For The Love of Food - Indulge

欣葉台菜 Shinyeh Taiwanese Cuisine ... I wouldn't miss it when I'm in Taipei, Taipei - Taiwan

2012-01-24T22:40:00.000+08:00

Every time that we visit Taipei, we just felt that something's missing if we didn't eat at Shinyeh. Even though they are popular with tourists nowadays, their restaurants are still thronging with locals. Their magical touches to simple Taiwanese home cooked dishes never fail to impress me. Shinyeh is a Taiwanese Restaurant that serves traditional Taiwanese dishes with standards that couldn't be found elsewhere. Their remarkably delicious yet simple dishes are by no means coincidental. Mrs Lee Xiu Ying, Shinyeh's lady boss, manage the restaurant business by insisting on innovating, starting with their suppliers and to the way they cook specific traditional Taiwanese dishes. Although, dishes in Shinyeh looked simple but once you taste it, you'll not dispute that they can call the dishes their own.

There are many branches but we always end up visiting the Zhong Xiao branch, not by coincidence, but because it's near the shopping belt of Hsin Yi district and therefore, always near to HY's choice of hotel. This branch is on the 2nd floor and also one of the favorite of Ade's. Ade is Eat Eat Eat group's 'Taipei Tong', Taipei expert as she was posted to Taipei to work for 2 years and knew the place inside out.

One cannot leave Shinyeh without trying their 地瓜粥 Sweet Potato Porridge. This is usually our staple to go with the rest of the dishes that we order. In Taipei, the sweet potato was exceptionally sweet, soft and yet not mushy. All this made possible with fresh local Taiwanese produce.

金瓜米粉 Fried Vermicelli with Pumpkin is another carbo dish that would not mind loading. Although it's stir fried, it still taste light and not a sign of greasiness. The bits of sweet pumpkin made this dish unique. It was only HY and me eating and we were arguing about us not enjoying the rest of the dishes if we have too much carbo, porridge and this plate of fried vermicelli. In the end, it just wasn't a problem at all. The camel in me came through .....

正宗菜蒲蛋 Fried Egg with Dried Turnip. This is just perfectly browned omelette with home made dried turnip. I can have this over and over again with their porridge. A little greasy but that why it goes very well with the porridge that takes away the greasiness.

煎豬肝 Wok Seared Pork Liver with Coriander. When we were eating at Shinyeh's Mitsukoshi branch and Ade saw my Facebook post, she said 'You didn't try my favorite?'. So this was it. Ade's favorite and also what our gynae prescribe for HY. Our cool gynae asked HY to take more iron rich food, like pork liver, as she was diagnosed to be slightly anaemic. When I ask out of queasiness whether it's OK for pregnant ladies to take the perfectly cooked pork liver, which is half cooked, he shot back at me, "Overcooked Pork Liver won't taste nice anymore.", and stop short at that. Sorry I digressed, but the pork liver at Shinyeh would be a pork liver fan's fantasy. Big slices, tender, and yummy. Portion was generous. We were OD-ed with this as we like pork liver but there was simply too much for 2 person.

五香雞卷 Deep Fried Pork Roulade with Coriander. The roulade had chunks of meat rather than minced meat that my mum and aunties cooked them. It was good but I don't think anyone one I ate so far beats my 2nd Aunty's fried pork roulade. I want to learn from her but don't know when that will happen.

清炒空心菜 Stir Fried Kang Kong. We ordered Kang Kong to be simply stir fried. It was refreshing.

手打杏仁豆腐 Sweetened Almond Jelly with Peach in Syrup. This looked like the normal almond jelly that we have here but don't be fooled. The almond jelly had the texture of mochi unlike the typical ones we see here in Singapore which are jelly base. The mochi texture gave it a springy bite. HY loved this. I bought the recipe book from Shinyeh but I still fail to get a good texture and it was really tough to prepare this jelly. The Shinyeh in Singapore has this dessert on the menu as well but I have not try it yet. Wonder how it compares to this one.

Complimentary peanut coated mochi is the standard after meal dessert.

台北市忠孝東路4段112號2樓
No. 112 Zhong Xiao East Road Section 4, 2nd Floor
Taipei, Taiwan
Tel : 02 2752 9299

Shinyeh Website

Toby's Estate Cafe ... Another Pit Stop for Refuelling

2012-01-21T22:16:00.000+08:00

I'm trying to space it out a bit and not get too many of my cafe entries clouted together else it expose my weakness to everyone. Caffeine calms my nerves and prevents me from biting the heads off everyone like I got up on the wrong side of my bed in the morning. HY have been with me for more than 10 years and she knew better not to start any conversation before I get major fueling of coffee every morning. So when so many indie cafes started to sprout out around the island, both of us are happy. For one, I have many pit stops to enjoy good coffee and to her more choices for me to 'refuel' when she senses me transforming into 'Mr Hyde'. Another good pit stop for me is definitely ... Toby's Estate.

Toby's Estate is a cafe started by Australian Toby Smith from his passion for coffee which see roots in late 1990s where he breathe coffee in the Brazilian, Guatemalan and Colombian plantations. As Asia starts to boom in this bleak global climate, the influx of Europeans and Americans coupled with the global exposure of Asians make a conducive climate to start specialty coffee in the region, and more so, in Singapore. Toby's Estate Singapore is nestled among one of the rejuvenated warehouse, now part of a luxury residential condominium, Robertson Blue, and with the best facing, the Singapore River. It's a choice location and a favorite of mine if I wanted to start a cafe myself. The cafe is along the Singapore River along Robertson Quay, away from the main bustle yet easily accessible with a short stroll.

HY and I were most impressed by the expense of the space inside and really liked this long communal wooden table that is centre piece of the cafe.

You'll certainly wanna bask in the aroma when this roaster at the far end is working the beans.

Follow Toby's Passion on his Coffee Trails.

It's these single origins that make things interesting for coffee drinking.

Espresso brewing behind this pressured contraption.

HY's Green Apple Juice and the Orange Cream Tart that we shared.

The tart base was more like a bread, cored at the centre for topping with the citrus cream.

My Indian Monsoon Malabar was brewed with the Chemex.
It had a strong aroma and a sweet after taste.

The apparatus available for your enjoyment. Let the 'Alchemists' behind the coffee bar indulge you and show you the gadgets.

The retort used to support the dripper makes it looks like a science lab.

Some of the coffee filters and apparatus on sale in Toby's Estate.

There can be some corner for some 'alone' time in the cafe.

Some of the fresh roasts are sold over the counter.
Go grab them before it'd gone. Some coffee for you?

8 Rodyk Street #01-03/04

Singapore

Tel : +65 66367629

Opening Hours:

Daily 7.30am~6pm

Toby's Estate Singapore Website

Breakfast at 寶和餐室 Poh Ho Restaurant @ Crane Road

2012-01-15T12:17:00.002+08:00

There's nothing happier than a good breakfast to start the day and we found one in Poh Ho Restaurant. Poh Ho Restaurant is actually an old style coffee shop in the Joo Chiat area, just one street away from the popular Joo Chiat Prawn Noodles. The coffee shop is packed especially on weekend mornings and parking can be a real headache.

Wall tiles laid to about 1/3 height of the walls, small mosaic tiles for the floor, white ceiling fans that was originally white, beer vendors calendars, a round wall clock. So old style right!

A place to 'la kopi' stir coffee and relax.

There's yummy Wan Ton Mee from 福泰面家 Hock Thye Noodle House (a stall in the coffee shop) ....

... with delicious minced pork wan ton that also has crunchy water chest nut.

The coffee shop also has a popular Roti Prata Stall. Didn't get to eat a good Roti Prata for a while and prata served here was satisfying. They cook it the way I like it best. Crispy on the outside, a bit more charred and chewy on the inside. That of course need a long wait. It was about 30 minutes wait for ....

... my 2 plain roti pratas

... and Telor Bawang Roti Prata, Roti Prata with egg and onions.

The fish curry was good with the roti prata.

HY only eat plain Roti Prata dipped in sugar since she was a kid (She's still one at heart).

Feel 'Eng Ah'. Go eat at 榮高 Eng's Char Siew Wan Ton Mee @ Dunman Food Centre

2012-01-14T19:00:00.000+08:00

'Eng Ah' is a local colloqial in the Hokkien dialect that means 'You have plenty of time to spare.' Last Thursday evening, I was a bit 'Eng' and obliged HY to queue for Eng's Char Siew Wan Ton Mee at Dunman Food Centre. When I was there, the uncle told me that the wait was 30 mins 'You want or not?' So I waited for a takeaway. I ordered the dried version to try the splash of orangey red chili sauce. The take away from Eng's Wan Ton Mee for me was their springy noodles and their savory minced meat wan tons. Anyone with a high threshold for hot and spicy stuff, ask for an extra splash of the chilli. Hiam Hiam (Hokkien) .... Hot! Hot!

Eng's stall didn't have a visible queue but with almost all tables within visible sight were with their wan ton noodles.

272 Onan Road

#B1-02 Dunman Road Food Centre

Singapore

Closed on Mondays

A Chinoiserie Season at The Halia @ The Halia Restaurant

2012-01-14T11:26:00.000+08:00

The last time I visited the Halia restaurant was my birthday in year 2008. I recalled HY bringing me to this ulu part of the Botanic Gardens. We parked our car at the coach parking along Tyersall Avenue the last time (parking at the coach parking bays is alright after 6pm), just like I did this time. Follow the path that starts with a sign that reads 'Halia Restaurant', you'll pass the lush green foliage of the Botanic Gardens, a man-made waterfall and be right in front of the restaurant in less than 5 minutes. There's something magical about the Singapore Botanic Gardens, at least to me. It was in the evening, the short stroll with HY from the car park to the restaurant felt so romantic. This time I was back alone, retracing the same path to the Halia Restaurant for an invitation to a preview of their seasonal menu for Chinese New Year, "A Chinoiserie Season at The Halia"

The preview menu was so nicely presented to us like an opened Chinese scroll.

At the helm of the Halia Restaurant's kitchen is Chef de Cuisine Reynaldo Arriola who brings with him experiences of stints in France and Singapore which he aptly applies to his European creations with Asian touches. At this preview, these European Asian creations were presented to us in a special menu to celebrate the Chinese New Year festive season. This special menu will only be available for lunch and dinner from 18th January ~ 7th February 2012.

Appetizers

Gold (S$38) - Foie gras, miso, seaweed, miso and spring roll with piquillos sauce
Th spring rolls are a representation of gold bars and symbolises wealth. Befitting the symbol of wealth is the use of a rich ingredient, foie gras. The spring roll can be a little greasy but it was really delicious. It went well with the spicy piquillos sauce. We asked for second serving of these gold bars.

Prosperity (S$38) - Carpaccio of ocean trout, carrot, golden sultanas, Chinese leek with pomelo and pamplemousse, black moss, glass noodle, black & white sesame seed and green lime juice, orange plum sauce, pickled ginger.

Here's my share of Prosperity being tossed up and ready to be eaten. This version of carpaccio was nicely pieced up together to create a single portion of 'Yu Sheng', a dish that we Chinese in Singapore eat during the Chinese New Year period. In the typical 'Yu Sheng' we toss for wealth and prosperity with a huddle of family and friends. This version, I get to toss it on my own, for myself. I enjoy this more than the traditional Yu Sheng as it had the sweet and sour taste like Yu Sheng but taste cleaner and sublime. The contrasting taste of the savory ocean trout was a delight.

Mains

Abundance (S$70)- Kurobuta pork toro, yuzu and kumquat sweet sour sauce, fricassee of carrots,

white asparagus, prosciutto and chive
I love the tender Kurobuta especially the crispy thin skin that made it all so palatable. Being a self profess lover of pork belly with some experience roasting one, I can appreciate a good roast pork belly. The crispy skin was thin and the rest of the belly, a good tenderness with it's taste exalted by the kumquat sweet and sour sauce. The fricassee beautified the dish with it's dash of colors and even the flower stuck in the middle was edible.

Dragon (S$110)- Half lobster, angel hair pasta, XO lobster bisque, abalone garnish
Lobster in Chinese translates into 'Dragon Prawn' and hence the introduction of lobster to signify the year of the dragon. Angel hair pasta signifies longevity. The lobster bisque was heavy but I thought should be rightly so as it was used as a sauce for the pasta. This mains was a generous portion and the perfectly cooked lobster and abalone can do it no wrong. One thing I've learned about angel's hair is that you eat it as soon as it's served al dente especially when it's drowned with lobster bisque like this.

Desserts

Happiness (S$24) - Chocolate mousse, orange sesame tuile, Szechuan pepper ice cream
I was really happy with this dessert especially the fragrance of the sesame mingling with the chocolate mousse. I was enjoying the moment until the spicy Szechuan pepper hit me caught me. Looks can be deceiving as the little peppery devils lurked inside. Well one can certainly find Happiness in surprises.

Even though we section it to reveal what's inside, it still looked innocent enough to beguile the unexpected.

Fortune (S$24) - Orange tiramisu, triple sec orange liquor gelee, pistachio nougat, orange meringue
Orange signifies wealth and we had a glassful of it! Definitely not orange juice we are talking about here. If you wish for your life to be full of sweetness, this would be your choice.

You can piece up the dishes above into a 3 course set with prices listed below. There's even specific Brown Brothers wines to pair with each dish. Most of which are exclusive to The Halia Restuarant.

3 Course Set

Choice of appetiser, Lobster main course, and choice of dessert $168

Choice of appetiser, pork main course, and choice of dessert $128

With wine pairing (3 glasses) add $40

Prices are subject to 10% service charge & prevailing GST.

After dinner we had some ginger tea but not from this decorative tea set supposedly used by the owner of the restaurant during her wedding. I liked the ginger tea but I prefer my own brew better.

... and I wish that I can whisk off this exquisite tingkat, tiffin carrier, to takeaway the delicious food created by Chef Reynaldo.

This is definitely a change from our typical Chinese New Year meal. It was really fun tasting, chatting and discussing about the food that we ate. When we were finished with our mains, Chef Reynaldo came out of the kitchen to sit down with us. For one, he's young, charming and was very open to sharing and our comments on his food.

As this is an invited food tasting, "We" within the context of this food diary entry refers to fellow food lovers who was invited as well as Karen from Food News who organized and invited us.

For reservations, call +65 6287 0711 (office hours) or email alicetang@halia.com.sg

1 Cluny Road (access via Tyersall Avenue)

Ginger Gardens

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore

The Halia Restaurant Website

Traditional Putu Piring (Formerly at 12 Haig Road) @ Mr Teh Tarik Cafe Onan Road

2012-01-07T14:30:00.000+08:00

Slightly more than a year ago, I tried this traditional Malay kueh kueh at 12 Haig Road. It's no longer at 12 Haig Road. I called the owner who told me that the stall is nowone block away at Mr Teh Tarik Cafe in a Hotel 81 along Onan Road. However, there was no queue at all. There was a long queue at the old address. They are still selling Putu Piring at S$1 for 3 pieces. However, the size have shrunk almost to the size of typical Kueh Tutu since the last time I tried. It still taste delicious though. Since the size have shrunk, I have taken the liberty to eat one of HY's share while she's asleep. Sssh don't wake her up.

A friend ask me what's the difference between Putu Piring and Kueh Tutu. Well someone has did some research into the origins if you care to read.

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1751_2011-01-05.html

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1750_2011-01-05.html

Here's the link to my last food diary entry for Putu Piring at the address about 1 year ago. Click Here.

1 Onan Road
(Hotel 81, Inside Mr Teh Tarik Cafe)
Singapore
Tel : 9688 3067

Opening Hours : 11am~10pm daily.

Open Door Policy ... Opening Doors Celebrity Chef's Gourmet to the Masses

2012-01-02T16:32:00.000+08:00

Open Door Policy was named because the owners wants to break down the boundaries and bring celebrity chef food and open it's doors to the masses. The choice of Yong Siak Street was nothing but deliberate. This street has to offer it's quaint ambience amongst the cool conservation houses. First it was 40 Hands that shifted in and now Open Door Policy follow suit. By the way, ODP is venture by the Spa Espirit Group and 40 Hands. So, apart from the list of wine and cocktails, coffee had to be good. To add cream to the cake, the menu is created by celebrity chef Ryan Clift from the Tippling Club. This place is teeming with plenty of booze, great coffee and good food so there's no reason not to visit.

Inside the bistro .... opening it's doors for booze, good coffee and great food!

Steak Tartare with Truffle Mayo and Potato Chips
I have a weakness for truffle oiled food and these potato chips sure got oiled well. The tartare had the refreshing taste of tomato and the taste was enhanced when heaped over the purposely charred toast.

Slow Cooked Bolognese with Rigatoni
First time that I ate Bolognese that wasn't too cloying. Probably because HY ask that the cheese not added in there.

48 Hours Cooked Braised Beef Cheek with Mochi Potatoes,
Carrot Puree and Snow Pea Tendrils.
It's cooked for 48 hours. No wonder the beef cheeks peels off so easily. So tender!

Confit Duck Legs, Puy Lentils, Sage and Smoked Bacon
The confit was perfect with the crispy skin and the tender meat. The lentils and the bacon made this dish so intensely savory.

Lime Panna Cotta with Coconut Sago, Cashew Nuts and Mint
A good twist to the panna cotta. Sour, sweet and nutty.

The Ice Cream 'Why Just Sunday'
A smoothly blended vanilla ice cream with smashed up brownies and crunchies.

19 Yong Siak Street
Singapore
Tel : +65 6221 9307

Opening Hours :
Lunch 12~3.30pm
Dinner 6~12pm
Wed Opened for dinner only
Tue Closed
Fri and Sat

Open Door Policy Website

Antoinette ... Queen of France ... King of the hill of Parisien Patisserie?

2011-12-29T17:26:00.001+08:00

Chef Pang Kok Keong, the man behind the Canelé Pâtisserie of the Les Amis Group, is known to perfect the art of enticing the Sweet Tooths in Singapore. He went on to start his own business venture, the Sugar Daddy Group, leveraging on the success of his sweet art. Antoinette, the Parisien style patisserie, named after the last Queen of France, was never without a queue ever since it opened it's doors.

The Antoinette, at Penhas Road, was full house and had a queue even at 3.30pm on a Thursday afternoon when I visited. When you step into Antoinette, you would be impressed by the the ambience. The chandeliers, the lighting, the cushioned Parisien chairs all blend in to create the mood of what's close to a real Parisien Patisserie.

Antoinette's Breakfast - Your choice of eggs with grilled bacon and sausage, Pain de Mie toast, basket of viennoiseries and orange juice/coffee/hot chocolate

Like a wave that has hit our food scene, there has to be All-Day-Breakfast menu. Singaporeans seemed to like to eat the 'Ang Mo' breakfast at all times of the day. Wild Honey has All-Day-Breakfast and is a hit, so is Antoinette. We actually just wanted a cake and some coffee but ended up ordering this breakfast set to share as we saw folks at neighboring tables enjoying the juicy sausages. True enough, the sausages were great. The sunny-side-up was not as runny as I liked though.

The Viennoiseries that was part of the break fast set included mini size Brioche topped with sugar bits, a Chocolate Croissant and a Butter Croissant.

Violette - Violet Flower Cake, Raspberry Marmalade, Violet Flower Cream, Kirsch
I liked it that it has a rich but not overly sweet creamy taste.

If indulging in French cakes and pastries in a Parisien style cafe is what you enjoy, Antoinette is the place to visit. One thing to note is that the wait staff seemed to perform their services only as a mere function without blending in as part of the 'chi-chi-ness' of dining in a Parisien Pâtisserie. The experience would be top notched if service here is in tune with the mood and setting of the Pâtisserie. It gives me the feeling that rolling in the dough is more important than to maintain quality of experience and class. However, apart from the service, this place is the closest you can get for a Parisien Pâtisserie experience in Singapore. Is it the King of the Hill in the Parisien Pâtisserie experience? You be the judge.

30 Penhas Road

Singapore

Tel : +65 6293 3121

Opening Hours :

Mon~ Thu 11am~10pm

Fri and eve of public holidays 11am~11pm

Sat 10am~11pm

Sun and public holidays 10am~10pm

Antoinette Website

Maggi Curry Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Pan fried Chicken

2011-12-28T23:33:00.000+08:00

I love Maggi Curry Instant Noodles and I love my spaghetti Aglio Olio. Hmm what if I mix them together? Result : LOVE IT.

Ingredients : 2 servings
1) 1 packet of seasoning mix from Maggi Curry instant noodles.
2) 2 pieces chicken thigh, deboned and skin on.
3) Spaghetti
4) 3 cloves of garlic, minced
5) fresh basil chopped up

Method
1) Use 1/2 packet of the of the Maggi curry mix to spread is evenly over the chicken thighs. Leave it for 1 hour to marinate.
2) Fry the chicken thigh skin down first on medium heat until the chicken skin turns golden brown. Turnover and then switch to low heat for another 5 minutes. Leave the chicken aside to cool down and drain it's oil
3)Leave the chicken oil and juice in the pan to use for tossing the spaghetti later,
4) Boil water to cook spaghetti add enough salt and taste it. When the water is as salty as how you'll like your soup to be, this is salty enough. Put in the dried spaghetti and cook it till al dente. For the Barilla spaghetti that I used, it takes about 8 minutes to get it al dente.
5) Drain the the water from the spaghetti and leave it aside.
6) With the oil in the frying pan from frying the chicken fry the garlic at medium heat until the oil sputter. Quicky add 1/2 packet of the remaining Maggi curry mix and stir uniformly. Turn of the fire and toss the spaghetti.
7) Plate the spaghetti and sprinkle some chopped basil.
8) When the chicken is cooled down. Chop it into slices and plate it with the spaghetti.

A 'Stay-at-Home' Husband's brunch - Pan fried sausages, baked potatoes, croissant with sunny side up

2011-12-28T12:39:00.000+08:00

Maison Kayser Petit Croissant spread with Elle & Vire French Butter
with Baked Russett Potatoes

It's Day 2 of being a mandatory 'Stay-at-Home' Husband. Not by choice but because my company have this habit of an undemocratic forced leave between X'mas and New Year and HY still need to head back to office. I was a bit unaccustomed to the fact that I'm grounded in Singapore. For the last 10 years, I would make full use of this 'forced' leave. HY and I would be away on some 'exotic escapade', like my sis with two kids would begrudgingly put it. This year, we are grounded for the right reasons. HY's not able to fly as our little PengYu is in it's third trimester. I am exhilarated by just spending time putting my ear on HY's tummy, talking to the little one as he responds by punching and kicking like a little Thai boxer. For our little Thai boxer, it's time to pack away our back packs, hiking boots and winter wear for a while. For those who's gloating about us being grounded in Singapore, I can only tell you, "It's OK, we've been there, done that." and we're happily preparing to get on with the next phase of our lives. ;-)

After sending HY to her office, I packed our 'Sundown Marathon' recycling bag, which we use as groceries bag, and drove to our local NTUC to buy some ingredients for chicken curry that I'm going to cook this evening. Ambience at Marine Parade NTUC on a Tuesday morning is vastly different from the weekends. During the weekends, a cacophony of background noise created by the occasional collision of groceries trolleys amidst human banter is the norm. This Tuesday morning, even the squeaking of the trolley wheels became obvious. I can also tell from smelling the air in this Tuesday morning's NTUC that the concept of a 'Stay-at-Home' Husband didn't cling with our Singapore culture. The only guys in the supermarket were retired uncles tailing a few steps behind their wives and of course, just ME. It took a mere 15 minutes to amass all the ingredients, pay for the purchases and that include driving home and reaching my door step.

The idyllic morning pace and the mood set by the overast sky seemed to supersede the catalytic effects of coffee. Most importantly, I was bothered by the fact that I bought a pack of 5 Russett potatoes at $1.50. That was a couple too many for my chicken curry but I didn't want to pay more for each potato by buying lesser than 5. Moreover, I was also peeved with the idea of keeping 2 potatoes on my kitchen top, telling myself to cook them soon but only to procrastinate and leave them just to grow eyes. So, I canned the idea of a brunch-out and decided to create my 'Stay-at-Home' Husband's Brunch so that I can use up the excess potatoes.

The 'Stay-at-Home Husband' Brunch - Seng Choon First Born Eggs for the Sunny-side-ups, Maison Kayser Petit Croissant with unsalted Elle & Vire French Butter, Oven Baked Russett Potatoes, Bratwurst and Bockwurst from Culina with Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. I forgot my greens. There were some lettuce in my fridge #$%#@.

Ingredients

1) 2 eggs. I used Seng Choon First Born Eggs. They are smaller and supposedly low in cholesterol.

2) 2 Russett Potatoes Peeled and diced into cubes.

3) 1 Bratwurst and 1 Bockwurst chopped up.

4) 2 Pettit Croissant. Maison Kayser's croissant are made with cultured butter and had a rich buttery fragrance.

5) 20g of butter. To go with my croisant. Elle & Vire French Butter had a very nice flavor that I love.

6) 1 spoonful of Dijon Mustard. For dipping the sausages.

Method

1) Place potatoes inside an aluminium foil dish that was oiled with some olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Spray olive oil over the potatoes with an oil mister. ( I use an oil mister so that the potatoes that I get is not too greasy) Leave it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 250 deg C until the potatoes are slightly browned.

2) When the potatoes are going to ready in 10 minutes time, start to pan fry the bratwurst and bockwurst in a little olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and blacker pepper. Stir fry till they are browned. Plate them.

3) Fry 2 sunny-side-ups. I can do it in one go as I use first born eggs which are smaller in size. Plate them.

4) Right after the sausages and the eggs are done, the potatoes should be on time to be out of the oven. Plate them.

5) Plate the croissant and then cut a slab of butter.

6) Place Dijon mustard beside sausages.

Wild Honey @ Scotts Square ... the place is simply like bees attracted to honey

2011-12-27T19:16:00.000+08:00

It's really nice to take it slow, wake up late and have breakfast at 2pm. Yes, breakfast at 2pm and they serve them all day at Wild Honey. How wrong can I be when I thought that I'll have some quiet chill time at Wild Honey. The honey here's definitely attracting us bees.

Wild Mocha Dolce - Espresso, Chocolate, honey and milk

This is as happy a drink can be like the coffee etching suggested. It's hot chocolate and coffee blended into one. A sweet happy drink indeed.

Wild Honey European Breakfast - Eggs Benedict with two perfectly poached eggs, sauteed mushrooms, Italian prosciutto and homemade Hollandaise sauce on signature brioche.
The brioche wasn't light and fluffy so that it can hold the egg and prosciutto without creating a dent but was easy enough to tear apart so that I can dip it into the perfectly runny egg yolk. It seemed that Hollandaise sauce was purposely made less savory so that it didn't mask the flavors of the prosciutto. Terribly yummilicious!

6 Scott's Road
3rd floor Scott's Square
Singapore
Tel : +65 6636 1816

Opening Hours :
Mon~Fri 9am ~ 10.30pm
Sat~Sun 8am ~ 10.30pm

Wild Honey Website

Wonderful Room ... Woobar ... W Hotel Taipei

2011-12-26T11:00:00.000+08:00

Enter W Hotel Taipei .....

The first floor was a spacious lobby with an exclusive entrance into Hankyu's shopping mall. At one corner (not in view), is the concierge counter with the 'Whatever' sign. So 'Whatever' you want, they'll try to bring it to you. Hotel guest can sit around to wait for their pick-up while admiring the visual art hanging from the ceiling ....

... as well as on the wall as you step inside the hotel. Here's a little guy having fun with the motion sensitive wall display that reacts to movements.

Taking the lift up to the 10 floor, the lift door opened up into a space strewn with art pieces. Right at the far end where sunlight penetrates, you'll see the pride of Taipei .......

.... Taipei 10. No wonder I see folks lingering around this 'crack in the wall' and snapping away.

Inside our 'Wonderful Room', there's a King-sized bed, JBL iPod dock ...

... Bose sound system, LED TV ....

... Tea and coffee and other miscellaneous ingeniously hidden in the to polished white cabinets

... Toiletries from Bliss ....

... Chic open bath room.

The comfy day bed that I got stuck to ....

.... while drinking my milk .....

... and enjoying this Taipei city view.

On the 10th floor of the W Hotel and right beside reception, there's the cool and stylish Woobar.

... Here's it. Cool and stylish right.

It's the latest place to see and be seen. Rumours that who's who of the Taiwanese entertainment scene can be spotted here occasionally.

It's cool to chill out in Woobar ....

As cool as the infinity pool that's right in front of Woo bar.

With so many eyes staring, better look good to step in .....

Fan out the Woobar's drinks list ...

I was sipping my lychee martini with the glass pre-chilled.

Definitely egging you to order by the bottle.

Free WiFi at the Woobar and W Hotel lobby is an essential to let everyone on FB knows we're enjoying ourselves at W Hotel.

KHA @ 38 Martin Road .... New Home for KHA but still equally impressive

2011-12-04T15:47:00.001+08:00

KHA was first located among the greenery of Horts park when the park was introduced to Singapore. It's now relocated ....

... to Martin No. 38, a luxury residential development along Martin Road, and is clustered alongside it's sister restaurants, Graze and Provisions.

Kha, in it's old abode, made use of Hort's park natural green surrounding, as centre stage to it's decor. Now, having mostly indoor tables in a new place, more attention was made to adorn the interior. Nobody could miss King Bhumibol's face on an enlarged stamp hung as a centre piece in the restaurant.

Although operating at a different place with contrasting ambience, the character of KHA's food still remains unchanged. Their intriguing array of signature "before-meals" cocktails are definitely a draw for the expat community in the new address. For all I know from this visit, they were still serving superb Thai gourmet with a modern setting. Here's what we had during MIL's birthday and they were all really good.

Kra Poh Pla Nam Daeng - Fish Maw Soup, Crab Meat, Prawn, Quail Eggs, Black Vinegar

Tom Ka Gai - Chicken Galangal Coconut Soup

Tom Yum Goong - Hot Sour King Prawn Broth, Lemongrass

Papa Adun's Phad Tow Hu - Papa Adun's Famous Wok Fried Crispy Tofu, Alfafa and Three Flavour Sauce

Tod Man Poo Thai Crab and Prawn Cakes, Green Mango Salad, Yoghurt, Sweet Chili Sauce.

I asked for a Double Cooked Honey Chilli Pork Ribs which is a chef's recommendation but the manager recommended this pork belly instead. So good that we were swooning over it in no time.

Phad Thai - Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Poached Prawns, Tofu and Banana Blossom Salad.

Gaeng Sam Yang 3 Signature KHA Curries - Green Chicken, Penang Beef, Red Vegetarian

Pha Yang Bai Tong - Chargrilled Seabass with Lemongrass in Banana Leaf Spicy Dill Chili Sauce

There are some restaurants that you don't mind going back for more and KHA is definitely one of them. The only reservations is their price point. So, it's gonna be just going back on occasions ....

38 Martin Road
Martin No. 38
Singapore
Tel : +65 6476 9000

Opening Hours :
Mon~Sat
Lunch 12pm~3pm
Dinner 6pm~11pm
Closed on Sundays

KHA Website

L'Entrecote .... only steak frites

2011-12-03T16:41:00.001+08:00

L'Entrecote is a French restaurant where the owners decided not to serve too many types of dishes but to just perfect one. That would be Steak Frites for them and steak frites would be the only mains on the menu.

This French Bistro is nestled among the quaint stretch of conservation houses on Duxton Hill.

Here's the restaurant where you have to wait outside and only to be allowed inside when everyone in your party arrives. By the way, L'Entrecote do not take reservations and there are not many tables. So, the restaurant can be packed and the wait can be quite enduring. How packed? I observed that if you're seated with your back against the long side of the dining area, there are times that the waiters have to pull out the tables to get you out of your seats. Sometimes, the adjoining tables can be 20cm apart.

Here's what we came here for ..... Steak Frites. The steak came pre-sliced and had the butter based sauce drizzled over the beef. The flavorful sauce seemed to be the main enticement for the dish. Apart from that, the crispy thin cut French fries played second fiddle but nevertheless irresistible. Shown in this photo was a half portion. HY and I shared the full portion.

The chocolate drenched profiteroles that could do no wrong ....

36 Duxton Hill
Singapore
Tel : +65 6238 5700

Opening Hours :
Mon~Fri 12noon~10.30pm
Saturdays and Public Holidays 6pm~10.30pm

L'Entrecote Website

Salta Argentine Parrilla + Grocer .... Argentinian BBQ that's Delicioso

2011-12-03T16:04:00.001+08:00

I'm a lover of grilled meats over charcoal fire. So, any restaurant that served them well would appeal to me. Charcoal fire extoll the goodness of the meat's own natural flavors by melting it's fats that got impinged on the meat and providing the juiciness for that hearty, satisfying enjoyment. Salta brought in a 5 metres long fire pit, called a parrilla, into the restaurant to serve out tantalizing chargrilled Argentinian meats. To us, a parilla is very similar to a barbeque pit. The asador's (barbeque chef) skill would involve controlling the fire and the proximity of the food to the fire, at a precise timing, to get the grilled meat to look delicious with the slightly charred exterior and the juicy tasty interior.

For entradas (starters) we, tried the Matambre which is stuffed beef roulade with mushroom, mixed salad and balsamic reduction. It really looked appetizing especially when were hungry on a Friday evening.

Here a slice of beef roulade that taste like a thicker slice of pancetta but not really savory as we liked it to be. The meat was pretty bland actually if not for the balsamic reduction that we used as dip sauce.

Empanadas are pastries filled with meat and/or vegetables. The Humita Empanadas, pastries filled with sweet corn and cream (one of their Signature), were served to us in a rustic wooden dish.

The pastry was light, flaky and we all love the obvious buttery richness. This empanadas tasted quite like the Polar Chicken pie but just without the chicken.

The Parillada was what we came here for. It's a mixed grill of short ribs, beef skirt, chicken, black hog pork, mixed sausage, lamb rack with vegetables and potatoes. I would say this dish made me happy as a clam, a contrary to reviews I read about their parrillada. The assorted sausages were good but we had to fight over it as we ordered a parillada for two to be shared between three adults who had just been set loose from final spurts in the office on a Friday evening. We ask for our beef to be medium rare and they were indeed succulent to the core. W and J teased me that it tasted like Cut's beef as I'm the only one in the group that haven't tried steak from Cut. The lamb rack was superb. Non of the overpowering smell of lamb which I don't really like. Even the chicken which some had gripes about being too dry turned out perfect. The meats were all simply salted which is how I liked to eat them cos' good meat shouldn't be cooked too complicated that it discounts it's original character. If you are here just for Argentinian beef cuts, they would impress with good portions at a reasonable price.

Served together with the Parillada was a small heap of grilled eggplant, zucchini and potato slices.

We ordered a serving of sweet potato fries, thinking that we need more carbohydrates. I think we should have given this a pass. Barracks Cafe still serve the better sweet potato fries in town.

With the standards set by the Parrillada, it's no wonder my cousin waxed lyrical about Salta's Argentinian beef. At Salta, you have good quality meats, prepared well, and most importantly, at prices that wouldn't burn a hole in the pocket.

12 Gopeng Street
#01-56 Icon Village
Singapore
Tel : +65 6225 8443

Opening Hours :
Mon~Sat
11:30am~2:30pm
6:30pm~10:30pm

Salta Website

Tonkatsu Ma Maison @ Mandarin Gallery ... Mangalica

2011-11-19T22:19:00.001+08:00

Seriously, we weren't too hyped up when the name Ma Maison popped up for dinner. Ma Maison, as my memory tells me, is a French style Japanese restaurant in Bugis Junction with a following of a young crowd. That was many years back when I would be quite right to generalise and stereotype the taste buds of the early 20s as young, immature and unexposed. My preconception has kept me away from Ma Maison since then and I do not know what I had missed out. Nowadays, I would probably be blasted by outspoken Prada totting young 20s for even suggesting that. Still no Ma Maison for me but we did visit Tonkastu Ma Maison in Mandarin Gallery for Tonkatsu of course!

All the condiments to go with your pork ...... sesame dressing, soy sauce, sweet sauce, spicy sauce and rock salt.

Like all the specialized tonkatsu restaurants, Kurobuta (or Berkshire) is a must have pork in the house. In Tonkatsu Ma Maison, there was more than just Kurobuta. There was the Hungary Mangalica that I haven't try before.

Mangalica Pig, Photo courtesy of www.onlinefoodstore.co.uk (link leads to Online Food Store selling Hungarian Food Products). According to Jamon.com, the Hungary Mangalica Pig was genetically similar to the Cerdo Iberico of Spain. I like the Jamon Iberico ham and so, I was eager to try the taste of the Mangalica Pig.

The Mangalica Tonkatsu presented was covered with golden brown bread crumbs and crispy golden brown bread crumb crust is essential for every worthy tonkatsu restaurant. Beneath the golden brown crust was the perfectly cooked Mangalica meat interlaced with fats that made it extra tender, juicy and succulent. So that was how it taste if the Iberico pig is used as Tonkatsu. Even though the Kurobuta and the Mangalica looked very different physically, I didn't find the texture very much different from each other and I thought they are just as good.

The tonkatsu set comes with unlimited servings of rice, thinly shredded cabbage and miso soup. I chose to have multigrain rice instead of white rice and I find that it has more flavors when compared to the standard white rice. An interesting option for rice to go with tonkatsu.

Rice at Tonkatsu Ma Maison is cooked in the Kamado, or Japanese traditional rice cooker, which was placed near the entrance for all to see.

333A Orchard Road

#02-35/36 Mandarin Gallery

Singapore

Tel : +65 6733 4541

Opening Hours :

Mon-Fri 11am~3pm 5pm~10pm

Sat, Sun and Public Holidays 11am~10pm

Soup Kambing from Haji Abdul Razak Stall .... my vote for best Soup Kambing

2011-11-19T18:05:00.001+08:00

Soup Kambing is one of my favorite local food that I would like to eat when I have the chance. However, most Indian Muslim food stalls that serve Soup Kambing don't get it right. The soup is either too diluted, the mutton too dry or too sinewy. At Haji Abdul Rajak Stall, the Soup Kambing Specialist that set up stall in Boon Keng since 1955, the Soup Kambing comes alive. The soup got perfect fluidity, not too peppery, and the mutton was really tender. Each piece of the mutton, even those that got attached with sinews were soft. So far, it's the best one I've eaten in Singapore. Remember to ask for a soup refill if you need more.

Haji Abdul Rajak Stall ... Soup Kambing Specialist. If you are game for more adventurous goat parts, like the marrow, brains etc... They are all available too.

Blk 17 Upper Boon Keng Road
#01-03 Upper Boon Keng Road Market and Food Centre
Singapore

Opening Hours :
Daily 10am~12midnight

Prince Coffee House 太子咖啡座 ... Hainanese delights since the 1970s

2011-11-19T11:16:00.001+08:00

Dad is always looking out for my pocket every time I ask him out for dinner during the weekends. I guess he knows that I don't mind spending a bit more on good food. Last time when we decided to eat out at a Chi Char place called Joo Hing, I told him it's only Chi Char but I went on to order a 红班 steamed grouper that resulted in a S$100 bill for a dinner for 4. This time he told me over the phone, again, not to go to anywhere expensive. OK then ..... let's have Hainanese delights at Prince Coffee House.

Prince Coffee House, according to the boss, was operating in Shaw House (where there was a Prince cinema) since the 1970s, shift out of the area to Coronation Plaza in 1980s and have been there until recently where they house themselves back at a shophouse unit in Beach Road (the stretch between Arab street and Haji Lane). If you liked Hainanese beef delights and pork chops, you got the British to thank for. In those days, Hainanese worked as cooks preparing beef for the British and after that, they went on to set up coffee houses serving these traditional western dishes when the British left Singapore. If you'll like to remember those taste, Prince Coffee House would be one such place to visit.

After trying Hainanese Pork Chop at several places, I always find them good but Prince Coffee House's serves one of the better Hainanese Pork Chop. As Dad didn't want the western items on the menu, he decided on Hainanese Pork Chop Rice, which ended up could be the similar pork chop meal in the Western category in the menu, only with an extra scoop of white rice. The tender chunks of pork chop, coated with bread crumbs, were fried to golden brown, drizzled with tomato based sauce and complimented with some fries. Dad and I thought that this was much better than the one served up at Chin Chin (another Hainanese outfit in Purvis Street).

Here's HY's plate of Beef Hor Fun. It definitely tasted better than it looks in this photo that I captured without flashlight. With this plate of hor fun, there's no doubt that Hainanese prepare good beef dishes. The wok hei that went into frying the horfun, the succulent slices of beef and the flavorful sauce that complimented rather than mask the taste of the beef, all made this hor fun one of best around.

Apart from these 2 popular dishes that we enjoyed, boss also recommended their Signature Ox Tail Stew and he enthusiastically mentioned that they also sell very good yam cake and chicken pie. These are food that we'll need to be back for next time. Too full and satisfied with our pork chop rice and beef hor fun ..... Burp!

249 Beach Road
Singapore
Tel : +65 6468 2088

Opening Hours:
11am ~ 9pm daily

Coco Ichibanya ... King of Japanese Curry Rice

2011-11-07T19:12:00.003+08:00

It's quite unusual for HY to crave for curry. Since she's carrying our baby, her palate started to change. At mid point of our pregnancy, I was meaning to give her a good dinner treat to mark the milestone and she asked for CoCo Ichibanya. So be it. If HY and our baby likes Japanese curry, so CoCo Ichibanya will be it!

CoCo Ichibanya is touted as the King of Japanese Curry. Being the largest curry chain in the world with 1268 outlets globally, being crowned King wasn't surprising. As we visit the outlet at 313 Somerset we discovered why the Japanese curry chain is so successful.

First you get to dictate the amount of rice you want. So you get to pay less for less rice or pay more for more rice. There's also a choice of hotness for the curry (Level 1~5). On top of that, there's all that creativity they put around their curry to satisfy our palates.

Just a simple proof of their creativity, I ordered the Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese with level 3 hotness. Level 3 hotness was still manageable with some ice water. It was still a good hotness level that didn't mask the fragrant and flavor of the delicious curry. Most Japanese curry seemed to have lost the piquancy of the original Indian curry. However, I thought I've tasted a slight piquancy from this one at CoCo Ichibanya. To top it off my indulgence, there was the cheese hidden underneath the brown tasty curry. I never knew cheese can go so well with curry. The cheese purposely left half melted so that there was the enjoyment of the soft chewiness. HY got her mushroom topping instead of cheese. Apart from mushroom and cheese, there are several other topping to choose from. One of them, Kimchee. Yes, the Korean Kimchee that we all know. Wanna try it?

The pork cutlet was prepared to give that good crunchy bread crumbed exterior and the succulent tender interior. I think pork loin was used here.

While we were there for lunch on a Friday afternoon, CoCo Ichibanya was full house. We had to queue for 15 minutes before a table was available for us. Service at the restaurant was efficient. It must be already a standard process from all the experience in all 1268 CoCo Ichibanya's outlets. With this standard of Japanese curry, it's gonna be a competition for all Japanese restaurants that served curry. With such good curry, it would be perfect if they serve premium pork cutlets like what we had in Katsukura in Japan.

313 Orchard Road
#B3-25/27 313@Somerset
Singapore

Opening Hours :
Mon~Fri 10am~10pm
Sat~Sun and Public Holidays 10am~11pm

CoCo Ichibanya Website

永祥興豆腐 Yong Xiang Xing Tau Foo ........ Only Yong Tau Foo with soup and nothing else

2011-11-07T15:00:00.000+08:00

永祥興豆腐 Yong Xiang Xing Tau Foo has been in the Yong Tau Foo business for as long as the food center has been there and still at the at the same spot even though the food center has been through renovations. If the stall is opened for business, you'll definitely not miss it. The human chain will be obvious. It can form till it's half way towards the stall right opposite it.

When you reach the front of the queue, you don't get to pick and choose, just say how many bowls you need and your table number. A standard bowl cost S$3.50.

The standard bowl of Yong Tau Foo comes with the items as shown in the photos dunk in soup and they do not serve them with noodles. It's just Yong Tau Foo with soup and nothing else.

Yong Xiang Xing makes their own Yong Tau Foo. The fish paste used on the yong tau foo was springy and smooth.

101 Upper Cross Street
#01-1084 People's Park Food Centre

Singapore

Opening hours : 1.30pm ~ 5pm
Closed on Monday.

Botak's Backyard ... Latest Botak's concept, from heartland to woodland

2011-11-06T00:35:00.002+08:00

I've visited Botak Jones several times at their Clementi and the Depot Road outlets and really liked their concept of bringing restaurant style Tex-Mex food to the heartlands. Being in the heartlands brings the primary operating cost, space rental, down to a level that makes it viable to pass on less of the operating cost to diners. And when you operate in coffee shops, people will not bother too much about service as long as the food is relatively cheap but good. This has been the recipe of success for Botak Jones. After Botak Jones, several indie Western food stalls try to start up, mimicking this F&B model. Now, Botak has transcended and decided to go from heartland into woodland and in the form of Botak's Backyard.

The 1 month old Backyard finds itself at Minden Road, close to the hip address of Dempsey Hill, yet not too close to provoke any direct competition. When we arrived, we find that the backyard was more of an extension of a shack right in the Tanglin Golf Course. Apart from serving similar Botak Jones food, there's also a bar serving alcohol.

To beat the Singapore heat wave, no air conditioners were installed but there were the lush foliage that gave most of the shade and the help of several ceiling fans helped a fair bit. We were here early to beat the Groupon lunch crowd and the place was as serene and quaint as was described in their website. That was all gone in a while when all tables were filled. Apart from Groupon promotions, check out their set lunches and neighborly discounts on their website.

This was the Sunrise burger that I ordered at S$13.30. Stacked up on the burger bun was the New Zealand beef patty topped with slices of Canadian streaky bacon, slices of cheddar cheese and a sunny side up. It's obvious why the burger is called Sunrise.

After watching how Daniel Boulud cook a perfect burger, I guess Chef Boulud would say that the patty was too dry and not pink in the core. The bacon is suppose to be crispy not dry. However, I'm not complaining, I've got the Groupon voucher which I paid S$6 for S$14 worth. You know how to work the maths huh. Good deal. However, if I've got to pay full price, I think it'll be De Burg or Fat Boys any time.

For sides, I was recommended the fiery Stuffed Jalapenos. These Jalapenos were the real deal from Mexico, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and then deep fried with a coat of Japanese bread crumbs.

My colleagues who came with me all got to share a piece of this devil. I tricked them into thinking Jalapenos is Mexican cucumber. They took a bite and end up eating everything else but the Jalapenos. Huffing, Puffing, sweating and almost tearing .... More iced water please!

Botak's Backyard is not part of the BJ Pte Ltd but a franchisee of Botak Jones. Like all new restaurants, this backyard have teething pains. They were grossly short handed for the promotions that they are throwing out to attract us. I was told apologetically that 2 of their service staff did a last minute disappearing act on them. However, when I got the receipt, I liked what I see. Botak's Backyard do not charge GST or service charge. I do hope that they find time to look at the Daniel Boulud's Youtube clip that I embed above. If not, there's so many good burger places around to pose a challenge and I wonder if this backyard is up to it.

130E Minden Road
Singapore
Tel : +65 6479 0388

Botak's Backyard Website

雞窩 Ji Wo Claypot Chicken Soup for the soul .... Taipei, Taiwan

2011-10-31T20:32:00.001+08:00

Chicken Soup is medicine, says US Scientists. If chicken soup is so good for us, we'll need to make it a point to visit Ji Wo 雞窩 in Taipei, Taiwan. Ji Wo Restaurant is a Sichuan restaurant that specialized in claypot chicken soup. It is a branch of Ji Yuan 驥園 Sichuan Restaurant. At Ji Yuan 驥園, the chicken soup includes a whole chicken and that's the standard portion. Ji Wo 雞窩 was then started where smaller portions of the same chicken soup are served. For a party of less than 4, Ji Wo would be a better choice than Ji Yuan.

Chicken soup at Ji Wo was served in a claypot in a portion that's just right for both HY and me. We ordered chicken soup with mushrooms. Apart from mushrooms, there's a choice of chicken soup with vegetables and tofu, bamboo shoots and of course the original chicken soup. In Ji Wo, the chicken soup is boiled for 20 hours with Hokkaido dried scallops and premium Chinese ham into a nutritious thick broth that was utterly fragrant and made our stomach growl. Needless to say, the chicken meat have to be tender till it just fall off the bones after the 20 hour of preparation. Chicken Soup for the Soul indeed! After we were done, there was nothing left except the chicken bones in the claypot.

Crunchy seaweed, lightly salted with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds, was served as appetizers. I thought it was worth mentioning as it taste really delicious and refreshed the palate.

In comparison, this Beef Fried Rice appeared to be the less healthy than the chicken soup. Well, fried rice that not a bit greasy wouldn't taste nice. This fried rice was fragrant. We didn't get to eat a lot of fried rice cooked with pearl rice and this was above the mark. Another dish that we polished the plate.

台北市敦化南路2段81巷63號

No. 63 Lane 81 Dun Hua Road Section 2

Taipei, Taiwan

Tel : 02 27043038

Joo Hing Restaurant 裕興 ... Simple Chi Char Fare Made Perfect

2011-10-29T23:21:00.002+08:00

Joo Hing Restaurant 裕興 is a popular Chinese restaurant along Joo Chiat Road that serve chi char style food in a simple restaurant setting. The menu shows all dishes that would be commonly available in chi char places. However, what made Joo Hing popular is that they cook these common dishes much better than the rest. Ever since HY and I had a simple hor fun and stir fried venison with ginger, we've been dying to go back to Joo Hing for another session. This time round we gathered mum and dad to have 'Chi Char' dinner.

As we arrived at Joo Hing, my dad recognized the boss of Joo Hing. Boss used to have the chi char restaurant at Dunlop street more than 20 years ago and was my grandma's customer. My grandma used to sell Joo Hing vegetables. Since then, Joo Hing was here to stay in Joo Chiat inside the shop houses with air conditioning. Dad had a little catch up with boss and I think he was quite happy about it.

If I didn't order this steamed grouper 红班, the cost of our dinner would be just slightly more than any other chi char place, but I think I've ordered the more expensive fish they have on the menu. We ask to have the grouper steamed Hong Kong style. As we dig our chopsticks into the fish, the meat slide off the bones easily. It was fresh and sweet.

Tapioca Leaves stir fried with sambal is a must-try. The tapioca leaves were actually slightly sweet and apart from the sambal chilli some preserved beans seemed to be added to give a differentiated taste than what you normally get elsewhere.

Another of Joo Hing's signature is the Tofu Prawns. The prawns curled up into a ball of succulence while the tofu was pre fried till it had a fragrance before mixing up in the appetizing egg white sauce.

I must say one of Joo Hing's 'unsung hero' was this dish of Sambal Chilli. It's a really good dip for the prawns that we had. One of the uncles from a nearby table was helping himself with several helpings from the condiment counter at one side of the dining area.

Other than the dishes recommended above, we ordered the lotus root soup. However, this was a pass. It's either making soup is not Joo Hing's forte or they gave us the last bit in the soup pot. The soup had too much sediments. My MIL's version definitely tops this one. I've to tell HY to stop ordering double boiled soup in future cos' we always have MIL's standard as reference. It's not fair to the restauranteurs out there.

When you visit a chi char place, you wouldn't be bothered with service standards. I think you can expect the same here in Joo Hing. They don't allow booking for dinner during the weekends so there may be a good wait for tables.

360 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore
Tel : +65 6345 1503

Opening Hours :
Daily 11am~2pm, 5pm~10pm
Closed on Monday

Babas Peranakan 娘惹小吃 @ Chinatown Complex Food Centre ... Delightful Nonya economic rice

2011-10-29T11:09:00.001+08:00

I remembered Dad telling me about this stall that sells delicious Peranakan economic rice in the Chinatown Complex food centre. He was asking me to join him to eat Peranakan food with sambal belachan at 9am in the morning. I think not man. Nonya economic rice in the morning just didn't resulted in a logical output from my brain's computation. Not that I'm one without any idiosyncrasies about my food, but No. I bluntly doused his enthusiasm to egg me on. However, having that for lunch was a different matter. That's why I was here at Babas Peranakan at Chinatown Complex food centre for lunch. Edwin Tan the boss of the stall was there serving the queue that formed. Most folks in the queue seemed to be in their 30s and 40s. I liked that as I thought folks in this age group have some sense of persistence about their quality of food.

Here's my plate of nonya economic rice at S$6. There's the big fried chicken drumstick that comes with the extra meaty chunk from the chicken thigh, a slice of Goreng Ikan Pedas (Deep fried mackerel with tumeric powder), some fried onion omelete and a heap of Sayur Lemak (Curried Vegetables). The fried chicken drumstick was really good. Savory golden brown skin and tender chicken meat inside. This is a generous portion. So, some ladies just ordered this drumstick with only vegetables to go with their rice. The Goreng Ikan Pedas was how I liked it . It was like how grandma used to cook it. The mackerel was cut up in sections, marinated in tumeric powder and then deep fried. Portions near to the tapering ends that forms the edges of the elliptical hole, where the fish stomach used to be, will be the crispy, salty and dry bits. The rest will have chunky juicy meat underneath the coat of golden brown savory exterior. I got my rice drizzled with assam sauce from the Assam Ikan Pedas that they served too. It made the meal more appetizing. The sambal belachan did it's work with the extra punch of spiciness.

Well I guess Dad was right. Babas Peranakan's economic rice rocks! But I'll still insist on having it during lunch and not breakfast, especially after a sweaty morning walk.

Blk 335 Smith Street #02-225
Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Singapore
Tel : 97229698 (Edwin Tan)

Opening Hours :
Daily 9am ~ 2pm
Closed on Wednesday

Nougat from Sugar & Spice 糖村 - Taipei, Taiwan

2011-10-28T21:41:00.002+08:00

HY was helping a friend pick up some goodies during our Taipei trip which led us to Sugar & Spice 糖村. Sugar & Spice is a bakery that originates from Taichung. It has a delectable selection of cakes and even the Taiwanese style pineapple tarts. I find it strange that we were asked to bring back Nougats from Taiwan??!!! However, after sampling the nougats at Sugar & Spice, we decided to bring a box back for ourselves. The mouthful of coffee caramel nougat blossomed of immense coffee and caramel fragrance and I especially like it for its milkiness. There were the coffee caramel flavor and the original milk flavor for the nougats. The nougats from Sugar & Spice were soft and chewy. I thought that the coffee caramel was good but the original flavored one was even better. If anyone, like me, had a fetish for eating milk powder straight from a teaspoon, you'll like the original flavored nougat. It has an intense taste of milk. I'm chewing on one as I'm typing now. Delicious!

台北市大安區敦化南路1段158號

158 Dun Hua Road Section 1

Da An District, Taipei, Taiwan

Tel : 02 2752 2188

Sugar & Spice Website

Wok and Barrel .... where it's cool to eat Nasi Lemak

2011-10-26T20:41:00.000+08:00

After hearing all the raves and the urging from friends, I decided to visit Wok & Barrel on Duxton Hill to try their Madam Tan's famous Nasi Lemak. Wok & Barrel sits in a conservation house and in a district that's bursting with beer taps and restaurants. I was here with 2 of my colleagues at 12 noon when the restaurant open it's doors and we were their first customers.

Decor inside Wok & Barrel was white washed walls with industrial cement screed floor. Modern curvaceous designer white chairs with tables covered with white table cloth filled the dining area.

Parts of the dining area rest under the air well of the conservation house that let in natural day light. While you bask in the natural light from outside, double insulated glass panels capping the air well keep the air cool air in the dining area. Cool is good when you know what you're getting from Shen Tan's Nasi Lemak.

Shen Tan is the owner and chef of Wok & Barrel. This former Director of Forbes who used to be spotted in corporate suits followed her passion for food and took the dive to start up Madam Tan's Nasi Lemak, where she began her life as a hawker in Maxwell Food Centre. Now, Shen has transformed the popular Madam Tan's Nasi Lemak from a hawker stall into a chic modern Singaporean restaurant. The venue and the concept may change but her passion for food still sizzles. Shen's still doning her 'Got Lemak?' T-shirt while serving the Shen style Nasi Lemak, now in a chic white plate rather than the green leaf motif plastic tray during the Madam Tan days. As a prelude, I brought with me, my colleagues, P and MP to try Wok & Barrel's Nasi Lemak sets.

My choice was the Crispy Chicken Nasi Lemak Set. The boneless chicken thigh was marinated for 24 hours and then fried till a good crisp that still leave the meat juicy and succulent. Oh my! Haven't had such good Nasi Lemak for a long while!

P ordered the 5 Spice Pork Nasi Lemak. This is Wok & Barrel's signature pork confit with 5 spice rub. The pork was slightly sweetened by the rub and very tender.

MP ordered the Curry Chicken Nasi Lemak. MP is a Malaysian from KL and has occasional gripes about how certain food in Singapore should be made like how it is done in KL. Even he thought that Shen style Nasi Lemak was really something. The curry was thick, rich and so LEMAK!

All the Nasi Lemak sets comes with Nasi Lemak Rice, omelette, cucumber, Ikan Bilis, Sambal Belachan, Sambal Tumis and their own Asian Coleslaw. We were impressed by the Lemak rice. Shen cooked the nasi with Jasmine rice and it was fragrant from the ginger and coconut milk. The rice was perfectly cooked such that the grains were soft and non of them seemed to clot together. The other essential of Nasi Lemak is the chilli. Wok & Barrel served up the Sambal Tumis which is the sweetened type typically provided with Nasi Lemak, as well as Sambal Belachan. The Sambal belachan was a real kick. P who wasn't a chilli lover was puffing and sweating from the spiciness even though we were eating in an air conditioned dining area. MP, who didn't have a relatively strong stomach, really liked the chilli. He polished them off even if if means have the lingering spiciness in the stomach. The coleslaw was a refreshing sides to balance the spiciness.

We left Wok & Barrel impressed by their Nasi Lemak. However, we learnt that Nasi Lemak is not the only indulgence from Wok & Barrel. There's also the Lamb Char Siew, Bak Chor Mee Pasta (available for dinner) and even Shendol (Shen style chendol). With this impressionable prelude to Wok & Barrel, another visit to indulge in Shen's renditions of other Singapore's local delights would be imperative.

13 Duxton Hill
Singapore
Tel : +65 6220 0595

Opening Hours :
Tue~Sat 12pm~9.30pm
Sun 12pm~3pm

Wok & Barrel Website

With まるい寿司 Marui Sushi ... did we cover all Japanese restaurants in Cuppage Plaza?

2011-10-24T23:59:00.003+08:00

Every time that we visit Cuppage Plaza, it never fails to give me this funny quirky feeling. You'll find treasure troves of Japanese izakayas, sumiyaki and small sushi shacks among the many clubs where skimpily cladded gals would sometimes mingle at the corridors to 'eye' customers into the clubs. With Marui Sushi, we should have visited all the Japanese restaurants that call Cuppage Plaza home.

Marui Sushi is a small sushi restaurant with an unassuming shop front that is definitely overshadowed by the glitz of the clubs on the same floor. This could be the reason for us missing it after so many visits to Cuppage Plaza. Marui Sushi has only a few tables and a few sushi bar seats. According to the friendly waitress, they serve mostly regulars. Chef Katayama (at the far end) is the owner who helms the sushi bar in his cool unhurried demeanor. Occasionally, he'll spit out some heavily accented English with the help of hand movements to emphasis his point during his banter with his regulars. The ambience in Marui Sushi was casual and homey. Even the waitress chatted with us as there weren't many customers except for some regulars. The specialty here's, of course, fresh sashimi and sushi with the many selection of shochu to match.

We were first served Edamame, Japanese Green Peas, which love to squeeze out the pod and send it sliding onto our mouths. Apart from being appetizing, it's quite fun eating it.

We got chef to prepare our fresh sashimi platter for four. On the platter there was Aji with ginger and spring onions sprinkled as toppings, big ebi, Japanese cockles, Geoduck, Tai, Hirame, Hamachi, Shimaji and our favorite Ootoro. Can you resist fresh good quality sashimi? I cannot .... and there's no stopping me.

A close up of our Tai and Ootoro sashimi

A close up of the sliced up cockle and geoduck

Our sushi indulgence includes: Bottom row, 2 pieces of Maguro and 5 pieces of Tai. Middle row, Aji maki with grated ginger and spring onion and 3 pieces of Anago sushi. Top row fom the left , Blowtorched sushi of Hotate, Tai, Shimaji and Toro.

I'm glad I made right choice to order Anago sushi. This eel was so soft and the sauce and sesame added sweetness and fragrance to the sushi.

This was the Blowtorched Toro topped with grated ginger and yuzu which I took from the sushi platter that HY wanted and I ordered another piece after she started sulking. If she snatched mine away from me, I would have sulk too. This was really good. I should have suggested ordering another 2 pieces for W and J.

At Marui Sushi, they know well enough to serve our fried and grilled food after sashimi and sushi. The tempura Japanese pumpkin and sweet potatoes were really sweet.

We went to the sushi counter to order this Nodoguro that freshly arrived that day. Chef recommended to have this charcoal grilled and simply sprinkled with sea salt. We immediately transformed into cats hovering over this delicious fish. The meat of the Nodoguro was smooth, chunky and sweet.

As it wasn't a busy evening, the waitress suggest to deep fry the ebi heads and Aji bones from our sashimi platter. They came out all crunchy and tasty. We were told that they'll not do this extra for us if they were busy.

It was all written on our smiling faces. There was no doubt about it. All of us enjoyed the food from Marui Sushi. At the end of dinner, we asked for dessert but was told politely that they do not serve dessert but they could treat us to some ice cream. Each of us was given a Meiji milk and chocolate ice cream on the house. Marui Sushi has a homey, friendly, casual ambience with attentive service and of course, high standards of fresh seafood. They may be a small establishment but in this instance Small means Better.

5 Koek Road #04-01

Cuppage Plaza

Singapore

Tel : +65 6738 6048

Opening Hours:

Mon~Sat 6.30~10.30pm

Closed on Sun and public holidays

Found Roti Boyan in Bedok Interchange Food Centre

2011-10-23T10:34:00.003+08:00

As HY and I were scouring the rest of Bedok Interchange Food Centre for our breakfast, I saw in the shelf of an Indian Muslim drinks stall a food that looked like a flattened circular piece of curry puff. The man tells me it's Roti Boyan. I've definitely never seen it before. This roti is not small as you can imagine its size relative to my hand and I don't have small hands.

If you've eaten Begedil (deep fried potato pattiy) before, you'll taste the similarity in the filling. Mashed potatoes fill the inside of the crispy local Curry Puff liked exterior, just that there's no curry added.

I was given a packet of chilli sauce to go with the roti Boyan. the sweet chilli sauce made it tastier. It's definitely an energy food, being primarily carbohydrates.

Indian Muslim Food Section
Blk 207 New Upper Changi Road
Singapore

Interesting Mee Sua Kueh dim sum takeaway from Swee Choon 瑞春

2011-10-22T17:11:00.000+08:00

瑞春 Swee Choon has been serving dim sum in the heart of Jalan Besar Road for the past 50 odd years. Dad still remembers the time when he was a kid and when our family was poor. Having pork bun then was a luxury. At times, Grandpa's boss would visit and my Dad and my aunties would vulture over the pork buns. These pork buns were from 瑞春 Swee Choon.

After all these years, as Dad recalls, Swee Choon still makes yummy pork buns, that has a relatively thick but fluffy skin and juicy pork within the skin. Now, there's also a piece of shitake mushroom added to the meat. Yummy!

When I was at the takeaway counter this morning, an item on the dim sum menu caught my eye. What's Mee Sua Kueh? Never heard of it before. Mee Suah Kueh is an innovative dim sum made with vermicelli packed together and then deep fried till there a crisp on the outside.

Here's how the strands of vermicelli looks beneath the brown crisp. Taste good with the sweet chilli sauce that was provided.

This morning's takeaway was just a prelude to their dim sum. Swee Choon is definitely a supper place, judging from their operating hours. The locality was known to be quite raunchy at night but I don't know if it's still the case. Mum and Dad told me they prefer dim sum from Victor's Kitchen after I've brought them there to try. Maybe they've eaten Swee Choon too many times. I'll have to find some time to check out the rest of their dim sum to find out if Swee Choon's dim sum is as how Mum and Dad suggest.

185/187/189/191 Jalan Besar
Singapore
Tel : +65 6225 7788

Opening Hours :
Mon - Sat 6pm-10am
Sun & Public Holidays open till 12 noon.
Closed on Tue night

Swee Choon Website

An enjoyable Frenchie in Le Bistrot @ Singapore Indoor Stadium

2011-10-21T23:31:00.003+08:00

I first saw Le Bistrot's name pop up when I was reading a wine and dine magazine last year. I couldn't remember if it was Appetite or Epicure that left me impressed and felt the urge to visit. HY and I procrastinated till now. Well ... better late than never. I always have a misconception that Le Bistrot is a French fine diner until I stepped into the casual ambience of the restaurant. A playfully designed wall of planks separates the main dining area from the private dining enclaves. This time the Eat Eat Eat Group came in full force for Ade's birthday treat.

Oignon Farci aux Noix de Saint-Jacques Grillées et son Velouté de Maïs - chargrilled Hokkaido scallops served in a salt-baked onion, with a corn velouté and toasted pine nuts. W ordered this scallop appetizer. The sweetness and fragrance from the baked onion matched well with the tenderness chargrilled scallops.

Gravlax (Saumon Cru Mariné), Oeuf Mollet Croquant, Crème Fraîche à la Menthe - raw salmon fillet home cured with dill and gin, drizzled with white truffle oil, and served with a deep-fried soft boiled egg, mint crème fraîche and mesclun salad. Ade ordered this appetizer. We were glad that the egg was still runny when we sliced it open. The salmon slices drizzled with truffle oil were darlings. It was a marvelous dish that tickles the nasal senses as well as our palates.

Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée - traditional caramelized onion soup gratinated with Emmenthal cheese. This soup had the sweetness from the caramelized onion. Le Bistrot gave a generous portion of Emmenthal cheese that added an intense savory taste of dairy. It' richer in flavors when compared to the one we had in Bistro du Vin.

Carré d'Agneau au Thym, Gratin Dauphinois au Pecorino Romano (fromage Italien au lait de brebis) - lamb rack roast crusted with thyme, served with potatoes gratinated with pecorino romano (sheep's cheese). Ade and W ordered the lamb rack. Thyme crust gave the lamb a good aroma and when I sliced a piece of the lamb, it was still slightly pink but very tender. The pecorino romano that I swiped with my slice of lamb lend more flavor to the meat.

Venison Tenderloin with Brussels Sprouts. This venison mains that I ordered was the special that was not from the regular menu. Even though it looked more rare than medium rare, it was lean but very tender. The gravy that the venison slices sat on tasted like a refined version of mashed potatoes but I couldn't figure out what this. Never liked brussel sprouts but the rest on the plate was simply irresistible.

Steak Frites - chargrilled beef steak with pink peppercorn beef jus served with pommes frites and mesclun salad. HY ordered the steak frites. The fries were great but I though the beef was a bit tough for my liking but good for those who likes their beef chewy. Portion was big so HY had to share a third of the beef with me.

Confit de Cuisses de Canard - duck leg confit with honey-mustard vinaigrette and creamy potato purée. J, Jane and Chris ordered this dish. Crispy crackling duck skin, super tender duck meat and honey mustard vinaigrette were the threesome that made this dish a heavenly indulgence.

Mousse au Chocolat - dark chocolate and amaretto mousse served with macerated morello cherries. I didn't try this one as I didn't want to spoil the birthday girl's enjoyment. It must be good as she looked like she enjoyed it.

Assiette de Fromages - today's selection of cheeses, served with honey, fruit conserve and salad. Although I love dairy products, but when it comes to cheese, I mean the real stuff, I'll back off. There's the Blue Cheese and the Parmigiano Reggiano which was still alright. But this orange piece was like the western version of smelly tofu. No, I retract my statement.Take a close whiff of it, and I thought it's S#!t. Was I glad that there were berries compote and honey to go with the cheese. When you look at me eat the cheese with honey, it's liken a child eating bitter medicine and had to pop a sweet quickly to end the ordeal.

There was no question about the prompt and unobtrusive service rendered by the staff from Le Bistrot. The gastronomy experience was without a doubt, Trés bien! Le Bistrot is definitely worthy of a return trip.

2 Stadium Walk #01-03

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Singapore

Tel : +65 6447 0018

Opening Hours :

Lunch 12noon-2.30pm Thu-Sun

Dinner 6.30pm-11pm Tue-Sun

Closed on Monday and public holiday

Les Bistrot Website

Superb 穆記牛肉小吃店 Mu Ji Beef Noodle in Taipei, Taiwan

2011-10-15T01:30:00.000+08:00

I'm switching back to English as I find out (from my last diary entry) that although speaking Mandarin is second nature, penning it down is another story. It's a serious case of the brain acting so much faster than the fingers can handle. Anyway, that's my own problem and a detour from documenting this superb Taiwanese beef noodles from 穆記牛肉小吃店 Mu Ji Beef Noodles. Beef Noodles was top on our list for food as Doc has instructed HY to have iron-rich food. Beef obviously have a lot of that.

About noon time, the cab dropped us at 239 Wuxing Street and right in front of Mu Ji Beef Noodles. The shop was functional, not pretty at all, but there was the welcoming air conditioning. We spotted a dough kneading machine right at the entrance. Great! A sign of hand made noodles. As we entered the shop there were only a few tables and we were ushered to the basement where there were more seats. And at the basement, the place was packed with people coupled with the cacophony that followed.

We ordered the popular Braised Beef Noodles 紅燒牛肉麵 and we were allowed to choose the type of hand made noodles to go with it. There's the choice of thick noodles, a cross between udon and tagliatelle, or the thinner one like the spaghetti. The noodles here achieved a good "Q 感", a Taiwanese term for "al dente".

紅燒牛肉麵的牛肉超軟！The beef was perfectly braised and tasted superb with the spicy and robust flavor from the soup. It's so tender that it didn't take much effort to tear the meat apart with a pair of chopsticks.

斤餅包牛肉 Another popular dish of Mu Ji is their Sliced Beef Roll. Well marinated tender slices of beef were wrapped into onion-infused flour dough. The slices of beef were slapped together with small sections of spring onion and mixed with sauce that made this dish taste like Peking duck. The texture obviously different though.

台灣台北市信義區吳興街239號
No. 239 Wuxing Street
Sinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: +886 2 2722 2707

不經意的超棒牛肉湯麵 ...台北小樂天餃子館, Beef Noodle Soup from Xiao Le Tian Dumpling House, Taipei - Taiwan

2011-10-15T00:52:00.000+08:00

下了飛機，把行李割放在 Wonderful Room 之後，肚子不由自主鼓嚕鼓嚕的叫。不管了，就在飯店附近解絕算了。在忠孝東路走了九回 .... 哈哈有點誇張了。其時就在五段走了沒半回就一頭闖進小樂天餃子館了。

抬頭眇了寫在牆上的餐排就草草點了一碗牛肉湯麵。当湯麵抵在面前時，HY 立刻發現碗里半片牛肉也沒有。浮在碗上只有些青菜和蔥花。仔細再看了餐排便晃然大悟。牛肉麵和牛肉湯麵是有肉和沒肉之間的不同。真是擺了個烏龍。

起初點了碗沒牛肉的湯面一腦無趣。那知嘗到那帶著濃郁牛肉湯汁又QQ像烏東的拉麵，HY和我愣了－下。哇 ... 碗里的湯還真好喝呢！清而不淡，甜而不膩。贊！就因為這滋味流連忘返所以在我們得乘客車到機場前又吃了一大碗。

在餃子館那有不吃餃子的道理。小樂天餃子的味道雖然不錯但餃子皮有些厚實，感覺沒吃牛肉湯麵那麼爽。

台灣台北市信義區忠孝東路5段151號
No. 151 Section 5 Zhongxiao East Road
Sinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: +886 2 2753 0793

Jimmy Monkey Cafe & Bar ..... No monkey business when it comes to coffee.

2011-10-11T21:19:00.003+08:00

Like all the many specialty coffee places that have sprouted all around Singapore, Jimmy Monkey Cafe and Bar has an address that's not exactly convenient. The cafe found itself among the retail shops of One North Residences. It's about a 10 to 15 minutes walk from Buona Vista MRT. Like life itself, nothing's perfect. If you have a convenient location, you'll loose the tranquil factor that I thought is quintessential for a cafe in order to enjoy good coffee. For those who drive, there's ample parking in the condominium. Usually, I shun cafes or restaurants having an association with animals as my brain would categorized them as child theme restaurant. If not for the "Be Disloyal" campaign, I would have missed a good cafe that's serious about their coffee.

Espresso coffee in Jimmy Monkey is brewed with this Slayer Coffee Machine. It's one of it's kind in Singapore. If you'll like to see how this mean machine works, you're welcome to sit at the barista bench to see the full works. Free smells from the coffee too!

My Cafe Latte was brewed with a mixed blend consisting of 2 parts of Guatemalan and 1 part of Costa Rican. It's smooth, aromatic with a good kick and mild acidity.

As I was saying, Jimmy Monkey is serious about their coffee. They are roasting their own beans with a Giesen Roaster. Having a roaster would mean that they can control the quality of their coffee. Michael, the owner of Jimmy Monkey caught me with my camera, shooting in his cafe and stopped me for a chat. He's all enthusiastic about his coffee telling me all about blending of the beans to achieve a distinct body and low acidity for the beans I had for me cafe latte. After chatting with Michael, I'm even more sure that this cafe will be built around it's passion for coffee.

As we arrived in the late afternoon, there's no more savory food but there's still some good scones available for me to go with my coffee. I only ordered one scone and they provided clotted cream, butter and even ask me what type of jam that I would like. That's more than I ask for. As the cafe is owned by a Melbournian, I'll expect some good breakfast food and I can see a good breakfast list in their menu. There should be a Jimmy Monkey breakfast for me sometime soon.

The cafe had the industrial look with the glossy cement floor and bar top nicely complimented with solid wood tops and stainless steel hood and exhaust. If you'd take some time to suck up this place, you'll notice that the cafe has two floors. You can only use the first floor, the floor for the second floor is nonexistent. There are some chill out corners and even a long dining table right in the middle of the cafe that can sit about 12 people. I like the quaint location of the cafe and I was showed some of their good service. My only regret is that there weren't more tables for dining outside. One point to note is if we all decide to drink more coffee from Jimmy Monkey, they may decide to put-up the ceiling for the first floor or add a floor for their cheekily decorated second floor.

9 One North Gateway

#01-51 One North Residences

Singapore

Tel: +65 6777 8470

Opening Hours:

Sun-Thu 8.30am-8.30pm

Fri and Sat 8.30am-10.30pm

Closed on Monday

Jimmy Monkey Website

The Broers Cafe .... Cosy Quiet Cafe for enjoying your Coffee

2011-10-04T23:43:00.000+08:00

Broers = Brothers in Dutch. Yo Broer welcome to Broers Cafe! That sounds like how the affable Kiat of Broers Cafe would greet you at the door. They caught me with my camera in one hand and my "Be Disloyal"card on another and ask if I'm doing my tour of all 8 cafes in one day. Obviously some folks have urgent need for caffeine. No way! Although it's the espresso I'm having, I'm gonna take my time to enjoy my cuppa especially when The Broers Cafe is a tranquil hideout sandwiched by bustling Jalan Besar and Serangoon Road. Trust these guys to suss out a piece of heaven on earth to start their cafe.

I would encourage anyone who's considering visiting the cafe to visit the Broers Cafe Website. Click on "Menu" and enjoy Kiat's comical portrayal of his coffee. It made me chuckled and I had to pull HY along to check out the cafe right after lunch at mother-in-law's place which was unusually unsatisfying for HY. We were hoping to grab a nice savory nibble as a top-up and for me a caffeine infusion to shrug off the after lunch fatigue.

Spic and Span work area and well maintained equipment always speak well of professionalism and passion. This is what this cool Vibiemme coffee machine in its shiny coat of armour was telling me. Squeeze those black juice out baby!

Kiat was at the helm to brew my cafe latte. Look at those pythons that tamped the ground coffee into portafilter. That's gonna ensure I'm getting all the essence out of that shot.

Nice cup of cafe latte brewed with freshly ground beans. According to Kiat, these beans were roasted by Highlander Coffee. Although it's not as perky as the Terra Firma beans from Papa Palheta, its still aromatic enough, with a mild acidity for a coffee indulgence .

The Foccacia Chicken Sandwich with Baked White Skin Potatoes were great stuff. The chicken was tender and the mayonnaise was light and made the sand which tasted healthy yet delicious. Usually we weren't too hyped-up over the sides that comes with sandwiches but HY and I totally pulverized the glass of white skin potatoes draped with light mayonnaise and simply sprinkled black pepper. You know the feeling when you pick up a pack of potato chips and you keep going at it till it's gone. It was exactly how we felt and it's only when we finished everything that we found time to take a step back to reminisce the enjoyment.

As you walk through the entrance, pass the bar counter, the area expanded into a space with a cosier ambience created by the warm lighting. There were more tables and seats in there.

We prefer these seats near the entrance where we can enjoy the air conditioning but still get the natural light from outside.

Here's HY enjoying her drink over the latest edition of Epicure magazine ......

.... with a view overlooking a piece of green which is the little park right outside the cafe, among the neighbourhood of cool looking stretch of heritage architecture. Cool setting for a cup of great coffee isn't it?

3 Petain Road

Residences@Somme

Singapore

Opening Hours :

Tues-Thurs and Sun 10am-8pm

Fri~Sat 10am-11pm

Closed on Mondays

The Broers Cafe Website

Ginza Kuroson .... Mostly Japanese, some French and fresh seafood

2011-10-02T17:40:00.002+08:00

Ginza Kuroson procures fresh fishes from fishing ports all around Japan in and supplies them in Tokyo. In Ginza, Tokyo, despite it's expensive district, Ginza Kuroson has a rstaurant that prides itself for serving an uncompromising standards of ingredients and cooking at affordable price. Now it has started supplying seafood from Japan to Singapore and it has a Ginza Kuroson restaurant right at Robertson Quay just beside Bella Pasta.

Ginza Kuroson serves sushi, sashimi, robata-yaki intersperse with some French dishes. There's the a-la-carte menu as well as dinner courses at various prices. We came to know of this place when HY visited during lunch for a value-for-money S$20 chirashi set that has the freshest seafood from Japan. Now we're here with the Eatz Eatz Eatz group for dinner. All of us had the Course "Tosa" at S$75. There's the "Shimanto" course at S$100 and the Kuroson Special Course at S$150 with more premium ingredients.

The restaurant was popular. Seats inside the restaurant were all reserved and we were left with the table facing the Singapore River. Fortunately, it was quite a cool evening after the downpour during earlier part of the day. It's a regret that we didn't get to sit at the bar facing the fresh seafood laid on ice while watching the chefs cook for us. Never mind, we still enjoy chit chatting over the "TOSA".

Sakizuke (starters), for us is a Pork Rillete with bread. This taste like very smooth and rich version of luncheon meat.

Assorted Sashimi came with yellowtail, maguro, octopus, squid and prawn. The sashimi was what HY was coming for. She was deprived of sashimi for a while due to her condition.

Robata yaki - Charcoal Grilled Seafood on Skewer was Charcoal Grilled Intestines of Ocean Sunfish. Most of us on the table gave this dish some deep thoughts before trying when we heard that it's some fish intestines. It taste a bit like overcooked squid, not tough but a bit crunchy. The crunchy texture seemed like munching onto softer chicken soft bones. Interesting dish.

Nituke - Seasonal Fish boiled with special soy sauce. This looked like Gindara but I'm not too sure. This chunky fish was actually sweet after boiling with the soy sauce.

Su No Mono - Vinegared Seafood. This is a refreshing dish of crab meat, salmon roe, Japanese seaweed and cucumber dunk into vinegar. The vinegar accentuates the sweetness of the crab meat.

Grilled Kurobuta with Japanese Style Onion Sauce. The pork loin was well executed. Every slice was uniformly tender. The onion sauce imparted savoriness to the loin.

Ryoshi Meishi - Miso taste rice bowl with soup. The rice bowl had bonito flakes filled to the brim, covering the rice embedded underneath. I mixed up the bonito flakes with the rice and some miso paste (also covered by the flakes) before eating. Near the end, pour in the soup that they serve up in a thermo flask to wash everything down.

Dessert - Chocolate fudge cake and lime sorbet. Nothing too interesting here.

The menu in Ginza Kuroson is more than the Tosa, Shimanto and Kuroson Special Course. It has more than what they list on the website. For example, here's the Spaghetti with clams in cream sauce that Jane ordered. Cannot see this dish online.

The set dinner that we had from Ginza Kuroson was a slight shift of paradigm from the traditional Kaiseki or omakase but it sure was an interesting Japanese dinner. I think I'll like to try their lunch time chirashi since HY has been bragging about it since she had it.

30 Robertson Quay

#01-10/11 Riverside View

Singapore

Tel : +65 6737 5547

Opening Hours :

Lunch 1130am-2pm

Dinner 6pm-12midnight

Ginza Kuroson Website

Jewel Coffee .... along the "Be Disloyal" coffee trail of Indie cafes

2011-10-02T00:32:00.000+08:00

It's alright to wake up into a damp and cold morning but to wake up damp, cold and devoid of caffeine is a no-no for me. This Friday morning, the sky decided to pour making it damp and cold alright. So right after dropping HY off at her office, I was spotted at the Jewel Coffee @ One Shenton, following my "Be Disloyal" coffee trail and determined to be indulged with good coffee.

At this jewel of a cafe located in the financial hub of Singapore, it was the first time I was ask to choose my coffee beans for my cafe latte. This is a nice touch. I'm already warming up to a whole new coffee experience at Indie cafes like Smitten, Loysel's Toy and now Jewel Coffee.

COFFEE? Yes I want COFFEE!

Apart from the espressos, Jewel Coffee also serves Drip and Syphon brew coffee. The chalk board with the illustrations clearly suggest different brewing methods to achieve "Body" and "Flavour"

Gadgets of coffee enjoyment are sold here and the folks behind the counter would be more than happy to educate you on the use of these gadgets.

Here's the beans that's available to be bagged for brewing at home.

Barristas behind the La Marzocco coffee machine are serious about their coffee and making sure each brew is perfect. Besides the La Marzocco coffee machine, I notice that there's even a Marco Über Boiler , a precision brewing station, that compliments perfect brewing with the Chemex or the French Press and even for tea.

Boy am I glad that I came to Jewel Coffee. The taste of a perfect cuppa in the morning is my battle half won for the day. I chose the Fazenda Samambaia Brazil beans for my cafe latte. Tasting notes for these beans : Caramel Sweeteners, Soft Orange Acidity, Rich Mouthful. By the way, all coffee get double shots in Jewel Coffee. The caffe latte was strong, smooth and started with a mild citrus tint ending with a sweet note from the milk.

According to HY, their sandwiches is a must-try and she told me only after I visited the cafe. For this, Darling, sandwich will be on you next time!

1 Shenton Way
#01-07
Singapore

Opening Hours :
Mon-Fri 7am-9pm
Sat 8am-5pm

Jewel Coffee on Facbook

樂天皇朝 Paradise Dynasty ... Legend of Xiao Long Bao, another option for good 拉面 La Mian and 小笼包 Xiao Long Bao

2011-09-30T00:20:00.002+08:00

It's always interesting to watch and taste at the Paradise Group's new concept restaurants since they diversify from their seafood restaurant business and grow out of Defu Lane. We were impressed by the indulging Double Boiled Shark's cartilage soup in Taste Paradise, the perky Peking Duck roasted with apple wood from Paradise Pavilion and this time we applaud their new venture into the realm of 拉面 La Mian and 小笼包 Xiao Long Bao with Paradise Dynasty.

If you are a La Mian Xiao Long Bao fan since Crystal Jade open it's first Shanghai La Mian Xiao Long Bao Outlet in Ngee Ann City, you'll notice some familiar faces among the service staff in Paradise Dynasty.

Signature Dynasty Xiao Long Bao We picked up the xiao long bao by the tip where the skin was thickest, laid them carefully on our spoons, bit through the thin moist skin that contains the filling and slurp up flavorful soup that flow out of the crack. By these standards, these Xiao Long Baos were level up to those of Ding Tai Feng, Crystal Jade and Nan Xiang if not better. Impressive. We all love the flavorful soup hidden in the skin. To take things further, Paradise Dynasty created 8 different flavors for their Xiao Long Bao. They come in multiple colors ranging from the more adventurous, Foie gras, Cheese, Ginseng flavors to the novel Sze Chuan, Garlic, Black Truffle flavors and of course we cannot leave out the more conventional but popular Crab Roe and Original flavors. Here you are peering at our Crab Roe flavor Xiao Long Bao .......

...... and our Original Flavor Xiao Long Bao. It's obvious that we weren't too adventurous.

The unassuming entrance to Paradise Dynasty opens up into a spacious opulence, with high back cushion seats .......

..... coupled with two majestic looking dragon motifs on the ceiling that lights up the restaurant, making the enjoyment of La Mian and Xiao Long Baos such a grandiose experience.

La Mian in Signature Pork Bone Soup .... was sweet and close to pork bone soup of Japanese Ramen. It was sweet but yet not cloying.

Apart from the tasty soup, the la mian was al dente. It's definitely giving Ding Tai Feng and Crystal Jade a run for their money.

.... served with Deep Fried Pork Ribs. However tasty the pork bone soup can be, we find flaws with the deep fried pork ribs that accompanied our la mian. The garlic was over cooked and gave the pork rib a bitter after taste. Just like rubbing salt to wound, one of the pork rib was just bone with very little meat. This is one minus point that blotched the impressive pork bone soup of the la mian.

Paradise Dynasty's Pork Stickers. Even the crispy pork stickers had evidences of the tasty juicy soup as we sank our teeth into these nicely browned ingots.

Pan Fried Shanghai Pork Bun. I would have enjoyed this more if I didn't have the pot stickers because the pork filling in the pot stickers and these buns had essentially the same taste. The steamed buns were panfried at the base to give that slightly charred fragrance and that added crispiness.

Red Bean Pancake. The pancake was fried to a good crisp. Together with the sweet red bean paste, they made a formidable dessert.

Ginger Tea with Black Sesame filled Mochi Balls. It's amazing that spicy ginger tea actually goes well with sweet black sesame. I just love the taste of spicy ginger blended with the fragrance of black sesame. Ginger with many things and me just got that chemistry going.

Chilled Aloe Vera and Osmanthus Jelly in Honey Lemon Juice. This is a light refreshing dessert that will definitely do well to cleanse the palate after some major savoriness.

The restaurant is so popular that they adopt the queue numbering system just like Crystal Jade's. So there's no reservation of tables. For a restaurant that serve good food, I always hate to share that there was lapse in their service. They're probably understaff as it took quite long for our tea to be refilled. For the love of good La Mian and Xiao Long Bao, HY and I will brave the queueing, close one eye to their service and return for more of Paradise Dynasty.

2 Orchard Turn

#04-12A ION Orchard

Singapore

Tel : +65 6509 9118

Paradise Dynasty Website

Victor's Kitchen .... Affordable and Delicious Dim Sum

2011-09-25T22:53:00.002+08:00

We were actually planning to have dim sum at Swee Choon along Jalan Besar when we realized that they closed at 10.30am. I'm glad that we were familiar with the area and decided to visit Victor's Kitchen which is just a short drive down Jalan Besar to Bencoolen Street. Victor's Kitchen is located on the 1st floor of Sunshine Plaza serving Hong Kong style dim dum.

This Dim Sum kitchen has made quite a name for itself drawing crowds of dim sum lovers with their delicious dim sum at affordable price. Expect to squeeze with strangers who may be sitting at the neighboring table placed side by side leaving only a single passage way for staff to bring the dim sum items to you.

玫瑰露蚝皇叉烧包 Rosey Wine Yummy Char Siew Bun.

酥皮蛋黄奶皇包 Yummy Milky Custard Bun. Victor's Kitchen Custard Bun is a must-try with it's runny custard that flows out of any crack that you create.

XO 酱干贝腊味蒸箩卜糕 Scallop, Sausage Carrot Cake with XO sauce

沙律明虾角 Deep Fried Shrimp Dumpling

皮蛋鱼片粥 Nemo's Porridge. The porridge was not typical Hong Kong style. It taste bland, more like Teochew porridge.

香脆鲜虾腐皮卷 Crispy Golden Shrimp Roll

蜜汁叉烧肠粉 Char Siew Cheong Fun. The cheong fun here's smooth and thin. Very good!

香港特色煎肠粉 H.K. Style Pan Fry Cheong Fun. I was impressed with this pan fried cheong fun. One side of the cheong fun was fried till it's crispy and slightly charred. The fragrance of the charred parts made this food a treat to the sense of taste and smell.

香港夏日冰镇奶茶 H.K. Summer Ice Tea. This the the way that Victor's Kitchen present their Ice Milk Tea. The ice bath was used to keep the milk tea chilled. Adding ice to the milk tea will dilute the taste so this is one good way of keeping the ice milk tea chilled while maintaining consistency of the tea.

91 Bencoolen Street
#01-49 Sunshine Plaza
Singapore
Tel : +65 9838 1761

Opening Hours :
Daily 10.30am~8pm
Closed on Monday

La Barca .... A Tuscan food affair from a Tuscan Michelin Star Chef

2011-09-24T23:45:00.003+08:00

La Barca Ristorante & Wine Bar is the brain child of Michelin Star Chef Michele Sorrentino and his apprentice, friend, business partner, also the General Manager of the restaurant, Christopher Tung. Many would question if it make sense for this Tuscan fine dining restaurant to be in the Goodman Art Centre. I thought it makes perfect sense and in fact a rather good business acumen from Christopher and Chef Michele. Goodman Art Centre is located in a Good Class Bungalow estate where there's many potential customers who has the spending muscles even if it means eating at the restaurant every other day. The ambience here is classy and the restaurant has a good range of premium wines to pair with the food. I've been fortunate to dine in Tuscany and I was hoping to find the taste of Tuscany that Chef Michele may have brought to Singapore with him.

Il Baccala Mantecato con Cips Di Patatine Croccanti - Whipped Salted Cod with Potato Crisp. This salted cod mash tasted a bit fishy at first, but as we ate more, the taste kicked in and it got more delicious and appetizing.

Il Tortino Di Asparagi E Ricotta Su Salsa Di Basilico - Asparagus and Ricotta Flan with Basil Sauce. We thought that this tasted like quiche. The Basil sauce was a good try to provide a kick but it was overall bland.

La Fiorentina Alla Griglia Con Patatae E Canellini Alla Salvia - 1.6kg Grilled T-Bone Steak Served with Oven Roasted Potatoes and Canellini Beans.

This Tuscan style T-bone was cooked to give that charming crispy charred texture on the outside, pink, tender and juicy on the inside. This is the same Fiorentina steak that we had gone sniffing for when we step foot into Tuscany. The ones HY and I had in Florence and Chianti had more salt sprinkled over the beef that made them tastier. Savoriness was what's lacking here compared to the ones we had in Italy. Over the table we were actually arguing over whether Gattopardo or Al Borgo h the Steak Fiorentina that we prefer. We took the liberty, without Chef looking at us, to crush more salt over the beef and it sprang to life almost immediately.

Apart from the roasted potatoes to go with our T-bone, we were served with Canellini beans made slightly spicy. These beans are popularly grown in the region of Tuscany. I don't think it was meant as a dip sauce for the beef other wise the service staff would have informed us.

I Pici Di Casa Con Salsa Di Anantra Ai Profumi Dell'Orto - Handmade Pici Pasta with Duck Meat Sauce. The Pici pasta is a thick hand rolled pasta that originates from Siena. These were handmade by Chef Michele. It was the first time I had pici pasta. The pici pasta tasted as springy as the Japanese udon except that it had that added egg-iness. The duck meat sauce was elemental and gave this pasta it's soul.

Gli Spaghetti All'Astice La Sua Salsa Piccante - Spaghetti served with Spicy Lobster Sauce. HY was all thumbs up for with this spaghetti even though she would prefer the spaghetti to be cooked, maybe, 30 seconds longer. This pasta came with a spicy lobster sauce at the side which I didn't capture on photo. You can add as much as you like as long as it's not too spicy for you.

Semifreddo Al Pistachio Con Polvere Di Pistacchi E Salsa Di Cioccolato E Insalata Di Fragole - Pistachio Parfait with Pistachio Powder, Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries. I think I didn't do justice to this dessert with this photo. If I had known that it was so phenomenal, I would have taken more time to compose a better photo.

We all agreed that these 2 pieces of what seemed like a reversed rock melon (usually the rock melon's juicy flesh is orangey and the part near the skin is greenish) was heavenly. I wonder how much work had gone into making this parfait so intensely rich of pistachio. It's as authentic as you can get and maybe even better than some pistachio parfait in Italy. Great stuff!

Tiramisu La Barca. The tiramisu was mostly marscapone with some moist cake spread sparingly at the base. It's not too bad but we had better elsewhere.

Food was quite good but I expected more than this from a Michelin Star Chef. While service was immaculate, we thought our dinner would be close to perfect if we had just stick to pastas. I would like to accrue this imperfection to the growing pains of a new restaurant and hope that it just gets better at La Barca from here onwards.

Goodman Arts Centre

90 Goodman Road Block C

Singapore

Tel : +65 6346 5813

Opening Hours :

Tues~Fri Open from 9am

Sat~Sun Open from 12 noon

Kitchen closes at 10 pm

Closed on Monday

La Barca Website

Smitten Cafe and Tea Bar ...... and Day Makers

2011-09-24T11:35:00.000+08:00

I've heard about Smitten from a friend who likes to hang out at the area around Robertson Quay. First it was the Book Cafe where his son likes the treasure chest of toys and then it was Smitten when it was opened not long ago. Smitten was only opened for a couple of months and it's only recently that the cafe decided to serve paninis over the counter. This was when I chose to visit so that I can have my panini lunch over freshly brewed coffee. Apart from the Ethiopian and Sumatran beans for the coffees, there are exotic teas that impressed me just by the sound of their names, Baiye Dancong Oolong, Bi Tan Piao Xue Green Tea etc. Though this cafe and tea bar was opened not too long ago, it has become popular by virtue of good coffee, service and explosion of folks who are no longer satisfied with gourmet coffees from the big boys. Smitten called themselves Day makers and Yes they made my day with their premium fresh brewed coffee.

Here's my Iced Drip Coffee that's perfect for cooling me down after walking a distance under the Sunday afternoon sun. It was light but nevertheless fragrant.

As it was my first caffeine intake for the day, the iced drip coffee wasn't enough. So I got myself another shot in the form of Caffe Latte. This cuppa is slightly more acidic than the one from Loysel's Toy.

For a light lunch, I've got myself a Grilled Bratwurst Panini with potato chips baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. I liked the smokey grilled bratwurst but I find that panini portion to be small.

As the panini was too small a portion for lunch, I went ahead to order more Grilled Bratwurst Nibblets. The bratwurst was adictive.

Here's the Mirage Idrocompresso machine that will be brewing my coffee in Smitten. While I was wiling away time at a table right opposite this machine, I saw a coffee legend, Gwilym Davies, 2009 World Champion Barrista, walk right into Smitten. Folks from Smitten recognized him and started to host him around sharing experiences and techniques about the use of the Mirage Idrocompresso. Here's a shot of Gwilym playing with the Mirage machine in Smitten.

Right behind the counter are shelves displaying the tea pots and coffee filters that they sell too.

If you don't like to be engulfed by the fragrance of coffee aroma inside then cafe, better chope your seats outside as the cafe can get quite crowded.

60 Robertson Quay

#01-11 The Quayside

Singapore

Smitten Website

Le Viet Cafe and Restaurant .... Fantastic Authentic Vietnamese food discovered!

2011-09-18T22:03:00.001+08:00

Good Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) has been up on our list ever since we came back from Vietnam. Last week we had Pho from a restaurant in Joo Chiat Road that left us totally dissatisfied. Our subconscious minds have been dying for sort of a revenge to fight that loser feeling of eating lousy food and we chose to dine at Le Viet Cafe and Restaurant at East Coast Road. The small restaurant is located among the little stretch of shophouses along East Coast Road nearer to Telok Kurau Road junction. If not for the bright red signboard with a distinct yellow star that caught our attention, we would have driven pass. Inside the restaurant, the decor was simple. Wooden tables and chairs lined the walls of the longish dining space. The walls were adorned with a couple of Vietnamese paintings and familiar Vietnamese lanterns that we almost bought from our Hanoi tour were hung around the restaurant. Amidst our dinner, HY rap on the wooden table while I was lost to the world enjoying my bowl of Bun to catch my attention, reminded me that this is where she wants her Pho takeaway in future. Le Viet is truly up to standards and this includes it's reasonable price point. On top of that, good service.

We ordered a series of dishes to share and this vegetable dish was the first to come out of the kitchen. Never mind that we'll prefer our vegetable to be served midway between our staples and meat, this simple looking stir fried lotus root with mixed vegetables was impressive enough for us to expect more from the rest of the dishes. It was lotus root slices were slightly sticky like it's supposed to be but it was crunchy. You can do no wrong with crunchiness out of stir fried lotus roots.

La Viet Platter (Bon Mon Khai Vi) Combination of crispy spring roll, fresh paper roll, sugarcane prawn & fishcake/steam roll. The platter featured the best of the Vietnamese appetizers available in the house. The fishcake/steam roll tasted like the the Chinese rice flour rolls. We all liked the fresh paper spring roll and the sugarcane prawn.

Yeah these sugarcane prawns are minced prawns made great by sticking around sugarcane sticks. The sweetness of the sugar cane got infused into the prawn. I chomped on the sugarcane playfully just to find out if it tasted better with the extra purge of cane sweetness.

This is a typical Vietnamese dish, Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls, that we come to know of even before we visited Vietnam. The prawn was the ingredient that gave it sweetness and the crunchy, refreshing mix of vegetables wrapped in the translucent rice flour paper wrap made this really awesome even without the dipping sauce (Nuoc Cham).

Vietnamese Vermicelli Dry - vermicelli w cucumber, carrot, onions, bean sprouts, peanut & fried shallots and sauce served with grilled chicken. There's options of grilled pork or crispy spring roll instead of grilled chicken. This dish reminisces of the bún that I had at Bún Bò Nam Bộ in Hanoi, Vietnam. Mix the ingredients with Nuoc Cham and then tuck in.

3-in-1 Mixed Noodles (Pho Bo Thap Cam 3-in-1) beef brisket, beef slices and beef balls with noodles served in beef soup. It was just last week that we ate a beef noodle soup from a Vietnamese restaurant along Joo Chiat and was aghast by just looking at the noodle. It looked more like kambing soup will the oil floating above the soup. Le Viet's beef soup is definitely not run-off-the-mill stuff. The soup was clear, delicious, light and appetizing. I was requested by HY to do takeaway from Le Viet if she wants Vietnamese Pho for dinner.

Egg Crepe - Pork and Prawn (Banh Xeo) pan fried crepe with sliced pork, green bean, bean sprout, mushroom and onion served with lettuce. The egg was mixed with starch and wasn't as savory as we thought it would be. We didn't like this omelette. Half of these were left untouched.

392 East Coast Road
Singapore
Tel: +65 6446 4567

Opening Hours:
Daily 11am~10pm

A relaxing coffee indulgence at Loysel's Toy after my morning run

2011-09-17T14:35:00.002+08:00

I swing by Loysel's Toy to join W and J for a light breakfast this morning after my run. As I entered the cafe, a welcoming wall of Keep Cups at the counter caught my attention. These multi-colored cups were hot items that were sold out the last time I visited the cafe. These cute cups stood happily above the food counter at S$16 per piece.

This morning, more people took the seats outside and there was still some empty space a relaxing chill out time. At this angle I noticed the bar stools have refurbished cushions of different patterns.

Here's the Egg Mayonnaise Bruschetta that W ordered. It looked healthy and tasty with the little heap of alfafa . I have to try it next time.

This time, to quell my caffeine needs, I had the Picolo. It was heavy bodied but not as intense when compared to the one I had at Oriole Cafe. I thought the Picolo here was more balanced and had mild acidity. My preference is with the Picolo here. Enjoyed the chilling out with this well brewed picolo. Hmmmmmm heaven.

Got myself a warm Almond Croissant which tasted mostly buttery with the slight sweet glaze over the flaky puff. It was exactly what I wanted so that I still reserve space to enjoy lunch with HY after her yoga class.

Here's the shiny cool looking Probat Coffee Roaster set at the corner of the cafe. I suspect this was the monster that created the Terra Firma beans that I tried in Papa Palheta.

At the cafe's entrance, there's even a Bicycle Rental Service available for a mind rejuvenating bike trip along the Kallang River, of course ending with an aromatic cuppa.

66 Kampong Bugis
Ture #01-01
Singapore
Tel : 9451 0236

Opening Hours:
Tues~Fri 9am~6pm
Sat~ Sun 9am~730pm

Loysel's Toy Website

Cooling Down in Holland Village #2

2011-09-15T22:36:00.000+08:00

HY saw my Island Creamery Baked Alaska's post on facebook and decided to indulge herself with some frolicking.

Cooling down in Holland Village #1

2011-09-14T22:53:00.000+08:00

I was waiting for HY for her hair cut in Holland village that was supposed to be only 1 hour's wait. The supposed 1 hour wait became 2. Found Island Creamery's new outlet and had a Baked Alaska. The wait cost me S$4.80 for the Baked Alaska and S$300 for a Nikon AF-S 50mm f1.8G from Parisilk.

Hong Mao Mian Jia 红毛面家 ...... No Ang Moh sighted.

2011-09-13T08:18:00.000+08:00

The name Hong Mao Mian Jia 红毛面家 evokes curiosity. Do you half expect an Ang Moh in a white singlet cooking noodles in here? When we were there, there was no sign of any Ang Moh, just pretty good wanton noodles. HY thought the wanton were good even though the wantons are primarily filled with minced pork. Personally, I prefer wantons with shrimps. The noodles were al dente and the chilli for the dried version was sweet and shiok!

Here's Hong Mao Mian Jia looks like at about 8.30am in the morning.

Walk straight ahead to the open glass window, take a number and shout out your orders. When the counter flashed to coincide with you number tag, your orders will arrive.

Mr. Gerard Ee has become the "advertisement" for Hong Mao Mian Jia.

182 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore

Opening Hours:
7am~3pm Tuesday~Sunday
Closed on Mondays

Exquisite Cantonese Cuisine in Shang Palace 香宫

2011-09-11T21:53:00.000+08:00

Although Dad prefers to dine in chi char style restaurants and the likes more than fine dining, I've taken the liberty to give him a birthday treat at Shang Palace, a Cantonese fine dining restaurant in Shangri-La Hotel helmed by Master chef Steven Ng. As we entered the restaurant, we were impressed by its opulence. Traditional Chinese touches on chandeliers made to look like lanterns. Large Chinese vases are placed at specific spots to flaunt but not to obstruct. Comfortable modern cushioned chairs around the round tables. There were several private dining rooms that lined one side of the restaurant. I knew that the doors to these rooms have effective sound proofing as the baby cries from a family inside one room got cut off as the waiting staff slides the large wooden door shut. All these provided an enjoyable ambience and comfort to enhance tasting pleasures for the exquisite cuisine.

We ordered some dim sum items that were really not too bad but they were simply outshined by Chef's Signature dishes that I've ordered. The cha siew bun has superb fluffy skin and I knew I had to eat the filling and give up the bun skin to HY. She just love eating bun skin. The fried yam dumpling had a twist to it. Curry was added to the filling. As I had mentioned, dim sum was good but the following dishes just got better.

Signature Dishes from Shang Palace ...

龙骨炖花胶汤 Double Boiled Ling Cod Fish Bone with Fish Maw. As we scoop out the fish maw, we were pleased that it's a thick piece suggesting that quality fish maw was used for this double boiled soup. The double boiling brings out the sweetness of the cod fish bone.

脆皮百花猪件 Crispy Suckling Pig with fragrant Shrimp Paste. Dad liked this dish best as the best part of the suckling pig, it's crispy crackling skin was creatively married to the shrimp paste. There was the sweetness of the shrimp coupled with the fragrance of suckling pig. The multitude of taste and texture made this a great novel dish.

竹叶糯米鳕鱼 Steamed Layered Cod Fish with Glutinous Rice, Dried Scallop and Crab Meat in Bamboo leaf. When this came I was real curious how the cod fish and glutinous rice were presented insed the wrap.

I flipped open the leaves revealing the thick chunk of cod fish over the glutinous rice.

When I dig in I realized it was a cod fish sandwich. Two big chunks of cod fish sandwiching the glutinous rice. The portion was generous, perhaps a bit too generous as we were full by the time we finished this dish.

金宝田园蔬 Pastoral-style diced assorted mushrooms and vegetables in miso sauce. The miso sauce was a nice touch to bind this vegetarian dish making appetizing. The sweet Ginko nuts and the cubes of mock luncheon meat where ingredients that really stood out of this dish.

带子锅塌豆腐 Braised Beancurd with Fresh Scallop and Shrimp Roe. By the time we came to this scallop dish, all of us were up to the brim. Even though we managed to finish it, I don't think we gave the scallop a fair chance to satisfy us. We were all too full to be able to tell how satisfying this dish can be. The beancurd was so soft that it'll tear if you're not gentle with it. The scallop was sweet and tender.

果露香芒布甸 Chilled Mango Pudding. This was a pretty execution of the mango pudding with mango puree and then drizzled with vanilla cream.

养颜青柠芦荟果冻 Chilled jelly, green lime, aloe vera. HY's choice of dessert was a refreshing one that lift the palate and cleanse the savoriness from the mains that we had.

Service in the restaurant was at it's best. The tea pot never felt empty as the service staff filled them up without us noticing as we enjoyed our meal.

22 Orange Grove Road
Lobby Level Shangri-La Hotel
Singapore
Tel : +65 6213 4473

Opening Hours:
Lunch 11.30am~2.30pm
(Monday to Friday)
Lunch 10.30am~2.30pm
(Saturday, Sunday and public holidays)
Dinner 6.30~10.30pm

Shang Palace Website