Just returned from a 7 day trip to Western Australia and i'm glad to say i absolutely loved the place! Slow and relaxed lifestyle. Friendly and wonderful people, absolutely beautiful surroundings and lots of fresh and good food. Its an experience everyone should go for.
My 7 day trip took me to King's Park which is a must visit in Perth. Excellent views, superb flowers and great food at Fraser's as well. The wonderful weather between June to October is extremely conducive for visiting the park. Lots and lots of beautiful flowers. Unbelievable view of Perth and the 2 rivers and lakes as well.
A short trip down to Murray street and HarbourTown Direct Brand shopping is a must for bargain hunters.
Across the highway to millpoint, there are restaurants like Shige and The Oyster Bar which are highly recommended by locals and overseas people as well.
A trip down to Fremantle is highly recommended for even more shopping and good food. Prepare to invest some time there.
I then drove down to Margaret River for a good wine experience. In the process visiting a few of the smaller towns like Dunsborough, Bunbury, Busselton and Augusta. Whatever you do, eat at Margaret River at night at this place called The Spaghetti bowl. It serves excellent food and i do mean excellent food at competitive prices as well. Loved it so much i visited i every night i stayed at MR.
All in all, visit WA. Its more then worth it. But be sure to give it at least 2 weeks or you won't be able to see enough. I certainly felt that it would be great if i stayed another....2 or so weeks. :)
Ristorante Da Valentino - a small Italian restaurant famed for its excellent homely Italian food and stellar service to boot. Dining at this reclusive semi fine dining restaurant presents quite a challenge as reservations are hard to come by (minimum 2 weeks in advance) and made even harder with the restrictions placed. Reservations of more than 8 pax are usually not entertained and Valentino also enforces a two seating policy, with the first running from 6pm - 830pm and the second from 830pm till closing. This effectively means that a leisurely dinner is probably out of the question, especially in large groups.
Located at the end of a short row of shophouses at Jalan Bingka, just off Rifle Range Road, Valentino can be rather inaccessible if you don't know your way around the area (shortcuts) or have your own means of transport. The interior struck me as very cosy and homely with its low ceilings, smallish dining area, decorative memorabila on the shelves and red walls decked with photo frames.
Complimentary Bread & Minestrone Soup - The complimentary bread was simple and nice. Warm and a tad chewy without all the frills. I won't be shy to admit that I requested for another serving of the bread.
At $5.90 a plate, I was rather doubtful about the quality of the minestrone but it was surprisingly good. With just about the right viscosity and flavour, it came across as light on the palate and was a hit amongst my dining companions.
Salmon Salad & Tomino Wrapped in Bacon - I didn't think too much of the salmon salad, in which the salmon slices were smoked and served atop fresh greens simply because the smoked taste was conspicuously faint. Honestly, if I wanted to eat non smoked semi raw salmon, I would have gone to a Japanese restaurant instead.
The Tomino, which is a typical Italian cheese that comes from Piemonte and made with cow's or goat's milk (in this case it was definitely goat), created a little stir with its nice smooth texture which was complemented by the crisp bacon. Only gripe I had was that the whole dish was extremely salty. And if you can't take the rather pungent taste of goat's milk, please refrain from ordering this dish.
Fettucine Al Granchio - The dish which I was eagerly anticipating, the squid ink fettucine with crab meat. The home made pasta was al dente and featured a rich cream based sauce with a touch of tomato that was most excellent, a fact that was accentuated further by the decent clumps of crab meat. Personally I like this better than that of Da Paolo's.
Porcini, Rucola and Prosciutto De Parma - The pizza spotted a thin crust that heaved downwards under the weight of its ingredients. Please do not be mistaken that the ingredients were plentiful. On the contrary, it was adequate at best. Personally I thought the pizza was good but not exactly the type that would wow me. I mean, how bad can mushrooms, parma ham and rocket leaves taste when eaten together?
Risotto Ai Frutti Di Mare - The risotto deserved the worst dish of the evening award with its sourish overtone that reminded me of food gone stale aka chao sng. I wasn't the only one who thought so apparently. Neither the fresh seafood nor the texture of the risotto could save this dish.
Chantilly - I had requested for four of Valentino's best desserts and left it up to our waitress to decide which desserts would fit the bill. The chantilly started us off on the right note, coming across as light on the palate without the cream being overbearingly sweet.
Panna Cotta - The panna cotta's texture was reminiscent more of tofu than pudding - quivery yet firm, which isn't so bad really until you get to the taste part, which was bland and uninspiring in my humble opinion. Would have liked it much stronger.
Tiramisu - Served up in a queer shaped plastic container, the tiramisu disappointed right from the start. Even though the presence of liquer was evident, the mascarpone cheese was a tad too thick and coagulated while the sponge was dry. I had expected better.
Valentino Cake - This was one decadent cake with dark chocolate making up most part of it. There were bits of raisins and traces of rum as well, making it a sweet but dry (the sponge was dry) ending to our dinner. Could it be that the cake was left in the open for a period of time such that the sponge dried up?
On my part I paid about $56 for a share of all the dishes I reviewed above, which really isn't too expensive for the variety of food I got to sample. Food quality was a case of hits and misses and I reckon only the mains are worth the trouble. Prices for the appetisers do seem a tad over the roof while the mains are priced a notch higher than other similar restaurants. Service was great and I must say I enjoyed some aspects of the dinner.
Tiong Bahru Market is often associated with good food, and stalls obviously want to put in “Tiong Bahru” into their stall names for two reasons; first they are really the original stalls from the old Tiong Bahru, or they probably added in to give the impression that they are “old name” when they are actually not.
What’s the difference between curry noodle and laksa? Actually I’m not quite sure myself too, but i guess the obvious differences are their ingredients, curry noodles has chicken, potatoes which are not found in laksa.
Curry Noodle ($3) The curry noodle was decent, with a rather generous serving of shreded chicken, tau pok, and potatoes. But it still can’t beat the famous one at Hong Lim food centre though. Besides curry chicken noodle, they also got quite a variety of other chicken dishes like lemon chicken rice and curry chicken feet.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I have been looking for nice kway chap for a while now, but I can’t seem to find them though.My latest hunt brought me to Tiong Bahru Market, a quick glance around resulted in two stores selling kway chap, and i chose this store over the other because this store had a slightly longer queue than the other on that day.
On a personal note, I felt that kway chap stalls does not usually have a standard rate, the charges are to their discretion and can differ on a rather wide range. I’m not saying all kuay chap stalls do that, but obviously there will be some rouge stalls around.
The kway (rice noodle sheet) was a tad too thick for my liking, and i found the soup average.
Kway Chap ($4 for one person serving)
For a person serving at $4, there’s one whole egg, taupok, and pig intestines. Even though the portion should suffice for a person, but i found the variety rather miserable, there’s no pork belly, no small intestines, no duck meat no beancurd, you know the usual stuff for kway chap.
Of course there is, but you just have to pay more for more variety. That’s why i say $4 can’t really get you much for kway chap. Nevertheless they did a passable kway chap, but there isn’t the “oomph” factor to make me try them again. Probably will test out the other kway chap stall in Tiong Bahru Market the next time round.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
This entry is way overdue and I finally got off my butt to start doing it. Well had a Chinese New Year eve dinner with one of my good friends at Peony Jade that doubled up as a catch up session.
Situated along Clarke Quay in a 2 storey refurbished shophouse, it faces the Singapore river and lies just a few doors down from Indochine. Traditionally furnished complete with mock up walls and heavy wooden doors reminiscent of the courtyards of old, it exudes scanty old world charm.
Deep Fried Live Prawns with Curry Leaves - A brilliant recommendation by our waiter I must say. I, for one, don't really fancy curry, but this dish kinda blew me away. The prawns were relatively huge, succulent and fresh, but the winner was the sauce which had a slight tinge of curry flavouring but was slightly sweet.
Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Golden Garlic - Another recommendation by our waiter and I found it quite interesting. The pork ribs were juicy and tender whilst the sauce was sweet and hinted strongly of garlic with a salty aftertaste. Every individual flavour carried itself very well, which made the dish very easy to appreciate.
Baked Cod Fish with Mango - I didn't find this dish outstanding, but it was still quite a gem. The fish was fresh, nothing less and baked till the exterior turned a hue of brownish red while the flesh remained white and firm. When eaten with the slices of mango, the natural sweetness of the fish blended in well with the sweetness of the mango, creating a delectable dish that didn't come down hard on the palate. But there's certainly room for improvement, given that the mango slices weren't chilled when served, which would definitely have gone down better with the fish.
Deep Fried Cod Fish with Oat Cereals - In all honesty, I didn't quite take to this dish simply because the oats taste was overwhelming. But my friend did fancy it, so to each his own I guess. Texture wise, the fish was well done with the flesh still firm and sweet while the exterior was slightly cripsy.
Yang Chow Fried Rice - I lament the fact that good Yang Chow Fried Rice is difficult to find. Peony Jade's rendition isn't too far off though. The rice was homogeneously cooked and had a slight "wok hei" taste. Ingredients were generous but overall I found the dish a little bland. Perhaps a little salt and sugar would be nice.
Chestnut with Egg White - Desserts kinda slided down the slope. Chestnut with egg white sounded intriguing to me so I ordered it and I regretted it right from the first sip. The chilled syrup tasted awfully weird and had this overpowering egg white taste. I took a few mouths and decided to call it quits, so you can guess how weird it was. According to the waiter, it is more popular with the older folks.
Yam with Sweet Corn Sauce - This was rather normal. The yam was a little too rough for my liking and the sweet corn sauce was way too sweet. Also, it felt weird eating yam with sweet corn. Somehow or rather, both flavours didn't go down well with each other.
Service was excellent and so was the food, barring the desserts of course. Price is rather steep though, standing at $122 for 2 pax. Do note that all portions are slightly smaller than average, so if you have 4 pax, it would be advisable to order at least 6 dishes. All in all, an enjoyable experience and definitely worth a visit if you have some spare cash to burn.
Was roaming around T3 one evening and fancied some Chinese food for dinner so ended up at Crystal Jade Shanghai Restaurant. I'm sure Crystal Jade is no stranger to most Singaporeans but I believe this Shanghai outfit is relatively new as I don't remember seeing it anywhere else before.
Crystal Jade occupies a circular space within the terminal and there is no interior to speak of as the place practices a semi open environment which allows you a view of T3's calming interior, which honestly, is good enough for me.
Xiao Long Bao - To be frank, the XLB was probably one of the best I've eaten in any Crystal Jade outlet in the past year or so (not that I've eaten at many though). Malleable yet thin skin shrouding a lump of meat that didn't carry that overwhelming pork taste and filled with tasty, albeit a tad oily, juices.
Crispy Duck with Chinese Herbs - I thought that the crispy duck came across as overly salty and dry. The herb taste was rather evident but I failed to see how it enhanced the taste of the duck, rendering the duck average at best. Served up on the side were tiny clam shaped mantous, which were similar to those I had at Szechuan court - sweet and filling.
Egg White with Shrimp & Asparagus - This dish wasn't too fantastic but I liked it solely because its comfort food to me. The prawns were crunchy but for the price, this dish could really do with more asparagus. I did think that the egg white tasted a little too raw as well.
An average but filling meal cost the 2 of us about $58, which isn't exactly cheap for the quality of food. But I guess such prices at the airport still fall into the reasonable category. Service didn't go beyond taking our orders and serving the dishes. One thing to note, please be prepared to queue if you wish to have dinner at this restaurant on weekends.
At $3, the cupcakes are actually quite reasonably priced.
I went a little crazy during my first visit and gor 4 cupcakes,the Cookie Monster Oreo, Toblerone, White Chocolate and Peanut butter.
Firstly the frosting is just so sinfully yummy. Delicious light buttercream which is not too sweet but sweet enough.
The cupcakes are not exactly super soft. but the fillings were goood. you can actually taste the peanuts in the peanut butter cupcake, and the chocolate in the toblerone but my favourite is still the white chocolate. So delicious.
I got the items to go so didnt get to try the other items there but will definitely return to try the food items. I love the cool unique and white decor, the chairs especially.
I grew up eating curries and "Indian food" cooked by my grandad and at several "Authentic Indian" restaurants. Love the spiciness and the combination of the spices so commonly used in Indian dishes. When I was invited for a food tasting session, i signed on as i was keen to try out fine Indian Coastal dishes.
Upon being seated, I enjoyed a view of the Singapore River and Riverside View. Its really quite a sight at night and the comfortable chairs made me feel at ease. Tables were not too close so its good to have private conversations. At 8pm it was not too crowded but as time went by the crowds started coming and i noticed many caucasians and Indians.
Before our orders, we were served with some crackers with dips that tasted like mint and another tomato. found the crackers reminded me of papadums, flour crackers with spices in it. yummy.
Glancing through the menu, I selected a few dishes that looked good but did not realise that they even had different pages for mains.
We got quite a few items to try and my favourite section was the staples section with a wide array of paranthas, rotis and kulchas to choose from.
Our appetizers were
Crabmeat soup - tasted alot like curry , but wasnt too thick, had quite a good amount of crabmeat in it and one curry leaf was floating in the bowl. i liked it but didnt finish it as too much can be a bit too rich.
Crispy Spicy Chicken(i think)-nice presentation but i found it more sweet and spicy. reminds me of the ayam masak merah that my grandad cooks. but sweeter. chicken was boneless and juicy. but i wish the skin was used though.
Malabari Trio - Grilled prawns, chilli chicken and lamb. The chicken was again juicy, but this time it was different from the crispy spicy chicken. i think it was cooked with chilli and coconut. and the lamb was tender. no lamby smell but it was kinda lacking spice and kick. i loved the prawns. cooked with curry leaves, i loved the juicy succulent prawns. my fav out of the 3.
Lamb kebab and lamb chop- two different dishes. somehow both dishes didnt really wow me. But the kebab was bursting with spices. but i think the meat was way too minced.. chop tasted alot like satay.
Potato- This potato dish was not bad. the almonds gave it a nice crunchy taste.
Our mains came after this.
Lobster- im not a big lobster fan maybe cos well it just seems so troublesome to eat but found the lobster to be quite good.
Crab cakes-doesnt look like ur normal crab cakes. but upon tasting it. it was bursting with spices but i found the crab cakes a bit normal.
Chicken-cooked dam style, while chicken was tender and well marinated, i didnt take well to this dish. i thought that maybe tamarind was used which im not a big fan of.
Fish-this was good. i kept taking the gravy as it was very curry like but not too thick yet still quite rich.
Mutton pepper fry-the only non gravy dish. the mutton was tender and juicy and i liked that it was not the gravy laden dish that we have been trying. the spices used were kept at a minimum i think. simple but quite good.
white rice was served and while at home i never eat rice found this rice to be light and each grain stands out and is so very delicious.
Staples
tandoori parantha
garlic naan
onion cheese chili kulcha
roomali roti
the staples were so soft and light i wish we had ordered more. especially liked the garlic naan and the tandoori parantha.
had a rice pudding for dessert. not my cup of tea but it wasnt super sweet which i think the gulab jamun was.
I appreciated that the head waited remembered my request to serve my drink without a lemon slice and consequently did not add a lemon slice to my drink.
It was a good tasting session, got to try a wide array of dishes and left feeling full. If i were to return i would probably bring my mom along and on special occasions. the food although good is a bit on the rich side.
Attended a company gathering / eating session on a Yacht @ Keppel Island and was hankering a dessert afterwards so decided to tryout the desserts @ Prive Bakery. Saw the cakes on display and didnt notice the Lucsious Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake so thought I would try out the Hazlenut Crunch cake and Tiramisu.
However upon ordering, the cake was AVAILABLE and so i jumped @ the chance to try it, but i ordered a Tiramisu as well. Friend had the rum n raisin cheesecake and unfortunately the bf naively chooze mineral water when I was trying to avoid being conned into paying for plain water.
Cakes came in 5 minutes tops and the CHocolate peanut butter cake was heavenly!!!so dense and yummy. I was so unwilling to offer to the rest but so mean right. I was floating on chocolate heaven. Tiramisu was ok. Could taste the alcohol yet i still prefer the ones I tried @ Absolute Haven and Cugini.
Rum n Raisin Cheesecake was ok too. Quite dense and nice. Just tried a bit though.
Damn mineral water cost 6 bucks!!hell i shouldve ordered a glass of sprite instead. Super Rip off..
Might return for the Wagyu Burger though. Or maybe not.
Been meaning to check out this place and finally got to try it with CG last fri.
Being abit wary on the fusion items, i was torn between their fish n chips and the tempura platter platter but decided to try sumthing different. Went for the seafood tempura platter which I will soon regret. CG had the seared codfish and we ordered a side of stuffed chicken wings.
Food came pretty fast. They were very generous with the salads so i was happy *yay*. The chicken was good. Stuffing was generous and it was tasty. It could use abit more kick though. More spices!!..
CG's codfish was good. The portion seemed quite big and they were generous with the wedges which looked big and good. My main was acceptable. 3 small slices of fish, a few calamari and 3 prawns with the thin fries and and salad. The fish was alright but prawns n calamari were not really that fresh. Tempura batter was forgetable. and same goes for the fries. The only thing i liked about my dish was the wasabi mayonaise and the salad. Service was good. Attentive staff and there was one that stood out. But not in a bad way. Intresting and kinda cool. We got a $10 voucher which we can use for the next visit.
Did noice our neighbour ordering a phad thai and it smelled goood. might order that the next time
1=SGD 0.0587
Just returned from a 7 day trip to Western Australia and i'm glad to say i absolutely loved the place! Slow and relaxed lifestyle. Friendly and wonderful people, absolutely beautiful surroundings and lots of fresh and good food. Its an experience everyone should go for.
My 7 day trip took me to King's Park which is a must visit in Perth. Excellent views, superb flowers and great food at Fraser's as well. The wonderful weather between June to October is extremely conducive for visiting the park. Lots and lots of beautiful flowers. Unbelievable view of Perth and the 2 rivers and lakes as well.
A short trip down to Murray street and HarbourTown Direct Brand shopping is a must for bargain hunters.
Across the highway to millpoint, there are restaurants like Shige and The Oyster Bar which are highly recommended by locals and overseas people as well.
A trip down to Fremantle is highly recommended for even more shopping and good food. Prepare to invest some time there.
I then drove down to Margaret River for a good wine experience. In the process visiting a few of the smaller towns like Dunsborough, Bunbury, Busselton and Augusta. Whatever you do, eat at Margaret River at night at this place called The Spaghetti bowl. It serves excellent food and i do mean excellent food at competitive prices as well. Loved it so much i visited i every night i stayed at MR.
All in all, visit WA. Its more then worth it. But be sure to give it at least 2 weeks or you won't be able to see enough. I certainly felt that it would be great if i stayed another....2 or so weeks. :)
Rating given:
Ristorante Da Valentino - a small Italian restaurant famed for its excellent homely Italian food and stellar service to boot. Dining at this reclusive semi fine dining restaurant presents quite a challenge as reservations are hard to come by (minimum 2 weeks in advance) and made even harder with the restrictions placed. Reservations of more than 8 pax are usually not entertained and Valentino also enforces a two seating policy, with the first running from 6pm - 830pm and the second from 830pm till closing. This effectively means that a leisurely dinner is probably out of the question, especially in large groups.
Located at the end of a short row of shophouses at Jalan Bingka, just off Rifle Range Road, Valentino can be rather inaccessible if you don't know your way around the area (shortcuts) or have your own means of transport. The interior struck me as very cosy and homely with its low ceilings, smallish dining area, decorative memorabila on the shelves and red walls decked with photo frames.
Complimentary Bread & Minestrone Soup - The complimentary bread was simple and nice. Warm and a tad chewy without all the frills. I won't be shy to admit that I requested for another serving of the bread.
At $5.90 a plate, I was rather doubtful about the quality of the minestrone but it was surprisingly good. With just about the right viscosity and flavour, it came across as light on the palate and was a hit amongst my dining companions.
Salmon Salad & Tomino Wrapped in Bacon - I didn't think too much of the salmon salad, in which the salmon slices were smoked and served atop fresh greens simply because the smoked taste was conspicuously faint. Honestly, if I wanted to eat non smoked semi raw salmon, I would have gone to a Japanese restaurant instead.
The Tomino, which is a typical Italian cheese that comes from Piemonte and made with cow's or goat's milk (in this case it was definitely goat), created a little stir with its nice smooth texture which was complemented by the crisp bacon. Only gripe I had was that the whole dish was extremely salty. And if you can't take the rather pungent taste of goat's milk, please refrain from ordering this dish.
Fettucine Al Granchio - The dish which I was eagerly anticipating, the squid ink fettucine with crab meat. The home made pasta was al dente and featured a rich cream based sauce with a touch of tomato that was most excellent, a fact that was accentuated further by the decent clumps of crab meat. Personally I like this better than that of Da Paolo's.
Porcini, Rucola and Prosciutto De Parma - The pizza spotted a thin crust that heaved downwards under the weight of its ingredients. Please do not be mistaken that the ingredients were plentiful. On the contrary, it was adequate at best. Personally I thought the pizza was good but not exactly the type that would wow me. I mean, how bad can mushrooms, parma ham and rocket leaves taste when eaten together?
Risotto Ai Frutti Di Mare - The risotto deserved the worst dish of the evening award with its sourish overtone that reminded me of food gone stale aka chao sng. I wasn't the only one who thought so apparently. Neither the fresh seafood nor the texture of the risotto could save this dish.
Chantilly - I had requested for four of Valentino's best desserts and left it up to our waitress to decide which desserts would fit the bill. The chantilly started us off on the right note, coming across as light on the palate without the cream being overbearingly sweet.
Panna Cotta - The panna cotta's texture was reminiscent more of tofu than pudding - quivery yet firm, which isn't so bad really until you get to the taste part, which was bland and uninspiring in my humble opinion. Would have liked it much stronger.
Tiramisu - Served up in a queer shaped plastic container, the tiramisu disappointed right from the start. Even though the presence of liquer was evident, the mascarpone cheese was a tad too thick and coagulated while the sponge was dry. I had expected better.
Valentino Cake - This was one decadent cake with dark chocolate making up most part of it. There were bits of raisins and traces of rum as well, making it a sweet but dry (the sponge was dry) ending to our dinner. Could it be that the cake was left in the open for a period of time such that the sponge dried up?
On my part I paid about $56 for a share of all the dishes I reviewed above, which really isn't too expensive for the variety of food I got to sample. Food quality was a case of hits and misses and I reckon only the mains are worth the trouble. Prices for the appetisers do seem a tad over the roof while the mains are priced a notch higher than other similar restaurants. Service was great and I must say I enjoyed some aspects of the dinner.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Tiong Bahru Market is often associated with good food, and stalls obviously want to put in “Tiong Bahru” into their stall names for two reasons; first they are really the original stalls from the old Tiong Bahru, or they probably added in to give the impression that they are “old name” when they are actually not.
What’s the difference between curry noodle and laksa? Actually I’m not quite sure myself too, but i guess the obvious differences are their ingredients, curry noodles has chicken, potatoes which are not found in laksa.
Curry Noodle ($3)
The curry noodle was decent, with a rather generous serving of shreded chicken, tau pok, and potatoes. But it still can’t beat the famous one at Hong Lim food centre though. Besides curry chicken noodle, they also got quite a variety of other chicken dishes like lemon chicken rice and curry chicken feet.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
I have been looking for nice kway chap for a while now, but I can’t seem to find them though.My latest hunt brought me to Tiong Bahru Market, a quick glance around resulted in two stores selling kway chap, and i chose this store over the other because this store had a slightly longer queue than the other on that day.
On a personal note, I felt that kway chap stalls does not usually have a standard rate, the charges are to their discretion and can differ on a rather wide range. I’m not saying all kuay chap stalls do that, but obviously there will be some rouge stalls around.
The kway (rice noodle sheet) was a tad too thick for my liking, and i found the soup average.
Kway Chap ($4 for one person serving)
For a person serving at $4, there’s one whole egg, taupok, and pig intestines. Even though the portion should suffice for a person, but i found the variety rather miserable, there’s no pork belly, no small intestines, no duck meat no beancurd, you know the usual stuff for kway chap.
Of course there is, but you just have to pay more for more variety. That’s why i say $4 can’t really get you much for kway chap. Nevertheless they did a passable kway chap, but there isn’t the “oomph” factor to make me try them again. Probably will test out the other kway chap stall in Tiong Bahru Market the next time round.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
This entry is way overdue and I finally got off my butt to start doing it. Well had a Chinese New Year eve dinner with one of my good friends at Peony Jade that doubled up as a catch up session.
Situated along Clarke Quay in a 2 storey refurbished shophouse, it faces the Singapore river and lies just a few doors down from Indochine. Traditionally furnished complete with mock up walls and heavy wooden doors reminiscent of the courtyards of old, it exudes scanty old world charm.
Deep Fried Live Prawns with Curry Leaves - A brilliant recommendation by our waiter I must say. I, for one, don't really fancy curry, but this dish kinda blew me away. The prawns were relatively huge, succulent and fresh, but the winner was the sauce which had a slight tinge of curry flavouring but was slightly sweet.
Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Golden Garlic - Another recommendation by our waiter and I found it quite interesting. The pork ribs were juicy and tender whilst the sauce was sweet and hinted strongly of garlic with a salty aftertaste. Every individual flavour carried itself very well, which made the dish very easy to appreciate.
Baked Cod Fish with Mango -
I didn't find this dish outstanding, but it was still quite a gem. The fish was fresh, nothing less and baked till the exterior turned a hue of brownish red while the flesh remained white and firm. When eaten with the slices of mango, the natural sweetness of the fish blended in well with the sweetness of the mango, creating a delectable dish that didn't come down hard on the palate. But there's certainly room for improvement, given that the mango slices weren't chilled when served, which would definitely have gone down better with the fish.
Deep Fried Cod Fish with Oat Cereals - In all honesty, I didn't quite take to this dish simply because the oats taste was overwhelming. But my friend did fancy it, so to each his own I guess. Texture wise, the fish was well done with the flesh still firm and sweet while the exterior was slightly cripsy.
Yang Chow Fried Rice -
I lament the fact that good Yang Chow Fried Rice is difficult to find. Peony Jade's rendition isn't too far off though. The rice was homogeneously cooked and had a slight "wok hei" taste. Ingredients were generous but overall I found the dish a little bland. Perhaps a little salt and sugar would be nice.
Chestnut with Egg White - Desserts kinda slided down the slope. Chestnut with egg white sounded intriguing to me so I ordered it and I regretted it right from the first sip. The chilled syrup tasted awfully weird and had this overpowering egg white taste. I took a few mouths and decided to call it quits, so you can guess how weird it was. According to the waiter, it is more popular with the older folks.
Yam with Sweet Corn Sauce - This was rather normal. The yam was a little too rough for my liking and the sweet corn sauce was way too sweet. Also, it felt weird eating yam with sweet corn. Somehow or rather, both flavours didn't go down well with each other.
Service was excellent and so was the food, barring the desserts of course. Price is rather steep though, standing at $122 for 2 pax. Do note that all portions are slightly smaller than average, so if you have 4 pax, it would be advisable to order at least 6 dishes. All in all, an enjoyable experience and definitely worth a visit if you have some spare cash to burn.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Was roaming around T3 one evening and fancied some Chinese food for dinner so ended up at Crystal Jade Shanghai Restaurant. I'm sure Crystal Jade is no stranger to most Singaporeans but I believe this Shanghai outfit is relatively new as I don't remember seeing it anywhere else before.
Crystal Jade occupies a circular space within the terminal and there is no interior to speak of as the place practices a semi open environment which allows you a view of T3's calming interior, which honestly, is good enough for me.
Xiao Long Bao - To be frank, the XLB was probably one of the best I've eaten in any Crystal Jade outlet in the past year or so (not that I've eaten at many though). Malleable yet thin skin shrouding a lump of meat that didn't carry that overwhelming pork taste and filled with tasty, albeit a tad oily, juices.
Crispy Duck with Chinese Herbs - I thought that the crispy duck came across as overly salty and dry. The herb taste was rather evident but I failed to see how it enhanced the taste of the duck, rendering the duck average at best. Served up on the side were tiny clam shaped mantous, which were similar to those I had at Szechuan court - sweet and filling.
Egg White with Shrimp & Asparagus - This dish wasn't too fantastic but I liked it solely because its comfort food to me. The prawns were crunchy but for the price, this dish could really do with more asparagus. I did think that the egg white tasted a little too raw as well.
An average but filling meal cost the 2 of us about $58, which isn't exactly cheap for the quality of food. But I guess such prices at the airport still fall into the reasonable category. Service didn't go beyond taking our orders and serving the dishes. One thing to note, please be prepared to queue if you wish to have dinner at this restaurant on weekends.
See all my pictures here.
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At $3, the cupcakes are actually quite reasonably priced.
I went a little crazy during my first visit and gor 4 cupcakes,the Cookie Monster Oreo, Toblerone, White Chocolate and Peanut butter.
Firstly the frosting is just so sinfully yummy. Delicious light buttercream which is not too sweet but sweet enough.
The cupcakes are not exactly super soft. but the fillings were goood. you can actually taste the peanuts in the peanut butter cupcake, and the chocolate in the toblerone but my favourite is still the white chocolate. So delicious.
I got the items to go so didnt get to try the other items there but will definitely return to try the food items. I love the cool unique and white decor, the chairs especially.
DBS gets a 20% discount for dine in.
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I grew up eating curries and "Indian food" cooked by my grandad and at several "Authentic Indian" restaurants. Love the spiciness and the combination of the spices so commonly used in Indian dishes. When I was invited for a food tasting session, i signed on as i was keen to try out fine Indian Coastal dishes.
Upon being seated, I enjoyed a view of the Singapore River and Riverside View. Its really quite a sight at night and the comfortable chairs made me feel at ease. Tables were not too close so its good to have private conversations. At 8pm it was not too crowded but as time went by the crowds started coming and i noticed many caucasians and Indians.
Before our orders, we were served with some crackers with dips that tasted like mint and another tomato. found the crackers reminded me of papadums, flour crackers with spices in it. yummy.
Glancing through the menu, I selected a few dishes that looked good but did not realise that they even had different pages for mains.
We got quite a few items to try and my favourite section was the staples section with a wide array of paranthas, rotis and kulchas to choose from.
Our appetizers were
Crabmeat soup - tasted alot like curry , but wasnt too thick, had quite a good amount of crabmeat in it and one curry leaf was floating in the bowl. i liked it but didnt finish it as too much can be a bit too rich.
Crispy Spicy Chicken(i think)-nice presentation but i found it more sweet and spicy. reminds me of the ayam masak merah that my grandad cooks. but sweeter. chicken was boneless and juicy. but i wish the skin was used though.
Malabari Trio - Grilled prawns, chilli chicken and lamb. The chicken was again juicy, but this time it was different from the crispy spicy chicken. i think it was cooked with chilli and coconut. and the lamb was tender. no lamby smell but it was kinda lacking spice and kick. i loved the prawns. cooked with curry leaves, i loved the juicy succulent prawns. my fav out of the 3.
Lamb kebab and lamb chop- two different dishes. somehow both dishes didnt really wow me. But the kebab was bursting with spices. but i think the meat was way too minced.. chop tasted alot like satay.
Potato- This potato dish was not bad. the almonds gave it a nice crunchy taste.
Our mains came after this.
Lobster- im not a big lobster fan maybe cos well it just seems so troublesome to eat but found the lobster to be quite good.
Crab cakes-doesnt look like ur normal crab cakes. but upon tasting it. it was bursting with spices but i found the crab cakes a bit normal.
Chicken-cooked dam style, while chicken was tender and well marinated, i didnt take well to this dish. i thought that maybe tamarind was used which im not a big fan of.
Fish-this was good. i kept taking the gravy as it was very curry like but not too thick yet still quite rich.
Mutton pepper fry-the only non gravy dish. the mutton was tender and juicy and i liked that it was not the gravy laden dish that we have been trying. the spices used were kept at a minimum i think. simple but quite good.
white rice was served and while at home i never eat rice found this rice to be light and each grain stands out and is so very delicious.
Staples
tandoori parantha
garlic naan
onion cheese chili kulcha
roomali roti
the staples were so soft and light i wish we had ordered more. especially liked the garlic naan and the tandoori parantha.
had a rice pudding for dessert. not my cup of tea but it wasnt super sweet which i think the gulab jamun was.
I appreciated that the head waited remembered my request to serve my drink without a lemon slice and consequently did not add a lemon slice to my drink.
It was a good tasting session, got to try a wide array of dishes and left feeling full. If i were to return i would probably bring my mom along and on special occasions. the food although good is a bit on the rich side.
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Attended a company gathering / eating session on a Yacht @ Keppel Island and was hankering a dessert afterwards so decided to tryout the desserts @ Prive Bakery. Saw the cakes on display and didnt notice the Lucsious Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake so thought I would try out the Hazlenut Crunch cake and Tiramisu.
However upon ordering, the cake was AVAILABLE and so i jumped @ the chance to try it, but i ordered a Tiramisu as well. Friend had the rum n raisin cheesecake and unfortunately the bf naively chooze mineral water when I was trying to avoid being conned into paying for plain water.
Cakes came in 5 minutes tops and the CHocolate peanut butter cake was heavenly!!!so dense and yummy. I was so unwilling to offer to the rest but so mean right. I was floating on chocolate heaven. Tiramisu was ok. Could taste the alcohol yet i still prefer the ones I tried @ Absolute Haven and Cugini.
Rum n Raisin Cheesecake was ok too. Quite dense and nice. Just tried a bit though.
Damn mineral water cost 6 bucks!!hell i shouldve ordered a glass of sprite instead. Super Rip off..
Might return for the Wagyu Burger though. Or maybe not.
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Been meaning to check out this place and finally got to try it with CG last fri.
Being abit wary on the fusion items, i was torn between their fish n chips and the tempura platter platter but decided to try sumthing different. Went for the seafood tempura platter which I will soon regret. CG had the seared codfish and we ordered a side of stuffed chicken wings.
Food came pretty fast. They were very generous with the salads so i was happy *yay*. The chicken was good. Stuffing was generous and it was tasty. It could use abit more kick though. More spices!!..
CG's codfish was good. The portion seemed quite big and they were generous with the wedges which looked big and good. My main was acceptable. 3 small slices of fish, a few calamari and 3 prawns with the thin fries and and salad. The fish was alright but prawns n calamari were not really that fresh. Tempura batter was forgetable. and same goes for the fries. The only thing i liked about my dish was the wasabi mayonaise and the salad. Service was good. Attentive staff and there was one that stood out. But not in a bad way. Intresting and kinda cool. We got a $10 voucher which we can use for the next visit.
Did noice our neighbour ordering a phad thai and it smelled goood. might order that the next time
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