KeropokMan: Singapura Makan

Black Forest Cake by Laurent Bernard Chocolatier

2012-05-31T17:20:00.001+08:00

It's the FIL's birthday and the wife (KopiKosongGirl) was trying very hard to decide what cake shall we get him? Dad's favourite cake is the Black Forest Cake.

After some intensive online research, (ie reaching blogs and reviews), the wife read a lot of good reviews about the Black Forest Cake by Laurent Bernard Chocolatier. She placed an order for it to be picked up at their Takashimaya basement branch.

We wanted to surprise them by going to their house after work, but... we forgot their schedule! They were out! Anyway, we finally got to meet them when they got back later.

That's how the cake looks. Glaced with dark chocolate, it's a 500gm cake for $45.

How it looks inside. Layers of dark chocolate mousse, Kirch cremeux and cherries that had been soaked in Kirch here and there.

It kind of melts really quickly, as in the outside layer of dark chocolate turns very soft. Dad liked it, I think he likes cakes with liquer cherries. (that's what I think! haha)

KKG and I think it's more of a chocolate mousse cake with a little liquor rather than a Black Forest Cake. It's from a chocolate shop after all. I would prefer it to have more cake and maybe lighter instead of being so rich. It's a bit too rich for me. It's a nice cake though.

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
Takashimaya Basement 2
391 Orchard Road
Singapore 238872

Arkadas Cafe @ Fusionopolis

2012-05-30T01:42:00.000+08:00

My colleagues and I felt bored eating at our regular lunch place and someone suggested something more exotic. Someone suggested trying out Turkish food at Fusionopolis. We thought why not? So we took the Circle Line train to Fusionopolis station.

We were glad we came early just before 12 noon. It was because to our surprise, this Turkish food cafe was so popular. There was about two big groups of people, probably some research group from A*Star having their lunch. The other tables were also quite occupied. (This place is not very big by the way.)

One colleague who had been to Turkey ordered this Turkish Tea $2 to start her meal.
I did not try it, so I did not know how it taste. I should have ordered one too!

We shared a Houmus with Pita Bread ($6.50)
The houmus made was nice, in fact, as we ate it, we seemed to enjoy it even more. We wiped it clean! (We noticed the spelling was houmus, probably the Turkish spelling of hummus.)

The pita bread that comes with it was not what we usually expect when we see pita bread.
It was a thick roll of bread instead of flat pita we usually see. It was served warm too. Somehow it went so well with the houmus. We literally keep pinching bits of it to scoop up the houmus.

As usual, we have a colleague who will flip and flip the menu deciding what to eat. The menu was only a thick piece of paper folded in two, so there was not much to flip anyway. (I am sure you have colleagues like this or this might be you!)

So he finally decided to have the Set Lunch. There was two sets and he went for Set A ($10).

Set A consists of Doner Chicken Kebab & Butter Rice, Green Salad and Soup of the Day.
It was Mushroom soup that day, which our picky colleague smiled when he tasted it.

The kebab did look quite appetizing and smell very good too. The portion of meat was good too. If you are expecting more greens, well the above was what you will get. It comes with a good portion of rice too.

I ordered something called the Musakka ($10) because it had such an exotic name.
The description of this dish on the menu was Minced beef tossed with green capsicum and tomatoes.

It was a bit like baked rice. Minced beef at the bottom, then aubergines over the minced beef and there was big red chillies (which I think was their capsicum, though it's red instead of green) and tomatoes topped with cheese.

As I have not tasted it before, I could not imagine the taste. It's something that you will grow to like if you are an aubergine person. I know this is not what KopiKosongGirl will eat.

My order comes with either rice or bread. I chose the rice. (like the one in the set meal).
The rice was fluffy and it tasted quite nice. I actually ate the rice on its own. If only the bowl of rice was bigger. I had the Musakka on its own ;-)

The two other colleagues ordered the same thing.
Both of them had the Adana Kebab ($14) which was a mix of lamb and beef.

The two orders came at separate timing. We initially wondered if they missed out one order. Then we realised that one smell better and the kebab looking more juicier than the other. The first one looked dryer and the other one looked both juicier and oilier. We were speculating the two chefs each had their own version of the same dish.

Both of them had their meat with rice too. (instead of bread).

We decided to try their dessert as well. This was the cream caramel ($4).
It was a cold dessert, but we think the one we had the caramel might have been a bit burnt. It had a slight bitter taste of burnt caramel. We still finished it all though because it was a nice cold dessert.

The food's different from our usual meals. The set meal seems like a good deal. There seems to be a crowd too. Not sure if it's like that all the time, it does seem to be popular. We will probably be back to try the other dishes. I liked their version of Pita bread and houmus.

On the menu, it says presented by Chef Mustafa and Chef Ismail. A quick check online shows that Chef Mustafa Gungar worked 22 years in Singapore's Turkish embassy as the personal chef to eight ambassadors.

Arkadas Cafe
1 Fusionopolis Way
Connexis Tower
#03-02
Singapore 138632

Tel: +65 6466 9918
Web: http://www.arkadascafe.sg

Smittten by The Patissier

2012-05-28T17:20:00.000+08:00

May is a month of many many celebrations in our family. We have had so many slices of cakes for many occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Cakes are something very high in calories and nowadays people if they see the same cake, they would not touch it, by giving many kinds of valid sounding excuses. (My doctor says can't take sugar, I am on medication, etc)

Sadly, it's no longer the though that counts. Many in Singapore have been having too good a life. We are sometimes guilty of that too.

We gave our aunt a birthday surprise few days ago. With the help of our cousin, we went to her house and surprised her.

This was an interesting cake we bought. It's a meringue roulade. It's full of sugar, but since we are going to eat only a slice each, it's easy to work off the calories ;-)

The cake's from Smitten by The Patissier.We got it from the Takashimaya basement 2 aka the food floor.

It's called the Enchanted Hug. We initially wanted to get something else but was convinced to buy this instead after sampling some of it by the lady at the counter.

The description does sound very yummy right?
Yes, it's a bit dear in pricing.

This is how a cut slice of it looks. It has a combination of sweetness plus a little sourness of the passionfruit and tartness of the berries.

Taste like having light fluffy meringue layered with sinful decadent ingredients.

Lots of mouths / lips!

The kiss again! That's how the box looks like. Very lady bling!
They provide dry ice in the box that stays cold for about 1 hour according to the lady at the counter.

This post is for those who like us are always on lookout for interesting cakes to buy and try.

Smitten by The Patissier
Takashimaya Food Hall (Basement 2)
391 Orchard Road
Singapore 238873

Beerfest Asia 2012 (7-10 June) @ Marina Promenade

2012-05-24T23:00:00.000+08:00

This post is meant for readers 18 years old and above.

Have you been to the Beer Festival? Do you know it has been in Singapore for 3 years and this year, it will be the 4th installment? I have not been to it but the kind folks from Timbre Group has sent me 6 different beers to try before the Beerfest that's being held from 7-10 June.

These 6 beers are just a small sample of what will be available. At the Beerfest, there will be over 350 different types of beer to purchase. If you are interested to know the types of beer and the prices, the Beerfest website: http://www.beerfestasia.com lists them all.

The Beerfest is not only about beer. It's organised by the Timbre Group, you know that they have been associated with great music. At the festival, there will be great sing-along songs and familiar tunes performed by two top international bands as well as Singapore top bands. The two international bands are Hell's Belles from the US and All Star SuperGroup from Australia.

There's also the Comedy Club that will make you laugh your heads off. The audience can look forward to stand-up comedy by Australian and UK comedians. The Sons of Singapore, a local comedy trio will also be making their debut at this year's Beerfest.

You can also expect the usual grub that goes with beer. German gourmet sausages, nachos, meatballs and the rest are also available.

Now to talk about the 6 types of beers that I got delivered to me. I have never seen them before. They are from 6 different countries as well.

We invited our relatives over for dinner one weekend and after dinner we had a beer sampling session. It was a mix of 7 adult men and ladies.

Everyone has their own preference for beer and this are just some responses I got from them.
I wont be giving a super detailed taste profile of the beer and also the ingredients. You can taste it at the Beerfest itself. Beer is another thing that's very personal. For example, my colleague's husband will only drink certain brands of American beer!

Here's our more light hearted review of it.
I have also included the professional's tasting notes to it.

Australian Beer - Hawthorn Pilsner (4.7% ABV)
This beer's from Melbourne, Australia. Brewed in the suburb of Hawthorn by the Hawthorn Brewing Company Pty Ltd.

Our guest liked this. It is crisp and clear and best served super cold. That was what most of them said. They loved it because of clean taste of it.

Supplier's tasting notes:
With Pilsner Malt as the base and just a hint of light Crystal Malt, it pours a crystal clear gold colour. Cool fermentation with an imported yeast strain and a lengthy cold storage ensures a very clean & crisp palate, while the use of noble German hops mid way through the boil introduces a delectable floral flavour. Finally, the dry hop a fresh Czech variety for a delicate spicy aroma. Highly refreshing and light to medium in body.
Winner – Best Lager/ Pilsner Hong Kong International Beer Awards 2011

Singapore Beer - Jungle Beer Tropical Wheat (4.3% ABV) $12
I see on Instagram that many folks like this Singapore brewed beer. Other than the usual famous Tiger, Singapore also has other beers like this one!

We had mix responses from our guests. Some liked it and some did not. Orange pulp and Mango puree are in the list of ingredients. Some guests thought that the mango flavour was too strong though. So if you like mango, this might be your kind of beer. The funny thing is when you burp, it's the orange taste that comes out. ;-)

Supplier's tasting notes:
The finest fruits, flowers and spices from around the tropics are use to add excitement to the ever popular wheat beer. Simply complex! The intense citrus notes from the Brazilian oranges contrast perfectly with the ripe and mellow flavors from mangoes in this most perfect afternoon beer.

Czech Beer: Primator (4.8% ABV) $6
How did we think of this beer? It's a funny response we got. Don't laugh. At the first taste of this beer, someone said it tastes like cold Pu-er tea and everyone all agreed instantly. They also said it tastes better but lighter than Guinness. It gives a sweet after taste.

Supplier's tasting notes:
Mid fermented beer with full richness, soft distinct bitterness pure hop aroma.Clear, deep chestnut color with a dense, light tan head that holds up well. Smells of Rich, toasty, bready malts with a touch of caramel -- even light molasses and finishing with light Saaz hops.Taste Pretty much the same character as the nose, starting with bready malts that meld into dark bread and molasses flavors then into a light Saaz character that balances well with the rich malts in the finish. There's even a mild, underlying roast character and a lightly sweet malt character -- even a light dark fruit character in the aftertaste. is soft to dry with a light-medium body.

New Zealand Beer: Croucher Ale (5% ABV) $10
Our guests did not really like this NZ Beer though. Probably we could not appreciate it. Folks said it has a funny taste and it had a bitter aftertaste too.

Supplier's tasting notes:
A rich rose-gold hue, this ale has a wonderful aroma of passionfruit and lychee; very smooth with a gorgeous lingering finish.

Indonesian Beer: Diablo (5% ABV) $7
It's not the computer game Diablo that people queued for at Funan last week.

This Indonesian beer surprisingly had more supporters than the NZ beer. Very smooth was the general reply given by most who drank it.

Supplier's tasting notes:
This clear bodied ale pours a shiny copper and offers up lovely fresh hops with a welcoming bitterness, makes it a rich, yet fruity and dry finish.

Taiwanese Beer - Taiwan Beer (5% ABV) $5 (1 for 1)
One of the lightest beer that we all tried that night. It's an easy to drink beer for non beer drinkers. It tastes like water and because we tasted this after the rest of the beer, we thought it did not have the usual beer fragrance. The can says it has won quite a few gold medals though.

Supplier's tasting notes:
Taiwan Beer is an amber lager beer with a distinct taste produced by the addition of Ponlai Rice during the brewing process.

That's our short and simple review of the beer.

Want to know more about Beerfest Asia 2012?
Head to their website at: http://www.beerfestasia.com/

Tickets for the event starts $15 and it includes one complimentary beer to be redeemed at the venue.
Tickets available from www.sistic.com.sg

Keisuke Tonkotsu King @ Orchid Hotel, Tanjong Pagar

2012-05-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

Last week, we had a friend, Lyrical Lemongrass visiting from Kuala Lumpur. She was supposedly here for a work trip, but we think she's here for a Ramen Trip! In the 1 week she was here, she had probably 8-10 different types of the 'must visit' Ramen places in Singapore.

KopiKosongGirl and I were going to meet Ms Lemongrass for some ramen at Menya Musashi. She was staying in the hotel in the same building, so she said she had already tried it. There was a queue at Menya Musashi, so while queuing, she told us, the ramen she had at Keisuke Tonkotsu King was so much better and if we got to queue, the other queue will be more worth it!

And so we decided to change shop!

We had to start queuing again! It took us around 40 minutes before it was our turn to get in!
It has been a long time since we queued for anything. We usually bypass queues and go for alternatives. The 3 of us think it's worth waiting here. If you come around 8, the queue might be shorter we reckon. We were there at 7 plus! (during peak hour!)

While waiting in line, you will see this being passed along to you. It's the order chit clipboard. Take 1 piece of paper for each bowl. You can specify if you want more or less of the 'chicken oil', if you would like lighter or stronger taste of the broth, you can choose the texture of noodles too.

When it's about your turn to go get a seat, they will collect your order chit and start preparing it. Probably all except one person is non-Japanese working there, so mark your order clearly, in case you can't communicate with them later! (LOL)

The menu. 3 different kinds plus all the additions you want.
The restaurant is really 'hole in the wall' restaurant. It's a corner lot on the side of Orchid Hotel. The place is very small with only around 22 seating spaces. That explains why the wait was so long. The faster people finish their food, the faster you will get a seat. If you are here, eat faster so others may get a chance too as well.

The service here was super quick though. The moment you sit down, they pass you a bowl of sesame seeds for you to grind.

You will notice a glass bottle of marinated beansprouts. If you are a beansprouts person, you will like it. It's marinated with sesame oil and a little salt and it's a little spicy and very very tasty. One of our dining companion is not a sprouts person, so she did not touch it.

They also have a basket of hard boiled eggs for you. The brown ones are lower in cholesterol! These are free flow, you can eat so many as you want. We were about to take an egg to eat and our ramen arrived. That was less than a minute after we sat down.

These are the hard boiled eggs and not the onsen tamago. ;-)

The Red Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen.

This was quite potent. It's very spicy, so it's best not to mix the chilli in the soup if you think you can't take it. I eventually finished it all up though!

You should try the original broth side first (without mixing it with the chilli). On your first mouth you would taste the intense 'porky bone' flavour of the soup and you can tell it has been boiling for hours. For folks like me who love pork bone based soup, you will definitely like it.

They have chicken oil on it, so the mix of pork bone and chicken oil was quite fragrant. If you think you don't like the chicken oil, mark it in your order chit. The chilli was not salty if you eat it as it is, but it's heat level is intense. Mix it with the salty broth, and it much better.

I slowly mix the chilli into the soup and as I got more used to it, I mixed more.

The Black Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen

On the first mouth, KopiKosongGirl said it was an 'impactful' peppery taste. It will hit you.
At the end of the meal, you tongue and lips will feel numb. I read it's roasted sichuan peppercorn oil.

So if you like super pepper taste, this should be your choice.

Ms Lemongrass had this and she ordered the 'original' this time. She had the black spicy one the night before and wanted to try how it original one tasted.

She was definitely happy to be back here for more ramen. Slurping the noodles away with the delicious pork broth that she says you can't really get in KL.

She said the original is the best, and when we tasted hers, we agree with her. It was very nice. The next time we are back, we will order this.

We love the onsen-tamago in the noodles. The ones on the table is hard boiled eggs, but the ones in the noodles if you order it, is the soft runny egg yolk ones. I can easily eat 2 or 3 of these!

The meat slices on the noodles we think they were quite ordinary (doesn't mean it's not nice). Not those melt in your mouth kind. It's you need to bite kind lean meat. You can compare the 3 bowls above. It's the broth and the noodles here that are superb. The flavour of the thick broth was very good and memorable. Even as I write this now, I am so tempted to go back tomorrow for more!

We liked the beansprouts too. Slightly crunchy and it goes well with the noodles and soup.
Be prepared to get very warm inside and have your clothing smell of pork broth after the meal! Not a place to bring your date, unless your date is a foodie and he/she will be totally in awe!

Keisuke Tonkotsu King
1 Tras Link
#01-19 Orchid Hotel
Singapore 078867

Tel: +65 6636 0855
Hours: Lunch, 11.30am – 3pm / Dinner, 6pm – 10pm

Saboten @ Changi Airport Terminal 1

2012-05-22T23:59:00.000+08:00

I was at Changi Airport taking quite a few flights the last few weeks. A few times to receive people, I have been taking a few flights out from Changi Airport too.

KopiKosongGirl works in the Suntec area and she has been telling me Saboten is really nice. We have noticed the branch at Terminal 1 and have been wanting to try it. Just the other day, I had a flight to catch and I arrived early. After checking in, I still had time and I thought I would grab some dinner, it was a short budget flight with no food after all.

I went up the escalator and I saw this. I looked at my watch and it's before 6 pm. Looks like a very good offer!

I ordered it. I usually order pork but I thought I will try the chicken this time. For $12, it's quite a good deal isn't it?

The almost all Filipino service staff were quite efficient. Got me a table pronto and since I already knew what I wanted, I said, the deal on the big poster outside. :-)

A huge bowl of sliced cabbage was served in a jiffy. (Like most airport eating place, most people have a plane to catch!) There were two sauces, sesame and yuzu vinaigrette. I tried both and I prefer the sesame one.

The mix of black and white sesame to be grounded. The sauce for the fried chicken katsu later.

Three scoops of it with the grounded sesame was the instructions when I asked.
I like that bamboo scoop!

The chicken katsu was nice! It was so crisp and fluffy outside and the meat was nice too.
It was so easy to eat and bite because the chicken was so tender. Be careful, it's really really hot!

I had 30 minutes for the whole meal, so I had enough time to eat slowly.
The big bowl of cabbage, I only ate half of it, I was being considerate to my neighbors on the plane later. You know cabbage causes lots of gas right?

When I thought I was done, I asked for the bill. I was told there's still green tea ice cream.
Oh wow, ice cream too! You can see it's taken straight out from the freezer all pre-portioned and left in the freezer. It was nice though.

Quite a nice warm meal that's considered cheap in the airport.
Oh yes, for those who are collecting Changi Rewards points, your meal here gets you some points too. The machine that day was not working so I could not get the points though. (sigh!)

Saboten
Changi Airport Terminal 1 (Public Area)
Viewing Mall Level 3

Tel: + 65 6214 9504
Hours: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Taste of Penang @ Sentosa

2012-05-16T16:37:00.000+08:00

[Invited Tasting]

If you are looking for some Penang Food buffet, here's one that you might want to try. It's only from 10 - 20 May 2012 at Sentosa. I got to try it last night with KopiKosongGirl.

For the Taste of Penang, Sentosa has invited 54 year old Chef Qua Hun Siam from Penang to show case some of his signature dishes. Chef Qua and his wife runs restaurant and catering service in Penang and has cooked for the Chief Minister of Penang. His family heirloom recipes such as Fried Porridge is being served here.

The venue for the buffet is on the 2nd floor of Taste of Asia.
It's open air, so wear light clothing. Being next to Songs of the Sea, you get to watch the fireworks too!

The food prepared by Chef Qua is based on home-styled Penang cooking, so it might be different from the usual road-side hawker fare you have in Penang.

It's open air, so they can do the fried kway teow on demand.
Here are some of the dishes that KopiKosongGirl (KKG) and I think are unique and we liked.

Penang Rojak.
The very fruity rojak from up north is something very tasty.
The secret is in the sauce that they are not revealing. The chef's secret sauce is the answer.

The sauce is light brown in colour, a bit like thick gula melaka texture, but it's not.
Hmm. Maybe there's some gula melaka in it. We liked it. Ask for more youtiao if you are a youtiao fan. ;-)

The Penang Laksa.
We did not find it spicy or sour enough at the first mouth. We thought it lacked something. If you have a few more mouths, you might grow to like it. KKG finished up her bowl of laksa soup.

There was also the Penang Hae Mee, but we found it too 'light' in flavour.

Lor Bak (What we call Ngor Hiong in Singapore)
You can see new batches being fried constantly beside the 'stall'. It taste rather nice. It's Chef's recipe and you can see the pieces of ingredients. It was fragrant, hot (freshly cooked) and had a nice bite to it. It was something we ear marked for seconds!

There was also the otak-otak which was from the same 'stall', but we think you can pass that.

Char Hum (Fried Cockles)
KKG loves cockles and so do I! If you are a cockle fan, you would be glad to know it's the all you can eat cockles place. They serve two types here. The Singapore sambal version and the Penang Chilli version. We tried both and thinks the Penang version triumphs!

The photo above is the Penang version. We were told it's the Chef special sauce added into it that makes it taste so good. (We knew this same answer was coming). It's almost similar to the rojak sauce. Sweetish and spicy at the same time.

The joy of eating cockles here is that everyone has been half shucked! Every cockle also has something and not empty! I had a big bowl of empty shells after the meal. It was slightly spicy, so after eating, your lips burns a little, but it's so shiok!

Char Mui (Fried Porridge)
This is something so unique. I have not tried this before and thought it was worth trying. Gooey version of fried rice! There are lots of ingredients in it. Prawns, bits of meat, seafood etc. It's savoury but has a sweetish hint.

It's not something you will instantly love. My first mouth, I thought it was peculiar, but as you eat it, slowly the flavour comes out. You bite something and wonder what it is, something else and before it, you finish the whole bowl. It's something you eat slowly because it is hot!

For KKG, she said it's an instant like for her. She grew up liking porridge of all sorts! She especially liked the chopped dried cuttlefish bits in it.

We saw an elderly all white hair lady keep going back for more. Maybe she's from Penang.
Penang friends don't really know about it though. If you are from Penang, care to tell me more about this dish?

Penang Char Kway Teow
The advantage of an open air place. You can order the CKT and the person whips it up in great smokes! Probably this is not home-cooked version. How can anyone cook this in Singapore homes? They are very generous with the lard!

This is so funny. After all the frying and smoking all over, we thought it would be super nice. Both KKG and I thought it was so so only.

Then our other dining companion, CalvinTimo and Nicole, they also ordered the same dish and when they brought it to the table, we tried it and it was so much better. We noticed ours had less sprouts and lighter in colour.

Moral of the story, if the first plate is not satisfactory, go for the 2nd one! ;-)

Nasi Kandar

Oh, look how beautiful they arranged the Nasi Kandar. For the above, we had the a bit of everything order when we walked to the Nasi Kandar stall.

A true blue fan of Nasi Kandar will tell you to 'banjir' (flood) it with lots of 'kuah' (gravy).
Here they present it so different. So beautifully plated!

How do you eat Nasi Kandar? Mixed up the rice and the sauce!

Each curry had different unique spices in it. Fish curry, Chicken curry, Sotong Sambal, Rendang sauce, Ayam Kicap (Soy sauce chicken) all mixed together gives it an unique taste! You can see that we were quite 'healthy', it was not flooded with gravy. We could have gone back to ask for more gravy.

I liked the rice so much, that I was slowly eating it and before I knew it, only a bit of the rice was left with most of the side dishes. I was suppose to share with KKG! KKG ate up all the meats, fish and veg with the little bit of rice. KKG especially liked the tender sotong.

We don't eat durian, but here's Durian Pengat for you durian fans.

There's an assortment of kuih kuih, cendol, ice kachang. We were too full to eat them!
Cendol was a bit on the sweet side for us. Ask for 'kurang manis'!

TASTES OF PENANG @ SENTOSA
Date: 10 to 20 May 2012
Time: 6pm to 11pm (Mon- Thu), 4pm to 11pm (Fri - Sun)
Venue: Level 2 of Tastes of Asia

Price:
$42.90++ per adult
$19.90++ per child (5 to 11 years old)
- Usual island admission charges apply
- Includes complimentary parking and complimentary entry into Images of Singapore
- Discounts apply for Islander members and credit card holders

Getting There:
Sentosa Express – Board at VivoCity, 3rd Floor, drop off at Beach Station
Drive-in – Park at Beach Car Park (Blue Zone)
Taxi – Alight at Beach Station

Reservations:
Call 6279 1767 or email carla_cardona@sentosa.com.sg

Update: I noticed a group deal site is selling this buffet a bit cheaper than the price above. Not naming it, you can do a search ;-)

Canton Paradise @ 112 Katong

2012-05-15T14:52:00.001+08:00

[Invited Tasting]

I was recently invited and tried some very exquisite Cantonese Food at Canton Paradise at 112 Katong Mall. The latest dining concept by the Paradise Group, Canton Paradise offers Cantonese favoutires and also Shunde specialties. If you are wondering where is Shunde, it's the area at the Pearl River Delta at the Guangdong province, known for their delicate cooking styles.

Executive Chef Hu Shu Sheng, a native from Guangzhou in China, works closely with Paradise Group Executive Chef Fung Chi Keung and CEO Eldwin Chua to conceptualise Canton Paradise’s menu.

I was new to 112 Katong and got lost and wondered where Canton Paradise was. I went up floor by floor until I reached the top floor. I decided to google for the address. It's located at Basement 1. I was happy I had a good tour of the whole mall though.

The deco of this place is very nice. On one side is the purplish lit wall with what I call an organised kind of mess which I thought was nice. We don't usually see purple restaurants do we?

I had a very safe cold watercress to drink and was soon tempted by the Gula Melaka Milk Tea 黑糖冰奶茶($3.80) that my fellow diners were all trying!
Not a bad twist to the usual Milk Tea. Something only Peranakans like my Father in law will have secretly mixed in their kitchen behind the mum's back!

The first dish that we tried was the Baked BBQ Honey Pork Bun 脆皮叉烧包 ($4.50)

Yes, it taste almost similar to the famous Michelin starred Tim Ho Wan in HK! I was in HK just few weeks ago too, and yes, they are almost similar, looks wise, this one just a bit paler and the meat less reddish. Taste wise, they are both distinct. Not fair to compare when each chef has their own recipe.

It's something that eating only 1 piece is not enough. I am a char siu lover, so anything with char siu, I love them. It's char siu bits with more sauce inside a bun.

Fried Pumpkin Coated with Salted Egg Yolk and Mixed Nuts 秘制坚果炬南瓜 ($7.80)

A rather unique creation. Pumpkin's naturally sweet, they deep fry it to give it a crunch. The salted egg yolk over the crispy pumpkin gives it some saltiness. It's good but don't eat too much, cholesterol will shoot up!

In Singapore, there are two types of char siu lover. One that only select the leanest of all meat and the other only goes for the fattest to enjoy the taste of it. Which type are you?

BBQ Pork Belly with Honey Sauce 秘制肥婆黑叉烧 ($15.80)

If you like the fatty parts of meats, this you got to try. Fatty pork belly marinated with honey caramelized. So tender and so flavourful. Portions are a little small, but the calories in it is enough. Does the photo above tempt you?

Canton Crispy BBQ Pork 脆皮叉烧 ($15.80)
This dish is totally wicked and sinful. I was told it runs out fast daily, so if you want to try it, reserve the dish when you make reservations here.

It's the top part of the BBQ pork without the meat. You know when you order BBQ Pork, if the pork is not cooked till it's dry, you have layers of pork and fats that gel like? The chefs here have prepared this dish in such a way that it's crispy on top and when you bite it, you get the gel part of lard oozing cholesterol into your mouth. It does not taste that oily though. Was told it takes a few hours to roast this!

Heavenly to some, and totally disgusting to some. Lard lovers, this is yours.

Steamed Kampong Chicken in Canton Style 水晶真味山芭鸡 ($15 half / $28 whole)

This dish looked so simple, but it taste really good. Firm and yet tender is how I describe it. The dish is prepared quite delicately. Compared to their pork dishes before, this was lean chicken. Kampong chicken has the least fats. Oh yes, this is one example of delicate Shunde cooking style.

The Kampong chicken here is not some Pulau Ubin chickens. These are free range chickens from Australia.

If you enter the restaurant, you would have seen this huge steel containers that has soup boiling in it for hours and hours.

Nourishing Soup滋润健康煲靓汤
A choice from the 3 daily soups ($6.80 per person / $16.80 per pot)

Cantonese soup. These soups here will get the approval of my Cantonese mother in law. I should probably bring her here to see if it will win her seal of approval, I think it probably will. Boiled for hours, you just need to drink the soup, the other ingredients are sacrificed themselves and nutrients and goodness seeped into the soup.

This soup we had was the Hami Melon with Pork Ribs and Fish Maw Soup.

Hong Kongers working in Singapore or Cantonese from KL working here, or those without Cantonese mothers/mother in laws to boil soup for you, add this as one of your places to get your soup fix.

Steamed Lingzhi Tofu in Supreme Soya Sauce 清蒸灵芝山水豆腐 ($8.80)

The chef makes his own tofu here from scratch. Made from soybeans (not sure where it's sourced from) and Danone Aqua Mountain Spring water. Why Danone? Not sure. :-)

Wok-fried Pork Belly with Salted Fish 咸鱼花腩煲 ($14.80)

For a while you might think the food is getting more and more bland. Wait there's this wonderful wok-fried pork belly with salted fish. It's a nice claypot dish that goes well with steaming hot rice. You can wallop a whole bowl of rice just with this dish!

Wok-fried Bean Sprout with Vermicelli and Salted Fish 乡下佬炒银芽 ($12.80)

We were offered this dish to taste to showcase the dishes from their Classic Canton Selection. Very nice dish. Another dish that goes well with rice. The dish was so fragrant when it was served. It made you want to just dig in.

Poached Sea Bass with Pickled Cabbage in Fish Stock 辣辣地酸菜沸腾鱼 ($28.80)

They have a Szechuan portion in the menu. To show case this part of the menu, we were served this super fiery soup! If you can take extreme extreme, yes another extreme heat, order this. Get the fire truck on standby!

This was a huge bowl of soup and can easily serve 6-8 persons.

Look at the dried chilli and the szechuan peppercorns in the photo earlier. It gave the dish extreme heat and you probably get light headed after drinking this. The soup was tongue numbing, yet when you taste it, you keep wanting to try more! The fish was so tender and sweet, and from the 'kiam chai', saltiness. It's a very appetizing soup!

Warning, not for the faint hearted.

Custard Glutinous Rice Ball with Grated Oat 金沙汤圆 ($4.80 for 3 pieces)

Fancy more salted egg yolk? Try the glutinous rice balls that's filled with salted egg yolk custard.
An interesting creation that has grated oats on top.

I was extremely full to enjoy the desserts. I remember it being a saviour to my numbing tongue though.

Chilled Red Bean & Yam Jelly 芋头红豆糕 ($4.20)

I can't comment on this too after a numbing tongue. I remember this was even better than the custard to nurse my overworked papillae.

The food's of high quality and the chefs are creative. On average a meal would be around $20-25 per person. The prices are on the moderate range. Their staff seems attentive too, not only to our table, you can look around and notice it.

CANTON PARADISE 乐天小香港
112 East Coast Road
I12 Katong #B1-15
Singapore 428802

Tel: +65 6344 8201

Hours: Mon-Fri: 11am – 10pm / Sat, Sun & PH: 10.30am-10pm

Note: They have recently opened Canton Paradise at JCube.

Oasia Hotel Singapore - 1st Year Anniversary.

2012-05-14T23:10:00.002+08:00

This was a 1 day staycation invitation by Oasia Hotel Singapore (www.oasiahotel.com) to celebrate her 1st Year Anniversary in Singapore. It's so generous of them to invite some of us for their celebration and a one night stay to try out their rooms too!

Happy Birthday Oasia Hotel. This was their special cake made from so many delicious macarons!
The 1st Year Anniversary is also to promote the Club Rooms.

If you have not heard about it, the Club Rooms and Suites Guest in Oasia has it's own private-access swimming pool and sky deck. For many other hotels, it's only the private-access food area / Executive Lounge.

Oasia has raised the bar by introducing gourmet style coffees (from local artisan roaster, Coffee Culture), artisanal chocolates (from French chocolatier house Monbana) and organic teas (from German premium tea brand, Naturalis) for the Executive Lounge.

The above drink is the White Chocolate Cocktail. (I happen to have the same brand of chocolate drink at home, but never made it that way.) It's white chocolate shake with red Martini or in the case above, it was curacao.

For those who like an interesting mix of tea with some alcohol, this is the Summer Bouquet. The Naturalis tea brand has their own Singapore Sling Tea mix and this tea has been mixed with Elderflower syrup and vodka and some lemon.

Another drink which I can't remember the name, it's a greenish white chocolate milkshake with also a tinge of alcohol. You can always request a non alcohol version of all the drinks above ;-)

These delicious chocolates are what you can get from executive Lounge called The Living Room.
Quite a few flavours of white, dark and milk chocolates.

The area in the Living Room that mixes other good stuff that most of us can't live without. Coffee and chocolate drinks.

For those who prefer organic teas, the Naturalis flavours.

The Club Room

This is my second visit to this hotel. The first time I was here, I knew I like this place because it has lots of 'wood' elements in it. Designed by award winning Japanese designer, Takashi Sugimoto from Super Potato, he uses a lot of 'wood' in the whole hotel.

Always check the fire escape plan to orientate yourself, I always take a photo of it with my phone. It's put to good use in this post to show you how the hotel looks like. It has a very very long corridor!

The King size beds that the wife and I slept on. It's quite a comfortable bed. The wife and I have been having mini honeymoons since we got married last May. We either have staycations or take a short trip overseas and we have been sleeping around. (Oooii! I mean the hotel beds! Don't think other wise.)

The wife thinks I am crazy, but I have taken photos and mark down all the brands of mattresses I have slept on! Hotel Oasia uses Simmons Beautyrest. Even if your partner moves, you don't really feel it for this mattress.

The view of the hotel is the usual Singapore skyline. You won't get Singapore Flyer or Marina Bay views from this hotel. But if you go to the private pool for Club Members floor during sunrise or sunset, it's quite beautiful.

See the switches near the telephone, it's for the automated blinds. These switches are easier to use and less confusing than the ones in MO Landmark Hong Kong where we stayed recently.

Pardon the blur photo, at the other side of the bed is a see-thru glass to the bathroom.
There's the rain shower and other bathroom by Toto.

If you love to shower, this ToTo rain shower is superb.
Tip: If you are renovating, this is a good place to try it out if you were looking for Toto stuff.

Soap, shower gel, shampoo are from Thai brand, Thann. The lemongrass based bathroom amenities smell really refreshing and its non drying too.

A welcome fruit platter. Yes, it's wooden too!

I thought this was rather interesting. Their safe is the newer models which opens to the top, and it comes with electricity supply too! By having it open upwards you can see exactly what's left inside. I took note of this because I have left my passport in a hotel before and I was on my way to the airport!

There's a Nespresso machine and also a mini bar that fits in around 8 cans of soft drinks. Things in the mini bar are complimentary.

There's the iHome to dock your iPhone if you are using one.

I realised it's the same model of phone used by the Far East Hospitality group residences.
Some hotels use IP phones that can store messages etc, but I guess they have all incorporate those features into their IP Television instead!

For TV addicts, 32 channels available.

Everything you want to find out about the hotel if you are those who are shy to call the Reception is available on their interactive TV. I like it that only a simple remote control was used, not some gadget that is hard to figure out.

We even tried to order room service from the TV!

I felt like having a soup, while the wife loves to test out club sandwiches from almost everywhere!
The hotel does not have their own kitchen, so the food if you order from room service comes from the restaurant that's on their ground floor, Zaffron.

The club sandwich here is not the usual brown or white bread, but they used focaccia bread instead which according to KopiKosongGirl a nice touch, nice herb bread. The other ingredients were ordinary. The other thing that make KKG happy was the wedges instead of fries.

The Seafood Tomyam soup I had was a bit on the spicy and choking side, but after a few mouths, I grew to like it.

The Executive Lounge: The Living Room

The Living Room is the name of the Executive Lounge. It's where you can get complimentary breakfast, cocktail, and all-day coffee, tea, juices, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks. This was our breakfast that morning.

Some very crispy bacon, chicken sausage and some what some people call breakfast noodles.

The eggs are made to order. I had two kinds of eggs that morning. Sunny side up and some roast tomatoes from the buffet line.

My other egg is a semi boiled egg. My hands got itchy and I decided to decorate my egg.

The all day drinks that they serve here. This is KKG's mocha. Instead of a biscuits they serve you a piece of Monbana chocolate.

My cup of hot chocolate.

There's a range of bread and pastry, but I only took a croissant.

I was too tempted by the teas, so I had a Wild Berries tea by Naturalis as well.
We checked out after breakfast. It was an enjoyable stay at Oasia Hotel.

Interested in a staycation here? You probably have read that hotel prices are going up in Singapore on the last two weekend's newspapers. Are you interested to enjoy 10% off an Oasia Hotel Singapore Weekend Package?

Here are the details:
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Maifest @ Clarke Quay (4 and 5 May 2012)

2012-05-04T02:18:00.000+08:00

Heard of Maifest?

It's the German Spring Festival and it's the first time it's being celebrated in Singapore on 4th and 5th May 2012 at Clarke Quay Central Fountain Area.

Admission is free too!
You just pay for the beer and food.

The daily event starts at 7pm, and I guess it's only tomorrow left if you want to visit.
I was there a bit early as my office hour's a little shorter than other days :-)

The world's most popular wheat beer, Erdinger Weißbier and Erdinger Dunkel are sold here.
You can get them at $15.

The organisers have also specially brought in the Pikantus if you want to try it!

One of the highlight: One of the best bands in Germany, Ois Easy is here to entertain!

They have been specially flown in to Singapore to perform a repertoire of contemporary chart hits and popular German songs!

KopiKosongGirl and I think they are really really good.
Good voices and the band's superb too. Their energy level is so high despite the Singapore heat!

They also engage the audience very well!
The crowd were on their feet very quickly. You see people standing on the benches and then on the tables too!

One short clip I took with my iPhone. Everyone was up on their feet!

We spotted Elvis too!

One of the dance that they did that looked so tiring and difficult. They are good, aren't they?

Oh yes, how can the Maifest be without German Sausages?
We had a few and some other nibbling food and they were good. There were Spicy Chicken, Chicken Cheese and Beef Special. I love the one with cheese.

If you have nothing to do on Saturday night, head down to Clarke Quay Central Fountain Area for some beer and entertainment. This is the first Maifest and hopefully the organisers will organise it again next year.

Maifest is being organised by Erdinger and Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore.
KopiKosongGirl and I were invited to the event by Word of Mouth Communications.

The Corner Place Korean BBQ @ Marina Square

2012-04-24T13:37:00.000+08:00

This was an invited session organised by HungryGoWhere to test out the food at The Corner Place Korean BBQ located at the food court at Level 4 The Gallerie Food Court.

It's really located at the corner! It's part of the food court, but it's located at the sides with its own seating area. Turn right when you get up the escalator and you will see it.

They are having a promotion right.
From now until 15 May 2012, the daily Korean BBQ Buffet is only at $22+.
Lunch sets start from $6.95+ and it's inclusive of 6-8 side dishes and rice.

Here's my experience with some other food lovers and the HungryGoWhere folks:

When you sit down, you see an oversize grilling tray and it's slanted.
Don't try to fix it, it's meant to be like that, the oil will flow down while you BBQ.

We walked to the 'buffet' food collection area and there were a range of sauces. Guess what? I did not take any because I thought it was not needed! The BBQ food has been marinated and there were tasty enough.

The condiments here are for the salad.

If you are wondering what they the different sauces are, look at this piece of paper pasted on the wall.

KopiKosongGirl and I were chatting with Chris the 'boss'. We talked about different things including where to get the korean metal bowls in Korea! (Our parents were going for a Korean tour, and we were getting info of where to buy good ones in Korea)

They are still quite new and they are trying to see what customers want. If you find something you really like or something you don't like. Just tell them. They are trying to adapt the menu and still keep it Korean.

If you are a Sydneysider, they are the same people behind Seoul Ria at the corner of George and Goulburn Street. I heard the place is very popular in Sydney. This is their first venture in Singapore and they have set up shop in Marina Square.

This was the hot food station where you can grab some ready cooked food to eat while your food's being BBQ-ed.

I was attracted to the Keropok!! Koreans eat keropok too!?

On the bottom left corner is the porridge, which I thought was interesting. I never had korean porridge before and it's reminds me of baby food because of the veggie bits. It's light tasting. I found that putting kimchi inside makes it tastier!

You see the gooey black sauce on the top left corner of the 2 photos above? That's the Ja Jiang sauce.
We were taught to pour the sauce over the rice or the Korean Glass Noodles. Instead of plain noodles, it's Korean Glass Noodles with ingredients and Ja Jiang sauce over it!

Out of curiosity, we asked how is it cooked because usually Glass Noodles are very oily and yet their did not. They told us it's steamed! Ah.....

The Kimchi Fried Rice, I think I left it on the table for too long so it was not as tasty as I would have liked it. Keropok was still crispy though!

The salads area. I liked the Kimchi and had quite a bit of it!

Their Kimchi was not the super marinated kind which gives off a pungent marinated taste and smell. This one (or the batch we had that night) was 'medium' fermented, which is how I like it. I know some people really loves the super fermented taste.

The meat area. This area was very popular. You can guess why!

One of our dining companion we guessed must have OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). She stacked everything so orderly and neatly. I like it! I do the same too! LOL

These marinated short ribs were really good. The spicy pork is good too.
(That's if you know how to grill it properly.)

We were told, if Koreans come here, they only go for the non marinated fatty layered meats. They will grill it and then dip it in the different sauces.

We saw 2 or 3 Korean families there that night. I did not walk over to see what they eat though or if they only took no marinated meats. I did not want to looked retarded walking around peeping.

This is how non-OCD people cook their meats. They put a bit of everything and in lumps.
(This is a joke only, sorry to my neighbour who was doing the above, just want to make fun of you)

This is how I cook my meats. I am not OCD, but I think I have tendency to be one!
Straight lines! You can easily see if the meat's cooked too this way. Cook till the meat changes colour and curl a bit. Don't overcook the meats, it won't be nice.

You cook in lumps, you end up having lumps. LOL

You cook in straight lines, you can cut it nicely into short pieces and stack it all in the plate nicely!
Nicely cooked, not over-cooked tender BBQ meats. Ahh....

I was rather impressed with their fridge that was stacked with these leaves.
They were in baskets standing up and all looking so fresh and crispy!

Remember I said I love their kimchi? I had it wrapped in greens too!
Rather tasty if I must say.

Most sane people eat it with the grilled meats and maybe a piece of raw garlic. I added sprouts because I like them!

If you are a fan of these Korean can drinks, they have quite a good range.
It's not included in the price of the buffet though. The buffet price is already cheap enough.

The buffet comes with drinks too, that night we had barley.

If you want Soju, they have it as well. ;-)

Quite a good price for a Korean BBQ place. For most Korean places, each dish is already around $14-$20. So KopiKosongGirl and I think it's quite a steal.

The Corner Place Authentic Korean BBQ Buffet
The Gallerie
6 Raffles Boulevard
04-102 Marina Square
Singapore 039594

Tel: +65 6333 0997
Website: http://www.facebook.com/MyTheCornerPlaceKoreanBBQ

Din Tai Fung @ Baits, Resorts World Sentosa

2012-04-04T00:02:00.000+08:00

KopiKosongGirl and I have many things in common and yet we have equally different way of doing things. She is a planner. Every activity for the week or maybe till next month has been planned. I am more of an impromptu person. Sometimes, I think I drive her nuts.

After so many months, I guess she might have gotten used to me and does things out of the ordinary. Just the other Saturday, we woke up and then decided to just go into Sentosa. We boarded the monorail in and decided to stop at Resorts World Sentosa.

Our annual pass for Universal Studio expired and we did not renew it, so this time we did not go in. We walked around and decided we would have breakfast to eat. We found Toastbox and had a set breakfast. Feeling satisfied, we walked around some more and at 11am, we happened to walked past Din Tai Fung.

Images of Xiao Long Bao floated and we saw it was empty. It's rare that Din Tai Fung has no queue so we went in! We noted, 5 minutes after 11am is a good time to have lunch here. No queue, no crowd, it's like having the whole place to ourselves! It's so peaceful!

Taiwan Shrimp and Pork Oriental Wantons with Spicy Sauce.

We saw that it was a new item and we thought we would order it. Shrimp and pork combi had a nice bite, slightly 'qq' and there were quite a few of it too. Probably 8-10 of it. The Spicy Sauce is more like the chilli oil but it was sweeter.

Crunchy Mini Cucumber in Spicy Sauce

You all must be thinking we are mad having all Spicy. Though both were spicy, this cucumber dish's spicy sauce has more vinegar in it. KopiKosongGirl prefers this version of spicy sauce. I prefer the other sweeter version of it.

Xiao Long Baos

The normal XiaoLongBaos. So many places are serving these and we still like them because their skin here is thin and very soupy.

We left before the crowds came. We took the monorail out and went home.

Din Tai Fung @ Baits
Resorts World Sentosa
26 Sentosa Gateway
#01-217/222
Singapore 098138

Tel: +65 6686 3565

HungryBBQ.com - one stop service website for all things BBQ in Singapore

2012-04-03T14:24:00.003+08:00

The long weekend is coming and thought this post would be useful to those who plan to have a gathering of family and friends over some good BBQ.

This was a BBQ Party that I went quite some time ago! The folks from HungryBBQ (Zac and wife Carol) invited a few of us over to try out their kind of BBQ. I think it's how modern day BBQ should be, which was quite a memorable indeed!

Why? It was probably one of the tastiest BBQ I had in quite a while.

Most of us have been attending BBQ that are mediocre. That's because our friends or we ourselves are not doing it daily. So our meats are not properly marinated. Our marinate is either too sweet or too salty. Or the marinates makes the meat get charred too easily.

Some of you are very good in 'controlling the fire', but most of us just 'can't make it'. I only know of 1 friend who does it very well, if he's bbq-ing the food, most of us would turn up!

If you host a BBQ, it can be super tiring too. I remember helping mum prepare and we would be dead tired when everyone's gone home. There should be a simpler way right?

The HungryBBQ.com website has everything you need to plan a successful and delicious party. Pick the ingredients you want, everything you need to have a successful BBQ, you can order it on that website. You can even hire a BBQ Cook! Yes, someone who knows exactly how to BBQ food properly!

Of all the service, I think their BBQ Cook service ($90 for 3 hours, additional hours at $15/hour) is a most important service to engage!With them around, leave them to do the cooking and you entertain your guests and/or eat and drink with them.

If you live near Jalan Tua Kong, you can pick up your orders during their physical shop opening hours. If not, click on their website anytime of the day to order, and you orders will be delivered in these boxes.

The reason why the BBQ party was memorable because of the BBQ Cook service! That night we had Zac, the HungryBBQ guy himself cooking for us. (We were told the rest of the guys who BBQ the food are equally good!)

No need to labour over the hot fire for food. We just sat down on the table and slowly savour the BBQ food right off the barbie.

Guess what? Told you they provide anything BBQ right? You can even buy or rent the BBQ Grills from their website. You can buy disposable BBQ pits at $8 or buy something like the ones above for $650. You can also rent BBQ grills from $60-$90. Check out their website for details.

These were the cheese portobellos. $12 / 5 pcs.
Are you a mushroom fan?

Look at these chicken wings. The wings were so nicely done, a slight char to give it a nice BBQ smell and the meat inside were tender and juicy.

When we asked about the marinate, they said it's a trade secret. One thing for sure, it tasted very good.
They are halal certified, so the marinates have no wine/alcohol in them.

These were the Herb Butter Baby Asparagus.
Probably the only veggies we had that night! We were carnivores that night.

BBQ Meats... This was I think the NZ Airflown Ribeye Steak.
Still tender and slightly pink inside, you would not do that if your meats are not fresh right?

The BBQ Cook will prepare it the way you want it.

The Southern BBQ Sirloin Steak. Don't you feel like biting into it now?
It's been sometime and I can't recall the taste of their Southern BBQ Marinade. Maybe I should order some.

Let's talk a bit about Zac. Remember Curry Favor Japanese Kitchen @ Stamford House? Zac was the managing director/executive chef there for 7 years. It was one place that served very good Japanese curry until it was closed in 2010 because the landlord took back the building for redevelopment.

Maybe one of these days, Curry Favor might be back or maybe BBQ with Japanese Curry?

The market fresh large prawns they have. They also have small and medium prawns too.

They have a nice range of seafood too.

The sambal sotong in foil.
Looks good ya?

The Herb Pepper Salmon Steak was really really nice. It was just so soft and melt in your mouth inside. The seasoning was just nice for this slab of salmon. We remembered this dish because it was so delicious.

One of the things that you should order is their raw satay, ready to be BBQ-ed.
Take a look at their website to see the choices of meats and you can choose the cooked or raw ones.

Someone put his hand out just I was taking this photo. I think it was Leroy's hand! He wanted to show how big the satays were. Can you imagine how big it is? It's just so satisfying eating satay in a big stick and even better when it's right off the heat and the marinates for the meat was nice.

Depends on the quantity and types of meat, each satay is around 60-75 cents, they are kinda worth it right?

More meats! They were feeding us so many types of meat they sell on their website.
Here's the Herb Black Pepper Chicken Fillet.

One of the memorable meats were these. Kalbi, korean style beef short ribs.
Oh, these were so so delicious. I notice they are not on the website anymore. You could call or email them and see if they still have it. Maybe special orders from them. They are really flexible. Just give them enough time to prepare it.

I can't get enough of this! I like it because korean style short ribs are so tender and yet near the bones, they are a little chewy/tough. I love to clean up the meat near the bones and have a nice clean tera drop like clean bone on my plate.

Speaking of plates, if you order from them, they are able to supply bio-degradable cornware.
They also have cooked food too.

For desserts that night, we tasted a ice cream from a new ice cream place that has set up shop at Serangoon Ave 2. It's called Ice Scream Singapore!

Their ice cream is made from fresh ingredients. Their rules for making ice cream are No essence, No artificial flavouring and No preservatives.

HungryBBQ.com
57 Jalan Tua Kong
Singapore 457253

Tel: 62432243
Website HungryBBQ.com hours: Opens 24/7
Outlet hours: 10am - 6pm daily

Ice Scream Singapore
301 Serangoon Ave 2
#01-328
Singapore 550310

Kaya Swissroll from Rich & Good Cake Shop @ Kandahar Street

2012-04-02T17:02:00.002+08:00

This is one super old school kind of cake shop in Singapore.

A few friends and I were around the area one weekend for tea at Maison Ikkoku. Then suddenly at around 4:45pm, the wife and sis said, we need to go buy the cakes now! Oh, it seems the cake shop closes at 5 pm, and they wanted the cake to be kept cold and so waited until the last minute before the shop closes to buy it.

I was more attracted to the motifs on the door and windows!
I hate the colour of the building though.

Why aren't new buildings having this kind of designs on their doors and windows?
Don't they look so nice?

The design reminds me of my scouts badge. Yes, it's not really and there's a similarity. I can use that design for 'draw something' and fellow scouts might have guessed it! LOL

The disadvantage of waiting till nearly 5pm to keep you cake cold is that most flavours run out!

KopiKosongGirl and sis bought 2 rolls of it, both Kaya flavour swissrolls. One for our in-laws and one for our aunt, both that will fully appreciate this kind of old school swiss rolls.

The most unattractive box, but hey, it matches the colour of the wall of their shop!
A part of the box is perforated so that you can tear out and keep the address and contact details, now that's clever.

You can watch online how it's made, someone has put up a youtube about it and it's quite interesting to watch.

It's a long skinny swiss roll. About 30 cm in length and 5 cm in diameter.
This roll costs $7

Noticed that there's no wastage. They did not cut off the corners to make it look nicer.
Well, these parts can be eaten too. Old style thinking of don't waste food perhaps?
(I actually like ends of cakes hehe!)

We ate it the next day straight from the fridge after our dinner.

Cold cream with kaya between soft (but not too fluffy in my opinion, a bit dense, but its fine and soft though) cake layers makes it quite an enjoyable treat. It's small so 1 piece of it is definitely not enough. It's also not too sweet, which is what most locals prefer nowadays.

Fancy some old school cakes? Grab some only if you are in the area.
Only make your way here on purpose if you have some parents or relatives to impress and you know they will enjoy it better. ;-)

Rich & Good Cake Shop
24 Kandahar St
Singapore 198887

Tel: +65 6294 3324
Hours: Mon to Sat: 9am – 5pm, closed on Sun, PH

Girls’ Day Out with Häagen-Dazs

2012-03-29T17:20:00.005+08:00

Have you been to Häagen-Dazs recently?
I was at the Holland Village shop and realised it has been decked up a bit!
There are quite little sidewalk lights and pink banners around!

A few guys (including me) were seen gate-crashing at Häagen-Dazs Holland Village for their Girls' Day Out launch.

The folks at Häagen-Dazs has a menu specially for the girls from now till end of May. I am not sure if they were the first, but my first moon cake ice cream more than 10 years ago was the ones by them. Now they have Ice Cream Macaroons!

High Tea Affair ($38++)

Called the "High Tea Affair", instead of cakes and pastries, there are 3 mini scoops each of Cookie Dough Chip, Belgian Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream on the top layer.

The middle layer you have a choice of 6 delicate ice cream macaroons.
On the bottom layer, pieces of kiwis, raspberries and grapes.

How do I find it? It's something really different. It's ice cream all over instead of sugar, egg whites and almond power with sweet fillings. To me, it's less sweet than the usual macaroons.

Macaroon Mélange ($18++)

If you just want the macaroons, you can order the Macaroon Melange. It's a platter with just the ice cream macaroons.

You can take a look at how the 'brochure' version looks at their Facebook Page.
Five assorted ice cream macaroons containing creamy, luscious ice cream and Chantilly cream encased in a chocolate shell, served with mango sauce and garnished with almond nibs and strawberries.

For those who wants to bring the treats back for their love ones, they have a gift box too!

I can't help giggling when I saw the above frame. It just reminded me of a British royalty who had that on her head during a royal wedding! You know who I am talking about right?

Petite Temptations ($18++)

If you are or were a fan or the Cookie Dough Chip flavour, you might be interested in the above. Balls of vanilla ice cream with buttery cookie dough and sweet fudge chips. It's slightly smaller than the size of a golf ball. It rests on a cookie and drizzled with mango and chocolate sauce.

I find the macaroons interesting. You got to eat it fast though. Ours melted rather quickly. That doesn't mean you can't have long conversations between the girls. A coffee or tea will carry the conversation longer.

Available at all Häagen-Dazs shop in Singapore from 27th March 2012 to 31st May 2012.

Tom Kitchen @ Bukit Timah Food Centre

2012-03-27T13:08:00.000+08:00

It's the same question most of us will be asking our partners/dining mates.
What shall we have for lunch/dinner?

KopiKosongGirl has been saying she calls the "Ngee Ann Poly kind of western food" and price. Don't want the modern western / modern european / european fusion thing. In my head, I interpret it as the hawker centre' kind of western food.

One Sunday after church, we walked over Bukit Timah Food Centre to satisfy her craving.
There are 2 stalls there that serves Western Food. We went to Tom Kitchen because the lady is always more courteous and smiles.

We kind of like the food, KopiKosongGirl says it bloggable, so here it is....

The Chicken Chop ($4.50).
Nice crispy on the outside chicken chop with thick crinkle fries. The sauce was at the bottom and not all over it.

I asked the lady which is nice to eat, and she recommended their Bake Rice ($5).
There were options for the meat and I had the chicken baked rice.

We noticed their version here is more saucy. It's wet and the sauce was quite tasty too. The tangy taste from the tomato sauce. The meat was quite generous too.

I like my rice with lots of sauce. If you are hungry when you are around the area, you can give them a try. Heard their fried rice is nice, so probably will order them the next time!

Tom Kitchen
Stall #02-169
116 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre
Singapore 588172

Hours: 12 noon to 10 pm daily except Mondays.

Cooking with Chefs from DoubleTree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur @ ToTT Cooking Studio Singapore

2012-03-26T00:57:00.001+08:00

I was recently invited to a Cooking Workshop by one of the PR firm representing Doubletree by Hilton. The cooking class / workshop was conducted by two chefs who came all the way from "Makan Kitchen", Doubletree by Hilton's signature restaurant with 350 seats located at Level 11.

Talking about Hilton, my colleagues and I know exactly how many Hiltons are there in Malaysia. I have a colleague (we nickname him Miles in the office!) who is a frequent flyer miles and hotel points collector! 'Miles' happens to be a Hilton Honors member and he tries all his might to retain his Gold membership level. I am sure you have read about points and miles junkies, 'Miles' happen to be a real life person that does that!
During our lunch time, 'Miles' will be talking about Hiltons in the places he will visit for his next holiday. If you are familiar with the Hilton Honors program, you will know that there are certain stays you need to fulfill to retain your membership level. The cheapest way to get those few nights will be in Hilton Malaysia if you are living in Singapore!

So, do you know how many Hiltons are there in Malaysia? 4 Hiltons and now 1 Doubletree by Hilton hotel. I was once like 'Miles' but probably with just 1/8 of his enthusiasm. I was once a Gold Member too and with that I got free upgrades to the Executive Floor and yes, free flow of food and drinks and somehow they address you by your family name! I have stayed a few times in both PJ Hilton and Hilton Kuching, once at Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse, probably the most unique Hilton in the world!

Now in Kuala Lumpur, there is the DoubleTree by Hilton, which is one of the many brands of the Hilton group. For foodies who loves to go for Hotel Buffets, if you happen to be in KL, visit the Makan Kitchen. This locally inspired restaurant serves six different kinds of local cuisines, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Peranakan, and even Kristang and Iban delights!

Our teachers for that night, Chef Prem Kumar from Ipoh and Chef de Cuisine Ahmad Nurul Azri from Selangor.

We always see chefs wearing white chef hats, but these guys are all in black! I was naughty and asked them who is taking care of the kitchen there? They have an army of chefs there taking care of things. Do you know they prepare over 150 local dishes across 3 interactive kitchens? I am so interested to try the Kristang (mixed cuisine of the Portuguese-Malaccan community) and Iban cuisines!

Two dishes that are available from Makan Kitchen were demonstrated first by the chefs and with the ingredients in front of our own cooking stations, we replicated it. There was a competition too which we only found out when we were about to cook. 'Oh oh...' I thought in my mind. There's a lady, Mak-Fly on the front station that we found out is a cooking teacher! Two person whom I know cooks really well, Maameemoomoo and CookSnapEatLove were there too. I also know DanielFoodDiary and Aimakan cooks too! There were people I already know that was there. There were others!

Ketam Masak Lemak

Chef Azri told us this dish is a very simple dish and it originated from Negeri Sembilan. The original recipe had fewer ingredients. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients (for 10 persons serving):
Flower crabs (cut into half) 400 gm
Coconut Milk 90 ml
Water 40 ml
Turmeric leaves, thinly sliced 15 gm
Tamarind, peeled 12gm
Lemongrass 10 gm
Tomato 1

To blend/pound:
Turmeric, fresh 25gm
Bird eye chilli (cili padi) 30gm
Shallots (optional) 15 gm
Galangal (optional) 10gm
Green chilli (optional) 10gm

Guess what? Everyone had a blender on their station and I had none! They ran out it. Since Chef demonstrated the dish using the stone mortar and pestle, I went to grab one too. I did not want to waste time waiting for the rest to finish using theirs.

Oh man.. hard work! Pounding ingredients can be so tiring!

It was even more tiring as I was cooking and taking all these photographs at the same time? One with a DSLR and the same photos on the iPhone which some of you might have seen the photos appearing live on Instagram and Twitter while I cooked!

In a pot, put in the blended ingredients, lemongrass, water and crabs and let it simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes. We noticed there was no oil was used. The chef said there was no need to!

While the crabs were simmering, thinly cut the turmeric leaves.
I seldom see turmeric leaves, but you can buy them from the wet markets.

I also cut the tomatoes first and I did not used up all the cili padi that was provided. It would be crazily spicy to used them all up!

Throw in the tamarind first and after a while, put in the thinly sliced turmeric leaves. The moment the leaves went in, a fragrant smell whiffs up! I can remember the smell as I look at this photo now.

The tomatoes are supposed to be for garnish in the recipe, but I prefer cooked tomatoes so I threw them in.

When chef came to 'inspect', he added more water in to my pot. It seems the heat was too high and the sauce has evaporated quite a bit. More sauce is needed because there's still the coconut milk to go in.

Add in the coconut milk and some salt, pepper to taste. A tiny bit of sugar and stock powder is optional. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Here it is, the dish I whipped up. The sauce is a bit milky and light tasting.
Looks good? I used the leftover ingredients to 'decorate' the dish.

It's so simple, you can try it at home.
If it's too hassle, head to Makan Kitchen to eat lah.....

Jingga Malai

Next to demonstrate for us was Chef Prem and his creation the Jingga Malai. When we saw the ingredients and see him preparing it, we were all kind of salivating! The marinate was so good to eat it by itself! This dish goes very well with biryani rice or naan bread.

After we watch the chef, it was our turn to try. The ingredients on my cooking station.

Ingredients (for 10 persons serving):
Tiger prawns 22 pieces

Marinate:
Cumin powder 15gm
Garam masala 15 gm
Lime Juice 10 ml
Plain yoghurt 100 gm
Salt 35 gmBlack Pepper 10 gm

To Blend:
Cooking cream 70 ml
Cream Cheese 100 gm
Ginger, cleaned 25 gm
Red onion, peeled 30 gm
Garlic, peeled 10 gm
Bird eye chilli 15 gm

I shared the blender with Jacob from CookSnapEatLove. We put both our portions of ingredients and blended them. We then took half of it each.

A few pulze and this was it. It's cream cheese and I tell you it tasted really good just like this! With the cili padi, it's spicy and kind of addictive! Like having cili padi and spice ice cream!

Marinate the tiger prawns with the cumin powder, garam masala, black pepper, salt and lime juice.
The prawns were 'butterflied' so that it won't curl when it's cooked.

The blended marinate, massaged it all in! Wrap the naked prawn with these cream cheese blend! As much as you like! Though the chef says not too much, it might not look too pretty when it's cooked.

Marinate it for 45 minutes. We did not have time to wait, we waited 5 minutes and off it went into the oven that had been pre-heated at 190 C! Bake the prawns for between 8 to 12 minutes. Baking time depends on the size of your prawns.

This was how I plated my dish. Used the leftover turmeric leave as the base to give it some green.
When you bake the prawns, you will notice the prawn juice and lots of extra browned cream cheese sauce. Mix them up and you can have a 'dip' that taste nicer.
(The idea was from Jacob. He was even better by adding super fine lemon zest into the dip.)

The other view of the prawn. The prawn juice was oozing out and it looked kind of pretty, which was not planned but probably earned some brownie points for deco / plating.

Guess what? I won the cooking competition for the night.
Both the chefs thought my 'replication' of the dish tasted the most authentic and the plating was neat and clean too.

The prize was a 2 night stay at Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur!
Thank you chefs for picking me! I am going to visit the Makan Kitchen! I bought my air tickets!

For the coming holidays, if you are heading to Kuala Lumpur, why not try out Makan Kitchen?
You can choose from a selection of local delights from the a la carte menu or have the full Makan Kitchen Experience where you can savour over 150 local dishes.

The Full Makan Kitchen Experience is priced at:
Lunch: RM59++ per adult / RM29.50++ per child below 12 years old.
Dinner: RM79++ per adult / RM39.50++ per child below 12 years old.

On weekends, there's the Malaysian High Tea with over 60 classic favourites, priced at:
RM45++ per adult / RM22++ per child below 12 years old.
More info at www.makan-kitchen.com

Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur
The Intermark
182 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Tel: +603 2171 7272
Email: KULDT.Doubletreekl@hilton.com
Web: www.kl.doubletreebyhilton.com

Invite Mr Wright debuts 29 March 2012 @ TLC Asia - Starhub Channel 427

2012-03-25T21:44:00.000+08:00

Do you recognise him? Yes, it's Ian Wright!

The Singapore heat might be a tad too much for dear host of "Invite Mr Wright". However, that's not bothering this globetrotting host. He was in Singapore to promote his show, "Invite Mr Wright 2". If you watch the first series, he went to a few countries, including our neighbouring countries and stayed with families and immersed himself in the local way of life.

Fortunate enough to chat with Ian at Sky on 57, Marina Bay Sands recently.

In the first series, he visited Singapore and stayed with local actress and DJ, Vernetta Lopez.
In this second series, he is visiting Singapore again! Can you guess who he is staying with?

This photo tells it all! Vernetta whose family Ian stayed with in Series 1.

In the "Invite Mr Wright 2", he will be the guest of celebrity chef Justin Quek. Justin invites Ian to spend a week at his restaurant, Sky on 57, located on top of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

A photo taken using Canon cameras, Ian's adventure in Sapa in Vietnam.

Other locations that Ian will visited in Series 2 are Okinawa Japan, Sumatra Indonesia, Darwin Australia, Sapa Vietnam, Rumtek Monastery India and Singapore.

Watch him with the Ryuku FC in Okinawa, discovers what it means to be a monk etc.

I thought this photo is rather interesting and I took a shot of it.

It's silly, but I used my Canon DSLR to take a photo of a photo taken using Canon camera!

INVITE MR WRIGHT 2 premieres:

Every Thursday at 2200 hrs (10:00 p.m.)
On TLC (Starhub Channel 27)
Starting 29 March 2012.

Encores every Sunday at 2100 hrs (9:00 p.m.)

The Sleeping Rhino @ Klapsons The Boutique Hotel

2012-03-21T23:31:00.001+08:00

This was an HungryGoWhere.com invite to taste the food at The Sleeping Rhino at Klapsons the Boutique Hotel.

What an unique name! The Sleeping Rhino? We were hosted by Belda from Klapsons and she said the name and the initial TSR sounds cool. The hotel itself is really cool too! When you enter the building you will see a big sphere as the reception area. Try walking into it and ask the service staff something. Why? Try it and you will find out!

Out of curiosity, I did an online search to find out how long does a Rhino sleep each day. A rhino sleeps about 8 hours a day!

The tasting menu for the night. Eaten last week.

If you are a bread person, the bread roll here might just make you really happy.
It's warm to the slightly hot side. It was also really soft inside. The roll had sun dried tomatoes and I ate it without butter. It was very good by itself.

One of the signature dishes is the Avocado, Mango and Prawn Salad.

This was the tasting portion. Normal serving size is huge and could be a dish itself, great for lunches for those working around this area. ($16.50 for full portion)

The mango was sweet and it goes well with the leaves, avaocado and prawns. Great idea mixing some sweet soft fruits into salads. I usually don't have dressing for my salads. The slight drizzle of the balsamic dressing does gives it a slight sweetish and slighty tart flavour to it.

Roasted Mushroom Soup. Normal serving ($9.50)
Roasting the mushroom makes it more fragrant. You can tell from the colour that it's not the pale cream coloured mushroom soup. What a rich luscious colour!

The first mouth will give you a 'I want more of this' thought in your head. It's not the thick kind of soup. The viscosity of the soup is what I describe like melted ice cream. The truffle oil of course gives it an extra aroma. So if you soup the type of consistency I described, this is your kind of soup.

If you did keep some of your rolls, it goes well with the soup!

Macademia Crusted Salmon Fillet. (Normal portion $22.50)

This was KopiKosongGirl's main course. She liked the macademia crust on top which she said gives it a nice bite and touch to the usual salmon.

Did not really taste it, so I can't give you more description about it.

Double-cooked Pork Ribs
(Normal portion $26.50, which I was told is much more than what is already quite a huge chunk of meat that was served.)

This photo was taken without the chef's secret BBQ sauce over it yet. I have a soft spot for ribs. First the smell of pork ribs was one that makes you salivate immediately. I ate the first two ribs without the sauce first to taste how it is, and it was pretty good. The meat was tender, a gentle nudge with the fork and knife gets the meat off the bones.

I then tried it with the BBQ sauce. It was a slightly sweetish, slightly smokey and tangy sauce which was rather appetizing. The sauce is not thick kind, but is runny consistency of soft boiled egg yolks. I kept pouring it over the ribs when I was enjoying my ribs that Belda asked if I wanted to have another 'jug' of sauce! (There's more than enough sauce haha..)

With the soup and this sauce, I kinda of guess the chef does not like to thicken things up too much. So if you have similar kind of liking like me, you might like the chef's food. I know some of you folks prefer the thick gooey sticky kind of sauce over your ribs.

Berry Mousse Cheese Cake (Normal portion $9.50)
With the salad, soup and mains, most of us were quite stuffed. So we could not enjoy the dessert as much as we would like to.

I remember it as not being too cheesy and rich, which was good because we were quite stuffed. I remember the texture as very soft and creamy.

For drinks, I had this apple flavoured tea. A glass of tea with apple flavoured syrup in a cute little beaker.

My personal take, I did not really like the syrup. Not my cup of tea literally. I did not like the smell of the syrup, reminded me of ahem.., shall not mention it here. The tea itself without the syrup was nice though. I did notice something, the ice balls in the tea were made of the same tea! As you drink your tea, the tea does not get diluted!

If you work around this area, TSR have partnered with HGW to have quite good deals.
Visit the http://www.klapsons.com or http://www.hungrygowhere.com/ to look at their deals.

I walked around and saw that they have a Cold Buffet during lunch time. All-you-can-eat spread of appetisers, soup, salads and desserts for $26++ per pax. There is also an option of adding a main course and coffee/tea at $38++ per pax.

The Sleeping Rhino
15 Hoe Chiang Road,
Klapsons The Boutique Hotel,
Singapore 089316

Hours: Mon to Sat - 7am to 10.30pm, Sun : 7am to 11am
Tel: 6521 9001

Cold Stone Cremery @ Orchard Central

2012-03-20T08:12:00.001+08:00

We got this voucher for Cold Stone Cremery from Far East Organisation / Quincy Hotel since last year and we were thinking of an occasion to use it for someone's birthday.

When we finally wanted to use it for someone's birthday. It was meant to be a surprise cake for that person in our Care Group meet up, guess what, the Care Group was cancelled last minute! The cake had to be ordered 3 days in advanced, so we can't cancel the cake.

So the 3 of us at home celebrated 'someone's' birthday without the person around! It's so silly, but it was so fun at the same time. We were laughing at ourselves when we cut the cake at home for supper!

Probably the most delicious ice cream cake so far we have tasted.
It was the small round size we had.

The flavour's called Coffeehouse Crunch.

Layers of moist devil's food cake and coffee ice cream with Daim Bar, wrapped in rich fudge ganache.

Does that sound absolutely tempting?
We noticed they had lines on the cake, a bit like perforated paper, acting as a guide to cut the cake.

It's not ice cream the whole cake, but layers of Devil's Food Cake (i.e. Rich Chocolate Cake) and ice cream. That makes it easier to cut.

The 3 of us at home will now recommend this cake instead to people if they want to have ice cream cake!

Cold Stone Creamery
181 Orchard Road,
Orchard Central #01-09/10,
Singapore 238896

Hours: 11am – 11pm Daily
Tel: 6238 9060

Maison Ikkoku Bar @ Kandahar Street

2012-03-19T14:24:00.001+08:00

Some people leave office on the dot so they can pick up their kids. Many of my colleagues do that!

Some leave work on the dot so that they can go exercise. I know more people doing this!

Some others have to work late because everyone in their company stay back just to show they are hardworking! It's true, I have friends that work in such company!

Some others leave work to meet up and enjoy a drinks of two with their friends or colleagues to network or to catch up. If you are in this category, lucky you!

Here's one place that recently opened that might interest you.

(These 2 photos courtesy of Maison Ikkoku)

Maison Ikkoku recently opened up their Bar on the 3rd floor of the shophouse they occupy. It's 1000 sq feet in area space with a seating capacity for 45 pax. It has a nice cosy indoor place and a 'roof top' outdoor area too.

I was there recently to try out some of their MI Signature Cocktails.

MI2 - Passionate Moment is the name of this drink.

The server came and took out a lighter. The sprig of rosemary was set a flame. It's to extract the flavour of the herb. I can only smell a bit of it! LOL!

MI2 Passionate Moment is made from Fresh Passionfruit, Lemon, Rosemary, Gin, Vodka ($22).
It's made from Freshly Squeezed Juices! You might it's fruit juices when you have it until the alcohol hits you!

MI1 White French Maid is another of their signature MI cocktails. It's concocted with Coffee Liquor, French Caramel Liquor, Vodka, Fresh Milk and Coffee Beans ($25).

See the layers? The top layer of fresh milk that has been froth up and 'burnt' using a torch has a texture like marshmallows!

I am not much of a coffee person nor an alcoholic but KopiKosongGirl is! It's her kind of drink with alcohol added in! Coffee bean's the same one they used to brew their coffee on the ground floor.

The cocktail bar is helmed by Director of Bar Operations and Mixologies, Ethan Leslie Leong. He has over 18 years of experience in the food & beverage/hospitality industry as a bartender, consultant and mixologist.

Here he is mixing another glass of MI1 White French Maid.

We were chatting and I was looking at how Ethan made the drink.
That's not fresh cream, but fresh milk that has been froth up!

The Fabulous DianaV ($25)

MI’s mixologist Ethan has collaborated with three personalities to come up with their own bespoke cocktails.

- Renowned Show Producer Daniel Boey
- Award-winning Art Director Justin Long
- Home-grown singer-songwriter Aarika Lee

Looking at the ingredients of the drinks, I had Daniel Boey's The Fabulous DianaV. Ingredients were Red apple, Mint, Gin, Pomegranate, Lemon, Apple Liquor and Menthe-Pastile. It's nice!

These cocktails available for a limited time from now till October 2012 and each is priced at $25.

One of the interesting snack I had with the drinks is the Spam Fries!
Ooo, so salty and yet to addictive!

Maison Ikkoku Cocktail Bar
20 Kandahar Street
Singapore 198885

Hours:
Mon - Thu (6pm – 1am)
Fri, Sat and Eve of Public Holiday (6pm – 2am).
Closed on Sun.

http://www.maison-ikkoku.net/

McDonald's East Coast Park

2012-03-17T23:41:00.000+08:00

Probably the McDonald's that most people in Singapore have visited at least once in their lifetime!
It's a place to grab a drink and some air-con after a run, cycling or skating.
A place to seek refuge when you are at East Coast Park and it rains!

It's also the first Drive-Thru, the first Skate-Thru, the first 24 hours outlet in Singapore too!

Today's the last day where McDonald's operating here at Marina Cove.

This morning, KopiKosongGirl and I was traveling to Bedok on the ECP to celebrate a friend's kid's 1st birthday. Guess what we did? We detour and thought we would have a last meal here!

I saw a colleague from work too and he said: "having a last meal here too"?

It was crowded, very crowded!
It has been a long time since I was here, I am more of the West Coast Park McDonalds person since it opened and my favourite is probably King Albert Park.

KKG and I were surprised that there was a board McDonald's fans put message on it!

Probably the most interesting 'piece' we saw on the board!

Probably the only McDonald's that when it moves, has a farewell party!

Oh.... If you are up early on a Sunday morning at 8 AM, head to this branch!
There's gonna be a McDonald's "Walk With Us" from the East Coast Park branch to the new East Coast Seafood Centre branch!

First 500 there gets a goodie bag and Ronald McDonald would lead the walk!
There's also special appearance by Birdie, Grimace and Hamburglar too! (Remember them?)

Malaysian Food Street @ Resorts World Sentosa

2012-03-15T01:20:00.001+08:00

It was one of our colleague's birthday. We asked him what he would like to eat and he said let's go to the Malaysian Food Street and order from as many stalls to try out the food. We were all game for it because it was not possible to order a lot of things with only a few person.

Our colleague had actually done some research. It seems that not all stalls are open everyday. There are different rest days for the stalls, so the best time to go is during the weekend or Fridays. We went on a Friday!

If you are like us, wondering where it is, it's near the entrance of Universal Studios.
The stalls mostly open at 12 noon, some at 11am, so the best time to arrive is around 11:45am. We arrived around 11:45am. For some stalls that seems to be popular, there were already queues forming!!

Once you get in, you see a trishaw and directions to the different streets famous for their food in Malaysia. Hmm, where is Jalan Tengkera?

One thing I like about this place is the high ceiling.
They transformed the place to look like the nightly road side stalls!

Like military precision planning, all of us went to queue at different stalls. I queued at the Klang Bak Kut Teh stall. I had to wait because the stall opens only at 12 noon.

I ordered the biggest set meal on the menu. (We got to share with so many people). I think it was around $8 or $9 for the pork ribs with mushrooms, dough fritters and rice.

The soup was tasty, it's the herbal kind instead of the peppery style in Singapore. It has been some time since I went to Klang to have the Bak Kut Teh to remember exactly how it should taste like, but it was tasty. It has a nice herbal flavour but that too overpowering. The pork ribs were not the big long ones though. They seemed to have cut them shorter.

It gets cold rather quickly because of the strong aircon there, so don't wait for your friends! Eat it quickly or order it later after other long queue food are almost ready.

The Ampang Yong Tau Foo.
It has been a long time since I had these in KL too. Presented on a big plate made it looked a bit bare. Taste wise it's all right, not something to really die for. Make a trip up to KL!

The Penang Lor Mee.
I did not really taste much of this. We took quite a long table, and the Lor Mee was at the other end of the table. Looked very different from the photo on the RWS website though. Looks gooey, very different from the ones I had in Penang just last month!

Penang Char Koay Teow.
It's actually quite decent! No lardy crispies here. Like a healthier version of the Penang ones. For most stalls in Penang, the serving are usually quite small and there's no big prawns. Here the portion was quite big and they throw in bigger prawns too.

(The exception is of course if you eat at the famous Penang Goggle Man version, which charges RM8-10! That is something to die for. I wonder why RWS did not get them in!)

Claypot Chicken Rice.

When we got there, the stalls already took order and started cooking though they only start operating at 12 noon. We ordered 2 pots of it. It took around 40 mins for the order to be ready. If you have time, this is worth the wait!

The long wait was because the rice was cooked from scratch in the claypot. It was also cooked over charcoal fire. The cover it seems were also topped with hot charcoal! Heated from the top and bottom!

That's one of my colleagues mixing up the rice.

All of us liked the claypot rice. The chicken were well marinated. We noticed that it had a nice crunch in the rice too. The crunch was probably the mix from the crispy layer below with the soft fluffy rice. After reading about this stall online, it seems they use 3 different kinds of rice in it, maybe that's why it taste rather unique. We would definitely order the claypot rice again when we visit this place.

We also had the dim sum which was nice, but not really spectacular. Colleague also ordered the wan tan noodles. Another colleague was queueing for the longest queue at the whole place, the Hokkien Noodles, but we told her to give up, all the rest of the food have arrived and we were already very hungry. We will try that next time!

The Ice Kachang. It looked like those in Malaysia. No weird colours that we find in many places in Singapore. Oh, sarsi cordial too on it! Surprisingly it was not too sweet. We expected it to be super sweet like most desserts in Malaysia.

The chendol was also nice. The correct colour of chendol too! Pale green colour (not bright freaky green) and they were really generous with the gula melaka.

I think RWS should have hunted and invited this Chendol stall from Batu Pahat. Of all the chendol I have tasted, the best one were from Batu Pahat!

A place to visit if you are tired of the similar food courts all around Singapore. It's quite an interesting idea. If you want to try not that bad Malaysian food without your passport, you can give it a try. Claypot rice, Fried Kway Teow were nice. Klang Bak Kut Teh was also not bad.

Malaysian Food Street @ Resorts World Sentosa
8 Sentosa Gateway
Sentosa Island
Singapore 098269

Late Plate @ NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House.

2012-03-07T23:35:00.002+08:00

How time flies! The food in today's post was eaten almost a month ago!

My colleagues and I wanted something different and decided to try out a place that is different from the usual canteen fare. We read that there's a new place that serves all day breakfast in the NUS Kent Ridge Campus. It's headed by an Australian Chef Roland Graham, who's worked in a few countries and few top hotels too. We thought we shall try it out.

For those familiar with NUS, this dining place is at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House. The last time we were here, it was a cafe that was a subsidiary of a local catering firm that all of us probably eaten before. It's a nice chance to have a new tenant at the Alumni House.

As you can see, the view outside is quite pleasant. It's near to the modern looking NUS Business School as well. Why is it call Late Plate? It's because they serve all day breakfast! No matter how late you go, you can still get breakfast!

A colleague, HY tested out the Cappuccino. ($4.50 hot / $5.50 cold)

I am not a coffee drinker, but the aroma was wonderful. She quite enjoyed it. You can tell a coffee drinker who likes their coffee when it perks them up suddenly! (oh these caffeine addicts!)

HY ordered the soup of the day which was interesting!
It's "cream of broccoli, corn and ham hock". We were too curious and we asked our colleague if we could try it. It was good! Really good!

The broccoli cream was blended, however to give it a nice texture, they had tiny little bits of broccoli to give it a nice little crunch. Interesting eh?

This is the Pot Pie. It comes as a special when we visited it with the Soup of the day above.
(Pot Pie and Soup of the Day was $15)

The Pot Pie here was not covered with the usual pastry, but the bowl was topped with mash potatoes. The top layer according to colleague A was a little cheesy crusty. The potato sure doesn't taste like those instant ones, so it's probably made from fresh potatoes.

The beef bolognaise was hidden below and she said it was good. Looks really tempting doesn't it?

I ordered the Red Snapper Fillet. It was served on top of roasted dutch tomatoes. ($16)
The snapper was wonderful. Not overcooked and it was succulent. The dutch tomatoes roasted was good too. As a person who loves tomatoes, I wished there were more of it!

On the side was black endive and basil mash topped with I think tasted like sweet potato crisp. Very pleasant flavour and I mix it with the olive oil and fish jus that was from the fish.

Another colleague, DP ordered the Corned Beef Hash ($15)
When it arrived, he was going to say, I did not order this! A bowl of eggs for lunch?

It is really his order. The menu says Onion and Gruyere Cheese Baked Eggs with Scorched Sourdough Caper Gremolata. He or rather all of us did not read the description above when we ordered it. We were too busy talking about work in the office.

Beneath the layer of egg and cheese is a layer of mash potato. Below the mash potato is the corned beef. According to DP, it's very rich and quite an indulgence.

HY is a dessert girl! Desserts were all $5 ($3 if it an add on to your mains), so we were game to try it with her! This was the Vanilla Almond Tart & Ice cream with passionfruit puree.

It's not a huge dessert. We wished it could be bigger. The tart about the size of the mini macarons that we usually buy in Singapore. The taste was quite good though. The ice cream was very good too!

We saw the first dessert was not that big, so we thought we can fill up more calories! We ordered the Dark Chocolate Pistachio tart with toasted marshmallows and white cocoa sauce. The tart was filled with dark chocolate that has been melted into the tart shell. Very thick and sinful. We thought the white cocoa sauce tasted like thick condensed milk.

Total bill costs us $54 for 3 persons.

Late Plate
11 Kent Ridge Drive
#01-03 Shaw Foundation Alumni House
Singapore 119244

Tel: +65 8328 3127
Web: www.lateplate.sg

Hours: Mon-Wed: 10am-6pm, Thu-Fri: 10am-8pm, Sat: 10am-4pm

The Marmalade Pantry At The Stables (Fairways Drive)

2012-02-29T10:55:00.001+08:00

The Marmalade Pantry has always been on many people's list of favourite place to dine. You can tell by the crowd at ION Orchard. They served food that's what many consider comfort food. The branch most familiar to all is the ION Orchard branch. Do you know that they have a branch at Fairways Drive too?

The Fairways Drive or Stables as they call it has a very 'countryside' feel to it. It's opposite to Rider's Cafe if you know where that is. Depending on the time, you might see horses at the area too! A nice place to escape to if you want to get away from the city rush.

We booked our parents for brunch last weekend at the stables. We know they would like the breakfast / brunch fare here and it's also quite near their home.

So much greenery, and this place is also the Central Kitchen for the Marmalade Pantry group. There are two main dining area here, the air-conditioned part in the building, and the natural air at the verandah of the building.

The Marmalade Pantry at the Stables only open for dinner on weeknights and all day weekends.
If you are coming here, I recommend you drive or take a taxi.

The mother-in-law had the Eggs Any Style. ($20)
It's the big breakfast with eggs done your choice. Eggs your style! MIL likes fried eggs.

There was a choice of Grilled English Sausage or smoked bacon. MIL had the bacon.
It comes with quite delicious sauteed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, home made baked beans and whole wheat toast.

Father-in-law wanted something light and he ordered the Spicy Oriental Roast Beef Salad. $22.
A nice big bowl of salad, Thai Style with roast beef slices.

Green mangoes, basil, mint and chilled glass noodles. For those who don't take carbo, this is a good option. Very delicious too!

I had the Steak Sandwich ($24), medium done. Oh, the steak was really juicy! Look at the juice oozing out and all sucked up by the bun. The steak was also slightly red part in the middle, yum yum!

The buns were spread with wasabi mayo and there was caramelized chunks of onions below the piece of steak and rockets above it. I am glad I ordered it, steak for breakfast, camouflaged like breakfast! I wished there was more wasabi though. :-)

Comes with a bowl of salad too. The side were yam and sweet potato crisp.

KopiKosongGirl had The Pantry Club ($24).
When it came, you could see she was really happy. Their version club sandwich was very tasty.

Honey baked ham, roast chicken, eggs, gem lettuce and roma tomatoes. There was also tasty yam and sweet potato crisp for sides too.

How can one not order their marvelous cupcakes when one goes to Marmalade Pantry?
This was the Bananarama ($4.50) that we shared. It's very delicious banana walnut cake with caramel cream cheese.

Note: At this branch, you will a nice big table that displays all the cupcakes. It's like you are visiting someone's house and they displayed all the cakes and desserts for you to choose. It's so tempting!

We noticed FIL's face was delighted with this cupcake. The caramel cream cheese was so tempting!

Oh.. we ordered this and we absolutely loved it and we think you should try it too!
This was the Sea Salt Caramel Cheesecake ($8).

It comes served very cold and one bite and you can finish it all! A firm texture that melts into creamy goodness when it's in your mouth. A sweetness with a slight saltiness really excites the tongue!

It goes quite well with the range of Gryphon Tea that they serve here. Parents in law shared a pot of White Gingerlilly that was so fragrant.

Some of you know that I juice quite often at home from my Instagram photos. I tried 2 glasses of this 'liquid salad' some time ago and really love it. So I ordered it again. It's called "Flush" ($8).

Liquid salad because it's all veggies in it! Spinach, carrots and beetroot! The wife think it's horrible, but I really love it! (She loves salad, but I think liquid salad's not for her!)

We like this venue and the countryside view. You can see families coming here for their weekend brunch. It's kids friendly place too. We were enjoying a nice quiet meal until one family came in. They have two very cute kids with nice golden hair, but they were screaming and running non stop for over 10 minutes! We know they are definitely not French, for French kids always sit quietly at dining tables. (You read about bringing up kids the French way right? It's so interesting!)

Running outside in the grass area is ok, but not inside the restaurant when servers are bringing out hot food and liquids. Thank goodness the screaming and running finally stopped when the mum realised it's an accident waiting to happen.

We saw this on the table and thought I should quickly rush this post out so that some of you can take advantage of it.

Tonight, if you are there, you get your 4th main course for free!
Some of you may 'leap' for joy with this offer! Only once in 4 years! A Leap Year offer!
Grab 3 other friends and head there tonight!

The Marmalade Pantry at the Stables
55 Fairways Drive
Singapore 286846

Tel: +65 6467 9328
Web: www.themarmaladepantry.com.sg