The magic of Chong Qing hotpot

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. :)

Brunetti at Tanglin Mall

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

Nando's Friday! :)

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. :)