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Food & Beverage
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Nestled inside a shop called Eclectic Attic, that sells all things vintage sorts of collectibles, antiques and clothes and accessories to furniture and knick-knacks, you will find Tea Cosy. At first glance, one may miss Tea Cosy as the whole shop décor here is intentionally messy, making the place feel like an attic. A little crammed and cluttered, the cafe area is barely noticeable amidst all the objects in the place. But when one takes the trouble to peer inside, you will realise that they had place settings at the tables. You will be astound to realise that everything in the cafe is for sale besides the food you dine – from the decorations on the table, including the bell to ring for service (and it doesn’t come cheap mind you), to the wooden chairs that we were sitting on – talk about experiential home furnish shopping!
Starter was the Home-made Creamy Mushroom Soup. Every spoonful comes with generous bits of mushrooms although I rather prefer them in thick and big slices – quality for quantity. Soup was also slightly on the salty side. Surprisingly what I felt was better was the piece of toast that went along with it. It was toasted with Mayonnaise that gave it a sweet creamy taste, something different from the normal toast that comes with soup.
The Decadent Salad consists of Foie Gras, Prawns and Eggs. One of Tea Cosy’s reputed dishes – my expectation of it was heightened – although it didn’t wow me, expectations of a salad was met. The vegetables were fresh and the dressing was a good compliment to it, but the prawns could have been juicier and foie gras bigger.
Not sinfully satisfied, I opted for the Signatured Pan-fried Foie Gras as the main. Topped with pineapples and aragula leaves and with what tasted like orange marmalade on the side, the foie gras goes well with the juices from the pineapple and aragula to create a bittersweet combination, but on its own, the oily aftertaste wasn’t exactly pleasant. This is not the best rendition I have tasted but Tea Cosy is the cheaper option if one does not have a big pocket to burn but still crave for some sinful delight.
Not filling enough, we ordered an extra serving of Laksa Pesto to share that comes with quite a few prawns, and is said to be of reminiscent to Wild Rockets rendition – amidst more watery. Coming to the end of the dish however, one will probably find the gravy extremely salty due to the residues of the dried shrimps used for it. To be honest I wasn’t impressed with this dish.
We wrapped up the night with some desserts that I felt the portion was more suitable for their High Tea – petite. They were nothing extraordinary, and probably the only thing that impresses me was the name used for the chocolate brownie with ice-cream combi – Ebony and Ivory.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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I went to Pasta de Waraku with some colleagues some months back. It was my first time there as I generally prefer Italian pasta though.
Apparently, every order of a pasta dish here entitles you to a small bowl of salad. It was tossed in a Wafu dressing, which was very all right.
I order a Wafu Scallop & Asparagus Spaghetti (S$12.80). It was not too bad. Although the spaghetti was not al dente enough, this was nonetheless not too bad for a Japanese pasta dish.
This is worth a visit if one just wish to try out a Japanese interpretation of an Italian staple, but otherwise I would prefer to stick to the italians.
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The distinguishing feature of Din Tai Fung's dumplings is that the chefs would make 18 folds to seal the dumplings.
A cautionary note about eating Xiao Long Bao is that the soup is usually so hot that an unsuspecting consumer might scald the tongue and throat if he/she popped the entire dumpling into the mouth without first allowing it to cool down a little.
The Xiao Long Bao at Din Tai Fung were tasty and didn't have a strong porky odour (unlike the ones that I had at another popular establishment). In short, it met my expectations since my last visit to one of their outlets. I think its likely that the flagship at Paragon branch churns out better dumplings than the branches at Wisma Atria and Raffles City.
Surprisingly, the Fried Rice with Pork Chop is just as good - try it and you will be convince!
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The extended wing of Centrepoint Shopping Centre has a basement lined with food stalls and restaurants. But it's like a maze quietly tucked away in the madness of Orchard Road. And out of this maze, I discovered Sumi Yakitori by pure luck.
The light dinner started off with a plate of raw veggies ($1/person including towels). I eat salad but shudder at the raw thick cabbage leaf. The dipping sauce, in which the waitress instructed us to squeeze the lemon into, was like a dark miso-shoyu paste- salty and savoury.
The Tonkutsu Ramen ($8) unfortunately brought a very comforting feel. It was so familiar - Uncannily like Chu Qian Yi Ding instant noodles with the aromatic sesame oil. But I would have preferred a richer broth and the ramen itself was too cooked for my liking.
Sumi seems more like a Japanese grill kind of place instead of ramen house. So we decided to order a few grilled items to see what it offers.
The Fresh Tiger Prawn ($3.50) had blackened legs but fortunately the flesh was protected by its shell. The flesh was sweet and firm but a tad too dry.
The saving grace was the Sweet Corn ($2.50)! Each kernel was plump and burst with sweet juices upon nibbling. The nice smokey aroma by the grilling was evident and complemented the natural sweetness of the corn well.
In a nutshell, don't expect ultra fine Japanese food here. It's more like a budget ramen place with a few stars from the yakitori menu. To put things in perspective, it almost felt like paying food court prices at a restaurant for the ramen.
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Anthony Bourdain swears by their chicken rice and he only eats chicken rice from this stall.
Seriously, how can anyone resist chicken that's as succulent, juicy and tender as this!
Some say the Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice is better while some swear by Five Star Chicken Rice or even Boon Tong Kee. However, I beg to differ.
The texture of the chicken here is the best around. The skin is smooth and they always have that delicious layer of subcutaneous gelatine under the skin what is so wonderfully slurpy. The meat has just the right amount of tenderness and is so savoury. It is said the chicken are dipped into cold water before being served, and that's why the meat tend to be slightly cold when served.
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I've been wanting to try ever since I saw it featured on television some time back. It's actually Hakka Lei Cha, a healthy rice dish made from the healthiest of ingredients - basil leaves, green tea leaves, mint leaves, Chinese parsley, coriander leaves, etc. And mind you that's just the stock. The rice itself is served with loads of good stuff like anchovies, okra, cabbage, tofu, long beans, and spinach
That's alot of green stuff! Full of fibre and lots of nutrients! This dish looks yucky but actually tastes ok. However, some people might be not be able to stand the potent smell of the green stock.
By the way, you can choose to have brown rice (which I did), instead of the normal white rice.
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Opened by lifestyle and entrepreneur guru Michel Lu, Superfamous is located right smack in the heart of the CBD. Fully realised as a chic and trendy eating place, the restaurant is open to the elements in an al fresco setting before transforming into a bar in the evening. Even during the heat of the afternoon, the restaurant is generally cooling and suitable for patronizing even then. Lets go to the food to see how it fares then.
Apple and Orange Juice - Authentic juice best describes these 2 juices. In that i mean that they were both sour and depending on your tolerance to sour stuff, can either be a blessing or a curse. For me, i have a low tolerance to them and thus, it was a rather difficult experience to finish them. In all fairness though, they tasted very true to form.
Blue Swimmer Crab Caesar Salad ($13) - Crab meat, deep fried bread, salad, cheese flakes, boiled eggs and bacon bits. This simple looking salad was made very nicely indeed. The crab meat was fresh and sweet while the salad itself was crunchy to a fault. I particularly liked the boiled egg for no other reason then i love boiled eggs in a salad and the cheese lent a light salty taste to the dish. A great start to a meal.
Wild Mushroom Soup With Truffle Oil ($8) - The mushroom bits can be easily seen and the soup seems to be a grinded home made version of the mushroom soup which reminds me of the rendition at Eden Cafe. Taste wise, it was also quite similar with the mushroom bits providing texture to the soup and the truffle oil softening it somewhat. A little pepper did wonders for the soup as well. Worth a try.
Linguine with Seared Tiger Prawns in Tomato Chili Sauce ($16) -Spicy, tangy and a little sweet. The linguine was done al dente with the tiger prawns arranged at the top with the sauce and tomatoes. The prawns were reasonably big and crunchy but could have done with more. As i don't take much spicy stuff, i left this to my colleague to enjoy. What i gather was that it was not spicy enough but was good.
SuperFamous Wagyu Burger With Caramelized Onions, Fries and Salad ($23) - This original burger came looking delicious and the taste test revealed that it is delicious. Wagyu beef is mashed well with chunky bits to add variety to the texture while the caramelized onions gave the burger an overall sweet finish. The beef was also juicy and it was evident in each bite that the meat was fresh. The only gripe is that i couldn't tell if it was Wagyu or normal beef since it was mashed up.
SuperFamous Foie Gras Wagyu Burger ($32) - This was what i came to try. The foie gras wagyu beef burger. I have a tendency to go for artery clogging and heart stopping menu items and thus this was the choice of the day. Sadly, although the beef was nicely mashed as the SuperFamous burger, the foie gras did not manage to bring a different experience to the meal. The foie gras came at a respectable size with cheese meltings with it. It was also done nicely and taken on its own, it could have sufficed but when paired with the burger, it just feels like something is still missing. Maybe i held too high an expectation for this burger because otherwise, its pretty darn good. The wedges are the same for both, well done, not too oily and piping hot.
Sticky Date Pudding With Honey, Fig and Butterscotch Ice Cream ($8.50) - Recommended by the nice waitress of the restaurant, the sticky date pudding is a must try. Needless to say, this is the star of the day. Looking like glutinous rice, the warm sticky date is sweet and packs a punch in its aroma. Taken on its own, it would have overwhelmed but when paired with the honey fig and butterscotch ice cream, the taste was incredible. The waitress said that no visit is complete till you've had this as dessert and i totally agree. Try this!
Royal Chocolate Mousse With Crunchy Feulletine Base ($8.50) - The chocolate mousse on the other hand was rather lackluster as it was bitter and lacked any other taste. I did enjoy the crunchy base but it still doesn't warrant a second order.
Peppermint Green Tea (complimentary) - Finally, after all the rich food i've had, the waitress once again recommended the peppermint green tea to aid digestion and i'm so grateful she did. Its fabulous. The tea is absolutely fragrant and cooling which is wonderful for the current weather and for washing done all the oil from the burgers before. If any drink should be ordered here, this is it.
Given the food, good service and some wonderful items. This place is somewhere i could return to and recommend to my friends. I'd return for the dessert and tea any day and as for the burgers, i wouldn't mind clogging myself again but first of all, its time to shed what i've gained from this visit. Do give it a try if you are in the vicinity.
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Had the good fortune to be treated once again by my nice boss when it was Secretaries Day. I'm not a secretary but i tagged along and shamelessly got myself a free meal. Ahhh....its the little things in life that make life beautiful doesn't it? Thanks boss!
Started in 1997, Siam kitchen is committed to bringing authentic Thai cuisine to Singapore without compromising the taste and quality of the transition. After 11 years, has their food been palatable for the majority of Singaporeans or are they going down the slippery slope marking the end?
Crackers - As with most meals, an appetizer begins the day and this time, its a bowl of crackers. Vegetable crackers if i'm not mistaken. Light, crispy and fragrant, it managed to set the mood for the meal to come. In fact, it was good enough for us to get it refilled at least once but maybe we're just cracker people.
Salad, Fish cake and Chicken Wings - Whilst waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, we went ahead to get ourselves a few ala carte items which you see above. Surprisingly, the best items turned out to be the salad of which i've forgotten the actual name. Either way, the salad was drenched in the usual sourish and sweet sauce that thai food is known for and the cold "cucumber?" and other items made for a refreshing and interesting taste. The wings were hot and tender while the fish cake was rather lackluster.
Buffet Lunch Set with free flow ice lemon tea($15.90 1.99) - The buffet spread came with a multitude of items which you will get to have at one go. These include, thai spicy squid salad, lemongrass chicken wings, prawn balls, tom yum prawn soup, thai fish cake, green curry chicken, chicken satay, fish fillet in yellow curry, sweet and sour prawn, beef massaman in dry curry, minced chicken in chili and basil, tofu in oyster sauce, baby kailan with garlic and mushroom, fried kangkong and pineapple rice.
In all respects, that is a pretty big variety and everything is done ala carte. The catch is that they'll serve everything once and after that, you'll get to re order whatever else you wish to have seconds of. The tom yum is more sourish then spicy while the green curry had an overdose of coconut milk which isn't to my taste nor waistline. The only item good enough to mention was the chicken wing and thats at a discounted size from the actual ones that could be obtained from the ala carte menu. Still, the other items weren't all bad per se, just not up to the standard i would like. And anyway, its a buffet so this is more or less expected.
The above items were had by my colleagues who opted for the ala carte menu instead of the buffet. All of the guo tiao items received positive feedback which more or less confirms that the ala carte served much better food. The red ruby however, had too much coconut milk and was exceedingly salty, yep, salty is the word. The mango and glutinous rice also turned up too salty but was balanced by the mango and the ice cream in the end. Maybe thats how the authentic items tasted like in Thailand?
In terms of value for money, the buffet is generous and definitely filling enough although quality is compromised somewhat. The desserts and a few other items really felt like there was excess salt added which was quite disconcerting. Otherwise, the service was pretty good and no additional rules were enforced when the buffet customers and the ala carte customers sat together which i took to be a good sign. It wasn't terrible and the ala carte items definitely got better reviews.
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Had a chance to gather around for a meal with the Yebbers on a fine Saturday to commemorate a rather interesting event which i will not go into specifics. Either way, the meal is free and i've always wanted to dine in Laguna Country Club for no apparent reason other then its a country club. So here we are and this is what we had. As i didn't pay for this meal, i'll only give my take on the food quality and service.
Laguna country club hosts a variety of golf tournaments throughout the year, including big name events like the Singapore Masters and the Women's Open nary a year ago. The location is scenic with lush green pastures and an air of luxury that extends beyond the greens and into the eating places housed within. Pine Valley is a relaxed, open and well air conditioned place for the inhabitants and club members and also a good place to reside for a nice chat as its sparsely populated even during the lunch hours.
Shark's Fin Soup with Fish Maw, Chicken and Mushrooms - Shark's fin soup is one of those dishes that i associate with wedding dinners and extremely wealthy individuals. This will likely fall into the latter category. The soup itself is quite starchy and has a really generous helping of ingredients, shark's fin and fish maw. Taken on its own, there's a sweet taste that emanates from the healthy does of crab and mushrooms in the mix but otherwise, tastes bland as most shark's fin soup tastes. Vinegar and pepper definitely ups the taste and texture department in this case.
Peking Duck - The beauty of the Peking Duck dish is undeniable. Order a whole duck and you'll get to eat it in a variety of ways for the skin and the meat. The only things standing between you and the dish is the knowledge of whether the duck skin is marinated and roasted well. In this case, the skin is quite fatty and crispy enough to warrant a try. The marinate feels non existant and the normal pancake is too dry. The egg version salvaged the situation though. The meat was cooked in black pepper and turned out surprisingly good. It was moist, succulent and sweet. It also helped that the portion size was rather big.
Wasabi Mayonnaise Prawns - Wasabi Mayonnaise prawns, a signature dish of the Tung Lok group, this version turned out too dry for me. The batter and frying process seemed to have been overdone which left the prawns tasting hard and dry instead of crunchy and juicy. No matter, the wasabi mayonnaise was mixed well and provided a small kick in the right direction since it was rather mild and easily acceptable.
Steamed Batang - This fish was huge. Simple steamed fish can be good as long as the fish itself was fresh and the process of cooking was not overdone. Sad to say however, the fish was overcooked and thus caused the meat to loss some of its sweetness which could have made it better. For what its worth, what is good is that the meat is plentiful, fresh and went well with the salty and sourish stock accompanying the dish.
Dried Chili Fried Prawns - Somehow, i don't think the restaurant handles prawns well. This dish was decent but the taste resides only within the portion of the shell. This means that once deshelled, which is a necessary procedure unless you are lazy like me, the prawn itself is rather bland. Otherwise, the spicy and fragrant dried chili is something spice lovers will easily take to.
Beancurd with Spinach - Finally, some greens. The spinach turned out too old and had the "greenish" taste which accompanies greens not cleaned properly. Although a tad salty, the spinach with all its flaws, ultimately tasted better then the beancurd atop it, which came across as being totally tasteless.
Fried Ee Fu Noodles - By the time this dish appeared, we'd pretty much been stuffed like a duck awaiting slaughter. So the taste buds have deteriorated to the point i couldn't taste much. Nonetheless, the noodles were fragrant and had some bacon bits strewn around it. It was also springy and soft enough to be bitten off which is always a good sign.
Almonds, Sea Coconut, Pine Apple and Longan Cocktail - The dessert is rather simple but definitely gets the job done. I like the almond which was very soft and strong (i'm biased because i love almond). Everything else was just detail though. The other good thing was that the sweetness was just right, thus it didn't overwhelm.
First of all, thank you for the meal boss, i probably couldn't afford having such a huge sumptuous meal all on my lonesome. The view was good, location is quiet, food is decent and the portions were huge. I'd say the place was pretty good but i still don't know how much it cost so thats an open topic. Based on the food alone, i would probably like to have the shark's fin again, Peking duck however, is still better at Hai Tien lo.
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Following my virgin taste testing session that took place at Persimmon, HFB was honoured to be invited to another launch at TETSU ("哲"), which has just opened its doors at Tanglin Mall.
Japanese cuisine aficionados will rejoice a first of its kind authentic Kushi-style Tempura along with Tonkatsu menu, prepared “LIVE” before their eyes. Seated at specially designed counter bars that are in close proximity to the chef who deftly prepares their Tempura and Tonkatsu, diners get to enjoy a visual feast right before their eyes.
Diners can have a choice from a wide array of freshest seafood, meats and vegetables prepared either Kushi-age style (Skewered with Breaded Batter) or Kushi-tem style (Skewered with Tempura Batter).
In order to recreate the most authentic Japanese dining experience, TETSU has partnered up with one of the most established restaurant groups in Japan with 48 restaurants and employing over 1400 people.
The Hana Group, renowned for their authentic Japanese cuisine and has been advising TETSU in all aspects of their restaurant.
The night was kick-started with an appetiser off the menu, the Cold Tofu with Century Egg and Ebi Roe. It was surprisingly a good dish to start off with as the combination of the heavy century egg and soft tofu attempts to tickle your palate along with the salty exploding sensation of the ebi roe when one bites into it.
The Edamame ($4.00) like others are nothing to shout about, but something that stood out was the aestheticism of the dish, which is visually evident in all the subsequent dishes – it is only then that I found out that TETSU prides itself on offering the most authentic Japanese dining experience, taking it down even to the smallest of details.
The layout of the Kaiseki sets and even the art of serving up these gourmet sets are specially formulated in Japan, to ensure that diners can get the full “LIVE” experience, at the best value. In addition, much of the restaurant’s tableware are all specially flown in from Japan.
Moreover, the good thing about the Kushi-age Soft Shell Crab ($3.00 per serving) is that it does not come oil soaked, although I would prefer it to be slightly meatier.
One might also be intrigued to know that in TETSU, one also get a choice of three dips for their deep-fried food – Tonkutsu sauce, Japanese Mayo and Curry Salt.
Onsentamago To Tofu Salad, or Half-boiled (Hot Spring-styled) Egg & Tofu Salad ($13.50) is another dish that is dedicatedly prepared by the chef – using their bare hands to measure the temperature of the water cooking the eggs, and the eggs only taken out of the cooking water when the water is too hot for their hands to handle.
The only non-authentic dish that we tried that night was probably their Salmon Carpaccio with French Dressing ($18.00). Although the salmon was very fresh and comes with a very nice bite, I feel that the dressing was slightly too sour for me – let’s just say that I prefer sashimi the way it is.
Highly recommended was their Rosu Katsu (A set served with Salad, Pickles, Rice, Miso Soup and Dessert cost $24.50). Similar to Tonkichi, one is also given a bowl of Roasted Sesame Seeds to grind and add to the Tonkutsu sauce.
The sampling of their second deep-fried dish convinced me that their cooking and preparation technique is indeed accomplished. Although I pride Tampopo’s Black Pork Katsu to be the best in taste of texture due to its marbling fats, TETSU’s version comes a close second - one do not really sample the oily aftertaste in the batter.
It was then I was told that TETSU’s chefs have undergone intensive training in the chain’s headquarters in Japan. The attention paid to the preparation of Tempura and Tonkatsu is meticulous – TETSU chefs strictly ensure that all preparation techniques, from marination, to the type of batter and oil, to the time of frying, adhere to their timeless traditional Japanese recipes.
The Roll Sushi ($18.00 for 6 pieces) was another item that was painstaking prepared in many process. One would probably mistook it for a salmon roll sushi if one weren’t told that the filling also consists of scallop and tuna, as the saltiness of the cooked salmon seeks to over-whelmed it. However having said that, it was still a pretty enjoyable sushi roll due to the crunchy batter and the aromatic Sesame Seeds and pairing of Ebi Roe.
The Kushi-style cuisine is very popular in Japan because the skewer-style makes it easy for customers eat and enjoy their sake, shoju or wine at the same time.
However to be honest, by the time the Kaiseki Set Course B ($45.00) consisting of 4 Assorted Appetisers, Stick Vegetables, Kani-Suki (Paper Pot Crab Sukiyaki), Kushi-age or Kushi-Tem, Udon and Dessert arrived, I was pretty much filled up and my palate started to fail me. So I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.
However, one thing I remembered clearly was the very unique Japan-imported Udon that gives one a very chewy bite – one has to try it to truly understand what I mean.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Pris and TETSU for their generous hospitality.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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