The-sight-of-it is enough to excite me. The flowing chocolate - like water plunging down from a magnificent waterfall: wonderful, sweet. The cute white marshmallows beckon to me. The puffs - baked for the sole reunion with the delicious chocolate. The big juicy strawberries, oh my. What’s there not to like about a chocolate fondue? I love it!
Now, I famously don’t like buffets. When I see food laying out, exposed, I see food dying. I see the ocean trout that every passing diner can feel free to squeeze at. I see food left out in the open air unprotected from the passing fancies of everybody. BUT, but, the current Citibank credit card 50% promotion for 10 @ Claymore is simply too good a deal to miss, so I decided to go for it after all.
How does $29 for buffet lunch sounds? On top of it with a 1-for-1 promotion, and we are talking about Pan Pacific Hotel, not some dubious twenties-odd range buffet (you-know-where-I-am-referring-to). Given, the variety here cannot compare with other international buffets who have more spread, but what I like about 10 @ Claymore is the focus.
Instead of giving a lot items to choose from, they decided to give just enough. For those who inherited our Singapore-kiasu-genes, my apologies. But this is one buffet where I actually don’t feel guilty trying to gorge myself silly. I ate a bit of everything, and rushed to have my desserts.
The chocolate truffle was terrific - sweet, smooth, refined, yet unbelievably simple. I had mutiple helpings of it, until my stomach decided to do a red-shirt-alike-protest to me.
Total bill was $34 for 2 person after the citibank credit card promotion. The current good deal last until 30 April, 2 person are entitled to a 50% discount. For $17 bucks per person, buffet lunch at a classy environment, enough said! And oh yes, I forgot to mention that the service was top-notch; the staffs were attentive and always happy to help out when you need anything
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!
Foie Gras is in my blood. Having said that, I’m more beef than Foie Gras, really. Wedges here, is my awesome assistant, The new Spring fashion is so passé, sun-dried tomato is the latest in-thing now! Marmalade Pantry’s famous, Sun-dried tomato Foie Gras Burger ($26).
My name is Chocolate, Chocolate Truffe ($7.80). I’m the ladies man, smooth is my texture, sweet is my nature. Try me, and you are sold. No one can resist my temptations, the thick, oh-so-thick chocolate which is so rich and good.
Hello everybody, eh, my name is Chocolate Tart ($4.20). I don’t have anything to say about myself. I’m a simple guy, but they say my chocolate is wondeful, I will rather keep a low profile. Please, don’t tell anybody else. Thank you.
They call me little miss rose ($4.2). I’m very girly and feminine in nature, but most people just judged me by my appearances. I snub those pretentious of my kind who can only face the world with their frosting make-ups. Simple is beautiful, once you get to know me, the ladies worship me and the guys adore me.
The spokesperson for Marmalade, everybody calls for me when they are here. It will be impossible if you have not heard about Sticky Date toffee pudding ($12) by now. My companion, the lovely Vanilla bean ice cream compliments me perfectly.
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Having heard so much about Marmalade Pantry Foie Gras burger, the few of us were rather disappointed by it because there just wasn’t much foie gras taste. But the wedges that accompanied the burger was very good.
The chocolate truffle cake, and chocolate tart was wonderful, with the chocolate being very sweet yet not overly heavy. By now having tried two of Toast (under the same group as Marmalade) cupcakes and another one today, I must say their cupcakes are the better ones around. Moist and rich, there wasn’t any pretty frosting, just a solid good cupcake.
The sticky date toffee pudding also did not impressed us. Perhaps it was undone by its famous reputation, we were somewhat expecting more from it, but it never came. Nonetheless, nobody could resist having cold icy vanilla bean ice cream with the warm pudding.
Total bill was $64.15 for 6 person. Even though the burger and pudding did not exactly wow me, but I will definitely come back to try the array of desserts available, and of course their cupcakes.
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!
We are all old friends, yet we never met before. We visit each other on the web, that is how we “meet” everybody. Food brings us together, finally we can put a face to each other instead of just a nickname. From online, to offline, our food blogger outing.
While waiting for everybody to arrive, we ordered some fried dim sum for the photo shoot first. Hua Ting have more steamed items than fried ones, and the baked chicken & mango tart ($3.90) headed the list. This reminded me of the one that I had at Man Fu Yuan, and personally I felt it was well executed with the sweet mango zing and crust pastry.
I am not a big fan of bean skin roll dim sum, but since this was one of the few fried item and came highly recommended by the staff, we ordered the Deep-fried bean skin with prawn ($4.80).
Oh, the prawns were fresh. Yes they were. But, but the skin was too thick, and well they are not the best Steamed crystal prawn dumpling ($4.80) I had before.
There was the option of doing it steamed or pan-fried. But who could resist yummy-sinful fried food? Not us, we went for the pan-fried carrot cake with canopy ($3.90). Eat first, worry later! For some unknown reasons that continue to evade us, we are seeing restaurants not frying their carrot cake enough. Is it for the health conscious customers, or is it because it requires more oil? I wished they will just pan-fried it longer.
The first page of the menu comprises of the signature dim sum Hua ting serves, yet i was surprised not to find the Steamed siew mai with shrimp roe ($4.80) there. I felt that it was better than their har gau. And oh yes, there was also mushroom mixed within the siew mai.
There was nothing to fault for their Steamed BBQ pork bun ($3.90). I love my char siew bun, and when there was no char siew sou, I comforted myself by indulging in every moment of this.
Drum roll! Announcing the award for the best performer for the meal, I presented to you, Deep fried scallop pastry with onion and garlic ($4.50). My personal favourite out of the 12 dim sum that we tried that day. The pastry literally melted in my month when I took a bite. And I simple love the strong garlic taste within.
I will also like to mention the good service of the staffs at Hua Ting. While I was causally asking my friend what was inside the Steamed dumpling in Teow Chew style ($3.90), one waitress who was walking by overheard us and stopped to explain. While she couldn’t get all the ingredients in it, she went to the kitchen to ask and came back to tell us. So here it is, peanut, turnip, mushroom & celery.
You definitely will have tried char siew and prawn cheong fun before. Okay, how about scallop? Aye most restaurants have that too! All right, I give you Steamed cheong fun with sliced fish ($4.80). Now that’s something new isn’t it? It was a unique and bold creation, and while personally I still preferred char siew and prawn for my cheong fun, you need to give credits to the chef for trying something new.
Steamed soya bean skin rolls with chicken and mushroom in superior oyster sauce ($4.20). With such a long name, I was caught dumbfound and the staff had to kindly explained a few times what it was. It was actually the same as the deep fried bean skin we had earlier. But somehow I like this one more, the oozing out of the oyster sauce when I took a bite into the bean skin rolls. Oh my.
The others wanted lo mai gai, but there was none. We just have to make do with the Steamed glutinous rice with abalone ($5.20) and it was competent enough. There was the grimicky tiny abalone on top to up the prestige level, but I felt it would be better to give me Taiwanese sausages instead of that.
Not many restaurants use duck for their dim sum, it is always like what I mentioned, char siew, prawn & scallop. Therefore we chose the Pan fried shredded duck rolls ($4.20) out of curiosity.
I never like ordering Steamed pork ribs ($3.90) in dim sum restaurants. I felt they were overpriced, and under-portion. Honestly I will rather order another steamed char siew bun to give me more meat. I’m a carnivore!
Total bill was $120 after a 15% credit card discount for 6 person. We tried 14 out of the 20 dim sum available, and that’s quite a lot! I was confused between Orchard hotel with Orchard Parade hotel, so do check your maps before going down. In my personal opinion, the staffs at Hua Ting merit the good service tag, all of them were friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you!
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!
Food blogs, your one-stop website for all the juicy information of the latest restaurant in town, the nice places to dine at and not to mention gawking at all the delicious-looking photographs to keep you hungry.
Most people will not know how the life of a food blogger (floggers) is like, well that is unless they have a friend who happens to be a fellow flogger. Behind all the glamorous life behind our seemingly never satisfied stomach, it is not that all smooth sailing, or rather eating at all.
Floggers are not-so-slim people! Myth or fact? Of course that’s a myth. Many of my flogger friends are classified under the acceptable weight section. There is totally no relation between a flogger and being slightly oversize. It really depends on individuals. Some of the lucky folks will never get fat no matter how much they gorge, while there are some who will put on weight easily.
One of the favorite aspects of being a flogger meant that people around me always ask for recommendations on where-to-go for food. I love to tell everyone the nice place to dine at, well that is what ladyironchef is about right?
We started off by sending our spies on the lookout for the target. Espionage is vital, browsing through our fellow flogger site, reading the newspapers, and of course, the word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and readers.
Arriving at the restaurant, we took out our bulky Dslr, which will attract some curious glance from the other diners. And not to forget the innocent question from the restaurant staff, our reason for taking photos. Taking pictures is akin to a scene of the Formula One car passing by in a millisecond, I have to snap the photos of all the food frantically. Otherwise i will incur the wrath of my dining companions who complain openly that the food is turning cold.
After some hasty moments, the rest take up their positions to start tucking in while I scanned through my precious to see the shots. Once in a while, I will shout Stop before they damage the food, for another re-take of the previous scene, much to their dismay.
While the others are happily enjoying their food, I’m pondering and noting down how the different dishes taste like. The real work only starts back at home. It is selection time as we scan through and pick the best photos that will make you hungry. Editing everything takes an hour, I rejoice when the photos turn out to be good, and curse when they are blur.
While thinking of what to write, I look at the photos and travel back in time to recall how the food tasted like. After much effort and time spent on writing the review, finally the post is ready to face the world.
The life of a food blogger is not as easy as it looks. Yes much as we get to go around the island trying out the different food and new restaurants, the amount of time, effort and commitment towards our blog is what you will never get to see. I will like to pay tribute to my fellow floggers, who have dedicated their time in our common cause to share the experience of food.
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The Spanish Omelette ($3) certainly wasn’t what we were expecting. Essentially there were more potatoes than eggs; I wouldn’t exactly classify it under omelette. A slightly sour zing came from the red pepper, which was soaked with vinegar. I called this, potato pie!
The mesclun salad that came with the sandwich was decent. But the Dijon mustard within the bread was overwhelming; it was akin to having a wasabi sandwich. The cheese was also not melted enough, a rather hefty price to pay for the Classic Ham & Cheese Panini ($17)
I always thought that tenderloin was associated with beef rather than pork. The Escabeche Pork Tenderloin ($16.50) was pretty impressive with distinct taste of the exotic Latin spices. Crispy skins and not overly charred potatoes were the hallmark of very good roasted potatoes. And did I mention sweet corn was a nice change from the seasonal vegetables.
Total bill was $42.95 for two person. Tiffin Club is the classic example of my kind of place. The charming and quaint environment of the café, the rustic and laid back shop house location. It is a place where I can sit down and chill all day. See you there!
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!
It wasn't a planned destination when I first chanced upon Rosti but the 1st experience was more than pleasing to the temples of my stomach.
The girlfriend wasn't so lucky with her choice of Rosti as the dish fell a little flat on the taste buds.
Me on the other hand, has always been a little lucky with my choices and they were the 'The Big Fat Mushroom Hat' and the 'Kurobuto Pork Chop'.
Both dishes were a little below standard on our 2nd visit but they were still a couple of the best dishes at Rosti after trying a few other mains.
The service staff were very friendly and pleasant but do note that food will take some time between your order and for it to appear on your table as the chefs do need to prepare it with TLC (Not the ancient girlband).
Fifteen days. As we ushered into the Chinese new year, this time, our cow friends. The date at Straits café, cong-er and feng-er indulged for the finest feast. It has been the longest time since cong-er remember the last time she had lo-hei, and the first time for feng-er to try Poon Choi. The rabbits, the goat, and the pig. Triple harmony.
The finest. All in one pot. The best to start a brand new year. A traditional Chinese new year delicacy, Poon Choi ($198 for 5 person), composed of many layers of premium seafood, meat and vegetables. Abalone, shark fin, scallop, sea cucumber, prawns, Chinese sausages, duck feet, roasted meat, mushroom, fa-cai. A total of 14 ingredients, & 6 hours of effort. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, the abalone and shark fins in the middle. The whole taste was simple divine! Sea cucumber, or Hoi sam, a secret for our ladies to stay eighteen every year. Although the roasted pork wasn’t crispy anymore, but the meat was brought to another level after immersing in the pot with the other ingredients. And not to mention the Chinese sausages, which had the normal red colour ones, and the darker coloured, liver sausages. The duck feet was there in place of goose feet; my first time trying it. Without being overly salty, the gravy absorbed the essence of all the top ingredients. Worth its weight in gold.
The Prosperity Yu Sheng, with the vibrant colours, that so reminded us of the joy and happiness during the festive season. Every year without fail, the auspicious Chinese salad will present itself. Tossing the vegetables, the aim is to attain a higher high, just like our life. Wishing Gong xi fa cai, Nian nian you yu, all the lucky greetings for our family and friends. With a choice of salmon or ikan parang, Straits cafe rendition comes in $38, $48 and $58 for its small (2-4 person), medium (5-7 person) and large (8-10 person) portions respectively. All buffet at Straits cafe with the exception for high tea, includes free flow of Fa Cai Yusheng.
After the new renovation of the restaurant during Oct 2008, Straits cafe reopened amidst much fanfare, with the contemporary design and transparent windows which allowed natural lighting to fill the restaurant, and for those interested, people-watching as well.
By order, one will usually start with the salad counter, with some appetising greens to clear the palates before moving on to the savouries. Not that I care anyway, the temptation to resist the desserts were too much for me. Those pretty, petite sweets, we started taking photos of them first, of course. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the pork belly for my stomach to begin on a light note.
Another great appetiser, the chicken salad was just as refreshing as any green salad. The slightly sweet and sour Thai sauce, enhanced the chicken, making it a welcoming starter.
The cold seafood station which has the likes of fresh oyster, cold crabs, squids, and prawns. You know Singaporeans being Singaporeans, the likelihood that they attacked the most expensive food in the buffet is palpable to all. And with fresh oysters, it definitely helps.
Special praises must be reserved for the chefs whom consistently cooks up each bowl of the infamous Straits café Nonya laksa. For that day, there’s also the bak ku teh available. There will changes everyday, with wanton mee, satay been hoon, lor mee rotating, alongside the mainstay laksa.
The infamous Straits cafe Nonya laksa. A bowl of this local favourite, was enough to justify the popularity and status of this dish to the restaurant. Nonya laksa comes slightly sour sweet, with rich and strongly spiced coconut gravy. However, the oiliness of the laksa meant that not everybody could accept it. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Jumping from the local dimension, we found ourselves in the Japanese era. The sushi platter was easily another favourite of diners there. Within minutes of a new plate brought out, the platter looks sad, not that the sushi wasn’t good, but because everything was finish.
The freshness of the Sashimis were maintained by keeping them inside a transparent closet, to minimise the contact with the air. Also to let people take as little as possible! Well, just her mischievous thought, I’m sure the chefs would be more than happy to let you have your fill of sashimis.
Lo-and-behold! The key player for Straits cafe’s dessert counter. Without a doubt, the Durian Pengat definitely was the one we were eagerly anticipating. Well maybe not we, since i’m not a durian lover. The D24 durian smell was so evident that we would have wager our fortune betting on it. I’ve two spoonful, since almost everybody says it’s so, so good, and the sight of people taking a few of the shooter glass at one go, it’s certainly in the bag.
Moving on from the durian pengat, we have the equally famous durian cake. But after tasting the strong D24 durian in the pengat, I found the taste for the durian cake relatively subtle and light. And it’s a good thing since i’ve no qualms finishing the cake. This might not be the case if i’ve start with the cake first before the pengat.
The macha mousse had one of the strongest macha taste, and it’s good for the macha lovers. Most places scrimped on the tea leaves to cut cost obviously, but the generous fulsome mousse definitely surprised us.
We heard good things about their cheesecakes, however the signature New York cheesecake was nowhere in sight.The blueberry cheesecake was there to save the day. Between the boundaries of the heavy cheesy purist favourites, and the light airy rendition, I’ll say it’s somewhere in the middle. And the best part, you can have as many slices as you want!
There are some who boomed and come of age later than others. The Mandarin orange cheesecake was our reward for being adventurous, not giving up without another walk to the desserts counter for the New York cheesecake. Instead of that, we found ourselves with this new cake, in celebration of our Chinese new year. But, the dessert disappointed us as the cheesecake was rather crumbly, not as firm as we thought it will be, and the mandarin oranges were too sweet, which we suspected that it had some help from the sugary syrup.
On first sight, the ice cream bar looks just to be an ordinary one, featuring the likes of your Walls, and Kings ice cream. But boy we were wrong. The black sesame and raspberry gelato were great, definitely not your cheap ice creams. And my favourite, the vanilla bean flavour!
I must say I’m impressed with the variety and spread of the buffet, given the pricing and the location of the restaurant, it’s good that Hotel Rendezvous recognised that they can’t position themselves against the high-end buffets with the likes of The Line, Melt the world cafe. But by bridging the distance between the expensive and the cheap buffets, Straits cafe provided a good alternative to those who wanted good food, without spending too much.
My thanks to Christina, the marketing communication manager of Rendezvous Hotel Singapore, who invited me for the food tasting session. And also my dining companions, who provided me with great knowledge of the food, good company and fun. A happy Chinese New Year to all of you!
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!
In my dreams, there is this beautiful place, with blue skies and clear sea. I dreamt of having my favourite brunch here with the one I like. We eat to our hearts content, and relax there while the hourglass freeze, just for us.
In my dreams, we have a cup of cappuccino. The aroma of the bean and the wonderful scenery of the place somehow makes the ordinary coffee taste better. And oh yes, there’s a cute cookie to go along with too.
In my dreams, I can never forget the taste of my beloved Eggs Royale ($14). The ever-favourite poached eggs, I just wish we can be together everyday. There is nothing more satisfying in life to have you by my side. O’ my dear, just the thought of you makes me sleep better.
In my dreams, I always envisage places where we will never run out of desserts. I have a sweet tooth you see. I dreamt of meeting the royal Sir-Deli’s, but it was a pleasant surprise with Privé Carrot cake ($6.80)
In my dreams, everything and anything can happen. There are bad dreams, and of course sweet ones like you. I’m glad I can still occasionally dream of you, that is enough. Enter my dreams, and give me a kiss.
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Privé bakery café is a wonderful place to visit if you haven been there after i posted my previous entry. Well, I couldn’t afford the restaurant main course yet, that’s why you will probably see more of my post on their brunch and desserts, which are affordable and good. See you there!
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!
You know in life, there’s usually only one opportunity, and like they say, if you missed the train, it’s gonna be gone forever. That is why, gracious and forgiving, as cliché as it may sound, is important. Second chance.
Making the wrong choices once is bad enough, this time, we are going for the safe option. What better than their signature Le Royale ($7). If I’m to be a scientist, all the cures and breakthrough will never occur. But call me a mathematician, the cake had 64% of dark chocolate mousse. Of hazelnut feullitine and praline, I could never differentiate them apart. But I love them both, yes I do. So it doesn’t matter, anything with hazelnut & feullitine works for me. You know I love you, xoxo Le Royale.
Some of the female companions that I know, does not like to drink coffee. Yet they always frequent Starbucks, well just for their green tea frapp. Yes, call it irresistible, healthy, or whatever, our ladies love their macha. The lovely light shade of green tea mascarpone mousse was appealing. I’m no expert when it comes to green tea, but what I do know, the macha was very subtle. And the chestnut cremeuex was an interesting choice for the middle layer. Not that i’m a fan of chestnut. Oh yes, simply named, the macha ($7)
Oh dear, if looks can kill, so can Tarte Citron ($5.50). The beautifully burnt effects from the blow torch was a sight to behold. Italian meringue with lemon cream on almond tart. My, my. This really is a beauty. And if you think she is a bimbo, the taste was as good as the looks too.
I never know Canelé has good ice cream. Well, they are known for their cakes, and chocolates, but ice cream! I love surprises. And Nougatine ($8) is all about that. Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine was always my beloved. But it was the salty caramel dripped alongside the ice cream, which really made it so good.
Total bill was $33 for three cakes and one ice cream. Well I thought that the ice cream was pretty decent even at eight dollars per pop since it was more than the size of two scoops elsewhere. The raffles city branch is canelé restaurant instead of patisserie, since they offered main course as well. But I resisted putting the word restaurant on my title since we didn’t try any of their main course. That will be another time of course.
Usually opportunities only come knocking once, but I’m gonna knock on the door a few more times.
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!
Four. I wasted three opportunities before I got to know you. On our brief initial encounter, we brushed past each other as I was going somewhere else. On the subsequent two occasions, I wasn’t fully prepared, not when I’m in running attire. Despite all that, I’m glad we finally met, this time prim and proper, Hello Riders, my name is Brad.
Here is the place where you can look at horsies galloping freely on the greens. Here is the place where you can escape from the hectic city life. Here is the place where you can have brunch at a tranquil and serene environment amidst the lush greeneries. Riders Cafe.
Nothing beats having morning pancakes ($10) to start off your day. There was berries compote, there was whipped cream, and there was maple syrup on the pancakes of course. Who can resist the smiley pancakes, certainly not me. Well, we should have asked for more butter!
In my dictionary, eggs and brunch are synonymous with each other. A hearty brunch won’t be completed without any Egg Benedicts ($12). Instead of the smoked salmon, we decided to have ham with eggs. And personally, I felt that hams complimented eggs better. I still loved the latter though. Poached eggs, with hams on a toasted muffins, and breakfast potatoes to go along with. This is brunch.
The Riders Breakfast ($13) was supposed to be very reasonable. But we heard the waitress wrongly, so we said we wanted smoked ham, bacon and sausage. All three of them, instead of just choosing one. The damage was $8 more for the two additional sides. Well it’s quite a heartache getting the bill in the aftermaths, to pay the money for 2 tiny sausages and 2 strip of bacons. The money would be more well-spend if we got another dish instead. But this was solely our own mistake, and there’s no denying the breakfast was excellent, all of my favourite. Scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausages, beans, potatoes and toast.
Total bill was $56 for three breakfast items, and 1 drink. Well it would be around ten bucks lesser if we had not added the extra sides, so I say brunch at Rider’s is really value and excellent for the superb ambience of the place. But, fairways drive is hardly a place where you will call accessible unless you got transport, or cab.
I will definitely come back again, for brunch, or even for lunch. Their lunch and diner menu looks very affordable too! But another thing to note, I went on a weekday morning, so it was relatively peaceful. If you were to go on a weekend for brunch, the result might not be the same. See you there!
ps: if you had noticed, I had also included my signature See you there! tag for my previous two post on Graze and Patisserie Glace as well. It just so happened I went to four fabulous place within this two weeks!
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!
The Angel on my right says she is innocent and pure. The Devil on the left rebuts, she is gullible and inexperience. A simple play of words, show the different perception of people. The same word could mean two totally different thing. Naive, is all about the absence of artificiality, in a good way.
Rather than a vegetarian restaurant, the owners of Naive know exactly how human perception is, most people tend to associate vegetarian with distasteful food, so lets just call them the first meatless restaurant.
Tofu is always a staple in the meatless cateogry, and it was no surprise we had it for the Golden Oats ($8.80). Essentially crispy deep fried soft golden tofu with oats and fragrant leaves. I didn’t get to try much of this, but it was a good rendition of the cereal prawn. The tofu was a fitting replacement with its crispy texture and soft interior going well with the oats.
Not the best in terms of the looks department, but the Penang Rendang ($9.80) was better than expected. Pan-fried mushroom on bed of greens. Red, hot, and spicy.
When red riding hood ($7.80) meets the big bad wolf. How apt. It was almost like the real deal. Imagine sweet and crispy,and instead of pork you get beancurd. Sweet & sour pork wannabe? This is even better than some of the ones I had before.
The ladies man. He have all sorts of tricks in his bag, and can please all of you. Battered organic oyster mushroom ($9.80). If you have been avoiding fried food for a while now, because of the double damage; unhealthy fried food and too much meat. This is the one for you.
Tangy and refreshing. The mango tofu cake ($12.80) was all about that. Slightly sweet, slightly sour. Crispy skin, soft body. Talk about contrast.
With a cheesy tag line like mega in taste, and mini in size, the Mega mini mushroom ($10.80). While I ain’t a big fan of Sze Chuan cuisine, one bite was enough to tell me the flavourful spicy szechuan sauce.
Enchanted forest ($12.80). Indeed, I was smitten by her charming ways, her strong perfume smell of wolfberry, her strong and wilful texture.
From the braise, you would certainly associate it with cooking for many hours. Yes, but somehow for monkeyhead mushrooms, it does not turn soft. We were expecting the meat-lookalike to be tender, but instead it was still rather tough in texture. Heartwarmer ($13.80)
I always love to order garlic rice when I frequent Japanese restaurants. They are so oh-so good! And I think the same could be for Naive, their Oliver twist ($3.80). Instead of the Japanese pearl rice, we have the fragrant Thai rice, with a olive twist. And I agreed, so good it can be eaten on its own.
Naive promises to offer healthy food without compromising on taste. And I will like to say they did it. I never knew vegetarian, or rather, meatless could taste so good. However, prices are rather steep given the small portions. And their main courses are all monkeyhead mushrooms.
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!
1=SGD 0.0587
The-sight-of-it is enough to excite me. The flowing chocolate - like water plunging down from a magnificent waterfall: wonderful, sweet. The cute white marshmallows beckon to me. The puffs - baked for the sole reunion with the delicious chocolate. The big juicy strawberries, oh my. What’s there not to like about a chocolate fondue? I love it!
Now, I famously don’t like buffets. When I see food laying out, exposed, I see food dying. I see the ocean trout that every passing diner can feel free to squeeze at. I see food left out in the open air unprotected from the passing fancies of everybody. BUT, but, the current Citibank credit card 50% promotion for 10 @ Claymore is simply too good a deal to miss, so I decided to go for it after all.
How does $29 for buffet lunch sounds? On top of it with a 1-for-1 promotion, and we are talking about Pan Pacific Hotel, not some dubious twenties-odd range buffet (you-know-where-I-am-referring-to). Given, the variety here cannot compare with other international buffets who have more spread, but what I like about 10 @ Claymore is the focus.
Instead of giving a lot items to choose from, they decided to give just enough. For those who inherited our Singapore-kiasu-genes, my apologies. But this is one buffet where I actually don’t feel guilty trying to gorge myself silly. I ate a bit of everything, and rushed to have my desserts.
The chocolate truffle was terrific - sweet, smooth, refined, yet unbelievably simple. I had mutiple helpings of it, until my stomach decided to do a red-shirt-alike-protest to me.
Total bill was $34 for 2 person after the citibank credit card promotion. The current good deal last until 30 April, 2 person are entitled to a 50% discount. For $17 bucks per person, buffet lunch at a classy environment, enough said! And oh yes, I forgot to mention that the service was top-notch; the staffs were attentive and always happy to help out when you need anything
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:
Foie Gras is in my blood. Having said that, I’m more beef than Foie Gras, really. Wedges here, is my awesome assistant, The new Spring fashion is so passé, sun-dried tomato is the latest in-thing now! Marmalade Pantry’s famous, Sun-dried tomato Foie Gras Burger ($26).
My name is Chocolate, Chocolate Truffe ($7.80). I’m the ladies man, smooth is my texture, sweet is my nature. Try me, and you are sold. No one can resist my temptations, the thick, oh-so-thick chocolate which is so rich and good.
Hello everybody, eh, my name is Chocolate Tart ($4.20). I don’t have anything to say about myself. I’m a simple guy, but they say my chocolate is wondeful, I will rather keep a low profile. Please, don’t tell anybody else. Thank you.
They call me little miss rose ($4.2). I’m very girly and feminine in nature, but most people just judged me by my appearances. I snub those pretentious of my kind who can only face the world with their frosting make-ups. Simple is beautiful, once you get to know me, the ladies worship me and the guys adore me.
The spokesperson for Marmalade, everybody calls for me when they are here. It will be impossible if you have not heard about Sticky Date toffee pudding ($12) by now. My companion, the lovely Vanilla bean ice cream compliments me perfectly.
***
Having heard so much about Marmalade Pantry Foie Gras burger, the few of us were rather disappointed by it because there just wasn’t much foie gras taste. But the wedges that accompanied the burger was very good.
The chocolate truffle cake, and chocolate tart was wonderful, with the chocolate being very sweet yet not overly heavy. By now having tried two of Toast (under the same group as Marmalade) cupcakes and another one today, I must say their cupcakes are the better ones around. Moist and rich, there wasn’t any pretty frosting, just a solid good cupcake.
The sticky date toffee pudding also did not impressed us. Perhaps it was undone by its famous reputation, we were somewhat expecting more from it, but it never came. Nonetheless, nobody could resist having cold icy vanilla bean ice cream with the warm pudding.
Total bill was $64.15 for 6 person. Even though the burger and pudding did not exactly wow me, but I will definitely come back to try the array of desserts available, and of course their cupcakes.
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:
We are all old friends, yet we never met before. We visit each other on the web, that is how we “meet” everybody. Food brings us together, finally we can put a face to each other instead of just a nickname. From online, to offline, our food blogger outing.
While waiting for everybody to arrive, we ordered some fried dim sum for the photo shoot first. Hua Ting have more steamed items than fried ones, and the baked chicken & mango tart ($3.90) headed the list. This reminded me of the one that I had at Man Fu Yuan, and personally I felt it was well executed with the sweet mango zing and crust pastry.
I am not a big fan of bean skin roll dim sum, but since this was one of the few fried item and came highly recommended by the staff, we ordered the Deep-fried bean skin with prawn ($4.80).
Oh, the prawns were fresh. Yes they were. But, but the skin was too thick, and well they are not the best Steamed crystal prawn dumpling ($4.80) I had before.
There was the option of doing it steamed or pan-fried. But who could resist yummy-sinful fried food? Not us, we went for the pan-fried carrot cake with canopy ($3.90). Eat first, worry later! For some unknown reasons that continue to evade us, we are seeing restaurants not frying their carrot cake enough. Is it for the health conscious customers, or is it because it requires more oil? I wished they will just pan-fried it longer.
The first page of the menu comprises of the signature dim sum Hua ting serves, yet i was surprised not to find the Steamed siew mai with shrimp roe ($4.80) there. I felt that it was better than their har gau. And oh yes, there was also mushroom mixed within the siew mai.
There was nothing to fault for their Steamed BBQ pork bun ($3.90). I love my char siew bun, and when there was no char siew sou, I comforted myself by indulging in every moment of this.
Drum roll! Announcing the award for the best performer for the meal, I presented to you, Deep fried scallop pastry with onion and garlic ($4.50). My personal favourite out of the 12 dim sum that we tried that day. The pastry literally melted in my month when I took a bite. And I simple love the strong garlic taste within.
I will also like to mention the good service of the staffs at Hua Ting. While I was causally asking my friend what was inside the Steamed dumpling in Teow Chew style ($3.90), one waitress who was walking by overheard us and stopped to explain. While she couldn’t get all the ingredients in it, she went to the kitchen to ask and came back to tell us. So here it is, peanut, turnip, mushroom & celery.
You definitely will have tried char siew and prawn cheong fun before. Okay, how about scallop? Aye most restaurants have that too! All right, I give you Steamed cheong fun with sliced fish ($4.80). Now that’s something new isn’t it? It was a unique and bold creation, and while personally I still preferred char siew and prawn for my cheong fun, you need to give credits to the chef for trying something new.
Steamed soya bean skin rolls with chicken and mushroom in superior oyster sauce ($4.20). With such a long name, I was caught dumbfound and the staff had to kindly explained a few times what it was. It was actually the same as the deep fried bean skin we had earlier. But somehow I like this one more, the oozing out of the oyster sauce when I took a bite into the bean skin rolls. Oh my.
The others wanted lo mai gai, but there was none. We just have to make do with the Steamed glutinous rice with abalone ($5.20) and it was competent enough. There was the grimicky tiny abalone on top to up the prestige level, but I felt it would be better to give me Taiwanese sausages instead of that.
Not many restaurants use duck for their dim sum, it is always like what I mentioned, char siew, prawn & scallop. Therefore we chose the Pan fried shredded duck rolls ($4.20) out of curiosity.
I never like ordering Steamed pork ribs ($3.90) in dim sum restaurants. I felt they were overpriced, and under-portion. Honestly I will rather order another steamed char siew bun to give me more meat. I’m a carnivore!
Total bill was $120 after a 15% credit card discount for 6 person. We tried 14 out of the 20 dim sum available, and that’s quite a lot! I was confused between Orchard hotel with Orchard Parade hotel, so do check your maps before going down. In my personal opinion, the staffs at Hua Ting merit the good service tag, all of them were friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you!
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:
Food blogs, your one-stop website for all the juicy information of the latest restaurant in town, the nice places to dine at and not to mention gawking at all the delicious-looking photographs to keep you hungry.
Most people will not know how the life of a food blogger (floggers) is like, well that is unless they have a friend who happens to be a fellow flogger. Behind all the glamorous life behind our seemingly never satisfied stomach, it is not that all smooth sailing, or rather eating at all.
Floggers are not-so-slim people! Myth or fact? Of course that’s a myth. Many of my flogger friends are classified under the acceptable weight section. There is totally no relation between a flogger and being slightly oversize. It really depends on individuals. Some of the lucky folks will never get fat no matter how much they gorge, while there are some who will put on weight easily.
One of the favorite aspects of being a flogger meant that people around me always ask for recommendations on where-to-go for food. I love to tell everyone the nice place to dine at, well that is what ladyironchef is about right?
We started off by sending our spies on the lookout for the target. Espionage is vital, browsing through our fellow flogger site, reading the newspapers, and of course, the word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and readers.
Arriving at the restaurant, we took out our bulky Dslr, which will attract some curious glance from the other diners. And not to forget the innocent question from the restaurant staff, our reason for taking photos. Taking pictures is akin to a scene of the Formula One car passing by in a millisecond, I have to snap the photos of all the food frantically. Otherwise i will incur the wrath of my dining companions who complain openly that the food is turning cold.
After some hasty moments, the rest take up their positions to start tucking in while I scanned through my precious to see the shots. Once in a while, I will shout Stop before they damage the food, for another re-take of the previous scene, much to their dismay.
While the others are happily enjoying their food, I’m pondering and noting down how the different dishes taste like. The real work only starts back at home. It is selection time as we scan through and pick the best photos that will make you hungry. Editing everything takes an hour, I rejoice when the photos turn out to be good, and curse when they are blur.
While thinking of what to write, I look at the photos and travel back in time to recall how the food tasted like. After much effort and time spent on writing the review, finally the post is ready to face the world.
The life of a food blogger is not as easy as it looks. Yes much as we get to go around the island trying out the different food and new restaurants, the amount of time, effort and commitment towards our blog is what you will never get to see. I will like to pay tribute to my fellow floggers, who have dedicated their time in our common cause to share the experience of food.
***
The Spanish Omelette ($3) certainly wasn’t what we were expecting. Essentially there were more potatoes than eggs; I wouldn’t exactly classify it under omelette. A slightly sour zing came from the red pepper, which was soaked with vinegar. I called this, potato pie!
The mesclun salad that came with the sandwich was decent. But the Dijon mustard within the bread was overwhelming; it was akin to having a wasabi sandwich. The cheese was also not melted enough, a rather hefty price to pay for the Classic Ham & Cheese Panini ($17)
I always thought that tenderloin was associated with beef rather than pork. The Escabeche Pork Tenderloin ($16.50) was pretty impressive with distinct taste of the exotic Latin spices. Crispy skins and not overly charred potatoes were the hallmark of very good roasted potatoes. And did I mention sweet corn was a nice change from the seasonal vegetables.
Total bill was $42.95 for two person. Tiffin Club is the classic example of my kind of place. The charming and quaint environment of the café, the rustic and laid back shop house location. It is a place where I can sit down and chill all day. See you there!
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:
It wasn't a planned destination when I first chanced upon Rosti but the 1st experience was more than pleasing to the temples of my stomach.
The girlfriend wasn't so lucky with her choice of Rosti as the dish fell a little flat on the taste buds.
Me on the other hand, has always been a little lucky with my choices and they were the 'The Big Fat Mushroom Hat' and the 'Kurobuto Pork Chop'.
Both dishes were a little below standard on our 2nd visit but they were still a couple of the best dishes at Rosti after trying a few other mains.
The service staff were very friendly and pleasant but do note that food will take some time between your order and for it to appear on your table as the chefs do need to prepare it with TLC (Not the ancient girlband).
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Fifteen days. As we ushered into the Chinese new year, this time, our cow friends. The date at Straits café, cong-er and feng-er indulged for the finest feast. It has been the longest time since cong-er remember the last time she had lo-hei, and the first time for feng-er to try Poon Choi. The rabbits, the goat, and the pig. Triple harmony.
The finest. All in one pot. The best to start a brand new year. A traditional Chinese new year delicacy, Poon Choi ($198 for 5 person), composed of many layers of premium seafood, meat and vegetables. Abalone, shark fin, scallop, sea cucumber, prawns, Chinese sausages, duck feet, roasted meat, mushroom, fa-cai. A total of 14 ingredients, & 6 hours of effort. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, the abalone and shark fins in the middle. The whole taste was simple divine! Sea cucumber, or Hoi sam, a secret for our ladies to stay eighteen every year. Although the roasted pork wasn’t crispy anymore, but the meat was brought to another level after immersing in the pot with the other ingredients. And not to mention the Chinese sausages, which had the normal red colour ones, and the darker coloured, liver sausages. The duck feet was there in place of goose feet; my first time trying it. Without being overly salty, the gravy absorbed the essence of all the top ingredients. Worth its weight in gold.
The Prosperity Yu Sheng, with the vibrant colours, that so reminded us of the joy and happiness during the festive season. Every year without fail, the auspicious Chinese salad will present itself. Tossing the vegetables, the aim is to attain a higher high, just like our life. Wishing Gong xi fa cai, Nian nian you yu, all the lucky greetings for our family and friends. With a choice of salmon or ikan parang, Straits cafe rendition comes in $38, $48 and $58 for its small (2-4 person), medium (5-7 person) and large (8-10 person) portions respectively. All buffet at Straits cafe with the exception for high tea, includes free flow of Fa Cai Yusheng.
After the new renovation of the restaurant during Oct 2008, Straits cafe reopened amidst much fanfare, with the contemporary design and transparent windows which allowed natural lighting to fill the restaurant, and for those interested, people-watching as well.
By order, one will usually start with the salad counter, with some appetising greens to clear the palates before moving on to the savouries. Not that I care anyway, the temptation to resist the desserts were too much for me. Those pretty, petite sweets, we started taking photos of them first, of course. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the pork belly for my stomach to begin on a light note.
Another great appetiser, the chicken salad was just as refreshing as any green salad. The slightly sweet and sour Thai sauce, enhanced the chicken, making it a welcoming starter.
The cold seafood station which has the likes of fresh oyster, cold crabs, squids, and prawns. You know Singaporeans being Singaporeans, the likelihood that they attacked the most expensive food in the buffet is palpable to all. And with fresh oysters, it definitely helps.
Special praises must be reserved for the chefs whom consistently cooks up each bowl of the infamous Straits café Nonya laksa. For that day, there’s also the bak ku teh available. There will changes everyday, with wanton mee, satay been hoon, lor mee rotating, alongside the mainstay laksa.
The infamous Straits cafe Nonya laksa. A bowl of this local favourite, was enough to justify the popularity and status of this dish to the restaurant. Nonya laksa comes slightly sour sweet, with rich and strongly spiced coconut gravy. However, the oiliness of the laksa meant that not everybody could accept it. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Jumping from the local dimension, we found ourselves in the Japanese era. The sushi platter was easily another favourite of diners there. Within minutes of a new plate brought out, the platter looks sad, not that the sushi wasn’t good, but because everything was finish.
The freshness of the Sashimis were maintained by keeping them inside a transparent closet, to minimise the contact with the air. Also to let people take as little as possible! Well, just her mischievous thought, I’m sure the chefs would be more than happy to let you have your fill of sashimis.
Lo-and-behold! The key player for Straits cafe’s dessert counter. Without a doubt, the Durian Pengat definitely was the one we were eagerly anticipating. Well maybe not we, since i’m not a durian lover. The D24 durian smell was so evident that we would have wager our fortune betting on it. I’ve two spoonful, since almost everybody says it’s so, so good, and the sight of people taking a few of the shooter glass at one go, it’s certainly in the bag.
Moving on from the durian pengat, we have the equally famous durian cake. But after tasting the strong D24 durian in the pengat, I found the taste for the durian cake relatively subtle and light. And it’s a good thing since i’ve no qualms finishing the cake. This might not be the case if i’ve start with the cake first before the pengat.
The macha mousse had one of the strongest macha taste, and it’s good for the macha lovers. Most places scrimped on the tea leaves to cut cost obviously, but the generous fulsome mousse definitely surprised us.
We heard good things about their cheesecakes, however the signature New York cheesecake was nowhere in sight.The blueberry cheesecake was there to save the day. Between the boundaries of the heavy cheesy purist favourites, and the light airy rendition, I’ll say it’s somewhere in the middle. And the best part, you can have as many slices as you want!
There are some who boomed and come of age later than others. The Mandarin orange cheesecake was our reward for being adventurous, not giving up without another walk to the desserts counter for the New York cheesecake. Instead of that, we found ourselves with this new cake, in celebration of our Chinese new year. But, the dessert disappointed us as the cheesecake was rather crumbly, not as firm as we thought it will be, and the mandarin oranges were too sweet, which we suspected that it had some help from the sugary syrup.
On first sight, the ice cream bar looks just to be an ordinary one, featuring the likes of your Walls, and Kings ice cream. But boy we were wrong. The black sesame and raspberry gelato were great, definitely not your cheap ice creams. And my favourite, the vanilla bean flavour!
I must say I’m impressed with the variety and spread of the buffet, given the pricing and the location of the restaurant, it’s good that Hotel Rendezvous recognised that they can’t position themselves against the high-end buffets with the likes of The Line, Melt the world cafe. But by bridging the distance between the expensive and the cheap buffets, Straits cafe provided a good alternative to those who wanted good food, without spending too much.
My thanks to Christina, the marketing communication manager of Rendezvous Hotel Singapore, who invited me for the food tasting session. And also my dining companions, who provided me with great knowledge of the food, good company and fun. A happy Chinese New Year to all of you!
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:
In my dreams, there is this beautiful place, with blue skies and clear sea. I dreamt of having my favourite brunch here with the one I like. We eat to our hearts content, and relax there while the hourglass freeze, just for us.
In my dreams, we have a cup of cappuccino. The aroma of the bean and the wonderful scenery of the place somehow makes the ordinary coffee taste better. And oh yes, there’s a cute cookie to go along with too.
In my dreams, I can never forget the taste of my beloved Eggs Royale ($14). The ever-favourite poached eggs, I just wish we can be together everyday. There is nothing more satisfying in life to have you by my side. O’ my dear, just the thought of you makes me sleep better.
In my dreams, I always envisage places where we will never run out of desserts. I have a sweet tooth you see. I dreamt of meeting the royal Sir-Deli’s, but it was a pleasant surprise with Privé Carrot cake ($6.80)
In my dreams, everything and anything can happen. There are bad dreams, and of course sweet ones like you. I’m glad I can still occasionally dream of you, that is enough. Enter my dreams, and give me a kiss.
***
Privé bakery café is a wonderful place to visit if you haven been there after i posted my previous entry. Well, I couldn’t afford the restaurant main course yet, that’s why you will probably see more of my post on their brunch and desserts, which are affordable and good. See you there!
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:
You know in life, there’s usually only one opportunity, and like they say, if you missed the train, it’s gonna be gone forever. That is why, gracious and forgiving, as cliché as it may sound, is important. Second chance.
Making the wrong choices once is bad enough, this time, we are going for the safe option. What better than their signature Le Royale ($7). If I’m to be a scientist, all the cures and breakthrough will never occur. But call me a mathematician, the cake had 64% of dark chocolate mousse. Of hazelnut feullitine and praline, I could never differentiate them apart. But I love them both, yes I do. So it doesn’t matter, anything with hazelnut & feullitine works for me. You know I love you, xoxo Le Royale.
Some of the female companions that I know, does not like to drink coffee. Yet they always frequent Starbucks, well just for their green tea frapp. Yes, call it irresistible, healthy, or whatever, our ladies love their macha. The lovely light shade of green tea mascarpone mousse was appealing. I’m no expert when it comes to green tea, but what I do know, the macha was very subtle. And the chestnut cremeuex was an interesting choice for the middle layer. Not that i’m a fan of chestnut. Oh yes, simply named, the macha ($7)
Oh dear, if looks can kill, so can Tarte Citron ($5.50). The beautifully burnt effects from the blow torch was a sight to behold. Italian meringue with lemon cream on almond tart. My, my. This really is a beauty. And if you think she is a bimbo, the taste was as good as the looks too.
I never know Canelé has good ice cream. Well, they are known for their cakes, and chocolates, but ice cream! I love surprises. And Nougatine ($8) is all about that. Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine was always my beloved. But it was the salty caramel dripped alongside the ice cream, which really made it so good.
Total bill was $33 for three cakes and one ice cream. Well I thought that the ice cream was pretty decent even at eight dollars per pop since it was more than the size of two scoops elsewhere. The raffles city branch is canelé restaurant instead of patisserie, since they offered main course as well. But I resisted putting the word restaurant on my title since we didn’t try any of their main course. That will be another time of course.
Usually opportunities only come knocking once, but I’m gonna knock on the door a few more times.
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:
Four. I wasted three opportunities before I got to know you. On our brief initial encounter, we brushed past each other as I was going somewhere else. On the subsequent two occasions, I wasn’t fully prepared, not when I’m in running attire. Despite all that, I’m glad we finally met, this time prim and proper, Hello Riders, my name is Brad.
Here is the place where you can look at horsies galloping freely on the greens. Here is the place where you can escape from the hectic city life. Here is the place where you can have brunch at a tranquil and serene environment amidst the lush greeneries. Riders Cafe.
Nothing beats having morning pancakes ($10) to start off your day. There was berries compote, there was whipped cream, and there was maple syrup on the pancakes of course. Who can resist the smiley pancakes, certainly not me. Well, we should have asked for more butter!
In my dictionary, eggs and brunch are synonymous with each other. A hearty brunch won’t be completed without any Egg Benedicts ($12). Instead of the smoked salmon, we decided to have ham with eggs. And personally, I felt that hams complimented eggs better. I still loved the latter though. Poached eggs, with hams on a toasted muffins, and breakfast potatoes to go along with. This is brunch.
The Riders Breakfast ($13) was supposed to be very reasonable. But we heard the waitress wrongly, so we said we wanted smoked ham, bacon and sausage. All three of them, instead of just choosing one. The damage was $8 more for the two additional sides. Well it’s quite a heartache getting the bill in the aftermaths, to pay the money for 2 tiny sausages and 2 strip of bacons. The money would be more well-spend if we got another dish instead. But this was solely our own mistake, and there’s no denying the breakfast was excellent, all of my favourite. Scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausages, beans, potatoes and toast.
Total bill was $56 for three breakfast items, and 1 drink. Well it would be around ten bucks lesser if we had not added the extra sides, so I say brunch at Rider’s is really value and excellent for the superb ambience of the place. But, fairways drive is hardly a place where you will call accessible unless you got transport, or cab.
I will definitely come back again, for brunch, or even for lunch. Their lunch and diner menu looks very affordable too! But another thing to note, I went on a weekday morning, so it was relatively peaceful. If you were to go on a weekend for brunch, the result might not be the same. See you there!
ps: if you had noticed, I had also included my signature See you there! tag for my previous two post on Graze and Patisserie Glace as well. It just so happened I went to four fabulous place within this two weeks!
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:
The Angel on my right says she is innocent and pure. The Devil on the left rebuts, she is gullible and inexperience. A simple play of words, show the different perception of people. The same word could mean two totally different thing. Naive, is all about the absence of artificiality, in a good way.
Rather than a vegetarian restaurant, the owners of Naive know exactly how human perception is, most people tend to associate vegetarian with distasteful food, so lets just call them the first meatless restaurant.
Tofu is always a staple in the meatless cateogry, and it was no surprise we had it for the Golden Oats ($8.80). Essentially crispy deep fried soft golden tofu with oats and fragrant leaves. I didn’t get to try much of this, but it was a good rendition of the cereal prawn. The tofu was a fitting replacement with its crispy texture and soft interior going well with the oats.
Not the best in terms of the looks department, but the Penang Rendang ($9.80) was better than expected. Pan-fried mushroom on bed of greens. Red, hot, and spicy.
When red riding hood ($7.80) meets the big bad wolf. How apt. It was almost like the real deal. Imagine sweet and crispy,and instead of pork you get beancurd. Sweet & sour pork wannabe? This is even better than some of the ones I had before.
The ladies man. He have all sorts of tricks in his bag, and can please all of you. Battered organic oyster mushroom ($9.80). If you have been avoiding fried food for a while now, because of the double damage; unhealthy fried food and too much meat. This is the one for you.
Tangy and refreshing. The mango tofu cake ($12.80) was all about that. Slightly sweet, slightly sour. Crispy skin, soft body. Talk about contrast.
With a cheesy tag line like mega in taste, and mini in size, the Mega mini mushroom ($10.80). While I ain’t a big fan of Sze Chuan cuisine, one bite was enough to tell me the flavourful spicy szechuan sauce.
Enchanted forest ($12.80). Indeed, I was smitten by her charming ways, her strong perfume smell of wolfberry, her strong and wilful texture.
From the braise, you would certainly associate it with cooking for many hours. Yes, but somehow for monkeyhead mushrooms, it does not turn soft. We were expecting the meat-lookalike to be tender, but instead it was still rather tough in texture. Heartwarmer ($13.80)
I always love to order garlic rice when I frequent Japanese restaurants. They are so oh-so good! And I think the same could be for Naive, their Oliver twist ($3.80). Instead of the Japanese pearl rice, we have the fragrant Thai rice, with a olive twist. And I agreed, so good it can be eaten on its own.
Naive promises to offer healthy food without compromising on taste. And I will like to say they did it. I never knew vegetarian, or rather, meatless could taste so good. However, prices are rather steep given the small portions. And their main courses are all monkeyhead mushrooms.
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: