ThE DiGesTiVe aDvEnTuReS oF PiJJie!

See-Food Pear-Ra-Dice

2010-06-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

One of the bestest crabbies which Daddy and Mummy and me have eaten is at Seafood Paradise..the one in Defu Lane which we visited longlong ago and had to queue up veryvery long in a veryvery ulu place..and although Seafood Paradise had opened another outlet at the Singapore Flyer for veeeeeeeeeeery long liao..we somehow never go down to visiting it there..until recently one Saturday hor..Daddy and Mummy decided to do something different, leave the car at home (and reduce our carbon footprint)..and take public transport to the Singapore Flyer to have crabbies and then have a romantic walk home! =p

We didn't make a reservation cos' it was a pretty last minute decision..and we were very sad when we got there and heard a group of people being told that they had to wait for like 2 hours for the next available table..seems like Seafood Paradise is realli popular and need to make reservation one..but Mummy decided to try her luck since we just needed a table for two..and heng ar..realli got one for us! =p So we managed to sneak in without having to wait at all lor! Yay! Seafood Paradise at the Singapore Flyer is muchmuch more high-class (in decor) than the Defu Lane one..more modern decor, more comfy seats, etc. etc..but more important is whether the food is nice lar!

Instead of the usual peanuts..Seafood Paradise serves this pseudo-plait-cookie tidbit to start off the meal..and this was SUPER delicious! Hehehe..not that it's like amazing or wat lar..but it is realli light, crispy and has a slight tinge of sweetness..Daddy just couldn't stop eating it! In fact..he asked for another plate of it and even tried to ask whether Seafood Paradise sells it in larger quantities anot (ans: no!)..Hehehe.

Mummy's friend recently dapaoed the super delicious century egg from Yung Kee in Hong Kong for us to eat..and it was, once again, supersupersuper nice..so Daddy and Mummy were inspired to order century egg when they saw it on Seafood Paradise's menu lor! But this was very normal..not worth the $$$. btw hor..the good thing about Seafood Paradise @ Singapore Flyer is that the menu is a combi of Seafood Paradise + Paradise Inn..so can have the best of both worlds when u dine here! The century egg was from the Paradise Inn menu lor..

This was Daddy's choice..bacon roll with cheese..the good thing about this was that it realli bursts with cheese when u bite into it..plus Daddy like the sweetsweet sauce which it is coated in..but the bacon roll itself was actualli pretty hard..i think can give this a miss since there's a lot of better stuff on the menu..

And this was Mummy's choice..drunken live prawns served in a claypot..and there is no doubt at all that this was supersuper good! The prawns were big, veryvery fresh..and the wolfberry herbish soup was veryvery yummy! Definitely must try this dish leh!

And of course..the STAR of the meal..Mr Crabbie! We ordered the one in creamy butter sauce..cos' Seafood Paradise is one of the few places which actualli has this gravish-buttery-sauce (other places also have butter crabs but it's the DRY type one..which we unfortunately found out by experience)..and the sauce is simply, simply, sinfully divine! Daddy everytime feel like just drinking up the sauce..hehehe..but too sinful liao lar! If u like crabbies, definitely muz try this! A good chance from the usual black pepper/chilli versions..

We asked for a female crabbie..and just check out the ROE.................

And of course..crabbies must always go with fried mantou..Daddy's new "finding" is that need to stop-at-two for the mantous..otherwise will become too full! I think the creamy butter sauce will be SUPER nice with rice..hehehe..maybe me will try that the next time!

Once again..it was another good meal at Seafood Paradise..in fact..so good that Daddy and Mummy and me went back with Ah Gong and Ah Ma the next Sunday to have lunch! Hehehe..we had the set lunch (and of course, plus a crabbie)..and the food was realli nice too! Especially the tofu! Seafood Paradise is realli our fave crabbie paradise! =) So happy that it is muchmuch nearer now! Yay!

More from Restaurant Week - Tatsuya!

2010-06-01T02:31:00.000-07:00

More oldold posts..this time another one from Restaurant Week. Apart from the dinner at Oso..Daddy and Mummy and me had dinner at another restaurant that week..at the supposed-to-be-one-of-the-bestest-Japanese-food-restaurant-in-Singapore..Tatsuya! It was realli difficult to get a reservation here..Daddy had to constantly check the Restaurant Week website..until he finalli got a free slot and he quickly bia to book..and that was the onli free slot which he ever saw! =p

Tatsuya is located at Goodwood Park Hotel..but cannot go in through the hotel but through an entrance just beside the entrance to the hotel..once u step in..the right side is the private dining rooms while the left side is a long counter..just like the ones in Japan! Daddy and Mummy and me had our seats at the counter..right where all the action was, with our food prepared right in front of us..

First up was this appetiser trio of...

Sasame tofu (this was yummy)...

Green eye fish (I have no idea what this is but it was ok)...

And Rape blossom (no idea, not nice, very bitter)...

Daddy heard that the sashimi at Tatsuya is realli good + Mummy is a salmon-sashimi-lover = we decided to order a plate of salmon sashimi to try lor! Check out how good it looks..super melt-in-the-mouth!

Next up was this steamed dish of Homemade yam tofu with angler fish liver..sounds yucky? But this was surprisingly nice! The tofu had an interesting taste of yam and the liver was actualli quite delicious! =p Quite comfort-food-like, with the soup and stuff too!

Daddy liked this Seared marlin with homemade dressing..which was seared with a blowtorch right in front of us =p The fish was realli fresh and just sufficiently (under)cooked..this was delicious too!

And lastly..a combi of sushi, including rainbow roll, california roll and tuna roll..PLUS a very cute-looking tamago which Daddy actualli wanted to order separately one! All the sushis were delicious..somehow, u can just taste the difference in good sushi..think it may be the rice which realli makes a difference!

We're always heard that Tatsuya is realli expensive..so Restaurant Week was a realli good chance for Daddy and Mummy and Me to try the place out without having to worry about bursting our wallets! And actualli hor..after checking out the menu there..the prices are not TOO jialat lar..so i guess if we wanna try some realli good Japanese food one day hor..we might come back here! Me like the "authentic" Japanese sushi-counter feel too..and what is different about Tatsuya is that the chefs behind the counter will realli interact with u one leh! Very friendly! Like they'll advise us on how best to savour the dishes, then they also help us cut up the sashimi so that we can better share..they were all very nice! realli felt like we were in Japan..where the behind-the-counter-chefs also interact with u (they even tried to interact with us though we didn't know how to speak Japanese)! Hehehe.

Visiting Mr Jones...

2010-05-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

This is a veryvery long ago post..back to the time when the (new) Mandarin Gallery just re-opened..then Mummy and Daddy and me were there to explore the place to see if got anything new/interesting anot..actualli we were intending to go and try Ippudo..but after seeing the 10,000,000,000-person-long queue..we decided to drop by the new Jones the Grocer there to have lunch instead!

More dining and less supermarkety than the one at Dempsey..the whole central area of Jones the Grocer @ Mandarin Gallery is for makan..onli the sides are for some condiments, sauces, etc. etc. (dun think there's fresh food either)..i suppose they expect people to come here more to eat than to shop bah!

Daddy was hungry so he decided to order a fruit scone (in addition to his main course)..this looks much bigger in the photo than it realli is..Hehehe. Well..the scone wasn't too bad..it's the sortof fluffy inside and hard outside type..and there were lots of small fruit bits inside. Bad thingie about it was that Jones the Grocer didn't serve it warm! =( That's a cardinal sin for scones..in Daddy's opinion at least!

This cup of hazelnut latte was good..but again..dun be deceived by the photo cos' it was a reallirealli small cup! Me like the coffee-artwork too! =p

This was very disappointing..Mummy ordered the porcini mushroom chicken pie..since she likes mushrooms..but the pie pastry was too thick, not buttery at all, quite hard, and like the scone..wasn't served hot at all! And then the filling hor..also very disappointing! Have u ever eaten a polar puff chicken pie? Well..it was close to that! =( Last issue..the pie was small too......

The wagyu burger was muchmuch better..the beef was very tender and very tasty..especially with the melted cheese! It was a pretty decent serving also..although me would have preferred if they reduced the FOREST of veggies which they put on top..Me hate these veggies cos' it's bitter one leh! =( But just scrap aside..and the rest of the burger is good..

Suckiest of all where the fries..firstly hor..they were OBVIOUSLY the buy-from-NTUC-in-a-huge-frozen-package type..secondly..they were under-fried (see how yellowish they were! not golden brown at all)..thirdly..they were LIMP and SOGGY when served..this was a complete waste of money! Seriously..this could possibly the WORSE fries I've eaten..

So generalli..me guess u could say that the food at Jones the Grocer was pretty much a let-down..me wonder how come it seems to be very popular and quite crowded also! Maybe onli for their brunch bah..which i heard is quite good? But don't think we'll be heading back there for a meal anytime soon..issit cos' we ordered the wrong dishes?

Morton's is always too FILLING...

2010-05-09T02:21:00.000-07:00

There're quite a lot of steakhouses in Singapore nowadays..the most popular of which is the now-everywhere-also-have Aston's..but the one steakhouse which Mummy and Daddy and me will go to whenever we have a meaty-steaky craving (or whenever we redeem the UOB voucher..hehehe) is Morton's! Morton's has been around (in the world) for manymany years liao..and in Singapore..there's only one outlet at Mandarin Oriental..which was actualli the first Morton's outlet in Asia! It's a fairly relaxed place where u can sit back, relax, dun need to worry about talking too loudly..and just enjoy the food! Only problem for me is that the place is quite dark..so very hard to take nice photos! Hehehe.

This is the legendarily-huge onion loaf from Morton's..it's so BIG that Daddy and Mummy and me never ever manage to finish it! Not forgetting that Daddy is a breadie-lover lor. It's even bigger than me leh! Hehehe. Best when warm and eaten with a huge slab of butter! This is yummy! But we always have to control ourselves so that we won't end up too full for the rest of the food..but often unsuccessful! =p

Whilst there is only one reason for coming to Morton's, i.e. the BEEF..we are not THAT crazy over it..so recently what we've done is to order a small portion of steak to share, and then order Morton's seafood platter as well! This is yummmmy! Can't remember exactly what's in the platter..but me can remember that got crab cake (which is super good), oysters rockefeller, colossal shrimp, and scallops! Delicious!

Sorry for the horrigible photo..but this was actualli a single cut of filet mignon, medium-rare..enough for Daddy and Mummy and me to share (after factoring in the bread, seafood platter and side dish)! =)

Usualli Daddy will order French fries for the side dish..but he decided to try something else today and he ordered the macaroni & cheese! This was very nice at first..very cheesy, gooey and tasty..but by the time we managed to finish half of the dish hor..we were like super-duper full and quite ni from the cheese liao! And not forgetting hor..every spoonful of this is like a spoonful of CARBO! Hehehe. Don't think we'll order this again..too filling liao! Need more people to share it with..i dun think they should call this a "SIDE DISH" at all lor..it's like an entree!

And even though we were super full after our seafood, steak and mac/cheese..Daddy will never leave Morton's without having Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake..served with a huge scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream! He will feel like 對不起 himself if he doesn't eat this..Hehehe..so we ended up having it too lor! And of course..this was, as usual, sinfully delicious! This is like the biggest molten chocolate cake in Singapore (i tink)..and the warm, gooey chocolate flow is super delicious with the cold ice cream! But because Daddy always eat this..we never get to try Morton's other desserts before..like their souffle and cheese cake!

No question about it..u're guaranteed to be super full but super satisfied after each meal at Morton's! The good food doesn't come cheap though..but i guess good beef comes with a high price as well! I guess u pay a bit for the "entertainment" also lar..waiters/waitresses chanting the menu to u..showing u the live lobster..paying close attention to ur needs..etc. etc..but i tink the next time hor..we'll try Lawry's or maybe Aston's to see how it compares!

Memories of a yummy dinner at Kuriya...

2010-05-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

Whenever Mummy and Daddy and Me go to the "middle" Orchard area, i.e. Shaw Centre, DFS, Ion, etc..we'll park at Shaw Centre cos' the parking there is cheapest in Orchard (i think)..but the carpark is crowded most of the time and we'll end up driving all the way up to the 10th or 11th level before getting a lot..but sometimes we get lucky and manage to get a lot at level 3 or 4..and whenever we do that and walk into Shaw Centre from the carpark..we'll pass by this Japanese restaurant which is located right at the carpark entrance..which looks pretty atas..and seems to be quite populated by REAL Japanese customers..but we never realli got down to trying it until last year when Daddy and Mummy were craving for Japanese food and decided to give this place a shot! It was then that we found out that the restaurant was actualli Kuriya..which is a chain of Japanese restaurants run by RE&S (Shimbashi, Ichiban, Kuishin Bo, etc.)..which got us rather doubtful since chain usualli means not that authentic/maybe mass production/varying standards across outlets..right? =p

There were alot-alot of different dishes/combos/items on the menu..so Daddy and Mummy went for the easy choice and decided to order two set dinners instead..Mummy went for the shabu-shabu set and Daddy went for the sushi set. Whatever the case..both sets started off with this large bowl of salad. The veggies were..well..veggies lor =p But one thing hor - the sauce was very good! This seems to be the standard Japanese sauce for salad at Japanese restaurants (me remember having this at Akashi too)..wonder what it is! =p

Will start with Mummy's set first..which came with a serving of salmon sashimi, served on alot-alot of ice! Hehehe. Looks realli yummy hor..and the salmon was realli fresh and yummy! Melt-in-the-mouth too! =p

And this was the rest of Mummy's set! Got a hotpot full of goodies..like mushrooms and veggies..and got lots of slices of fatty, tender beef to cook! Yummy! The set came with a small bowl of chawanmushi and some rice too..but of course..the highlight was the beef lar!

And then over to Daddy's set! Daddy's set was more exciting..Hehehe. Got more dishes, more appetisers..starting with a chawanmushi! Daddy's chawanmushi was much bigger than Mummy's..Hehehe. Can compare here! =p

Chaaaaawanmushi! Daddy is not crazy over this dish lar..so he didn't find it too fantastic or anything..

And then there was THIS...

Daddy's dilemma - how to eat this? Can pour out the soup..but what about the liao inside? They'll drop to the bottom and get stuck lor..and the teapot hole is so small that u can't put a spoon in! Then scoop the liao out while there's still soup ar? But the spoon cannot fit in leh! Hehehe. In the end..Daddy just poured out the soup and used his chopstick to "dig" out the liao..Hehehe. Any idea how to eat this? =p

Daddy's set also came with a mixed sashimi..which was again on lots of ice..but had 3 or 4 varieties of sashimi! This was fresh and yummy too! The sashimi here is gooood!

And the "main course" for Daddy's set..SUSHI! This was reallirealli good..i tink close to one of the betterest sushi we've had in Singapore! Everything was fresh and yummy..and the rice was well-prepared too! Compact but not too sticky! Only complain - there was a little bit too much wasabi within! And Daddy asked for NO wasabi lor..

Another look at the suuuuuuuushi...

So we had a realli good meal at Kuriya..the food was good, the servings were pretty generous..although the prices were fairly high also lar..i think each set was like $60 or $70? Something like that bah..but in terms of the quality of food..definitely good and much better than all the other Japanese restaurant chains out there! The place was quite nice also..somehow it gave a rather relaxed and not-in-Singapore feel..maybe cos' all of the Japanese people there lar..BUT hor..now the bad news..the Shaw Centre outlet closed down a month after we visited it! =( Think cos' Shaw Centre is going to undergo renovation..so that was our one and onli time there! Guess we can try the other Kuriyas around bah..hopefully the food is just as good too! =)

Ten-ichi - Best Tempura in Japan?

2010-04-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

When Daddy and Mummy and Me went to Tokyo last year..Daddy made a list of the food that he wanted to eat there..not necessarily specific places to eat..but Japanese food to try..like yaki-tori, ramen, soba, etc. etc..and one of the thingies on his list was tempura! So he surfed online, read guidebooks, etc..and one of the recommended tempura places in Tokyo was this place called Ten-ichi! But Daddy didn't make specific plans to visit it..cos' got too many things to eat liao..until one afternoon when we were in Ginza hor..when we were deciding where to have lunch..we stumbled accidentally upon Ten-ichi when shopping around lor! Then Daddy decided to try it out! Yeah!

The Ten-ichi at Ginza is the main outlet of a 77-year old restaurant chain that supposedly helped tempura gain popularity and recognition worldwide by serving important customers..and realli got a lot of photos of famous people who ate here before..can't really remember the people exactly liao but I know got one is Bill Clinton..but u won't realli know the popularity of this restaurant from the outside or even from within..it's pretty normal-looking and nothing overly bombastic..just a counter, with two chefs behind it..so we got seated and got ready for our meal! =)

The two chefs behind the counter that day..we were pretty early so the place wasn't too crowded yet..but be warned that it seats very few people so I suspect it can be quite hard to get spaces later on! =p Daddy and Mummy and Me looked through the menu..and Mummy decided to get the lunch tempura bento set..while Daddy ordered some tempura ala carte set off the menu..

This was Mummy's lunch tempura bento set..when it was served hor..Mummy was very sad! Not because it didn't look nice or anything like that (in fact..it was full of tempura-ed yummies!)..but cos' she dun get to play with the food..like Daddy's set (u'll read more about it below)! The lunch set is lots of tempura served with in a bowl with rice..and like u can see from the photo hor..got lots of liao inside! Got prawn, fish, meat, veggies, etc..and they were all very crispy! Yummy!

But in comparison hor..check out Daddy's set! Hehehe. Got salad and lots of "apparatus" to play with! Even got a bib for Daddy to wear leh! =p

Then basically just sit there and wait..and the chef will fry the tempura on the spot for u! And then serve u as and when the food is readi..over the counter! So fun hor! Don't think they have this in Singapore =p

And these were all the yummies which Daddy had! Got prawn, fish, fish cake, veggies and chicken..then got rice and miso soup also..this set was much better and more fun than Mummy's one! Hehehe. The tempura batter was supernaturally light leh..dun have the oily feel and it's like veryvery crispy but not thick! Super delicious! And best of all..it's served hot from the wok..so no worries that the food will become soggy cos' the chef will serve one by one! This is realli the best tempura we've ever had! =)

So if u're in Tokyo..and want to try tempura..don't forget to try Ten-ichi!

My Happiest Moment/Meal in Japan!

2010-04-19T02:29:00.000-07:00

Me at Tokyo Disneyland, waiting for the parade to start! Check out the cute Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse lunchboxes! =p

Fall/Winter 2009: Hairy crabbies@Grand Shanghai!

2010-04-19T02:20:00.000-07:00

Another oooooold post, as u can probably guess from the title..this was when Mummy and Daddy and Me went to Grand Shanghai@Grand Copthorne Waterfront with Uncle Donny, Uncle Fan Jun, Uncle Deca and Auntie Yomay last November to have our first taste of hairy crabbie! Every year around Sep - Nov..almost every Chinese restaurant in Singapore goes hairy-crab-crazy, offering this delicacy from Shanghai at (very) expensive prices..cos' that is the peak season for the crabbies when they reach "maturity", i.e. full of roe! All of us had never tried hairy crabbie before..so we took advantage of a 1-for-1 hairy crab set promotion at Grand Shanghai to try for the first time!

This is Grand Shanghai..and the whole place was rather......"Shanghainese"? Hehehe. It realli lives up to its name leh..and btw nice teapot! =p The place was half-filled on a Sunday afternoon..which doesn't bode very well since most Chinese restaurants (especially those serving dim sum) are packed fully with dim-sum-goers every weekend..aiyar nvm lar..since we're here for the hairy crabbies anyway..just steam onli mah! =p

Instead of the usual peanuts /tidbits which most Chinese restaurants offer as an appetiser..Grand Shanghai served this fairly yummy dish of (stewed?) mushroom and veggies..the mushrooms were juicy and tender..while the sauce was saltishly good! =) Good start to our meal! Bring on the crabbie set!

The crabbie set came with a cup of Chinese wine..but all of us didn't want to/don't drink so we changed it to a glass of sugarcane and water chestnut..NORMAL lor (what were u expecting???? the bestest drink in the universe??? Hehehe)..

This was the first dish on the crabbie set menu..which is essentially just another mini-appetiser lar..spicy cucumber morsels..sortof like achar, but much spicier! Nothing very fantastic about this..but it did help whet our appetite for the rest of the meal! It was a BIT too spicy though..especially for Mummy and Auntie Yomay..

Mummy and Daddy ordered an ala carte dish of crispy eel..this was realli yummy! This was crisp with a slight tinge of sweetness..very good! The serving was quite generous also..muz try this if u ever come to Grand Shanghai!

Next up - some tofu + crab + hairy crab roe soup..the soup was thick and nice..and got quite a lot of shreds of crabmeat inside..but......couldn't taste ANY bit of the hairy crab roe at all! Think the roe was wasted in this dish..should have given to us separately! Or maybe they bruff us..maybe no roe at all! =(

We got a bonus slice of Peking duck cos' we had more than 4 people having the hairy crabbie meal..but ONE slice onli lar..this was veryveryveryvery normal..actualli..not very up-to-standard cos' it was more like duck meat than crispy duck skin inside..the cracker was nice though! Hehehe.

And of course..the STAR of the meal..the hairy crabbie! Hehehe..can realli see how it got its name leh..its claws are (disgustingly) covered in like a layer of carpety hair! Actualli..this is a natural-history-museum-reconstruction of how the hairy crab looks like lar..Grand Shanghai will actualli cut up the crabbie into parts for u to facilitate easy eating..can see the next photo!

Yup, this was how it was served! Yuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmy! Especially yummy when u have the roe and the meat with the accompanying vinegar/ginger sauce..

Closer look =p

*drool*..the onli reason for eating hairy crabbies..the rich, thick, custard-like roe..the bestest, most indulgent-tasting roe which we have ever eaten! Superbly delicious! The crabbie meat is realli the sideshow lar..but if u're like Daddy and Mummy and the rest..u won't let a single bit of the crabbie go to waste!

The other unimportant parts of the meal after the hairy crabbie..actualli Me read somewhere that some restaurants serve the crabbie as the last course of the meal because anything that comes after it will be overshadowed..which was quite true! This was some steamed fish with veggies dish..not bad at all and it was actualli quite delicious..sortof tasted like hor fun without the kway tiao and the fish was very fresh and tender..but after the hairy crabbie..everything is, at best, OK onli......

Dumpling with meat and hairy crab roe..the soup was nice but it suffered from the same problem as the first soup..cannot taste the roe at all!

And lastly for dessert..white fungus with dates..VERY ordinary......

This indulgent hairy crabbie meal took all of us like 4 hours or so to finish..Hehehe..we were at the restaurant until 4+ p.m. when it had closed for the afternoon liao and the people were lounging around waiting for the evening shift to start..they muz realli hate us! Hehehe..but we took 1.5 hours to tackle the hairy crabbies alone cos' we were determined to enjoy very single bit of the goodness! Overall..it was a pretty good meal and the 1-for-1 price makes it realli worth it..so i think we might come back same time next year if they have the same promotion! We were sooooooooooo full after the meal that we could onli make it to the lobby at Grand Copthorne..where we ended up in a couple of the couches and nua-ed the afternoon away..after which we ordered some desserts before dinner though..Hehehehehehehe.

But we're definitely, officially in love with hairy crabs! The roe is simply divine..so custardy and rich..so delicious..so yummy! We would go on to have a few more hairy crabbie adventures before the season ended..but not enough, in my opinion! Hehehe. Oh well..now is Apr..just a few more months to go before it's hairy crabbie season again! =p

Taste of Japan - Bestest sushi, ever!

2010-04-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

Pilgrimage to the Tsukiji Market...

Every type of seafood imaginable can be found there! Daddy and Mummy and Me were there at like 5 a.m..and it was bustling with life!

Everyone was either packing or loading or unloading or cutting or doing something..we felt guilty cos' we seemed to be in the way of everyone!

The legendary tuna auction..couldn't go near at all! In fact, even though we stood at a distance to watch..Mr Police came over and told us that we could only observe for ONE minute..and he stood there to count down!

Poor quality "zoom-ed" photo..can see the tuna though!

Walkwalkwalk..tired liao so Daddy and Mummy and Me headed to have a sushi brekkie. At around 6 a.m.? Hehehe. The sushi shops are quite difficult to find, and we had to ask around a lot and anyhow walk. There're two most popular shops..Sushi Dai and Sushi Daiwa..we whack the latter cos' the queue was shorter!

No place inside at all..just a sushi counter, the chefs behind the counter, and barely any place to walk at all =p We just went in and said "setto" (set)..and left the rest to the chef =p

Simply put..this was the bestest sushi ever. Not surprising, since the fishies came from down the street? Hehehe. If u ever come to Tokyo, don't ever miss out on this! =p Even though u have to wake up real earli..

Restaurant Week@Oso!

2010-03-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

Restaurant Week is this event in which participating restaurants offer fixed-price lunches ($25) and dinners ($35) over the period of a week..which can be quite wu hua cos' some of these restaurants are normally very expensive! Me think that this Restaurant Week thingie has been going on in places like New York and London for some time liao..but earlier this year in Mar hor..we had our first Restaurant Week in Singapore! Actualli..it's the first one in Asia! 58 restaurants took part..and all reservations were made online via the Restaurant Week webbie. It's like quite exciting one leh..cos' tables at the popular restaurants run out very quickly..but u can log onto the webbie and keep refreshing and keep watch cos' some people will cancel their reservations..then u must chiong in and go and book! Hehehe.

Daddy and Mummy managed to get a grand total of TWO reservations..Hehehe..and this is the first one! Oso Ristorante! The last time we ate at Oso was veryveryvery long ago..in fact..when Oso was still at Tanjong Pagar there! So Daddy was quite excited when he managed to get a table lor! By waiting online all the time when he was at work..Hehehe. But the set dinner at Oso was $55..not $35..cos' restaurants awarded a star by the organiser can charge a supplement of up to $20..but still quite ok cos' the prices at Oso are not that cheap anyway! btw hor..Daddy realised that some of the offers are not very wu hua cos' the normal set meals at the restaurants can even be cheaper than the Restaurant Week price..and offering the same food!!!! So must be careful which ones u choose..Hehehe.

Anyway..so Daddy and Mummy and Me went down to Oso after Daddy and Mummy's work to have dinner lor..Oso is now located at Bukit Pasoh..in a two storey building which also houses Absinthe..we went into the restaurant and were greeted very warmly by the two people at the counter..very friendly, very nice, very good so far..and were led upstairs into the main dining area which was simply decorated with a slight modernish touch..but that was when the baaaaaaaad service began..the waitress serving us was like super grouchy and rude..dunno if she was like looking down on us simply cos' we were there for the Restaurant Week menu..then the table we had was also like right underneath the air-con which was blowing at Daddy directly..which meant that it was super cold and uncomfy throughout the meal..but Daddy couldn't be bothered to make a fuss so make do with the situation lor..afterall..we just wanted some yummy Italian food! =p No point making everyone upset/unhappy..so over to the food!

This was Oso's complimentary bread platter..think it was quite similar to the one which we had the last time we came here..the grouchy waitress very unwilling gave us some butter when Daddy asked for it (wonder why)..anyway..the problem with the bread platter was that it was served cold..so quite tough to eat lar. The bread sticks were good though..they were essentially like salty pocky..quite yummy and addictive! Daddy felt that the tomatoish bread was quite good also..like very moist and dense..but Mummy didn't like it..so i guess it depends on how u like ur bread! The last type of bread was simply cold and chewy..horrigible =(

This was the appetiser platter..which was a nice surprise cos' when Daddy saw the menu..he thought we had to choose one item from the list of appetisers..but the platter let us try everything instead! The platter is organised by levels..first level (nearest one) is veggies, followed by seafood, and then meats!

Veggies: Oven baked "melanzane" Parmigiana eggplant with tomato sauce (this was surprisingly yummy leh! Sortof like a lasagne!), Buffalo milk mozzarella with ripe tomato (mozzarella was nice..rich and creamy)
Seafood: Crab meat salad with mixed vegetable dressing (the crabbie was veryvery nice! And the serving was quite generous also..for a mini-appetiser lar!), Poached tuna loin with fine herbs (ok onli)
Meats: Cured beef bresaolo (not much impression..so should be just ok), Parma ham "prosciutto" 18 months, served with rock melon (parma ham was good! Went well with the sweetness and juciness of the melon!)

There was a choice of 4 different mains..and Daddy went for the Ravioli filled with veal in mixed cheese fondue and mushroom sauce..this was super wonderfully yummy! Daddy loved the rich and creamy sauce..and got lots of mushrooms inside..and there was quite a lot of the ravioli also, filled with yummy veal! Only issue i guess was that the veal was overpowered by the sauce and the ravioli covering lar..so it would not have made much difference whichever type of meat..but if u love creamier pastas..u cannot miss this! Daddy mopped up every bit of the pasta sauce with the bread! =p

Mummy ordered the Pan fried sea bass "branzino" with cherry tomato and cappers "Livornese"..which sounded realli fanciful but was essentially a fried sea bass dish with some tomato-salsaish thingie on top =p This dish wasn't very fantastic..the taste of the tomato-puree-thingie was too strong and masked the taste of the fish completely (maybe that was the whole idea..if the fish isn't too fresh =p)..but Me thought that the piece of fried fish/skin/skeleton was a good touch! Very crispy..

And then the dessert was also a platter..another pleasant surprise cos' Daddy was expecting to have to choose one of the four desserts on the menu - Double cream vanilla flan "panna cotta" in black pepper caramel sauce, Oven baked almond "Amaretto" liquor cake, White chocolate and orange "d'arancio" cake with Grand Marnier liquor, its own sauce; and Mascarpone cheese "tiramisu" cake with espresso coffee, biscuits and cacao..

Unfortunately..none of the desserts were very fantastic..even the tiramisu which I've heard people rave about from Oso..oh well.

Barring the lousy service..which, to be fair..turned slightly better as the evening progressed..Daddy and Mummy and Me had a pretty good meal at Oso! This was realli a good chance for us to try all the dishes at Oso in small portions..so that next time when we go back there hor..we can be very focused and go for the yummy stuff! Hehehe. And the pasta was reallirealli good also..think Me will have it again next time! Only letdown were the desserts..but the rest of the food is good enough to keep us going back! =)

What is "Tampopo"?

2010-03-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Mummy and Me don't usually eat ramen when we're in Singapore one..dunno why also but Daddy doesn't realli seem to like it..but when we went to Japan last Dec hor..we had a veryvery nice ramen dinner at Ikebukuro there! Since then..Daddy has been more open to having ramen..and our fave ramen place is Tampopo! We had a good and yummy experience there last year (i think)..and when we found out that there was a new outlet at Ngee Ann City..replacing the spot previously occupied by Pepper Lunch..we trooped down there for lunch one day lor! =) Just wondering how..what does "Tampopo" mean huh? Sounds quite funny leh! Hehehe. Issit some Japanese word? So funni!

ANYWAY..Tampopo is famous for its black pig (boohoo! piggies kenna eaten again!) shabu ramen..so that's what both Mummy and Daddy had lor! Here it is, a bowlful of yummy, tasty soup/broth and piggie slices within! This is comfort food at its bestest!

Another look at the ramen =) Unfortunately hor..the ramen wasn't AS nice as we remembered it to be..not that it was bad or not nice or anything..it's still one of the better ramens which we've had in Singapore..but somehow..just nothing that fantastic! Maybe cos' we've tasted the bestest..in Japan! =p

Actualli this was the reason Mummy wanted to eat at Tampopo lar..cos' she remember that the egg tamago (soft yolk egg..think that's what it's called in Japanese?) was veryvery nice! Hehehe. And it still was! Hard outside; but soft, yolky and slightly runny within! =)

Then Evil Daddy ordered this black pig BBQ pork to add to his ramen..serves him right that it wasn't very nice! Hehehe. The meat was quite dry and not too tasty..quite different from the other yummy Japanese char siews which we have tried! Including the normal char siew at Tampopo. And this was quite expensive somemore..think cos' it's black pig..slightly less than $10?

Mummy and Daddy were clearly in a greedy mood today..and they also ordered a tofu steak with wagyu sauce on top of their huge bowls of ramen! This was not bad..sortof like agedashi tofu but the sauce made it super yummy!

AND that's not all..on top of all this hor..Mummy still ordered this onigiri to try leh! Hehehe. Dunno why she suddenli ordered this also..but it was...................OK lor. Rice lor. Hehehe. Although the crispy burnt portions were quite nice..especially with the seaweed. The rest taste like..................rice lor. But only $2.50 lar..so just try lor! =p

Me used to think that the food at Tampopo is veryvery nice..especially the ramen..but after this experience hor..well..like i said..it's NOT bad..and is still one of the better places for ramen..BUT..somehow..Me no longer will like crave for it next time! But if u want quite good ramen..forget the ajisens and other fakos..have Tampopo instead! Maybe Me will try another type of ramen next time..see if better! =)

Osvaldo - hearty, comfort, Italian, yummy!

2010-03-29T01:55:00.000-07:00

Last time Red Dot Museum and Maxwell Chambers there is like nothing interesting one..just some offices and nothing else..then started to have a few restaurants and coffee joints and bars open there..like Le Papillon and PCC..and then now hor..Red Dot and Maxwell Chambers is like super happening..got a lot of new restaurants and cafes and eateries there leh! And Osvaldo is one of them..opened by the Forlino family (formerly from......Forlino..duh!)..and Daddy has been hearing a lot of good things about the place..so one day we trotted down on a Friday evening after work to try the food there lor!

We went at like 6+ p.m. and it was still pretty empty..but me think it tends to fill up very quickly as the evening/night progresses cos' me remember when Daddy and Mummy drove by a few times and it always looked very full! Don't expect anything too fancy or "fine"..Osvaldo is simply set up and gives that very homely Italian feel when u step inside..but we were hoping that the food would similarly be good, simple, comforting Italian yummies!

Nothing amazing about the complimentary breads..this was fairly thick pizza crusts which got rather hard when they were cold..but at least Osvaldo served them warm so got quite some time to enjoy/talk before they became stony =p But don't be mistaken - this wasn't BAD..just ordinary. After all, Daddy finished up the entire basket! =p

Daddy heard a lot about this dish so he made it a point to order it even though it wasn't on the menu (or maybe it was..but Daddy didn't remember seeing it so he just asked the friendly waitress)..fresh burrata cheese (imported from Italia) with parma ham and tomatoes! And he definitely didn't regret it..this was wonderful! This was the first time Daddy and Mummy and me had burrata cheese and we loved it! So thick and so rich..it was like eating solidified cream (in a good sense)! And it went very well with the deliciously salty parma ham! This is a must-try if u visit Osvaldo!

Mummy was much less adventurous and she went for a bowl of seafood soup (also not on the menu..it was on the list of specials for the day). This was quite nice..there were lots of seafood inside like mussels, squid, etc..and the soup was very tasteful too. But it was just competent..not fantastic or anything.

Actualli..everything we ordered today was off the menu lar..Hehehe..maybe cos' the person describe until they sound veryvery nice..Hehehe. This was Daddy's main - homemade breaded(???) gnocchi with pork belly sauce. Sound very interesting hor! Actualli Daddy wanted to order a carbonara one..but when he heard the person describe that the sauce is made by like cooking the pork belly for like dunno how manymany hours, and then freezing it, removing the oil, adding contiments to flavour it and then cooking it again hor (the person described it much more elegantly lar)..Daddy was bought over and ordered this instead! No regrets..the sauce was realli good and there were bits of yummy pork belly within! But the gnocchi got a bit too starchy towards the end though..otherwise, this was nice! Good for sharing perhaps?

Then Mummy ordered the duck confit..this was good! Crackling skin with a very yummy buttery potato mash underneath it..this is done much better than many of the French restaurants that we've been to! =)

And of course..cannot leave without trying their tiramisu! This was veryvery nice! Very rich and the mascarpone was silky smooth..a perfect end to the meal! Possibly one of the bestest tiramisu which we've had in Singapore!

No doubts about it..Osvaldo is good! Just don't come expecting fine dining cuisine like in Garibaldi or other "high-class" Italian restaurants..this is just simple, rustic, hearty Italian food - guaranteed to warm and fill your tummies! The flavours are simple but tasty..the servings are generous and filling..and the service is excellent too! Like when Daddy wanted to order the burrata cheese dish hor..and the person warned that one full parcel of cheese might be too much and recommended that Daddy take only half instead! That's realli good service to me leh! And the people were realli friendly and helpful throughout..we realli enjoyed ourselves here! Only bug - the prices were not that cheap leh..the appetisers and mains were like $30 and more..so everything came to like more than $150..but as long as u keep that in mind before u go..u'll definitely enjoy the food there! We'll definitely be back to Osvaldo! =)

Goodwood's Durian Fiesta 2010!

2010-03-29T01:51:00.000-07:00

It's back! Every year..for around 5-6 months..Goodwood Park Hotel has its Durian Fiesta..which is a few months of yummy durian desserts, available off the counter at its deli! This year is from 1 March to 25 July..and the durian fiesta is quite legendary! Like if u ask anyone about where u can get yummy durian desserts..they sure say Goodwood one! Then Daddy is a durian fan..so we stopped by Goodwood the other day to try the new desserts + savour their classics!

Since we were here already..Daddy decided to order one of every durian dessert to try! Hehehe..except for the cakes lar, which he tried before and doesn't like =p So greeeedy!

Durian Strudel..which is supposedly "Back by popular demand". And quite rightly so, cos' the strudel pastry was light and flaky..which complemented the durian well! The durian no need to say one lar..very nice, very rich and very thick! Good!

Forget all the extra add-ons..forget pastries, waffles and everything else - this was pure durian..the Durian Pudding! Daddy liked this, but Mummy found it too rich! But Me got one complain - that it wasn't sweetsweet! Slightly bitter in fact. Me prefer sweet durians!

Durian Wafer - think the strawberry ripple biscuit ice cream bought from the ice cream uncle on the motorbike/bicycle on the street..except that the ice cream becomes durian! This was not bad too, with the wafer giving a crunch to this sweet treat. Me liked it that Goodwood packed the wafers separately in a bag..so cute!

Durian Crepe..an "All-time favourite"! And it deserved to be so, cos' this was good! Like durian popiah..Hehehe. Best when the durian within in slightly melted..then will ooze out when u bite into it!

Something new from Goodwood this year..this is the Durianmisu! "Pure D24 durian pulp is paired with lavish combination of lady's fingers, espresso and mascarpone, then sprinkled with cocoa powder to present a cupful of sheer luxury." Sounds fantastic? Well......actualli Daddy and Mummy and Me didn't realli like this cos' the flavours didn't exactly go very well together..and it was more like eating durian then eating some coffee and then some mascarpone.. =(

Another new creation for 2010..the Durian Eclair! "A generous amount of D24 pulp is sandwiched between choux pastry and drizzled with either chocolate or fondant (sugar icing) for a delightful treat". Me didn't like this too! The choux pastry was actualli too tough and hard..even though we tried to defrost it for veryvery long liao..not nice!

And this is the "Signature" Durian Puff..the most famoustest durian dessert from Goodwood lor! Unfortunately..Me thought that this had the same problem as the eclair..the pastry too hard liao! But this one still more manageable cos' it's like pastry than the eclair..but Me still prefer the others!

It's definitely something to look forward to each year..to try all the different types of durian desserts from Goodwood Park Hotel. The durian is definitely nice (although Me would have preferred it sweeter)..but Me think that the pastry for their puffs and eclairs are quite a let-down because they tend to get quite hard. Apart from that (and the durianmisu), the rest were nice! But Me think Daddy and Me are purists because at the end of the day..we still prefer to savour PURE DURIAN from durian seeds! This is still quite different..not as thick and rich =p So I think we'll go for this fiesta when it "arrives" each year..but still..give us our durian! =)

Another 9th of March, another Cliff experience =)

2010-03-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

9th March every year is Mummy and Daddy's Proposal Anniversary..means the day that Daddy proposed to Mummy lar..and each year hor (not very long lar..Hehehe..since 2007)..Daddy and Mummy and Me will go back to The Cliff to celebrate (i.e. EAT)..cos' that's where Daddy proposed to Mummy mah! And this year was no exception lor!

Things are pretty much the same at The Cliff..same decor, same layout, same tables (more comfy couch seats though), same postcard-ish view, same romantic ambience..Me suppose u don't have to change too much if things are going ok! =p If u're intending to head for The Cliff for dinner..do remember to ask for the seats by the verandah cos' those will give u the bestest view..right beside the cliff (the REAL cliff) and therefore right beside the sea! =)

This is what I see from our table..nice hor! Actualli if u go back and compare the previous blog posts on The Cliff..u'll see very similar-looking photos of the view! Hehehe.

Daddy is a veryvery bread person..i.e. he loves the complimentary bread served by restaurants and thinks that the complimentary bread is a measure of how committed the restaurant is to serving good food (of course, yummy bread = more pride in work = yummier food)..and he loves it when restaurants offer different varieties of bread to try! The Cliff offers 3 different types of bread..one is the ciabatta..which was light in the middle and crisp outside..then the other one was this sweet caramelised onion one which was yummy too! Got one more (to come later)..but the problem with the bread here is that it is not warm at all! Think cos' they put into a basket and will bring it around to serve/top up for people..so it's most prob cold by the time it is served..means become hard/chewy..minus marks! =p But at least they are quite happy/efficient in giving more bread when they see that u've finished urs!

This was the complimentary amuse bouche..chicken with picked veggies, with some chicken-ish foam on top. This was not bad..and u know what it tasted like? Hehehe..chicken rice! Like dipping the chicken in the chicken rice chilli..quite interesting! But the pickled veggies helped to whet our appetites, in anticipation of the yummies to come!

Night falls on The Cliff..becomes more romantic, but more difficult to take photos! Hehehe.

Everytime we come to The Cliff..we'll order their oysters cos' they are super fresh, super juicy, and super yummy! Daddy and Mummy shared a TASTING OF OYSTERS, in which u can choose 4 different styles of preparing the oysters - a choice of 2 different preparations from Fruit, Shooter, Hot and Ice. We went for the two Hot and Ice ones..and all were yummy! =)

Hot: Seared with scramble egg espuma and truffle; Steamed with bacom espuma, smoked paprika and bacon 'bits'. Ice: Red shiso granite, seaweed salad; Dashi ice, cold chawanmushi.

"If you don't love life you can't enjoy an Oyster" -- Eleanor Clark. How true! =p

This was the other bread, together with the onion one which Me talked about earlier. This was a multi-grain one with lots of nuts..veryvery yummy! The nutty nuts gave a good crunch to the outer layer..while the bread within was soft. This was the bestest! Think Daddy ate 3 of this! Hehehe.

Mummy decided to order a very un-Mummy-ish appetiser..FOIE GRAS: foie gras poached in earl grey tea, compressed asian pear and pepper mint..cos' she usualli doesn't fancy foie gras that much one! Think she ordered because the last time we had foie gras (at Iggy's)..it was realli good! The dish came with two BIG servings of foie gras..and a small cup of earl grey tea beside to go with them leh! So interesting hor! Mummy in the end could onli finish one piece cos' it was too rich liao..the other went to Greedy Daddy! Hehehe. But Me think the foie gras would have been better if it was pan-seared..so that will have a crisp texture!

Daddy ordered a very interesting-sounding 'EGG - A TRIBUTE TO HERVE THIS': 65 degree egg, truffle and morel broth, celeriac, asparagus! This is a new dish at The Cliff..and it's supposed to be egg cooked at the perfect temperature of 65 degree celcius..served with a mushroom broth! Sounds good hor!

And it was! The egg white was like well-cooked liao..but the yolk was liquidish BUT still solid! Sounds like a paradox? But it was! Not those Ya Kun type where the yolk will run one leh..don't understand how it can be like that also! Hehehe. Realli cooked to perfection! And the broth was very yummy too!

On to the mains! Mummy had 'POUSSIN AND LANGOUSTINE': pear, peas, scampi, cocoa nib - oatmeal crumble, bacon cream..but this turned out to be quite disappointing. Everything was like too deconstructed and Mummy didn't realli know where to start..then the flavours didn't realli stand out also..in short..this turned out to be too confusing to enjoy!

Daddy's A STUDY IN KUROBUTA PORK: bacon wrapped rib eye, crisp roulade of confit shoulder, cider braised jelly fennel 'risotto' and braised apples..faired much better! In fact..it was super yummy! Hehehe. Which is quite an irony since The Cliff is supposed to be famous for their seafood lar. But the rib eye was super tender and yummy, especially with the crisp bacon around it..and the crisp roulade was REALLI super crisp which yummy slivers of pork within! The "three-layer meat" was good too..tender but not overwhelmingly fatty! Daddy enjoyed every bit of this leh!

Another angle..can see more details, including the 'risotto'! Even that was good! Porkies lining up to be eaten! Hehehe.

At night..ships and rigs out at sea! Shiny shiny!

Dessert-time! Mummy was feeling very full so she had a pot of vanilla bourbon tea onli..but it turned out that the pot was SO big that it made her SUPER full with tea! Hehehe.

Daddy will never pass on the chance to have dessert..so on the service person's recommendation..he had the GRAND MARNIER SOUFFLE: advocaat-vanilla sauce, valencia orange marmalade, mandarin orange meringue. Which was essentially a souffle with ice cream and vanilla-ish sauce. This was good! The souffle was veryvery light..but within was lots of yummy, sweet, rich goodness!

Ice-cream and sauces at the side were good too..Daddy enjoyed every bit of it! =)

Bye bye Cliff! We'll be back again next year! =) This is actualli the walkway into the restaurant..surrounded by lots of water, water-feature, etc..nice!

A meal at The Cliff is definitely not cheap..and although the food is good..it is not like SUPER DUPER fantastic also lar..but in terms of ambience, special occasion, romantic feel, etc..there is little that comes close to it cos' of it's wonderful location on the cliff overseeing the South China Sea! And maybe cos' it's on Sentosa..there is the feel that all work/worries are left behind as u enjoy ur dinner and the night descends around u. So be prepared to pay for the ambience! =p Also hor..do be warned that every table here is open-air..so it can get rather warm leh! Hehehe. But that's supposed to add to the romantic feel bah..Hehehe. I suppose! =p

A Taste (of) Paradise...

2010-03-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

With the opening of Ion Orchard..one of the crowdest and happeningest restaurants in the new mall is Taste Paradise..like never can get a table one and even got a queue of people waiting outside..which Me suppose is not surprising since the food at Taste Paradise is realli good lar. But hor..just go to the original outlet at Mosque Street lar! Hehehe. Which is what Mummy and Daddy and Me did one Friday..when we wanted to have a little relaxation/celebration after a realli rough week at work (for Mummy and Daddy) + we had a craving for good, modern Chinese food. Guess what..we didn't even have to make reservations and could just walk in! =)

It's been a veryvery long time since we've been to Taste Paradise..and Me don't seem to remember that Taste Paradise serves amuse bouches..but apparently it does cos' we got this small dish of pickled veggies and mini-shrimps. This was yummy! The shrimps were crispy to the bite and was well-flavoured by the additional condiments! =)

This is apparently one of Taste Paradise's specialty dishes..Combination of pan-seared foie gras, wasabi mayonnaise prawn and slice of Beijing duck with condiments. We ordered two of this..one for Mummy and one for Daddy..cos' the servings are realli small and very difficult to share. This is the prawn and the foie gras..very yummy! Especially the foie gras..slightly crisp on the outside..with the soft texture of foie gras within!

Then this is the slice of Peking duck..which was OK onli. Me remember that the last time we came here to eat..we had the duckie and it wasn't very nice..

And then this was the reason why we decided to have dinner at Taste Paradise..Carrot cake with XO sauce! Like the combination platter..we ordered TWO of this too..cos' Mummy and Daddy no want to share with each other! Hehehe. The carrot cake here is super yummy leh! Very tasteful and not too dry..this is one of the bestest carrot cakes in Singapore! And it's not too ex also..i think $8 onli? The onli one which can maybe fight with this is the carrot cake from Space@My Humble House..

AND just like the other two dishes hor..we ordered TWO of this too! Another reason why we love Taste Paradise..Baked codfish with Chef's special sauce! Me think that Taste Paradise was one of the first places where we tried cod..and subsequently got hooked onto it! The cod was realli fresh and literally melt-in-the-mouth..but the bestest thingie about this is the sauce! Very rich and indulgent..Me can't figure out what goes into it (cheese? mayo?)..but it's simply divine!

Lastly..Mummy and Daddy were craving for some meat but not sure what to have..so they asked the person to intro..then the person intro this not-on-the-menu Fillet of kurobuta pork with homemade sauce..Daddy and Me found this super delicious! The pork was the tenderest of the tenderest..and the sauce was rich and yummy too! The sauces at Taste Paradise was realli good leh..except that they're the thick/rich type..so as long as u like that type of taste..then u'll definitely love the food here!

Then after all this..Daddy wanted to order dessert..first he wanted to have the fried durian but no have..then he changed to ornee in coconut instead..but also NO HAVE..so sad! =(

Mummy and Daddy and Me have not been to Taste Paradise that often lar..but the few times we've been here hor..we've never been let down by the food (except for the Peking duck)! Definitely must try the carrot cake and the cod fish..but there are sooooo many items on the menu that i think we'll never have the chance to try everything on it! What else is good from here huh? The last time we had the shark's fin and it was not bad also..apart from that leh? The service is also very attentive and quite friendly here (depends on whom lar)..and the place is quite classy and modern..unlike ur classic Chinese restaurants. A good place to go for Chinese food..modern or not! =)

Best in Singapore, JB and some say Batam...

2010-03-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

Asia's #1 restaurant in the inaugural Miele Guide 2008/09. Asia's #2 restaurant in the Miele Guide 2009/10. Included in the S. Pelligrino World's Top 100 Best Restaurants since 2006. #45 in the S. Pelligrino list in 2009. Iggy's has won manymany awards/accolades since it opened in 2004..and based on all these awards..it's supposed to be the bestest restaurant in Singapore! Daddy has always wanted to go down to mummmumm at Iggy's..but it's quite hard to get reservations, the dinner set is quite expensive, Daddy and Mummy usualli no time to go for lunch, weekends Iggy's not open for lunch, etc. etc. etc..until FINALLY! Daddy managed to secure a reservation at Iggy's for dinner as a post-Valentine's Day Celebration..and all of us went down with high anticipation and lots of hope for an unforgettable dinner! =)

This was the dinner menu for Iggy's that night when we went down! Cannot realli see hor..but no worries! Me will go through each dish later! Hehehe. Lots of dishes = a looooong dinner..Mummy and Daddy and Me were there for like 2+ hours! Too long for Mummy liao..she got rather bored towards the end and kept playing Facebook! =p

Mummy and Daddy and Me were seated at the L-shaped counter in the main dining room..these are supposed to be like very popular seats cos' can see the action in the kitchen and can interact with the service person behind the counter..it was a good and interesting change from the usual table setting bah! Sortof like those sushi counters i guess..except that got more space and more direct assistance/service from the service team!

This is what we saw when we looked up from our seats..can see into the kitchen and observe ur food being cooked, the people kenna scolded, etc. etc. =p We thought this was quite interesting at first but after a while hor..we realised that it's rather awkward cos' like the kitchen crew inside will look out and then observe us also..then will like start talking and laughing..like gossiping about us liddat..then both ways also like zoo liddat..people observing each other..Hehehe.

Iggys' complimentary baguette-like bread was good, but not fantastic. Crispy when served, but it got realli hard when it is a bit cold. ANYWAY, Daddy ate like more than 4 of these, so it can't be that bad. The bestest thing to me is that the service person keeps offering to give u more bread when u finish it..rather than many other places which give u the "cheapo-neh-neh" look when u ask for more bread. Hungry mah..cannot meh? =p

Mummy and Daddy and Me asked for butter to go with the bread. The butter turned out to be similar to the one at The Cliff - slightly baconish, and served in a conical shape. From the same supplier? This was good anyway..although the bestest butter is still the seaweed one which we had at The Cliff! But apparently no more of that anymore..

And that's when the "fun" started! Hehehe. The service person came over and passed us a bowl with these little bouquets of "flowers" planted within..then he asked said that this was some "tapioca mambo-jambo" and asked us to eat it! Daddy and Mummy and Me were like, "HUH?" So he repeated it, and said that it would prepare our palette for the amuse bouche of oysters. So we just ate lor..and.......so interesting! It tasted like the sea leh! Not that it was very salty or anything..but it left a lingering taste of sea-spray in ur mouth..so fun! Eat flower! =p Anyone has any idea what this is?

This was the amuse bouche which came with the "flower"..tempura oyster! The oysters were fat, juicy and clearly very fresh..but the dish was let down slightly by the strong taste of oiliness in the batter. So wasted! Otherwise would have been yummy...

Then got a second amuse bouche of pan-fried foie gras, with a medley of mangoes, basil, etc. This was realli good! The foie gras was cooked to perfection..and the flavours of the accompanying sauce/ingredients went perfectly with the foie gras and prevented it from tasting too ni!

And most interesting of all hor..see those thingies on the foie gras? Can guess what they are?

Pop rocks! So the foie gras sizzled when u popped it into ur mouth..literally creating "fireworks" in ur mouth! Me also loved it when the pop rocks sizzled as they dropped into the sauce. Amazing!

First "official" dish on the menu:

HIRAME
Burrata, tomato, avocado, lemon, dill, tarragon

This was a sashimi-sortof dish..the flatfish was very fresh and went well with the burrata. Me is loving burrata cheese more and more! Yummy, but not magical.

The next dish was close to magical:

LOBSTER
Egg, bisque, tofu, fennel

There was a generous serving of lobster..which was perfectly cooked. Me is drooling just thinking about it!

And then there were the bubbles/foam..which tasted of shellfish! Hehehe. So amazing! The accompanying egg souffle was light and yummy too!

Then:

OCEAN TROUT
Beetroot, carrot, artichoke, olive.

The ocean trout was peppered for better taste..but Me found it too peppery for my liking =( Fish was fresh though..

But the mostest amazing thingie about this dish was this thin plastic-like transparent film! u know what it is? It can be eaten one leh..and got the taste of tomatoes! So interesting hor!

Next amazingest thingie was that the veggies were realli yummy! The beetroots, artichokes, etc..usualli Daddy and Me no like veggies one..but we gobbled down every bit of this dish! Hehehe. And we even kop Mummy's one cos' she no like them =p

This was the bestest dish of the day:

CAPPELLINI
Sakura ebi, konbu, scampi oil

Supersupersuper yummy! Me would come back to Iggy's for this dish alone lor! The taste of the scampi oil with the pasta was just divine..and the small ebis were realli yummy too and gave the dish a nice crunch! This was as good as Gunther's cold pasta dish..both of which we realli like a lot!

Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh..don't leave Iggy's without trying this!

I think these prawns can onli be found in Japan? =p We saw a lot of it there!

Fifth dish on the menu:

BLACK TRUFFLE
Consomme

The moment this little cup touches the table hor..the strong whiff of black truffle will just hit u! So exciting =p

This was yummy! Tasted very rich and flavourful..but not too overwhelming! Mummy loved this a lot!

And finalli..the "main":

PIGEON
Pea, trumpet mushrooms, muscats, shallots

There was nothing very fantastic about this..although the pigeon was quite tender and flavourful. But it didn't exactly wow us lar..especially after all the amazing dishes before this. Quite normal, actualli.

Hi Mr Pigeon......

First dessert:

PRE DESSERT
Pineapple, lychee, yoghurt, mango, earl grey

This was a very light dish to cleanse our palates. Basically it's like sorbet + ice + fruits lar..like ice kachang? Hehehe.

It wasn't bad or anything..but Daddy and Me felt a little disappointed cos' we were expecting something better for dessert..like their french toast thingie or something =(

And last on the menu:

CHERRY BLOSSOM
Honey melon, kumquat, plum

This was OK also..but again..Me was quite disappointed with the desserts lar. Me think could be because Me like chocolate, sweetsweet stuff, etc. etc..rather than all these very "light" desserts =( The honey lemon ice cream was very nice though..and Me thought that the flowers in the jelly were a nice touch!

Fortunately, the petit fours saved the day! Looks quite ordinary? This lemon tart-thingie was actualli very amazing! Again, thanks to pop rocks! Hehehe. It crackled in our mouths leh..like fireworks again! Veryvery nice and interesting!

So does Iggy's deserve to the bestest restaurant in Singapore, JB and some say Batam (i.e. Asia, according to the Miele Guide)? Well.........some of the dishes were realli good and yummy..and the entire experience was pretty fun with the many dishes, the interactive counter, etc..but at the same time..some of the dishes were quite ordinary also lar..hmmmmmm..i guess this is one of the places which u just have to try at least once in ur life..and it's a good place to go to if u want to impress and wow someone..but for that price..me would rather spend it somewhere else bah! Hehehe. Dunno if Me is the onli person to feel this way..since everyone else seems to think that Iggy's is like veryvery good..but different person, different tastes! One man's cornflakes is another person's cardboard! =p But definitely nothing wrong with Iggy's..just......not......magical......

The new PANTRY at Ion...

2010-03-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ion Orchard is one of Mummy and Daddy's favouritest shopping malls..it's huge, not TOO crowded (from the first level up at least), got lots of brands which they like, etc...but one of the biggest complaints which they have about Ion Orchard is that it doesn't seem to have a lot of yummy places to eat! There's the food hall at B4 but it's not THAT fantastic also..then there's Taste Paradise but no use cos' it's perpetually full..so Daddy was quite happy when he saw The Marmalade Pantry was opening in Ion (then lar..now open for dunno how long liao)! Then one weekend hor..we decided to go there for brunch!

Apparently hor..The Marmalade Pantry @ Ion is one of the "IT" eateries now..the place to see and be seen..and Me think it's true cos' it seems to be crowded most of the time when we walk past it! When we came for brunch hor..we came quite earli so still got space..but by the time we left..it was very crowded liao!

Pretty flowers at The Marmalade Pantry give a nice and relaxing feel =)

Daddy is a BIG fan of milkshakes..so he was pretty excited when he saw that there was a Horlicks Milkshake on the menu! Think this is the first time we see before leh! And we ordered to try lor..and it was realli good! Rich, Horlicky taste..maltish..and indulgent! Not like the diluted/healthier/watery milkshakes at other places..this was pure sinful yumminess! Must try this..if u like Horlicks, that is!

Mummy was in a soupy mood so she decided to order one of the soups..Blue Swimmer Crab & Corn Chowder..which came with a piece of floating bread. Hehehe. Me think this was fairly ordinary? Don't remember much about it =p

This is Mummy's favouritest brekkie dish..Eggs Benedict! Me guess it's quite hard to go wrong with this dish lar..and quite hard to screw it up also..but The Marmalade Pantry's version was yummy! Only problem - I think it was $17??? Quite expensive leh!

Egg yolk flowing onto the meats and bread..yummmmmy!

The soup and eggy is actualli Mummy eat one leh..Hehehe..so u can see that she was pretty hungry..Daddy wasn't too hungry so he decided to have some desserts instead. Actualli he wanted to order the sticky date & toffee pudding..but like very boring leh..so he tried to be adventurous and had the Blueberry Ricotta Fritters (with Cinnamon Cream) instead! Well...........regret! This wasn't nice..and the serving was veryveryvery small!

The fritters were pretty tasteless also..give this a miss!

To make himself happier..Daddy decided to have an Elvis, aka chocolate banana cake with peanut butter frosting. Got one time hor..Mummy and Daddy and Me very siao The Marmalade Pantry's cupcakes and would always order..but recently never..and this was, as always, yummy! Maybe we need to revive our at-least-one-cupcake-a-week regime! Hehehe. The Nutella is nice too! And like a few new flavours..

The food at The Marmalade Pantry was overall OK onli..compared to the last time when we ate at the Holland Village outlet..definitely much more disappointing..but there are so many things on the menu which we haven't tried..so I guess we will definitely come back sometime in the future lor! Anyway..Ion not many things to eat mah..Hehehe..and Daddy will definitely want to come back for the Horlicks Milkshake! Next time Me will try The Marmalade Burger..heard that's not bah! =p

Dim Joy - Dim Sum + Joy?

2010-03-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year..Daddy went through a dim sum phase..if u ask him what he wanna eat on Saturday or Sunday afternoons hor..he'll confirm say dim sum one! The place where we went to most often was the Crystal Jade at Vivocity..then got another day hor..we decided to try out Dim Joy, which we've been wanting to for the longest time liao! Dim Joy is located along Neil Road..very close to our home..and they serve dim sum everyday during both lunch and dinner! Actualli..they onli serve dim sum lar..hehehe..and nothing else! So we were expecting their dim sum to be realli good..especially since there were many good reviews (and the place was always crowded) when it first opened...

Dim Joy. Chinesy table setting..but the place was nothing Chinesy at all. Actually..just a very simple, whitish place with nothing to wow about. A little bit wasted, since it's located in such the row of quaint shophouses along Neil Road. They prob could have done something better! But then again..it's the food that matters!

First up - Daddy and Mummy's standard-no-matter-go-where-also-will order dim sum dish..har gao! Dim Joy's version (King Shrimp Har Gao) was realli good! The skin was thin, not too chewy..and the prawn inside was HUGE and fresh! Delicious! =) This was so good that Mummy ordered another serving of this before we left =p

Honey-syrup Char Siew Bao. This sounded realli good, but it wasn't the type of char siew which Daddy likes (he likes the reddish-super-sweet type). Pao:Meat ratio was also a bit too high, i.e. too much pao. Can give this a miss lar.

Rice roll is one of Mummy's favourites too. Dim Joy's Shrimp & Chive Rice Roll was ok onli, but the saving grace was the power prawns.

Siew mais are probably the most difficult dim sum dish to be impressed with, and Me think that 99% of the versions out there all suck. This was one of the better versions which we've eaten - not too oily and grossly meaty. Worth a try.

Dim Joy's Pan-fried Raddish Cake was not bad, with quite a bit of liao inside. But would have been even better if it was even more crispy on the outside.

Daddy's favouritest dim sum dish of all - custard bun aka liu sha pao. Looks realli promising! Hehehe. Will it explode when u bite into it? =p

Unfortunately, it didn't =( But it was still quite good - at least the custard was liquid within. That time hor we ate a custard bun where the custard was actually semi-solid one leh. Dim Joy's custard is reallirealli sweet, so be prepared if u order it =p No fight vs. Peony Jade's, though!

Daddy was intrigued by the name of this - "Crisp Skin Double Boiled Milk" (sounds exotic!) + he loves pastries..so he decided to order this lor!

Sortof a milky-custardy-gooey thingie inside, which was perfect for Daddy cos' it was realli sweet! But it went pretty well with the pastry leh..buttery + sweet = yummy! Again, warning hor - it's super sweet! But Me never see this at other dim sum places before..so worth a try!

And lastly..the highlight of our meal..the Durian Snow Pearl! Looks like mochi rite? That's what we thought also..but the outer layer simply disintegrates when it goes into your mouth..leaving pure, raw, durian pulp. This was reallirealli delicious! If u like durian though =p

Me would say that Dim Joy was ok onli..there were definitely some hits but there were also other stuff which were quite average or even below average..Me guess that it's more for the convenience (since they serve dim sum all the time) rather than a place where we'd go to when we crave for dim sum? But the good thing is that Dim Joy actualli does delivery..so can have not-bad dim sum from the comfort of ur own home! Hehehe. But for realli yummy dim sum..Me would go for Peony Jade anytime! Their custard buns are the bestest! And Me heard that places like Royal China and Yan Ting are realli good also..so maybe it's time for Daddy and Mummy and Me to embark on another dim sum marathon! =)

(Hand)Burgers by Soup Spoon...

2010-03-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

By this time..this post about Handburger already chao serng (rotten) liao cos' it's been so manymany months since Soup Spoon's burger joint opened..in fact, the original branch at Raffles City has already closed for renovations and the other one is at 313 @ Somerset..but at the time when Mummy and Daddy and Me went to eat this..it was still very new and we were wondering whether Soup Spoon would be able to do a good job of converting their expertise to burgers! To become Burger Spoon =p Anyway......

This is the menu at Handburger..basically lots of different types of burgers and little of everything else! They have some salads for cows and some sides for small eaters (or big eaters for whom one burger is not enough) and some desserts for future diabetics like Daddy..but each of the burgers sound so gooooood!

Mummy loves duck confit so she decided to go for the Duck Confit Burger..this wasn't on the menu proper when we went there but on a small piece of paper with some "special" burgers. The duck came with some oranges and lots of veggies..can't really remember what was inside but Me remember that it was good! Mummy liked it too! Each burger also comes with a choice of fries or tomato coleslaw..so it's veryvery filling!

Daddy was hungry so he went for The Works Burger..which is basically everything throw inside lor! Hehehe. I think got veggies, beef, cheese, caramalised onions, bbq sauce, sunny side eggy, onion rings, bacon, mushroom (and dunno what else bah)..so much stuff that it had to be held together with a stick! Once u remove the stick to eat it hor..everything just falls apart! To become.......

One big mess of yummies! Hehehe. Delicious though, but messy!

One thing to note - the burger buns here are terrific! Crispily toasted, light and served warm - super yummy! Fries were good also, and the servings very generous!

Mummy and Daddy were greedy and had a milkshake each also..I think this was a peanut butter + banana one (obviously Daddy's)..this was ok if u don't like your milkshakes too jelat/rich but Daddy likes to go for the fully monty when it comes to peanut butter milkshakes (i.e. he just wants peanut butter slightly diluted by milk =p) so he didn't rate this very highly..

And I think Mummy had some nutella + marshmallow one..which I don't have much impression of, i.e. not that fantastic. But don't remember it being bad also lar. Oh well, I guess we have another excuse to go back to Handburger to try out the milkshakes! Hehehe.

I think the quality of burgers in Singapore is generally improving lar..muchmuch better than the old days (according to Daddy and Mummy) when burgers = MacDonald's, good burgers = Burger King, and yummy burgers = Mos Burger. Now, most cafes/eateries/restaurants serve fairly respectable burgers..and Handburger is the latest in the line of such places. The burgers are definitely yummy and the serving very generous..although that may explain why Handburger's prices are slightly on the expensive side. But if you're looking for a confirmed good burger in a relaxing environment (don't expect too much from service or ambience!)..then Handburger should not disappoint! Look out for their lunchtime promotions also..when they have sets of mini-burgers to sample the different flavours!

Pijjie is eating again!

2010-03-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hihi! Me is back! Hehehe..it's been almost half a year since I've posted on this blog..not because Mummy and Daddy and Me have stopped eating..but more cos' Me have been realli lazy and have instead been posting the photos via Mummy's Facebook account! But Me was recently looking through all the old posts on this blog..and realised that it's realli fun to keep track of all the yummies which I've been eating throughout the years and to go back and look at them again after some time! So Me decided to re-start on my Digestive Adventures! Yay! There's going to be quite a few backdated posts over the next few weeks or so..and Me won't be able to keep track of all the places which we've been to over the past 6 months lar..but will post up the more memorable/significant ones! And then there's the trip to Japan too..where Mummy and Daddy and Me had sushi at 5+ a.m. at the legendary Tsukiji Fish Market! =)

But first up..our last visit to Min Jiang @ One-North! Which is like Mummy and Daddy's fave place for yummmmmmy Peking Duck. Think this was like Sep or Oct last year? =p

This is Min Jiang @ One-North! The place was pretty deserted on a Sunday afternoon, during lunchtime..These are the pseudo-al fresco tables outside..but since it was pretty warm..Daddy and Mummy and Me decided to sit in the cool air-con! Typical Singaporeans =p

Mummy's bag on a realli cute Chinesey stool..Me think the stools are solely for bags since they're so short! Hehehe. They didn't offer me one!

Since it was lunchtime on a Sunday..Daddy decided to go with the "mood" and have some dim sum..the selection of dim sum at Min Jiang wasn't very extensive and only had a few which is normally on their menu alreadi..and after all hor..we were here for the duckie mah! Daddy ordered a plate of char siew sou which turned out to be veryvery yummy! The char siew was the sweetsweet type (which Daddy likes) and the pork floss was an interesting addition to the crispy, flaky pastry. Nice! =)

Mummy loves xiao long bao so she decided to try Min Jiang's version..there was a lot of yummy soup inside but the skin of the dumpling was just too thick liao. Give us Din Tai Fung's one anytime!

This was Min Jiang's "recommended" Chef's appetiser platter (or something like that)..we ate this before one of the previous times when we came here and we liked it..so Daddy and Mummy ordered one serving to share lor! If Me remember correctly hor..it's lobster medallion (very yummy!) + crispy eel (yummy!) + prawn in either salted egg yolk or wasabi mayonnaise..we liked this! It's pretty expensive though..

The prawn - the louya-est of the 3 =p But still nice!

And on to the star of any meal at Min Jiang @ One-North..the Peking Duck! Mummy and Daddy and Me shared half a duck..this is the first serving of the duck, which is supposed to be the crispiest and meant to be eaten dipped in sugar..so interesting hor! But this time's one wasn't as crispy as usual..and a bit too oily!

The Peking Duck at Min Jiang is different in the sense that it is served in 2 different ways/wraps..the first one is the standard Peking Duck serving with leek, cucumber and sweet sauce in pancake..

While the second version..which Daddy prefers..is with cabbage, radish and garlic paste! An interesting change from the usual Peking Duck..and got leftover meat to enjoy also! =p

As for the rest of the duck..u can choose to have it cooked another way (e.g. with noodles)..but Mummy and Daddy will standard ask for minced duck wrapped in lettuce..this is realli good! The minced duck is realli tasty and goes very well with the refreshing and crunchy veggie!

Greedy Mummy and Greedy Daddy and Greedy Me were STILL slightly hungry after all the savouries here..so we had dessert! Hehehe. Mummy had a craving for pulot hitam so she ordered Min Jiang's version..served with some (can't remember the flavour liao) ice cream..think this was normal onli?

Goodwood is famous for their durian desserts..so it was no surprise when Daddy's durian pudding with mango spring roll turned out to be supersuper delicious! The durian was super rich and tasty..and even the mango rolls were sweet and nice! Daddy says that this is even better than the durian paste which Goodwood has!

Another durian dessert to share - durian mochi! This was delicious also! The mochi was soft and slightly chewy..with rich, indulgent durian paste within! Must try!

Although the Peking Duck during this visit to Min Jiang @ One-North seemed to have lost some of its shine..e.g. it wasn't as crispy as usual, it was a bit too oily, etc..this remains one of our favouritest places for duckie cos' the ambience is nice - not too noisy or crowded or tacky..just a perfectly relaxing meal..and the food, apart from the duck, is quite good also! Especially the durian desserts, as we found out this time! Me also heard that the lobster noodles here is very yummy..will try the next time we come here! And we still haven't realli found a duckie that can fight with Min Jiang's one leh..although Me heard that the one from Asia Grand is very nice and cheaper too! That will be my next target the next time Mummy and Daddy and Me have a Peking Duck craving! =)

2010-03-25T02:48:00.001-07:00

This blog has been defunct for so many months!

Anyone still reading? =p

Brewing more than beer

2009-09-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

Our church recently organised an Aaaaaamazing Race for the youths as part of the church's 120th Anniversary celebration (it's the oldest Chinese church in Singapore!)..and Daddy and Mummy were part of the organising team so they were involved on the day itself to man the stations and also just to hang around and kaypo lar..Hehehe. They were stationed in Katong and after their station closed hor..they headed down to the Stadium Waterfront to check out the "Don't-forget-the-lyrics-of-your-favourite-church-hymns" station and also to have dinner lor!

There weren't a lot of dining choices to choose from at Stadium Waterfront..but Mummy and Daddy went there anyway cos' Daddy's mind was set on one place liao - Brewerkz! Got one time we keep going to Brewerkz in the afternoon with Uncle Jasper, Uncle Min Wei, etc. etc. cos' the beer then is very cheap..but we very long never go liao! And Daddy remember that their fries were good! And their burger is supposed to be nice too! =)

So while the teams were still out by in the dark, by the river, near lots of ants..Daddy and Mummy headed over to the air-con Brewerkz to have dinner lor! Hehehe. Then got soccer to watch somemore..Man U vs. Man City! Soccer aside..Daddy decided to order the regular-sized (can have a small version also) Cowboy Burger (Bacon, cheddar cheese and Brewerkz own recipe BBQ sauce - YEE HA) + (add-on) a sunny-side up cos' it sounded very good and he was hungry..for the sides..can choose onion rings or fries. So talk about the sides first. DON'T order the onion rings from Brewerkz. Over-fried..over-oily..and over-battered. Not nice! Daddy and Mummy and Me strugged to finish this...

But the burger was good! The bacon was crispy, the beef was tender and moist and thick, and the cheese was all melted! This was realli delicious..and best of all..it was HUGE! Yummmmy! I wonder whether anybody can finish the KING BREW BURGER anot..Hehehe..comes with two patties and practically the whole works! Daddy say he'll come back to Brewerkz again just for the burger man..maybe try the Bistro Burger next time!

Mummy went for the safer choice and ordered Fish & Chips (White fish fillet coated in Brewerkz beer batter)..can choose to have two or three slices of fish..and even though Mummy went for two..it was still too much for her to finish leh cos' the fishies were HUGE! So the servings were very generous! But bestest of all about this were the fries! Me love Brewerkz' herb-garlic fries leh..crispy, and with a slight herbish taste! Delicious!

So dinner at Brewerkz was realli good! Me wanna come back soon to try the other burgers and maybe even the other mains..and also the sweet stuff cos' they sound very yummy too! And then the brunch dishes like even more powderful..bananas foster french toast, pancakes and steak and eggs! But hor..one thing interesting hor..is that the prices at the Riverside Point Brewerkz are more expensive than the ones at Indoor Stadium leh! I wonder why..Daddy says that it's dunnowat degree price disgrination or dunno wat lar..i no know wat he talking about but I wonder whether the portions are the same! But with soooooo big portions..how much bigger can they get? =)

The-dessert-place-next-to-Old-Town...

2009-09-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

After a yummy dinner at the Sushi Tei at Big Splash one Sunday..Daddy and Mummy and Uncle Fan Jun and Uncle Donny and Me were very full, very satisfied but very GREEDY..so we decided to have a sweet ending to our meal! Actualli we wanted to go Starbucks to grab a drink and some cake..but we realised that there was this new dim sum/dessert place next to Old Town..so we decided to give it a try!

Nothing fancy, nothing impressive - just a small counter and a kitchen behind where the food is prepared. Even today..Me still can't remember what the place is called (until I saw the photo on top) so we always just call it the-dessert-place-next-to-Old Town..the people here are SUPER enthu to serve u though..keep asking/bothering u while u look at the menu..well..enthu is good i guess but to a limit lar..

Mummy and Daddy shared a bowl of pulot hitam with durian ice cream..this was not bad and the serving was quite generous..although Me didn't fancy the durian too much cos' it tasted simply like ice cream with lots of artificial durian favouring..but the combi of the pulot hitam and ice cream was quite nice, though!

Daddy and Mummy also shared a red bean pancake..which was quite good cos' it was crispy and it came with lots of crushed peanuts scattered on top. There were quite a lot of sesame seeds also..which can be a good or bad thing depending on whether u like sesame cos' it gave the pancake a strong sesamish taste..Daddy no like sesame but was quite ok with this cos' he just ate the pancake with lots of crushed peanuts..which sortof masks the taste of the sesame. But warning though - this look like more than half an hour to arrive and we had to remind the person like two times! Not sure whether it's cos' they forgot our order or wat..

The two desserts which we tried here were actualli quite ok..so we might actualli come back one day when we feel like having something light and try the rest of their yummies! But on another note hor..actualli we came here to try Claypot Fun one but it was just waaaaaay too crowded..anyone tried it before? Nice anot? Looks quite good leh! =p

Everything but the SOUP...

2009-09-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Daddy prefers to eat ang moh food than Chinese food so it is not often that we will go down to a place and order rice and dishes unless we're with Ah Gong and Ah Ma or with friends..but recently when Daddy and Mummy and Me went to the airport to send Auntie Eunice off hor..we had dinner at the Soup Restaurant and it reminded us how yummy the food there is!

Then one day hor..we were at Centrepoint (after checking out the veryvery unhappening and boring Orchard Central) and were hungry and trying to decide where to have dinner when we realised that there was a Soup Restaurant hidden at the basement of some new Centrepoint extension! So we abandoned all our other considerations (Morton's, Aston's, etc.) and decided to go with the flow and have dinner at Soup Restaurant lor!

Apartly hor..the food at Soup Restaurant is like the same food used to be served at the roadside stalls of Old Chinatown and at the Chinatown Night Bazaar (I don't know when this was..even Daddy and Mummy also no know!)..so it's sortof classic, Singaporean, Chinese food..Me no know the difference lar..to me..it's just zi char food lor! Hehehe.

This is the famous Samsui Ginger Chicken from Soup Restaurant..one of Mummy's favouritest dishes cos' it's ALL meat! Hehehe. It seems hor that last time..the samsui women in Chinatown were veryvery poor and could only eat this once a year during Chinese New Year..but now it's available all the time at Soup Restaurant lar! Daddy and Mummy and Me shared half a chicken..so all u have to do is dip the chicken into the yummy ginger sauce, wrap them in the fresh lettuce..and then chomp into it! This is realli good and it always is! The chicken is very tender and moist..the lettuce is fresh and crisp..and the ginger sauce is strong and tasty! Looks pretty too! Hehehe. Me love this too! But after this dish hor..all of us sure become smelly-breath! =p

Next up was this amazing dish which Auntie Eunice intro to us one leh..Claypot Tofu! Sounds veryvery ordinary rite? But this is realli amazing! The gravy is thick and slightly sweet..going perfectly with rice leh! You won't be able to stop leh! Sounds too amazing to be true? You just have to try it for yourself!

This is probably one of the very few CARBO dishes which Daddy and Mummy will order (usualli they just order lots of meat and seafood..hehehe)..but Me can understand why cos' the Teochew Olive Rice from Soup Restaurant is delicious! While the rice can be a bit hard sometimes..the olives make the rice very aromatic and delicious! Just combi this with the tofu hor..and then perfect liao!

Ah Gong can probably prepare this very simple dish with his eyes closed but we quite like the Home-styled Steamed "Hand-chopped" Minced Pork (with Salted Fish, Salted Egg or Waterchestnut) too! Hehehe. Somehow the meat is like very tender and Me like the saltiness with either the fish or the eggy! Goes well with the rice too!

So these were the yummy dishes which we had from Soup Restaurant..and surprisingly hor..for a place called SOUP Restaurant..Daddy and Mummy and Me no like any of the soups from here leh! Think cos' they're either the herbal type or the blandbland type..not to our tastes! We rather stick to our combi of olive rice + samsui chicken + (new) claypot tofu..good enough for us!

And btw..if u're thinking of going down to Soup Restaurant at Centrepoint..u might want to either make reservations or go earlier! Cos' the restaurant gets veryvery crowded after a while + the restaurant itself is not very big..so have to queue up outside. And when things get busy..don't expect too much in the way of service hor..it seems like u automatically become invisible! Hehehe. Oh well.

ToasT, ToasT, ToasT

2009-09-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Mummy and Daddy used to like to go to Tong Shui opposite Great World City a lot (actualli it's just Daddy lar)..like one week will go there a few times one..but hor..recently it like closed down liao leh! The shutters were down..and there was a notice there to say that the place was undergoing renovation..but no know if it will still be Tong Shui after tat anot..afterall..the place was doing quite badly (veryvery few people there) over the past few months..

So Daddy was veryveryvery stressed lor! He dunno how to survive without his regular peanut butter + condensed milk thick toast fix..the Tong Shui outlet at Liang Seah Street not so nice cos' they veryvery ngiao about giving lots of peanut butter one..so Daddy's solution was.........

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe!

Yup..so we've been to Xin Wang very often recently..maybe once a week at least bah..and that's ok with Mummy and Me cos' Xin Wang actualli got more things which we wanna order or try since there is more variety on the menu..their drinks are quite good..thickthick..and the soya bean milk is quite nice also =)

But the reason Daddy comes here is for the PBCM Thick Toast! I think Daddy is one of the few people in this world who can probably write a thesis about the different types of PBCM Thick Toast..Hehehe. He say that the Tong Shui one is nice cos' the peanut butter is silky smooth and will lao all over the bread when u cut into it..and the good thing about the Tong Shui one is that it is not too thick so won't get ni very easily..on the other hand..the Xin Wang one is a different type cos' the peanut butter is veryvery thick (bordering on being pseudo-chunky liao) and it doesn't flow but rather oozes and drips..Hehehe. I think u can sortof figure out from the photo!

And which one is better? Well..Daddy loves both! Hehehe. But the Xin Wang one can get a BIT too ni for him if he finishes one by himself lar..but that's because he always asks the person to "add more peanut butter"! Hehehe. But no doubt - Xin Wang and Tong Shui have the best PBCM Thick Toasts in Singapore! The problem with the other places which sell this is that either (1) they are veryvery ngiao about the peanut butter so not shiok at all, or (2) they toast the bread AFTER coating the peanut butter, which tends to "dry" up the peanut butter and makes it lose it's gooey/flowy texture. And it loses its "punch" in terms of taste also!

This one is obviously Mummy ordered one lar..Hehehe. The congee at Xin Wang is actualli quite good..and got quite a lot of different types of choose from. It's more the thickthick type and not the watery one..but that's the way I like it! Hehehe. And then we ordered lots and lots of century eggs to add in! =p

This one turned out to be a comedy of errors =p Daddy actualli wanted to order this special item which was like curry chicken with a curry pok..and this was not on the menu lar but some promotional item so it's on some placard on the table..and then Daddy pointed to it and the person took his order lor. BUT when the food came hor..it came in a claypot and with rice lor..and then Daddy realised that when he pointed to the placard..there was actualli ANOTHER dish on the other side of it lor! Hehehe. So the person thought he wanted to order that! =p So he ended up with some sweet and sour chicken with lychee + rice..Hehehe. But this was not bad also lar! Sortof like ko lo yoek..and got quite a lot of meat inside also!

This was another visit - think it was to the Xin Wang at Anchorpoint? The coffee is nice! =)

Mummy had a craving for Ya Kun so she ordered some soft-boiled eggs..this was typical - nothing to wow about. But then again, what do u expect? Hehehe.

More of Daddy's fave PBCM Thick Toast..just check out the peanut butter oozing down! Yummmmmy!

Or the pseudo-chunky texture of the peanut butter (this is turning out to be like some fetish) =p

Mummy tried the Macau Pork Burger (which Daddy has also been wanting to try for quite some time liao, but never got down to doing it cos' he'll always want a PBCM Thick Toast for himself whenever he comes here)..this was not too bad cos' the pork was quite tender and not too dry..but nothing fantastic about it also lar. Just imagine it being a sandwich which u put together urself at home, except with better pork =p

Oh yar..and just a tip - if u find urself wanting to head down to Xin Wang after this hor..u might do better at the Marina Square branch! Although the people are generalli quite ok at the Marina Square one and the Anchorpoint one hor..and the latter actualli tends to be less crowded..but Daddy had a bad experience at the Anchorpoint one last time cos' the person REFUSE to help Daddy to tell the kitchen to add more peanut butter although he told two different people. The first person - the one taking the order - just gave Daddy a weird look and continued taking the order. And then another one (I think it's the manager, cos' she was in black) gave Daddy a weird look also, said ok, but clearly didn't go to the kitchen to say anything also. So irritating!

Apart from that, I have no gripes about this place at all! In fact, I think we'll be back to Xin Wang a lot over the next few months..unless Tong Shui makes a comeback! =)

NeW iCe-CreaM aLLegiaNce!

2009-09-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Mummy and Me used to head for Ben & Jerry's whenever we need an ice-cream fix..but recently hor..Daddy has changed his allegiance! His new-found love: Marble Slab Creamery at Iluma!

The idea is simple - choose your ice-cream flavour, choose whatever you want to mix into it (called Mix-ins), and then watch your very own concocted, one-of-a-kind ice-cream indulgence comes to life on the frozen marble slab, where everything is blended and mixed together! Apparently, Marble Slab Creamery is the original hand-fold ice cream concept from Texas, started in 1983.

FWAH! Check this out! Hehehe. Daddy's dream ice-cream - Peanut Butter Ice Cream, mixed with Peanut Butter and Oreos! Just check out the amount of gooey peanut butter flooding the ice-cream! Hehehe. Me certainly won't mind a pint of that! =p

Next time, Me wanna try Peanut Butter Ice Cream, mixed with Cookie Dough and Reese's PBC, Butterfingers, Teddy Grahams, Snickers, Chopped Peanuts, Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge! Hahahahaha. Grossly indulgent!

The only problem now......why is Marble Slab Creamery only available in Iluma???????? Sigh. If only they'd open an outlet in Great World City or near Tanjong Pagar!

BeTTeR ThaN SuBwaY!

2009-09-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

There was a time when Daddy and Mummy like to eat Subway a lot..i tink especially the subway melt or club or something like that lar..but they haven't gotten down to eating it recently for quite some time liao..partly also cos' quite out of the way from our new home and also cos' too much breadie for Mummy..but recently hor..Daddy heard about this new breaddie joint which has made the looooong trip from America to Singapore..and heard a lot of people say very nice..so he decided to go there for dinner one day lor!

Quiznos has actualli come over to Singapore for quite a while liao..i tink quite a few months..but there are currently two outlets here onli..one at Far East Square (the original one) and one more at Orchard Central..so since Far East Square is quite near Daddy's workplace..Mummy and Me went to pick him up and go to Quiznos to eat lor!

Quiznos is located at the corner where Telok Ayer Street meets Peking Street..quite a long walk from the nearest MRT so easier to get here by car lar! Hehehe. There's a Tully's coffee joint sharing the same premises as Quiznos..i tink the same also for the Orchard Central outlet? So i tink they prob under the same management or something..nothing to wow about with regard to the decor - simple, straight-forward and officey..although Me heard that people tend to get rather excited about the pepper / condiment bar at Quiznos! Looks quite ordinary to me leh =p Like the Carl's Jr one except that Quiznos has more sauces to try!

The walls are covered with posters which break down the anatomy of a Quiznos sanwich..so u know what u're eating! Hehehe.

Daddy has heard quite a bit about Tully's ice white chocolate mocha and coffee milkshakes also..so he hopped over to Tully's to get some drinks lor! After thinking for veryveryvery long..he finalli decided to get the mocha! This was nice! The mocha wasn't very thick and there wasn't a very chocolatey taste lar..but the coffee was strong and good and not bitter at all! Nice! =) We'll try the milkshake the next time we're there!

Quiznos' main selling point is that their breads are toasted before they are served..making them crispy and the cheese all melty inside..and this definitely made a good difference! Me can't remember the exact name of the sub sandwich which Mummy went for liao..but it was some healthy choice one with turkey bacon, cheese, ham and veggies. This was actualli quite normal onli - quite like Subway's subs except that the bread was nicely toasted.

But Daddy's sub was UBER-delicious! Me tink it was called a zesty grilled steak or something like that..and it was made up of thin slices of steak, lots of gooey melted cheese, sauteed onions, and lots of sauce on a rosemary parmesan bread! Yummy! It tastes as good as it sounds! Hehehe..all the sauces combined with the steak to give a meaty, rich and delicious taste to the sub! Me loved this leh! Bestest of any sandwich which I've eaten! =) This was so nice that Mummy even thought looooooong and hard about having this AFTER she finished her own sub leh! Hehehe.

And Daddy loves the fact that there's lots of sauces for u to play around with! Got honey mustard, ketchup, different types of chilli, etc. etc..all lying around at the condiment bar for u to try!

Quiznos definitely beats Subway hands down - the toasted roti makes a veryvery big difference! And I tink there's nothing in Subway's menu which can even give Quiznos' steak sub a run for its money..but then hor..Mummy's Quiznos sub was very ordinary onli so dunno if the rest of the subs taste like that also..hmmmmm. Oh well. Guess we have to try more of Quiznos' subs lor! And anyway..we can always come here to do work and enjoy Tully's coffee mah!

If only they opened on Sundays!

MoRe SweeTs frOm CaNeLe...

2009-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Back at our fave people/bag-watching spot on Orchard Road =)

Canele's New York Cheesecake - this was very ordinary. Nothing much to shout about, but didn't go wrong either. Give me Ikea's cheesecake anytime!

Hiding in the background of both photos - Canele's Strawberry Shortcake. Give this a miss if you don't like sour or spongy cakes. Not my type of cake. Give me Barrack's strawberry shortcake instead.

And some caramel coffee (I think), which was normal as well.

I think I'll stick to macarons next time.

ThE PriNcE oF NaaNs...

2009-08-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

One of the types of food which Mummy and Daddy and Me seldom have is Indian food..mainly cos' Mummy no like it and sometimes eat already will have tummyache..but ONE of the few Indian-food places which Mummy is actualli ok with and sometimes will even feel like eating is Everest Kitchen at Chander Road. It's not exactly purely Indian food but supposed to be a mix of Nepalese food also lar..but whatever it is..it's yummy!

Mummy and Daddy and Me had some time to walk around before meeting Uncle Fan Jun and Uncle Ci Xian for dinner. So we walk through Little India, walk to Prinsep, and then walk back lor! Me noticed that the flats at Little India are quite colourful leh! Hehehe.

And Me also came across something very interesting - a "cinema" in Little India! Actualli it's not realli a cinema lar..but some kopi-tiam screening some Bollywood show on a small TV (u can try to see it in the photo!)..and then got a lot of people gather around to watch..even got chairs for them lor..and then the kopi-tiam sell them drinks and even snacks lor! Got lots of smallsmall plates of fried yummies to munch if u wanna watch the show..so interesting hor!

Okie..back to the food at Everest. So this is what we had! One of the things which we always order is the tandoori chicken..it's served on a hot plate so it's still sizzling when it reaches the table! This is quite yummy..the chicken is quite flavourful and tasty..but the onli problem is that some parts of the chicken are veryvery dry! So depends on whether u lucki anot lor. If u kenna the drydry part then not nice..

This was something new which we tried today..can't remember the exact name of the dish but it's supposed to be dried lamb/chicken/deer meet cooked with lots and lots of spices..Daddy decided to order it cos' it sounded quite interesting! But it wasn't very nice leh..the meat was veryveryveryveryvery HARD..and even though the spices gave them a nice flavour..but still way too hard liao! =(

And Me think this is the bestest dish here..Everest's butter chicken! The gravy is just so delightful and yummy..and the chicken is soooooooooooo tender! We finished scooping up ALL the gravy with our naans veryvery soon after the dish was served! Hehehe. Our conclusion is that next time we must order two butter chickens then enough!

And the naans here are fantastic. You have to wait for quite a while before they are served..presumably because they only make it when ordered..but they are so crispy and light that it's more than worth the wait! We tried 4 different types today..got one is the keema naan..which comes with meat inside one..and then..THE PRINCE OF NAANs..Hehehe. Can't remember what it was called exactly..but it was the one with fruits and nuts! And it's realli called the Prince of Naans on the menu. Hehehe. But this was very good cos' the sweetness and slight crunchiness was a perfect complement with the savoury yumminess of the butter chicken! =) Next time Daddy and Me will have ownself one each!

And we also had the butter and cheese naan..which were good too, but more ordinary.

We never fail to enjoy ourselves whenever we come to Everest! Maybe it's also cos' of the company and the joy of sharing yummy food with good friends lar..but apart from that..the food is yummy and cheap also! And the people here are very nice also..won't keep disturbing u even if u sit there for very long and will keep topping up your water!

But then again hor..Daddy says that there's another "Everest Kitchen" at MacPherson Road leh. And in fact hor..we noticed that this one was actualli called "NEW Everest Kitchen". So maybe the other one is better? We should go and try one day! But in the meantime, Everest Kitchen at Chander Road is goooood enough for us!

CoMForT FoooooD!

2009-08-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm..doesn't this look yummy? Hehehe. Can u guess where this burger belongs (before it goes into Mummy and Daddy's tummies)? =)

Another clue =) Looks familiar? Retro tabletop jukeboxes which do not work =p

Last clue: This place serves a mean cookies & cream milkshake! =)

And the answer is......Billy Bombers! Daddy and Mummy and Me actualli wanted to go to Morton's for dinner one..but unfortunately..Morton's was closed for a private event and the bar was veryvery crowded..so we decided to go to Billy Bombers instead lor! Billy Bombers has been around for the longest time..although recently they seem to be doing less well cos' they seem to be rather empty, even during lunch/dinner time + some of their restaurants have been replaced by a toned-down version called hip american diner or something + they forever seem to be having promotions and giving out vouchers..Me hope that they dun close down leh cos' we realli like Billy Bombers! One of the milkshake lar..but also for their burgers! While I guess their burgers cannot fight with like PS Cafe, Overeasy, etc..but at least compared to the run-of-the-mill fast food restaurants like Mac's and BK and Carl's Jr..they're still much better! Actualli..a lot a lot better!

As Me was saying hor..Billy Bombers forever having promotion one..so apart from taking "advantage" of their Citibank buy-one-drink-get-the-second-one-at-44-cents offer..we also took up this half-price-cheese-fondue offer! This set of onion rings, nachos and fries, served with a cheese dip costs $7 onli..quite reasonable! =) Me liked their onion rings..and their fries - though the chunky type - seem to be better nowadays cos' more crispy!

Daddy and Mummy's fave Billy Bombers burger used to be the Yin & Yang..which is like one chicken patty + one beef patty + one egg..but apparently it's not on their menu anymore..so we had an All Star Burger instead lor! Inside is like one patty (can choose chicken or beef)..bacon, cheese, ham, veggies and two eggs! Hehehe. Apparently this burger is soooooo humongous that it doesn't come served with fries! Makes sense cos' it's huge! One person i tink veryvery hard to finish! =) The buns were well-toasted and Me love to soak up the runny eggy yolk with it!

Ta-da! Here it is, dissected! Oh and got mushrooms cos' Mummy decided to add them to the burger to make it even more powderful..Hehehe. Perhaps the onli complain was that the beef patty was quite thin bah..and although it was supposed to be medium-rare..it tasted more like well-done. But got so much other stuff that u can't realli taste the patty that much anyway! This is goooooood, affordable comfort food! =)

Whenever Daddy or Mummy or Me wants to have a not-bad burger at not-bad prices..we will always think of Billy Bombers one..plus got their yummy milkshake..Me wonder how come their business like not very good leh? Hope they dun close down leh! Or else we'll be veryvery sad. Maybe cos' their service wasn't very fantastic? Or I guess it somehow just lacks a Wow factor bah? But give Me an All Star Burger anytime rather than any other burger from the average fast food joint!

eaRLy mOOnCaKes..

2009-08-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

While we were having our dim sum lunch at Peony Jade..we noticed that they were alreadi selling mooncakes! And more excitedly..Daddy saw that Peony Jade had his fave type of Teochew mooncake..which is the flaky pastry type with yam inside..and EVEN more excitely..the restaurant say that the Teochew mooncakes which they were selling were made by the ex-chef from Crown Prince leh..which was famous for this type of mooncake! So Daddy couldn't resist the temptation and bought and try lor!

Comes in a nice box! We bought two of the Teochew types - essentially ornee with pumpkin puree inside - and two Organic Mao Shan Wang Snowskin mooncakes..sounds so yummmmy hor!

Ta-da! Here they are!

The mooncakes were super delicious! Daddy especially loved the Teochew one..which is just like eating ornee with some fried pastry lor..Hehehe..and cos' the ones we bought had just been fried that day..the pastry tasted super fresh and yummy! The durian ones were nice also..rich, delicious durian (not fako durian cream or wat)..pure durian within the snowskin mooncake! Yummy! Daddy and Mummy and Me finished all these within 3 days! Hehehe.

Hmmmmm..only question now - should we go back and get somemore? Hehehe.

YuMMy DiM SuM@KePPeL CLuB!

2009-08-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

Daddy recently got a dim sum craving..and usualli when we wanna have dim sum..we'll either go to Crystal Jade cos' it's not bad or Red Star cos' of the retro pushcarts..but this time..Daddy and Mummy decided to try somewhere new! They decided to makan at this place called Peony Jade at Keppel Club..Keppel what? Hehehe. Yup..Keppel Club is actualli this ulu golf place near TA2..have to turn into this smallsmall road along Keppel Road..then drive in for another few minutes..before u finalli arrive at Keppel Club! Even further than Keppel Bay lor. If no car i also no know how to come here lor..

It's actualli quite quiet when u get into Keppel Club..just some people at the driving range and nothing else..but when u step into Peony Jade on the second floor hor..u'll realise where all the people ar! The restaurant was surprisingly full for such an ulu place..and there was even an ROM going on there leh! Definitely a good sign cos' people are willing to make the trip here..even though there is another Peony Jade (the "original" one) at Clarke Quay. But i tink the Clarke Quay one never serve dim sum..which seems to be what most of the people were here for! There was nothing fantastically nice or special about the decor..although Me thought the colours of the roof were a nice contrast with the black/white of the rest of the restaurant..Hehehe.

Looking through the menu..looking through the menu..got a lot of dishes leh! From the standard Peking Duck and Suckling Pig, to lots of veggies and meats and seafood..but we were here for the dim sum..so easier to focus! Having said that though..there were still a lot of choices to choose from! Maybe 4 pages worth of dim sum?

Okie..then the start of our dim sum feast liao! First was this quite-common dish of pan-fried raddish cake..this was not bad cos' there was quite a lot of liao inside and the raddish cake was realli soft..but one complain was that it was served rather cold rather than hot and crisp from the wok..so minus points from that! There was nothing very special about it anyway..so think Me will give this a miss next time Me is back (yup..i'll be back!). Hehehe.

Me can't remember the exact name of this liao..but it was some flaky pastry with almond and custard..we were actualli deciding between this and egg tarts..but decided to go for this instead cos' it sounded more interesting and the auntie said that this was nicer also! Must wait 15 - 20 minutes cos' it made-to-order leh..and this was nice! The pastry was realli veryvery light and flaky..and the custard was sweet and yummy too! A good chance from the usual egg tart!

And then..this was the bestest, yummiest, deliciousest, nicest dim sum which Me has ever eaten leh! Again..Me can't remember the exact name of this..but it was some bun with custard and salted egg yolk or something like that lar..but basically..it's an EXPLOSION of eggy, flowy custard in a bun! The filling was sweet, but with a slightly saltish tinge from the eggy..and when Me say EXPLOSION..it realli explodes leh! Daddy bit into one and it squirted like 30cm away..quite like those explosive onde-ondes! Except that this was much better! And it onli costs $3.90 leh. This alone is worth a visit here lor! Me love this!

Next was chee cheong fun..but no ordinary chee cheong fun..scallop chee cheong fun! Hehehe..this was the first time Me have something apart from the normal prawn or char siew versions..and this was nice too! Apart from the indulgent scallops..there was a nice seafoody taste to the rest of the chee cheong fun also! And it was soft and yummy! =)

Another indulgent dim sum - a mix of East and West..foie gras + prawn ball with almond flakes! This was delicious too..the almond flakes gave a "fake" crispy texture to the ball..and the filling inside was just delicious. Slightly creamy..with a hint of foie gras..yummmmmy!

Got "jade" in Chinese as decor on the dish also..Me would have missed it if Daddy didn't tell me! =p

Mummy loves to eat xiao long bao..so she didn't miss the chance to try Peony Jade's version lor! The skin of the dumpling was not as thin as Din Tai Fung's one..but the soup and filling inside was still good! Quite tasty leh. But overall..still no fight with DTF. That's realli the bestest!

On to Dim Sum No. 7..some fried beancurd skin with seaweed and prawns..dunno if it's cos' this came last and at a time when we were quite full already..but this seemed to be the least nicest of all the dim sum which we tried. The beancurd skin was fried until very crispy..and it was prawns galore with every bite..but Me didn't enjoy this much..

And lastly..Daddy decided to have some dessert before ending our dim sum feast! Hehehe. This was quite a rip-off though! Daddy was looking forward to trying the red bean pancake served with vanilla ice cream cos' he loves this dessert..but when it came..there were like only 2 small pieces of pancake (the photo is misleading..it's much smaller!) lor..veryveryvery small! So Daddy felt a bit kenna cheated. But this was nice, though! Even though got lots of sesame seeds..but the taste of sesame wasn't too strong. Went nice with the ice cream!

Yup, so this is our yummy dim sum feast at Keppel Club! Me haven't eaten a lot of dim sums lar..but this is one of the bestest which i've tried lor! The custard bun alone is enough to keep me coming back for more leh! Hehehe..and best of all..the prices are not too expensive! Think Mummy and Daddy and Me spent a total of around $50 onli bah. AND their mooncakes are realli good too! But that's another post.......

moDerN PeKinG DucK..

2009-08-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

One of Mummy and Daddy (actualli..more Mummy than Daddy)'s fave food is Peking Duck..which is why Mummy always wanna go to Min Jiang@One-North lar..Hehehe. So when we were exploring B4 of ION Orchard last week hor..she was reallirealli excited to come across this stall called Modern Peking Duck! Apparently..they sell Peking Duck and Suckling Piggie to-go..both of which Mummy loves! Even got one whole HUGE Piggie there where they carve out all the meat leh (ouch!). So without hesitation..Mummy joined the queue and ordered a box each lor!

Well..both turned out to be rather disappointing leh. The Peking Duck was..errmmm..correct style, correct sauces, etc. lar..but it was just duck meat more than anything else..so duck meat in a crepe lor..dun have the yummy crunch of Peking Duck..and then the suckling piggie was way toooo dry..although the serving was quite generous and the skin was veryvery crispy lar..but the meat was tough and rather tasteless.

Oh well. I guess if u realli having a craving for some duckie or piggie while walking in ION Orchard..this can be a good quick fix bah. But nothing fantastic, for all the excitement which the stall seems to be generating with the people who pass by! =p

cHickeN riCe, caRRot CaKe anD laKsa!

2009-08-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Mummy are fans of Tung Lok's Space@My Humble House..which is a small eatery located beside the more famous and atas My Humble House, featuring local favourites with a special twist. There are only a few items on the menu (actualli..they dun even have a menu but a small stand-up "menu plate" with all the 6 or so dishes on it)..but we haven't tried all of the items before cos' the two classic ones which we always eat are so yummy tat we dun venture and try other stuff! Hehehe. And then there's a separate menu for small items to add on to ur meal in case u tink not enough or u wanna share with other people.

Usualli Space@My Humble House is not very crowded one..but when we went there last Thurs hor..it was very packed! Tink it was cos' Sing Dollar was showing at the Esplanade over the past few weeks..then Thurs nite also got a show..so everyone drop by for a quick meal before the show lor! Like Daddy and Mummy and Me! We ended up with bar counter seats onli cos' all the other tables were taken..which we were quite ok with lar since we usualli sit beside each other when we eat anyway! =p

It took us like only 1 minute to decide what to order from the menu..hehehe..cos' as usual hor..we couldn't bring ourselves to try the other stuff there! So we went for our usual classic two dishes lor! Hehehe..except..we ordered something else IN ADDITION this time.........can guess wat it is from the chilli/sauce?

Yup! Chicken! Hehehe..or here, it's called Mama Leong's Chicken Rice! Actualli Mummy said for a very long time liao that she wanna try this but never so far..and finalli today hor..cos' she was feeling veryvery hungry..Daddy and Mummy and Me decided to order half a chicken to share lor! Hehehe..very greedy hor! Also cos' we wanted to see if there was anything fantastic about this lar..compared to other chicken rice. Our verdict is that the chicken realli seems to be more tender and fragrant than the normal chicken rice from the hawker centres leh! Tink partly also cos' they very generous with the drizzling of sesame oil and whatever other sauce they use bah..but Me think this was realli good! Not sure how it compares to the famous chicken rices like Chatterbox though..

Classic-Dish-Which-Mummy-And-Daddy-Always-Orders-Number-One: Fried Radish Cake with Freshly-Peeled Crabmeat, Whole Prawns, Juicy Scallops and Egg! This is realli delicious..the radish cake is delicious, soft and not toooooo starchy..and of course..all the indulgent ingredients which come along with the dish helps also lor! Hehehe..and best of all..it's not too expensive and quite filling at the same time! Yummy! But if u not into starchy stuff..then maybe give this a miss bah; the radish cake is quite a lot so can get a bit too starchy after a while..

Classic-Dish-Which-Mummy-And-Daddy-Always-Orders-Number-Two: Rice Noodles with Seafood in a Spicy and Fragrant Laksa Gravy! This is essentially just laksa lar..but with lots of yummy indulgent add-ons and a veryvery tasty gravy! The laksa is not too jelat and just right in terms of spiciness, taste and yumminess! The fish is very fresh..and even got an oyster inside leh! Hehehe..Me think this beats Katong Laksa anytime! Although much more expensive also lar..Hehehe.

So if u haven't been to Space@My Humble House..u should go there and try some time leh! The only other thingie which we've tried there is the rock & roll salad..which is this chicken, nuts, veggies, etc. salad which is served in a long glass container..and which the person will shake on the spot after adding all the dressing. Hehehe. This is one of the yummiest salads which Daddy and Mummy and Me have eaten leh! Realli! But it's not on the menu leh..so must ask the person bah?

One more thing - even though the food here is good..u muz be prepared to put up with crappy service. The service is fast, direct, non-attentive..and u get the feel that they are just trying to chase u away once u finish ur meal. No smiles, no kind words. Oh well..i guess u can't have the best of both worlds! =p

MaD aBouT sCones!

2009-07-30T03:46:00.000-07:00

Scones, scones, scones. Scones are one of Daddy's favouritest yummies..and he'll never miss the chance to try new ones whenever he has the chance! Recently..he heard that The Atrium Deli at Pan Pacific had this "Mad About Scones" promotion in July..in which they were offering like 5 or 6 different flavours of scones with many different types of condiments to go along also..even got durian puree leh! So Daddy kept wanting to go and buy lor and keep asking Mummy and Me to go..until we finalli did one Sunday lor!

And here are the scones from The Atrium Deli! Got 5 different flavours..and Daddy bought one each - original, raisin, chocolate chip, dried cranberries and multi-grain..and one more chocolate chip for Mummy. And then for every 2 scones u buy hor..u can have a choice of 2 condiments. Can choose from clotted cream, vanilla cream, jam, lemon curd and durian puree. Then cos' Daddy thought jam was very normal and lemon curd prob very sour..so he chose 2 each of clotted cream, vanilla cream and durian puree! Then we all went home to eat lor!

Actualli..it's Daddy who ate the scones lor! Mummy had her chocolate chip one..but Daddy ate ALL the other 5 without sharing leh! Very selfish one leh! But he not very happy cos' he said that the scones were OK onli..they were not very fantastic and were a bit tooooo dry. Also like dun realli have a lot of liao inside..so he eat until quite ni. But it could be because he ate 5 at one go lar! Hehehe. But likely got the condiments! The vanilla cream and durian puree were nice..so they at least made the scones better! Especially the vanilla cream..very fragrant and yummy! The durian one also nice but the smell a bit strong..so unless u like durian..otherwise i tink forget it!

The Atrium Deli's scones promotion is over liao..until end of July onli..no know whether they will extend anot..but dun tink we'll go all the way there to check it out also lor! Very normal, except for the condiments! Me rather stick to Da Paolo's one! =) Those are the bestest scones leh! Hehehe. Although they are a different type..the more biscuity type. But Daddy each week must eat at least 3..otherwise he'll kenna withdrawal symptoms! =p

D-i-Y iCe-CReaM!

2009-07-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Newly-opened in Iluma - Marble Slab Creamery! First opened in Houston in 1983, this ice cream store is famous for its "frozen slab" method for preparing the ice cream! Choose the ice cream flavour..choose your toppings (known as "mixins" - $1 per choice)..and then watch as the person scoops the ice cream onto a frozen marble slab and blends in your choice of mixins! In other words..u can create your own, one-of-a-kind ice cream flavour leh! Can even pack into a tub and bring home! Or if u can't decide..just choose from one of Marble Slab Creamery's many popular flavours! The number of mixins that u can choose from will just drive u crazy! =p

And this was Daddy's creation - Peanut Butter Cheesecake! Hehehe..Cheesecake ice cream + Peanut Butter + Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! For someone like Daddy who loves peanut butter but cannot find a realli good peanut butter ice cream in Singapore..this is a dream come true! Indeed, find happiness within! =)

NoRtH, SouTh, EAST (oCeaN), WesT

2009-07-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Auntie Eunice is going to London soon liao..so last Friday hor..Mummy and Daddy and Me and Uncle Fan Jun met up with her for dinner..like a farewell dinner lor..then we decided to meet in Orchard so that can go and walkwalkseesee ION Orchard..and then can people/bag-watch at our fave Canele also..Hehehe..but anyway..we were not sure what to have for dinner when Uncle Fan Jun saw East Ocean Teochew Restaurant at Shaw Centre there..and since we thought that Auntie Eunice won't have the chance to eat goooood Chinese food for the next 3 years liao hor..so we decided to have dinner there lor!

East Ocean is like this super classic Chinese restaurant..especially in terms of the decor and layout lar..when u step into it..it's no different from any other Chinese restaurant..with the roundround tables and pots of tea..but the place is quite popular so it was very crowded! When we got there..there was a person asking for a table/s for 18 people lor! FWAH! Anyway..East Ocean is supposed to be like one of the top 50 restaurants in Singapore also..so Daddy didn't mind giving it a try lor! And u know what..we saw TV stars there leh! Li Nanxing and Rayson Tan! Hehehe..we were quite excited! =p

First impression - while Me definitely would not say that the service was bad cos' the people came to serve as quite efficiently and were quite nice about it..but for some reason hor..they kept wanting to take our orders! I think maybe they asked 3 times in 5 minutes bah? Wait a while lar. Hehehe. But after 3 failed attempts..i think they gave up liao and left us on our own until we called them. Hehehe. Anyway..since there were soooooo many yummy-sounding dishes on the menu..we decided that each person should order one ownself dish (e.g. noodles, rice) and one sharing dish..so that we can try more different things lor!

This was Uncle Fan Jun's choice of sharing dish! Think it was called soya duck meat or something..basically it's like lor duck with tofu lar..it was quite good cos' the duck was very tender and the sauce was yummy but not too salty!

Daddy ordered TWO sharing dishes cos' his choices were appetisers so they were small and cheaper..this one is fried fish skin! He thought it'd be like the one from Sushi Tei..but it's not as tasty (i.e. less salty) but more crispy! And then quite interestingly hor..East Ocean give like this bowl of soup for u to dip the fried fish skin into..so that not so dry and got a bit of taste..and the fish is so crispy that it cackles when dipped into the soup lor! Hehehe..so overall not bad, but Me still prefer the salty Sushi Tei version! =p

Then Daddy's other sharing dish was this fried salted silverfish (or dunnowat fish lar..can't remember liao)..and this was much nicer! Reminds me a bit of fried shishamo except that got no roe lar..but this was yummy and got lotslots in the serving! Nice! =)

Me think that East Ocean is famous for their duck bah..cos' they got a lot of duckie dishes leh! So Mummy was struggling to decide between ordering half a Peking Duck and this Lettuce with Minced Duck Meat for her sharing dish..and in the end dunno why also but she decided to order the minced duck one lor! And definitely didn't regret cos' this was super good! The minced duck meat was very yummy and tasty..and when u pao it into the lettuce and bite into it hor..will like have juice lao out one leh! Hehehe..very moist and juicy! Me think this one can fight with the Min Jing@One-North one lor!

Then for ownself dish..Daddy ordered a plate of char siew noodles..dry one..the noodles were quite normal..the Crystal Jade type but cos' he was waiting for Uncle Fan Jun's mini-claypot rice to come (which took veeeeeeeeeery long)..so it became a bit dry by the time he ate it liao. But the char siew was very good! Got a lot of slices and it's not dry and it's the fattyfatty type! Hehehe..just looking at it u also know that it's good liao lor! =p

Mummy's ownself dish was a bowl of century egg porridge..Me didn't try it but Mummy didn't say like it was amazing or anything but she finished it..so my guess is that it's prob normal lor! =)

Auntie Eunice came slightly later cos' she had to finish some work..but she also ordered some sharing dishes to share lor! This porkie dish was OK onli..a bit too fatty actualli..in the end..we couldn't finish it and Mummy ended up just having the crispy skin and throwing the rest of the meat/fat away!

And this was another good fried appetiser dish..essentially fried calamari lor! Salty enough and crispy enough..yummy! =)

So that was it for East Ocean! Me guess that the food was OK lar..i mean..it didn't leave any very good lasting impression and it didn't make me wanna go back there for more..but it could also be because we never order their famous dishes like the cold crabbie and the steamed fish and the shark's fin bah! And Me heard that their dim sum is reallirealli good also..must queue up even if u make reservations and it's the push-cart type..Hehehe..so Me don't mind gg back there one weekend to try! Otherwise..think Me will give East Ocean a miss!

Then after that..we went to walkwalk at ION Orchard for a while..couldn't walk too long cos' its was quite late liao and the shops were closing..went to Miu Miu, Longchamp and a few other shops..btw, there's a Gindaco at ION leh! Hehehe..it's finalli here! Mummy and Daddy and Me kept eating it when we were in Hong Kong..and apparently got a Dunking Donut also although we didn't see it! Must go back there and explore again another day! Hehehe..

Finalli..to end off the day..we settled in our fave Canele and had some dessert and drinks and talk and people/bag-watch! Auntie Eunice saw a Birkin leh! Hehehe..anyway..Daddy had this ultra-cute Macaroon Burger from Canele..the "burger buns" are the macaroons..the "tomato" is a layer of sponge cake..the "cheese" is apricot jelly..and the "patty" is chocolate mousse! Very yummy leh! And looks so good also! Hehehe..

So that's the end of our Fun Friday! Hehehe..Bye Bye (in advance) Auntie Eunice!

i miSS iTaLy! =(

2009-07-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

I miss delicious al dente pasta, perfectly textured risotto, truffles, Piazza Navona, Rome, the Blue Grotto, Peck, the Sistine Chapel, watching soccer outside the Duomo, shopping at Prada, LV, Miu Miu, Bottega, Gucci, Venice, looking at people sit on steps......i miss italy! =(

YuMMy BERG-eRs!

2009-07-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Daddy is very much a burger and fries person..that's why he was so happy when he went to USA for close to a month last time..everyday can eat unhealthy fried food and burgers and fries and float and peanut butter stuff..Hehehe..so whenever he hears about a good burger joint in town..he'll definitely want to go and try one lor! And the latest one which he heard from his colleague is this a-few-months-old burger place called Bergs Gourmet Burger at Far East Square..quite nice his workplace somemore! So he forced Mummy and Me to go down and try on Wednesday lor!

Bergs was set up by two Australian people who tried to find the perfect burger in Singapore but couldn't..so they decided to set up a joint themselves lor! The place is right beside Mr Teh Tarik there and it's open till 10 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays..which is quite a rarity for Far East Square cos' like everything there seems to close after office hours one..the place is quite simply decorated and quite reminds me of a canteen actualli..with long wooden tables and benches..but who cares about the decor when u're here for the food rite? Hehehe..

Coincidentally hor..Daddy had received this coupon in the mail which entitles us to free chips with any burger purchased! So he had even more incentive to come lar! So anyway..Bergs' chips are the chunky type and they serve it in a cute doggy bag..the serving portion is quite large so can share..unless u're Daddy or Uncle Daniel lor! But must open the bag fast otherwise the fries will turn soggy! There was nothing very amazing about the fries but at least they were fried till crisp..so not bad! And u get to choose a sauce with every order of fries..we tried the Bergs sauce which was more or less mayo lor..

Then Daddy and Mummy decided to try their calamari also..which is sold in 6 or 12 pieces..so we went for the 6 lar since we had fries already..and this was good! In fact..it was the BK onion rings type of batter (this is a compliment since I like that type of batter) except that inside was sotong lor! Very nice..Me like! And also can choose a sauce to go with this..Daddy actualli chose the sweet chilli cos' he thought it would be like the Thai sweet chilli..but it turned out to be thicker, sweeter and yummier! =)

And then it was over to the star of the show..the burgers! The burgers were mainly beef..although there was a lamb, fish and a few grilled chickens ones..but of course..should go for the beef lor! And let me warn first hor - the burgers here are HUGE! They actualli come in two sizes lar..Bergs (which is BIG) or Small..and although both Daddy and Mummy ordered SMALL hor..they were supersupersuper FULL after the meal lor! The burgers are also served in doggy bags..so here got no plates or utensils one hor..just dig in with ur hands and enjoy the meal! Hehehe..Mummy ordered Miss Piggy (Prime beef pattie, streaky bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli, Bergs sauce and Edam cheese)..and this was delicious! Me loved the Bergs sauce and the streaky bacon! And Daddy ordered the BFB - no know what it stands for but I guess it's the BIG FAT BERGS cos' it's a two pattie burger and it was SUPER HUGE although Daddy ordered small leh! I can't imagine how big it would be if it was Bergs-sized lor! 2 x Prime beef pattie, streaky bacon, pineapple, egg, beetroot, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Edam cheese, aioli and Bergs sauce..it was IMPOSSIBLE for Daddy to bite into the burger cos' it was simply toooooooo tall! Had to bite a bit by a bit in the end..Hehehe..

And just look at the beef patties! This is how beef patties should be man! Hehehe..although it's not as fantastic as the PS Cafe / Wild Rocket type which was realli tender and thick..this is probably the bestest best u can get from fast-food burgers! The patties were also quite thick..and most importantly..they were not dried and shrivelled like the ones from BK or Carl's Jr..they were still very juicy and well-cooked! Yummy!

This is definitely NOT the place to go to if u're on a diet..or if u like veggies..Hehehe..but for those occasions..when u just feel like being a canivore and indulging in a good, hearty burger..Berg's is definitely a good place to go! And not many people here at night so no need to squeeze or endure the loud noise or anything like that..and it seems that the Bergs people are ok if u bring drinks over! So it would be a perfect combi to dapao Mr Teh Tarik over and enjoy the best of East meets West!

DiN Tai FunG AgaiN!

2009-07-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Remember Me said that Din Tai Fung is Mummy and Daddy's favouritest restaurant rite? Hehehe..see! I never bluff you! They went there again last Thursday to have dinner with Uncle Fan Jun..cos' Daddy felt like having his red bean xiao long bao and also cos' he wanted to try the chilli crabbie one!

We went to the Raffles City outlet this time..when we got there at around 7 o'clock hor..there were SUPER a lot of people waiting outside already lor! I think maybe more than 20 people leh! But bo bian..since Daddy had a craving..we took a queue number and waited lor! Heng we only had to wait for 15 - 20 minutes..then we managed to get a table liao lor!

Daddy prefers to go to either this Din Tai Fung rather than the one at Paragon cos' they have this dish..Peanuts with Seaweed! Actualli there's nothing that fantastic about it lar..just normal nuts with shredded seaweed on top..but it's realli a good munchy to start the meal and get ready for the yummies ahead! And cos' it's served veryvery fast..can help to curb ur hunger first while u wait for the rest of ur food! =) And of course..also cos' Daddy loves peanuts lar! =p

This is our latest new fave..Wantons tossed in Chilli oil! Me like the slight sourish tinge of the chilli sauce (it's more a sauce than anything lar)..and the wantons also got lots of filling leh! Yummy! =)

Mummy's fave xiao long bao..Daddy didn't have any cos' he was saving his tummy for the other types! So Mummy shared with Uncle Fan Jun instead =)

And these were the xiao long baos which Daddy had! Firstly is the chilli crabbie one..which is a seasonal offering I think and only available until a certain date..and I'm sure only available in Singapore lor! It's 40% bigger than a normal xiao long bao..and is packed full of crab meat leh! And the chilli crabbie sauce is tasty but not too rich or strong or overpowering..this was super good! Daddy liked it a lot!

Then instead of his usual 10 red bean xiao long baos..Daddy decided to order half yam half red bean instead lor! Since he remembered that the yam one was not bad..but after today hor..I tink he'll stick to his red bean! The yam filling was rather tasteless and most importantly for Daddy..not sweet..Hehehe..so quite different from ornee! The red bean one was as good as always..Dunno if they changed the yam filling..cos' Me remember it being nice the last time Me had it leh..oh well.

Even the drinks are good here! The longan tea is refreshing, cooling and nice! =)

Hmmmmm..Me wonder if they have a Din Tai Fung loyalty / member card..if got Me sure apply one! =p

SoMe inDoNeSiaN FooD in PaRaGon...

2009-07-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Mummy and Daddy and Me met Uncle Fan Jun, Uncle Cixian and Auntie SK for dinner on Sunday..also to do some shopping and walking around and catching up lar..and we were in Paragon when we decided to go and eat Din Tai Fung lor! But when we got to Din Tai Fung hor..the queue was suuuuuuuuuuuuuper long lor..so we decided to give up and try this Indonesian restaurant which was right opposite Din Tai Fung..

Tambuah Mas is one of those restaurants that u've always seen around, always known that it has existed..but never realli gotten down to go there and eat cos' it's neither like super fantastic or super cheap or anything like that. But we decided to give it a shot anyway lor since it was something different (we all never eat before)..the fare here is realli the standard Indonesian dishes..so u prob won't be at a loss about what to order!

Daddy wasn't exactly very hungry so he didn't join in with the rest to order some dishes to share..instead..he ordered a plate of Gado-Gado (a light melange of mixed vegetables, tofu and emping crackers; drizzled with homemade spicy peanut dressing) to ownself eat..and this was good! the peanut sauce was tasty but not too overly rich and thick..and Daddy loved the crackers too! And got a lot! In fact..Daddy couldn't even finish this lor!

The rest of the food Daddy and Me never realli eat..but they looked not bad lar! Got the classic Tahu Telor (fried cubed beancurd and eggs, topped with spicy-sweet dark sauce)...

Perkadel Ayam (fried potato croquette with minced chicken meat)..some seafood dishy (which I can't remember is what liao..tink it was some prawn thingie bah)..and oh yar! The crackers here were veryvery nice leh! Actualli they were just the standard Indonesian type of crackers..but Tambuah Mas' chilli is quite power! Very hot and nice! But cannot take too much..otherwise will explode! Hehehe..

And Ayam Goreng Istimewa (traditional fried chicken accented with crispy golden spice blend)..

All the other people seemed to quite like the food and they didn't complain about anything lar..so I guess should be not bah lor! Will prob come back to try again if I wanna have lots of chillichilli stuff or feel like having some Indonesian food..otherwise..there doesn't seem to be anything very WOW about Tambuah Mas which will bring Me back!

Which reminds me..Riverside Indonesian Restaurant close for good liao ar? Can't find it anymore! =(

MoRe CaNeLe-iNg...

2009-07-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Remember that last Friday hor..Daddy and Mummy and Me found one of the bestest spots along Orchard Road to people-watch? Well, we went back there AGAIN last Sunday! Hehehe..actualli we were intending to go shopping lar but wanted to do some work first..cos' we were waiting for Uncle Fan Jun to join us also..so we were back at Canele@Shaw again lor! Hehehe..

The view from our fave seat! Hehehe..actualli, come to think of it hor - this is the first time we're actualli eating at Canele! The last few times we always just take some drinks and dessert onli..but this time it was for lunch!

Daddy ordered a latte to perk himself up..but it was not strong enough..tasted a bit weak and diluted even!

Actualli..lunch or tea or dinner or dessert also doesn't make a difference when it comes to Daddy lar..Hehehe..cos' he'll always order sweet stuff to eat anyway! For example, now lor! Although it was lunchtime..he didn't order the pastas or sandwiches or crepes of anything like that..but he decided to try a Choconana Toast (Pain de mie filled with chocolate ganache, vanilla custard, caramalised banana, topped with passionfruit banana sorbet and chocolate fudge)..actualli he was deciding between this and a nutella toast..but he chose this cos' he kenna attracted by the bananas! Hehehe..

Well..the bananas were realli nice lar cos' they were caramelised and sweet..but Daddy regretted not ordering the nutella one cos' he didn't like the sorbet! It was veeeeery sour..and didn't have any banana taste at all lor! Then hor..he think that Canele should put more chocolate ganache and chocolate fudge also lor..otherwise like not chocolatey enough! So he regret lor..cos' on re-reading the menu..the nutella one like sound nicer! Next time bah!

Daddy told Mummy that the crepes at Canele were supposed to be good..so Mummy decided to try one lor! She wanted mushrooms..but also wanted bacon..but dun have this combi in the menu..so she decided to just ask the person if you could have a mushroom, bacon and Emmental cheese crepe..and the person said ok lor! Yay!

And Daddy never bluff cos' the crepe was realli good! Got quite a lot of liao inside..especially bacon..and then the crepe was thin and slightly crisp to the bite too! I think the veggies should have been good also bah cos' Mummy finished all of them!

One thing Me noticed about Canele is that the service is muuuuuuuuuuuch much better than last time liao..especially compared to the one at Robertson Quay there (Unity Walk? Robertson Walk?)..there the people like very rude and grouchy one..unless u're an ang moh..but the people at Shaw are super ok and friendly..and they never throw Mummy and Daddy and Me dirty looks although we sat there for quite long to do work + people-watch + eat. And Canele is quite the perfect place for us cos' there is normal food for Mummy..and there's lot of sweet stuff for Daddy! Hehehe..but the Shaw branch wins hands down for people-watching! =p

PS. ThiS iS reaLLy GooD!

2009-07-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Mummy say tat if you ask anybody who is around their age what Projectshop is famous for hor..everyone will say tat it's famous for their bags..black colour with the nylon-type texture..but nowadays hor..it seems that Projectshop's bags are virtually no more! Thankfully hor..something better has taken over the bags - their cafes! Daddy and Mummy had gone to the one at Paragon 2 or 3 times..but they haven't been to the one at Harding Road or the new one at Palais..then last Friday hor..actualli they wanted to go Min Jiang to have Peking Duck and buy durian pastries..but Daddy didn't feel like eating duckie..so they decided to head to PS. Cafe at Palais instead lor!

Maybe cos' now got more outlets liao..so PS. Cafe was not crowded at all when Daddy and Mummy and Me got there (last time like always have to wait for places at the Paragon one lor!)

PS. Cafe at Palais has a sleek, modern design..u know, soft lighting with lots of plants/flowers around..complete with a chalkboard to showcase the specials for the day. The decor made it quite nice and relaxing overall..a bit high-class but not to the extent of being over-whelming..Me like! And the service was excellent also (apart from one grouchy guy whom I think is the captain or something..since he was settling the reservations and seating and later the bill)..in fact hor..there was a veryveryvery handsome guy who look like Wu Zhun from Fei Lun Hai! Hehehe..realli leh! Daddy and Mummy kept trying to take a photo of him but he kept moving around and the lighting was bad =p But anyway..almost everyone else (apart from the captain) was friendly, helpful and efficient! Decor - check! Good service - check!

Daddy was craving for some coffee that day so he ordered a glass of Ice Mocha (with unsweetened soy milk)..the chocolate was very thick and the coffee was sufficiently strong as well..so this was quite nice!

Daddy and Mummy loves the PS. Caesar Salad (Our big caesar salad complete with poached egg, smoked crispy bacon, baby coz and baked infused croutons tossed in our chef's dressing with freshly shaved parmesan) and they tink that it's the bestest salad in the universe..and Me agree! The veggies are never bitter..Me love it when u break the poached egg and the runny yolk flows over the salad..the servings of bacon and croutons are veryvery generous..and to make this salad even better..Mummy added grilled king prawns to it leh! Hehehe..Me realli loved it! It is practically a meal in itself..and Mummy couldn't even finish the salad in the end leh! Yummmmmy! If all salads tasted this good..Me would go vegetarian anytime!

For Daddy..he was veryvery sure of what he wanted - PS. Tenderloin Burger (Nashi marinated grilled tenderloin steak chips on a toasted sesame bun with crunchy greens and gingered teriyaki glaze with PS. fries)!!!!! It was not the whole-steal type but small pieces of steak..but this was SUPER delicious! the steak was tender and tasty..the veggies were great with the sauce within..the bread was well-toasted..and when u soak the bread into the sweet teriyaki glaze and scoop a bit of everything up..it tastes just great! Yummmmmmmmmy! Only complain was that the fries were a let-down..soggy!

Check out how big the burger is! And Daddy finished it without any problems..and even took quite a lot of Mummy's salad! So greedy!

And after dinner..Daddy and Mummy and Me decided to go people/bag-watching..and we found the bestest spot along Orchard Road to do that - at the Canele at Shaw! They got a few seats which are right beside the street and super ideal for watching..Hehehe..and the traffic volume and quality here quite good also! Daddy and Mummy will like sit beside each other at the small round table and then just look at the world go by! Hehehe..so fun! Think this will be our new hang-out spot! =p

And of course - we got some sweet stuff to make our people/bag-watching more enjoyable lar. Hehehe..actualli Daddy wanted some desserts from PS. Cafe but he was way too full after dinner liao..but macaroons still ok! Canele's macaroons are gooood! Soft but with a slight crisp..and the fillings are yummy too!
But not forgetting PS. Cafe..Me realli love the food there leh! The Palais one is muchmuch better than the one at Paragon cos' the menu has muchmuch more items to choose from..got a crab cake which sounds quite indulgent..a mushroom wellington which sounds interesting..a PS. chicken in the basket which sounds like classic comfort food, etc. etc. leh! So I'm quite sure we'll be back here soon lar..if not Palais..then Harding! Hehehe..and if not for the food..then maybe to check out the cute waiters/waitresses there! Hehehe..

nO mOrE craBBies iN tHe NeaR FuTuRe..

2009-07-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday..Daddy and Mummy and Me and Uncle Fan Jun were hanging around in church with nothing to do after YAMS..playing with Samantha, doing work, etc..until dinnertime then we decided to go off and go and have a good dinner lor! We ended up at Robertson Quay..actualli Uncle Fan Jun wanted to have Japanese food but he had a very strict requirements which is must be able to sit on the floor type one..but the ramen place at Gallery Hotel which Daddy and Mummy and Me went to last time like close down liao..so after exploring Robertson Quay..we finalli decided on Red House Seafood lor! Cos' Mummy and Uncle Fan Jun kenna attracted by the crabbies! Hehehe..

The original Red House Seafood is actualli at the East Coast seafood area one..but cos' it has been very crowded there..Red House opened a new branch here last year lor..it looks like the typical seafood restaurant, including al fresco seats outside to overlook water (the sea in East Coast, and the river here). Hehehe. Since it wasn't very hot and we wanted to enjoy the cool breeze..Hehehe..we decided on the seats outside lor! Red House is having some set dinner promotion to celebrate their 33rd Anniversary ($50++ for quite a lot of dishes, plus buy-4-get-1-free with Citibank) but cos' onli 3 of us (Me not counted cos' dun eat a lot)..we decided to go ala carte lor!

We didn't order this..but this is the usual peanut dish which Chinese restaurants serve once u are seated..usualli it's the classic salted peanuts..but the honey walnuts which Red House serves is quite yummy! Hehehe..if this was available on the menu..Me think Daddy would order one for himself lor! Hehehe..

Then cos' we were feeling greedy..we decided to order half a dozen xiao long bao to try lor..Hehehe..since the rest of the dishes were all seafood mah. This is on some new dim sum menu which Red House has..but unfortunately..this wasn't nice - the soup tasted rather artificial and salty..and the skin was quite thick also. Give me Din Tai Fung anytime!

Apart from the set dinner promotion..another 33rd Anniversary promotion which Red House has is that they will be offering a different dish each month at $33..this month's promotion was a large Sotong Platter for $33 (usualli is $50)..and this was veryveryvery nice! Got calamari, crispy squid and BBQ sotong..and a lot of each! The calamari was very crispy and the batter was light..not too thick or too much..then the crispy squid was sweet and crunchy (but it was the most ordinary of the three lar)..and the BBQ sotong (Me dunno why it's so red, though) was soft and tender and tasty, with a smokey BBQ smell! Realli delicious..and a lot also! Definitely worth the $33!

And then next up were the highlights liao..the crabbies! The crabbies here cost $4/100g..which is slightly more ex than the usual restaurant price of $3.80..but still quite ok lar. We had a black pepper one..which Me didn't realli like cos' it was a BIT tooooo peppery for Me and also cos' it was the drydry type..so after a while..the gravy sortof dried up and stuck to the crabbie..but it was overall still not too bad lar..Me have to admit Me is biased against black pepper! Hehehe..

But the other one was terrific! Crabbie in chilli stew, aka chilli crabbie lor..the chilli stew was not too thick and was just a little bit spicy..so got some kick to it. Then got lots of eggy inside the stew also..which was very tasty! This was yummmmmmy! Me guess it depends on which type of "chilli" u like..some places tone down their chilli a lot and it ends up tasting more like sweet & sour..and then got the realli CHILLI type..this one is just right for me, in between!

And of course, chilli crabbie muz have mantou to soak up and scoop up all the gravy lor! Hehehe..although the mantous had a slight sweet taste..they were not crispy leh and were actualli just soft even though we ordered the fried type..so not tat good!

Are you wondering how come Me say that no more crabbies in the near future when the food sounds quite good? Hehehe..cos' we ate until supersupersupersuper full lor! In the end hor..even got crabbie which no one realli wants to eat..then muz divide out and make sure everyone plays their part to finish it up leh..Hehehe..tink cos' the crabbies were quite big also..Hehehe..so tat's why Me is swearing off crabbies for a while! But foodwise..there's definitely nothing wrong with Red House - worth a visit, in fact! =p

FiNaLLy gOt iNTo My HoMe!

2009-07-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ma Maison is one of those places which Daddy and Mummy have heard lots of people raving about but never had the chance to try..simply because they are too lazy to make reservations and Ma Maison is FOREVER crowded one! At least during mealtimes lar..Mummy actualli went there once to eat before at some weird hour and she has been telling Daddy that it's very good and muz try..so one day when we were at Central hor..we decided to see if we are lucky enough to get a table lor!

The Ma Maison at Central is tucked in like one small super ulu part of the mall on level 3..muz go past Waraku and then walk further into the corner..but when we reached the restaurant..there was already a queue waiting outside liao and we were going to give up but Mummy decided to ask the person if need to wait very long anot..and heng hor..there was space for two people but it was at the "bar" lor! Daddy and Mummy and Me are totalli ok with it so we snapped it up lor..and we were finalli in Ma Maison! Yay!

Anyway..Ma Maison means "My Home" in French and the place does give a cottage/homely feel..i tink mainly cos' of the woody decor and the darkdark lighting bah..but the place was actualli quite cramped so Daddy and Mummy were relieved actualli to get a seat by the bar! And then right in front is the cooking place where we can see the people prepare the food also..so Me thought they were actualli quite good seats! Ma Maison supposedly serves French-Japanese fusion sortof food..but looking through the menu..seems that they practically juz whack everything together lar! Got burgers, pasta, paella, etc. But the food did look good in the menu..and smell very nice from the kitchen too! Hehehe..

Mummy looooves escargot so she didn't hesitate and ordered a plate of snailies to start off her meal lor! The escargots were served pretty impressively..although they were on the usual silver dish, there was a fire burning underneath also! Looks good lar..but not sure whether it adds anything to the dish =p The escargots were served with garlic butter and were..well..nothing that fantastic. But that could just be Daddy and Me being biased..since we dun find anything fantastic about escargots in the first place =p

Daddy was even worse cos' he was even more BORING..cos' Mummy said that the servings at Ma Maison were quite small and probably would not eat fullfull..and Daddy was feeling rather hungry at that time..he decided to order a basket of fries lor! Hehehe..there was nothing wrong with the fries lar..i mean, they were very crispy and it was quite a big serving..but Daddy was a little disappointed cos' the fries were clearly the buy-from-NTUC type and he was wondering why restaurants can't make their own fries since it's not that difficult mah! Then can have shoestring, haystack, etc. etc..He think it says a lot when a restaurant bothers to put effort into this simple dish! But then AGAIN..Daddy is just biased with his complaints cos' he loooooooves fries! Hehehe..

Not surprisingly..Daddy went for the hamburger steak (or Hambaagu) cos' it's supposed to be one of the bestest thingie at Ma Maison..can choose from small, medium or large and i tink Daddy went for the medium? Can't remember exactly, but Me know that he went for the brown sauce cos' the person said that it was the most popular sauce. The hambaagu comes served with a runny eggy and mashed potatoes..and it was realli good! Daddy quite liked it cos' the patty was very tender and it tastes wonderful with the eggy yolk + sauce..feels very indulgent! But the sauce was a BIT too salty for Daddy lar..maybe try another sauce next time! But can understand why this is so popular! =)

Mummy had this same dish the last time she ate at Ma Maison..and it was so good that she decided to order it again..beef stroganoff with omu rice! And it was reallirealli veryvery good! Hehehe..i tink Daddy regretted not ordering this instead..the beef was tender, sauce was delicious..and the eggy over the rice was completely runny and wet and not drydry one leh (totalli 10000 times better than the "omu rice" on sale at food courts)! Maybe the rice can be improved slightly by making it more buttery cos' it's quite plain on its own..but as long as u eat with the sauce..it's ok liao! Daddy liked this a lot (he keep stealing Mummy's one) and said he'd eat this the next time!

What is quite fun at Ma Maison is that at the end of your meal..the person will give you this like HUGE key with a number on it..feels like those room key in those oldold hotel..and then u just take it to the counter and then they'll give u the bill lor! Me thought it was fun although Daddy was like...DUH. I guess maybe give a bit of the homehome/cottage feel bah..Hehehe. And another bonus plus point for Ma Maison (at least at the Central branch which we went) hor..is that Tues is Ladies' Night..so got 20% off the bill! And the person was quite nice and gave the discount to Daddy and Me too although onli Mummy is a girl! Hehehe..

So overall..Ma Maison was realli good (Mummy never bluff! Another good intro from her! Hehehe) and Me think we'll be back again next time! Maybe order the BIG hamburger steak next time! Hehehe..IF we can get past the long queues, that is! =p

ThiS hAs tO bE oUr FaVe ReSTauRanT!

2009-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Long long ago..Mummy used to like to eat at Din Tai Fung cos' of its xiao long bao/steamed pork dumplings..but Daddy always no want to eat there cos' he doesn't have any special liking for xiao long bao or la mian or any of the stuff on Din Tai Fung's menu..UNTIL he tried their steamed red bean dumpling! And then hor..since then..he's been hooked! Both Mummy and Daddy loooooooves Din Tai Fung now..and whenever they wanna have something which confirm will make them happy and leave them satisfied..they'll definitely go to Din Tai Fung lor! They even made a special trip to the Din Tai Fung in Taiwan leh! Hehehe..

Usualli Daddy and Mummy and Me will eat at the Din Tai Fung at Raffles City..but recently we tried the one at Paragon for the first time! The bad thingie about the Paragon one is that they have less of the xiao chi..like Daddy's other fave - the peanuts with seaweed. Hehehe..so got less variety in general! Apart from that..everything is the same and just as good! =)

Mummy was feeling hungry so she decided to try Din Tai Fung's hong chao shou..or wanton dumplings in chilli oil (or something like that). Think we tried this before last time but Me don't remember enjoying it tat much leh..but this time hor..it was realli yummy! The chilli oil was tasty and the dumplings were soft and filled with lots of meat! And best hor..like got a lot of dumplings inside leh! Maybe 8? Making this quite worth the money!

This is one of Mummy's favouritest Din Tai Fung dishes..can't remember it's exact name but tink it's some prawn toast or toasted prawn or prawn pancake or something..anyway..Me love this too! u can't exactly taste a whole prawn but definitely Me like the shrimpy prawn paste..and the outer layer of the pancake is like ngoh hiang and gives a crispy bite to this dish! Yummy!

Mummy decided to be brave today and tried the crabmeat xiao long bao (instead of the usual pork one)..and she regretted a bit! Hehehe..couldn't taste any crabmeat anyway..although the soup now had a seafoody smell..which she doesn't like! So for once..Mummy prefers porky over seafood! But the skin of the xiao long bao was thin and soft, as always! btw, do u know that each of Din Tai Fung's xiao long bao must have at least 18 folds leh! u can count it..it's true!

Daddy..as ALWAYS..went for his favouritest favourite..steam red bean dumpling! And it didn't let him down! Hehehe..but the dilemma which Daddy always have is whether to order all 10 (or issit 12?) red bean ones..or to order half red bean and half yam! He loves the red bean..but the yam one is nice also cos' it tastes like ornee in a dumpling! Hehehe..maybe Me will convince him to have half-half the next time! btw, the ice longan tea at Din Tai Fung is very nice also! Hehehe..

There's been a lot said about Din Tai Fung since it comes with an awesome reputation..some say that the xiao long bao is over-rated, and that it's quality has gone down..some complain about the service, which we are ok with, apart from the fact that they are ALL foreigners..some say that it's over-priced, but Me think it's not that ex also leh..but having heard all this..Me still tink that Din Tai Fung has the bestest xiao long bao in Singapore! Unless anyone has a better one to intro? The Nanxiang one at Bugis definitely cannot fight..and those from some of the Chinese restaurants which we've eaten at also not better! So let us know if you have something to intro! But hor..best if they put red bean in their dumplings too! Hehehe..

nOthiNg goLDeN HeRe..

2009-07-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Time realli flies hor! It's been more than a year since Mummy and Daddy got married..and 7 years since they got together leh! Sooooooo long..Me now is only 4 years old! Anyway..one of the perks Mummy and Daddy got from their wedding at Conrad last year was this First Anniversary voucher from Golden Peony..which they've been waiting for one year to use! Hehehe..so finally hor..on 31 May 09..they made their way there to have dinner lor!

While u'd probably expect much from a restaurant in a five-star hotel..the first impact which Golden Peony makes is rather disappointing cos' the decor of the restaurant is quite old-fashioned..quite typical Chinese-style restaurant which nothing particular to wow about..the table settings helped save things a little..but the overall layout of the tables, tableclothes, colours, etc. realli felt like every other Chinese restaurant leh! Oh well..what is more important is the food rite? =p Golden Peony started off quite well in that aspect with a realli yummy serving of sugary peanuts! Hehehe..but then again - Daddy is bias one lar! As long as got peanuts means good! =p

And that's when the rest of the meal went downhill =( We ordered half a Peking duck to try..and this was veryvery disappointing! The wrap/pancake actualli felt rather cold when served..and there was virtually no crispiness from the duck at all..more duck meat than crispy skin. Didn't enjoy this even though we love Peking duck!

Next up was a small serving of suckling piggie (boohoo!)..this was actualli quite good..very crispy and tasty..so the only complain is that the serving was realli VERY small! And it cost quite a lot also!

Mummy ordered a bowl of shark's fin soup cos' she remembered that the shark's fin soup from our wedding was very good..but this one was waaaaaaay lousier! Got quite a lot of REAL shark's fin lar..but not much crabbie meat and not much taste too. Not worth it!

And lastly..we also ordered a dish of prawns with mango mayonnaise. Think that nothing much can go wrong with this dish? Wrong! Although there were quite a lot of prawns and they were quite big also..but the mango mayonnaise was toooooooooooooooooo rich liao..eat a bit will feel ni alreadi! And this, coming from Daddy who practically licks up the salad mayonnaise sauce with the prawns at Crystal Jade lor! And hor..the small mango cubes actualli made the dish worse cos' they were sour! Not nice!

And as if crappy food wasn't enough hor..what made the meal even worse was that the people serving us were veryveryvery crappy and grouchy and rude..maybe cos' we were using the voucher? Cos' they seemed to be quite nice to other people. Or maybe they see Daddy and Mummy like very young and never order a lot? But what's wrong with that rite? Me will definitely NOT be back here again in a looooooooooooong time..Me would much rather spend my money at Crystal Jade or some other Chinese restaurant!

EasY to LiKe OVEREASY..

2009-07-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing which Daddy loves (apart from fries and desserts), it's......burgers! So whenever he hears that there is a yummy burger somewhere..he'll try to drag Mummy along (Mummy no likes burgers) to try..although surprisingly..he hasn't been to Relish yet =p But anyway..it was on one of these occasions (actualli..it was also because Daddy and Mummy and Me were staying at The Fullerton Hotel for a short getaway) that we went to OverEasy lor!

Overeasy is this watering hole/chill-out spot/yummy place located at One Fullerton, brought to us by the same people overseeing The White Rabbit..it looks more like a bar inside although most people would want to sit on the comfy couches outside bah..al fresco and under the stars. OverEasy is quite crowded at night, with lots of people standing around and drinking and talking..but since we were here for dinner and not drinks..Daddy and Mummy and Me came over realli earli and there were no other customers there yet lor. But we didn't manage to get the couches cos' kenna reserved liao =(

Cute table paper mat! Can u spot the REAL advertisements for Singapore and the fako ones? Hehehe.

Daddy is a milkshake-lover..so no surprise that he went for one of the milkshakes on offer at OverEasy! Usually the flavours are quite standard one lar..Oreo, Chocolate, Coffee, Vanilla..but Overeasy had a special one - M&M's Milkshake! Sound very exciting hor..so Daddy ordered it lor! It was served in a metal shaking mug..just like at Billy Bomber's (is this how they serve it in USA? but Daddy didn't see it while he was there last year leh)..and more importantly..it was gooood! Hehehe..the milkshake was thick and rich..and came with lots of broken down crumbs and M&M's..which Daddy and Mummy and Me loved! Although the small bits did make it quite difficult to drink up the milkshake lar..cos' always kenna stuck in the straw..so in the end Daddy gave up and used a spoon! Hehehe..think this one possibly can fight with Prive's Peanut Butter & Jelly Milkshake leh..both just as good! =)

Ta-da! Here it is..the To Die For Burger from OverEasy! A 300g / 10.5 cm wide beef patty, with home-made bun, special OverEasy sauce, and Daddy added an eggy too! Hehehe..this was delicious! The patty was tender and moist, and the sauce was tasty. Best part is when u bite into in..and the eggy yolk starts running and joins in the dance of flavours on your tongue! Hehehe..and the bestest part of all hor..this came with parmesan haystack fries also..those thin-thin crispy type..which was super delicious! Even Mummy loved the fries leh..and she even considered ordering another serving of it! Yup, that's how good it is! Full marks for the To Die For Burger!

And then Mummy went for this healthy-sounding cod with miso, served with soba..Me don't remember much about this cos' Me was preoccupied with the yummy burger..Hehehe..but I think the cod was not bad? Quite fresh..and the soba was ok too. Think Mummy ordered this cos' she was quite into soba after the recent visits to Shimbashi! Hehehe..but no harm giving this a miss and trying the more "American" stuff on the menu! They sound much more interesting! =p

And instead of ordering desserts..Daddy and Mummy decided to order this dessert-sounding appetiser..french toast soaked in cinnamon maple syrup with apples (something like that lar..can't remember the exact name but Me listed all the stuff inside the dish! Hehehe..)! Even though the french toast looks rather weird hor..doesn't look like bread..but this was nice too! Sufficiently sweet (means very sweet cos' Daddy has a high tolerance / great love for sugar)..and moist and soft and eggy when u bite into it! Me like this too!

Me quite like the food at OverEasy and there are still a number of interesting-sounding dishes which we didn't try..like got a deviled eggs with smoked bacon, truffled egg toast, foie gras with french toast, etc. etc..so Me won't mind going back there again! But OverEasy seems to be perpetually crowded leh..so think must go early-early like we did the other day! Me heard that the service here can be quite crappie also..but Me don't remember anything obscenely bad about the place leh..except maybe that they took quite a while to get the bill? But nothing that jialat also, and nothing to roar about. Maybe we were just lucky! =p

SoBa, sO GooD inDeeD!

2009-07-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

The F&B scene in Singapore is quite vibrant and everything now and then..there will be some new fad which captures everybody's attention (and time to queue up)..like Portuguese egg tarts, bubble tea, xiao long bao and donuts..and maybe the new "It" on the F&B scene will be soba, with the relatively new Shimbashi Soba bursting onto the scene! Mummy herself has actually been to Shimbashi 4 times over the past month or so since she first tried it..so the restaurant must be doing something right! Hehehe..

Anyway..there are only two branches of Shimbashi Soba in Singapore (Mummy only calls them Soba, So Good - after their tagline on their paper napkins)..one in Paragon and one in Raffles City..and they tend to get very crowded during mealtimes..so best to either be there for an early or late meal lor..otherwise u have to be prepared to queue up. The restaurants are casualcasual one and nothing too fanciful in the way of decor..wear shorts and t-shirt also not prob! And of course..Shimbashi is supposedly good for their soba lor..which is, in itself, supposed to be good for the body leh! Dunno real anot..but the restaurant claims that soba can help detox, provide antioxidants, help in losing weight etc. etc..sounds too good to be true! Hehehe..but what Daddy says is true lar - maybe if u eat the soba alone; but with all the extra yummies that go with the soba, definitely not!

Here's some of the stuff which we've tried from Shimbashi..

This is essentially kaarage chicken..but they have some fanciful name for it. The price is not cheap, but the serving is quite LARGE..so can share! It is quite tasty though..crispy but not too oily. Think it's a good addition if you're just ordering plain soba with nothing else!

Of course..Mummy the Sashimi Lover tried their sashimi also lar..but this was quite normal..definitely fresh, but nothing to wow about also.

Daddy and Mummy and Me are not Jappie wannabes so we cannot remember all the funny Japanese names of the sobas lar..but this is supposedly one of the popular ones..soba with lots of tempura stuff. Daddy ordered it cos' he was realli attracted by the runny eggy on top! Hehehe..and this was nice! It's not the dip-in-sauce type of soba cos' the sauce comes served with the noodles..but it's even better this way! Then got crispy tempura bits scattered over the soba which gives it a nice crunch!

This one was Mummy try one..soupy soba with duck and dunnowat orange or citrus chilli or something like tat..Mummy was also attracted by the eggy and the mushrooms / duck in the photo on the menu..but the duck didn't turn out to be very nice and was quite tough..and I think Mummy overall prefer the chilled type of soba..so this didn't turn out that well! Me found it still OK lar..but definitely the chilled type nicer!

Then on another time..Mummy ordered this set meal which came with tofu, tempura and kaarage..BUT she still very stubborn and ordered warm soba! Hehehe..still good though, she still enjoyed her meal!

Then this was Daddy's set meal..with softshell crab, teriyaki chicken and sashimi..and of course, chilled soba! Hehehe..got crispy thingie to give texture to the soba also! This was yummy! The serving of softshell crab was quite generous..and the teriyaki chicken was nice too!

So Shimbashi Soba is one of the restaurants which we've been patronising recently..we just went there last Sunday for lunch again with Uncle Fan Jun, Uncle Daniel and Uncle Jasper..and so far, it's been good indeed! Hehehe..but must order the chilled soba lar..although the warm / soup one is not that bad also..but Me is happy that there is finalli a place dedicated to soba cos' Me like soba! Apparently Shimbashi has udon as well but dunno nice anot lar..but if it's that good..they'd have called the place Shimbashi Udon instead rite? Hehehe..so Me will stick to the soba and hope that it is realli as healthy as they claim! =p

gReeNwOOd: No LoNgEr a MaRkEt!

2009-07-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

One of the yummies which Mummy looooves the mostest is SEAFOOD..especially prawns, crabbies, oysters, sashimi and mussels..so early one Sunday afternoon hor..we decided to head to Greenwood Fish Bistro to have an early seafood lunch lor! We were quite excited cos' we still remember the yummy Cold Seafood Platter which we had the last time we came..so looking forward to another goooood meal! =)

Last time hor..the eatery in Greenwood was in the "market"..Hehehe..the place where they sell the fishies and the place where u eat the fishies is the same lor..but recently hor..they opened up a new bistro just around the corner! Think should be cos' they very popular and need more tables bah..cos' the last place was very small and cramped!

Got no one else around when we arrived at Greenwood Fish Bistro..tink too earli liao bah! Hehehe..Me was hoping to be able hop to Lana's to get some chocolate cake..but it was unfortunately closed =( So we settled down and ordered some oysters, a Hot Seafood Platter and fries! The bistro started off our meal with some bread..but it was quite cold and hard and fairly tasteless..even a splattering of butter could not save it! Come to think of it - Daddy and Mummy and Me haven't had good yummy bread for quite long liao leh!

We ordered a total of 6 oysters to start off our meal..it was a combi of 3 different types of oysters but Me forgot what they were liao! Think got one type is Baron Point (from USA) and another one type is Tasmanian (Coffin Bay)..and the last one forgot liao! They were all yummmmmmmy! Fresh and juicy! Me starting to love oysters lots lots leh..Hehehe. Daddy and Mummy too!

This is the HUGE oyster which we ordered - tink it was Coffin Bay? But anyway..it was BIGGER than Mummy's palm lor! Amazing hor! Is this even an oyster? Hehehe..

And then..the HIGHLIGHT..Mr Hot Seafood Platter! This came with char-grilled lobster, wild king prawns, grilled fish brochettes, calamari poppers, greenlip mussels and littleneck clams, with oyster mornay served with grilled baby octopus salad..sounds like a lot of food hor! Hehehe..while Me can't really fault anything in the platter lar (except maybe the baby octopus..which was a bit too hard)..but Me think that the hot platter is not as good as the cold one leh! Think maybe cos' when u cook all the stuff hor..u can't realli taste the freshness very well liao..and the pure, seafoody taste..Hehehe..example is the oyster mornay lor - it was yummy, but the mornay was so rich that practically anything inside would have tasted good! But from this hot platter..Me particularly liked the calamari (which was crispy and tasteful)! But if you first time come and wanna have a platter hor..better to go for the cold one! Maybe we'll try the Raw Sashimi Platter next time! =p

You may have noticed that Me didn't talk about the fries bah..not because it wasn't good lar..Me remember the fries here being very nice actualli..but it was cos' the person completely forgot about that order and we didn't bother to remind him cos' we were actualli quite full from all the food liao! On that note..the service at Greenwood Fish Bistro is quite bad; at first still ok when we were the only people..but when a few more tables started getting filled up..it became practically impossible to get anyone's attention lor. And when Daddy asked for mayonnaise..the person took like 2,000 years to get it and in the end even gave it to the wrong table! So Daddy had to ask again and wait anothe 2,000 years! Think that's this blind spot in a corner of the restaurant where the waiters tend to congregate and where they cannot actualli see the customers raising their hands, desperate for attention..Hehehe..but beyond that..tink the food cannot realli be faulted here! Greenwood has reinstalled my faith in seafood after the horrigible experience at Barnacles; so don't waste money there, come here instead! There's a special themed promotion for every night also..quite attractive, especially on Tues - freshly shucked oysters at $1 only leh!

DuCk iN JaDe..

2009-07-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Me is back! Have not posted any updates for quite long liao..cos' Daddy and Mummy and Me were away holidaying for most of the June period..and then Daddy and Mummy were quite busy catching up with work when they got back..so hopefully things will be back to normal from now on! We've still been eating and eating and eating as usual though..so got quite a few posts to catch up on!

Starting with a yummy dinner at Jade! Jade is located inside The Fullerton Hotel..and it used to be under the Tung Lok group. But I think that it recently got captured by Fullerton bah..cos' it no longer seems to be a Tung Lok restaurant leh..but anyway..Daddy and Mummy have been wanting to come here for quite long liao just for one thing - to try their Peking Duck Extravaganza, where a duckie is transformed into a 7-course menu leh! And since Daddy and Mummy loves Peking duck..this is just the meal for them!

This is Jade lor! It is located in a corner of The Fullerton Hotel..but once u step in..it gives quite a different feel cos' it's no longer the colonial heritage feel but a modern Chinese feel! The decor is actualli quite simple lar..nothing too impressive..which is good also cos' it's not too intimidating! =p The restaurant was virtually deserted when we got there..so the service was very prompt and efficient! Even when it got more crowded later..we were always able to get help and attention whenever we needed it. We took a quick look through the menu..and although there were a few other quite yummy-sounding set meals available, e.g. got a mushroom medley one..Daddy and Mummy were very focused and went for duckie! Hehehe..

But just for a little bit of variety (and also cos' Mummy loves prawns!)..we decided to order a small starter of a trio of prawns to share! One was honey-flavoured..one was the usual wasabi-mayo..and can't remember the third one liao! But Me remember that the prawns were fresh and the honey-flavoured one was the bestest! =p

Then we also got an amuse bouche of tofu + scallop..sounds very simple hor? But it turned out to be realli tasty! The scallop was fresh and tender..and the tofu was tasty too! Can't realli remember the exact flavours which went into this dish cos' too long liao..but Me remember it being goooood!

Done with all the sideshows..and on to the main star of the show - duckie! Hehehe..the first course was the usual Peking duck served in wraps..but Jade gave a slight twist to the traditional version by changing the condiments inside, serving Roasted Peking Duck with Marinated Orange Peels, Cucumber and Zesty Hoisin Sauce wrapped with Pancake. There were 6 duckie pancakes in total..so 3 each for Daddy and Mummy (Mummy share with me)..this was OK but what was a bit bad was that when u bite into it hor..the feel is more duckie meat than crispy skin..maybe cos' it wasn't carved very well? It was otherwise a refreshing change from the usual Peking duck! But if u're looking for the bestest Peking duck (wrap-wrap type)..no fight - go for Min Jiang@One-North instead!

Next up was the ubiquitous chawanmushi, but made indulgent with some luxurious additions - Steamed Silken Chawanmushi with Minced Duck Meat and Wild Mushrooms accompanied with Sliced Black Truffles! This was yummy! The truffle added a wonderful flavour to the otherwise plain eggy..and Daddy and Mummy were wondering where the duck meat was until they hit upon lots of minced meat hidden at the bottom of the small bowl! Like found treasure like that! Hehehe..

More duckie appetisers coming up..this time - soup! Superior Duck Bone Consomme with Duck Meat Tortellini, Lemongrass, Coriander and Chilli..this was a wonderfully aromatic and flavourful soup..a LITTLE bit like Tom Yam but definitely not as deadly! Hehehe..and Me liked the duck meat tortellini aka duck meat dumplings also! And with all the spices and herbs..this soup realli made Daddy and Me hungry for the rest of the duckie meal! But Me think Mummy didn't like this leh..can't remember why though!

The chawanmushi and soup was followed by a short sorbet break..Black Sesame Lemon Sorbet! Just by hearing the name u also know that it confirm sour one lor..Hehehe..and it was so Mummy didn't like it at all. Me thought it was OK onli lar..just a normal sorbet although it was served veryvery nicely! btw, the black sesame at the side cannot eat one leh..it's outside the sorbet and just a decor! But looks very nice hor! Daddy ended up eating Mummy's portion also..Hehehe..Daddy everything also like one lar! =p

And this was without a doubt the BESTEST BESTEST dish of the entire meal..Sauteed Carved Peking Duck with Pan Seared Foie Gras, Roasted Garlic and Green Asparagus! Just looking at the dish will tell u how indulgent it is! Hehehe..Daddy and Me loved this a LOT leh! The duck was cooked until very tender (although got quite a lot of bones lar)..but the best part was that it somehow complemented the foie gras very well! Think cos' of the difference in texture and tastes bah..and Jade was quite generous in their servings of foie gras..Yuuuuuuummmmy! I wonder what gravy it was..Me remember it being very good too!

And the obligatory carbo dish served at any Chinese meal was Pineapple Fragrant Rice with Duck Meat, Crab Meat and Nonya Chilli served in Crispy Money Bag..another hit! The rice was cooked to perfection..moist, but with a bite..plus the chilli was very good..PLUS the crispiness of the money bag = BESTEST! Hehehe..Mummy was realli full by this time liao..so she gave almost all of her rice to Daddy leh..who gobbled it up willingly and happily! Me think this is like one of the nicest fried rice which I've ever eaten lor =p But hor..I don't remember crab meat..although the dish is good enough as it is!

And lastly..Me wanna complain cos' Jade cheated! Their dessert got no duckie one..Hehehe. Instead, it was Chilled Almond Pudding, Gingko Nut, Snow Fungus and Papaya Puree..don't remember anything special about it..so it prob was nothing to shout about! Oh well..who needs dessert after the wonderful duckie meal? Hehehe..

So my conclusion from our duckie meal at Jade is hor..is that it is simply GREAT! Hehehe..not sure if Mummy would agree with Me lar..but that is definitely Daddy and Me's conclusion leh! The dishes were cooked well and were very flavourful..marrying all the different ingredients well..and there was some interesting twists to very common dishes like Peking duck and chawanmushi..and not forgetting the luxury ingredients like truffle and foie gras..all these combined to make it a very value-for-money duckie meal! Me would looooove to go back for another duckie meal..but then again..maybe we should try the mushroom one..or I think they have a seafood one also..sigh. So much food..so little meals, and so few calories to expend! =p

OrEo?

2009-04-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

There is this place called Whitebait & Kale..which Daddy have been saying tat he'll bring Mummy and me there to try for veryveryvery long liao..then hor..recentli he told us that it close down already =( So we no chance to go there and eat..but luckily hor..the person who open Whitebait & Kale opened a new eatery at Somerset there recently! So Daddy decided to bring Mummy and me there lor..especially since he's heard quite a lot of good stuff about the place!

He keep saying that the place is called Oreo lor..then after we got to the cafe itself hor..me then realised that it's called Oriole! hehehe..anyway..Oriole is located at this fairly new building at Somerset there called Pan Pacific Service Suites lar..it's right opposite the Singapore Power building and the Youth Park..so should be no problem getting there! but hor..the building looks very deserted lor..if not for the signs outside pointing to Oriole and another restaurant (Bedrock Grill & Bar)..u'll never know tat there's food inside leh!

The photos are all darkdark cos' we went there for dinner mah..the cafe itself is quite nicely done up..got some fancy lights at the ceiling with some comfy couches also..and it's darkdark so quite relaxing and chic..even got bar seats facing the bar as well as facing out..anyway..Daddy was thirsty and tired after all the shopping earlier so he ordered a glass of mocha milkshake to start off..but this was unfortunately not very nice cos' dun realli have either chocolate or coffee taste..more like milk lor..

Daddy heard from quite a lot of people tat the beer-battered Oriole fish & chips was good..so he decided to order it lor! since he likes fried food and french fries / chips! if u're looking for something value-for-money hor..this is definitely worth it cos' it comes with THREE big pieces of fish leh! this is the mostest i've seen when i eat fish & chips lor! the fish was fried until very crispy and it tasted very fresh inside..but Daddy had one BIG complain..which was that the chips were totally soggy! although there was some nice herby mix to go with the chips lar..but sooooooooooogggy lor! that sortof spoilt the dish for Daddy..since he's such a potato person =p

Mummy decided to be exciting a bit and ordered the braised beef cheeks tagliatelle with shallot oil..which turned out to be a realli good choice! got a few slices of beef cheeks which turned out to be veryvery tender..and then the pasta was yummy and tasty with the shallot oil base! pasta was also cooked until just right for Mummy! so this was gooooood! Daddy kept stealing Mummy's beef and pasta! hehehe..

And cos' Daddy and Mummy and me had a light lunch..so we also shared some spicy calamari lor! this was nice! =) usual, fried till crisp calamari + spicy flavour! me couldn't stop eating it!

But the sad thing about our visit to Oriole hor..was that Daddy forgot to order their coffee leh! The coffee here is supposed to be realli good cos' the barista is like the bestest barista in Singapore..always win a lot of awards one..so their coffee is rumoured to be very nice and will have nice decoration when they serve it one! hehehe..but forgot lar! oh well..hehehe..tat gives us another excuse to go there! and we'll definitely be back cos Oriole offers reasonably priced dishes with large portions, in a relaxing environment! and importantly for Daddy hor..the service here is very good also! people are friendly and helpful! hehehe..hope tat we'll go back soon to try the coffee and desserts! =)

aNoTheR daY in MeLaKa...mOrE FooD!

2009-03-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

Day Two in Melaka..more walking, more seeing, more food! hehehe..

Daddy and Mummy and me dropped by the Baba-Nyonya Heritage Museum..which is where Little Nyonya was filmed lor! hehehe..last time when Daddy and Mummy came here hor..practically had no people at all lor..but NOW hor..it's bursting with people leh! i tink 99% all Singaporeans leh! hehehe..Daddy and Mummy and me had to squeeze with 3 or 4 more groups of 20+ people to see the house leh! Daddy and Mummy say tat last time when they came hor..onli got 2 of them lor! but the traditional Peranakan decor, furniture, etc. in the house was realli nice!

This one is Hotel Puri..a shophouse-turned-hotel! very nice one leh! hehehe..actualli we wanted to stay here one..but no more rooms available liao..next time!

For lunch hor..Daddy brought Mummy and me to this famous Teochew restaurant in Melaka..along Jalan Hang Kasturi..called Teo Soon Loong Chan Restaurant lor! this is a realli interesting restaurant leh..inside is like a few tables onli..then the people are realli friendly and they seem to know almost everyone who go there to eat lor..then if u wanna order hor..one of the people will bring u to this counter with ice and lots of fresh seafood..and then intro the food lor..hehehe..and got LOTS of VSOPs around the restaurant lor! hehehe..

Cos' we had a biggie brekkie hor..Daddy and Mummy and me could onli order a few dishes..we had their oyster noodles which is supposed to be their signature..and it was SUPER gooooooood! me loved the thick and gooey gravy with the noodles..and got LOTS of biggie oysters inside leh! then me like the prawns also..although Mummy say tat they didn't taste super fresh lar..but me like the sweet sauce which it was cooked in! the uncle there intro one! =p this was a realli good meal man! next time me wanna come back here and have a FULL COMPLETE meal! with lots of oyster noodles! hehehe..

Then walkwalkwalk around..and for dinner..Daddy and Mummy and me went to the super-famous and super-long-queue Capitol Satay to have satay chelup lor! this is like Daddy's favouritest and dreamiest meal lor..cos' he loves satay sauce! hehehe..but we had to queue up for like 20 minutes or so even though we were there half an hour after opening..at like 5.30 pm lor! where got people eat so earli one! hehehe..anyway..after we got a table..we went to grab all the sticks of goodies and dunked them into the yummy sauce lor! Daddy loved the you tiao and the bean curd..cos' can SOAK up all the gravy! hehehe..but it tastes veryveryvery unhealthy leh! =p super delicious though..definitely cannot miss this lor!

And Daddy and Mummy confirm cannot go one day in Melaka without eating the fishy from Seri Nyonya lor..hehehe..so we ordered Ikan Goreng Cili Garam AND some mussels with some chilli in some spicy broth lor! fishy was of course good lar..and me loved the mussels too! actualli we no want rice..but the person gave us and we couldn't stop eating the rice with the spicy broth lor! hehehe..another good dish from Seri Nyonya! but me tink it's a limited time onli dish..so next time prob no more when we go back..so sad!

Then the next day go back Singapore liao lor...boooooooooooooooooooohoo!

YuMmy PeRaNaKaN FooD iN MeLaKa!

2009-03-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Dinnertime! me know that Melaka is famous for its Peranakan food..and according to Daddy and Mummy..they feel that yummy yummy Peranakan food can be enjoyed at Seri Nyonya Restaurant@Hotel Equatorial! The last time when we came to Melaka we ate here also..and Mummy was crazy over their Ikan Goreng Cili Garam, aka fried fish with chilli! So we were realli excited to come back here for dinner again lor! =)

And this is Seri Nyonya lor! the place still looks more or less the same..got Perankan stuff all over..except last time they got seats and tables on the floor..which was fun! but nowadays everytime is tables and chairs liao..when we sat down..Daddy was realli happi to see that the restaurant was still serving baskets of yummy peanuts before the meal..and also a veryvery delicious sambal chilli! hehehe..

We didn't have to decide what to order cos' our trip here actualli includes a free set dinner at Seri Nyonya (Daddy and Mummy were super happy to get this freebie leh! hehehe)..first up was a HUGE bowl of Sop Itik Tim (duck soup cooked with salted vegetables and sour plum)..the soup was quite tasty cos' it soaked in all the yummy goodness of the salted veggies and the sour plums..but there wasn't anything very fantastic about it also..maybe the onli complain was tat the duck had a lot of bones lar..not tat much meat to enjoy..but there was so much soup tat Daddy and Mummy and me couldn't finish it!

Of course..no Peranakan meal would be complete without Nyonya Chap Chai (mixed vegetables stir-fried in bean paste with black chinese mushrooms and beancurd skin)..and this was included in the set dinner as well! everything was cooked until tender and tasty..but like the soup..me didn't think tat there was anything extra superb about this! actualli hor..it tastes quite like the one which Ah Gong cooks! hehehe..

And this.........is the legendary Ikan Goreng Cili Garam (deep-fried fish fillet with spicy chilli paste)! And just as Mummy and Daddy remembered it..this was superbly delicious! hehehe..me could taste that the fish was realli fresh..and it was so tender and moist that it would just flake apart when u cut or bite into it..but this was contrasted with a very crispy outer layer..YUMMY! then the chilli was super good as well! more savoury than spicy..but with enough bite to pack a punch too! this is definitely the bestest dish here leh! hehehe..

Just when Daddy thought that the fishy would be the bestest thingie here..then he ate the Ayam Pongteh(braised chicken in sweet bean paste with Chinese black mushrooms and potatoes)! hehehe..actualli it's not THAT wonderful lar..but the gravy was realli tasty, especially with rice..and the chicken was very tender! Daddy practically drank up the gravy leh! hehehe..

Then we had a very ordinary dish of Telur Dadar Cinchaluk (egg omelette with pickled krill and onions)..actualli just tasted like salty egg omelette with onions lar..so we didn't finish it up..

And lastly..a small bowl of quite-a-lot-of-ice-and-nothing-much-else chendol for dessert..hehehe..

Coming back to Seri Nyonya after a few years hor..Daddy and Mummy say tat the food was not realli as amazing as they remembered it be liao lar..hehehe..EXCEPT for the fishy and the chicken lar..which were still wonderful and delicious..but if you happen to be staying in the hotel or looking for a bit more "atas" Peranakan food in Melaka (rather than the stalls along Jonker St) hor..then me tink that Seri Nyonya is a quite good place to go! Daddy nearli bought their cookbook also..but he flip through and nearly fainted when he saw the number of ingredients needed for each dish..hehehe..he should have bought for Ah Gong lar! =p

And of course..Mummy couldn't resist da-paoing more Ikan Goreng Cili Garam back to the room to eat! hehehehehehehhee...

DaDDy & MuMMy & aH Pi iN MeLaKa!

2009-03-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Daddy & Mummy & me took a short trip to Melaka last week for a short getaway..and of course..also to have lots of the Melakan yummies! Hehehe..the last time we went there was like 5 years ago..but we had visited most of the tourist attractions then..so this time..it was primarily about FOOD and relaxing! =)

The most famoustest landmark in Melaka..Christ Church! Daddy and Mummy and me went there for service on Sunday leh! me tink it's the oldest church in Southeast Asia or something.. =p

Daddy said tat he wanted to have a lot of durians during this trip to Melaka..cos' he quite long never eat durian liao..so one of the first thingies which we had in Melaka in this 3D Durian..or 3-Dimensional Durian! me have no idea why it's called 3-Dimensional lar..hehehe..but basicalli it's durian pulp in a durian-liquid-like-pudding..in other words, durian galore! it's from this shop called eHa which is very near the Cheng Ho museum..Daddy and Mummy tried it before the last time we came so this time eat again lor! off to a good start! =)

Then Daddy is a HUGE Old Town fan lor..so he was super excited when he say an Old Town outlet in Melaka! hehehe..inside looks just like the Singapore one..and most of the food and drinks offering also the same..but it's muchmuch cheaper here! the legendary rendang chicken rice costs around $8 in Singapore i tink..but here it's only S$5! But then hor..the chicken was smaller lar..but the sambal chilli was still as yummmmmmy!

Then after the durian AND Old Town hor..Mummy and Daddy and me were just walking along the streets..when we saw Restoran Farmosa Chicken Rice Ball! we ate from this restaurant before the last time we were in Melaka..but the branch at Jonker St..but can't remember whether nice anot..so we decided to try again lor! the chicken rice balls were not very nice leh..a bit too dry..and the char siew was even worse..0% fat lor..hehehe..but the roasted chicken was good! skin very crispy and the sauce which they drizzle over it was good also! we all realli very greedy hor! just keep eating leh! all this food was like within 1 hour of each other..and it was already 4+pm..going to be time for dinner soon! hehehehehe..

Walkwalkwalk..the river looks so nice by night! but no time to rest..on to......DINNER! hehehe..

FoUr...

2009-03-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Honey-biscuit-crazy! Four honey biscuits for brekkie! Hehehe...

BaCk@tHe cLiFF (aGaiN)...

2009-03-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

9th March = Mummy and Daddy's Proposal Anniversary! past 2 years hor..Daddy and Mummy have been at The Cliff on this day..2007 is cos' it's the actual day that Daddy proposed to Mummy..and 2008 is cos' it's the 1st Proposal Anniversary..then 2009 hor..is cos' it's the 2nd Proposal Anniversary lor! hehehe..

The Cliff is located at The Sentosa Resort & Spa in Sentosa..the restaurant is perched on a cliff overlooking the South China Sea..then all the seats are in the open one cos' got gentle sea breeze..actualli it was raining today so it was actually very chilly! the whole place is very nice..got a show kitchen, cascading waterfall..and the tables and seats are on this platform built over the jungle! there are also some very nice and comfy couches on a veranda area which overlooks the jungle..those were the seats which Daddy and Mummy aim for lor! and since we were there realli earli..on the dot at 6.30pm..we managed to get the seats lor! yeah!

Then we looked through the menu and placed our orders..after which came the complimentary bread! after 2 years..the bread here still the same..got an offering of 3 options - ciabatta, baguette and multi-grain; and STILL, after 2 years, Mummy still like the baguette (which is totally soft and crispy, not hardhard one) and Daddy still likes the ciabatta (crispy and light)! But the bread is plain bread lar..no herby taste or anything. The Cliff is quite special in that they serve olive oil with curry powder to go with the bread..but Daddy no likes that and he always asks for the French Smoked Butter! this butter is super delicious and has the smokey taste of bacon leh! realli! there actualli used to be a seaweed butter one but according to The Cliff person..now no more liao cos' the smoked one is more popular..then the butter is very expensive so they decided to stock up on one type onli! Daddy even tried to ask the person whether they got sell the butter anot..but no have lar! =p Daddy also ordered a cup of mocha cos' he was feeling rather cold..and just for the record..the mocha is nice! hehehe..

While we were still enjoying our bread..out came our "mouth-amuser", or amuse bouche! =p this was sea-bass broth with prawns and farfalle..but more importantly..it was nice! hehehe..basically it was all down to the very good soup! very light yet delicious..this realli geared me up for the rest of the meal!

Daddy and Mummy and me ordered 2.5 appetisers to share..first up was the Tasting of Oysters, which we had also ordered in the past 2 years! so boring one hor! hehehe..but it also means tat it is good lar! we had 2 each of oyster baked with forest mushroom friscasse and foie gras hollandaise and oyster with grilled bacon wrapped with baby spinach and crab..and they were simply wonderful! the hollandaise sauce was creamy and delicious..especially with the mushrooms..and the oysters tasted realli fresh too! then the bacon one was also nice cos' it gave a more salty and meaty taste to the oyster..super delicious! i tink we will definitely order this when we come back here next year! hehehe..

Cos' Mummy was in the oyster mood..we also order two fresh shucked oysters lor! this is a 0.5 appetiser lor! hehehe..there were quite a lot of varieties of oysters on the menu to choose from..me can't remember the name of the oyster we had liao..me onli know tat it was from France and it is supposed to have a slightly sweet buttery taste leh! hehehe..so special hor! although the oysters were not like huge..they were realli very good leh! the oysters were just so fresh and succulent! it was REALLI like kissing the sea lor! and Daddy says tat there WAS a this slight sweetish aftertaste..dunno real anot! hehehe..Daddy and Mummy say tat next time they come..they'll juz bia lots of the oysters! hehehe..

Then the other appetiser which we had was Shellfish Consomme; Lobster Ravioli, Basil, Tomato and Asparagus! this was good also..the consomme was light but delivered a punch in terms of flavour..got a strong but nice seafoodish taste to it..and it wasn't oily at all! then the lobster ravioli was the bestest lor..al dente..and inside was just bursting full of lobster meat leh! take a bite of the ravioli..then dip it into the consomme..and then bite into it as the soup and lobster bursts in ur mouth! hehehe..gooooood!

By then..the sun had set liao..darkdark and more romantic! but more difficult to take photos also! hehehe..

Time for the main courses! Mummy ordered the SAME dish which she had in the past 2 years..Oven Baked Black Cod; Veloute of Leeks, Rattle Potato and Bacon Ragout, Potato Lattice! the fishy is the same lar..only the accompanying stuff change! and as in the past 2 years..the cod was great! baked to perfection..tender, moist and fresh..and the skin was slightly crispy also! but what Daddy realli loved about it (yup, he stole a lot from Mummy!) was the ragout! it was like a cream of potato with slices of potato inside..he said tat it was realli delicious! but Mummy no like potatoes mah..so she gave all to greedy Daddy..

Daddy was a weirdo lar..cos' he come here but never eat the seafood..instead he had Veal "Osso Bucco"; Barley Risotto with Saffron, "Gremolata" and Bone Marrow Emulsion..and see lar! he made the wrong choice lor..cos' this wasn't tat nice..the veal was tasty lar but it wasn't exactly veryvery tender..the barley risotto was quite interesting but Daddy couldn't realli taste the saffron..then the bone marrow emulsion was served in an interesting hollow plastic container (like a bone marrow liddat) but the taste was too strong and even slightly sourish! hmmmm..i tink better stick to fishies next time at The Cliff lar..oh well!

Mummy remember tat for the past 2 times..she's been realli full by the time she reached dessert..hehehe..tink cos' she bia the bread lar..but Daddy dun care her and ordered a dessert for two to share! Chocolate Discovery; The "6-Time" Chocolate Experience For Two..featuring (1) "Desire" - jivara milk chocolate mousse with vanilla raspberry creme brulee, nougatine of pure cocoa beans, (2) Warm chocolate mousse of guanaja 70% with hazelnut praline ice cream, (3) Sorbet of manjari 64% with apricot compote, (4) and (5) "Macaroon(s) absolute chocolate", and (6) Moellieux of madirofolo 62% with vanilla ice cream! sounds sinful but delicious right? hehehe..which is why Daddy couldn't resist it! aiyar..basicalli..everything was good cos' all the ingredients and components complemented each other very well..sour with sweet..crunchy with soft..but Daddy's favouritest was (in his own terms) the warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream lor! hehehe..but this was definitely a wonderful way to end of our meal here!

As always..the service at The Cliff was impeccable - they'll keep helping u adjust ur chair, ask if u're ok, top up water, offer bread etc. etc..then when their credit card machine was spoilt and they also explained to Daddy even though we had not waited for very long..oh yar! and we also got 2 free raspberry macaroons as a gift..which Daddy and Mummy gobbled up the moment the person gave it lar..hehehe..so all in all..it was another realli nice and romantic dinner at The Cliff! Daddy and Mummy enjoyed spending some time off their worries and talking to each other..me enjoyed the view while they talked..so nice and relaxing! but hor..the only "problem" is that the experience does not come cheap lar..the food here is expensive but I guess u get wat u pay for! aiyar..once a year nevermind lar! =p

cHiLLi PaDi...

2009-02-28T02:45:00.001-08:00

Peranakan fever is still in town!

Chilli Padi, opposite Bugis - cheap Peranakan buffet, limited spread, slightly over-oily food, very noisy place, but can eat until very full! =)

MoRe hoMe cOOkiNg!

2009-02-28T02:43:00.000-08:00

In line with Daddy's aim of cooking at least once a week..here is wat we whipped up last Saturday! =)

Once again..from Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food..baked salmon with dill butter! the salmon was cooked until very nice and tender..but once again..the herby taste was too strong for me!

We also tried to pan-fry some scallops..but they turned out to be quite tough and not very tasty..tink muz try some other recipes with the scallops next time!

We also bought tamago and unagi to put together our own unagi/tamago sandwich..hehehe..this one always have at those Japanese restaurants one..and they'll be the "red plate items", i.e. expensive! we had sooooo many tat we couldn't finish up in the end!

Actualli we also prepared some instant soba which we bought from Bangkok longlong ago..but it turned out to taste realli HORRIBLE..

So we settled instead for this legendary Nong Shim instant noodle which Mummy has been talking about for veryveryvery long liao! apparently it's supposed to be realli good lor..some korean brand lor..and it was realli quite tasty and spicy! hehehe..

More cooking adventures sooooon! =)

nYDc?

2009-02-28T02:40:00.000-08:00

Hmmm..wat does NYDC stand for huh? me no know leh..but me do know tat NYDC is one of those cafes which a lot of young people always talk about and go to..especially for their cakes and mudpies..but it's actualli one of the places which Mummy and Daddy dun go very often even though Daddy is a Dessert Dinosaur..cos' Daddy say tat their sweets are not tat nice..too over-rated liao..but last weekend hor..we ended up going there twice on Saturday and Sunday leh! hehehe..

On Saturday..Mummy and Daddy and me went to the NYDC at Suntec for lunch..Daddy didn't want to eat too much..so he had this dessert combo called Solid Gold..which is basically Goldmine cheesecake (cheesecake with a layer of chocolate on top) with chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate sauce! super sinful hor! check out the chocolate sauce oooooozing over the cake! hehehe..but Daddy quite liked it..especially with a huge mug of iced hazelnut elephanccino!

Mummy usualli juz eats the mushroom ham oven-baked pasta..but cos' there were some new items on NYDC's menu..so she decided to try this garlic prawn pasta thingie lor! it was not bad..but there didn't seem to be enough of the garlic cream sauce..so for the parts without it..it taste very bland! Mummy had to bia a lot of parmesan cheese to add more taste to the pasta..got quite a lot of prawns though!

Then on Sunday hor..Daddy and Mummy and Uncle Fan Jun and me went to the NYDC at Bugis to hangout after lunch..then Mummy had a yummy and big piece of Oreo cheesecake..Daddy had a Cookie Monster Mudpie which wasn't very nice..Uncle Fan Jun had a Band Aid Mudpie which was nicer, with a slight alcoholic taste..and we all also shared a yummy plate of Mushroom Monsters..which is mushrooms with cream sauce and ham! AND this was AFTER lunch leh..hehehe..they very greedy hor!

THIS was lunch..at the Crystal Jade Cafe along Liang Seah Street..the food here is OK onli lar..but muz try this pork floss tofu thingie (the one on the extreme right)..very tasty and yummy! the rest was ok onli..DON'T try their PBCMTT! not nice.. =(

HaPPy VaLenTine'S DaY DiNNeR@BoNTa!

2009-02-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

And for dinner on Valentine's Day / Ah Pi's birthday..Daddy and Mummy and me went to Bonta@UE Square to have a romantic dinner! hehehe..the last time Daddy came here with his work people..and he thought tat the food was very good..especially the cheese bread..so he decided to bring Mummy here lor! but cos' it was quite late liao..so very dark..so can't realli see the food! =( me will just describe the food briefly according to the menu lor!

This is the legendary cheese bread from Bonta..looks ordinary? when u break into it hor..it's stuffed with cheese and walnuts one leh! me love it lotslots! Daddy too! this is actualli one of the reaons why he always want to come to Bonta and eat leh!

Mediterranean Sea Bass - Tiger Prawn Roll, servied with basil and lemon dressing..this was a cold appetiser and it was nice! the fish and prawns were very fresh..and they went well together!

Homemade Forest Mushrooms Ravioli, in a black truffle sauce..the aroma and taste of black truffles were unmistakably delicious..but me thought that the ravioli was a bit undercooked! still a bit hard..

For mains..Daddy had Grilled Kurobuta Pork Loin, with caramelised shallot, white balsamic - honey mustard dressing and watercress..the pork was tasty but a bit too tough..

Mummy had Pan Roasted Wild Scottish Salmon Medallion, served with clams and tomato salsa..which was quite good! the fish was fresh and not too dry..and it went well with the strong taste of tomato salsa..

Chocolate Crunchy Hazelnut Cake, served with oranges and caramel sauce..this was indulgently chocolatey and tasty! Daddy loved it, Mummy not so much so she gave most of hers to Daddy and me! hehehe..

Overall..the meal at Bonta wasn't that fantastic..definitely not as nice as the previous time that Daddy came lar..but me tink tat it could be because it was Valentine's Day mah..so lots of people so mass-cooking affect the quality of the food..in fact..Daddy and Mummy and me had to wait more than 30 minutes for them to serve the dessert leh! oh well..but the place was quite nice and romantic lar..and me loved the bread too! hehehe..but dun tink we'll be back here in a jiffy......

HaPPy VaLenTiNe'S DaY LuNcH!

2009-02-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

14th February = Valentine's Day..but MORE IMPORTANTLY..it's my birthday too! hehehe..

My birthday party..with my friends and my pressies! hehehe..

Then cos' Mummy had school on Saturday morning..so me and Daddy decided to prepare lunch to surprise her when she came home lor! here's me helping Daddy to set the table while he prepared the food! hehehe..and this is what we had for lunch!

Appetiser - Veal wrapped with bacon, baked on a skewer. This was delicious! Daddy practically licked up the yummy goodness dripping from the baked veal / bacon! hehehe..and the veal was quite soft and tender also!

Main Course - Baked cod fillet with butter sauce, served with spicy potato wedges! the cod was good lar..melt-in-the-mouth texture and very fresh..but me thought that the butter sauce had too much parsley liao! so tasted very herbish..hehehe..

Dessert - Chocolate Cheese Brownie from Da Paolo's! cos' Daddy didn't have enough time to prepare dessert..hehehe..actualli i tink he just lazy lar! but this was nice too! me love allllll the yummy desserts from Da Paolo's..especially their crumbles and scones!

And some tea to end off a delicious lunch =)

Happy Valentine's Day Mummy!

tHe MoSt uN-huMbLe LaKsA aNd CaRRot CaKe...

2009-02-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

As Part One of our Valentine's Day / Ah Pi's Birthday Celebration, Daddy and Mummy and me headed off to Esplanade on 13 Feb to have a relaxing evening out! apart from the Cookie Museum..one of our favouritest places to eat at Esplanade is Space@My Humble House! this restaurant beside the even more un-humble My Humble House serves local favourites with a twist..and Daddy and Mummy and me tink tat it twist until very yummy! hehehe..

Daddy tinks that this is one of the bestest laksa which he has ever eaten..so he'll eat it everytime he comes here! and it's so good that we will slurp up every single drop of the gravy leh! the gravy is not too milky..but it's still very tasty and flavourful! then inside the laksa got lots of indulgent stuff leh..like codfish, oyster, biggie prawns and lots more! super yummmmmmy!

And this is another MUST-order everytime we come to Space@My Humble House..the fried raddish cake! me love this too..cos' the raddish cake is like slightly moist but veryvery soft and slightly chewy! very tasty too! and like the laksa..this comes with indulgent additions of prawn, scallop, crab meat etc.! even Taiwan Ah Hong agree tat this is the bestest carrot cake in Singapore leh!

Then now Space@My Humble House also got serve a small menu of tidbits..which is like those small dishes lar..so we tried the fried prawns with honey mayonnaise cos' we realli loved the wasabi mayo prawns which we ordered from My Humble House the last time! but these prawns were not so nice..they were actualli quite small and the dressing was very normal onli..dun tink we'll try this the next time!

So next time u drop by Esplanade hor..remember to drop by Space@My Humble House to try the yummies leh! next time me wanna try the Mama Leong Chicken Rice..hehehe..dunno whether got anything special about it anot! the food here is good..not too expensive..and the place quite nice also..affordable local comfort food - what else would u want from a meal? =p

iT's oFFiCiaL - tHiS iS thE bEsTesT PBCMTT iN SinGaPorE!

2009-02-20T21:05:00.001-08:00

Ever in search of the best PBCMTT (Peanut-Butter-Condensed-Milk Thick Toast) in Singapore..Daddy is quite sure that he has found the bestest one! he always thought tat it was Tong Shui's..until he re-stumbled upon this the other day when he went out with Uncle Fan Jun, Uncle Cixian and Mummy for supper......the PBCMTT from Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe!

This was not the supper day lar..but the week after..when Daddy immediately forced Mummy and me to go back to Xin Wang to have lunch, i.e. have the PBCMTT! hehehe..here is some of the other food which we tried but were not very good - the fried prawn paste chicken, fried red bean pancake and french toast! tink generally their fried stuff not very nice..but the worstest of the worstest was the french toast! it has the smelly oil smell..and when u bite into it hor..it feels like u're biting into bread soaked in oil leh! veryveryvery gross! Mummy and Daddy had a bite each..then we couldn't bring ourselves to continue liao!

But in stark contrast..this is the bestest of the bestest PBCMTT in Singapore! just check out how THICK and RICH and GENEROUS the peanut butter is..juz oozing down the toast leh! hehehe..this is good enough to be a meal on its own! yummmmmmmmmmmmmy! this thrashes any other PBCMTT..even Tong Shui's..anytime man! this is (according to Daddy), officially, the BESTEST! =p

AnD iT's GoNe aGaiN...

2009-02-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

Anyone interested in starting a petition for McDonald's to keep their twister fries as a permanent item on their menu? hehehe...

oUr LateST cRaZe - iChiBan boShi!

2009-02-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

One of Daddy and Mummy's fave hangout places is Great World City..not tat there is much to shop or see there lar..but cos' it is one of the few places which does not get TOO crowded over the weekends..plus got a Cold Storage and Da Paolo's Gastronomia there..so Daddy can do his foodie shopping..so we always go Great World lor!

One of the restaurants at Great World which seem to be perpetually crowded is this Japanese place at Basement One..Ichiban Boshi..if u go there anytime during meal-times hor..confirm got a long queue of people waiting outside the restaurant one leh! Daddy and Mummy and me never ate there before..until recently when we decided to try lor! and guess wat! since then hor..we've gone back there a few times liao leh cos' the food is realli not bad! here's wat we had on our first visit there..during the CNY period!

Slurp! in case u've forgotten wat the place is called..hehehe..apparently there are quite a lot of branches throughout Singapore..and not all are Ichiban BOSHI! some is called Ichiban-Sushi..not sure what the difference is, though!

Some of the more "mundane" stuff which we had when we first visited the restaurant..sashimi was quite fresh..sushi was not bad..chawanmushi was normal..and the fried salmon skin was onli half the price of that in Sushi Tei leh! but not as nice lar..hehehe..taste more like fried batter!

Since it was CNY..Daddy and Mummy decided to order a Yu Sheng platter to lo-hei lor! hehehe..Daddy thought that this was very good! the manymany veggies and stuff inside were nice..and the salmon was realli fresh too! but Daddy is bias lar..he likes yu sheng anyway one! Mummy was more objective..she didn't realli like this cos' couldn't realli taste the salmon once it was all mixed up in the sauces and veggies..she rather eat the nice salmon sashimi by itself!

And we loved this! can't rem the exact name of the dish..but it's this pan-seared salmon thingie..basically i tink they just pan-seared the edges of the salmon sashimi and put it with some sauce lar..but it was realli nice and fresh and goooood! Mummy super love this leh!

Then for the other times we visited Ichiban Boshi hor..some of the stuff which we had and were yummy was this eggy with chicken cutlet thingie and the tempura ice cream..all very nice! and still got a lot of those set menu stuff which we haven't tried yet but which look realli good..hehehe..like the soba / tempura set, sukiyaki set etc..next time lor!

But the best of all hor..is the free Wheel of Fortune thingie here! but muz spend a lot lar..then u can get to collect chops on a card and eventualli a free spin on the wheel! hehehe..Mummy and Daddy still have some time to go before they complete their card..but they've been practising on the wheel! so fun! hehehe..me wanna quickquick fin the card so tat we can spin the wheel! yay! maybe we should go there this week! =p

OoooooooSters!

2009-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for disappearing for so long! Daddy and Mummy have been busy with their work recently..then no one got time to help me upload photos etc...so no chance to update lor! onli recently when Daddy went for ICT hor..then more free whenever he comes back..hehehe..cos' he escape work mah..then can upload the photos which we took recently lor! here's one of many to come!

i tink around last month hor..Mummy and Daddy and me went to Far East Square / China Square there to have our fave Don's Pie lor..but cos' Daddy was there earli..so he went to walk around..then he saw this Belgian place called Oosters! it was realli crowded with lots of people..and when Daddy saw the menu..he was quite excited cos' they have lots of different types of mussels! then Daddy tell Mummy..and Mummy even more love mussels..so we ended up there for dinner lor! hehehe..

Of course..come here must eat the mussels lor! Daddy and Mummy and me shared 500g of Moules Tom Yam (the classic Thai spicy soup with lemongrass)..actualli we wanted to order 1kg but scared too much..hehehe..the mussels were realli good! very fat, tender and tasty..and very fresh too! Mummy says that the mussels here are even fatter than the ones at Leon De Bruxelles in Paris leh..and definitely better than the ones from Brussel Sprouts! me agree!

Served with fries..which are realli good too! crispy and potatoey..but not too starchy! yummmmmy! this was Daddy's fave! hehehe..btw wat's the difference between fries and frites? just language ar? =p

Then apart from the mussels hor..Daddy and Mummy and me also ordered a plate of Vol-au-vent (premium chunks of chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce, served in an overstuffed puff pastry shell) to share..basicalli this was like Don's Pie lar..hehehe..but with a mushroom sauce..but the chicken was a bit too dry for me..although the pastry was yummy and crispy and buttery! but me still tink tat Don's Pie is better! hehehe..

Tink next time if me come here again hor..me will just whack the mussels! hehehe..me tink they should be the bestest thing here lar..especially since almost everybody is like having the mussels! Oosters tends to get rather crowded by 7plus..so if u no reservation hor..then might be quite hard to get a table! it's like filled with all the office people gathering here to chill out and have dinner! next time if wanna have mussels..me know where to go! =)

jUsT sOme SuShi tEi...

2009-01-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

New discovery - Sushi Tei's salmon sashimi is reallirealli good! very soft and melt-in-the-mouth..and tastes reallirealli fresh also! me never knew their sashimi was so good leh! hehehe..and of course..me love their fried salmon skin also! when Daddy and Mummy and me went there on Sunday..we had two plates before our orders even came! hehehe..Mummy had a yakiniku don (which she thought would juz be like yoshinoya but was muchmuch nicer..the gravy was good and the beef tender and tasty) and Daddy had a udon with eggy (very normal..but for some reason..Daddy loves udon! hehehe)..

But dun order the beef with golden mushrooms! everything turns out to be realli chewy..hehehe..have to keep chewing and chewing..and the sauce is quite gelat! Daddy and Mummy even tried to force each other to have the last piece! hehehe..