Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant @ OCBC Centre 33rd Floor is co-owned by Angela Ho and Veronica Tan, former managers of the established Hua Ting restaurant. The pair struck out on their own in 2002, and the rest like they say, were history. Peach Garden is now one of the Chinese restaurants on the radar of corporates.
Located at the 33rd floor, the restaurant offers diners a splendid bird’s eye view of the Singapore River and the city area.
The modern contemporary Chinese decor will make diner feel right at home.
It will be highly recommended for customers to make a reservation before going, as the window seats are usually taken up. One of the waitress greeted us at the main lobby on the ground floor, after checking our reservations, we were guided up to 33rd floor.
Peach Garden is popular for their Cantonese dishes, and dim sum. The selection for dim sum isn’t wide with 23 different types, however for what they lacked in variety, they make it up in quality.
Most of the dim-sum comes in basket of 3 each, but as we got 8 person, they were flexible to allow us order 8 pieces of dim-sum instead. So i’ll be putting the price for all the dim sum here for per piece rather than per basket.
Baked BBQ pork pastry ($1.30) The baked BBQ pork pastry, or more commonly known as char-siew sou, i find it to be quite all right, but the others didn’t like it because they had better ones at Yan ting @ St Regis before.
Baked Mini Egg Tart ($1.30) The baked mini egg tarts were fine, the skin was crispy, and the egg filling is just nice. However at $1.30 each, they are terribly expensive since i had better and bigger egg tarts at much cheaper price before.
Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling ($1.60) The steamed fresh prawn dumpling, or more affectionately known as har-gau. The ones at Peach Garden has a wholesome shrimp wrapped within the skin of the dumpling.
But at $1.60 for each har-gau, they are priced slightly higher than your normal ones at other places.
Steamed Siew Mai with Phoenix prawn ($1.60) The rendition of siew mai or pork dumpling is redefined at Peach Garden. Whereas your typical siew mai taste mainly of pork, the ones here has a phoenix prawn, which gives the siew mai a prawnier taste.
Steamed BBQ pork bun ($1.20) I always love to eat steamed BBQ pork buns from chinese dim sum restaurant, well because they are not the same as the ones you get from outside.
The ones in restaurants are usually consist of three parts, i’ll tear off each part and slowly savour the sweet char-siew with the bun.
Fried Carrot cake with X.O sauce ($8) When you read fried carrot cake, please erase off all of whatever memories you had of carrot cake. Now when we are talking about fried carrot cake with X.O sauce here, its not your ordinary black or white char-kway in the hawker centre.
The carrot cake here is slightly crispy on the outside, and very soft on the inside. But i couldn’t taste much of the X.O sauce, and at $8 per small serving, i find it to be quite on the high side.
Steamed yolk cream bun ($1.20) The signature dim-sum of Peach Garden, its delicious steamed yolk cream bun. The beautiful golden yellow custard filling oozes out when i prise it open.
Steamed rice roll with prawn ($4.50) The steamed rice roll with prawn, or your Chee Cheong Fun is served in two versions, one with prawn at $4.50, and the other steamed rice roll with chicken at $4.
The Chee Cheong Fun was quite disappointing here, it didn’t taste as well i thought it will, its quite ordinary to tell the truth.
Boiled porridge with century egg and pork ($3.80) The boiled porridge with century egg and pork is one of the disappointment for the meal at Peach Garden. Too salty, we ordered 4 bowls and almost couldn’t finish it.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao with Conpoy ($1.30) I’m not really a big fan of Xiao Long Bao, i guess the ones here are average, a couple of us didn’t really find it to be good.
Baked Spare Rib with BBQ Sauce ($7 per piece) The signature baked spare rib with BBQ sauce comes at a hefty price, at $7 per piece, you can easily have a plate of spare ribs elsewhere.
But to be fair, the presentation of the spare rib was done nicely, and the rib is bigger than your normal ribs, with the BBQ sauce combining well with spare ribs.
There were difference in portions of the ribs, so depending on your luck, some of us got slightly bigger ribs with more meat, while some got thinner ribs.
Total Bill was $178.20 for 8 person, after a 15% credit card discount. The price comes much cheaper than i had expected so it was a surprise, and if you do not included the $7 spare ribs, it will be roughly $16 for person instead of about $22.
Results were mixed, some like me found it to be quite good, while others find that Peach Garden didn’t match their expectations. I guess everybody has different taste buds, but personally, i find Peach Garden to be quite good, the price may be slightly above average, but given a rationale person taking the menu and not over-ordering, the result is good dim sum at reasonable price.
Service-wise we also encountered mixed results. The waitress were way too fast in serving the dim-sum. As the table was all food bloggers, all of us were busy taking photos of the food, and before we managed to finish taking the photo of one dim sum, the other dim sum was served.
I felt that the waitress should have taken note that we were not ready for the serving of the other dim sum, but sad to say they failed to do so. Also, they missed out our order of Xiao Long Bao and the ribs, and also forgot to bring us our additional order of the har-gau.
But they did slightly make up when they helped us putting the birthday cake (one of us birthday celebration) into a beautiful plate, and they also provide a knife which had remote control to play birthday song music.
All in all, at 33rd floor offering a wonderful view of the city, the quite reasonable pricing of the dim-sum, it offers me an excuse to revisit Peach Garden again. And Peach Garden has two other outlets at Novena and Thomson Plaza!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Contemporary Cantonese cuisine, with splendid bird’s eye view of the city “
Since my mum is looking for a new watch, we decided to check out the watches here.
There were a couple of customers but only 1 salesgirl was at the shop then. Nevertheless, our needs were not neglected. The friendly salesgirl approached us after attending to the other customers and was helpful enough to offer a few recommendations of watches to my mum. She was very patient with us, especially my picky mum who could not decide on which watch to get.
My mum also decided to replace the battery for her present watch. However, upon checking on the battery lifespan, she advised my mum not to replace the battery as its lifespan was not up yet.
In the end, we didn't get the attery replaced, neither did we purchase any watches from the shop. But we were really pleased with the service provided by the salesgirl.
Even before the start of the Great Singapore Sales, many places have started their pre-GSS already.
Happened to be around the area so I decided to check out the jeans here as they were having a sales too. Haha
The shop was really packed with people then. Their sales items have been placed on a shelf and we customers just have to look through the stacks of folded jeans to look for good buys. With so many customers taking out then throwing back the "unwanted" jeans, the salesperson still managed to fold back the jeans quickly and arrange them back onto the shelf neatly. Yes! This definitely makes it much easier for other customers to look for what they want. It's so unlike of most other places where sales equal to looking for things you want through a heap of clothes.
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie - A high end dessert cafe under the Les Amis group of restaurants and helmed by Executive Pastry Chef Pang, who was an ex member of the Singapore National Culinary Team.
Located at the picturesque and upmarket Roberston Walk, Canele's flagship outlet is a rather nice place to chill for after dinner desserts or afternoon tea. Takeaways are also available but if you choose to dine in, please be aware that a 10% service charge will be levied.
Nougatine - Filled with Nutella, Salty Caramel, Caramelized Filos, Nougatine Ice Cream, Vanilla Creme Chantilly - For starters, the Nougatine seemed rather interesting with the addition of salty caramel. However, taken as a whole, it reminded me uncannily of peanut butter with its smooth sticky texture and buttery undertones. I liked the caramelized filos, which are essentially paper thin pastry dough coated with a layer of caramel and left to harden. Flaky yet stick to your teeth.
Jupiter - A most aesthetically pleasing slice of cake which was bought off the display shelf. Extremely rich and topped with a thin cylindrical shell of chocolate, Jupiter boasted caramel and a layer of wafer in between the spongy cake. Did I mention the dark glistening chocolate that engulfed the entire cake? Overall a very nice but sinful dessert.
Black Forest 2007 - I cannot comprehend the rationale behind inserting a year into the name of a cake. But that's besides the point. The point is, as pretty and minute a piece as the black forest cake may be, it certainly wasn't outstanding, not even close. The berries were soaked in Kirsch but the amount of cream was too much for me to stomach. And it certainly didn't help that the cake did come across as a little too dense and moist.
Berry Black & Bushman Brew - Interesting names for the teas but unfortunately rather overpriced for the mediocre quality. And its all because Canele doesn't serve ice water.
With the prices Canele is charging, I can see why its a high end dessert outfit. I appreciate the creativity and quality behind the desserts but certainly not the prices nor the tiny portions.
I love to go to Carrefour because it has anything & everything! Despite it being a hypermart, all its things are neatly arranged and organised which makes it really an ease to look for things I want.
I was with my friend looking around for luggage that day and we were really lucky to meet a friendly and helpful salesperson. She assisted us in picking a suitable luggage and offered advices which really helped us in making our decision on the luggage to buy.
The only complaint that I have is their super long queue at the payment counters. Probably things can be sped up a little faster if they have 2 persons at the counter, 1 cashier & 1 packer.
The newly renovated basement of Plaza Singapura has seen many new tenants providing all sorts of quirky and creative food. Bratwurst Shop is one of the original stores which has been there for quite a long period of time.
Just in case you have no idea, Bratwurst is a sausage composed of pork, beef and/or veal and the name is from Germany.
For the sausages, you get to choose from different toppings, the original, bacon & cheese, mushroom& cheese are some of the popular ones.
After choosing the toppings, you’ll get to choose the type of bratwurst that you fancy, swiss cheese pork, spicy beef & pork, black pepper pork, italian pork, mild beef & pork are all available.
There are also a wide range of sandwiches available at pretty decent prices.
I remember the old Bratwurst shop was located on the other side of the basement, nearer to the escalator outside Carrefour, but they have since shift to this corner which provides them with a larger seating area.
The theme for Bratwurst shop is apparently red, with their furnitures and shop signboard in bright red.
Swiss cheese pork, original with mustard & sauerkraut ($4.95) I had the original with mustard & sauerkraut for my choice of topping, and the swiss cheese pork for the main.
The sausage was really huge, i must say its quite value for money as one will fill you up if you finish it together with the bun. However i disliked the sauerkraut as i find it to be too salty and sour, and does not compliments the taste of the sausage.
And just in case you are wondering, sauerkraut is finely sliced cabbage fermented by various lactic acid.
Tuna Sandwich ($5.50) On first sight the tuna sandwich certainly does not looks appealing, the bread looks dry, and the tuna well doesn’t looks attractive to me.
But my friend say the tuna sandwich actually taste not bad, and at $5.50 i guess you can’t really complain.
Total bill was $10.45 for two, we didn’t order any drinks because we went to Carrefour to buy mineral water beforehand. Well, we were on a budget, had waffles at Gelare before coming here, and besides mineral water is healthier!
Drop by Bratwurst shop for a hassle-free, quick bite if you are in Plaza Singapura, and do not want to spend too much money on a meal before going to the theaters!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
My friend treated a few of us to dinner at Seafood Paradise (Singapore Flyer) a few weeks back and I have to admit that the interior decor of the place is much classier than their flagship outlet in Defu Lane.
Ordered the few notable dishes like their Handmade Tofu, Honey Pork Ribs, Cereal Prawns and Asparagus with Mushrooms, Chilli Crab, Creamy Crab and their Fried Man Tous
Taste wise it was good for all the dishes, but their prawns used were notably smaller compared to my experience in Defu and I remembered their Creamy Crab came packed with more punch! Oh, and the Man Tou was still as wonderful!
Overall, the food is still above average for the price we paid (comparing that to the overpriced No Sign Board). And do call to make reservations as there was a long queue outside when we left the place.
$2 an item. Seems to be quite cheap on hearing however, buyers have to beware of what is the item they are buying. There are some items like Tin cans or utensils going for lower than $2 even though they don't come from Japan. So if you happened to get those items that cost cheaper outside, Daiso cannot be consider cheap. Unless you value that the stuffs came from Japan.
Quality of items, I have to give a plus as although many items are small and there are so many different kinds of things on shelves, the merchandise are clean and of good quality comparative to the price.
Practically lots of things can be found there, food stuffs, to toys, toiletries to utensils as well as DIY stuffs. Many items like washing machine cleaner, rice bugs preventer are not commonly found in Singapore.
Negative points though, quite difficult to find a specific item and since many of the staffs are Japanese, its difficult asking them though I can see they brought in staffs for some other countries.
I did a walk-in for some eye-brow trimming, I took the shaving option as it was cheap. The ambiance is relaxing and all I had to do was to lie down on the bed while the lady did her stuff.
After the trimming, I noticed that my left eyebrow was slightly higher in arch than the right. Perhaps, I have used that left eyebrow to arch too much and thus, the result.
I have rather high eyebrows and while the shape was nice, I didn't fancy the uneven heights of the eyebrows. The good thing is that they are not hard selling and during the trimming session, the lady suggested that I should go for eyebrow embroidery. I have yet to take up her suggestion.
Last Wednesday, I had the honour of being invited by Helena Lim, co-owner of Persimmon (as well as Epicurious at Robertson Quay) to partake in the taste testing session.
Located in the quaint neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru, one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore, Persimmon can be found within the premises of The Link Hotel, the largest boutique style hotel in Singapore.
The name “Persimmon” was chosen as suggested by Sharon, the other co-owner, because it is a often misunderstood and curious type of fruit, something that aligns with the type of cuisine they served in Persimmon – Fusion – European dishes with a hint of Singapore flair.
Entering into the restaurant is reminiscent of stepping into a swanky Kopi-tiam (or coffee-shop) – the décor of checker-tiled floors, white tabletop and wooden chair offers one a sense of nostalgia, in an Atas (or high class) way of course!
My dining partner and me ordered the Apple Infusion ($10) drink to share, consisting of Red apple, Lemon Grass, and Ginger, to start off the night. It was a refreshing fruit juice with a twist, if I may put it that way – as the lemongrass, a herb often used in Asian cooking, along with ginger, another Asian spice, tantalised the taste buds with their aromatic oil leaving one with a sweet spicy taste. I have to underscore that this drink was not part of the taste test and was in fact on the house as I found out later.
The first item up for tasting was the Amuse Bouche: Mushroom with Shao-Hsing Soup. Served in a shot glass, the soup was concentrated and full of mushroom flavour.
Great if you ask me, and it would be well received in other restaurants – but unfortunately not here in Persimmon, as the Asian element of Shao-Hsing flavour is evidently missing in the soup, a hint of it would definitely topped the cake.
The starter was a Salad of Pan-Seared Scallop, Glass Noodles, Cherry Apple & Starfruit Drizzled with Citrus Vinaigrette. This was one dish that the owner kept emphasising that it is in the process of being fine-tuned i.e. a show in weakness that they weren’t very confident about this dish, and I have to agree that they have every reason to be so. For once, I couldn’t see how the pairing would work, as I foresee people would be eating the scallop separately from the rest of the salad instead of with it. Also, the generous drizzling of the citrus vinaigrette, consisting of orange juice and olive oil, on my plate was way too sour for me to consume – it was the only dish that was left half eaten that evening. Perhaps the missing ingredient – shredded crab meat – which Helena apologise profusely that the chef had forgotten to add, was suppose to balance out the sourness in this dish, but I would never find out.
What was Kway Teow that was used in an earlier tasting session two weeks ago, that my fellow foodie attended, was replaced with Fettucine this time round. The Wagyu Beef "Char" Fettucine With Truffle Oil and Honshimeiji Mushrooom was an interesting rendition of our famous local delight. To be honest, I like this dish pretty much as the pasta was done al dente and I have to highlight that the truffle oil really makes a HUGE difference to this dish (I manage to steal a bite before it was added). Although the beef was tender, I would prefer it to be a slice bigger and thicker. It was too small a piece for my taste buds to discern it as Wagyu beef. The Poached Egg lacked seasoning and tasted of olive oil instead, which kinda makes it hard to stomach. However, with slight twitching, I believe this dish will do well in the long run.
Giant Prawn Chinchalok Thermidor was undoubtedly the crowd’s favourite that evening. Most who are usually turn off by the Chinchalok from the bottle were delighted to find out that the combination between that and the cheese on a giant prawn works wonder! What you get is a very savoury, lip-smacking tasty prawn that although a tad salty too consume on its own, but would made an excellent pairing to a bowl of rice (wild rice or brown rice would give it the fusion branding).
A shot of Orange and Pink Guava Sorbet refreshed our taste bud before we embarked on our final item of the day, and although a smidgen too sweet, I like the pairing very much as the flavours harmonises perfectly with one another.
The Ice Kachang “Eight Treasure” Sundae is another interesting twirl to our famous local dessert. Using Coconut Ice Cream instead of the usual coconut milk, this replica produces a surprise with every spoonful – as every dip give one a different ingredient of White Fungus, Wolfberry, Date, Kidney Bean among many others but most interesting, Dried Persimmon Strip was used to give it a pleasant final touch.
In conclusion, although I am not a big fan of fusion fare, if given time for fine-tuning in most of the dishes, I might just be back for the quiet and nice ambience presented that evening as well as the attentive service of this place.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Helena and Sharon for their generous hospitality.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
1=SGD 0.0587
Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant @ OCBC Centre 33rd Floor is co-owned by Angela Ho and Veronica Tan, former managers of the established Hua Ting restaurant. The pair struck out on their own in 2002, and the rest like they say, were history. Peach Garden is now one of the Chinese restaurants on the radar of corporates.
Located at the 33rd floor, the restaurant offers diners a splendid bird’s eye view of the Singapore River and the city area.
The modern contemporary Chinese decor will make diner feel right at home.
It will be highly recommended for customers to make a reservation before going, as the window seats are usually taken up. One of the waitress greeted us at the main lobby on the ground floor, after checking our reservations, we were guided up to 33rd floor.
Peach Garden is popular for their Cantonese dishes, and dim sum. The selection for dim sum isn’t wide with 23 different types, however for what they lacked in variety, they make it up in quality.
Most of the dim-sum comes in basket of 3 each, but as we got 8 person, they were flexible to allow us order 8 pieces of dim-sum instead. So i’ll be putting the price for all the dim sum here for per piece rather than per basket.
Baked BBQ pork pastry ($1.30)
The baked BBQ pork pastry, or more commonly known as char-siew sou, i find it to be quite all right, but the others didn’t like it because they had better ones at Yan ting @ St Regis before.
Baked Mini Egg Tart ($1.30)
The baked mini egg tarts were fine, the skin was crispy, and the egg filling is just nice. However at $1.30 each, they are terribly expensive since i had better and bigger egg tarts at much cheaper price before.
Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling ($1.60)
The steamed fresh prawn dumpling, or more affectionately known as har-gau. The ones at Peach Garden has a wholesome shrimp wrapped within the skin of the dumpling.
But at $1.60 for each har-gau, they are priced slightly higher than your normal ones at other places.
Steamed Siew Mai with Phoenix prawn ($1.60)
The rendition of siew mai or pork dumpling is redefined at Peach Garden. Whereas your typical siew mai taste mainly of pork, the ones here has a phoenix prawn, which gives the siew mai a prawnier taste.
Steamed BBQ pork bun ($1.20)
I always love to eat steamed BBQ pork buns from chinese dim sum restaurant, well because they are not the same as the ones you get from outside.
The ones in restaurants are usually consist of three parts, i’ll tear off each part and slowly savour the sweet char-siew with the bun.
Fried Carrot cake with X.O sauce ($8)
When you read fried carrot cake, please erase off all of whatever memories you had of carrot cake. Now when we are talking about fried carrot cake with X.O sauce here, its not your ordinary black or white char-kway in the hawker centre.
The carrot cake here is slightly crispy on the outside, and very soft on the inside. But i couldn’t taste much of the X.O sauce, and at $8 per small serving, i find it to be quite on the high side.
Steamed yolk cream bun ($1.20)
The signature dim-sum of Peach Garden, its delicious steamed yolk cream bun. The beautiful golden yellow custard filling oozes out when i prise it open.
Steamed rice roll with prawn ($4.50)
The steamed rice roll with prawn, or your Chee Cheong Fun is served in two versions, one with prawn at $4.50, and the other steamed rice roll with chicken at $4.
The Chee Cheong Fun was quite disappointing here, it didn’t taste as well i thought it will, its quite ordinary to tell the truth.
Boiled porridge with century egg and pork ($3.80)
The boiled porridge with century egg and pork is one of the disappointment for the meal at Peach Garden. Too salty, we ordered 4 bowls and almost couldn’t finish it.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao with Conpoy ($1.30)
I’m not really a big fan of Xiao Long Bao, i guess the ones here are average, a couple of us didn’t really find it to be good.
Baked Spare Rib with BBQ Sauce ($7 per piece)
The signature baked spare rib with BBQ sauce comes at a hefty price, at $7 per piece, you can easily have a plate of spare ribs elsewhere.
But to be fair, the presentation of the spare rib was done nicely, and the rib is bigger than your normal ribs, with the BBQ sauce combining well with spare ribs.
There were difference in portions of the ribs, so depending on your luck, some of us got slightly bigger ribs with more meat, while some got thinner ribs.
Total Bill was $178.20 for 8 person, after a 15% credit card discount. The price comes much cheaper than i had expected so it was a surprise, and if you do not included the $7 spare ribs, it will be roughly $16 for person instead of about $22.
Results were mixed, some like me found it to be quite good, while others find that Peach Garden didn’t match their expectations. I guess everybody has different taste buds, but personally, i find Peach Garden to be quite good, the price may be slightly above average, but given a rationale person taking the menu and not over-ordering, the result is good dim sum at reasonable price.
Service-wise we also encountered mixed results. The waitress were way too fast in serving the dim-sum. As the table was all food bloggers, all of us were busy taking photos of the food, and before we managed to finish taking the photo of one dim sum, the other dim sum was served.
I felt that the waitress should have taken note that we were not ready for the serving of the other dim sum, but sad to say they failed to do so. Also, they missed out our order of Xiao Long Bao and the ribs, and also forgot to bring us our additional order of the har-gau.
But they did slightly make up when they helped us putting the birthday cake (one of us birthday celebration) into a beautiful plate, and they also provide a knife which had remote control to play birthday song music.
All in all, at 33rd floor offering a wonderful view of the city, the quite reasonable pricing of the dim-sum, it offers me an excuse to revisit Peach Garden again. And Peach Garden has two other outlets at Novena and Thomson Plaza!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Contemporary Cantonese cuisine, with splendid bird’s eye view of the city “
Rating given:
Since my mum is looking for a new watch, we decided to check out the watches here.
There were a couple of customers but only 1 salesgirl was at the shop then. Nevertheless, our needs were not neglected. The friendly salesgirl approached us after attending to the other customers and was helpful enough to offer a few recommendations of watches to my mum. She was very patient with us, especially my picky mum who could not decide on which watch to get.
My mum also decided to replace the battery for her present watch. However, upon checking on the battery lifespan, she advised my mum not to replace the battery as its lifespan was not up yet.
In the end, we didn't get the attery replaced, neither did we purchase any watches from the shop. But we were really pleased with the service provided by the salesgirl.
Rating given:
Even before the start of the Great Singapore Sales, many places have started their pre-GSS already.
Happened to be around the area so I decided to check out the jeans here as they were having a sales too. Haha
The shop was really packed with people then. Their sales items have been placed on a shelf and we customers just have to look through the stacks of folded jeans to look for good buys. With so many customers taking out then throwing back the "unwanted" jeans, the salesperson still managed to fold back the jeans quickly and arrange them back onto the shelf neatly. Yes! This definitely makes it much easier for other customers to look for what they want. It's so unlike of most other places where sales equal to looking for things you want through a heap of clothes.
Yes, thumbs up for their service!
Rating given:
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie - A high end dessert cafe under the Les Amis group of restaurants and helmed by Executive Pastry Chef Pang, who was an ex member of the Singapore National Culinary Team.
Located at the picturesque and upmarket Roberston Walk, Canele's flagship outlet is a rather nice place to chill for after dinner desserts or afternoon tea. Takeaways are also available but if you choose to dine in, please be aware that a 10% service charge will be levied.
Nougatine - Filled with Nutella, Salty Caramel, Caramelized Filos, Nougatine Ice Cream, Vanilla Creme Chantilly - For starters, the Nougatine seemed rather interesting with the addition of salty caramel. However, taken as a whole, it reminded me uncannily of peanut butter with its smooth sticky texture and buttery undertones. I liked the caramelized filos, which are essentially paper thin pastry dough coated with a layer of caramel and left to harden. Flaky yet stick to your teeth.
Jupiter - A most aesthetically pleasing slice of cake which was bought off the display shelf. Extremely rich and topped with a thin cylindrical shell of chocolate, Jupiter boasted caramel and a layer of wafer in between the spongy cake. Did I mention the dark glistening chocolate that engulfed the entire cake? Overall a very nice but sinful dessert.
Black Forest 2007 - I cannot comprehend the rationale behind inserting a year into the name of a cake. But that's besides the point. The point is, as pretty and minute a piece as the black forest cake may be, it certainly wasn't outstanding, not even close. The berries were soaked in Kirsch but the amount of cream was too much for me to stomach. And it certainly didn't help that the cake did come across as a little too dense and moist.
Berry Black & Bushman Brew - Interesting names for the teas but unfortunately rather overpriced for the mediocre quality. And its all because Canele doesn't serve ice water.
With the prices Canele is charging, I can see why its a high end dessert outfit. I appreciate the creativity and quality behind the desserts but certainly not the prices nor the tiny portions.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I love to go to Carrefour because it has anything & everything! Despite it being a hypermart, all its things are neatly arranged and organised which makes it really an ease to look for things I want.
I was with my friend looking around for luggage that day and we were really lucky to meet a friendly and helpful salesperson. She assisted us in picking a suitable luggage and offered advices which really helped us in making our decision on the luggage to buy.
The only complaint that I have is their super long queue at the payment counters. Probably things can be sped up a little faster if they have 2 persons at the counter, 1 cashier & 1 packer.
Other than that, I really love shopping here! :)
Rating given:
The newly renovated basement of Plaza Singapura has seen many new tenants providing all sorts of quirky and creative food. Bratwurst Shop is one of the original stores which has been there for quite a long period of time.
Just in case you have no idea, Bratwurst is a sausage composed of pork, beef and/or veal and the name is from Germany.
For the sausages, you get to choose from different toppings, the original, bacon & cheese, mushroom& cheese are some of the popular ones.
After choosing the toppings, you’ll get to choose the type of bratwurst that you fancy, swiss cheese pork, spicy beef & pork, black pepper pork, italian pork, mild beef & pork are all available.
There are also a wide range of sandwiches available at pretty decent prices.
I remember the old Bratwurst shop was located on the other side of the basement, nearer to the escalator outside Carrefour, but they have since shift to this corner which provides them with a larger seating area.
The theme for Bratwurst shop is apparently red, with their furnitures and shop signboard in bright red.
Swiss cheese pork, original with mustard & sauerkraut ($4.95)
I had the original with mustard & sauerkraut for my choice of topping, and the swiss cheese pork for the main.
The sausage was really huge, i must say its quite value for money as one will fill you up if you finish it together with the bun. However i disliked the sauerkraut as i find it to be too salty and sour, and does not compliments the taste of the sausage.
And just in case you are wondering, sauerkraut is finely sliced cabbage fermented by various lactic acid.
Tuna Sandwich ($5.50)
On first sight the tuna sandwich certainly does not looks appealing, the bread looks dry, and the tuna well doesn’t looks attractive to me.
But my friend say the tuna sandwich actually taste not bad, and at $5.50 i guess you can’t really complain.
Total bill was $10.45 for two, we didn’t order any drinks because we went to Carrefour to buy mineral water beforehand. Well, we were on a budget, had waffles at Gelare before coming here, and besides mineral water is healthier!
Drop by Bratwurst shop for a hassle-free, quick bite if you are in Plaza Singapura, and do not want to spend too much money on a meal before going to the theaters!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Not your normal small sausages “
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My friend treated a few of us to dinner at Seafood Paradise (Singapore Flyer) a few weeks back and I have to admit that the interior decor of the place is much classier than their flagship outlet in Defu Lane.
Ordered the few notable dishes like their Handmade Tofu, Honey Pork Ribs, Cereal Prawns and Asparagus with Mushrooms, Chilli Crab, Creamy Crab and their Fried Man Tous
Taste wise it was good for all the dishes, but their prawns used were notably smaller compared to my experience in Defu and I remembered their Creamy Crab came packed with more punch! Oh, and the Man Tou was still as wonderful!
Overall, the food is still above average for the price we paid (comparing that to the overpriced No Sign Board). And do call to make reservations as there was a long queue outside when we left the place.
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$2 an item. Seems to be quite cheap on hearing however, buyers have to beware of what is the item they are buying. There are some items like Tin cans or utensils going for lower than $2 even though they don't come from Japan. So if you happened to get those items that cost cheaper outside, Daiso cannot be consider cheap. Unless you value that the stuffs came from Japan.
Quality of items, I have to give a plus as although many items are small and there are so many different kinds of things on shelves, the merchandise are clean and of good quality comparative to the price.
Practically lots of things can be found there, food stuffs, to toys, toiletries to utensils as well as DIY stuffs. Many items like washing machine cleaner, rice bugs preventer are not commonly found in Singapore.
Negative points though, quite difficult to find a specific item and since many of the staffs are Japanese, its difficult asking them though I can see they brought in staffs for some other countries.
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I did a walk-in for some eye-brow trimming, I took the shaving option as it was cheap. The ambiance is relaxing and all I had to do was to lie down on the bed while the lady did her stuff.
After the trimming, I noticed that my left eyebrow was slightly higher in arch than the right. Perhaps, I have used that left eyebrow to arch too much and thus, the result.
I have rather high eyebrows and while the shape was nice, I didn't fancy the uneven heights of the eyebrows. The good thing is that they are not hard selling and during the trimming session, the lady suggested that I should go for eyebrow embroidery. I have yet to take up her suggestion.
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Last Wednesday, I had the honour of being invited by Helena Lim, co-owner of Persimmon (as well as Epicurious at Robertson Quay) to partake in the taste testing session.
Located in the quaint neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru, one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore, Persimmon can be found within the premises of The Link Hotel, the largest boutique style hotel in Singapore.
The name “Persimmon” was chosen as suggested by Sharon, the other co-owner, because it is a often misunderstood and curious type of fruit, something that aligns with the type of cuisine they served in Persimmon – Fusion – European dishes with a hint of Singapore flair.
Entering into the restaurant is reminiscent of stepping into a swanky Kopi-tiam (or coffee-shop) – the décor of checker-tiled floors, white tabletop and wooden chair offers one a sense of nostalgia, in an Atas (or high class) way of course!
My dining partner and me ordered the Apple Infusion ($10) drink to share, consisting of Red apple, Lemon Grass, and Ginger, to start off the night. It was a refreshing fruit juice with a twist, if I may put it that way – as the lemongrass, a herb often used in Asian cooking, along with ginger, another Asian spice, tantalised the taste buds with their aromatic oil leaving one with a sweet spicy taste. I have to underscore that this drink was not part of the taste test and was in fact on the house as I found out later.
The first item up for tasting was the Amuse Bouche: Mushroom with Shao-Hsing Soup. Served in a shot glass, the soup was concentrated and full of mushroom flavour.
Great if you ask me, and it would be well received in other restaurants – but unfortunately not here in Persimmon, as the Asian element of Shao-Hsing flavour is evidently missing in the soup, a hint of it would definitely topped the cake.
The starter was a Salad of Pan-Seared Scallop, Glass Noodles, Cherry Apple & Starfruit Drizzled with Citrus Vinaigrette. This was one dish that the owner kept emphasising that it is in the process of being fine-tuned i.e. a show in weakness that they weren’t very confident about this dish, and I have to agree that they have every reason to be so. For once, I couldn’t see how the pairing would work, as I foresee people would be eating the scallop separately from the rest of the salad instead of with it. Also, the generous drizzling of the citrus vinaigrette, consisting of orange juice and olive oil, on my plate was way too sour for me to consume – it was the only dish that was left half eaten that evening. Perhaps the missing ingredient – shredded crab meat – which Helena apologise profusely that the chef had forgotten to add, was suppose to balance out the sourness in this dish, but I would never find out.
What was Kway Teow that was used in an earlier tasting session two weeks ago, that my fellow foodie attended, was replaced with Fettucine this time round. The Wagyu Beef "Char" Fettucine With Truffle Oil and Honshimeiji Mushrooom was an interesting rendition of our famous local delight. To be honest, I like this dish pretty much as the pasta was done al dente and I have to highlight that the truffle oil really makes a HUGE difference to this dish (I manage to steal a bite before it was added). Although the beef was tender, I would prefer it to be a slice bigger and thicker. It was too small a piece for my taste buds to discern it as Wagyu beef. The Poached Egg lacked seasoning and tasted of olive oil instead, which kinda makes it hard to stomach. However, with slight twitching, I believe this dish will do well in the long run.
Giant Prawn Chinchalok Thermidor was undoubtedly the crowd’s favourite that evening. Most who are usually turn off by the Chinchalok from the bottle were delighted to find out that the combination between that and the cheese on a giant prawn works wonder! What you get is a very savoury, lip-smacking tasty prawn that although a tad salty too consume on its own, but would made an excellent pairing to a bowl of rice (wild rice or brown rice would give it the fusion branding).
A shot of Orange and Pink Guava Sorbet refreshed our taste bud before we embarked on our final item of the day, and although a smidgen too sweet, I like the pairing very much as the flavours harmonises perfectly with one another.
The Ice Kachang “Eight Treasure” Sundae is another interesting twirl to our famous local dessert. Using Coconut Ice Cream instead of the usual coconut milk, this replica produces a surprise with every spoonful – as every dip give one a different ingredient of White Fungus, Wolfberry, Date, Kidney Bean among many others but most interesting, Dried Persimmon Strip was used to give it a pleasant final touch.
In conclusion, although I am not a big fan of fusion fare, if given time for fine-tuning in most of the dishes, I might just be back for the quiet and nice ambience presented that evening as well as the attentive service of this place.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Helena and Sharon for their generous hospitality.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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