MissyGlutton

Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant

2012-01-16T23:18:00.001+08:00

Out of curiosity, Missy decided to venture into Red Water-bottle’s area in the eastern side of Singapore. Although there are rumors of Missy going around the island to eat, she would like to clarify that there is not much that can tempt her into the east. Something caught Missy’s attention when she was stalking various food blogs. Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant in Changi Business Park…. Don’t they just have food courts and fast food in business parks?

Peranakan food… Just right up Red Water-bottle’s alley. Being a Baba, Red Water-bottle can be quite picky about food, especially food related to his heritage. Missy asked Red Water-bottle along for this venture into this unfamiliar area to search for this supposing wonderful food, hoping to use him to sniff out the usual less than good Peranakan fare. As both Missy and Red Water-bottle are extremely greedy, they are determined to order as much food as they could. By the way, this review was done over 2 visits.

Missy feels Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant served one of the best home cooked food she had tasted. Food that is familiar to anyone who has ever experienced food cooked by someone who had put their heart and soul to provide for their own families. Food which one takes for granted, the ones that will always be on the dining tables when one comes home from work or school. Food which one will miss if they do not get to eat for a while.

Missy liked the food at the first visit; though at that time she didn’t think it would be a place she would visit that often. The food definitely ain’t no Michelin star quality, it is not by any famous chef she know of nor the place is not somewhere a restaurant would want to make big bucks to be situated. However, the taste of the food just lingered in her head. It was so familiar and yet not. Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant must have hidden an old extremely experienced and wise chef cooking in their kitchen. Missy thinks the chef is a good friend of her own grandmother. The food served by Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant reminds Missy of the flavors, smells, texture and all the emotional attachments of her grandmother, who had left this world.

Philip was the favorite person to have to tell what is good to order and stopping us before we can go overboard with the ordering. Philip has such vast knowledge of Peranakan heritage and stories of his youth, food, and travels. He definitely had added a very personal touch to the visits there.

Do give Baba King Nonya Deli & Restaurant a try. Chat with Philip and tap into his vast knowledge. Most importantly go before we lose food from the past. AND MUST ORDER their BUBUR TERIGU !

Fotos from the visits part 1

Fotos from the visits part 2

Chef Bruno Menard @ Jaan

2012-01-01T00:23:00.001+08:00

Missy likes to read the different food magazines available in Singapore. She would try to get reservations for the visiting chefs and some of the new restaurants featured. Okay, Missy might not be the brightest in a box of crayons. She won’t know and honestly really care who are all the famous chefs or what their backgrounds might be. What is the most important for her is the food that are prepared and put in front of her.

Chef Bruno Menard was going to be a guest chef in Jaan for a few days. As she has her class afterwards, it had to be a semi rush job. Unfortunately Missy was only able to make it for only a day, and immediately she called up Red-Waterbottle to force him to go for lunch.

The menu presented was:

Amuse-bouche: - Smoked foie gras custard and sorrel espuma

This was an excellent combination of sorrel and foie gras. The richness of foie gras mixed with the rustic taste of sorrel gave Missy the purrs. The internal humming was starting, definitely a good sign of her enjoyment of the food.

Appetizer: - Saint Jacques (scallops) and Avocado, Caviar D' Aquitaine

Fresh scallop were great with avocado. Little grains of caviars, a bit of the scallops and a slice of avocado were nice. It was the salt grains and lemon zest gave the dish a slight extra touch, which could have been overlooked by a lesser chef.

Soup: - Roscoff onion soup, parsley custard and white truffle Chantilly

The soup was presented in a spaceship dish. When it was uncovered, the soup did look plain at first. When she dug deeper, there was the parsley custard. Missy wasn’t a big fan of parsley, but it hard worked so well in this soup. The humming had slowly developed into a song.

Main: -

Venison fillet and ginger butter, beets "Noque" and condiments

French sea bass, Lemon gnocchi, marinated grapefruit and "Dolce forte" sauce

Missy wasn’t too impressed with the mains. It was a good beginning of a song, and was hoping for a big bang in the end.

Refresher: - Oriental flavor granite

The taste was rather unique, not the usual lemon or lime a regular chef would have done.

Dessert: - Coffee, Pear, Cardamom

Chef Bruno promised Missy would like the dessert. Unfortunately, Missy is not a big fan of coffee or cardamom. She did love the poached pear.

Petite fours: -

Mignardises

It was just a cookie from rather unique box from France. Missy would definitely buy a box of it, if she sees it being sold out there.

Like a good chef who would taste his food regularly, chef Bruno Menard came out to check with the customers. Chef Bruno Menard is based in Japan, and his many years there had given the skill to combine many different ingredients into perfect harmony. The food was so wonderful; she could have buried him deeply in praises. Missy was sincerely worried that her love for the food might have created an unwanted thought in her head. How many people will discover him missing, kept in her cellar (she wished she has)?

Missy only found out how famous chef Bruno Menard was when she goggled for a Smoked foie gras custard and sorrel espuma recipe to try out. Missy’s best hope is for Chef Bruno to start sharing his recipes in a book or maybe start his own place in Singapore.

Two-Michelin star guest chef Antonio Genovese @ LaBrezza

2011-12-27T16:57:00.000+08:00

As Missy tapped her feet in the LaBrezza, Red-Waterbottle was running late because of the rain they seemed to be getting. There seemed to be the practice of no bread will be served, till an order is placed. Surely customers, who had walked in, would not walked out without ordering something. The staff kept walking around; Missy was getting a bit hungry. Decided to order for Red-Waterbottle, since it was informed that they would be only serving set lunch from the visiting two-Michelin star guest chef. Missy had wanted to try something from the regular menu. When Red-waterbottle walked in with reports of heavy traffic all the way there, a breadbasket with olive pesto was served. Might be hunger, the olive pesto with bread tasted great.

Frist plate was Fried smoked amberjack, rolled courgettes, Jasmine-infused sake and citrus tea. Missy didn’t like it. The fried smoked amberjack was like any other fish fillet from any fish and chip store found in Singapore (most fish and chip stores in Singapore ain’t good, in Missy’s opinion). As for the rolled courgettes, jasmine-infused sake and citrus… definitely would be better off forgotten.

The dish of potato ravioli dumplings with Nduja salami, figs was a total waste of time. The only purpose it had served was for Missy and Red-waterbottle to rehash their experience of the “Samosa maker” (courtesy of Mr. Red-Waterbottle). Ravioli dumplings, they were not. Missy just had 2 or 3 and returned the rest of the horrible-left-out-too-long samosas. And that’s when the Zeus act started. For the past 2 months (yes… this is two months later since Red-waterbottle and Missy went), every time Indian food, potato, samosa, or anything that will remind Red-waterbottle, he will go on and on and on about the potato ravioli dumplings they had.

The main course was veal entrecote seared in vanilla oil, champignon mushrooms, and cannellini beans cream. Missy felt the veal was cooked too long for her liking; she just couldn’t finish the meat. Unlike the slab of meat, Missy loved the mushrooms. Mushroom is an ingredient, which only Missy would screw up. Yes, Missy screwed up a mushroom soup! * Sobs * Missy guessed chef Zeus (aka Two-Michelin star guest chef Antonio Genovese) would be happy to know.

The refresher was definitely a break in the bad food movements. Watermelon granita with mint, vodka gelee was a combination of both good and bad. Missy didn’t like the vodka gelee, even with the nice watermelon granite with mint. The alcoholic taste was slightly too overpowering for Missy.

Hot semolina cake with pinenuts, Honey ice cream with clementine orange and rosemary was the desert. Missy did like the honey ice cream, and that was it.

On the whole, the whole meal was absolutely not worth their money and time. Red-waterbottle didn’t like the meal, nor did Missy. The service was lousy. Instead maybe even trying to satisfy Missy with a dish from their regular menu, they decided to do it for another table instead.

Two-Michelin star guest chef Antonio Genovese of Il Pagliaccio reminded Missy of Zeus. “It was believed that if someone, or a civilization did something the Gods disapproved of, the Gods would smite them, bringing destruction and despair to the afflicted” (quoted from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_Zeus'_power#ixzz1hisuGVr8 ). Luckily for Missy, chef Antonio doesn’t have Zeus’s power. A “human Zeus” staring at Missy’s back and hoping to burn a hole in her, ain’t going to improve whatever rubbish she was served.

More Photos : Photos on FB page

De Burg

2011-11-20T16:53:00.001+08:00

Missy read about this burger place in Ghim Moh estate. Being one of the older estates in Singapore, Ghim Moh has a few stores in the local food courts that are worth visiting again and again. Missy thought to try to invade into such a location, owners of De Burg must have a few tricks to impress.

There were choices of 200grams or 100grams Australian beef of a few kinds, pork and lamb, but no chicken. As Missy was trying to find the best of what the store had to offer, she decided to go for De Burg Decadence. It was a 200g Australian Wagyu beef patty, Cheese, Grilled Crispy Bacon and Grilled Portobello Mushroom. Missy had to get this, as it seemed to be only available on Fridays, weekends, eve of public holidays and public holidays. What really got Missy excited was “limited quantity”, she just love anything that is harder to get usual.

Armed with her “White tiger” aka homemade Barley drink in a Tiger beer mug, she waited with her new buzzer friend from De Burg. It was quite a long wait, but they just started. Buzzzz went her new friend, so Missy went and collect her limited quantity De Burg Decadence burger.

De Burg Decadence was a PLUS size burger! As Missy was wondering what De Burg Decadence made of. So it was Bun, mayo, red onion?, …. Wait, Red onion? Missy don’t like red onion in her burger! What happened to the white onion she likes and usually get in her burgers? Forget about the onion, the reason of its plus size was the grilled Portobello mushroom! :P

Missy doesn’t think this is a burger she had and would enjoy. Bleu cheese would be a better choice of cheese to be used, and the cheese used was not enough to be detected. Missy thought there is so much missing from what was promised from this burger, a missing report should be filed. The burger was juicy or wet, because of the mushroom, and not the dry patty. The wagyu beef patty? Missy won’t know it is, if she did not read it off the menu. Missy is not a big fan of vegetables, even potatoes, but it was the fries that impressed her the most from this meal.

“Burgers are not fast food” is a slogan that should not be used lightly. Her whole experience with De Burg was similar, if not worse than the local Mac. She is known to have enjoyed a burger from McDonald's, and would much prefer an order of “Double “Filet-O-Fish”.

On the last note, De Burg is moving out of their current location. Maybe it is better to leave this location, as there is much better local stalls in Ghim Moh.

More pictures can be found here.

Piedmont-inspired cuisine by Chef Igore Macchia @ Domvs

2011-11-04T13:14:00.000+08:00

Missy's take on Piedmont-inspired cuisine by Chef Igore Macchia @ Domvs

La Petite Cuisine (Upper Thomson)

2011-11-03T23:39:00.001+08:00

Missy's take on La Petite Cuisine (Upper Thomson)

Le Cuisson

2011-11-01T19:33:00.000+08:00

Missy's take on Le Cuisson

檸檬草美食連鎖 (Lemon Grass Steamboat)

2011-11-01T19:29:00.004+08:00

Missy's take on 檸檬草美食連鎖 (Lemon Grass Steamboat)

Chef Laurent Peugeot @ Il Cielo

2011-10-21T19:46:00.002+08:00

Missy's take on Chef Laurent Peugeot @ Il Cielo

The Jackson Plan

2011-10-08T01:34:00.002+08:00

Missy's take on The Jackson Plan

Seafood International Market & Restaurant

2011-08-15T21:36:00.000+08:00

Missy's take on Seafood International Market & Restaurant

Ohsumi Japanese Restaurant

2011-08-04T22:08:00.001+08:00

Missy's take on Ohsumi Japanese Restaurant

Jules Cafe Bar

2011-07-28T00:35:00.000+08:00

Missy's take on Jules Cafe Bar

Eno - Oka Japanese Restaurant

2011-07-19T13:50:00.002+08:00

Missy's takes on Eno - Oka Japanese Restaurant

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

2011-07-18T22:27:00.000+08:00

Missy's takes on Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

Special Event by lolla's secret suppers @ Le Bistrot

2011-07-04T22:40:00.001+08:00

Missy's takes on Special Event by lolla's secret suppers @ Le Bistrot

Old Airport Road Hawkers' Centre

2011-06-27T22:04:00.000+08:00

Missy's Opinions...

Keisuke Tokyo (Parco Marina Bay)

2011-06-23T21:17:00.000+08:00

The review is here

RiverBank Estate

2011-06-22T21:50:00.000+08:00

The review is here

HI EVERYBODY!!!

2011-06-22T20:29:00.001+08:00

I decided to come back !! :D

Moving to a new location....

2010-08-10T11:18:00.001+08:00

hi hi Everyone.

I decided to move all my postings to Facebook.

Please join my page

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/MissyGlutton/143577075653210

MissyGlutton

Le figue (7th Sept 2009)

2009-09-13T15:40:00.010+08:00

Been a while since i wrote anything. Just trying to deal with things. Anyway, due to some reasons, I am a vegetarian for a month... and just another week to go! wait.. not a week... another 8 days to go (it actually decrease as I took my time to write this entry). So.... to be a vegetarian is not easy for me, esp when I want to eat anything i can smell.

I do not care too much for mock stuffs, and would definitely not purposely take this opportunity to try out the vegetarian resturants in Singapore. To put it bluntly, I am not a big fan of vegetables. I do have vegetarian friends and one of them is my regular makan kaki (aka lunch buddy). I would just drag her to the restaurants I want to try, I realized how horrible it can be now.

Due to my diet, I have a limit on what I can order when I walked into any restaurant. Even if I am not the purest of them all, I still would prefer NO FISH diet. Afterall, if a fish can speak, I am sure it would tell me that it’s not a vegetable.

I still am trying to get over the fact that a restaurant would only have 2 dishes which are somewhat vegetarian. French Onion soup (which someone informed me is NOT vegetarian) and Risotto were just starters in the menu. Gosh, how hard it is to grill, pan fried, or steamed a piece of vegetables… Or even make a starter portion into a main sized portion. I guess it was very difficult.

Walking into Le figue reminds me of a hasty-put-together-warehouse set up. Not that it is a bad thing, but I am not a big fan of see pipes running across the ceiling or rooms that reflect too much sounds. I like soft background music, non-echoing speeches around and a quiet corner.

Given only TWO choices, I had to order both, afterall I am a gal who needs her daily intake of food.

I like my bread warm, if not hot. I absolutely dislike bread which are room temperature. I have plenty of those at home. Give me nicely sliced warm bread, and I will be happy. And of course, I PREFER salted butter. I am sure a lot of places do care so much for the health of Singaporeans, but give me the choice of “live to eat” rather than “eat to live”.

Classic french onion soup, Gruyere cheese and it's toast

I enjoyed this soup. I always felt onions are so marvelous, to have such sweet flavor without having to put in additional sugar. I do felt there ought to be slightly more liquid in this dish, it is a soup after all.

Mixed berries with passionfruit sorbet

Was given this to cleanse my taste buds. I thought it sounded slightly sourish… but found it sweet. Surprisingly, I always tot something to cleanse would be sourish.

Rissotto of cepes, green onion, parmigiano and black summer truffles

WOW, this is one of my favorite Rissottos I ever tried. After the one I had in Perth, Australia, I wasn’t able to find another which I really enjoyed. Unlike most ppl, I always prefer my risotto cooked slightly longer, and with less bites to it. YES, I am getting old… I think I would need to get my dentures soon.

When the dish came, I saw the mushroom and I thought the piece of mushroom was my favorite foie gras. But after poking it around and also asking the service staff, I confirmed that my dream was dashed, it was indeed a mushroom. Wonderfully done was this mushroom (frist portion). I had enjoyed the risotto so much and because of the small starter portion, that I had to order another one.

Maybe it was just me, but I felt the second portion, which was supposed to be similar to the frist, used a different type of mushrooms. And unlike the frist portion, it had retained slightly more liquid and it was like a small dam breaking thru when I cut into it. I like the risotto without the addittonal liquid which changed the flavor ever so slightly, yet detectable.

On the whole, I felt the service can be improved. Maybe they are still new and the staff are still not familiar with the setup. I would definitely give it another try, just because my FRIST order of risotto was very well done.

大东虾面 (17th June 2009)

2009-06-18T00:52:00.005+08:00

I went around Singapore trying to find lunch for an hour.... from Joo Chiat, to Jalan Besar, and around little india.... .end up with... Da Dong prawn noodles....

This is the 2nd time I been to this place... 1st time I went was thru recommendation from a blog. Maybe I went there with my family, the feeling was rather pleasent.

This time round, I was served by 2 grumpy person. Because I know that they are rather friendly, so I excused them. I ordered the dried yellow noodles and with a bowl of pigtail ... Read Moresoup, as the blog suggested. Quickly giving it a few shots, I started eating. The noodles are slightly plain and with the lard bits and a bit of chilli, didn't exactly stand out compared to any other stalls. The prawns used were fresh and plump, which I like.

Come to the soup, maybe it had been boiling since morning... there was a very strong taste of "pork". After drinking a few spoonfuls, it started getting rather sickening.

This stall does serve a decent prawn noodles for the price I had paid. Mornings would be the best time to go for a frenly service n not a stuck up which one would find in some of those fancy high class places.

Moving to Facebook!!

2009-06-16T11:34:00.004+08:00

haha I have to agree that I am not the best writer in town.
So I am moving to FACEBOOK!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/missyglutton

MOVE IS CANCELLED!!! :P
but feel free to add me :p

Azabu Sabo (The Central) .. (16th Mar 2009)

2009-03-29T00:44:00.013+08:00

hi hi people who are reading... or just seeing the pictures... I had semi lost my desire to write... so let's see what I can write on this...

Matcha Milk shake

I felt that there is a different in the standards of each individual branch. The Matcha Milk shake here is slightly less "greentea'ish" than the one I had Marina Sq. I felt it is more a Milk shake with some Matcha powder, even though it looked rather greentea'ish on the whole.

Lunch set

Unatama Don

Spicy Tantan Ramen

This wasn't spicy, so don't get tricked by the name of it. At the frist taste, I felt this was too soupy. The noodles was quite chewy or Q Q one. For the little amount that I paid, I am okay with the little minced pork and leeks swimming like little guppies in a big ocean. I enjoyed having the soup afterwards.

Okonomi - Yaki with seafood

Usually I love this... however, I cannot get over the bitter taste of the lettuce or cabbage they used for this dish. So I just eat this, because I have to pay for it.

And we moved on to desserts!!!

Black sesame warabi-mochi parfait

ShiraMitsu

I wasn't in mood for ice cream, so I decided to go for a mixture of everything without the ice cream. And I love the brown syrup that come along with it.... I felt this was a very colorful and beautiful dish. :) I enjoy this quite a bit. :D

If you are going for something cheap and good, this is a great place to go.

Save on lunch and get their daily lunch sets, but do not miss their wonderful desserts!!!

Azabu Sabo (Marina Square) .. (14th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.049+08:00

Being the glutton that I am .... I had to have more desserts!!!

here's some to tempt u all :P

Black Sesame Warabi - Mochi Parfait

MatchaKiruan

Hokkaido hot ball with premium Vanilla ice cream, red bean paste, sweet potato and brown sugar syrup

MatchaKiruan

Matcha Milk shake

IT was good enough for me to go back twice afterwards to just to have the dessert. :P

Tomo Fine Dining (14th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.047+08:00

Miso dip and raw vegetables
I always enjoy their miso dip with the raw veggies :)

Sashimi platter
I felt the sashimi served that day could be better. I been to this place before, and was very impressed with the food there. However, the sashimi served that day was VERY disappointing.

Tonkatsu Ramen set

The breaded pork chop was good :P I enjoyed the ONE piece I had.

Cold noodle Ramen set

Sake Chazuke

I like my rice soggy, so this dish was quite enjoyable for me.

Enoki Maki and Nankotsu

I always like enoki wrapped with bacon!!! :P yummy.

Kaki Maki

Nothing beat this!!! oyster *yummy* this was really good! I had 4 pieces of that!!

and wanting more :P

Black Sesame ice cream n Yuzu ice cream

I think when a place reaches the top... the only way for it to go is down.

It is hard to maintain the standard of a place... somehow, I was hoping this would be different.

Wood Restaurant & Bar (13th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.038+08:00

Happened to be in the neighbourhood, and decided to pay this place a visit. Had been a while since I been there, and lack of memories of this place might just give me a fresh outlook on this place. Just maybe it will happen.....

Mixed field mushrooms simmered to perfect consistency with crispy croutons.
Nothing like a good bowl of hot soup on a rainy day :)

Pan fried to perfection, served on a bed of stock simmered wild rice

I didn't like this dish too much... maybe i am not a BIG fan of wild rice, I tend to find the texture slightly too hard for my liking. The salmon was too dry for my liking.

After this visit... I remember why i did not go back to this place.

Italian Gourmet (11th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.036+08:00

I was in the mood for something cheap and filling, rather than good GOOD italian food. So i decided to go to the nearest stall near Ikea, which I was supposed to pick up some stuffs from.

Cream of mushroom

This soup tasted like canned soup.... maybe slightly less ingredients in it... My dining partner actually said the campbell tasted better....even if this was supposed to be made from scratch.

Garlic Bread
I like this alot. I like the fact there was enough butter, and they were generous enough to put some herbs to give it a better taste.

Gorgonzola Mushroom pasta
As I was having only vegetarian food, I replaced the ham in this dish for mushroom instead. It was done very well. I enjoyed this alot.

Formaggi pizza
Like the previous pizza I had at this place, the cheese wasn't enough. But then the extra packs of cheese shavings satisfy my need for at least one cheesey pizza slice.

This is a stall to come for cheap italian food, especially if I only go for vegetarian stuffs. It has the making of a neighbourhood stall, not a place to go for, if u are looking refined italian stuffs.

DOMVS (7th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.031+08:00

DOMVS seemed to have a whole new set of staff. From the chef to the service staffs

Bread basket

Bread smoked Scamoza Cheese

Deep fried smoked scamoza cheese served with tomato salad, basamic dressing

Trout Carpaccio

Thinly sliced smoked and cured ocean trout with rock salt and garden salad

Fettuccine fatte in casa ai funghi porcini

Fettuccine with ceps mushroom sauce

Zuppa di gagioli borlotti con soffritto di cotechino

Borlotti bean soup with toasted cotechino

Fegato d'oca in padella con composta di arance rosse

Foie gras with blood orange compote

Gamberoni alla griglia

Grilled jumbo prawn with aubergine

Beef brisket

Beef braised in black pepper sauce served with polenta and vegetables

Saffron Risotto

Carnaroli rice cooked in vegetable stock with asparagus

Mango charlotte with exotic coulis and raspberry sorbet

Coppa pannacotta
Cup of pannacotta topped with fresh berry sauce

Chef's selection of cheese

I didn't exactly enjoy myself this time round. Well... the chef had changed and I am not used to this new chef's style. I only enjoyed the Fettuccine with ceps mushroom sauce and the Foie gras. I am utterly disappointed with the cheese selection that they had served. I do not like too much pepper in my food, and did not actually understand why I was served 2 portions of "similar" pepper cheeses.

Mietta's (5th Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.027+08:00

I have a love for Angels... They are always so dear in a unique and special way, which is hard to explain. From the Archangel that's closed... to this Mietta's.
Mietta's meant something to the owner... but to me, it's just an italian resturant... Harsh? nay, just a word that has different meaning to me.
Name of the place...

Olive oil with balsamic vinegar and bread

Foie Gras

Pan seared foie gras plated on raisin brioche and home made raspberry jam
I so do not like this. why? the portion is small. the small little leaf (I am sure they have a name) is bitter and the raspberry Jam so did not go well with the foie gras. I prefer my foie gras with slightly sweet sauce and not sour sauce.

Fettuccine mingled with hokkaido scallop and brocolini Aglio Olio style

Surprisingly this is a rather good pasta dish. The scallops are fresh and the sauce is light. :)

Warm chocolate brownie topped with chocolate rocher ice cream

WOOO this dessert was good! I finished everything but the mint!!! :p

All in all, this is a nice place to be with some frens. Sit down, enjoy a meal and a good conversation would be perfect combination to the food that would be served.

La Noce (3rd Mar 2009)

2009-03-15T16:58:00.022+08:00

Been going thru some tough patches lately, so I think March 3rd would be a day for good heart warming Italian food... a place I know the person who will be cooking for me and not some faceless ppl that might join and leave the place, as time goes by.

So despite this place being so out of the way.... I decided to encourage my friend to come to this place, making a promise she will have some decent italian food... though it has been some times since I been there, and not knowing if the standard still remains.

Olive oil with balsamic vinegar

We were given Olive oil with balsamic vinegar and some bread to start with. I am glad that this place served bread that are better than those of delifrance. I enjoyed them quite a bit. Did i mention I like warm bread? :D

Parmigiana di Melanzane con Mozzarella di Bufala

Eggplant parmigiana cheese with buffalo mozzarella

I like this cheese thingie :p Actually I like eggplant qute a bit, so it is an easy choice to make when I saw it on the menu. I think the chef had given it the right amount of cheese and time in the oven. It was baked to suit my taste bud. :)

Tea

My friend decided to have a peppermint tea, cause she felt the food was too rich for her. I, on the other hand, thought the food was great.

Panzerotti

Ravioli porcini mushroom with cream sauce

This dish was my friend's.... *sigh* it was done so well.... I want to save it from her fork. I think I will so appreciate it more than her. *NOTE to self: "Hide from this friend for a week* The cream sauce was not as rich as I was dreading. And the ravioli was done just fine, a bit more than al denta, which is what I like. And the mushroom sauce, though lack of meat, was enough to make me a vegetarian for a few months.... just enough to have it 3 times daily.

Risotto Nero Di Seppia Alla Siciliana

Risotto squid ink Sicilian style

I had always like Risotto, and squid ink anything is one of my weakness. I find this done slightly more saltish than I would like. Maybe because my poor little heart is missing the Panzerotti, I am unable to appreciate this dish as much as it should be. However, if the risotto can be cooked slightly longer and be softer... and less salt would definitely made me a lover of it.

If you want to look for a cosy family yet serve great italian food, this would definitely be the place to go. However, parking is quite bad there. Would be good to use the valet, if they have it.

Give a pat to the nice golden retriever living next door to this place. And the mistress don't like ppl feeding the dog, which I am totally in support of. If you have any leftover, do doggie bag it home.

Chicken Hot Pot @ Shenton Way (2nd March 2009)

2009-03-15T16:57:00.010+08:00

Name of the place...

I was introduced to this place by one of my siblings... (YES! I have siblings...strange might it be... I do come from Earth.)

The stove

Each table has this little stove with a small pot of fuel will be lit and to semi cook and keep the food warm at the same time.

Luncheon meat

This is put in the fridge... and you can choose a few raw dishes that can be added in the pot. With the help of whatever fuel, it will cook the raw food quite well.

Assorted vegetables

The pot... as the way it was served

The Chicken pot stirred fried

When the pot came... the Chicken was stirred fried with their house special sauce...

The Chicken pot with soup added in...

After having some of the chicken... soup will be added and we can continued to enjoy the soup version of this dish.

I love the way this dish was presented to me. I like the style the food is given and how it was cooked. I think it is quite a reasonable price to pay for the reasonable good food in town. :) I think I will head there quite often, especially when we have rainy weathers or slightly cold weathers.

Din Tai Fung (27th Feb 2009)

2009-03-04T20:42:00.005+08:00

Name of the place...

Vegetarian delight in special vinegar dressing

I do like this quite a bit...

Spinach with Sesame

Dry plain noodles tossed with sauce

Fried Rice with pork chop

and this is my favorite fried rice....

This place supposed to have the one of the better steamed pork dumplings in Singapore... it supposed to be a pity when one don't appreciate it. I guess I can take people showering me with the pity looks, cause i do not enjoy the dumplings here. I still prefer the non-chain stores and Chinese owned little stores, which served better dumplings.

Therefore.... this is left unused....

Ban Leong Wah Seafood Restaurant (17th Feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:20:00.011+08:00

When friends are in town... they would want to try some famous "Singapore" food. The main thing would be chilli crabs... or crabs of some sort. As my makan kakis are into crabs, so we try to get the better ones in town for my friends.

This was recommended after some rejected my recommendation of another place.

Prawn paste chicken

Baby squid

Butter prawn

Sambal Potato leaves

Herbal Frog leg soup

Chilli Crab

Black pepper crabs

These are the dishes we had. I would not highly recommend this place to my friend. I have another place which I prefer to go to. Why? I didn't like the crabs. I didn't think the crabs were the best in town. But a meal is best only with good company. I think the company was what made this meal great.

Ah Chew Dessert (17th Feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:20:00.009+08:00

Glass Jelly with lychee

Mango sago & pomelo

Water Chestnut with egg

This place has one of the longer history of serving Cantonese or Hong Kong dessert in Singapore. A Long Long time ago, I remembered going for steamboat and coming here for dessert afterwards... it started from a one man show to this about 10 other chinese nationalities staff. Maybe I am rather old fashioned and prefer the idea that my desserts are being prepared by a person who want to do a good job than a group of people doing it as a job. I realized that the standard had dropped quite a bit and oso no longer as good as before. I am looking for better dessert places now. :)

Au Petit Salut French Restaurant (17th Feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:19:00.027+08:00

I love having meals with friends. Friends who know the importance of sitting down, having a good meal and good conversations. Might be a conversation which could be meaningless to the rest of the world, yet be a topic of interest for me and them. It is not the results of the conversation that matter, it is just the plain chatting, discovering another point of view, which might be or not be agreeable to one self.

If you do want to have such a moment with some friends, I think Au Petit Salut might be one of the choice, however, do make sure you get a corner seat, or an outdoor seat if the weather is good.

The start of a wonderful meal starts with a peek into the daily offerings...

Bread basket
I was so busy shooting... that the bread became cold when we started eating it.... so the service staff were nice enough to get us another warm portion :)

Oyster

I can't say too much about it, but my friends did enjoy them. I wasn't in the mood for oysters that day.... so I had missed out on something good.

Bisque de homard

Lobster bisque with tarragon and lobster ravioli

This was nice... why do i think it is nice? hahah cause I finished it :p

I am not a cook, I would not know what was in it... other than the obvious ones, which was written in the menu.. lobster and tarragon :P

Foie gras de canard poele au vinaigre de Xeres

Pan seared duck foie gras served with baby spinach, red onions and Xeres vinegar

I like the red onions and the Xeres vinegar and mix with a bit of the baby spinach, I am crying for another serving of this wonderful prepared foie gras. And YES I do think force feeding to get this foie gras is a bad thing, so i always TRY to say a prayer for the poor duckie when i consumed the liver... though... I might had forgotten to do it when I was having its leg...

Salade de gourmande au homard, anguille fumee et St- Jacques

Cold seafood platter with lobster. smoked eel and grilled scallops, mesclun salad with basil dressing (I think we got salmon tartare instead of scallop.... )

I can't say there was anything special about it... Maybe there are just too much vegetables in it... I know it's a salad dish... but I am just so much a vegetable hater that the sight of a few leaves laying on each other just put me sooo off a dish.

Cuisse de canard confite

Crispy french duck leg confit with green lentils stew and yellow frisee salad with walnut dressing

okie... so this is the other part of the duck we had. It is, I felt, been cooked too long. I find it rather dry and hard. So I would say this duck had given its leg for a unworthy cause. I would not order this dish again, just so no ducks would have to give up their legs for it. (Hey, it might not be in good humor for any animal lovers. But in the frist place, it's my opinon! so I guess anyone who doesn't think it's funny... too bad. Move along! )

Filet de boeuf a l'echallotes

Pan seared beef tenderloin (150 gm) served with shallots and garlic confit, mashed potato

We definitely love this dish. As I had not have any good time with red meat, my tiny bite of it gave me the impression that this tenderloin was done the way we wanted it to be. Excellent dish indeed.

Filet de daurade Royale de l'Atlantique au four

Oven baked Atlantic royal seabream served with ratatouille and tomato coulis

Fish! I so do like fish dishes. I think this seabream is indeed a great piece of meat :D. Along with the ratouille and tomato coulis, it had made to the only dish I would order for my main, should i come back again. However, I do detect some bitterness around the tummy area, though it's a good dish, I definitely think it could make some improvements. (did I mention I am not a good cook??)

Selection de fromages affines Francaise, pain aux noix et salade

Selection of matured French farm cheeses served with walnut bread and salad

Not the best selection of cheeses... could have easily given a miss. However the bread was excellent :P I won't mind packing some of the walnut bread for my cheese parties.

Fondant chaud au chocolat

Warm melted 70% dark chocolate cake served with chocolate sorbet

Chocolate... I, who can't resist chocolate... find this dark chocolate cake which had chocolate sauce oozing from the inside, fantastically amusing. I do enjoy the taste of it. I didn't won't say this is on the top top of my chocolate list. Nothing can replace my current love for peanut butter chocolate :p

Mignonettes au pain d'epices et abricots, glace macadamia

Mini gingerbread filled with apricot jam and served with macadamia nut ice cream

okie... I don't like ginger. I don't like gingerbread. I do not like the tiniest bite of the gingerbread I tried. But I like the ice cream! :P hehe so if u are a fan of gingerbread, I think it would be a good dessert to order. If not.... you can always ask them for more ice cream without the gingerbread. However, you might not get your wish.

The service here was great and indeed a, I felt, a worthy meal to have at this excellent restaurant. However.... I think the fact that it is not a HUGE stadium sized place, it would be good if you are able to get a cosy corner... or an outdoor table. The fact that it is such a worthy lunch, alot of business people head there for their client meetings, which is great business for the resturant, but a lousy deal for me. I just want to have a nice place to take a break from the stressful world and I definitely do not like working lunch... much less other ppl's working lunch. And yes I am shamelessly listening into their conversations... not because I want to, it just because the sounds are bouncing off the walls/glasses of the restaurant.

Hi! James from DXS Bank. It is great meeting you that day.

Tong Heng (15th Feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:19:00.023+08:00

Tong Heng would be the place I would always go for, if I have craving for egg tarts. I only discovered this place... less than a decade ago. Why? Cause a decade ago, I still think Macdonald's is THE Gourmet food. The only excuse I can only give was... "Hey! I was a growing kid... and being a student in my days doesn't pay much! "

Egg tarts

Though they might not be piping hot, but they were still good :P I wish i am good enough a writer to tell you how the custard and crust taste... but I guess I did not leave all my student traits in the good old days... I am still not able to write well to save my life.

Chicken Curry puff and Char Siew (Barbecued Pork) Crispy Pastry

Although i am not a fan of their Char Siew (BBQ) crispy pastry, I looooooooove their chicken curry puff. BTW if u are thinking that chicken curry meant it would be spicy, u can't be more wrong. It was sweet and savoury like a meat pie. :D

This was the 2nd time I came within 2 weeks to this same outlet. I do think that with different people handling the making of each different batches, the taste would be different. I only made such discovery, just because the time between the 2 visits were so short.

Like the signboard... maybe time had passed. Things would never be the same as they were before. Before they changed their ways of making their traditional egg tarts, I think I better start finding another bakery for my egg tarts.

7atenine (15th Feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:19:00.015+08:00

It was a hot and hot day! :P We were so glad to get out of the heat... so we basically had to have so much drinks in a row, just to cool down before starting on our meal.

Itchy Lips

I love the touch of orange drink mix that was at the bottom of the spoon, added an unqiue touch to this dish. But we didn't like the 2nd order of it, which didn't have any of those orange drink mix powder... instead more salt was added... :p

Anchovies with mozarella
One of my favorite dish :D

Gazpacho (Spainish cold tomato soup)
The greenish thing in the nice package was an herbal ice cube. It's special cause I rarely see it done with a nice green ice cube... but then I still prefer the previous way of serving with the nice shiso leaf tempura :D And also the bits and pieces of pepper in there... yucks. I think I prefer the soup plain with the tempura.

Parma Ham with melon

Sauerkraut Salmon roll
I do not like this too much. I like the look of it, but the taste is not quite my cup of tea. I didn't like the sauerkraut, actually I never did like sauerkraut before.

Beef roll on stone

Squid ink risotto
I always like Risotto, and sometimes chefs don't do it well. But this was okay.... I think having a whole squid does put a nice touch to the whole look of it.

Teriyaki Cod fish with pumpkin with cumin puree
I like the puree.. I think this place does such good puree of anything :D hehehe I think I will eat almost anything that's puree at this place.

Parma Ham Spaghetti

Chicken Croquettes

Sirloin Steak with Mash potato

Pork sirloins with baby potatoes

Chocolate Brownie

Natte Fresca

Churros

I been to this place so many times in the past 2 months... I just tot that I shouldn't be repeating myself too often on the different types of food. :P So i am just going to leave these pictures... if u really need to know how the food taste and if it is worth going... just look at the frequency of my visits :p

Till we meet again...

River Palace (14th feb 2009)

2009-02-20T21:18:00.004+08:00

A Korean Friend, after several years of luring him with food photographs, came to Singapore for a visit. Trying to squeeze everything in a few days is indeed difficult. : )

So we went to some places... and this is one of them. River Palace... I did not think that I had chose this because I thought highly of the food. But rather it came recommended by some people.

Stewed peanuts and Chinese tea...

So here are the food we had tried...

Chilled par-boiled chicken in chinese wine

This was okay. I didn't think the chinese wine taste was strong enough.

And it's not better than those normal hainanese chicken in some hawker centres.

Combination of sliced duck with crispy beancurd skin wrapped in egg pancake

This was good. I enjoyed the crispy beancurd skin, add an additional crunch to it.

Belly of pork Roll with minced garlic sauce

Because of the frist glance, there wasn't much fat to it... I didn't want to waste my tummy space to try it.

Crab meat fried egg white with lettuce wraps

This was different from what I had expected. But it was good enough for me to order another.

Braised sharks fin soup with "Four treasures"

Maybe the reason why we only had a portion per person was it just wasn't good enough.

Braised Pig trotter "mama style"

Well.... I am thankful that they did not say it is in "MissyGlutton's mama style" cause it wasn't good. The vinegar wasn't enough, it's more like half a bottle was used, when one bottle is needed.

Steamed prawns

The prawns were fresh... and nothing is left to be said.

Sauteed beef steak in spicy and sour sauce served on sizzling plate

nope for me... :p I did not like this dish.

Smoked Boneless chicken with Po Lei tea leaves

I doubt the chicken died of lung cancer... cause i felt it did not smoke enough!

Sweet and sour pork with pineapple

Can be better....

Poached spinach with assorted eggs

One of the worst poached spinach with assorted eggs dish i had ever try....

Sauteed fresh scallops with asparagus and pine nuts

The scallops weren't up to my standards...

I guess... sometimes you have to try all the different kinds of food enough to know what u like.
On Valentine day... with a group of friends.... I had indeed made a right choice to go to this restaurant. I think it would be an experience not to be repeated, just because I would not willing do it again.

On another note... I am slightly buried with other things in life at the moment... apologies to people who might be hoping for new entries from me..... I will try harder ....

7atenine (6th Feb 2009)

2009-02-11T20:33:00.006+08:00

Another trip.... to a place I just been recently. What was the purpose of me doing so...

Shrimp Ceviche

It was a extremely light tasting dish. It's very simple and elegantly done. The shrimps were fresh, and there was a few little yellow jelly that went pretty well with the dressing.

Tomato salad

As a person who doesn't enjoy vegetable too much, I thought the cherry tomatoes were FANTASTIC. I like the pesto like sauce at the bottom of the tomato. Roll the tomato over it and pop it right into the mouth. :D

Ham salad

Could it be alot of people are raving about this? I didn't think it was special. I just felt that it is okay done, nothing too unique. I guess this would be the "simple and filled with character" type of dish.

Gazpacho (Spainish cold tomato soup)

I had a 2nd order of this :P~ i thought the soup was quite unique. It has a sweet and sour with a spicy hint to it. The tempura shiso, which I used to stir the soup a bit, was quite good soaked-thru piece of food.

I quite like this soup :D I think I will order this, if I have the chance to do so.

Anchovies with mozzarella

I had a good impression of this dish when I frist had it. Though I mistaken the cheese as feta, I am grateful that someone actually told me that it was mozzarella instead of feta. : ) This time round, I still like it, though I do think that I prefer this dish with the pine nuts. I do like the little extra crunch to it.

Gratined Green Asparagus

I didn’t have much impression of this dish, I think it need a bit more coating. Somehow, it’s a rather common dish which are readily available in a lot of restaurants or cafés.

Mushroom Risotto

There were actually 2 versions of this dish... why? cause we need more than one portion to be satisfied. The frist portion was fantastic and just with enough of cheese but cold, cause I left it too late to eat it. The 2nd portion is not cheesey enough. Well, at least I know it was a fresh batch. :D

Grilled salmon with Bernaise sauce and potatoes

I like salmon, esp there is alot of fats to it. This was quite good and I heard from my dining partners that the potatoes were quite good as well, though I do not care too much for potatoes.

Pan fried Seabass with Celery puree

Wooo I discovered i like Celery!! okie... I WILL rephrase that. I like celery PUREE! it didn't taste like celery anything. It was yummy. I like to mash the celery puree with the seabass, which was not too salty this time around. It was quite good.

Crusted Calamari (breadcrumb and squid ink crusted calamari with tamarind-tomato salsa)

Wooo calamari!!! I like! and it is rare to have this type of calamari. I think the squid ink was mixed into the breadcrumb mixture and deep fried. It was quite good. I didn't try it with the salsa, cause it was quite good on its own.

Parma Ham Spaghetti

okie nothing too much to it. It is just another carbo dish.

Wagyu Beef

As beef is not an important part of my diet anymore, I didn't try this. I didn't like the dark sauce that went along with it, made it look rather unappetizing. But I like the potato chips :p

Hamachi

By this dish, I am already quite full. I didn't like it. I thought the combination was weirdly not nice. The hamachi was tasteless, I gave up after a small bite.

The other time when I came, I did not try the dessert. I wanted the churros, cause I did not have it for a loooooooooooooooong time.

Churros

it came with chocolate dip and was placed in a paper cone, but it wasn't that fantastic. I still like my churros DEEP FRIED hard and not limp bread like. Wasted my money on it.

Chocolate Brownie

It came with home made vanilla ice cream!! I like I like I LIKE!!! the brownie was not fantastic. I thought it tasted like fruit cake more than the usual brownie I had.

Natte Fresca

haha I only ate the meringue. I didn't like this dessert too much.

Cafe Latte Trifle

okie... I am not into coffee. so no comments on that :p

like i said in my previous post, I would come back here for another try. Indeed there is great potiental :) Glad I made the trip back with some great frens too :D

and i will be heading back there again to intro this place to some overseas frens. I hope they will enjoy it too :D

Greenhouse (1st Feb 2009)

2009-02-09T16:55:00.004+08:00

Lost a bet with some frens... me and my greedy self, said the prize would be this buffet.... and how the mightly fell...

We started off with a glass of champagne, not to cheer for the winners, but to wallow in one's loss.

Moet & Chandon champagne (free flowing...)

Some of these...

A few slices of these...

Excuse me.. while i get some of these yummies...

and made up this winner's plate (not mine).

A few rounds of these and those brought us to the dessert...

And the CHEESE!

and more desserts... ICE CREAM!!

All done with a great smile from the staff.

This used to be my favorite buffet in town. Sadly due to the crisis (my beliefs), there were less people who came for this. How do i come to this conclusion? Because of the lack of sudden outbust of "Happy Birthday" songs from different tables... there was only a table that had sung that song. I wanted to get my table to sing it, but it's a pity none of us were celebrating our bday. Though one of us did remember it was "Ren" day, which actually meant all humans were created on that day, so it would be okay if we had done the birthday song. We were too stuffed by then to even attempt something like that.

I also realized that decreased number of people coming would mean some of stuffs were also missing from the selection. Could be time to be looking for a new buffet place. Any suggestions?

7atenine (29th Jan 2009)

2009-01-30T21:42:00.004+08:00

Had a chat with a familiar face from Saint Pierre Group. I am sure like almost anyone who loves food, would know that this eatery is part of Emmanuel Stroobant's work.

He had designed the menu, so that would definitely raised my expectation of the food here. However, I was informed all the food we will be served for the "lunch unlimited" were creations of the resident chef, Florent. As I wasn't able to catch all the names of the dishes I were served... I will try my best.

Parma Ham with melon

A simple dish, that would done right by the right supplier. So no marks for having a good regular supplier. However, I like the fact that the melons are shavings and not a cube.

Beef on stone

We were informed that the stone was hot... and it was supposed to cook the raw beef and herbs wrap. I am quite impressed with the use of the stone, and of course using the herbs in it does make his dish different.

Ham Salad

okie... for me... this is a NEXT! dish. Nothing special... nothing unique, just another dish.

Archovies Something...

okay... this dish is definitely not "Archovies Something..." but I loooooove these little fishes... and along with the cheese, I think it is Feta cheese, and a few pine nuts... it was yummy. :D

Pan fried fish

How does one define a fresh fish? For me, it's lack of fishy taste. But to some, it might be the sea taste a fish might have. It would work very well for those who like the sea taste, as the salt WERE poured, not sprinkled. The flesh underneath the salty skin were rather bland. So it was a mistake to put the skin aside, due to the frist salty taste.

Seared Tuna

The Tuna was a far cry from those found in Japanese restaurant. The Tuna were too cooked, and it became rather tough. And the eggplant side was too salty for my liking. This dish was banished to the cold palace after the initial taste test.

Grilled beef

What's good about this dish... the potato chip, the mash and the grilled beef? Well, I like the potato chip and the mash, the beef slices were okay. I do not like beef too much, but then this happened to be the best dish according to my dining partners. I beg differ. I still prefer my little fishes... :D

Today I was made super picky, because of the noises by the lion dancings done. I actually left without getting any dessert... and yeah.. I went for more food not much later...

I do not like noise, I tend to be VERY picky when I am in noisey places. Some of things which I really do not like are the uniforms wore by the staffs...it is jumpers and loose fitting clothings, instead of making it casual, I think it was sloppy.

As the place is quite new, the menu was not done properly. It is not difficult to get the menu done, considering they have so many other "sister and brother" restaurants. The menu was badly done and obviously a rush job, which is forgiveable... till my next trip, which I will watch out for.

A chef should have his or her own style, but also open to suggestions. To change one's style of cooking to suit any one who walked in and gives their own opinions of food, would definitely not be the way to go. However, a person would only grow so much, without inputs from others. Chef Florent is a man who is definitely passionate about his food, and a person who need to listen without being defensive. In an Asian country like Singapore, we focus on healthy eating. Yeah, soya is important, as salt would be for him. But we do not pour half a bottle of it over the food we eat.

In closing, I definitely would give this place another try. Hopefully I have a less distracted atmosphere to enjoy or not the food he had prepared.

Hai Tien Lo 海天楼 (28th Jan 2009)

2009-01-30T21:41:00.004+08:00

Greeted by friendly staff, greeting us with chinese blessings and wishes...

Togetherness Tray

There were Candied ginko nuts, Red melon seeds, Candied ginger slices, Candied Water Chestnut, Candied carrot and Candied lotus root. My favorite were the water chestnut and the ginko nuts.

Salmon Yu Sheng with Wealth Japanese sweet prawn

As I had said in my earlier posts... I do not care too much for raw vegetables... and soaked in my least favorite plum sauce. So I was pleased when I saw the adding of sweet prawn and oso the salmon.

I just picked out all the prawn and salmon pieces, while the rest of my dining partners finished off the raw vegetables....

Baked diced abalone and chicken puff

This seemed like a normal chicken puff... I don't exactly think it is the best I tried. But definitely is one of the better one.

Steamed pork dumplings with laver

This is different from the rest of the siew mai out there... I prefer the laver aka seaweed, to the flour skin which was used too often in other normal dim sum places.

Steamed prawn dumplings with wild mushroom

Steamed Barbecued pork buns

Deep fried bean curd sheet stuffed with dried oysters, mushrooms, prawn paste and chicken

Steamed carrot cake with dried scallops

I like this dish well enough... I like it not fried but steamed. Soft and soya... *yummy*

Classic Beijing Duck

Not the best beijing duck i had. I thought it was too dry and abit tough for my liking.

Soup of the day

I think the soup was well prepared... there are carrot, moss, white fungus and chicken meat in it. :)

Deep Fried prawns tossed in wasabi mayonnaise sauce

The prawn is fresh and firm, just the type of prawn I like. However, I felt the wasabi mayonnaise sauce was slightly lacking of the wasabi punch..

Fragrant Steamed Rice with preserved meat and dried oyster

I was surprised when I saw this dish... there is nothing much to it.

Hai Tien Lo is a good place to go for dim sum with a view. There are frenly staffs, the food is good. It is a rather easy-to-forget-and-i-would-not-think-of-it-when-i-want-to-go-for-dim-sum place.

Crystal Jade Dining IN @ VivoCity (25th Jan 2009)

2009-01-29T00:06:00.004+08:00

Reunion dinners are all about coming together as a family, frist to have good food, second to gather to spread and share all the news among relatives who rarely get together often. On this day, our choice was Crystal Jade Dining in VivoCity. I admit that this is my frist time going there. Might be the fact that I am not really into Chinese food, which I been having for the most part of my life. People had been raving about this place to me, that's for sure.

Reaching there on time, and having my table and cup of tea ready was already a postive point.

My Cup of tea....

"Fatt Choy" Salmon Raw fish yu sheng (鸿运发财三文鱼生)

I am not a big fan of yu sheng. I do not like raw vegetable too much.... unless it's drenched in thousand island sauce, which i had not been doing too often. I, would too often, pick out the raw salmon or any raw sashimi anything to eat, leaving the veggies for the people who enjoy them.
What I really enjoy about this dish is...

tossing the yusheng, shouting out the good blessings and enjoying a mini food fight!!! :p

Suckling pig combinaion platter (乳猪烧味拼盘)

I only noticed that BBQ roasted pork has fat in them!!! *yummy* I don't like lean pork, duck or chicken. So, to me, I like it cause there is fat in the bbq pork.

Braised shark's fin with conpoy and crab meat (发财蟹肉干贝生翅)

*sigh* I might had been influenced by people who are against shark fin eating... this shark fin soup was not that great. I didn't detect any fins, conpoy or crab meat. But I did think that the chef was quite generous with flour. This soup was too starchy for my liking, so I added at least 2 tablespoons of vinegar into it, before I finished half a bowl of it.

Braised baby abalone with dried oyster and black moss (发财好市鲍鱼仔)

I like! I like abalone, I LIKE dried oyster and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE black moss!!! I LOVE this dish... other than that cabbage at the bottom. Hahaha As I am seated in a table with people (young kids) who doesn't really think that dried oysters or abalone were treasures, I actually finished more than half of the dish myself... of course, I had to put up with the "eeee" and "yucks, you are eating hair" remarks left, right and front! BUT for one of my loves in life, I would willingly put up with those remarks. :D

The abalones were nice and chewy, the oysters were not fishy and well cooked *yummy* I am already drooling, just thinking about them. Mixed with a bit of moss... GIVE ME MORE ALREADY!!!

Crispy Salted Chicken (脆皮盐香鸡)

The skin of this chicken was good. As most of the people sharing the table were quite filled up, I was able to tear off the skins of most of the pieces and have them as it is. *glee* This chicken was cooked well, but as it was (to me) too hastily chopped up and arranged. It had lost alot of points due to its untidy presentation.

Sea Perch serve in Two ways (鲈鱼二味)

Sauted sliced sea Perch & Deep fried fish belly with pepper and salt

I like this dish. The salty taste of the sea perch was good. I think the sprinkle of the seaweed, fried onions and pine nuts were good additions to this dish. I prefer the deep fried fish belly with pepper and salt more than the sauteed slices.

Fried rice with Seafood and diced chicken served in Lotus leaf (团圆荷叶饭)

I think the rice were pretty hard... I picked out the seafood and corn to eat. Was there diced chicken? I didn't notice lor. I don't think there is any chicken in it.

Therefore I assumed my chicken went out playing and forgot to clock in for its execution slot, hence the lack of chicken in my fried rice.

Chilled Mango Cream with Sago and Pomelo (杨枝甘露)

I always prefer to have a sweet ending to my meal. This is slightly sour, but it's the right taste. Lack of sago and mango bits did not take much away from this dessert.

I absolutely dreaded going for reunion dinner.... I do not like going for rush meals... Rushing thru meals made me moody! and easier to be unhappy about the situation and oso even more picky about food. We were told we had only one hour to eat this meal, so basically rushed thru the meal. When we were told that we were able to stay beyond the time slot, I slowed down my eating and was able to enjoy the food slowly.

I think in situation like these, whereby one had to rush thru meals and try to stay as happy as one can be, especially in front of elders, service staffs are very important. I am very happy that there is a lady staff by the name of Xiao Yan (from Shang Dong, China), and her manager Grace, had made my meal very pleasant, comfortable and entertaining.

Great job, Grace and Xiao Yan.

Lao Beijing 老北京食堂 (Plaza Singapura) (16th Jan 2009)

2009-01-17T02:38:00.005+08:00

Eight Treasure tea 八宝茶

I like Eight treasure tea. I don't this version of it? Why? I felt it too light. The taste ain't there, it's like plain water with a pinch of seasoning... I tried putting the tea aside, so to brew it slightly longer. Instead of tea with heavier taste, i got cold water with some hints of tea in it.

Roasted meat

We were served with some pork jerky or bak kau to try.... I think a better choice would be not to bring it out to let us know what's not good about it. I prefer mine slightly flatter, a bit more charred, and maybe a bit put in the microwave before taking it to be served? I doubt i will get any take out of this.

Deep-fried Silver Bait with seven spices 七味银鱼

ahhh fried silver baits, I do like this type of snacks. I grew to like these after having quite a bit of them during my regular trips to HK. These are battered too much, the batter was too thick, there wasn't enough of seven spices to toss these properly to give it a better taste than what it had.

Steamed Juicy Meat Buns 小龙汤包

Xiao Long bao... okie... I am quite the horrible person today. I didn't like this at all. The skin was thicker than what i like. The soup was less than I wanted. Even with vinegar... it did not improve my like of it.

Sliced Pork with Garlic 蒜泥白肉

Sliced pork with Garlic I absolutely looooooooooooove this dish. Why? Cause it's SUPPOSED to be very thin slices of boiled pork bacon. HOWEVER, this dish is just lean pork! Gosh LEAN PORK!!! But I have to say the garlic sauce was quite good. But LEAN PORK!?!?!? *can't get over this lean pork thing...*

Braised Spinach Beancurd 翡翠豆腐

I always like this dish. I thought that this would be a good dish... but the spinach was pathetic little. The beancurd is too hard... the innards are full of holes and hard. I know some zi char places can cook better!

Pan-fried shrimp, pork and chives guotie 三鲜锅贴

What else can go wrong... these were not in the pan long enough. The skin is rather thick...

Deep fried seabass with home made vinaigrette 醋浇金目鲈

I think this fish is good deep fried and with vinaigrette. I cannot say if it's fresh or not. I had to say this is the best dish, just because it's crunchy and heavily seasoned with vinaigrette.

Lao Beijing... gosh... it had been such a while since I been there. Maybe it's the gut feeling in me that had prevent me from going there... or did this place never did impress me in the frist place.
Looking back at this meal, I saw alot of people in the place. Is it the cheaper food, or better food, or even the good service they provide? I believe it's a cheaper food, not better food or the rather inconsistent service.

Senso Bistro @ Singapore Flyer (15th Jan 2009)

2009-01-17T02:37:00.013+08:00

Our pride and joy went down... So in order to get diners down there, there were alot of offers going on.

Taking advantage of the 50% off the menu, went down to Singapore Flyer to try this place out.

4 Formaggi Pizza

pizza with Mozzarella, Taleggio Cheese, Smoked Scamorza and Gorgonzola

Due to the fact that I valued my vegetarian friend's company, I chose to have a vegetarian pizza as a starter. I was quite apprehensive about the food I might get from this place, but the pizza was really good! Thin crust accompanied by 4 cheeses, indeed quite good. Totally dashed my fear of getting bad food from here...

Mushroom Risotto

Carnaroli risotto served with porcini mushrooms ragout and fresh thymeThe Risotto had slightly too much water... the grains are too hard. There wasn't much mushrooms ... I think there is less than 3 whole mushrooms in it. I wish they had not taken away the parmesan cheese flakes, so i can dump the whole thing in it to make it MUCH MUCH better. We did not even finish half the portion. I think it's even worse than the package thing I got from the NTUC supermarket, which i tried cooking at home.

Grilled salmon in lemon butter sauce

I like fish and i always like salmon quite a bit. They took off the skin of the salmon, which is my favorite part of the fish, after the omega 3! This is a super lean fish, i suspected it went to gym too often. The fact that they had poured a whole sack of invisible salt and spread too much pepper on it had made this gym-going salmon rather hopelessly not to my liking. I was hoping the mash would help, but it did not. I guess the sack of invisible salt was for the mash. I had already not like this dish.

Time for dessert!!! Maybe they will do better.

Creme Brulee

Oven baked egg custard with caramellized sugar

I ever read on someone else's blog that their creme brulee's caramellized sugar top wasn't burnt properly, and I agree. The sugar top was too much, and wasn't burnt enough. We ended up with super sweet dessert. However, the egg custard was too soggy, and wasn't hard enough for my liking. And with the dish so shallow, it wasn't a good experience for me. I prefer a min of at least 5 cms of custard topped by a good burnt caramellized sugar top.

Pannacotta

Double Cream flan served with raspberry coulisI like my dessert sweet than sour. Alot of people might like sourish dessert and I am sure they would like this raspberry coulis. But the double cream flan is slightly too hard for my liking. So only had a few spoons of this....

Pecan Torte

This was a last min decision by my fren. It does seemed a bit too filling, esp after all the food we had. I like this pecan torte, maybe because I like pecan. It wasn't too sweet, but definitely qualified to be a good dessert still.

I desperately think that the Singapore Flyer so need to work again... why? it might just be the next best thing there.... (losing the best spot to the fish spa place there ...)

Tong Ah Eating House (14th Jan 2009)

2009-01-17T02:37:00.012+08:00

When I frist went to this place, I was attracted by their milk tea. But as time goes by, I started going for their zi char stuffs as well.

I ordered a salted fish fried rice. and here are some pictures of it :)

This is one of the BEST salted fish fried rice I ever had....They had given bigger pieces of salted fish than most of the stores out there... I wonder if it was a freak incident cause I was hungry? ... definitely worth going back to try it again! Maybe tomorrow :P

Peaberry & Pretzel (10th Jan 2009)

2009-01-11T23:23:00.016+08:00

A simple place...
I like simple places.. esp when I can relax and just don't think too much.
I esp like the seat facing the desserts... *bliss*

Passionfruit italian soda

it was a hot day... I desperately need some sugar to boost my sugar level... and tot this hit the spot quite fast and well! :p

Bread and butter

okie.... I like bread, warm bread... I like butter... but i absolutely hate cream like stuffs...
take that away already and give me some BUTTER!!!!

Cream of Champignon (mushroom soup)

I think this soup is quite good. I like having alot of bits and pieces of fibres in my mushroom soup. And with it served hot... and slightly cooler after I finished shooting. Just nice.

Mushroom cream sauce pasta

I like mushrooms, usually I will have that when I am having vegetarian food. Maybe the weather was too hot, I wasn't able to enjoy this pasta dish that day. So i decided to doggie bag the pasta home.

Strawberry cheesecake
I didn't like it, cause the strawberry sauce was not sweet enough to give the rest of the cheesecake any taste.

I do not think that I had given this restaurant a good opporunity to show off their products. Maybe I should head there another day to retry some of their products.

After going home, I took the mushroom pasta out and had it for dinner. I thought it was reasonable. Not the best, I would say it's the normal food court express pasta thingie.

(年年有餘)Abundance menu for Flickr Food bloggers (07 Jan 2009)

2009-01-11T23:23:00.012+08:00

Once again, Flickr Singapore and Yan Ting of St Regis had organized a Food Blogger outing for flickr users who also blog about food... hahaha and if you do read my previous posts, that's one of the reasons why I started this blog.

The Table setting :)

The 7 years old Pu-Er tea
:) I am not a big fan of chinese tea.... mainly because my family esp my dad loves Chinese tea. BUT this Pu er tea is light and because it's also freshly brewed so it doesn't have the bitter taste of being left too long.

豐味芋頭糕 & 富贵萝卜糕
It's the fried taro cake and the fried radish cake. I actually like both of them, maybe it's because I am a big fan of baby food, I never did like my food too hard. We were given two small tasting pieces and oso with a bit of hot bean sauce. *yummy*

Chef's chan special recipe XO sauce
As I grew older, I start to dislike spiciness. If it doesn't help in the dish, I think less of it would help. Esp with this XO sauce. I only took a bit of it, but I didn't like the very spicy taste. I couldn't enjoy all the ingredients in it, cause I was busy putting out the fire in my mouth.

吉慶滿門
Prosperity Yu Sheng with Salmon.
I am not a big fan of yu sheng, just because I am not a big fan of vegetables in any forms. I would only have that, just for the fun of tossing and trying to outsay everyone else the blessings for the new year!! :P and of course the little cracker bits and .... the salmon!!! ( I should stop using so much !!!, cause someone actually said I used too much of it.) Anyway, this was said to be lighter in taste, compared to the usual ones out there. We were told that it was a fruit mixture. I don't actually remember the fruits that were in it. But it's LIGHT, and you will have to take my words for it.

I do think the salmon used in this dish could be slightly better and the portions be bigger. Or whoever ordered, might need to get extra portions of salmon.

Woooo another favorite part of the yu sheng... the fried crackers!! :P toss more TOSS MORE!!! and these are supposed to represent gold. :)

Then we have the tossing and oso the saying of blessings for the new year! :) The best part of this dish is this!

川流不息 (三宝炖鲍翅)
Double-boiled shark's fin with three treasures (shiitake mushroom, bamboo pith, and dried scallop).
I like shark! I like shark's fin! I don't think it's wrong to have shark's fin. I will not purposely ordered it, but I would not reject it when it's placed in front of me. And when this is placed in front of me, I couldn't help but want to taste the soup frist (that's after all the molests from my camera). I always know that shark's fin has no taste to it. I think the soup made my day, I always like soup, and not the ingredients in it. I know there are 3 treasures... but i did not have much of any impressions of them. But the soup is something to die for. *slurpS*

褔满人间 (发財金嚎配黃焖豆根鲍片)
Prosperity oyster with braised sliced abalone.
I love almost every items in this dish, from the 发菜 black hairlike moss (which is too little :P), the spinach, the abalone slice and most most most of all the semi dried oyster. This is the dish I would definitely come back for.

富如東海 (淸蒸東星班配鮮虾腊味糯米飯)
Wok-fried glutinous rice with wind-dried sausages, and steamed coral trout "tong sing" grouper
I like steamed fish, mainly because it would give me the best idea if the fish is fresh or slightly under the weather. I find this piece of fish slightly tougher than what I usually like for a fish.
BUT I love the glutinous rice that come with it and the different types of sausages, the usual lean chinese sausages and the liver (blood) sausages... they are both soooo delicious. I do not usually finish my rice, fortunately I was given a smaller portion and I was able to enjoy it totally.

*yummy*

By the end of this dish... I was ready to surrender :P the food were quite good and generous in their portions as well.

年年纳褔 (脆皮年糕配百年鸿運)
Traditional Azuki Bean Paste with Crispy Glutinous Rice Cake
I do not like red bean... I do not care for citrus peel, even though it's as old as I am. NO no no!
But I do have to try it, and it was quite good. Maybe if they do not put in the citrus peel, I might enjoy it better.

The snacks that came along with this bean paste were good. They are the deep fried sesame seed ball (金银满屋笑口枣), the deep fried dumpling filled with peanuts and sesame seeds (心想事成角仔), Crispy Glutinous rice cake and Crystal water chestnut cake. I thought the rice cake dipped in "what tasted to me similar to goreng pisang batter " tasted fantastic. It's not sticky sweet, just soft inside and crispy outside *yummy*, well the cripsy water chestnut cake tasted good too. I like the deep fried sesame seed ball (金银满屋笑口枣), hehe maybe it's the cantonese name "smiling mouth joe" but it was nice. :)

九鱼献瑞年糕
Nine Fish Year Cake
The Manager of Yan Ting, Danny, brought this out just to tempt us .... It has been a few days since we went to the event and I am still thinking about this year cake. I am so tempted to go down to Yan Ting one of these days to stock up on my new year goodies, after tasting some of them during this meal.

I am very biased, esp if I have great services. :) I think the food in Yan Ting is quite good and their services are even better. A great place to go to, similar to the great meal I had.

Many thanks for the team at St Regis Singapore, their PR company and Flickr Singapore for giving me this great opporunity to try the fantastic food.

Kim Dae Mun (7th Jan 2008)

2009-01-11T23:22:00.002+08:00

Kim Dae Mun is well known secret to anyone who loved Korean food. I do love Korean food and usually it's because I had too much Korean series drama!!! :P

And these are my favorite food there....

Spicy Kim chi soup

Spicy Kim chi soup n Multi grains rice
And on that day... I had the multi grains rice... but from this experience, I think plain rice would be better with my spicy kim chi soup.

Ramen with the Kimchi side.
They do not offer much sides with their food... it's not like you are paying alot of money for your food, unlike most of the korean restaurants. They have 3 choices... mainly the normal napa cabbage kim chi, the anchovies, and the cucumber kimchi. I would usually get the anchovies.. cause the rest ain't that fabulous. :p

Ramen

Potato Pancake
I would either get this potato pancake which goes really well with the vinegar sauce. Soak the pancake with lot of the sauce... *yummy*

I like korean food, but then it had to be prepared in the way i like it. Sometimes I wonder if the food that I been getting are the authentic ones..., even if the owner or cook is a Korean....

Double Bay Restaurant (6th Jan 2009)

2009-01-07T16:16:00.008+08:00

I love fish and chips... and I am glad that there is a place that would served Australian fish and chips...

but....

Exterior and the Interior are very much australian feel. I like the place quite a bit, the design, the interior and exterior of the place.

The menu...
It looked fantastic black and white... I like it quite a bit, the feel of it, the design of it, the use of the B&W.

Seafood Basket
Seafood Basket with tempura of fish fillet, calamari, prawn tails and chips.

Peanut chilli sauce
they actually use this sauce for the seafood basket... It's quite unique... but I would prefer tartar sauce with my fried seafood stuff...

Seafood Basket
I love seafood quite a bit... but I am not a fan of chips.
I didn't actually enjoy this too much... the seafood part was slightly smaller than expected, but it should be enough for a person and not definitely not a sharing portion.

Fish and chips
Barred Cod (Grouper) fillet

okie.... I really like fish and chips... esp the deep fried fish fillet part... I am really surprised at the varieties of fishes offered... and they claimed it to be "live" fish... I love fish, esp the steamed fish. And I appreciate... the tiny flesh behind the eyes.... the eyes... and the tummy. The tummy will tell me how good or fresh the fish is.

It is quite hard to make a bad deep fried fish fillet... I think expectations are hard to meet... very hard indeed.... :P

Fish and chips
I don't like the the bad oil taste... and oso the fish which was supposed to be "live" seemed to be frozen fish... and has the "fridge" taste. To have live... and frozen taste to it... I think the fish must be swimming in some cold water!! :p

Oh! and being a Singaporean, doesn't mean I like my fish and chips to be served with chilli sauce. I still want tonnes of tartar sauce, vinegar and salt. Of course, I left most of the chips alone... Cause I don't like potato that much.

love the name on the shirt, and good advertisement for the place as well.... :p

I went there, when I find out about this new place. I didn't like it as much. I felt the food wasn't as good as I was hoping it to be. As for the service? got meh? was ignored when we walked in... had so much problems trying to get attention for anything. I think they might have been complained too much about their frequent asking of welfare of the clients.

The shirt picture really shows .... even if it would be the same shirt with the same logo, a person would carry off it better. Might it be an australian theme restaurant serving australian food... i would rather save up to go Australia to have my fish and chips.

El Toro Restro Bar (4th Jan 2009)

2009-01-07T16:15:00.010+08:00

The Mexican food place

I had this craving for mexican food... The thing is I had not seen good reviews of mexican food. :p BUT i must MUST have mexican food, so I decided to go to El Toro Restro Bar.

There is the Set menu .... and we ordered one of it.

Platter of Chips and salsa
the chips were "homemade" but then I prefer those that mass produced.
These were slightly thicker and had a rather "oily" feel and taste to them.
The salsa wasn't to my liking... maybe I am just too used to the bottled stuffs.

Platter of Chips and salsa with mixed cheese

El Toro Chef's salad with balsamic vinaigrette
I skipped this dish... I am not a fan of vegetable... no matter how I tried them.. they always taste the same... it's just another veggie...

Mac 'N' Cheese
This had to be one of the better food here... but it's only the cheese that's good... the mac... is just okay.

Main course
Herb roasted chicken, Roasted Beef and Roasted Lamb and roasted potato served with mint jelly and Espanol sauce
The chicken breast was not my favorite piece of meat, the roasted beef and lamb were too hard.... okie.. this dish wasn't my favorite of the day.

Assorted Tapas
a) Grilled chilli calamari with a creole rub
b) Grilled dory fish with a ceviche sauce
c) Thinly Sliced beef rolled with capsicum & onions
d) Grilled eggplant with cherry tomatoes and drizzled with aglio-olio
e) Melon rolled in Prosciutto and drizzled with olive oil

I didn't like the placement of the food for this dish. It seemed so crowded...
But I think the grilled chilli calamri with a creole rub was good, the rest are so so. Maybe by the time they had served this dish, I was quite full.

The place
This place had a rather good feel... I do like the surrounding and the setting of the place. Feel that I am not in Singapore.

Nachos Del Grande
Home made tortilla chips topped with cheese, beans, pineapple, tomato, onions, black olives served with jalapenos. This baked dish was served with extra hot dripping with cheese.
This dish was one of the better nachos I had. Though the chips can be better. But the cheese and everything else covered the "bad" taste of the chips. There is a little amount of beans involved so... don't worry about the gas.

Chilli Con Queso
Melted cheddar cheese with onions, tomatoes, jalapenos served with home made tortilla chips.
The cheddar cheese wasn't great... along with the home made tortilla chips.... this was a "might-as-well-forget-banned-to-the-kitchen-forever" dish.

Guaramole
I looooooooove Guaramole... I made them myself at home... and this is much better than the version i made myself :P and slightly spicier.

Soft Tacos

Corn tortillas filled up with sirloin steak . Onions, tomatoes, cheese and served with Mexican rice and drizzled with cilantro oil.

My Taco
And I made this!! without the help of anyone *proud* haha :p
Anyway this was okay. The sirloin steak is slightly dry and rough... well the mexican feel?

Churros Cubanos
Churros Cubanos drizzled with a chocolate ganache and cinnamon dust.
okie.. I loooooooooooooooooooove churros... but this is rather disappointing.
I like churros harder and not with the texture of bread. If it's toast texture, it would still be okay. But it was soft.

The Doggie bag
As the food weren't that great... we basically packed a big portion of it home... hopefully we will find people who are more appreciative of it. or the chances of pushing it to the back of fridge and letting it rot without us noticing would be MUCH higher!! :p

Not the best place to have mexican food... but then there isn't much good mexican food places in Singapore in the frist place....

Tian Wai Tian Fishhead Steamboat (1st Jan 2009)

2009-01-07T16:15:00.005+08:00

The shop

the order taker
This lady is a super and slow lady... why? cause other than taking orders, she is busy preparing the ingredients for the cooks. So the order taking can be about 30 mins from the moment you join the queue. Not to be put off with this waiting time... cause most likely you have to wait that long for a table to be emptied... esp during their peak hours.

the soup pot
This is the soup that goes into their fish head steamboat.... I can see alot of chicken feet floating on the surface of the pot... do not be put off by it! cause the soup is extremely delicious!!! (I like it) The soup are slowly boiled with charcoal... I wish i had that sort of patience to do it that way at home.

Red Groupa fish head steamboat
The yummmy fish head steamboat....

Look they even put charcoal into each steamboat, so the soup can be keep at the same temperture it left the kitchen... *yummy* Personally I am not much of a soup ingredient person... IF given the choice, I will just drink the soup and left the rest aside.

Shrimp paste Chicken wings
This is one of the better shrimp paste chicken wings I ever had... though we had one which is undercooked, but on the whole, this dish is well worth the price we paid.

Tofu with Prawn
it's a no no for me... I do not know how to explain why i do not like this dish... though I do like prawns and Japanese tofu... but this wasn't prepared to my liking...

Sweet and Sour pork ribs
This is one of the better pork ribs i ever had... I just labelled this as pork ribs, but it's more like they had used the pork chop type of meat... and the meat is tenderly firm. I think I had polished almost half of this dish by myself.

my bowl of rice
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooove rice.... And with my rice soaked with the soup from my fishhead steamboat...... I am happy.

Our bill?
One thing that really amaze the hell out of me is our bill.... Can anyone actually read this handwriting... and i tot my doc has bad handwriting... this is worse than drawing a tailsman... trust me I seen plenty of ppl doing a tailsman... and this is definitely a higher level than that.

a few of their customers.... @ the back alley...

I love a good steamboat in all styles.... this is definitely a place I had enjoyed with my family. It might be noisey, crowded and having long Q, but the charms of eating besides a drain, trying to get a table, lining up for our orders, getting a extremely artistic bill are just beyond my powers to resist. Definitely a place i will come back... Wait for me, my beloved fishhead steamboat... I will come for you sooon!!!

my FRIST post of 2009.

2009-01-02T08:52:00.006+08:00

I guess all of us would have a chance to write something personal, or fall into the trap of writing something that is non food experiences related post. And today (or the day when i wrote this, btw is on the 2nd of Jan 2009, I might post this later... cause i still have a backlog of postings... ) I had fallen into this trap. A huge struggle for me, as I do not really enjoy sharing some parts of me. But then again it's a NEW year, I should have enough quota for silliness.

At last (for me, it was a long last) that i managed to win a monthly contest and got to set the frist theme of this year. It seemed no big deal to most, but was to me. My selected theme was "The Pursuit of Happiness". I really would like to put this on the top of the to-do list of 2009. Too often, pursuit of my happiness came 2nd to alot of other things. This year, no matter what happened, I am determined to shed less tears and be happier.

A very good fren (God knows how we managed to keep this horrible friendship for this long a period of time. I totally put it on her understanding towards an unforuntately-refused-to-grow-up-and-in-exact-fact-not-eligible-to-continue-to-buy-kids-meal-adult-who-still-buys-them-for-the-toys ME) went backpacking alone in India (as i am writing this entry) and other ulu places in 2008. I spoke to several mutual frens about her travels, and most of us either wondered or marvelled at her guts. I, for one, would not go travelling to places alone. I asked myself, Why? And I came up with excuses like "I did it before when I was younger" and "I prefer company, someone to bounce ideas off, grumble and complain to" and the best excuse is "I am not as healthy as before." And like I had labelled them, they are truly excuses. Baby Step might it be, I am ready for my solo trip, it won't be a backpacking trip to some really out-of-the-world-i-won't-be-able-to-communicate-to-ppl type of places, but it will be a trip I am going on my own.

My mentor (I claimed that he is so, because he had taught me alot with patience and lots of kindness n a HUGE chunk of understanding)told me, always start a letter with positive things and then go into the negative parts (at least that's what I think he told me... or not...).

My regret for the 2008 is losing friends. Might it be a fren who had bonded over a cup of tea a few years ago, a fren who moved overseas n yet choose not met up with me when she came back, or a fren who found new love and no longer have a need for me. For them I would like to say friends come and friends go, but in actual fact each of them have an irreplaceable position in my heart. Though I might have let them go physically, my emotional attachment is still strong.

A bit long winded I think I am. But for the year of 2009, I want to be happier, and be going on my solo trip to somewhere (hope it's not some ulu countries) n let my friends go in peace.

Barracks Cafe (31st Dec 2008)

2008-12-31T19:07:00.003+08:00

Decided to venture into the ex army camp area for some food... I been looking thru their site for a while... and was quite impressed with their menu. When the menu came... it was like a newspaper ... I thought it was quite interesting.

I always like simple deco.... but with simple deco, I definitely need a corner seat. I do not like the sound effects of sitting in the middle of the hall with noise coming from all around me. So out came my ipod!! :)

Shaved pear salad
Shavings of fresh pear served with gogonzola cheese and walnuts
I was told it was just shavings of fresh pear :P and there is very little vegetables involved in this dish.... I end up having a dish with more vegetables than I would eat in a month!!! :P The Cheese was so little... and accompanied with as little amount of walnuts. I think more cheese would be GOOD!

Spicy sweet potato mash
For a few weeks ago... I was very much into mashed potato... unfortunately... this wasn't as impressive as I thought it was. I hate the fact that I kept biting into pieces of the chilli or capsicum seeds. It's as much as having pepper in my food. Maybe they can use a sauce than mashing the "spicy" part.

Squid ink paella
(Seafood paella with clams, prawns, squid, black olives, semi dried tomatoes and sauteed capsicum. Comes out with a crusty top and a garnish of parmesan cheese and fresh coriander)
I like rice... and this came out quite well.... only if u like the rice that's has a slightly crusty stick to the ricepot side thingie... which I like.

Note to self : remember to check what's in the description of the dish... so i can eliminate the stuffs i do not like... :p

Check out the place mat!!!
If u think u can get by with 20 dollars decent meal.... forget it. I think it's a rather pricey place... they might have lower their prices... but as it's my frist time there... I didn't actually tot i got my money worth for that lunch.

hehe I like their napkin... I am an rather old fashioned person who prefers older versions of things. :)
My favorite combo... checked with jeans :)

I checked out the other table's orders... i think I would give it another chance.... is it to take photography (which I love) or is it to try the food there again (which is also possible....)?

Bukang Tuna (28th Dec 2008)

2008-12-30T21:58:00.008+08:00

This is one of my favorite korean food place.
Here are some of the food I was offered...

Pork porridge (돼지 죽 )

it's a small portion... I should had asked for more... surprisingly this was better than their bigger portion of abalone porridge.

Broccoli with chilli sauce
I don't like this :p Actually I just don't like chilli sauce anymore. It's quite surprising... cause I am a Singaporean... and I grew up on Chilli sauce... :P

Raw Octopus kimchi (해산물 김치)
wooooo this is one of my favorite!!! other than the raw crabs version... *yummy*

Luncheon meat aka spam
no one can screw up spam... other than China...
gosh!!! they screwed up my favorite FAVORITE FAVORITE food...

Kimchi (김치)
it's an okay version.

Spicy Cod Fish soup
I sooooooooooo like... but I prefer more soup with less stuffs in it... :p

Just a Bowl of rice...

PERFECT with the spicy cod fish soup!!!

Spicy Cod Fish soup

Sujunggwa
A sweet ending to my perfect meal...

When one person is alone... I think we should eat a good and comforting meal.
And this is a nice place... but you will have to put up with the "chinese" service... :p

Casa Verde (28th Dec 2008)

2008-12-30T21:57:00.004+08:00

Decided to meet up with some friends to do some shooting at the Botanic gardens...
of course, food had to be the final destination of this whole thing... if not part of it. So we slowly shoot and walked towards Casa Verde.

I could not pronounce the set i actually ordered... and of course i didn't know that what I had ordered was an omelette. I totally blamed my stupid brains for not knowing the difference between a Frittata and a fajita (which is a mexican food meat served on flour or corn tortilla.) Okie.. i didn't know what i was thinking... :P maybe it's just too early in the morning... or i am just plain "gong" aka stupid.

Anyway ... my Frittata came... gosh, if I had known that I am getting an italian omelette, i would had ordered something else!!!! I really wanted to have some hard chips/cracker at that moment.... :(

so back to the food... it was NOT nice! it was overcooked... and I did a search on Wikipedia... and there was no cheese in there!!!! I want cheese!! maybe it would made it slightly better. :(

Maybe i should come back later for lunch or dinner. I like the garden feel to this place... and though there were alot of people there, I felt rather comfy cause it was an open concept and of course, with the several dogs there... absolutely add to the charm of this place.

Mini Nepal @ Upper Dickson Road - (26th Dec 2008)

2008-12-27T10:45:00.006+08:00

I was told that this place is very goood... not just it was featured in the newspaper, it was also mentioned by some of my frens who are into indian food... And felt it would be interesting for me. So... my dining partner and me were the only ones at the place...
so here goes it...

Papadum with mint dip

Papadum

Mix Pakoda

this has a very strange taste to it... some indian spices... but as unique it might be... it's also a taste hard to accept, for me.

Veg Mo:Mo

okie... this is not my cup of momo :p

Masala Kulchha Naan

*yummy* this was quite good... I like... it's better than the usual plain naan i had before.

Mutton Rogan Josh

I like this, cause they had used mutton pieces with a bit of tendons in them :)

Butter Naan

Palak Panner
This is was goood... but then I prefer the version found elsewhere.

Mouth freshner

Okie... this restaurant might be great for everyone else but me. Maybe it's a different for everyone... but i just don't like.

Han Kook Gwan @ Amara Food court (22nd Dec 2008)

2008-12-27T10:44:00.004+08:00

This is one of the places I would go if I want some cheap Korean food.
I love it just because it's simple and unassuming. I think it's not easy to get good and reasonable well korean food in Singapore. I can go into a Korean restaurant and pay more than 20 dollars for something which I really want fast and most important of all ... SIMPLE!

They only offer 2 side dishes... one is beansprout and of course, the other one would be the traditional kimchi.

Sukju Namul Muchim 숙주나물

Kimchi 김치

Bibimbap 비빔밥

After seeing a picture on my fren's flickr account, I finally got my hands on my frist bibimbap.... it was too much a disappointment. I don't like it. I don't like the fried egg when it's supposed to be raw... there are too much vegetables... yeah yeah i know there is supposed to be some form of vegetables in it... but I still prefer mine with less veggies... (as u would know... I am not much a veggie person)

Bibimbap 비빔밥 (after mixing)

Okie... I had decided that, if I ever want something real Korean, I would go to the good places... and of course, but this would satisfy my basic craving. :p

Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant (19th Dec 2008)

2008-12-27T10:41:00.003+08:00

A flickr fren from Chicago came back to Singapore.... yippeee more new frens to meet :)

so after going for a rather horrible buffet... we tot crabs would be next on the menu... so we went searching for crabs at YCK but was told they would only served at 5 pm....so we ended up having it at Ah yat instead.... :)

we started with some dim sum

Scallop with yam paste
the scallop bits were small to the extent I did not detect its existence... taste more like a meat fillings than anything.

Har Gow (Steamed prawn dumpling)

Cereal Prawns
This was slightly salty. Maybe less salt would make this dish perfect, cause the prawns were quite fresh.

Matrimony Vine with Assorted Egg
one of my favorite vegetable dish... along with some good stock... and several types of eggs *yummy*

Stir-Fried crabs with salted egg yolk
I definitely like this alot :) pity we don't have some buns to wipe the plate clean :D

This is definitely a good place to come for fresh seafood. But fresh seafood, without good cooking skills can be a quite a difficult choice to make. That's one reason why this is only the backup when i do want to have seafoood.

Dinner @ Tanglin Halt (11th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:01:00.030+08:00

In a little corner of a food centre somewhere in Singapore..... There is a stall that sells rather good fried hokkien noodles and Fried Kway Teow. I was informed that this place will be closed for renovation soon... Gosh!! another place losing something precious... which words cannot be used to describe.

I just need to get my fix of them frist...

Fried Kway Teow :) this was yummy when it's hot... :D

And of course, I must get Fried Prawn mee aka Hokkien mee as well. :D This went very well with the chilli I was given.

And followed by a nice cold Bo Bo Cha Cha from a neighbouring stall *bliss*

And this stall is doing it's part in support of the yellow ribbon program :)

I am a greedy glutton who loves to have good food. Sometimes food don't have to be on wonderful china... or even a few tens of dollars... a meal that can bring along the happy memories of the past, along with passable skills, would make a simple hot meal a feast fit for this greedy glutton.

Fish Mart SAKURAYA (15th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:01:00.029+08:00

Crab flavoured Croquette

I had the Kani Creamy Croquette, which was still hot, despite travelling longer distance than usual. I enjoyed it. :)

Uni Handroll

The Uni was pathetically little. I should have just get sashimi uni, instead of the uni handroll. The Uni is fresh, though I wish they had put a bit more into it.

I had an extremely horrible experience with the service here. The service staff kept bring my order to the table besides me.Hey I am not stupid okay! I saw the dish moving from his table to the waiter station before coming to my table.

As for the grill saba... they had served it to the table besides me. And when i asked them if they ready to serve it yet. When they went err ahh, I know immediately the fish I was eye'ing at the other table WAS MINE! I told the person I would like to cancel it in english but softly, cause I didn't want the person to feel bad about eating MY order. Off she went... then I got another female service staff telling them that I would like to cancel my grilled saba. Thinking that I will be getting my bill soon... and seeing the person finishing my fish... did put my blood to boil! 10 mins later... another female service staff came with an order of grilled saba... by then I was already angry, I looked at her and spoke sharply in Chinese about how i know my fish was served to the person besides me and that I had cancelled the order. I told her, even if she put the fish down, I will not pay for it. Annoying!!

The food ain't that bad... but can be better. I don't think I will not come here that often... esp if this is the type of service I would get. No matter how fresh they are.... the service is still important.

Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice Eating House 林成利鴨飯餐室 (15th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:01:00.028+08:00

I might be getting old... Because recently most of the food I am craving for are either simple local food... or soft food. Or it could be the influences of blogs I visit. Either way... on 15th Dec 2008, I ended up at this place, instead of the korean place i want to go to... I think it's someone up there playing a prank, just so i don't get the food i really want!!! So I am not getting old!!! *yippie*

Better get back to the food... age is not something i like to go into...

This uncle had always been there... chopping and slicing away the times when I am there for his famous duck rice...

Duck Innards

What is duck rice meal without a bit of spare parts ? *yummy* though i am not a big fan of chinese styled foie gras... :P

Beancurd

okie... i am definitely not the person who ordered it... but the person actually can finished the whole thing by herself *pei fu*pei fu*

Stirred fried Kang Kong with shrimp paste

what is a meal without a bit of veggie... :P

Braised boneless duck

And most important of all... THE DUCK!

And a nice bowl of porridge to bring it all together...

After going thru the photos, and choosing them, putting them up on the blog, recalling the taste ... I realized, not am I getting old... I am also getting rather picky. This place was once a favorite haunt, now i realized it wasn't as good as I had remembered. Maybe I am no longer a person who would follow the crowd and have my own opinons... or maybe i am just plain getting old and cranky....

Lim Joo Hin Eating house (13th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:01:00.015+08:00

Because i didn't managed to get my teochew porridge fix...being my fabulous fantastically GREAT sister, she suggested to go to my favorite teochew porridge place :)

it's great to have such a sister : D

Frist of all ... the choices...

Our selection...

sauces... and my porridge

Steamed fish cake

Szechuan vegetable

Preserved radish Omelette

Braised duck

I like Teochew porridge, not because it's a simple meal... I like it, because of the number of choices we can have to accompany the porridge. This might not be the most authentic one, but it's definitely a familiar joint I frequented with my friends.

OChaCha (11th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:00:00.025+08:00

After dragging my vegetarian fren for an almost all meat meal.... I decided to follow her to run her errands... as I felt slightly, ever so slightly guilty that I did that to her... :P

So off we went to Raffles city shopping centre... and I went to Ochacha for a snack... dessert while she went around to get her stuffs. :)

This was what we ordered...
OChaCha Latte
My fren had ordered the warm one... and I the Ochacha rocks :P

Matcha Panna Cotta
this was one of my favorite dessert there, along with their Tiramsu....

I like Green Tea foodstuffs quite a bit, cause I am not a fan of the tea itself... unless it's come with lots of milk and it's cold :P This place served quite a number of Green tea infused stuffs.... it's definitely a good place to hang out with some frens... but i do wish they have more comfortable seating, to allow long leisure chatting :)

Teochew Porridge somewhere... (11th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:00:00.023+08:00

Someone told me they have fantastic stuffed beancurd ... so I drag my vegetarian fren for this meal... hahhaa poor her. To me, it's very interesting esp when the staff there... absolutely do not like advertising their stall. why? they do not want to work too hard and they just want to earn enough. I totally agree with them... so their customers are their regulars or people who happened to wander past... or stubborn people who just need to try before giving my opinion if I like or not like this stall.

Some of their regular clients

Here's some picture I took that day :D

Their famous Tau Kwa Pau... okie i am not a big fan of it... I am actually not a big fan of Tau Kwa. I like the fillings though. Basically eat the tau kwa because of the fillings... :P

Some of the choices they offered :D

there are so much beancurds they are offering... other than their famous Tau Kwa Pau.

Here are some of their steamed fishes....

And this is how they cooked one of their fish... I though it's quite unique... one day I will try it :D

This is one chilli i think people should try :D I like!!! esp with the duck meat :D

Salted duck egg

I don't actually like this.... my fren like it though... I don't like the saltish taste of the white... I can barely endure the yolk... with lots of spoonfuls of porridge.

Braised egg...

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE eggs that have soft centre... :P if i am not in a public place, I would just pick up the plate and lick the yolk off :p hehehe

Braised Duck meat and fish cake...

These are things I would definitely ordered if I am having Teochew porridge. :P but I felt that the duck slices are not fatty enough. I prefer and LOVE my ducks FAT! and with lots of FAT! ANIMAL FAT!!! :p give me give me GIVE ME!!!

And steamed fish cake :) I like I like I like :D I think that steamed fish cake is better than fried ones... :D

Braised Duck, fish cake and Tau Kwa Pau

Tau Kwa Pau

Salted Veggies

this is the usual fare... :D so nothing big.

I like the attitude of this stall. We don't need to earn too much, just enough. I feel the food should speak for themselves and not advertisments... :P I definitely will give this stall another try. Maybe bring more frens along... so we can order more stuffs to try :D

Till next time...

Ju Shin Jung 주 신 정 @ West Coast (8th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:00:00.022+08:00

One of the premier Korean Restaurant in Singapore..... It wasn't that popular when they frist started... but it began to gain fame....

Some of the side dishes they are offering :D and my favorites too :D

Myulchi Bokkeum 멸치볶음

Korean Pancake

Kim chi 김치

Miyeok Naeng-guk 미역냉국 (Cold Seaweed soup)

삼겹살 (SAMGYUB)

우설 (WOOSUL)

OX tongue *yummmy* I marveled at the lady who bbq'ed these for us... she was fast and good... so all our meat were done nicely and not burnt at all :)

갈비살 (GALBISAL)

해물파전 (Pajun)

This is a must have whenever i go to any Korean restaurant :D loooooooove this type of pancake... esp with the seafood in it... though I don't really like the slice of pepper they used.

소고기잡채(JAPCHAE)

I didn't try this... because I don't like the color of this dish... just some beef and glass noodles... :p

They always cut their watermelon into heart shapes... :P

su jung gwa 수정과

woo this is my favorite!!! :D I can easily drink at least 4 - 5 bowls of this... :P

If u are willing to pay.. this is a good place to go for korean food. It is slightly more expensive and they do have lunch buffets except on mondays... :P I love the many types of different side dishes they give and if u REALLY need some veggies... they have one looooooooooooooong tray of different raw vegetables to wrap your bbq meat with. :) They used to have only Korean service staffs, but with increased business, they had employed many other nationalities. It is good and bad ... like a basket of eggs, there would be good and bad ones. Give it a try one day :)

Padang Palace Restaurant (6th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T22:00:00.021+08:00

It's an important someone's bday! so He chose Padang Palace Restaurant ....
Nice plate...
But this plate cannot be used to hold your food... why?
it's because the paint is poisonous. :p

Chilli and peanuts

Shao Tao (Longevity Buns)

Fortune Combination deluxe

Doubled boiled superior shark's fin with chicken and wanton dumpling soup

Roasted suckling pig

Roasted Peking duck

Fried Prawns with oats in french style

Sauteed scallop with broccoli in Xo sauce

Steamed Red Garoupa

Stewed E-fu noodes with shredded duck meat

Double Boiled Hashima with lotus seed and red date

My mom always tell me, if there is nothing good to say, then don't say anything at all.

end of this post.

Ricciotti Italian Deli & Pastry (6th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T21:59:00.005+08:00

Funghi E tartufo

Mushroom soup with potatoes and truffle oil

I quite like this soup... mainly because i can taste the bits and pieces in it. The truffle oil did add an extra something to it :)

Salmone pizza

Marinated Salmon, spinach, pomodoro and mozzarella Cheese

I love smoked salmon... n spinach... cheese... I looooooooooooove this pizza. I think it's a good reason one would pay this a visit. :)

Ricciotti salad

Rucola, crispy bacon, grilled bell pepper, smoked scarmoza cheese and extra virgin olive oil.

Not my favorite dish... but i like the smoked scarmoza cheese... though the portion is slightly smaller than the one I had the previous time.

Agnello

Lamb shank with mashed potatoes

The lamb shank was absolutely delicious!!! soft and tasty ... *yummy*

Fettuccine Bolognese

Fettuccine with beef ragu sauce.

I never did like bolognese, my preference would be cream sauce... but this was done very well.

Panna cotta

Vanilla pudding in chocolate shell with sabayon and chocolate jelly

I won't touch this with a 10 feet pole... it has a very weird taste... in fact, it tasted somewhat like thinner.... :p

Soffiato

Warm dark chocolate cake with chocolate chip ice cream

This was one of our better dessert choice. the cake was warm... though it was not molten chocolate in the middle, it was DELICIOUS. It would be my choice of dessert here, the next time.

Duomo

Mascarpone and spicy cream with olive oil sugar dough

I don't like!!! I thought the spicy cream was very weird. I don't think dessert should have too much spices like we would put in other parts of a meal.

Although alot of people love this place for their desserts, I think they would have overlooked the delicious mains and starters... which would be a pity in my view.

Novena Peranakan Cuisine (4th Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T21:48:00.003+08:00

Been watching too much of the Peranakan show on the TV.... just feel like having some Peranakan food :)

Nonya bah chang

That was the frist time I ate a dumpling that used the extract of the blue-pea flower. I think it was rather unique, though the taste was not as flavourful as the normal ones I would get from the normal stalls in food court.

Nonya Ngo Hiang

I didn't like this too much... I thought there was too much beancurd and too little fillings... even with too little fillings... the fillings were not tasty.

Nonya Chap Chye

nothing special... I doubt i would order this dish, if I ever managed to get myself into this place.

Bakwang Kepeting

okie... my pet peeve is the taste of "been in too long in the freezer";. And this was a dish with it!!! the mixture of crab, pork and prawn were not really fish... and i did not even see much of bamboo shoots or egg that were supposed to be in this prawn and chicken stock... I think some ppl can do better with a piece of chicken stock piece.

Ayam Buah Keluak

I had a craving for this nut... Buah keluak... I just can't pronounce it.. but i looooooooove it. This was done with chicken... I basically just want the nuts and none of the chicken at all. The sauce was rather flavourful :D I think mixed with rice would be a gooooooood idea.

These were the reasons why I went for nonya food :P~ Yummy

Ji De Chi 记得吃 (Upper Cross Street) ( 3rd Dec 2008)

2008-12-15T21:43:00.005+08:00

Without a doubt... I LOOOOOOOOVE sweet things. Durian and sago and pomelo are a fantastic mix... *yummy* Even thinking about it now... causes me to have urges to head there to get some desserts.

Durain with Pomelo sago

With thick thick durian puree... silence would only befall on someone who is so talkative like me....

Egg drop water chestnut sago paste

I didn't like this. I definitely had better ones before. The egg drops seemed alot... but it wasn't enough... it was like plain water... and i didn't have much of the chestnuts... I think the sago was bigger than the chestnut bits.

Almond jelly with longans

My friend seemed to think that this was quite good. But I am not a fan of almond jelly with longan...

I think the service here were quite friendly and fast. I didn't like the fact that they asked us to pay immediately after serving... I still like the old fashion way of paying when we are done with the food.

Annalakshmi (3rd Dec 2008)

2008-12-04T14:53:00.013+08:00

Went to this really nice place.... I think that people who don't work or cook, just for money, would make one of the best food in the world.... cause they give without expecting anything in return, at least that's how i felt at that time. :)

Potato Bonda

Ootthappam with mushroom toppings

South Thali

North Thali set

papadum and Chipati

The doorway to GREAT food

I recently spoke to a fren... who told me that the food ain't that great and there are less charitable purpose to this organization. To me, alot of places have such "warpped" system.. but most important of all, i believed the service staff there generously served us gracefully. Give it a try :)

Teochew kueh 潮式粿品 - (2nd Dec 2008)

2008-12-04T14:53:00.012+08:00

Sister got these from someone... didn't tell me where... must find out... one of the kueh was great!! These were HOMEMADE! and they would only sell IF someone ordered alot and they do extras.

The three types which my sister managed to get... :D

饭桃 (Png Kueh)

This was surprisingly good... I love the way they had prepared this dish... it's white and not pink like the normal Png Kueh...

韭菜粿 (Chinese Chives Kueh)

I usually loooove this kueh... but unforunately they were not as good as the ones I would usually get.

笋粿 (Soon Kueh)

I also like this. Cause usually they would put alot of turnips and very little shrimps... But I am glad that this was done with enough turnips and most important of all... enough little shrimps :D *yummy*

Given a chance, I might order more... :)