. Just like people who lack originality in writing and chose to plagarize. C'est la guerre !

Located at a corner of the halal coffeeshop at clementi where the famous Brothers rojak is, my colleague introduced to me this tutu kueh (steamed rice flour cake) made with the Tan family's heirloom recipe (stated on their namecard). I have not heard of them until my colleague recommended it to me. I often go to clementi for lunch and I know it is a hit with regulars, my colleague is one. Filled with ground peanuts or grated coconut, get 4 for $2 or 10 for $5.

I had it hot, it was very nice. It was soft and the coconut fillings which was mixed with gula melaka released a pleasing fragrance. The sweetness was just right for me. My mum finds it a tad too sweet. Another time, I had them packed and 10 minutes later, the tutu kueh turned hard and it wasn't nice. So, remember to have them hot.

Extra: The popiah stall which is just right beside Tan's tutu kueh is also a hit!

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Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake

Blk 449 #01-211

Clementi Avenue 3

303. Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant III

2009-07-26T00:24:00.005+08:00

A group of us entered the partition room at Ah-Yat. They named the room, Shanghai. Not a thing in the room was of symbolic significance to Shanghai. Beijing and KL?? as its "neighbours".

"Night Shanghai" relived with singing that should have gone behind closed bathroom doors. >.<
Stir-fried lobster with scallions

If you go Ah-Yat, you should really order their seafood. I think they are really worth the money. I would not say they are of the best quality but they fulfilled typical Singaporeans' criteria - "cheap and fresh". Cooked in a lenient Sze Chuan style, the lobster pieces were snapped up where the fastest fingers was rewarded with the biggest piece of palatable meat.

Spinach with garlic

Salad Prawns

Roasted Chicken

I have always used Boon Lay Raja's roasted chicken as a benchmark because I felt they have the best roasted chicken. Surprisingly, today's roasted chicken came close to be on par with Boon Lay Raja's. Juicy and tender. Most probably they made the chicken exercise when we placed our reservation 2 weeks ago.

Bamboo Clams with Garlic

Steamed Fish

Chili Crabs

These 2 guys had a hidden plot!

Singaporeans' favourite! They have already won a quarter of the battle in seducing us. They put on a weak front at first. The spiciness was mild, so you gradually fall deeper into their trap and reached for the second serving. Ah Haa! You had it! They are subtle liars. Wily crabs! They planted spicy bombs and you realised the area where the bombs effected got bigger. They won half the battle.

Scallops with Greens

Lotus Glutinous Rice

I would rate this dish the lowest. It was dry and not fragrant enough.

Pan-fried Red Bean Pastry

We had 2 servings. The flaky hot pastry was topped with sesame seeds and filled with red bean paste. It was very delicious. Red bean paste was made to the right sweetness.

$612 was deducted off my bank account for a meal of 11 pax. Given private space and karaoke, I would say this meal was very reasonably priced. Contacted the manager to arrange for this menu so I have no idea how much each dish cost. Considering the food that we had, I felt it was worth the money.

The partition room was built in a way that there was just enough room for walking to your seats. Not so comfortable, I thought. Service was not thoughtful enough. We called for the dishes and suddenly it was like everything was on a fast mode. 5 to 6 dishes appeared one after one at once and we were like competing with the chefs. Our plates were all filled with bones and shells but the waitress did not change our plates. I was for a moment the waitress, distributing the new plates to the people.

See previous

entries.

302. Guan Hoe Soon Restaurant

2009-07-20T15:52:00.004+08:00

Pickles - Cucumber, chicken gizzards, chili and onions. It was like a cold dish. The cucumber cubes were crunchy. They were not marinated. Mixed together with the chili sauce and onions, the taste was spicy and there was mild sourness, probably lime juice was added. Very appetizing.

Sayor Lodeh @$12

Curry vegetables, we called it as. Just like our Malay food, lontong, without the ketupak. It was delicious. Not too spicy and the vegetables were boiled till soft.

Hainanese Pork Chop @$12

I was surprised to see Hainanese Pork Chop on the menu because Guan Hoe Soon(GHS) is known for their Peranakan cuisine. The Hainanese Pork Chop which I have had eaten were usually served without gravy but GHS's had them cooked in tomato gravy. There were even fries in it! Even though the pork chop was soaked in the tomato gravy, I could taste the pork chop was quite well-marinated. I believed it will taste good even on its own.

Otak-Otak @$12

I personally felt GHS's otak lacked in taste. It was quite bland. But there were fleshy fish meat mixed in the otak and probably because of this, their otak was slightly harder than others.

It cost about $51 for 4 pax. Food was decent but I felt they were slightly overpriced. One thing I noticed was the dishes we had were not very oily, especially the sayor lodeh. Not too sure if this standard of cooking was maintained for the rest of the dishes. GHS has started since 1953 so I believed that they have already attracted a group of regular patrons. How authentic their peranakan cuisine is compared to others like Kim Choo, I believed it's subjected to each's perspective.

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Guan Hoe Soon Restaurant

214 Joo Chiat Road

Tel: 6344 2761

301. Pondok Jawa Timur

2009-07-19T21:25:00.005+08:00

Dining out on the weekends is always a hassle. There are queues everywhere, even the M fastfood chain is full house. Well, it is not necessary that people would go for better food on weekends. A set meal of fastfood can be a satisfying meal too. Anyway, a few of us decided to walk out of Plaza Singapura(PS) after crossing out the food restaurants that were in PS. We decided to go for the Indonesian cuisine at the Atrium. There were flyers on their menu stand which comes with a 10% off coupon. Luckily, there wasn't any queue.

Cendol @$4

A traditional dessert from Indonesia. Cendol has become a quintessential part of cuisine among Singaporeans, Malaysians and the other nearby South East Asia populations. We could easily find them in the dessert stalls at hawker centres. But, we have more ingredients like red beans, atap seeds and etc. The green starch noodles were most probably the reason why I ordered cendol. I felt the taste of Indonesian cuisine is always tagged with the word 'very'. Very sweet, very spicy and food is always very coconut-ty. Coconut milk and chili are almost like the primary ingredients in Indonesian cuisine. Cendol consisted of coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. Too sweet. So, I waited for the shaved ice to melt before drinking it.

Avocado Juice @$5

It's the first time I saw avocado juice served with palm sugar syrup. It gave me the impression that it's going to be very sweet.

"It was not sweet but it was thick" , he said.

Avocado juice at $5 was considered cheap. Getting an avocado fruit would have already cost $1.50. I still remembered the glass of overpriced avocado juice I had which cost $10.

Javanese Iced Tea @$3

Sometimes having named the drink from the country may not necessary means that the drink is special in anyway.

"It was just like teh bing" , she said.

Ayam Penyet @$6.90

Another classic Indonesian dish. It was big on the flyer but shrunk in size on our table. We had 2 servings. Served with a triangular-sized tau-kwa, a square cut of tempeh (fermented soybean cake) and chili sauce. Basically in the dishes we have ordered, I realised there were just 2 types of chili. One which had been cooked and the other uncooked. I personally felt chili sauce is a must-have for ayam (chicken) penyet, else it would be like something is lacking. The cooked chili sauce was used for ayam penyet. The ayam was a tad dry.

Sop Buntut (oxtail soup) @$8.90

The uncooked chili sauce for sip buntut. The pieces of oxtail were cooked till soft and they were delicious. The clear soup was slightly salty.

Tahu Telor @$8.90

Tahu (tofu) was cut into small cubes. I was surprised to see potato cubes in the dish. The thick peanut sauce on top was sweet. It was delicious to eat with the chili.
Gado-Gado @$7.90

The Indonesian salad. Comprised of vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, hardboiled egg, rice ketupak cut into small cubes and peanut sauce as the dressing. I didn't like the gado-gado because the peanut sauce had a smoked taste.

The bill was about $59 for 4 pax. Food was just mediocre and service was relatively slow. We had 2 cendols on our order. One came at the start of our meal and the other arrived as the last after our reminder. 10% discount was automatically printed on the bill when we asked for the bill.

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Pondok Jawa Timur
The Atrium Orchard
(next to PS)
Tower 2 #01-16
Singapore 238891
Tel: 6884 5853

300. Minds Cafe

2009-07-18T22:08:00.001+08:00

What do people do on the weekends other than shopping? Minds Cafe? I think the games at Minds Cafe do not appeal to only the adolescents but even mummy(s)-to-be. I can't imagine what if they got too excited and their waterbag burst.

A few of us gathered at the branch at Prinsep street on Saturday for their WOW! promotion which comes with free-flow drink at $8.90 per pax. With every 4 pax comes a free bowl of premium munchies and snacker (we had potato chips). Add on a main course for just $6 which I felt was very worth. Well, a main course for $6, what more could you expect?

We played 3 games - Ticket to Ride, Citadels and XXX (a memory game, forgotten the name) and I felt "Ticket to Ride" was the better-to-play game among the 3.

Premium munchies-Calamari

Beef Lasagna

Fish & Chips

Black Pepper Pasta

Chicken Platter

299. Homemade Yam Cake

2009-07-16T15:09:00.007+08:00

Mum likes to make kuehs and cakes whenever she is free. Ang ku kuehs, steamed egg cakes, durian kuehs bla bla bla. All because making them yourself is cleaner and with the efforts put in, even if they are not on par with those sold outside, they are still tasty.

Mum commented on her yam cake. She praised it. I felt she had her yam cubes cut in a size a tad too big and as a result, I felt they made the yam cake slightly dry. She added so many ingredients like mushrooms, hay-bee (dried shrimps), minced pork and etc and I questioned if that was a yam cake i'm eating.

Mum said making yam cake was easy.

Ingredients

1 packet of rice flour

2 tbsp of tapioca flour

1 yam (about 400g), cut into small cubes

2 tbsp of cooking oil/shallot oil

1 tbsp of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Your own preference: minced pork, Chinese mushrooms, dried shrimps. Some like to add Chinese sausage (lap-chiong).

Garnish

Spring Onions

Chili

Fried Shallots

Process

Stir fry the ingredients such as the dried shrimps, Chinese mushrooms, minced pork with shallots. Prepare extra serving of fried shallots for mixing into the yam mixture and for garnish. This is to increase the fragrance. Do not pour away the oil used for frying shallot, it can be added into the mixture in place of the untouched cooking oil.

Steam half of amount of the yam and mashed it. The other half of the yam will be added to the mixture unmashed. Add hot water to the rice flour to get a thick batter (Alternative is to put the mixture over low heat, with continuous stirring). Add the steamed yam into the batter. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients- the fried ingredients, yam cubes, fried shallots and seasoning. Steam for about 45 mins to 1 hour. Garnish with chopped chili, fried shallot and spring onions.

If you're a yam cake lover, why not try making it yourself?

298. Lim Seng Lee (South Buona Vista) Duck Rice

2009-07-14T19:27:00.007+08:00

Lim Seng Lee duck rice is more known as South Buona Vista duck rice because there is only one famous duck rice at South Buona Vista road. The so much raved duck rice is very easy to spot for the crowd never ceased. Ask your mum and pop and they will know that is the "gao chap gao wan"(in Hokkien - 99 loops) duck rice you are referring to. I have absolutely no doubts with the word "famous" on their signboard because it is indeed very famous.

"Ai mai spare parts?", the lady asked in Hokkien if we wanted spare parts. "Spare parts?" I was thrown into question marks land. My lunch companion then explained to me that the spare parts meant the other parts of the duck like the gizzards, wings, webs and etc.

Boneless duck. The braised duck laid flat on the plate. Having rid of their bones, they looked like a cooked duck ramped over by heavy wheels.

But Hey! love me tender, love me sweet....the duck meat was soft and the sweet gravy complemented them so well. The difference which I have noticed for Lim Seng Lee's with the other duck rice stalls was the moisture in the duck meat was not lost.

Together with kang kong, tofu, 2 bowls of rice and 2 glasses of barley, 2 of us paid $19.40 for our lunch. There wasn't any other dishes to order. So, it was like a standard set of meal for everyone but I felt about $10/pax was expensive. Frankly speaking, the tofu and kang kong were dispensable dishes. Lim Seng Lee operates like a duck rice express outlet. In order to manage the crowd, the food was served fast and they were not hot. So, if there is a plate of duck rice for $3, would you still go for Lim Seng Lee's?

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Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice

38 South Buona Vista Road

Tel: 6475 9908

297. Marche

2009-07-12T18:58:00.008+08:00

A group of us had a gathering at Marche, Vivocity. Many said the previous outlet at Heeren (already closed) was much bigger. I still remembered that we were given a card each and for every dish we ordered, they will mark it down. Now, Marche has gone paper-less. It is using card system like our ez-link. Tap the card and your ordered dish will be recorded in the card.

There were clusters of cooking stations serving salads, savoury crepes, fried vegetables, thick soups, spanish paella, handmade pastas and rotisserie chicken and meats grilled on applewood-fed flames. Also not to miss are the dessert stations like sweet crepes, cakes, movenpick ice-cream and also there's a wine bar near the cashiers.

Ice Apple Tea @$17/jug

We ordered 2 jugs, iced apple tea and lemon tea. I liked the apple tea. The apple taste was mild and had a tea fragrance.

Mushroom soup (small) @$4

Add the croutons and sprinkle some pepper. The mushroom soup was mediocre. Could be made a tad richer.

Salad (medium) @$8.90

I was surprised when my friend came back with this plate of salad. She was walking so carefully lest the greens dropped and marked her trail. Shouldn't these greens be put in a bowl? Putting salad on a plate is so wrong. And, from the quantity of greens that the plate contained, I personally felt it was a plate of overpriced salad.

Chicken Crepe @$10.90

The crepe smelled like popiah and tasted like one. It was an oversized popiah. Whipped mushroom cream sauce was given to complement this crepe.

Spanish Seafood Paella @$15.90

Paella's (aka paella de marisco) my favourite! When I saw the paella station, I ordered one without hesitation. "10 more mins", the lady cook said. The big blackboard wrote "3pm-6pm". Wow, if I had been there earlier, I would have miss my paella, I thought. My heart beamed.

One of the reasons I loved paella was because it was a very flavourful dish. Having added herbs like thyme, cumin, rosemary, saffron and etc. Ah, also not to forget the seafood juices, wine and chicken/vegetable broth that was absorbed into the rice. And when the paella was ready to serve, the aroma assailed the nostrils and the taste was simply mama-mia!

Marche's paella was delicious, well-flavoured and slightly moist. Must-try!

Grilled Chicken Breast @$6.95

The grilled chicken was a tad too salty. The sauce was oil-ladened and didn't earn any points for the dish.

Pork Knuckle @$18.90

The meat was quite dry and because of the loss of moisture, the meat was hard. The sauce was the same as for the chicken breast. It's not getting the 'wow' from me.

Pizza @$7

Come back 10 mins later for your pizza, the chef told my friend. Freshly made pizza was a plus but the pizza was oily. Too much butter, eh? But the dough was soft and fluffy. Toppings could be made more flavoured.

Calamari @$9.95

Pop, pop, pop....one by one we popped them into our mouths. Wait! Don't forget to dip them into the tartar sauce!

Chicken Wings @$1.50 ea

Chicken Sausage and Garlic Sausage @$6.90 ea

Ok, I didn't expect the sausages to be so expensive. They were nice but maybe you want to spare a thought for your pocket first?

Movenpick ice-cream @$4.90/scoop

Chocolate Fudge Cake @$4.90

Mediocre. It was slightly dry. What is a fudge cake without the moisture?

Strawberry Cake @$3.90

Strawberries! That generous topping of strawberry fruits on the cake was already worth the money. The sponge cake was soft and fluffy. The cake was so good because the strawberries were sweet. Awwww.........can I have one more, please.

Crepe of the week - Mango Caramel Crepe @$7.50

The crepe was crispy, topped with fresh fruits, what more can I say? Yum Yum. But, I personally felt mango with caramel tasted a little weird. What's your say?

Let me add on for the sake of rosti lovers. We had one but it was 'attacked' even before I managed to snap a picture of it. I'm not a lover of rosti. In fact, the mention of the name made me think of grease. I felt rosti is greasy and to eat one by oneself is definitely 'overdosage'. I tried Marche's. Well, it was crispy on the exterior and eating it with sour cream was delicious for some. Sorry, I'm still unable to appreciate this dish.

8 of us chalked up a total of $181. Marche is a great place for gatherings and also with the wide variety of food available, dining there was fun and interesting. The food was good, just that I find some food were slightly overpriced.

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Marche
Vivocity
#03-14
Singapore 098585
Tel: 63768226

296. Kublai Khan Mongolian Barbeque

2009-07-11T10:15:00.008+08:00

Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. This is how much I know about the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. What about the food Mongolians eat? I browsed through my memory collections and stopped at 2 years ago, a folder which was recorded as Qingdao.

It happened that there was a huge scale food festival going on then. The scene of Mongolian sweets was vividly registered in my memory because they were all made from goat milk and they were not cheap. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of it. (I would not know that I will become an avid flogger today.) But, I took a photo of the barbequed mutton skewers which is an indispensable dish in Mongolian cuisine (see below). We may be carnivores but we are not 'flesh eaters'. We sent the skewers back to the pits.

A few of us went to Kublai Khan at Park Mall for dinner. Kublai Khan, the name suggested Mongolian fare.

But, there was cold seafood with only choices of prawns, mussels and crayfishs. They failed to master the art of seduction. I did not attempt any, comments reserved.

Fruit salad with strips of lobster meat that could easily slip through your teeth. Fruit salad, that is it!

Choose your ingredients. Chicken or beef (no pork, no lard). Small porcelain urns of sauces, containing ginger sauce, garlic sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil for your meat.

Be treated to a spectacular Mongolian BBQ show. I was given access to go into the cooking area. No spatula, all they need was a pair of long chopsticks. The manager explained to me that the metal furnace-alike had 4 cooking spots in the 4 geographical directions. 2 were shut and the other 2 were active. The chef is able to control the degree of cooking by continuously shifting on the metal plate.

And.....swoop....the chef scooped up the food with his 'magical' chopsticks into a bowl, ready for collection at the 'OUT' counter. As the sauces and ingredients were up to diner's preference, I felt to call it a Mongolian fare is not so distinct. What Kublai Khan is selling is their Mongolian style of cooking.

Mushroom soup in pastry bowl. She is 'hot'. I only managed to get her on our 3rd encounter. Her skin was crispy and she wore a butter fragrance. I said I met a lady with bad intentions. Just like those spy girls. 'Ho Kuah Bo Ho Jiak'. Soup was diluted and tasted bland.

Baked seafood. The ones that I will most probably applaud for.

Japanese corner. All the chilled stuffs.

Salmon was alright. The chuka was a tad too hard to chew. I liked the macaroni salad. Tasted like mixed with Thai sweet and sour sauce.

Tom Yam soup. Let me first declare for this photo - 'what you see is not what you get'. Don't make a police report for the missing straw mushrooms because they have gone visiting their neighbour. Again, it was a disappointing bowl of soup. The tom yam soup lacked the punch. Not shiok leh....and the table conversation shifted to the shiok tom yam soup at Thailand's roadside stalls.

Desserts corner. I didn't like the presentation, do you? I saw a man having problems with pouring out honey for his herbal jelly.

The ice-cream freezer was too cold and it was hard to scoop the ice-cream. After having had scooped and tasted the ice-cream, I was not consoled.

Chocolate fondue. Only grapes, strawberries and marshmallows. The strawberries were very sour and cut a tad too small in size. My companion suggested making a comparison to her index finger. If so, the photo will probably suggest a scale with the strawberry to finger, 1:2. The chocolate was not smooth.

Some people are contended with a simple life.

Some people preferred a colourful life with lots of things to explore.

What's your take?

There was a cooked Chinese food and teppanyaki corner, which I didn't attempt any. Each of us paid $29 for the buffet. In my opinion, Kublai Khan serves a wider range of food compared to some other buffets but the quality of food was not quite on par to the price paid. Even though, the focus should be on Mongolian cuisine but the identity is not strong. Limelight was stolen by the rest of the cuisines which were placed foremost to the diners.

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Kublai Khan Mongolian Barbeque
9 Penang Mall
#04-01
Singapore 238459

295. Lai Lai Family Restaurant

2009-07-09T20:05:00.005+08:00

It was a lazy weekday afternoon, it so happened that a friend is free from work so we went out for a grab and did some grocery shopping. Went Lai Lai, another outlet at Jurong Point. My friend had the mee-sua, tofu with minced meat and a glass of pearl milk tea. Looking at her mee-sua made me reminisce of Taiwan's A-zong mee-sua at Xi Men Ding. The patrons hold the hot bowl of starchy mee-sua in their hands and eat it whilst standing. I did not try Lai Lai's so I have no idea if it was on par to A-zong's.

Chef Salad

Eating at a timing after lunch and before dinner, what is this meal called? A few days ago, I saw a review on tea. And it was mentioned that Singaporeans usually call this meal HIGH-TEA but it was wrong!

HIGH-TEA - A meal eaten in the late afternoon, probably after 6pm.
The correct answer should be AFTERNOON TEA.

And so...I decided a salad seemed to be the best option. Lai Lai's 2-5pm special deal. I had the chef salad along with a side dish and a fruit freeze at $6.90. The salad was good, a mixture of red, green and yellow capsium, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red cabbage and roasted melon seeds. But I didn't like the vinegrette dressing. A tad too sour.

Fried Century Egg Wedges

It didn't look appealing with the coated skin. Taste was just so-so. Nothing special in particular, just probably another way of presenting the century egg.

Banana Freeze w/ konnyaku Jelly

I had the banana freeze. Banana is good. Aids digestion. With the colourful cubes of konnyaku jelly, the drink is made interesting. Also, those cubes gave the freeze texture.

I think the 2-5pm special deal at $6.90, available only for the weekdays, is worthed the money. Unfortunately, most of us are unable to enjoy this deal because we are occupied with work. Well, you can, if you are 'free'.

See previous entry here.

Lai Lai Family Restaurant
Jurong Point
Basement1