food.friend.or.foe?

Taste Paradise Fortune Set Menu

2012-02-08T23:22:00.000+08:00

Lunar New Year's come to an end. Till next year. :)

having a gem of a friend. :)

2012-02-05T00:29:00.000+08:00

The Youth Olympic Games were indeed Games like no other. It was a memorable time spent in the Protocol Division of Toa Payoh Sports Hall. The adrenaline rush, the heartache and tears of the fallen, the rise and victory of the winners, the pain of losing, the love of the Games. All that and more.

And I was blessed with a friend in Auntie Alice. Never have I met a woman who loves life more than life itself. She's not a youth but unafraid to chase her dreams. She took leave from her work to volunteer at the Games, even when her boss saw no reason for her to take part in something that was for youths. As a protocol officer, she took her role seriously, never too far from her work at hand. Shortly after the Games came to an end, I thought we'd have to part our ways and say our farewells.

But a Volunteer Day out at Universal Studios saw us back together again, from 7pm to 11pm, we played our hearts out on all the rides! She was fearless and game for everything. Even when we were soaked from the Jurassic Park ride. "I have an extra tee!" she chirps. :) She didn't want her meal and gave it up for me to bring home for my brothers. We signed up for the F1 race together, being the last two on the list to get complimentary passes and planned to meet again. But of course the organizers screwed up and we missed out on that.

Last year, I was over at her place on the last day of the Lunar New Year, well fed with a home cooked meal, good conversation with her family and even went with them to a temple at Loyang for them to pray for blessings for the year ahead. In the course of the year, events in our lives kept us from meeting up. But as life would have it, just as I was frantically looking for her contact number, I finally found her house number and called but was disappointed with the engaged tone. :(

Who knew, at that moment, I received a text from someone whose number I did not have records of and it had to be her! :)

So this year, she generously invited me over to her house again and whipped up some awesome culinary delights for me. Never stinging on quality and taste, she humbly serves up heartwarming homecooked food for her family and shares it with me. :)

Marrying a husband who's of the Cantonese dialect is the reason for these double boiled nourishing soups. :)

A light tasting seafood broth chock full of ingredients.

After a long day at school/ work, there's nothing like soup for the soul.

If I were her kids, I'd be home for dinner every night! :p

These baby abalones are unbelievably tender and of good bite. At prices of 3 cans for a hundred, they don't come cheap either but the big pieces of abalones are no comparison to these little babies on taste! These were cooked in thickened oyster sauce gravy and immediately taken off the heat when it comes to a gentle boil. Blanched baby bok choy drizzled with gravy and topped with baby abalones. Never knew a simple dish with expensive ingredients could taste this good. Worth a shot for kids who don't like their greens maybe? :)

Leave some eggplants to boil and use a fork to gently shred them up into long strips. Served with thickened gravy. Ohyum. :)

Stir fried jumbo sized fresh gray prawns that are coated with a dollop of ketchup to add flavour and another layer of taste. Lick those shells clean!

What a sumptuous dinner. Shared with Auntie Alice and her husband.

A delightfully cute couple. A vision of married life to behold.

Of course it takes work on a daily basis but life's pretty good when you have a partner to share it with like the both of them :)

Now this, was a star. Eaten with eggplant or anything you like really. This was appetizing and fiery delish!

And with all the love in the world, she packs a little container for me to bring home.

And because new year with Auntie Alice is always something to be remembered-

this year, post dinner, we waited for her youngest son to come home with a whole group of his lion dance troupe members from Thailand. All 15 of them. And everything else you could imagine to be entirely Singaporean from the Toa Payoh Lorong 5 market. There was carrot cake, hokkien mee, satay, laksa, ban mian, claypot rice, oyster omelette to be shared while playing dance on the Wii/ Kinect?

And of course, lo hei. With freshly shredded vegetables from Auntie Alice and well wishes for Singapore and Thailand, this was a crazy mixing, not tossing of the salad. Sharing traditions, building relations, bridging nations in small ways. :)

This was awesome fun!

And just reminds me again, how fortunate I am to have a gem of a friend in her! :)

Thank you.

For everything.

To feel the warmth of hospitality- Hachi Tei

2012-02-04T02:21:00.000+08:00

What a huge twitter war!

And obviously lacking in all goodwill and blessings this Chinese New Year.

The irony? A war about Lo Hei. This was something introduced in 1964- which up till then, Yu Sheng had always been a dish which was eaten during Chinese New Year, but it wasn't until the "Four Heavenly Kings", (chefs of LaiWah, Sin Leong, Dragon Phoenix and now, Red Star) came up with the idea of measured seasonings, assembling the various colorful ingredients, signifying various auspicious meanings that gave birth to what we know today as Yu Sheng. A small portion of raw fish served to small group of people has now transformed to a huge platter of many ingredients to be shared by many people at the table tossing symbolizing sharing of joy, good luck and prosperity.

Let's not take sides on this and agree on the fact that this, my friends, is definitely a pretty sight for an Asian salad. Only available during the Lunar New Year period.

This version at Haachi Tei is an awesomely generous portion and even more generous on ingredients. But still, these take second place as compared to the warm hospitality of the owner herself. Walking into the restaurant will put one who isnt forewarned of the volume at which she speaks and closeness of how she ushers you to your seats, ill at ease.

To be frank, your salad might not look like ours.Girlfriends who've dined there for a period of two years gets us complimentary sharks fin. Which I would gladly skip but appreciated her kind gesture. Portions of fish were ample and fresh. The sauce is premixed, a sort of wafu dressing in which she kindly coaxes you to add in a knob of wasabi to add a different dimension of flavour to the dish. Thats not all. She stands next to you to initiate the rite of tossing. Rehearsing a shout of Huat AH! Her infectious spontaneity makes dining an unusually special affair. Definite stress reliever.
For $36 nett and more than enough for the 7 of us.

She has these cute toothpick holders on every table. This is the first doraemon one we've seen. The others are penguins in different colors. :)

Now that was just a salad right?

And this would be the main course.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Don

Oh yum. The chicken was moist and juicy, grilled just right.

But I just had to ask for more of the sweet teriyaki sauce to drizzle over my rice. :)

Just $9 for a rice bowl and miso soup.

And I should also mention that with all the service and hospitality she provides, not a cent is charged for service charge.

Service with a smile, quality and excellence (No strings attached)

Eat up and enjoy! :)

Address: 147 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore

Tel: +65 6535 2988

Heaven's Curry @ Ghim Moh Market

2012-01-31T23:07:00.000+08:00

I've been hankering after the freshly grinded rice flour thosai offerings at Selegie Road.

But no one. No one entertains me for that. :(

So on a whim this Saturday morning while at Dover Road, I made an order for one masala thosai. And because it was my aunt. What you want, you get. ;)

Despite a long queue and a huge order from a man right in front of her, she perservered and picked up masala thosai, paper thosai and two plain thosais. Complete with generous packs of sambar.

I think I just fell in love. :)

Or at least, I've stopped thinking about the Selegie version.

I've been dreaming about a repeat of this since then!

traditions and more

2012-01-31T22:52:00.000+08:00

Ever since Grandma has been getting on in years, I've been ordained to take charge of frying the beehoon as a staple during her open house on day #2 of the lunar new year. I used to have to beg for her to let me do it but at least for the past 6 years, she's told me that she cannot manage to fry the beehoon and will I please remember to come early just to get that done. And my aunt-in-law has an awesome glutinous rice chock full of mushrooms and lean meat. Oh so fatty but ohyum! And the funny thing is? She still cooks everything else. We're talking lor bak, 好事發財- dried oysters with black moss, broccoli and oyster sauce, her signatures of curry chicken and ngoh hiang. And did I forget a mandatory scallops, chicken and white cabbage soup? She manages. Oh how she does I don't know. So that's lunar new year lunch/tea/dinner all in one for a whole day's worth.

This was from House of Crab. And frankly, it was a thin line distinguishing it from edible to crap. Except for the pok chui (crispy crackers) :) This was a terrible Jigocity purchase. And three sets too!

Thankfully we topped it up with abalone slices and salmon belly.

Made things a LOT better.

I don't know about you but this wasn't just tossing for tossing's sake.

I'm taking it as a salad. And it better taste good. :p

variety- the spice of life :)

2012-01-28T22:38:00.001+08:00

This was the second ever Jigocity purchase at $12 for 5 bowls of laksa. Seeing as how the original price of these laksa variants was between $6.50 and $7.50, this was a pretty good deal!

Plus this totally falls in line with my idea of at least one new restaurant a year. :)

No better way to kick off Chinese New Year with a little bit of fire red and spice on the Saturday before New Year's Eve at this local delights concept eatery- Laksania.

Laksa is a spice-laden noodle dish that has quite a few variants that I've heard of but never actually tried.
We settled into our reserved seats at promptly 6pm just at the end time of all dine-in redemptions with the voucher. There was no hard and fast rule about making orders by 6pm although she had the right to effect that requirement if she wanted to.

Looking absolutely bewildered by the choices on the menu, the lady boss walks over and goes through the main ingredients and general taste of the popular choices with us. Of course, nothing says it better than taste. To our pleasant surprise, she extends an offer of tasting portions of the soup to help us with our order choices that was very much appreciated.

This was the traditional laksa in Singapore is also known as the nonya laksa- made with coconut/ evaporated milk and prawn stock. This definitely has coconut milk. And a lot of it indeed. This was rich but probably too much of an indulgence :)

Penang Laksa is very addictive due to the spicy and sour taste of the fish broth. Tamarind is used generously in the soup base and peeled tamarind is also commonly added to give it extra tartness. Another secret ingredient is Polygonum leaf or daun kesom/daun laksa. All these were present and I could also taste the aromatic ginger flower (bunga kantan). And all the shredded vegetables and pineapple slices made this a colourful dish complete with some laksa sambal. But where was the heh ko (prawn paste)? Oh, did I also mention that there was a generous smattering of mackerel fish ((ikan kembung) flakes found right at the bottom of the flavourful broth? :)

But that would also be the only meat in this dish. If you're looking for prawns, tau pok or egg, you'd be sorely disappointed you chose this.

Sarawak Laksa comes from the Malaysian state itself, on the island of Borneo. The soup contains no curry at all but instead, made with a base of Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns and fresh coriander. This also came served with thin rice noodles rather than the usual thick laksa noodles.

And of course, how could we not try their signature laksa goreng. This was a fried version of the Singapore laksa that although was a little too oily, struck the right chords with me. I liked it for the laksa spices that were all well fried into the noodles which satisfied my craving for laksa. :) But of course, I had the best of both worlds. I had the laksa gravy from my brother who couldn't stomach too much coconut milk. *slurps :p

On a cold, wet Saturday night, dinner couldn't have gotten better than this. With warm, friendly service and authentic variants of laksa offerings to warm the tummy, this was a dinner we thoroughly enjoyed. :)

Laksania

Nex #B1-08 , 23 Serangoon Central, (S)556083

Tel: 66342645 | Website

boon tong kee @ ang mo kio avenue 3

2012-01-23T01:22:00.000+08:00

After Chinese New Year Celebrations at school, we decided on a place that would be more befitting for our cheongsams. :) Actually, it was just too weird for us to be dining at the market in our outfits. Plus, we appreciated the aircon. So to boon tong kee we headed.

And what else but hainanese chicken right?

So we had a whole chicken. For $24.

Bone in.

Was too fatty for my liking.

The chicken was served cold as you would expect of typical hainanese chicken but the skin was too fatty to be gelatinous.

And a side of chicken liver for $3.

Just because we like our greens, we had crunchy bean sprouts fried with crispy fish skin as recommended to be a house specialty. Now this cost $12.

A tad too steep for bean sprouts and crispy fish skin wouldn't you think?

Teas were alright the first round and basically just water the next refill.

While the $1 might not be alot for tea cover charges, I'd have expected better from a 'branded' restaurant so to speak.

Service was too slow even with only 4 tables occupied. Asking for the cheque was even worse. It took a while to come and when it did, a correction to be made for an extra rice charged saw the bill going back twice (once to check for the correction and again for the actual bill to be printed) before I actually managed to sign for our lunch.

I left lunch yawning. Not because I was satisfied but more that I was tired just sitting around waiting to pay.

I don't think i'll be going back anytime soon. Chicken rice at a lot of other places around the AMK area are better bets at more wallet friendly prices.

mushroom minced pork balls in oyster sauce

2012-01-23T01:06:00.000+08:00

once in a while,

we see something new on the dinner table.

while we love the perennial favourites that she dishes out since our days of youth (or mine at least :p)

we're willing to try new dishes and give our due comments.

and this, falls into the to-be-cooked-again category.

first thing this reminded me of, was the entire black mushroom topped with minced pork paste as they usually do for hotpot places.

i realise that perhaps if it were to be steamed, the mushroom might end up being too dry.

this was just nice. the juices of the minced pork and fragrance of the mushroom.

the oyster sauce that complemented with its saltiness.

thanks for cooking dinner. day after day. :)

and a very happy year of the dragon to everyone! :)

2012-01-19T23:22:00.000+08:00

oh if fire breathing dragons could be so cute. :)

it's a good year.

i, with my will, will it to be!

love,

oh don't be such a tart.

2012-01-19T00:05:00.000+08:00

There's nothing better than baking with friends or well, baking with people who love to bake. It's the second year in a row that I've been out and about baking just for the fun of it. Last year, it was with my friend's mother and family for their annual pineapple tart making. It was professional, factory styled, made to meet a substantial number of orders. I remember having my tarts QC-ed for thickness and prints. Measuring out flour and sieving packets of it for an entire afternoon till evening without food or drink because it was just too awkward for me to do much else but bake in the company of virtual strangers. I didn't even get to try a single tart. I know, why do I do these things right? :p

This year, it was over at Carol's. She took a day off work to bake and I just wanted to help her out. :) She had absolute trust that I wouldn't ruin anything and left me to work on it along with her. Although she was equally stressed about meeting orders, this was different. I could get my drink, eat some tarts, play with her nephew and nieces. :) I had fun destressing myself after a day of school, marking and remedials.

Getting home, I bumped into familiar faces and hey, that feeling of serendipity somehow makes me happier. It's like a random meeting with people you haven't made plans with. Like my twin who took a bus over from town to Mt Alvernia to look in on a friend that just gave birth. Macritchie was the last place I'd expected to see her at! :)

But of course, the last time I had positive notions of seredipitous meetings, I messed up my own life. Sigh.

Why did things happen the way they did? I keep believing God has a plan but till today, I cannot help but wish you were never part of His plan for me. It's been too long and of course I do wish you well. But there's just that something that still kills me inside. Or a part that has already died.

Sorry, my train of thought carried me farther than I would've liked it to.

So.

About tarts.

Of course, mum couldn't comprehend why I would go all the way to bukit timah to bake for someone else to meet their orders when I could've been home baking with family. I didn't try explaining it to her. But these babies at home turned out pretty well with a new recipe! Well done lil bro!

And no, I didn't have dinner yet again and I boiled these too-cute (!) farfalles up to be mixed with corned beef for a quick meal. :)

This is my start to the lunar new year and I'm totally psyched up for it already!

And today, I was in school till what felt like forever and I missed almost all of this baking fun! :(

Well, I'll never miss out on eating them. Ohmnomnoms.

These literally melt in your mouth.

Orders anyone? :)

sunday brunch @ choupinette

2012-01-18T23:34:00.000+08:00

At $19+ for an English Coq Set, I'm hard pressed to find this expensive. I was initially put off by the review on how pricey this was but hey, this was a set that included both a latte as well as a glass of juice.

The latte was good. Just enough coffee and more than enough milk foam. But oh, a pretty latte art would've been nice?

Hmm. Of course the portions were meagre, it's pretty plain to see.

One of the eggs was just a little bit overdone with non-runny yolks but they were busy and I didn't want to make a fuss.

I've come to realise that brunch isn't really about filling one's tummy up. At least not for me.

Brunch's almost always about the company. Food is secondary on brunch days. :)

And just a random note, I haven't had a proper eggs benedict in Singapore before.

I know, how shocking right.

Soon enough, I shall. :)

bangkok's chinatown

2012-01-16T01:07:00.000+08:00

With its small alleyways and just too many stalls. Where does one start? Last year we ventured out to Bangkok's chinatown after a long hiatus and were pleased with our kway chap find. Till we realised maybe we didn't even go to the recommended stall! Anti-climax max.

Now this time, it was a tight squeeze, a pre-empted apology for the less than stellar exterior of the restaurant but all that was unnecessary. Not since it came with a guarantee of awesome food.

Case in point: Do not judge a restaurant by its exterior.

Because you'd be missing out on this!

This was a promising start. Let me hear you say PRAWN and then if it's important to you, rolls. These morsels of deep fried goodness had crisp exteriors and ohsojuicyandyummydelish insides that held generous stuffings of prawn meat. Savoury on its own, made better with a dip into the sweet sauce that accompanied this dish.

If you want it any fresher, you are gonna have to slice it yourself. These raw fish slices simply laid onto the plate and sprinkled with white sesame bore no pungent fishy taste. Eaten together with raw pickled radish, white and red carrot strips and scallions made for a healthy treat diabolically opposite from the previous deep fried indulgence. I heard the fish skin had a good bite to it and tasted good. Of course I didn't try it. I wouldn't appreciate it for what it was worth. ;)

Peel and pop 'em prawns. No frills. Just simply boiled. And dipped into seafood sauce. There's a deep sense of satisfaction in enjoying a dish that is so simply made. :)

Goose feet. Have you tried? This brought the conversation back to dad's dear big brother. Uncle Manu who's seen me from birth, been nothing like a business partner, he was just like family. He made time to meet us every Bangkok trip till his demise. This was one of his favourites and a first I saw of dad eating it and savouring every bit of web and collagen. I wasn't adventurous enough.

Listening quietly to their reminiscing of Uncle Manu and his culinary palates, I took a serving of the egg noodles. And found that these were packed with flavour and no strong taste of red meat. It might be the stewing process in the metal pot that has infused all the flavour from the gravy into the noodles and the ginger slices that has done its job well. This was good. Very good indeed.

Hello to oysters that were everywhere in sight in this pillow of fluffy egg fried with chopped spring onions that hid a stash of raw beansprouts that would do well to take away the greasiness of the egg mixture. Take this in moderation. It's good on taste but not so good for the arteries. Of course this was easier on the body system than the ones that come with a good proportion of fried cornstarch. In any case, I always think I only live once. Actually somehow, I seem to have that thought once a meal. Hmm. :D

Teochew style. Fresh promfret. Have you seen one this size? You might have but I wouldn't want to know the big hole that would make in your pocket if we ordered this in Singapore.

A simple fish dish with thai influence that sees itself true with strong salty, sour and sweet flavours all at once in that gravy that could almost pass off as soup. Beware the appetite! :)

The ohsocolourful toppings of pickled radish, chilli slices, garlic and parsley made for great sides to go with the firm, fresh fish meat that was in abundance on a promfret of this size. A treat for the senses. There was no need to be shy with taking bigger portions of this. It was more than enough for our table of 12.

This was a house special. I have never seen steamed minced meat on crab pincers. I don't see what this might have done for the crab meat except that it was an added layer of taste. The minced meat was liberally marinated with black pepper. A more complex version of a black pepper crab? The crab meat was well done, not sticking to the sides of the shell but coming off with a fair amount of ease. This was novel but otherwise, it probably could do without the minced meat. No loss?

A baby suckling pig! :( I was upset seeing this guy on the table. It didn't help that he was facing me because I had the camera in hand. But eventually I reached out for one piece of crisp skin. And this was crisp, crackled skin with minimal to no fat. Wow. This was some expert slicing. And if this wasn't impressive enough, check out the ears. The ears were skinned too. Impressive innit? Of course I lost my appetite and no, I had no courage to eat no ears nor the skin of the ears. I'm sorry buddy. If it was any help, your skin tasted awesome on its own, or with sweet sauce, cucumber slices wrapped in pancake skin.

And what happens to the meat? This was done with a liberal amount of salt and dark soy sauce. It was too salty and too overfried. Twice fried probably since this baby was probably grilled and deep fried to a crisp already from the start. We each took a small piece and the rest was doggy bagged.

We finished dinner with deep fried yam sticks that had an outer coating of crisp white icing sugar. I enjoyed this but please, just limit yourself to one. It's a very sweet treat indeed. And just about balanced out by that cleansing tieguanyin tea potent even with its minute serving cups.

This was all in one dinner. I kid you not. I was waddling by this time of the night.

I would've appreciated better balance with webbed feet.

If I were a goose, that could have been me served with egg noodles. If it was any consolation, at least I tasted awesome. :)

Yet another eating place for keeps next time we're in Bangkok. Couldn't have managed this without you Uncle Aek. Transport and food. Right after arrival in Bangkok. Every year I get to live a little like kings and queens in a place where I visit family, a place that's become just like home. :)

When's the last time you went exploring in Bangkok's Chinatown?

Do share if you have discovered any hidden treats!

T restaurant

2012-01-14T22:57:00.000+08:00

T Restaurant has been a landmark for almost 30 years at Nai Lert Market in Pratunam until development forced the restaurant out. Just further down the road from the Makkasan Railway Station that offers direct train access to the airport, it now offers a large array of their award winning seafood at their location just up the street on Rajprarob Road. Easy to spot, the restaurant has a large neon sign on the side of the building with a large crab and patrons enter to find the fresh catch of the day in large tanks of fish and seafood and a large dining area with huge chrome style pillars separating the space. The interior has not seen change for the past few times we've dined here and is becoming to look a little decrepit but there must be something that keeps us coming back...

If you haven't had a promfret steamboat. You ain't had nothing yet! This promfret fed a table of 12 people. I have no idea how much it must've weighed but it was fish that had good bite and a taste of simple fresh! The soup was boiled in charcoal steamboats close enough to the dining table so that you could get seconds or like me, thirds during the course of dinner.

Fresh garland chrysanthemum (tang oh) vegetable leaves are quickly blanched in the soup when it comes to a boil and placed at the bottom of the small soup bowl before two pieces of promfret and soup are spooned into the bowl. Naturally sweet tasting soup, fresh greens and firm pieces of promfret meat. This was good enough on its own and made better with their appetizing seafood sauce and green chilli :)

But then again, this was Bangkok and there's no better reason than being in the company of family and friends to get stuffed! Or no, let's put this into perspective.

Now there's no better time to order everything on the menu that's awesome just because this time, we have the numbers to share these delights with!

So of course the promfret couldn't possibly be the first dish. It's too much of a show stopper. Spoilsport! :p

Crabmeat fried rice. The importance of generous servings of crabmeat as shown right here. The rice grains were loosely fried with egg and scallions with an evident breath of wok fire. The crabmeat fried rice here in Bangkok has always -shown- itself true. Pun entirely intended. This was crabby carbs totally worth their weight :)

These flower clams with their pretty prints. The sauce was savoury, a generous use of fish sauce and slightly spicy. Makes you want to put the shell into your mouths to eat the clams together with that awesomely addictive sauce.

I don't see oysters this size in Singapore. The eggy bits were thick and fluffy but it also came with a generous amount of cornstarch which you might skip if you didn't want to make this your carb staple. All this on a bed of raw beansprouts and spring onions which were lightly cooked on the hotplate which it was served on. It was oily, carbo laden and ohsoverygood, it was gone in a few servings. :)

I like my veggies, mushrooms and why wouldn't I sppreciate the addition of bamboo clams? :) The kale retain its green and crunchy stems. Mushrooms and bamboo clams soaking in the flavours of the oyster sauce in which it was stir fried. So much for grandma thinking these bamboo clams were pigs intestines. *shivers.

And here we had a quick advertisement break with the lady boss who came over and was so pleased to hear that we were diners from Singapore, the place where she sent her children for school before going onto universities. She's a very friendly and hospitable boss but don't bother about discounts. We tried asking in jest and all our comments on discounts and VIP cards were ignored. Somehow it was all about hearing the good things. :p

Bamboo shoots are one of those vegetables that could potentially kill if not cooked appropriately.Seems it isn't possible to buy these fresh from any of our local markets already. Grandma gets her stash from the markets in Johor and uses them to cook her HockChiew styled beehoon in thick soup. Now, these bamboo shoot slices had a crunch to them that spoke of fresh good stir frying. And a side kick of fresh prawns with some good bite made it all the better. :)

Just in case there wasn't enough food, why don't we have a pot of green mussels while we're at it. Something my dad has sworn off because he's got psychological issues. Lots of them. But I digress. So he sees them as fish bait and will not touch them at all. These green mussels were simply done with mint basil leaves, lemon grass, chopped garlic and chilli. The flavours weren't very much infused into the mussels or maybe we were just all too full by then.

Now all this was just one dinner. And if I forgot, these came in doubles. Two servings of everything for our party of 12. It was a party alright!

Have you tried this Chinese-Thai landmark and if you haven't, there's no time like the next Bangkok trip to do just that! :)

T restaurant.
78/12-16 Rajprarob Road,
Rajthevee, Payathai, Bangkok

Thanks for dinner Uncle Aek!

Banh Khun Mae

2012-01-14T00:12:00.000+08:00

And I'm disappointed that after all these years of pilgrimage to Bangkok faithfully year on year, I still cannot speak a sentence in Thai. :(

For what I can't speak, I'll just point and eat :)

"Secret recipes passed down from generation to generation were collected, treasured and presented for your delectation by Ban Khun Mae, the restaurant that is equally famous for its authentic tastes, ambience and warm Thai hospitally." taken from their website. Which I will concur, save for the typographical errors. :)

If you've never heard of the term repeat visits, then you have not joined my family on our repeats. It's a cycle really. A fixed pattern of change. Every year we go on our annual Bangkok trip and for at least one meal, we have it at Ban Khun Mae.

This was our version of the restaurant.

Nigel says, "Which one? The dark and dim place? There's live music at night?"

Yup. That's right. :)

The dollop of coconut cream that must be stirred into the green curry to enjoy the richness of the tender chicken green curry gravy that makes you want to eat a lot more rice than you already are having. :p

Just in case you don't know what gives it that green color, it's not the eggplant but a mixed paste of green chillies that have been pounded and mashed before its addition to the curry paste that gives it a green colour. Likewise for red curry, which gets its colour not from the curry paste but made a deeper shade of red by the red chillies pounded and mashed into a paste.

This is lard nation. Honestly. Thick pieces of pork fat give that glistening texture to the glass noodles and that also accounts for all that flavour and more bite! You can't stop eating those flavourful glass noodles fried with shallots and dark soy sauce perhaps till you see those pork fat pieces but even then...

Huge river prawns accompany this dish. Fresh and firm prawns. Mmm.

Pla Gow, the garoupa is used for this deep fried fish dish drizzled with tamarind and sweet Thai chilli sauce. This is the dish that saw my dad eating both the head and the tail, crunching his teeth on those deep fried pieces of fish meat, cartilage and bone!
The sauce might be too sweet and cloying after a while but the flesh of this fish stays juicy and sweet, well encased in its deep fried exterior. :)

And let's not forget our greens. I'm not biased but really, even this was well done.

Fresh and crunchy kai lan fried with straw mushrooms and oyster sauce.

No one's gotta tell us to eat our greens when cooked like this :)

458/6-9 Siam Square Soi 8, Rama 1 Road, 10330, Thailand

11am - 11pm

Mondays- Sundays.

There's nothing like fresh. Or generous for that matter.

2012-01-13T23:44:00.000+08:00

I'd do sushi takeout from here anyday. :)

First time we are here at novena square 2 for sushi instead of the long favoured nihon mura. For convenience purposes more than anything else.

But wow. When I saw salmon maki that looked like this,

I just had to grab it. Yum :)

They also do lunch sets for affordable prices of $10.80 and up which includes choices like grilled yellowtail head, unagi, codfish which comes with slices of sashimi, complimentary miso soup and green tea which applies for all dine in customers.

What was stopping us all this while?

Space.

A simple sushi counter with a seating capacity of probably not more than 20 pax. We had 9 and took up just about half the shop already.

Be prepared to wait too as the staff do everything from cleaning, cashier and of course cooking prep.

But wait you shall. And wait I will.

For quality food that I know will satisfy my tummy for sure :)

never belated. always treasured. :)

2012-01-12T15:32:00.000+08:00

Reflected in the menu as squid paste but they probably ran out and we were advised that it would be prawn paste instead. We decided to give it a try anyway and were pleasantly surprised by the taste. Nothing too pungently seafood. The prawn paste was roughly fashioned and had a springy texture with ample bite. The gravy was well absorbed by the beancurd sheets making it a tasty vegetable dish.

It was a toss up between the beef cubes or the venison of which we were recommended the latter. The wok hei was evident in the ginger and scallions but the venison itself saw either no addition of a tenderizer or that it was overcooked which resulted in a meat texture too tough for my teeth to handle. (Bearing in mind that my teeth are weak individuals, it doesnt mean that it's tough as rubber) :)

Cod never fails. This was a tasty treat! Juicy flakes of fish well marinated with a special sauce that we were advised to be a little sour but worked out sweet. It faintly reminded me of miso marinated cod. And by the way, the charred ends were deliciously sweet like the charred ends of barbecued pork. Now that, should be more than enough reason to order this. :)

The red bean souffle balls did not resemble the picture offerings in the menu. I was expecting dim sum styled deep fried red bean sesame balls but these turned out larger than golf balls. Thankfully though, they were not deep fried to a crisp. The egg taste of the souffle was very evident on my first bite. These were airy and very soft. Almost like sponge cakes. :)

The filling was too little which made the exterior seemed like too much dough. I think it would have been better had their dusting of caster sugar been icing sugar.

But this made for a sweet treat that isn't too heavy on the tummy.

Then of course if you wanted a more traditional chinese dessert, you probably want to choose this taro offering. :)

I didn't see the chinese namesake of this dessert but was intrigued by its unique presentation in a coconut and the fact that I really do like taro. When we made the order and heard that this was orh nee (芋泥) I was pleased as punch!

And when it arrived, piping hot in its shell, I was all too excited to open the coconut cover to reveal a milky mix of mashed taro and almond cream!

ohmyyum!

But this, should definitely be shared. With a few others preferably. I only had one dining partner to share with and she only took one small scoop.

And what's there left for me to do?

EATITALLUP. *licks the spoon clean

Once you pop, you really can't stop.

This was good relief for my cramps but way too heavy for a 930pm dessert option.

Eat first, think of the waistline later. :p

Traditional chinese restaurant settings tucked away in a corner on the second floor of novena square 2. This was a good place for a dinner catch up with it's relative tranquility (till a table of 10 sat at the tables next to us). Haha. This is a good venue for families and even for just friends who feel like doing good quality chinese food once in a while.

I had an awesome dinner with good food and great company.

Thanks SC for taking time off to celebrate my birthday for me year on year.

My spiritual, emotional and physical hunger are very well satisfied and blessed by your friendship. :)

Love,

childhood treats from bangkok

2012-01-10T23:39:00.000+08:00

I just love these colourful strands of sugar!

Makes me smile. Makes my day.

Add some splashes of colour to life! :)

When growing up means:

Being upset that there aren't enough pandan flour sheets for me to roll my sugared strands in.

When it used to be all about the sugar. None of those flour sheets needed. :D

last lazy afternoon of 2011 @ tcc shaw

2012-01-10T23:21:00.000+08:00

A lazy teatime date from 3 till 6pm on a saturday as the last day of 2011 before catching MI4. All that thrill spills in that jam packed action movie where Tom Cruise impressed me with his agility at his age. I gre up watching this guy! The Firm was the first movie I caught him in. Imagine reading The Firm at eleven years of age. :) Well, that left us hungry for a sweet treat at Swensens near Ion to end what eventually became our dinner before we each had our new year's eve parties to be at. :)

For food that never fails and company that always leaves us wanting more. The year might not have been all good but it definitely ended well. :)

delicious @ scotts square

2012-01-10T22:43:00.000+08:00

With seven outlets in KL and Penang enjoying homegrown success,

this flagship outlet at Scotts Square in Singapore is the Eastern & Oriental Berhad Group's

first foray of its Delicious cafe into our shores.

The glass enclosed cafe with their robin's blue egg colored namesake sports a brick front facade.

It offers a contemporary dining atmosphere in a soothing turquoise and white themed interior with added quirks like birdcages and stylised trees. Very much like how their cafes are styled in Malaysia.

The menu has an East West fusion that give diners a wide range of choices at affordable prices. We are talking about deep dish pizzas to pastas and local delights like their famous Nasi Kerabu.

A hearty offering of grilled chicken covered with red curry, this savoury dish will leave you wanting more. :) And unfortunately, seems as if it's the -only- reason for a return visit, if ever.

This seriously delicious cheeseburger was seriously generous but definitely not as delicious as its namesake. It looked like an awesome choice. With fresh greens, a thick patty covered with melted cheese slice, side salad and fries. However, the beef patty was dry and tasted more of panko than actual minced beef which would account for its lack of juicy bite. The onion relish was well done but too little for my liking. The house dressing would have been better off served at the side. The shoestring fries were a good accompaniment for munchers, especially when the patty would probably be left unfinished. Hmm.

Now I havent had a terrible carrot cake yet. But this just about takes the cake (pun totally intended).

The cream cheese icing was heavy on butter which has a very oily aftertaste.

The cake was crumbly and way too dry.

This was a disappointment and not my sweet ending.

This sticky date pudding was served warm, separate from the vanilla ice cream and the thick, dense caramel sauce. The ice cream was in first sight, definitely one off the supermarket shelves and leaves me little to speak off. The sticky date pudding was served warm in a ramekin. There were no pieces of dates but probably minced and mixed into the batter. I'd much prefer pieces of dates for that extra bite. The caramel sauce was thick, a little too much for our palates. This was sticky indeed and overly sweet.

The atmosphere was brilliant. Quiet with ample seating in a relaxed atmosphere. But if the standards of their food and cake offerings continue as such, it'll only remain a novelty and will no see repeats in customer visits. At least not for me. Perhaps only for the nasi kerabu though. :) I do hope to see the delicious cafe see through their aim of another two new outlets in Singapore living up to the delicious standards of their namesake.

Gelato #3 and it's a STRIKE!

2012-01-08T23:40:00.001+08:00

Grom opened its first shop in downtown Turin in May 2003, and it was an instant success: lines 15-20 meters long in front of the shop and enthusiastic smiles encouraged the two founding partners to do even better. In January 2005, they invested in a production workshop suitable to meet the demands of the other Grom shops that opened that same year. The goal is always the same: to offer the very best. The liquid mixtures are checked by a team of experts and then distributed 3 times a week, just like fresh milk, to each shop, where they are creamed.

Grom is synonymous with gelato of the highest quality. The idea is to apply a principle common to all the best restaurants in the world to the production of handmade gelato: the purchase of raw materials of absolute top quality. It was with this purpose in mind that, at the end of 2002, Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom set out to search for, from the Langhe to Sicily, the best that agricultural Italy – and not only that – could offer. The standards are strict: only fresh and in-season fruit, coming from the best consortia in Italy, no colorings or additives that are not natural, Lurisia mountain water used as a base for sherbets and high-quality whole milk for the creams, organic eggs and selections of the best cocoas and coffees from central America.

Grom interprets gelato by following the tradition of Italian gelato makers, where fresh milk, egg yolk, white cane sugar and the best raw materials such as pistachios, hazelnuts, vanilla and many others play a leading role. A moderate use of cream allows our ice cream to always have a low fat content, likewise with the quantity of sugar used, in order to avoid cloying and non-refreshing gelato. As a result, Grom’s gelato is very suited to those who want to eat gelato low in fat (8-10%) and sugar (15-18%) but rich in precious raw materials and proteins, easy to digest and with a full and intense flavor. Gelato made in this way, using only carob flour as a very noble thickening agent, requires a longer and more difficult processing by our operators at the counter.

This was after lunch and still burdened with our backbreaking groceries. The weather was in the region of about ten degrees. But gelato? Best served cold! :)

We have officially been Grom-ed!

Torrocino (nougat), extra noir ciocolatto (extra dark chocolate), egg cream and a hazelnut.

There were too many other flavours we wish we had the stomach to try.

And then there was also hot chocolate (calda ciocolatto). This guy in front of us ordered one of that and it looked like pure, molten, unadulterated, chocolate love!

But no my stomach cannot afford that kind of richness (in fat content!) so we passed on that.

What about gelato?

Oh that's milk. Good for growth! :)

It's more expensive than your usual run-of-the-mill gelato shops but it was well worth every cent.

With stores in Japan and NY, I'll be back for more even if it isn't in the northern region of Italy.

Have you had Grom before?

Fondamenta della Misericordia Venice

2012-01-08T01:36:00.000+08:00

After a day's worth of Murano and Burano, the outlying islands of Venice, Dad was the grumpiest man alive.

No, it wasn't the islands. We pretty much enjoyed our island hopping experience taking the boat from Fondamenta Nuove to Murano and taking our mini glass making tour, taking a switch of boats to get to Burano where we unfortunately missed seeing women doing lace handicrafts but we were rewarded by colorfully painted quaint houses and a special knit dress buy for me :)

Oh, so about Dad. It was lunch time and we had been walking about looking for Fondamenta something or other with bags of groceries (there aren't many stores around Venice so we thought it's best to grab what we wanted when we saw one) Nigel and his bags of pasta almost broke our arms and backs carrying those around.

Eventually we settled on Fondamenta della Misericordia. It would have honestly become pure misery for us had we gone on to search for the original place we wanted to get to for their recommended lunch sets.

Lunch sets in Venice are good value for money if you know where to find them.

Apparently according to so many reviews from tourists, prices rise exponentially for dinner. There's even a difference dining al fresco or indoors. In this kind of winter, I'll pay the difference to dine indoors.

The lunch set came with starter, main and sides selection. If I don't remember wrong, it was 13 Euros per set. The clams pasta was cooked just right, not al dente that made it too hard. There was just enough sauce to coat the pasta and clams that although had shrunk to the tiniest possible, tasted fresh and marinated well. :)

The beef lagsane was a pleasant surprise. Made with a white cream sauce, it was rich and had a fair amount of minced beef enveloped within the sheets of pasta. Small quantity but more than enough for sharing.

Then there were the mains. The grilled chicken was a little dry and this probably due to the fact that it's probably chicken breast and lacking in fat content to lock in some juices which being grilled. I distinctly remember ordering swordfish steak but after a few mouthfuls, I was pretty sure this was chicken.

Then there was squid that was served in a black mass.

I was bracing myself for horridly pungent taste of the sea (my previous experience of squid ink was at Saizeraiya at City Square Mall that was just the messiest ever with black stains all over my mouth and a very pungent fishy smell) but there was none of it.

The squid rings were fresh. Tender and chewy coated with a sauce to remember. There was no fishy taste. It was decadent and ohsogood to dip my chicken pieces and bread into. Now this was NOT meant for sharing.

For sides we had two servings of fries that were mediocre and no there were no drinks included. Dad was too used to having tea/ coffee as part of his sets and ordered two shots of espresso which were way too bitter to be drunk black and costing 1.50 Euros each.

Four people sharing two lunch sets. I was full from the fries and bread sticks amongst other nibbles but there's always space for dessert.

Guess what it could be? :)

day trip out to pisa!

2012-01-08T01:00:00.000+08:00

What's your idea of Pisa?

The idea of the trip around Italy should be enough to prompt you to instinctively think about the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa of architectural magnificence.

Pisa is a serene and sleepy town. You don't need a map to get to the leaning tower. It's pretty straightforward from Pisa Centrale you walk straight past the Solferino Bridge and after another street, turn left and you can see the tower right ahead. The people walking about on the streets are all probably headed in the same direction- Towards the Piazza dei Miracoli ("Square of Miracles").

The Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is a wide, walled area at the heart of the city of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as one of the main centers for medieval art in the world. Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

In 1987 the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At 241 kilometres, this river runs through Arrezo, Ponte Vecchio in Florence and around Siena was mostly infamous for its wild floods especially one in 1966 where the raging water collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging and destroying millions of works of art and rare books. New conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even 40 years later, these hundreds of works still await restoration.

We're almost there! :) A easy walk through the sleepy town of which I basked in its quiet and serene atmosphere till we got to the Piazza which was filled with visitors. Taking that ubiquitious shot of having to hold onto the leaning tower from all angles and in so many wacky ways. Oh if only I had a more adventurous brother. :p

We popped into a small store enroute for an energy boost.

But having had Old Bridge just yesterday, this just didn't cut it. :/

A few hours in Pisa and we bade our farewells. We've been there, done it, seen it.

And our gelato hunt continues.

italian gelato a roma

2012-01-07T00:33:00.001+08:00

Tripadvisor scores!

On the way from St Paul's Basilica to the Sistine Chapel. You won't miss this with its queues.

For 1.60 EUR for a piccolo (small cone) with the option of up to three flavours.

Where do you find prices like these and quality like this for gelatos!

And if a picture could speak a thousand words.

Or maybe just two.

Like.

EAT THIS!

I would have died happy.
The eating part. Not the talking picture. :)

First fall in Roma

2012-01-06T23:25:00.000+08:00

Taking a walking trail in the late afternoon starting from the Patheon, to the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona and to the Spagna metro station which overlooked the Spanish steps. It was tiring but we felt accomplished- covering quite a few tourist sights in just a couple of hours. It looked like a lot on the map probably that's why.

Coming back to the place where we stayed near the central station, Dad needed his Chinese fix. Mum probably did too so we split up and went out separate ways.

When in doubt, go back to enquire with the hotel.

Taking a card with a 20% discount, we were glad to walk just around the corner for dinner. It was late and we were tired.

A complimentary bruschetta. What a nice gesture. Plump tomatoes. But very dense and stale bread. Typical of all Italian establishments.

Don't bother looking for Gardenia. No one eats olive oil with those. ;)

Most or perhaps all the tables around us seemed like they had the same discount card.

Something was amiss. Hmm.

Well, how would we know if we didn't try?

First fall.

Deciding on a pizza main was easy. I wanted olives. Eggs, artichoke, mushrooms and salami sounded like awesome pizza toppings too!

Alas, it was served semi cold. :(

Pizza loses out when served cold. Where was my stringy mozzarella?

Now this, was piping hot. And the ugliest lasagne we've seen. Haha.

A better word might be homestyled. :p

This was full of tomato sauce (tasting like it was out of a can), random bits of meat (random being code word for measly and unnoticeable maybe) and it's saving grace was stringy cheese. :)

This definitely needed a discount or patron rates would be equally random (codeword: nonexistent) on most nights!

What made it worse? Dad and mum had xiaolongbaos, stir fried veg and mushrooms and fried rice for a 2 pax set that was cheaper that our substandard dinner. Why oh why.

And while we're on that point, chinese food is really pretty affordable in Italy. Fear not, my dad the chinaman at heart survived our ten day escapades without starving! :)

ichiban desho :)

2012-01-06T00:33:00.001+08:00

A new & updated menu.

Prices have also been accordingly revised.

I didn't see the salmon mentaiko but I did see my assorted sashimi gozen back on the menu.

Dinner with my cell for a birthday celebration.

9 days after the birthday and the celebrations are still on. :)

Makes it so much easier to love growing older, together with my friends at cell. <3

It was a brilliant change to my usual orders.

Ponzu sauce on my aburi salmon was not what I fancied. But the problem was the sauce. The salmon? Fresh. :)

The black peppered dory slices were thin and when fried, didn't let you taste much of fish at all. The wagyu beef steak was sublime. Kept hot throughout the meal, the slices were medium rare. Tender. Juicy enough with its fat content. That special sauce was salty but ohsoaddictive. Makes you want to ask for MORE rice but no, I stopped myself. From rice. But not from eventually finishing up the sauce.

Thank goodness for hot green tea!

Everything else on the set was the same.

And how do they always manage to have watermelon slices that taste so sweet!

Thanks for the love. In all those little ways.

Zio Gigi in Florence

2012-01-05T17:17:00.001+08:00

Searching on tripadvisor for dinner places (please take reviews with a pinch of salt. actually, maybe a gallon. depending on who writes them. just. try. reading. the. singapore. ones. the horrors! :p)

Zio Gigi was in the top twenties, located behind the musee duomo. It was a long walk to dinner. Maybe it just felt long because we were ravenous! And we had a cause to celebrate!

My almost twenty seventh birthday, their twenty eighth wedding anniversary. :)

Meat for mains. Dad is not the most adventurous when it comes to western food (in this case, Italian food). But with the many courses of a dinner order in Italy, if you order a meat, you basically just get meat. It is unlike the side salad and fries that we are very accustomed to back here at home.

Dad had to add on a side order of fries to feel like he ate a proper meal. Maybe that's his vegetable excuse. :) The meats were nicely grilled- check out the lovely char grilled lines. Not overcooked. The chicken was juicy and tender but the pork was a little dry, perhaps due to the lean quality of the meat.

Our first attempt at an order of gnocchi. It was. GOOD. Like crazily good. The potato gnocchi was cooked with just the right amount of bite. And the sauce was like molten gold. Not that I think molten gold might be appetizing at all but it was -that- kind of richness on your tongue once you take a bite of that baked goodness. Very filling. More excuses to share. :)

These tagliatelle ribbons were cooked al dente and tossed in a tomato based gravy of wild boar (!) meat. I know. How does that taste! It was. Meaty. There's no other suitable way of describing it. In the menu, it states that the wild boar meat is frozen meat. Nope, it did not taste frozen. It tasted like a cross between pork and beef and infused with tomato flavour for a tasty and juicy bite. Definitely for red meat lovers.

And this is what love looks like to me. :)

Happy anniversary.

A first in Italy and more in the years to come.

San Jacopino. Eating like the Italians do.

2012-01-05T00:21:00.024+08:00

Oh for a dinner that we starved ourselves for.

Literally.

Italians have dinner at 730pm.

Restaurants open at 730pm for dinner. 630pm if you're really lucky.

Not leaving Florence without another shot at Jacopino's.

Zio Gigi was ... higher ended and lesser satisfaction.

For J's, it was four people's highly anticipated failproof dining. :)

And we ate like the Italians did!

Getting back from the outlet stores at 730pm, we walked. BRISK walked back to our place just to dump the stuff and tore down that short street for dinner.

Okay. Pronto pizza was open.

What pronto pizza?

That's for later. Dinner for now.

Now this my friends. At 6.50 Euros. Was awesome. Ricotta stuffed ravioli, slightly bitter rucola for that touch of green for a balanced diet, prawns for that taste of the sea all drowned in a blanket of delish sauce.

I have no idea what's in that sauce. It's cream. It's cheese. It's not too thick, just thin enough. Whatever for?

Good enough to be eaten on it's own or mopped up with bread. We learn from the tables around us ;)

Pronto pizza! Takeaway pizza palour functioning on overtime. The pizza boxes are flipped and filled. Sealed for deliveries that seem neverending.

There were bar counter seats if you'd prefer dine in. Or if you couldn't wait to devour pizza. :)

We lived down the street so we left space after dinner for this.

(It was after all, our last night in Florence :()

Now you see it, now you don't. He rolls out the pizza base, looks at the orders, takes rich handfuls on toppings to scatter generously around the pizza.

Oh YUM.

For the love of buffalo mozza. My brother chose Lady.

A pizza by any other name would taste as good on a crispy crust, tomato paste with buffalo mozza, parma de cotto (our most commonly familiar shaved ham).

Shielding it from the cold, I ran back with my takeout box to set onto the table just waiting to savour the pizza. I of course slid off some of the topping in my hurry to keep it piping hot.

But really. topping tastes good on and off the pizza.

Although I'd much prefer buffalo mozza fresh, this was a new way to eat it.

You have to try this. Did I mention? 6.50 Euros.

some call it florence. let's call it firenze.

2012-01-04T15:15:00.000+08:00

Fee-rans-aye.

Firenze.

"There's a pizzeria just around the corner that serves affordable food. They won't be trying to cheat you of your money." says the wrinkly old man with kind eyes that settled our check-in into Sorggiorno Madrid.

A tomato based seafood pizza with fresh, chewy, translucent squid pieces.

There was surprisingly no cheese on this.

How strange for a pizza to be without cheese.

But.

It was light, thin crusted and crispy, fresh toppings and it definitely tasted good!

And here begins our love story with risotto.

A tomato based seafood risotto. They were so generous with the seafood!

The arborio rice was infused with many levels of flavours.

The musky taste of olive oil, sour tang of tomato and the smell of the sea.

This was a risotto to be remembered.

The home of carbonara. Chunky strips of bacon and pasta married by a coating of luscious cream.

Made better with a few turns of the mixed pepper grinder.

It was simple. And very filling for one person.

Was this the end of our dinner at Jacopino?

P.S. Love

2012-01-02T23:47:00.000+08:00

The Sandwich Set with Turkey on Ciabatta Bread and Mushroom Soup.

Very woody and earthy mushroom taste. Light on the stomach with no addition of cream. Perhaps there was the addition of a roux to thicken the soup?

Turkey ham with cranberry sauce that was not at all tart! Oh the fear of all things sour *scrunches up face.

Tomatoes, lettuce and never forget the slice of cheese to bring everything together between the halves of a lovely toasted ciabatta. :)

Simple. Carrot cake with a cream cheese topping. Moist. Albeit a little too moist. Wasn't chock full of ingredients as I would have liked. Sweet enough for a post tea satisfaction. :)

And the loveliest flowers for a birthday gift. Thank you for the sweet thoughts and the treat for tea.

Love,

what's to be had at 313?

2011-12-31T01:51:00.000+08:00

Too cute it made me smile :) Sitting in the al fresco area was a choice I didn't have to give a second thought about. :)

I was torn between wanting to see pretty latte art and a cold drink. Cold won me over on an unusually sunny day. :) Vanilla latte it was. Good amount of coffee amidst all that milk. It wasn't 70% milk on a usual latte. Definitely less but it was aromatic and smooth on taste. :)

For starters.

Bangers and mash. The bangers were tasty. Very tasty. The creamy mash was fluffy and light on flavour. The onion gravy added the needed saltiness to the mash. We cleaned up the plate.

Beer battered fish and chips. A generous 4-piece fish portion with a handful of thick potato wedges. Served piping hot it was tasteful on its own but made better with tartar sauce. Personal preference :)

Sticky date pudding with a lovely dollop of old fashioned vanilla melting prettily into the warm pudding.

The handful of plump raisins in the caramel sauce were bursting with rum. What a surprise :)

Chocolate. There were more adjectives accompanying this on the menu but let's state the obvious because the obvious was really thick and rich.

Oh if you loved chocolate.

You also need a tissue paper on hand because it's gonna be lip smackingly chocolate-y. I was with a girlfriend. We could get as messy as we wanted. Okay, maybe just me because she was prettily made up and took care to dab at her mouth after every spoonful. I just relied on my trusty tongue. :p

Thanks for the treat and for the souvenir from your trip!

What a tongue twister.

I'll be glad to use it for hmm. red packets? :) A big fish and a tiny fish pouch for coins.

I need to get me to Vietnam one of these days.

So Oriole. For coffee art the next time round.

The barista washes his coffee machine at 8pm sharp daily so get your coffee fix before then!

The magic of Chong Qing hotpot

2011-12-30T23:41:00.000+08:00

En route to Tanglin shopping centre :)

Last year was Crystal Jade xlb hotpot buffet at Holland Village. This year she picked

this for me :)

First serving of a mixed standard set and an eight treasure tea :)

The yuan yang pot with a half of mala soup and another of herbal chicken that was an additional top up of $15. I've never tried the soup bases included in the dinner menu but this was thick and flavourful worth the money for the top up. :)

Bubble bubble toil and... devour! :)

Edamame peas were on the table for munching while waiting for the soup base to be served. There was an extensive choice of hotpot ingredients and everything was fresh. No item needed thawing nor was anything served in a haphazard fashion. Thinly sliced meats made for easy and quick cooking. Doesn't leave you hungry even for a moment. :)

Even the vegetables did not have signs of worm eaten holes as I often find at other hotpot establishments. The portions are small and allows you to order a wide variety without having to torture your stomach. Tha was a pretty important thing I feel at hotpot places. Especially if it was just two diners. We had four so we had no problem finishing up our orders.

There were also one-off servings of mock abalone, sashimi, cocktail sausage, xiaolongbao, pot stickers and dessert. These didn't need to be ordered, they would be brought to you in the midst of dinner. These weren't fantastic and didn't require a second order anyway.

And just after the last orders, they kindly shifted us to a new table so that we could have our cake in clean comfort. I really appreciated the effort, seeing as how they were already done cleaning up most of the tables and were preparing for closing. To my utter embarrassment, my friends started on a birthday song of which the restaurant manager (?) overheard and promptly joined in.

Strawberry shortcake from Rive Gauche. Too much cream but even then, the cream was light and easy on the stomach. Ample fresh strawberry fillings. It was a sinful treat! :)

And stitch chopsticks that are too cute. Thanks for starting and keeping at my collection of the monster. :) a soft toy, a key chain and now, chopsticks. I know you treat me like a ten year old. <3

Thanks for taking time off for a dinner treat for me. :)

A birthday's as big a deal as other people make it out to be. Loving the idea of growing up a little more with every celebration. :)

did u get it right?

2011-12-30T23:14:00.000+08:00

Where else for dining at a very lovely marina?

Prive at keppel bay :)

And what could top being serenaded by a monkey dressed as a gondolier. "O sole mio"

Napolitanian lyrics

Che bella cosa e' na giornata 'e sole

n'aria serena dopo na tempesta!

Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa

Che bella cosa e' na giornata 'e sole.

Ma n'atu sole,

cchiù bello, oje ne'

'O sole mio

sta 'nfronte a te!

'O sole, 'o sole mio,

sta 'nfronte a te!

Quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne,

me vene quase 'na malincunia;

sotto 'a fenesta toia restarria

quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne.

Ma n'atu sole,

cchiù bello, oje ne'

'O sole mio

sta 'nfronte a te!

'O sole, 'o sole mio

sta 'nfronte a te!

English translation

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

The air is serene after a storm,

The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

But another sun,

that's brighter still,

It's my own sun

that's upon your face!

The sun, my own sun,

It's upon your face!

When night comes and the sun has gone down,

I almost start feeling melancholy;

I'd stay below your window

When night comes and the sun has gone down.

But another sun,

that's brighter still,

It's my own sun

that's upon your face!

The sun, my own sun,

It's upon your face!

Oh it sang alright! Complete with lip movements and head adjustments. Till it fell over and spilt my glass of cold water. It was a sight! And just too funny even the other table was amused. :)

A malted malteasers milkshake that was a disappointment. It came warm. And no we didn't send it back.

The wait staff who seated us looked terribly harrassed and tired from what we couldn't comprehend. There were customers but it wasn't packed full so what was the fuss?

A very small portion of the king salmon order. 200 grammes. For $28 this was pricey and I really wished I chose from the breakfast menu instead.

The meat was watery. That couldn't mean fresh and I certainly hope it didn't mean it was thawed from a frozen fillet.

What I don't know for sure can't affect me.

We made a lot of compromise on our food expectations and were only satisfied for our long cab ride from home to the marina for its view and lovely sunny weather that lasted till we finished our mains. :)

With my favourite projectmate from university days till now. Christmas and birthday presents yay! :)

We moved into the air conditioned area due to the rain and she excused herself to order cake! So much for getting directions to the washroom. You lie! :p

And made me a very happy girl indeed. This mocha chocolate cupcake was a dear with the mocca cream in a small plastic tube that you could squeeze ontop in artistic fashion before digging in. :)

I love the place. I just wish the food could've been a better complement.

Till the next time. :)

guess where?

2011-12-29T00:31:00.000+08:00

the coffee connoisseur @ novena square

2011-12-21T08:31:00.000+08:00

There were a few reasons for this.

One of the biggest was feeling terrible that Josh missed out on our Italian mayhem because of his utter devotion to the safety and security of our nation.

And the fact that it's mandatory of course.

At least he likes it. :)

Then there's also the countless times I've dined/ grabbed a cheesecake from TCC but my family probably wouldn't step into it. Just because it hardly looks like a dinner restaurant.

Of course things change after you've dined at all semblances of restaurants/ pubs/ bars for the past ten days.

I think two reasons were good enough.

There's more but then you'd sleep before the food gets to you...

Dad. Always needing a good soup. :)

Mum who eats beef while Dad doesn't so these are her rare occassions for that kind of red meat. Juicy. Medium well done. She liked it.

Josh had a yuzu salmon pasta. He was worried if the servings were big enough for a dinner meal and no, he won't be dining there with his friends in a hurry. This is the phase in life where buffets look awesome (he's been in that phase since dragonboat days and counting. how nice to have permanent excuses to carbo load.)

Nigel was suffering from a terrible jetlag. He could only deal with tasting. Not actual eating. Did well with the chicken though. Juicy, tender. Didn't taste much sherry but none of that affected an alcohol intolerant like I.

So new restaurant offering by the end of 2011. Last year was the ichiban line of restaurants that has seen our frequent dining attempts throughout this year. And hey, the family has TCC-ed! :)

I don't know about you but I love my family. :)

Brunetti at Tanglin Mall

2011-12-18T23:51:00.000+08:00

Italian. Definitely Italian.

I spotted biscotti and cannolis. Oh those chocolate cookies. And the tarts.

The cakes. Pastries. Didn't I just leave these behind in my Italian dream?

Then my girlfriend tells me that she's tried lots of their offerings since her uni days in Melbourne. Didn't I know that Brunetti's is an Australian icon. No. Apparently not.

But. Hmm. How so?

Reading up, it seems that this is as Italian as their founder gets. Giorgio Angele is a native of Rome who first came to Australia in 1956 as a pastry chef with the Italian Olympics team. He opened up his first little cake shop on Melbourne's Faraday Street in the 1980s and has seen a succession of outlets across Melbourne since then.

And guess what, their Singaporean outlet was designed with the aim of making customers feel like "they are walking into a store in Milan," says Yuri Angele, Giorgio's younger son who currently runs the cafe with his brother Fabio. And indeed. That was the exact feeling it conjured up in me. Hit the nail right on the spot there guys.

Large glass display counters showcased their mindboggling range of nibblets just as in those patisscerie we've walked into along the streets of Italy. And their prices were competitive. Their cannolis were going for $5 and these were sold outside the Milano Stazione Centrale for EUR $2.50 a piece. I'd rather have it fresh and enjoy it with a cup of latte here than buying it from the street markets and eating it standing around. :)

We just missed breakfast offerings till 12 noon when we got there so we had to select from their all-day menu. Fish and chips were listed as appetizers but their portion size made good for a main. Their mac and cheese at $17 was a tad dear for their miniscule sprinklings of ham bits and mushroom but if you were looking for richness. This was rich and creamy to boot. Very filling.

My macchiato latte was very thoughfully served with an extra shot of coffee on the side just in case it was too much of a latte and less of anything coffee-like. We learnt it well in Italy. Latte is just hot milk. Specify coffee if you wanted any. :) For $5, I gladly order this anytime.

Apparently from my research (yes, Dr. Google) found that everything at Brunetti is manufactured and sold on the same day. So although we had no more space or time for desserts, this is one place i'm definitely paying a return visit to. If only to relive my Italian dream. And oh yes, desserts of course :)

Brunetti Singapore

163 Tanglin Road, #01-35, Tanglin Mall

Singapore 247933

Tel: 6733-9088

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000+08:00

Right smack on the roads enroute to the Vatican. At EUR $1.50 for a piccolo with three flavours. What's not to like? It's a happy takeway shop with hot guys and creamy smooth gelato. How we managed with only two cones? I look back and wonder. Love it.

Home for the weekend :)

2011-12-17T22:27:00.000+08:00

Waking up to takeaway chicken rice are the stuff dreams are made of. Just read the International Herald Tribune on my flight home and this article spoke volumes to me. It was entitled Time, Distance and Clarity and it started off about the sky looking bluer than it does almost anywhere else in Rome. I concur. And I continued to peruse the rest of the article. I've gotten used to traveling since I was young what with my mother's line of profession. And I'm blessed by my widened perspective of the world with my travels. But travels are for short periods of time. You get home before you really miss it. Then there was the exchange programme.

A chance of a lifetime (well, it is if you only applied for it once in your life) to McGill. No, it wasn't my first choice. UBC was. And I haven't heard of McGill before. And what a mistake I almost made not wanting to go. So I went. For two whole months all I saw was the side gates of campus and home. Tears more than threatened me in the day in between classes and boy did they overwhelm me in the nights. I called home daily. Even if conversations revolved around the weather and my meals. Fall was pretty with its colours. Life was good with pasta and potato meals. Good lecturers, even getting to make some friends. But. I still wanted to go home. One day after class, I took the main gates out and walked myself to Chinatown. The discovery of preserved radish, Chinese longevity noodles and packaged moon cakes were a turning point. I skipped home. Buildings looked great. I read up on the places to go, I even accepted an invite to the tallest bar in town for Halloween. Life was good. I just never noticed nor appreciated it. The sorrow of having wasted two months lies there. The writer hit it spot on when he wrote, "But it is also true that we're often plain oblivious to the scenery right in front of us. By being closest, it's farthest away."

Then there was Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I read up the guides, found it as one of the top ten things in Florence to see. I wanted to go. I had to right? Then here comes my brother. "why are we looking for this? Just because it's a World War Two survivor? What about the Kranji War Memorial, Fort Siloso. Those are from the WW II too and I don't see anyone rushing to see it?" then it got me. It's a tourist thing. I mean I've seen these sites since I'm taking national education/social studies in school. But what if I wasn't. Would I visit them? It's like a responsibility of a tourist. See the top ten. Do what everyone else has done. As if it was a trip requirement. I'm kicking myself for missing the Sunday markets just to go to the malls with my mum.

But at the end of the day, I'm thankful for every trip that I've gone on. It's never the same. Might be the company. Might be the sites. Could be the weather. Would be largely based on my attitudes. Bangkok year on year is never the same. Travel while you can. I know I'd do that as long as my legs could carry me. Hey, you can't carry money to the grave. Might as well spend it seeing the world. Living the life of a global traveller. So much to see, things to do, places to go. I'm looking forward to Bangkok on Monday already :)

Daawat Tandoori. Service par excellence.

2011-11-29T00:15:00.000+08:00

Getting out of the pouring rain and jumping into the hot shower.

And curry for dinner. Of course :)

Naans. They had a good offering of different naans. Be sure to specify how you'd like your naans done. We asked for them soft and they came soft just as requested. :) I had the kashmiri and it was chock full of nuts and fruits. Mmmm!

Two servings of fruits and vegetables right? I've settled the fruits. Now for the vegetables. It was a vegetable shahi korma. Mixed cocktail vegetables. Now the understanding was cocktail as another word for mixed. Right? No. When it arrived, it was fruit cocktail. Complete with the papaya bits i love and random cherry bits. For a moment, it seemed we made a wrong choice. Well, it was curry so we mixed it all up anyway. And you'll never guess. It was absolutely naan worthy. :) It was entirely mopped up by dinner's end.

Do you know the origins of butter chicken? According to a Discovery Channel documentary, this indulgent recipe was invented in 1950s, by a chef at the Moti Mahal located in Daryaganj, the central region of Delhi. Initially famed for its Tandoori Chicken, the cooks there used to recycle the leftover chicken juices in the marinade trays by adding butter and tomato. The tandoor-cooked chicken pieces were then tossed in this sauce and there. was. butter chicken!

Pieces of boneless tandoori chicken cooked with butter, tomato puree and various spices including cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, pepper, fenugreek and dried fenugreek leaves (Qasuri Methi) that contributes generously to the distinctive flavour of this dish and of course, topped with fresh cream.

I was just giving random feedback about the spice level of the butter chicken (too spicy for some) to the waitstaff and within minutes, the boss was at our table, asking if we needed anything changed. He said he heard something was too spicy and he was more than willing to get it changed for us. We were already halfway through and told him that it was just a comment, I was more than happy with it really. :) He went on to tell us about how the spice level can be adjusted with differing proportions of tomato based sauce and said that we should let them know immediately if it wasn't to our taste.

Genuine concern for your dining experience. This doesn't happen very often and least when I expected it at such a quiet and homely establishment. A very humble man, he enquired about the rest of the dishes and accepted our compliments with shy thanks. That's service par excellence for you. Just randomly during a point in time of our meal, I was looking over at the laptop that the boss was surfing on and when he saw my line of sight, he was all ready to jump out of his seat to see if there was anything he could get for me. I quickly smiled and assured him otherwise. Service quality. check!

Pun totally intended :)

Just because I wanted ice cream. Early Grey for me. Very heavy on their vanilla base. Which works for me :)
Affordable prices and good quantities of ice cream. Lots of repeat visits for me and everyone else!

Daawat Tandoori Restaurant

207 Upper Thomson Road

Yew Lian Park

Singapore 574346

Tel: 6252 4497/ 6822 3716

Standard Chartered Card Holders get 10% off total bill till 30th April 2012 and there's no service charge. :)

Chomping down at Chomps.

2011-11-26T00:36:00.001+08:00

Haven't been here in a while. Che Jian/ Chia Keng Hokkien Mee has shifted their location to the second stall on the left hand side of the hawker centre complete with a brand new signboard. Today's beehoon didn't seem to have spent enough time in the wok to fully absorb the stock so that made it lacking in taste somewhat. Perhaps just this batch that he fried. Lard toppings were crunchy as usual with their brilliantly complementing sambal chilli that I always need an extra spoonful of.

Carrot cake was good although a little heavy on the salt and prawns fried to death from being the hot frying plate too long. I'd only order the white version at this stall though. The black version isn't as tasty as in other places I've tried. That's just my personal take on it.

Satay beehoon. Looking a lot nicer than it tastes. The serving size was pathetic at a cost of $4. And what made it worse was that it was served lukewarm. Hmm. I expected the beehoon to have been blanched once more and the satay sauce to be well heated. Expectations. Oh well.

Was good dining out with the notsolittle brother.

And Christmas IS coming right up! :)

Makes me happy just seeing this on the racks at the NTUC outlet in myVillage at Serangoon Gardens.

there's nothing like fresh.

2011-11-24T23:20:00.000+08:00

On a cold, wet and rainy day.

I took refuge at Sembawang Hills Food Centre for a lunch date with my girlfriend who works further down the road.

And there was no question about it.

My choice of food that is. (Amazing, I know :))

Fish soup. With rice no less.

Instantly,

It made the world look brighter.

Two simple things.

A good meal. Awesome company.

Simple.

鱼三鲜汤

590 Upper Thomson Road,
Sembawang Hill Food Centre
Singapore(574419)

Sembawang Hill Food Centre

Coffee Shop Surprise

2011-11-23T21:26:00.001+08:00

What would your reaction be to a customer standing at your store looking at the menu but not making a move to order? In a coffeeshop, that is. That customer would be me, yes indecisive my other name. I was half expecting to be ignored or clucked at irritably. None of that though. I eventually voiced my inability to decide between that or laksa and I was met with an understanding smile in return. What a surprise. :)

Wasn't up to taking coconut milk today so I made a quick decision to order a meepok dry. It's been awhile since I had pork and was braving myself for that porky smell but there was none of that. :)

A simple affair at lunch with juicy minced pork bits, a few slices of fishcake with two soft and chewy fishballs on the side in soup. At $2.50, this was value indeed.

Parents are out of town which means my servings of fresh fruits have come to an abrupt stop. To make up for that, my Zespri happy pack came by the courier last evening. The fuzzy kiwi thumbdrive is just the cutest! :))) And there's even a 4-pack of kiwi fruit. The green variety though. Leaving that for my brother and since I was out on a course, I went shopping one lunch for these packs of fast fruits to the rescue. :)

Berry blend was a welcome change from the usual cranberry packs I pick up at the supermarket. A marked difference in costs, but a whole lot more variety in taste. <3

Lian Wah Kopitiam

Blk 133 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

Comfort Food

2011-11-21T22:10:00.001+08:00

Michelin starred it won't be. Just two days apart and not a shred of consistency. I had a thosai in a pretty neat triangle and a generous filling after a double wait time. It was mushy at first spear and my heart pretty much sank along with it.

Food. Is a lot closer to my heart than you'd think. :)

But it got better with the next few forkfuls. Wasn't all mush. There were chunky bits and all of that lovely yellow creaminess. And this time? Not even a subtle taste of spice. Just tasted like boiled potatoes. Small Indonesian potatoes. Saved from blandness by side servings of sambar and dhal. And actual curry chicken gravy. After a majorly drenched cooling off in the rain walking to the bus stop and back home, it's all I could do to boost my immune system with a curry night out. :)

Even if I wasn't offered a lift and almost passed out from hunger. Just being dramatic. :p

Ending the week with. Comfort food.

The Muppets :)

2011-11-21T00:58:00.001+08:00

It's gotta be Ms Piggy. She's a prima-donna pig who is absolutely convinced that she's destined for stardom, and nothing is going to stand in her way. An essential trait for everyone who thinks they can't possibly achieve greatness. What your mind can dream, you can achieve. Like Ms Piggy, winning a beauty contest and meeting the love of her life- Kermit. And somewhere down the line, he reciprocates her feelings (finally) and they eventually get married. Most girls are afraid to be labelled as pigs. It could be the weight issue or looks. But all that is but physical and only skin deep. And even with all that, Ms Piggy gets her break onto a bacon commercial and nabs the frog of her dreams. That's my fairytale to hang on to. :) That's essentially why I love her.

Catch The Muppets in cinemas this 8 December 2011 and like the Official Disney Studios Singapore Facebook Page!

On a curry weather day

2011-11-20T00:12:00.001+08:00

Thosai is a South Indian cuisine. Think crepes and you're just about there.

Baking begins with a batter of rice flour and various pulses (usually dhal/ fenugreek seeds/ lentils) which needs to be fermented for at least eight hours. There's a version from Sri Vijaya Vegetarian restaurant along Selegie Road that grinds their own rice to make Thosai. And there is a marked difference in the taste. Trust me. Your tastebuds will know the difference immediately.

A ladleful of batter is scooped onto a flat griddle and quickly spread out by moving the ladle in a circular motion starting from the middle outwards. Like crepes really. The batter is left to cook until little holes begin to appear and the underside has turned into a delicious golden brown. Thosai is usually eaten with dhal, a coconut chutney and "sambar". From left to right in the picture shown respectively.

The thosai here had a crispy skin with chewy insides. Those at Sri Vijaya are fluffy! The potato masala was creamy and light. If I didn't see the spices, I would have missed their mild-tasting addition altogether. It was too bland for me. I'd prefer my filling to have the addition of a bit more salt and tang from the spices to complement the plain thosai.

This was my attempt to eat healthy at a prata place. And I'm glad I did.

Note to self: Never ask for chicken curry gravy if I ever ordered prata here. It was just a terrible excuse for a chicken curry gravy. It tasted like a lot of curry powder and little of anything else.

Fish curry gravy next time. Everytime from now on.

Casuarina Curry Restaurant

136 Casuarina Road (Off Upper Thomson)
Tel: 6455 9093 Fax: 6455 1230

Operating Hours: 7.00am to 12.00 Midnight

煮炒

2011-11-17T22:37:00.000+08:00

honeyed. perfect sheen from the glazing. meaty. fatty but only enough to ensure that the meat from the ribs are tender and moist.

simple. but oh so satisfying. fried pieces of egg tofu. drenched in a generous egg drop sauce. flavoured with seafood flavours from the fresh prawns and a smattering of belachan. appetizingly shiok.

clams. no-frills version. no tricks. just fresh flower clams. steamed.

we saw a man having a crab all to himself with some mantous and a bowl of rice. not as satisfying the rich peanut version over at Jumbo but equally generous on the egg drop sauce. and if i tell you it's not about the pincers. would you believe me? :)

veggieboost! crunchy crisp. flash fried in a hot wok. good.

Fragrant-ly oily. Deep fried prawns. Crispy crunchy butter bits. If it's all about the prawns to you, it's all about the crunchy salty-sweet bits to me.

The acrid smell of prawn paste. Skin on fried to a crisp. Moist, juicy, tender flesh within. Finger licking good.

Address: 122 Casuarina Road, Singapore

Tel: +65 6452 2824

Daily from 5 p.m. - 1.30 a.m.

traipsing down thomson road

2011-11-13T00:25:00.000+08:00

a good ending :)

Antoinette- C'est une affaire de femme

2011-11-08T11:57:00.001+08:00

The idea of scones and a pot of tea were what I grew up with, but only found in Enid Blyton books.

It isn't a retro rewind but what I'd personally see as a reprieve of the industrial revolution in the subtlest sense. This Parisian style pâtisserie, salon de thé (tea room) and restaurant does well in recreating the exquisite high tea experience of the French and has clearly distinguished itself from the competition with its elaborate doneness.

There are places for high tea and then there is Antoinette.

This 26 seater was a cozy affair indeed with midnight blue velvet plush seats that make it a perfect venue for a tête-à-tête. There's even a fake fireplace that sits in a corner of the restaurant. Be prepared to wait if you're visiting in more than two. And wait you shall, because who would bear to leave the comforts of the chair and the charmingly muted shades of gold and pastel blue?

This colorful repertoire of Parisian style desserts was just too painful for one as indecisive as I. And there were familiar favourites from Chef's Pang's creations as the former executive pastry chef at the Les Amis Group's Canele. Decisions decisions. Sometimes a man does come in handy. A quick text to a friend and his immediate reply to check out the chocolate desserts helped me cut to the chase and settle on one. Yes, just one. The interior may be excessive but my head was screwed on tight and it told me that my stomach was most definitely not in excess of itself in capacity. :)

Choosing a burger was easier than I thought it would be. Just base it on your choice of meat. :)

We're beefing it up with the Burger Royale. Pretty chargrilled lines that show up on the brioche give it a crisp exterior while maintaining that fluffiness of bread. How did they do that? The aged cheddar was beautifully melted over the thick juicy patty of beef packed full of juicy flavour in each bite.

Watch the juice when you slice into it.

And that's because I haven't seen anyone eat with hands here. There's a certain je nai sais quoi about this place that heightens one's awareness of social graces and table ettiquette.

The tomato relish left a refreshingly clean aftertaste on the palate unlike ketchup. And no, you do not need to ask for sauce. There's enough of all that in the burger for you to want to protect that lovely original mix of flavours.

The petit salad was simply dressed with balsamic vinegar and although I'd have preferred potato wedges/ chips, these crisps served at the side were the thick handcooked variety a la Kettle Chips and are apparently imported from France. Now these, you can use your hands. Don't try spearing these with forks.

Half a serving of this was more substantial than I thought. It might've been because of our choice of beef?

But I could see how this would cater to the men who visit.

The Antoinette ($9) was a layered cake of earl grey-infused milk chocolate mousse, dark chocolate earl grey tea cremeux, earl grey tea crumble and chocolate biscuit. And a ‘bubble’ of raspberry coulis sat atop this beautiful chocolate confection.

Not normally as how the chocolate overtakes every other flavour, the earl grey was distinct in taste and fragrance, giving a slight bitterness that did well to balance out the sweetness of milk chocolate and the tart sourness of the raspberry coulis bubble when burst. Don't greedily pop that into your mouth. You'd be looking like a lemon for a bit. Take a forkful deeper within to cut into the brittle biscuit texture of the hazelnut feullitine which contrasts beautifully with the softness of the mousse. You'll be hardpressed to leave any morsel of this dessert behind. And if you were thinking about it, you really shouldn't be caught licking the plate at this place.

This was more than just a tea patisserie where my expectations were only limited to dainty treats that would hardly line the stomach but here at Antoinette, I've been surprised with well-executed and substantial dishes for more than just a spot of tea, perhaps even a dining place for full meals. The men would be well fed with the food, never mind the interiors that were obviously meant for a feminine affair.

While its ostentatious, over the top furnishings and that check presented in a silver jewel box (!) were a little too much for me to handle at first, I'll soon be back for more. Perhaps at the other outlets next time and well prepared to pay some rather dear prices.

And just a random bit of information, Antoinette is part of the Sugar Daddy Group which also owns and operates American-style bakery Pique Nique at Ngee Ann City. This I walked past on my way to Mandarin Gallery and their pricings were equally extravagant. You're definitely needing a sugar daddy for this if you were making visits on a daily basis.

Antoinette, 333A Orchard Road, Mandarin Gallery, #02-33/34,

+65 6836 9527

http://www.antoinette.com.sg/

The Eastern Restaurant @ The Centrepoint

2011-11-07T00:34:00.001+08:00

The Eastern Restaurant is obviously a case in point for locality considerations when opening a restaurant.

Tucked into the deep recesses of The Centrepoint at Orchard,

diners would not even walk there to consider it as a possible dining outlet.

It doesn't help matters when there's a chinese restaurant situated nearer to the escalators.

And this hongkong restaurant has a HK chef from Mak's Noodles at its helm.

So yes, all that contributed to its less than stellar diner count everytime I walk pass the restaurant.

Walk pass. Never into.

Till this bloggers tasting fiesta came about.

For a restaurant that's been around for ten years, they are still coming up with new dishes from time to time to add on to the menu.

Hits and misses, I hope the ones that don't see too many orders get removed from the menu after awhile.

The sausage salad lite bites was a miss with a tough breaded crust and terribly boring sausage.

While the tofu dish was a simple but well executed dish.

It didn't conjure up the poetic justice that should have been with its name by its looks but it did have a very pleasant surprise of a fresh shrimp encased within each tofu piece.

Fried noodles with a generous amount of bean sprouts and sliced carrots and spring onions that added the much needed colour to this otherwise brown gravy coated dish.

Solid la mian noodles of a good doneness with generous slices of fish.

It was just too bad that the sauce was a tad too salty, it overpowered everything else.

And no, I couldn't manage to finish it if I wasn't planning on drowning myself in chinese tea to quench my thirst as an aftermath.

The fried rice was a better bet. Fragrant and resplendent with fresh shrimp and ham and a smattering of floss and scallions. This was a makeover for any leftover rice to die for. And that not an exaggeration. This would actually make me choose rice over noodles anytime. At this restaurant anyway. I don't usually take rice if I had a choice. Hmm.

So this dinner was really supposed to be about the xiao long baos.

Just by coincidence, I had din tai feng just the day before for lunch.

I don't know if it's just the branch at Bishan but those had awfully thick skins and it didn't help that the air conditioner was blasting such that our steamer of xlb was cold within moments of arriving at our table.

Suffice to stay, i didn't enjoy it much.

These however, had a thinner skin by comparison but still kept the soup within safe when picked up with chopsticks and hot for a while yet.

While it could do with a bit more soup, it was well flavoured and very enjoyable xlbs indeed! :)

Brand name and fusion cooking aside, if you're looking for the authentic type xlb with nothing more than just the traditional pork filling, this is where it's at.

Then it was time for desserts. The design on these babies brought images of shuttlecocks and golf balls to our minds. But really, they were simply molten salted egg yolk buns. I took a bite and held it out for a picture. It's not flowing! I was disappointed and left it on the plate while I kept the camera away. The next time I checked, it WAS flowing! Not that this flowing thing is a mark of a good liu sha bao but I quickly picked it up and took another bite. This was good! A salty sweet medley that was well balanced for its savoury and sweet notes. While not comparing it with the better ones out there, this was better than the ones at Imperial Treasure at Ngee Ann City. :)

This is a dessert of choice for me where available. Easily shared and more often than not, a crowd pleaser for most dinners. The proportions were good on this. Ample red bean filling wrapped within a layered filo pastry.

I'd be back for a few of these :)

Once upon a time...

2011-11-06T21:34:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time...

Mr Herbivore :)

~~meats.~~ i mean, meets Ms Carnivore.

Falls in love

And then there was. Lil' Seafood-ivore.

With a couple of tablespoons of dashi miso paste...

And some other additions

They came, they swam, they cooked.

A one pot bubbling dish for the family of Omnivores.

And they ate happily ever after.

Third wedding at the Four Seasons

2011-11-06T20:47:00.000+08:00

It's a wedding season for me in 2011.

But a phase that all individuals go through.

That certain age period when suddenly everyone decides to get marriage and will probably take anywhere between 3-5 years before that phase ends.

Just this year alone, it's the third time I've been at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Never been failed by the weddings but the food has failed me- once.

And surprisingly, it was the ala carte serve that was the worst.

And Cinderella dreams may just be made of these.

A pictorial of their Deluxe Menu

Fried wanton skin for added crunch.

Awesome substitute for shark's fin.

Crunchy greens. Scallops overpowered by the sauce.

Not scoring high on the fresh-o-meter.

Why the addition of a strange miso paste?

The treasure was not in the pearl.

Makes you eat up all your portion of greens :)

A 'pop' in every mouthful. :)

And an absolutely refreshing dessert of aloe and ice jelly.

Food is a pretty important factor in the choice of a wedding dinner venue.

And how high a priority is accorded to food when you chose/ choose a wedding dinner venue?

Hong Kong Street Takeout

2011-11-01T23:26:00.000+08:00

He's the last of us three to be sitting for his 'O' Levels.

The little brother has been out and about on study dates.

Time is of the essence.

And we won't be eating out in peace knowing that he would be hungry till we got home.

When we eat, we eat together as a family. Whenever possible :)

And good food need not be waited for personally.

So we sent our dad out for this:

Not our usual takeout order of a 虾酱鸡 Shrimp/ Prawn Paste Chicken.

Did you know that this popular 'local' dish originated a neighbouring country?

Vietnam, in fact. This paste is a pinkish-grey coloured condiment made from fermented sea shrimps which accounts for its pungent smell and a distinctly salty seafood flavour. The chicken was crispy on the outside but remained moist on the inside. One bite releases the steam and flavoursome juices from within. Burns your tongue but you just can't stop at one :)

There must be some milk in there somewhere correct?

Wrong.

This is one of the few branches of the Hong Kong Street Franchise that does it without milk.

So pray tell where this milky white colour comes from?

I find that I've come to appreciate food more when I know more about them.

Culinary tidbit sharing coming right up!

It seems that the authentic versions of this Cantonese-style soup dish involves some culinary science.

The fish pieces are first deep fried. After which, the oil is drained off. Then at very high wok heat, ginger stock is slowly poured in. Only at such high temperatures can the stock form a milky emulsion with the remaining oil.

Who needs carnation milk when you have kitchen magic? :)

Just a note though, if you've been drinking soups with carnation milk, your tastebuds will need to adjust accordingly. Cantonese-style soups are particularly light in taste.

It takes more than just a spoon of soup to appreciate the subtle flavours within.

It was a delicate, almost milky aroma of sang yee Cantonese: snake fish) inside a light, cloudy stock that was fragrant with wok hei. The sang yee was thick sliced, succulent and delicious.

Judge not by first spoon.

What makes good fried rice then?

Leftover rice. That's a definite. How would you justify paying $10 for leftover rice?

Unlike freshly cooked rice, leftover rice stored in the fridge gets rid of excess moisture, giving you firm grains that instinctly separate themselves grain-wise in the wok. If you're cook with freshly cooked rice then you'll probably end up with something akin to fried porridge. Hmm.

High heat. Not just for the wok hei but the simple fact that a layer of oil on a hot surface will form a non-stick coating for you to fry rice perfectly without sticky grain business.

What's left?

Ingredients. That are entirely up to you. But keep those ingredients 'dry', anything wet will prevent the rice grains from heating up thoroughly and you don't really want to end up with fried mush.

So $10, portions for three with 6 prawns, diced chinese sausages, charsiew, eggs and scallions.

Simple but ohsogood.

And the fact that it came in an opeh leaf just made it even more worth the price. :)

Takeout that doesn't make dinner look nor taste any less appetizing.

Hong Kong Street Chun Kee Restaurant 香港街珍記

Block 151, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, #01-3030
Singapore 560151

Verve Pizza Bar @ The Marina Bay City Gallery

2011-10-30T00:14:00.001+08:00

Noted.

Not the bruschetta.

Ordered in a mains portion.

Tough.

Timbre does Peking Duck better

The toppings were meagre and the crust wasn't as thin as one would expect.

To try :)

Even with the sparse smattering of toppings and too much crust.

Fresh prawns. Handmade pasta.

Just a tad too generous with the oil.

Only because we were too lazy to adjourn for desserts.

Verve Pizza Bar @ The Marina Bay City Gallery

Sun till Thurs: 11am till 12 midnight

Fri, Sat & Eve PH: 11am till 2am

T: 6634 3220

11 Marina Boulevard

Ground floor, Marina Bay City Gallery

(next to open air Wilson carpark)

Singapore 018940

minced pork, mushroom and scallop porridge for a rainy wednesday

2011-10-26T23:31:00.001+08:00

A very welcome mid week break. Or a break anytime in a week is always welcome. :)

I got out of bed later than I planned to and shelved my jogging plans only to realise that I was put on kitchen duty for lunch. How convenient.

It's been awhile. This used to be a Sunday staple for my family. The only 'dish' that my mother will admit to being able to cook a little better than average. Honestly, she can cook a lot more than just a one pot porridge. It's just something she'd rather not do. In any case, if she can do it, you can do it too! :)

All the measurements of the ingredients are technically nonexistent. It's really up to you as an individual.

But just if you'd like to know, that's 22 small chinese black mushrooms, 150g of dried baby scallops, 10 leaves of lettuce, 3 bunches of parsley, 500g of minced pork. Varies depends on the number of people at home and who's cooking. I love mushrooms so... :p

I couldn't find the rice cup that normally resides in the rice container so I used a jollibean container.

Washed and dried of course. 1.5 containers for 5 of us. I left it to soak for just a half hour. Makes it easier to break later with the stirring process. These rice grains are thirsty hippos that drink up a lot more water than you'd expect. If you dont want an overly thick and dry porridge, please go easy on the amounts of rice or the alternative would be to have a big pot!

With a lot of stirring, additions of water throughout the bubbling process and roughly formed minced pork balls, you get lunch that looks like this. Warm, comforting and nutritious porridge on a rainy day.

From our kitchen to yours. :)

Organic Dinner @ The Frangipani Resort and Spa Langkawi

2011-10-23T22:54:00.001+08:00

Walking past a frangipani tree reminded me of...

That pretty white flower by any other name would smell as sweet, taste as good.

Signatures of the resort- The Frangipani Flower Tea and Deep Fried Frangipani Flower.

It was a mild tasting tea akin to a camomile. Very soothing. Honey/ Sugar syrup for add-ons if you'd like. And a very good tea to wash away excess oil from...

Snacking on frangipani fritters. Dipped in a honey mayonnaise mustard dip.

Crunchy savoury meets creamy sweet. You just can't stop munching on them. Well, I couldn't and there was no reason to stop really. Appetizers have been taken to a new standard.

There was of course, the traditional Malay Salad- Ulam: Malay word meaning eating vegetables raw and bitter. This salad is characterized by additions of the banana heart and leaves of the Centella asiatica.
This was served with a spicy side dip of pungent sambal cincalok to whet our appetites before the main courses.

The creamed vegetable soup (Asparagus/spinach/ broccoli? My memory fails me) was a savoury light soup even with the addition of cream.

And there was of course a familiar favourite of spicy kangkong.

Organic wasn't just about vegetables.

Simply stated, organic produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones.

Fear not, for organics include meat and boy did we have our protein fix.

Dry beef rendang which I've read to be served for ceremonial occasions or to honour guests (Us!) :) It was full of beefy flavour and those who enjoy chewing on those tasty tendons, there was a lot of that in addition to pure unadulterated meat.
Sweet and sour fish. This was not the one big fish that we expected by little fish that resembled baby discus fish. I cannot recall the English name of the fish but the Hokkiens would know it was pek kia. Covered in a savoury sweet sour sauce with brightly coloured vegetables, it lit up the table even in the dim light of candles in our cosy dining environment.
And last but not least, the sesame chicken. Each piece was evenly covered with marinade, fragrant with the smell and taste of toasted white sesame. It was a juicy piece of meat bursting with flavours every single helping.

Even if you don't stay at the Frangipani Resort and Spa, you really should drop in on their restaurant when in Langkawi. You'd be guaranteed to be well fed just like we were. On organic food, no less. *rubs tummy

2011-10-23T00:15:00.000+08:00

This was a Groupon offer for a laksa steamboat at $10 instead of the usual $18.50.

To be honest, I was about to ditch the idea of using the coupon after reading the reviews given on hungrygowhere. About how the PRC staff manhandled their child pulling him outside in tears just to show that the boy was 1.2m and had to pay an adult's price. And how using a groupon voucher just gets you crap service and terrible food.

I don't fancy being manhandled nor treated any less just because I was using a voucher.

Well, we decided to be brave souls anyway.

We took a while to decide on drinks and soup bases. Was I about to be given THE EYE?

Well not any of those actually, we were treated like regular diners. Even with smiles! :) The selection wasn't extensive but it was satisfactory. A small selection of cold dishes to start off as appetizers and a few ready-to-eat snacks that I really appreciated served piping hot. Forget the wantons, just get the marinated chicken wings and chicken nuggets :)

The soup pot was huge and given that I'm huge on soups, I'm impressed that we didn't even have to ask for refills. The laksa base was savoury and got a little salty nearing the end of our meal. The herbal soup base was a little bland but got better with the addition of ingredients. Was a good choice to balance out the laksa broth. There was no seafood selection on the menu and from the reviews, it seems as if this differs from regular full priced diners. That's fine with us though. We weren't big on seafood. Mainstay offerings of thinly sliced meats, assortment of balls, veggies and mushrooms was enough for us that night.

Life's always a gamble as long as there are choices to be made. Glad we took the gamble. :)

Try it yourself. Just to let you know if you're using the voucher, there's a 2 hour limit on your meal time. Not that they are strict on it though.

King's Laksa Steamboat

17 Teck Chye Terrace

Just behind Serangoon Stadium in the row of shophouses with the famous Nam Hwa Chiang Fishhead Steamboat.

Nando's Friday! :)

2011-10-22T12:36:00.000+08:00

Guess who dropped in on a cold, rainy Friday afternoon? :)

Meet Barci!

That's Juleana right in the centre, brand manager for Nando's Singapore.

A bubbly, animated girl befitting of her work title. No uppity-muppity show of professionalism that separates her from her team. She leaves me with no doubt of her professionalism when it comes down to serious work but just watching her let her hair down with her colleagues regardless of status was very heartening. A team that laughs at themselves and each other. Hmm. Was well on my way to becoming jaded but this has given me some hope in the working world. :) She came with her team of happy Nandockers (if I heard it right), who are the Patraos of the three different outlets for Nando's Singapore.

Quick lesson in Portugese- Patrao: 'Head of the Family'

which in this case, happens to mean General Manager at Nandos.

What an endearing term!

Loads of people are managers nowadays but how many are patraos?

I don't know about you but I'll definitely be a lot happier working in an environment where everyone's one big happy family. Not a picture painted for others but a life lived up in actuality.

And you're never too young to be a patrao. Bao Shan is the current patrao at the Tanglin Mall outlet and you wouldn't guess from the way she speaks. She's only 24. Young but a year into the service and she's speaking like an old bird! (no offense on the age reference and pun totally intended) Meant for the service line and yes, I can see how she would fare well in the years to come, moving on to the Tampines outlet when it opens! It's nowhere near where she lives but there's not a word of complaint. Positivity in looking forward to a new crew and relishing the challenge of getting to know new Nando's diners from the East! I wish her well and I might just head over to check the new outlet out sometime :)

'Can the Chicks Come In?' is part of their move to create brand awareness, reaching out to varied consumer bases from design offices to schools. Just this year, Nando's was involved in a messy spat with Mediacorp artiste joanne peh and her boyfriend. I can see how a report like that would've turned off lots of people. It was shocking how diners could be treated in such an offensive manner and you wouldn't want to put yourself in the firing range, just because you asked for water. Hmm...

No sense in crying over spilt water.

Let's be objective- Nando's is about peri peri chicken, not bottled water.

And their chicken hasn't failed me.

Everyday should be a Nando's Friday!

I'm glad I invited them down to where I was and I'm pleasantly surprised they made special arrangements to work around my timings, along with Barci. A sight for my sore eyes and ruffled feathers. :)

On their last stop for October in a series of 5 office attacks, I hope they enjoyed themselves being back in school.

Thank you guys! :)

P.S. Just to share the love, if you'd like to have one of those witty cute badges featured above, leave a comment with your email address stating which design you'd like to receive. :)

Go! Go! Curry!

2011-10-22T00:17:00.001+08:00

It's been perfect curry weather this whole week! :)

What's the deal about a cheer on for gorillas and curry?

I stood around watching their promotional video (entirely in Japanese) and I will not pretend to have understood more than "Oiishi!" :p I did however, recognize Hideki Matsui who plays for the New York Yankees and his jersey number, 55 which was the reason for Go! Go! (the number 5 in Japanese) clearing my entirely reasonable idea of it being a cheer for the curry. And well, his Godzilla nickname influenced their eventual choice of a gorilla for a mascot.

But just like an entirely serendipitious sort of phenomenon, that's probably brilliant though. The idea of a Go! Go! in your restaurant's name psychologically propels your body to respond to your subconscious mind. Go! Go! to the Curry! now! That was me anyway.

So next time you walk past, tell me if you feel a sudden compulsion to act on it! :)

Why go for less, when you can challenge the Grand Slam!

Actually, I just couldn't decide what I wanted with my curry. :D

This wasn't what I expected from a Japanese curry. It was a distinctive dark brown colour and a more pronounced peppery taste. Think: A thicker version of beef stew. I liked it! Whether curry or called by any other name because this was comfort-type soul food on a rainy day. They weren't generous enough with the curry sauce though, unlike cocoichi and no, I did not know that I could add on extra portions of curry until I read one of the reviews that suggested extra curry and extra cheese! Mmm.

So if you were going at it alone, remember that these curry rice sets have a larger than normal portion of rice even on the healthy version. Diners pick from a choice of Shrimp, Sausage, Pork or Chicken cutlet, accompanied by shredded cabbage. And unless you're with someone else, I don't know how one person's stomach can manage 650g of rice with curry and 4 sides.

It was a good post zumba dinner. I workout hard for my curry rewards. :)

As with all good meals, they should end with a dessert.

Essentially a Snickers bar deconstructed and reconstructed into a stack with dense chocolate cake layers.

Rich. Peanut buttery. Dense. Caramelish. Definitely. Sweet. All too much for a post-curry late night dessert but I see it as most certainly an energy bar for that extra boost of sugar rush energy if taken at lunch time.

Girlfriend timeout in the midst of a mad week at Ion. :)

cheesecake challenge

2011-10-21T00:07:00.000+08:00

We had a blind taste test of 12 different cheesecakes at church. Granted they were variations of

cheesecakes (i.e. marbled, oreo, sourcream) but they were evident enough for the fact that ...

Hilton's cheesecake came out tops. But I still think that it tastes just like a block of Philedelphia Cream Cheese but that's just my opinion.

Coming in a close second was CBTL's Chicago Cheesecake, a tie with Olio Dome's Oreo Cheesecake.

Yums.

Between 4 girls and a whole load of life stories to speak of, we had these two cakes.

Praline is the featured cake of the month and it was better than we though. Think hazelnut cream in cheesecake. :)

Meals for another time. Desserts'll have to suffice for now.

Love,

through the years

2011-10-18T22:14:00.000+08:00

Starting out with the pretty daybreak that greeted me while walking out to take my bus this morning. :)

It's Day 2 of marking and I decided that today shall be the day I buy home some...

Loong Fatt Eating House & Confectionery
No. 639 Balestier Road
S(329922)
Tel: 62534584

I'm just right next to this place so how could I go home without any? Technically I did as was the case on Day 1 since I was going off to zumba classes. My love affair with this was way back in secondary school days. Not so long ago of course. Double digit long.

Hmm. We used to take a cab rushing down from school at Upper Bukit Timah Road just to get here in time for tea and takeaways. How's that for love?

The shop front and it's baking premises have remained unchanged over the years but their packaging has seen an innovative update. But all that's just about the looks. What about the taste? That's the most important part of any food item isn't it?

So what do you think? :)

When they say a picture speaks a thousand words, I think I've achieved that and more with this photo right there!

**Just one thing I'd add: Ladies especially, I've heard that they do not use lard in their pastries so eat up and enjoy!

Note: As with all things, in -moderation- of course.

Nothing better than a flaky crisp salty TSP on an indecisively rainy day.

zumba & an ichiban monday

2011-10-18T00:07:00.001+08:00

Happy shiny me! With my fave sweatpants and after brisk walking over from Balestier Hill Primary School to Orchard Central for a zumba class at zestykickz @ OC #05-31. :) it's a WNS (womennsports) trial class that was some awesome fun. I've been to zumba twice already. Once at true fitness that had a really fun instructor- xiaowei. She tells you what to do and tries her best to make sure you can do it while having loads of fun letting loose, singing, dancing, screaming. The other time was a mass zumba party that ended up to be a mess. Literally. People stepping all over you, punching you. It was fun but. Too much body contact could kill someone. Terribly organization. Anyhow, this time, it was non-stop action with our argentinian instructor. Very little talk, different types of zumba actions, at least 10 different tracks and an awesome nonstop one hour workout with proper warm ups and proper cool downs. She doesn't rush you one bit. Just makes sure you enjoy it. All zumba peeps are fun loving. It's a passion that shines through them.

And then there was dinner. Ichiban Boshi @ Centrepoint with my dive girlfriends. Updating me on work and their love lives. Aww. How nice it is to be young. :p And yup, there's an oily treat for a post-zumba workout dinner indeed. Pumpkin croquette. Complete with my spicy thousand island-ish dip and tonkatsu sauce. It's a 50-50 reason why I ordered this many a time. It's the pumpkin and it's the sauce :) and my aburi maguro and spring fever. That's dinner for me.

Still feeling good from the leftover adrenaline pump today chasing away those Monday blues. Looking forward to zumba on wednesday! :)

2011-10-16T15:34:00.000+08:00

Scene 1 Take #1:

Lao San Kway Chap

Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3

12.30 p.m.

Sunday

Three Hungry People

Dad (patiently waiting for his turn) : *thinks* Hmm. What should I order?

Lady with bike helmet (swings plastic bag around) : My tupperware is leaky. My soup is dripping all over me. Can I get it changed? (in dialect)

The boss (reaches for some braised fatty meat) : *thinks* I will continue to prepare the order. Just change the plastic bag or something already...

Everyone in the scene: *burps*

And... it's a wrap!

Handmade(Pulled) Ban Mian. Seletar #01-05 @ Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Hawker Centre.

2011-10-16T11:58:00.000+08:00

I think dad's probably the real foodie in the family. He decided that he -had- to go to Toa Payoh to check out the newly renovated Lorong 8 Market and Hawker Centre. I wasn't planning on eating since I just had my dental visit. But then, I got away unscathed. :p That's stories for another day. I decided to reward my bravery for making it through yet another dental visit. Not really.

It's just that I saw a queue at this particular stall- Seletar Sheng Mian and Mee Hoon Kueh. So when I got here so I knew I had to queue too. -deadpans- So the real reason is...

I was just hungry. Not really that too. And this has gone far enough.

I spied this! This tray of dough that is gathered up, stretched it, slapped back down and a pair of scissors is used to cut up a small corner of it before it's torn into varying sizes and thrown into a pot of bubbling liquid. :) Oh and THAT has to be the real reason why I gave into this bowl of old school mee hoon kueh.

Let me offer you more reasons. Case in point -points at prawns- For $2.50, you get two prawns, not just minced pork but lean pork too, egg and the works of fried shallots and fried anchovies. And the best part? Spinach. And of course, the name itself is a misnomer. You order ban mian but you get mee hoon kueh anyway. :) These dough pieces come in characteristically torn pieces of varying sizes with a lot of bite! All that stretching, pulling and slapping translated it to a good jaw workout. The ones that came before me made orders for the sheng mian which looked good too. And of course there was a dried version. I saw the mix. It's dried chilli flakes in deep red oil and LARD oil. Topped off with a generous squeeze of thick dark soy sauce. I'm not sure if it's the sweet or savoury variety. It was an inviting mess when mixed up though. Hmm. Indulge a little. Sometimes.

I just wanted to try the original soup version that day. The soup was flavourful. Much too flavourful, it might've been seasoning though. Well, we'll be back for the other versions for sure.

And I love this. Not that I love to eat things that fail in the looks/ presentations department. But only at the heartland bakeries do you find these packets of cake ends. <3 There's durian, pandan, original and chocolate swiss roll ends in there.

It's always an assortment and always a yummy mess. Just eat up! A perfect ending for an old school day.

No one said terrible looking food must taste terrible. It's not all about looks. Let's not be that shallow eh? I'm sure I can find someone who enjoys eating cake ends like I do? :)

Gelish at Pretty 360 Singapore Shopping Centre #05-25 (*Non-food related post)

2011-10-14T23:23:00.002+08:00

It's been a while. like. well, a long while since I can't even remember when the last time was for a manicure. The idea of sitting in a salon getting my nails primped and preened over by a manicurist is just too far removed from my school-home reality that I rarely venture into these uncharted waters. Then comes a call from my cousin with a voucher that allows me to choose between a classic mani pedi + foot and hand mask/ scrub or a gelish mani with hand mask. It was a welcome treat! Just right in time for a good break from the madness of school this week, a wedding dinner this weekend and the others coming up.

The problem was, like it wasn't hard enough to find a day to fix the appointment, I had to choose my treatment. So of course I seeked the advice of the professionals. Three of them in fact. Love my total-opposite of me girlfriends. Gelish was the unanimous reply. It helped that they totally knew I was a nightmare at keeping my manicure intact.

What then, is Gelish? If you are like me, far left behind with the fashion forward crowd then read on and let me share my newfound knowledge. :)

Gelish works like acrylic gels but they apply like polish (hence the namesake) and are cured in an LED/ UV lamp. They come in an equally dazzling array of colors as the traditional nail polishes. What then, makes gelish -the- choice of manicures these days? The simple fact that it stays on nails for three weeks with no chipping or peeling! But they do however, require a proper soak off for removals which can be completed in 15 minutes.

On a Friday, I skipped out of school (actually I dashed out of school and across the road, really) to hop onto the train for my appointment at Pretty 360.

Say hello to my pretty manicurist! Now then, let's talk nails.

1. Sanitize, prep, and push back cuticles.

2. Filing them down to my requested square tips.

3. Buffing them with a sponge block and after a quick wipe with the cleanser

4. Applying a Gelish Foundation Gel in a thin layer including sealing the nail edges

Then comes the first coat of colour, the second coat and finally a Gelish Top Coat Gel Sealer from cuticle to free edge.

For all these applications, I had to leave my hand in a UV lamp for 2 minutes. I felt like microwavable taco pockets. Pop them in for 2 minutes a piece, take one out and put the other in again.

In any case, I loved the fact that I was all good to go after the final curing process. It's DRIED! Plus it's amazingly shiny and smooth. I've been warned that the only problem would be to see where the nail had grown out given the long lasting nature of Gelish hence the friendly advice to choose a lighter shade of nail colour.

And the package includes a hand mask. So amidst my microwave popping exercises, I got a good rubdown on my arm and hands including a short but rejuvenating massage on my palms. She's small but hey, she packs a punch when doing the rubdown and massage. And I really appreciated that she was sweet enough to grab my bag and shoes for me after the manicure although I was entirely functional to grab these things on my own with my fast dried Gelish. :)

So if you have long nails and don’t need extensions, Gelish polish is a great alternative to gel nails! Let's see how long we ride out this Gelish manicure. I'm counting on the minimum of 3 weeks as promised.

And I'm thinking I could get used to this. At least once in. Well. A -while- ;)

prawns. stripes&shoes. chasing away the blues

2011-10-14T00:24:00.000+08:00

So with an aunt who works at Chinatown and a grandma who is a culinary wonder in the kitchen, there's always good food on the table. Now that she drives to work, we're getting this on a weekly Tuesday basis. Prawns, that is. These fresh prawns at $8/ kg depending on catch season, time at the market and more often than not, what mood the seller's in. The latter being the most volatile and least amount of influence on the price, really.

Prawns.

Apparently the use of chinese rice wine (绍兴酒) a la drunken prawns as opposed to just boiling these fellas in hot water, makes a whole load of difference to the texture of the meat. Firmer and more Q- chewier. I'm not a seafood fan but for these fresh prawns, I'll take my rashes if they come. And no, they didn't this time. Thankfully so.

And just because I met the crew in a stripes theme today on shoe shopping mission, I just wanted to share the loot.

The Mitju Warehouse Sale is now on till Saturday, 15/10/11 at *Scape and they've got some pretty shoes. Size dependent, high crowd tolerance required. It took a lot of willpower and a lot of girlfriend discussion and advice to walk out of there feeling like i had made -entirely- necessary and sensible expenditures on the millionth pair of shoes I now own. Only three are mine, the other two are for mummy. And now I can set my heart at ease, batting n'er an eyelid to throw away a pair of used heels. Just. One. Easy does it.

Beard Papa- Pipin' Hot Cream Puffs

2011-10-12T22:06:00.000+08:00

Almost ten years on for Beard Papa in Singapore and their flagship outlet at the basement level of Takashimaya used to be a routine for us on weekends during my cousin's national service stint. We ran like clockwork. Sundays at church, lunch somewhere, a book run at Kinokuniya and finally a stop for desserts at Beard Papa. It used to be one for each of us and takeaways for half a dozen till the takeaways didn't even last the car ride home. We had to double it to a dozen so that there'd be at least some left for the ride back to Hendon.

Their tagline was a leaf out of Carlsberg's own- Probably the Best Cream Puff, when they were first brought into Singapore. At $2.20 for a cream puff, it wasn't expensive but neither was it the most affordable snack around but I was lucky I got to eat it on most weekends for almost a year long.

Prices have since increased to $2.80 for a cream puff. When my colleague brought one for me today, it was an immediate perk-me-up. A little leftover cold from the overnight refrigeration but that just made the filling ever more so (ful)filling. It's the first time i've actually noticed the vanilla seeds in its fillings. Not too sweet, creamy rich and made with actual vanilla pods. Mmm. Was this a recent addition? Perhaps last time I just gobbled it all up fresh and never noticed the filling. Even cold, the puff was light and airy. It wasn't oily and it was a nice accompaniment to the cold creamy filling encased within.

I think I've just found a long lost love. :)

Have you tried their other product offerings? They have a chocolate and strawberry filling, tiramisu, a lava-ish chocolate fondant that requires a heat-up before consumption... (There's more, I haven't kept up with their latest product offerings except for what I've seen on a walkpast and in their advertorials) and their Tio Glutton Stick. A cream cheese cake on a biscuit base in an entirely non-guilt inducing stick form, the only item which costs less than $2 at their outlets. That's the only item I've tried besides their vanilla cream puff.

Well, time for more of Beard Papa sweets! :)