There are so many stalls in one hawker centre alone, so how do you make your choice which one to order from? This is especially a problem when you want to order a particular food, say for example char kuay teow but found yourself staring at a few similar stalls. Which one do you order from? Being Singaporeans the first thought will be to see which stall has the longest Q, well if so many others like their food, it can’t be that bad right?
So usually i’ll go and look around the tables, to see which plates dominate the area, and its a good gauge how popular a stall is. Of course, you can’t judge a stall by its queue, or you ain’t the type that will bother to queue a good fifteen to twenty minutes just for food. So what’s next? Through word-of-mouth recommendations, “stall B at that hawker centre is very good, must-try!” Alternatively, continue your blog-reading at ladyironchef to find out more!
Anyway, one of the common methods will be to look at the stall for any media recognition, there are so many TV food programs which recommend on food, and very often they will issue their own “certificate” to acknowledge that hawker stall is good. Again, this method can also be flaw as the stalls that they recommended might not be that good sometimes, but usually the sales at that particular stall will go up after featured on TV, Singaporeans are Singaporeans after all.
Nevertheless, this is one method that i use quite often when i don’t have no idea which stall to order from. And i decided to order from Teng Yu chee cheong fun porridge stall after i saw their “media recognition”, coming in the form of a video recording showing on the TV no less.
Char siew cheong fun ($2.30) Teng Yu stall offers four different types of cheong fun, prawn, turnip, char siew and one more. All of them come with the option of having your cheong fun with porridge. And they have quite a few selections if you just want porridge alone, century egg, sliced fish, fish head, and seafood porridge.
The skin of the char siew cheong fun was smooth and easy on the palate, topped with plenty of sesame seeds, it came with light sauce. However, the char siew meat were all in very small bits and pieces, and i would prefer them to come in bigger pieces even if there were less of them in that way.
The char siew bites were rather soft, in fact too soft for my liking, and it did not have the sweet and juicy taste that’s in good char siew. Furthermore, they added in some vegetables in it which i did not like. Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat greens, but cheong fun with greens simply did not work out.
The overall taste is quite weak, as in not much flavour in the chee cheong fun, maybe its lighter in flavour because it’s suppose to go together with the porridge, or maybe it’s just me. So you have to try out for yourself to try out. I missed out on the previous post for Mr Avocado, the Alexandra Village hawker centre is opposite the Queensway shopping centre, don’t mistake it with ABC food centre which is nearby.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I know what you are thinking of when i mentioned hawker centre stalls, plain, boring, unfanciful, the run-of-the-mill look! But recently food lovers are spoil with more options as more food & beverage owners look to “attack” the heartlands, the place where you and I grew up in. Botak Jones, Cilantro are some of the better-known names to “invade” our familiar neighbourhood.
Putting that aside, Mr Avocado isn’t exactly “new”, they have been around since 1990, and participated in the Singapore Food Festival 2003, 2004. Well just that last time i didn’t really keep an eye for good food, so i only came to know its existence after a friend recommended me there.
Avocado ($2) They are not called Mr Avocado for nothing, the avocado being their signature drink is surely a must-order drink when you are here. Although i am not a fan of avocado, but Mr Avocado’s rendition win me over with its smooth, creamy and milky interpretation.
Avocado fruits contain a high concentration of dietary fiber, vitamins and potassium. And definitely makes a good drink on a hot day. Mr Avocado’s tagline is “exotic fruit juice”. With some of their specialty like dragon fruit, wintermelon, waterchestnut, loh han kuo, soursop, aloe vera, white fungus definitely sounds more exotic than your usual watermelon, apple, orange.
And i noticed the fact that within Alexandra village hawker centre there are at least four fruit drink stalls selling almost identical drinks. My guess is the hawker centre is always crowded with the office folks working nearby coming in for lunch, and you know fruit juice is always a pleaser for the ladies.
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!
Heard many good things about this tiny little stall serving up handmade beef burgers that were purportedly one of the best around. Apparently its burger is so well known that it featured in one of the recent articles in the Straits Times.
Occupying one of the four F&B units at a small alfresco dining area along Bukit Timah Road, Smok'inn Frogz plays neighbour to an Indian food stall, a Thai food stall and a small bar counter. And that is where its charm lies. Seating on high wooden stools against the backdrop of million dollar homes, all in a fan induced cool environment has a certain laid back charm to it.
Calamari ($8) - At $8 a basket, the calamari wasn't too expensive really and came rather well done. The batter wasn't too thick and didn't come across as too oily while the squid retained some of its elasticity and chewiness. Only thing that I thought could have been improved was the frying time. The batter was deep fried for a little too long, rendering it a darker shade of golden brown.
Homemade Beef Burger ($12)- Being a fan of beef burgers, I was most eager to try out their much raved about homemade beef burger. While the burger was very decent with the texture of the patty uneven and full of bite yet retaining its tenderness, I did find it lacking in the inherent beefy taste, which kinda took some points off the score. $12 gets you the burger and some fries with a small serving of salad as well.
$20 for a meal is rather reasonable for the quantity and quality of food. Drinks can be bought from the neighbouring stall at $1.50 per can of soft drink and if you need a quick Thai or Indian fix, there's the other stalls as well.
The cravings for dim sum meant that i am always on the lookout for places be it restaurants or eateries which can answer to my stomach’s calling. Victor’s Kitchen has been around for quite a while now, and has been labeled with the “good dim sum at affordable price” tag.
Located at Sunshine Plaza off the corner at Bencoolen street, it is a no-frills, grab-your-seats kind of place. Victor’s is divided into two seating area, with both holding a maximum of maybe fifteen people each. Seats are limited, you must be prepared to queue up for them, and squeeze in the small seating area. Well, more like a small eatery than a cafe or restaurant kind of environment.
Chicken & Sausage in Glutinous rice ($4) I always like glutinous rice, dim sum style. Opening the leave that wrapped the rice, the aroma of the glutinous rice flowed out, and it was just so good. The chicken was tender and the chinese sausage palatable, the fragrant and soft rice, all the combinations made the glutinous rice a praiseworthy dish.
Tasty Queen size Siew Mai ($3) You don’t say you eat dim sum if you did not order siew mai and har gau. Nicknamed the queen size siew mai, its actually the normal size i guess that’s why they didn’t named it as King size siew mai instead.
The pork meat in the siew mai is very lean, not those fatty type. The portion of prawn to pork is actually very low, so not much of prawn taste, its the more porky kind.
Victor’s King prawn dumpling ($3.80) Prawn dumpling or har gau, another mainstay in the dim sum menu. The skin of the Victor’s King prawn dumpling is rather thin, and the prawns inside looked like its going to burst out anytime. The fresh prawns go easy on the palates and always welcome with second helpings.
Carrot cake with XO sauce ($3.80) I was rather amazed when i saw the Carrot cake with XO sauce served. For one i wasn’t expecting the carrot cake to be literally soaked in xo sauce, i thought it will be something like the one i had at Peach Garden, or Yan Ting, but i guess again, there isn’t any “fried” or “pan-seared” attached with the name here.
The name’s scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce, but i hardly had any hint of the presence of scallop and sausage in it, and i think i still preferred my carrot cake to be fried than soup. Nonetheless, the amount of XO sauce given was rather generous, and i guess its more of a personal issue, some might just fancy this over the normal fried carrot cake.
Oyster sauce Char Siew Bun ($2.80) I preferred my char siew bun to be those restaurants-type where there is three parts one. There’s no trace of oyster sauce in the char siew bun, or maybe i happened to miss the flavor.
Nevertheless, the char siew bun is still quite soft and fluffy, the juicy char siew captured within is also enjoyable. Not the best char siew bun i had, but it will suffice.
Milky Custard Bun ($2.80) I am getting warm up to Custard bun nowadays since i used to only flavor char siew bun when i had dim sum. You know a good custard bun when you see one, hot milky custard oozing out of the bun, tempting you with both visual and taste.
However, the case is not to be with Victor’s Milky custard bun. Touted as their signature dish, i was totally disappointed with the one i had here. Maybe the ones at Victor’s don’t ooze out, but for the custard buns to come cold is another complete matter all together.
Having heard many wonderful things about their signature custard bun, i must said i was shocked by the revelation in the quality of the buns. Maybe its a case of a bad hair day, but i’ll give it a chance and re-visit to try it again the next time.
Spare Ribs rice ($3) I’m not even sure if i want to elaborate on the spare ribs rice. First thing first, the rice is hard, too hard. I do understand that ribs being ribs do not have much meat, but this one, the pork ribs were not even tasteful. A waste of 3 bucks, kindly ignore this if you ever go to Victor’s.
Phoenix Porridge ($3.50) The century egg porridge or pi dan chow is transform in the name of Phoenix porridge. However the majestic name did itself no favors with a run of the mill watery porridge. There are bits of century egg and chicken chunks, but i don’t see the point in paying $3.50 for an average small bowl porridge.
Deep fried spring roll ($3) The deep fried spring roll is pretty decent, with the usual mix of turnips inside. The vinger dip was a commendable mention, with the slightly sourish sauce going well together with the deep fried stuff. The spring roll was crispy and you could hear the “crisp” sound with every bite you took.
Char siew cheong fun ($3) The trails of a good char siew cheong fun are smooth and silky skin, which comes with juicy char siew. However the skin of the cheong fun or rice roll is rather thick, i’ll prefer it to be slightly thinner. The char siew within the cheong fun is still acceptable.
King prawn cheong fun ($3.50) I think we over ordered, which results in having another one, the King prawn cheong fun. I presumed the prawns are the same as the ones in the har gau, and they are fresh and good, pity the skin of the cheong fun though.
Total Bill is $51.1 for 3 person. Victor’s kitchen is definitely affordable and rather cheap with its array of dim sum served. The maths work out to be around less than a dollar per piece for most of the items, which can be a good place for your dim sum fix if you want something cheap and not bad.
Victor’s Kitchen is a case of hits and misses. However the misses hit me more because i had high expectations of the place since there are much rave about the dim sum here. With the silky custard bun as the biggest upset in this visit, it is likely i will visit the place again in the future, to prove whether its a fluke or one-off thing.
The place is small, and they don’t take any reservations, do go at earlier timings or be prepared to queue a while for the seats. Its also advisable to go in small groups since there aren’t much space and table to accommodate a large crowd.
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!
Yes its Dim Sum for me and my gf on a weekend morning again. This time round, the venue of choice was Wah Lok. Known for its exquisite Dim Sum offerings and excellent Cantonese food, Wah Lok sits on the second floor of Carlton Hotel. Wood, like in many other mainstream Chinese restaurants, plays a main role in bringing out the understated opulence of the interior, especially that of the main dining hall. One can't help but feel very at home in this subtly lavish yet comfortable layout.
The Appetizer of BBQ Pork, Salted Vegetables, Chilli and Sesame Seeds was something that I've honestly never tried before. And it was good. The BBQ pork was sweet while the salted vegetables were salty, naturally. This balanced things out really well and the sesame seeds gave it a nice fragrance while the mild chilli spiced things up a little.
The Steamed Carrot Cake was a great dish to start off with. The carrot cake came piping hot in a small glass bowl and was very smooth without coming across as too soft and mashed up.
I've always been a fan of BBQ Pork Pastry, or better known as Char Siew Sou, so it's no surprise that this dish was in our order list. The BBQ Pork Pastry was quite well done with the pastry being flaky and a little sweet from the exterior glazing. The BBQ Pork filling was held together by a semi thick and sweet gravy, which is very unlike most of the Dim Sum places I've tried that only wraps the meat without any gravy. However, the pork itself lacked the barbequed taste - a flaw that could make or break this dish. But all in all, still an above average eat.
The Baked Egg Tart came across as pretty normal in terms of taste and texture. There was no slightly burnt crust taste which I like, but the egg filling was not too sweet, which was a plus. Other than that, just an average egg tart.
Now this dish came recommended by our server and it proved to be excellent. The fried beancurd skin was brittlely(If there's such a word) crispy with fillings of prawns and some vegetables. Dip it in the accompanying premium grade soya sauce and you get a match made it heaven. The soya sauce gives it the salty yet zesty flavour. And I'm not kidding about the premium soya sauce label. It really is of premium grade. Try it and you'll know what I mean.
Steamed prawn dumplings or better known as Har Gao is one of the de facto dishes of Dim Sum literally. Wah Lok's rendition tasted quite fine, with the shrimps evidently fresh. The skin was also relatively thin and moist.
Like the Steamed prawn dumplings, the Steamed pork dumplings aka Siu Mai, are also another de facto dish of Dim Sum. I found this rather normal, but it didn't come across as too heavy on the palate, which was a change from the nausea inducing ones that I often eat.
Century Egg porridge - This is my gf's favourite dish and although I'm no fan of it, I did find it quite good. The porridge was not too starchy neither was it too watery. I can't quite describe the taste because I honestly know nuts to nothing about Century Egg Porridge.
Shark's fin dumpling - This was the most expensive dish we ordered ($7.80 per serving) but it was well worth the money. The shark's fin soup was light and sweet and came with a few strands of inferior quality shark's fin(hey its $7.80, what do you expect?). I did find the dumpling's skin a little too soft though, probably from soaking in the soup for too long.
Fried Ice Cream - This is one rare dessert. I can't really tell you where to find this delicacy anymore. Wah Lok's rendition is different from all the others that I've tried. Here, the Mango Ice Cream is coated with a layer of Coconut shreds and flour before deep frying. The result is a crispy Coconut exterior encompassing a rather pleasant Mango Ice Cream. Quite good!
The 2 for 1 tag line is recognized with Canadian Pizza, and their easy-to-remember hotline 6241 0241 is another reason which has make Canadian Pizza a widely popular choice for pizza delivery services.
With mainstream competitors Pizza Hut which besides the delivery services has their own restaurants, and Sarpino’s which offer the same gimmick by having the 1-for-1 promotion, and the new Rite pizza, it can only mean good things for consumers who want a quick one on their pizzas.
Having tried Canadian Pizza a couple of times before, i thought that for the prices their pizzas are actually not bad, so on this occasion i decided on having Canadian Pizza instead of Sarpino’s as the previous time i have tried them already.
Teriyaki Chicken (Reg 10”) Teriyaki chicken, mushrooms, sweet corn, capsium, roasted sesame seed. The first bite of the pizza already told me everything i should know, i ordered the wrong pizza! All right, i understand that you can’t really be expecting huge chunks of the teriyaki chicken, even though i accepted the small bits of chicken, but where’s the taste? There’s not much of a flavor in the chicken, and this is supposed to be a teriyaki chicken pizza.
Canadian pizzas are all thin-sliced, personally i would prefer my pizza to be those thicker kinds rather than the thin ones. But there are places which served excellent thin slices, and the same goes for thick slices, so it largely depends on the place where you get your pizza.
Hawaiian Classic (Reg 10″) Turkey ham, turkey bacon, diced pineapples, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and edam cheese. The Hawaiian classic fared slightly better, although not much to redeem Canadian Pizza. I supposed the turkey ham is cut rather generously, but other than that, not much really.
This shows exactly the effects of not having enough cheese. If the pizza is cheesy enough, then when you pull the scene will be a total different one. Yes cheese can be expensive and its understandable that Canadian needs to cut cost given the pizzas are 1-for-1. But i feel pizza without enough cheese is not pizza. Period.
Total bill is $23.90 for 2 reg 10″ pizza. To say that i am utterly disappointed with the quality of Canadian pizza is not an understatement. And i will probably not call 6241 0241 again. Based on my previous experience with Sarpino’s, i think they fared better than Canadian, but i’ll have to try again to find out.
Pizza hut is of course the better one among the three, but obviously more expensive. But one common problem among the three pizza deliveries, is that they often does not provides enough cheese sachet. For this order, they only provided me with one cheese sachet, and i remember my previous encounter with Sarpino’s, they didn’t even give me any cheese sachet!
I have to admit, on my part i forgot to remind them to give me more cheese sachet. But really, how much can a pack of cheese sachet cost? Does it happens to you too, or i happened to be unfortunate on those severals occasions i called for pizza?
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!
A lazy weekend afternoon is spend at Starbucks @ Holland Village. What I like about Starbucks is their free WiFi via Wireless@SG which enables me to sip my coffee and blog at the same time.
Not being a coffee lover didn't deter me from this place as I fell in love with their Cafe Mocha (less whip) since poly days. The coffee is smooth and the chocolate syrup adds a dimension that seeks to satisfy the non-coffee lover in me.
I have also recently fell in love with their Banana Nut Muffin that is made from banana puree and chopped walnuts. Do remember to ask them to heat it up for you - that's when you will be overwhelmed by the flavoursome banana aroma when you have a bite to it!
Had another bout of Thai food craving and didn't fancy braving the terrible parking(and exorbitant drink prices) at First Thai so decided to try out P&P Thai Food, which is just a 15 min drive from my house. Formerly located at a coffeeshop along Veerasamy Road in Little India, P&P's claim to fame is its authentic Thai food and the various newspaper writeups are a testament to that.
Located under a block of HDBs at Geylang Bahru, P&P occupies a rather small and inconspicuous unit which faces the main road. The place is done up simply with white washed wall and limited tables, probably at about 10 tops, including those placed along the pavement. Air conditioning here is at a premium, with barely cool air whispering out of 2 air conditioning units.
Mango Salad - A nice appetiser would have started the meal just right, but the mango salad, though spicy, didn't taste out of the ordinary. Everything was overwhelmed by the spiciness. Also, 6 bucks does seem a tad pricey for just some shredded vegetables and fruit.
Tom Yam Soup - Served up in a small claypot, the tom yam soup was actually quite good. Clear spicy broth with an overhanging heavy dosage of zest that didn't weigh down too much on the palate. One thing I found odd about the soup was the inclusion of slices of hotdog - a sign of cost cutting?
Phad Thai - I found P&P's Phad Thai comparable to the one I had at First Thai just a couple of weeks back except that the glass noodles used in the former were slightly finer than usual. Both were of the wet variant but the prawns in P&P's offering weren't exactly fresh and that marred the experience for me. I still stand by the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy.
Olive Fried Rice - The undisputed star of our meal, the humble olive fried rice. Served with sides of egg, cashew nuts and a mixture of what seemed like dried shrimp and pork, the rice was fragrant and very well fried sans the oil with a lingering tinge of olive. I would have gone for seconds if not for the rather steep pricing ($7 for 1 scoop).
Fried Kang Kong - What looked like an ordinary dish turned out to be something rather top notch. The Kang Kong had a wok hei taste to it and was rather spicy although it didn't look the part. Only gripe I had was the excessive salt content, which can be a little overwhelming.
P&P Crispy Pork - I would have expected more from a dish bearing the name of the restaurant but sadly it came across as rather normal, if not on the salty side. The flour was crispy without being too oily but the meat did seem a little too fatty at certain parts, which made me a tad nervous about my health.
Durian Sticky Rice - I was looking forward to this delectable dessert and all hopes for a humongous portion were dashed when it came served in a small leaf shaped plate. The glutinous rice was a tad savoury with lots of bite while the durian flesh was sweet but rather runny. Drizzled with coconut milk, the entire dish made for a very nice ending. However $10 for such a small portion is a rip off in my humble opinion.
$57 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but I wouldn't deem it cheap either. Food quality is actually quite decent and personally I prefer it to First Thai. Price wise, both are comparable but service and ambience at P&P is definitely better. When we finished my dinner at about 7pm on a Sunday evening, there were still a few tables empty so I guess having no queues is a plus point too. One thing to note though, P&P doesn't serve free ice water. Its 50 cents for a refillable cup.
Having heard much good things about the Indulge from online forums and websites, i decided to make a trip down that same day i had my anniversary with my gf. In fact, this came after Braise and was an early dinner for us. Touted as a reasonably priced and good gourmet food restaurant, it had alot to live up to. Did it meet expectations though?
Indulge Yourself ($6.50) - Indulge Special ($7.50) - The interior is decorated with art pieces, soft lighting and simple chairs for a simplistic yet comfortable touch. Fronting the door is the bar were drinks are prepared while the restaurant has a seating capacity of about 30 people. The drinks were recommended by the waiter who informed that the drinks were made using real juice. The Indulge Yourself drink is made of half mango and half strawberry juice which was actually decent but the novelty wears off after a while. The Indulge special has mango, watermelon and a blue coral mix which was also cooling but extremely sweet.
Crispy Prawn Tossed with garlic mayo and sunflower seeds - Quite a mouthful in terms of a name but in actuality, it has much in common with the wasabi prawn. The batter is thin and crispy while the mayo is decidedly fragrant enough to warrant a taste. I did find the prawns a tad too small and the serving size too little but thats also testament to me wanting to have more of the dish.
Szechuan Sweet and Spicy Soup - Having not gotten the mild pumpkin soup ready in the kitchen, the chef nicely told us of the alternative of having a special szechuan soup which i feel is actually pretty good. Sweet, sour and spicy, it has some of the Szechuan flavor one might come to expect. Its not very strong though so it comes across as just right. I could have a second bowl of this easily.
Pan Seared Salmon in Kung Po Sauce - We asked to change the lemon sauce salmon for the pan seared kung po salmon as it was one of the winning dishes this restaurant has produced for the Singapore excellent food awards. Alas, i beg to understand how this dish could ever win? The salmon was pan fried too dry with the meat being dry, hard and lacking taste. No doubt the kung po sauce is excellent but the salmon itself totally disappointed me and my gf. Not to mention the size of the salmon was decidedly small. Its quite a let down actually.
Grilled Ribeye With Braised Mushroom - Another award winning dish for excellent food awards, i was also disappointed as the meat was tasteless and could only pass for average at best. The presentation is pretty good but tastewise, it leaves much to be desired. In fact, i was constantly given the impression that these dishes were sold short as they were included in a budget set dinner menu but thats just me i suppose.
Passion Fruit Panna Cotta With Chocolate Ice Cream - The panna cotta is blurred off in the back of the picture. The ice cream is average at best. Supermarket quality if i'm not wrong but the panna cotta tasted fresh, sweet and smooth enough to recommend. Now if they could give a full cup of it instead of 1/3 cup, that would be great
The final bill clocked in at $72.75 for 2 people. Its a real mixed bag but to me, my hopes were built too high and the drop too steep to feel the meal justified.
Sage the restaurant, recently relocated to one of Mohamed Sultan’s historical conservation shophouse, just across the street from their previous place at a rather obscure location on the second front of Robertson Walk. Sage is one of the widely hype restaurant in our local food scene who has won acclaims from many foodies.
Sage the restaurant has just started their set lunch menu which offers 3 course at $38 , and 4 course meal at $45 . Given that the main course for their dinner menu ranges from 30s to the 40s individually, i’ll say that the set lunch do seems rather value. And note that lunch is only served from Wednesday to Friday.
The husband and wife combination works very well for Sage, with Chef-owner Jusman So helming the kitchen while his friendly wife, Kimberly taking charge of the service aspect. Chef Jusman So also recently won the choice title of rising chef of the year in the World Gourmet Summit (WGS).
The interior of the newly furnished restaurant speaks contemporary chic. With Black and grey being theme colour, the white simplistic tables strikes out bringing the simple-yet-elegant feel of the place. There is just a single picture frame to adorn the black wall, with the back of the room leading to the open kitchen
The open kitchen concept provides a insight of the chefs hard at work to provide a satisfactory meal for us. I do believe that having an open kitchen concept is a rather important aspect of a restaurant, for one, diners can have a look at the chefs at work, and also by doing an open concept, it shows that the restaurant has nothing to hide, and it does build a bridge linking the diners stomach and the chefs heart for their effort.
I applaused the fact that Sage chose to retain its seating capacity at 38, when they can actually have no problem expanding the place and filling it up every night. That for me, is a true sign of Sage’s intention, not to compromise the standards of the food quality with any increase in capacity.
Complimentary bread
The complimentary bread was very good, soft and fluffy, with the cheese spread that comes along together, i’ll have asked for second helpings if not for the fact that we still have a four course meal ($38 ) to finish.
Smoked Salmon ($12)
Scottish smoked salmon loin on cucumber relish with avruga caviar. Cauliflower couscous salad and dill infused leek & potato vichyssoise. The smoked salmon loin was tasty although i found it to be slightly salty. I didn't like the cauliflower couscous salad as i felt that its rather heavy for a salad but my friend thought that it was all right.
The avruga caviar, pearlescent black in colour, is a more sustainable alternative to its more expensive relative, Beluga caviar, completes the salmon loin.
Crab & tomato ($12)
Marinated crab salad topped with oven dried tomatoes and avocado mousseline, taggiasca olive tapenade and vine ripe tomato gazpacho. The oven dried tomatoes and the vine ripe tomato gazpacho, enhances the flavor of the crab meat. I couldn't quite make out the taggiasca olive tapenade, but it tastes nice to me. Same goes for the avocado mousseline, but then again i am not really a fan of avocado.
Overall a simple dish (maybe not that simple in cooking it) that packs a lot of different flavors into one. The cooking method do seems to be the trademark of Chef Jusman who use many different type of ingredients to blend into one.
Mushrooms soup ($12)
Cappuccino of wild mushrooms. My friend and i had no words to describe the soup after having a spoonful. The plain-looking mushroom soup has a make-over and the interpretation comes in the form of a cappuccino, not quite what you will picture for a soup.
Nevertheless, the mushrooms soup was nothing short of excellence. Like what i mentioned before, mushrooms are always a tricky task, cook it for too long and the mushroom becomes over-cooked, while finishing it too early the soup will fail to absorb the essence of the mushrooms.
The mushroom soup arrived in a cup of cappuccino, with foamy top layer, and creamy base. Some common mushroom soups might still have bits of mushrooms in it, but not this one. The wild mushrooms seem to blend together naturally, and every mouthful just tasted so flavorsome.
Personally i do not like mushroom soup, but the fact that one spoonful of soup leaded to the other, with me finishing the whole soup tells you how good the soup is. There are definitely better mushroom soups out there, but for now, this is the best mushroom soup i had before.
French Onion soup ($12)
Perhaps the mushroom soup was too good, that we actually find the French onion soup to be quite normal in contrast. Nonetheless, the soup was still very rich, with its strong onion taste.
Traditional French onion soup with crouton and melted gruyere cheese. Crouton is the small piece of sauteed bread that acted as a companion to the soup. However we did not really taste the melted gruyere cheese because the bread became rather soggy in a short while.
Cod ($42, with $15 supplement applies to set menu)
Roasted fillet of cod topped with prawn and cognac butter on salt cod brandade and bouillabaisse sauce. The Cod was definitely the star of the show. Both my friend and i arrived at the conclusion that the cod was class. The roasted fillet was wonderfully balanced, there were hints of the roasted element, but it did not shows on the fillet.
If the end product of the Cod was the magic produced, then the prawn and cognac butter was certainly the wand that produce the magic. The cod on its own did not warrant a perfect score yet, but wait until you tasted the cod together with the prawn and cognac butter layer, that was pure magic.
The mashed potato beneath the cod also tasted well together with the bouillabaisse sauce. The sauce which was made from a traditional provencal fish stew has a fulsome flavor, and when you have a piece of the roasted cod with the prawn and cognac butter on top, and dipped with the bouillabaisse sauce, there was nothing quite like to describe the taste.
Duck Confit ($28, with $10 supplement applies to set menu)
Duck leg confit on a savoy cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion in pommery mustard sauce. We chose duck confit because it's always a dish that is difficult to handle, and can test the skills of the chef. The mark of a good duck confit obviously lies in the meat, if the duck is cooked for too long, the meat will become soggy and soft, while under-cook will make it becomes too tight and hard.
Poking a fork into the duck leg confit, we were glad to find that the duck meat remains firm while retaining its perfectly crispy skin. With the price tag, this was one expensive duck leg, which you otherwise could have a whole duck elsewhere, but made no mistake, the duck leg confit was certainly worth the money.
The pommery mustard sauce did come across to us as rather weird initially, but mixing it with the firm duck meat brought out the brilliance of it.
My friend enjoyed the Pernankan-inspired cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion, but it did not works for me. I felt that the cabbage parcel was too salty for my liking, and the leek and red onion combination did not really suit my tastebud.
Strawberry Panna Cotta ($12)
Vanilla panna cotta topped with strawberry jelly and chocolate ganache, compote of strawberries and crunchy nougat. The sweet vanilla panna cotta and chocolate ganache striked a good balance with the slightly sourish strawberry.The panna cotta itself was quite thick and rich with the fragrant vanilla taste.
The serving size was quite adequate, and the strawberry panna cotta was quite good, until i try the Oreo Semifreddo, which is in a different league all together.
Oreo Semifreddo ($12)
Oreo cookie semifreddo with frozen raspberry mousse and soft coffee scented meringue. This, is the first time i am having a semifreddo, and i am already regretting why have i not try this earlier. The Oreo semifreddo was made up of three different compositions, with the top layer being the soft coffee scented meringue, the middle layer the oreo cookie semifreddo, and the base the frozen raspberry mousse.
The oreo semifreddo really, was playing with our scents, the soft coffee meringue was more to the bitter side, while the oreo cookie ice cream added the sweet touch, and the frozen raspberry mousse completed with a chilly sourish zang. Trying the three different parts separately yielded nothing special, but it was when you united the three layers together then you realised what the oreo semifreddo was about.
Total bill is a princely $135 for 2 person, and this is lunch, not dinner. This ought to be the most expensive lunch i ever had, but all the same, the best lunch. The amount is madness really, two set lunches at $45 each, we topped up $10 for the duck confit, $15 for the cod, and factor in the 17% additional charges, do your sums!
The way that Chef Jusman uses a combination of many different ingredients in one dish is one thing, but to blend all the tastes is another matter all together. There are of course positive and negative things for everything, and there is no exception here too. The slightly negative aspect will be every dish is too flavorsome and it really takes time to absorb and digest what you eat. However you can choose to look at that from a positive angle too.
One thing i ought to mention as well, before this visit to Sage i made a few attempts to go actually but on those few occasions i were held up in the very last minute and couldn’t make it. Each time i called up Sage to make another new reservation, and each time Kimberly picked up the phone and answer my every inquiry politely and patiently. There was never a time where i felt that she was frustrated by this guy here calling up a few times to keep on postponing the reservation. For that i applause her for her sincere altitude, which can be genuinely felt across the phone.
I rave about Sage the restaurant, I praise the way Chef Jusman uses his ingredients and play with his food. I appreciate the manner which Kimberly treats her customers, genuine, friendly yet professional which makes you totally free at home. Not to mention the other serving staff at Sage which i find are quite knowledgeable and know when’s the right time to approach us and when not to disturb us. The combination of all the factors make Sage the restaurant a strong contender to ladyironchef’s best restaurant 2008.
I do believe that there are certainly better restaurants out there, Les Amis, Saint Pierre, Iggy just to name a few, are all stronghold in their own rights, but since i have not try the other restaurants, i can only comment on what i have tried. And for the restaurants which i have been to, i say Sage is one of the best, until i experience a better one then, Sage the restaurant it is!
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
There are so many stalls in one hawker centre alone, so how do you make your choice which one to order from? This is especially a problem when you want to order a particular food, say for example char kuay teow but found yourself staring at a few similar stalls. Which one do you order from? Being Singaporeans the first thought will be to see which stall has the longest Q, well if so many others like their food, it can’t be that bad right?
So usually i’ll go and look around the tables, to see which plates dominate the area, and its a good gauge how popular a stall is. Of course, you can’t judge a stall by its queue, or you ain’t the type that will bother to queue a good fifteen to twenty minutes just for food. So what’s next? Through word-of-mouth recommendations, “stall B at that hawker centre is very good, must-try!” Alternatively, continue your blog-reading at ladyironchef to find out more!
Anyway, one of the common methods will be to look at the stall for any media recognition, there are so many TV food programs which recommend on food, and very often they will issue their own “certificate” to acknowledge that hawker stall is good. Again, this method can also be flaw as the stalls that they recommended might not be that good sometimes, but usually the sales at that particular stall will go up after featured on TV, Singaporeans are Singaporeans after all.
Nevertheless, this is one method that i use quite often when i don’t have no idea which stall to order from. And i decided to order from Teng Yu chee cheong fun porridge stall after i saw their “media recognition”, coming in the form of a video recording showing on the TV no less.
Char siew cheong fun ($2.30)
Teng Yu stall offers four different types of cheong fun, prawn, turnip, char siew and one more. All of them come with the option of having your cheong fun with porridge. And they have quite a few selections if you just want porridge alone, century egg, sliced fish, fish head, and seafood porridge.
The skin of the char siew cheong fun was smooth and easy on the palate, topped with plenty of sesame seeds, it came with light sauce. However, the char siew meat were all in very small bits and pieces, and i would prefer them to come in bigger pieces even if there were less of them in that way.
The char siew bites were rather soft, in fact too soft for my liking, and it did not have the sweet and juicy taste that’s in good char siew. Furthermore, they added in some vegetables in it which i did not like. Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat greens, but cheong fun with greens simply did not work out.
The overall taste is quite weak, as in not much flavour in the chee cheong fun, maybe its lighter in flavour because it’s suppose to go together with the porridge, or maybe it’s just me. So you have to try out for yourself to try out. I missed out on the previous post for Mr Avocado, the Alexandra Village hawker centre is opposite the Queensway shopping centre, don’t mistake it with ABC food centre which is nearby.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
I know what you are thinking of when i mentioned hawker centre stalls, plain, boring, unfanciful, the run-of-the-mill look! But recently food lovers are spoil with more options as more food & beverage owners look to “attack” the heartlands, the place where you and I grew up in. Botak Jones, Cilantro are some of the better-known names to “invade” our familiar neighbourhood.
Putting that aside, Mr Avocado isn’t exactly “new”, they have been around since 1990, and participated in the Singapore Food Festival 2003, 2004. Well just that last time i didn’t really keep an eye for good food, so i only came to know its existence after a friend recommended me there.
Avocado ($2)
They are not called Mr Avocado for nothing, the avocado being their signature drink is surely a must-order drink when you are here. Although i am not a fan of avocado, but Mr Avocado’s rendition win me over with its smooth, creamy and milky interpretation.
Avocado fruits contain a high concentration of dietary fiber, vitamins and potassium. And definitely makes a good drink on a hot day. Mr Avocado’s tagline is “exotic fruit juice”. With some of their specialty like dragon fruit, wintermelon, waterchestnut, loh han kuo, soursop, aloe vera, white fungus definitely sounds more exotic than your usual watermelon, apple, orange.
And i noticed the fact that within Alexandra village hawker centre there are at least four fruit drink stalls selling almost identical drinks. My guess is the hawker centre is always crowded with the office folks working nearby coming in for lunch, and you know fruit juice is always a pleaser for the ladies.
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:
Heard many good things about this tiny little stall serving up handmade beef burgers that were purportedly one of the best around. Apparently its burger is so well known that it featured in one of the recent articles in the Straits Times.
Occupying one of the four F&B units at a small alfresco dining area along Bukit Timah Road, Smok'inn Frogz plays neighbour to an Indian food stall, a Thai food stall and a small bar counter. And that is where its charm lies. Seating on high wooden stools against the backdrop of million dollar homes, all in a fan induced cool environment has a certain laid back charm to it.
Calamari ($8) - At $8 a basket, the calamari wasn't too expensive really and came rather well done. The batter wasn't too thick and didn't come across as too oily while the squid retained some of its elasticity and chewiness. Only thing that I thought could have been improved was the frying time. The batter was deep fried for a little too long, rendering it a darker shade of golden brown.
Homemade Beef Burger ($12)- Being a fan of beef burgers, I was most eager to try out their much raved about homemade beef burger. While the burger was very decent with the texture of the patty uneven and full of bite yet retaining its tenderness, I did find it lacking in the inherent beefy taste, which kinda took some points off the score. $12 gets you the burger and some fries with a small serving of salad as well.
$20 for a meal is rather reasonable for the quantity and quality of food. Drinks can be bought from the neighbouring stall at $1.50 per can of soft drink and if you need a quick Thai or Indian fix, there's the other stalls as well.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The cravings for dim sum meant that i am always on the lookout for places be it restaurants or eateries which can answer to my stomach’s calling. Victor’s Kitchen has been around for quite a while now, and has been labeled with the “good dim sum at affordable price” tag.
Located at Sunshine Plaza off the corner at Bencoolen street, it is a no-frills, grab-your-seats kind of place. Victor’s is divided into two seating area, with both holding a maximum of maybe fifteen people each. Seats are limited, you must be prepared to queue up for them, and squeeze in the small seating area. Well, more like a small eatery than a cafe or restaurant kind of environment.
Chicken & Sausage in Glutinous rice ($4)
I always like glutinous rice, dim sum style. Opening the leave that wrapped the rice, the aroma of the glutinous rice flowed out, and it was just so good. The chicken was tender and the chinese sausage palatable, the fragrant and soft rice, all the combinations made the glutinous rice a praiseworthy dish.
Tasty Queen size Siew Mai ($3)
You don’t say you eat dim sum if you did not order siew mai and har gau. Nicknamed the queen size siew mai, its actually the normal size i guess that’s why they didn’t named it as King size siew mai instead.
The pork meat in the siew mai is very lean, not those fatty type. The portion of prawn to pork is actually very low, so not much of prawn taste, its the more porky kind.
Victor’s King prawn dumpling ($3.80)
Prawn dumpling or har gau, another mainstay in the dim sum menu. The skin of the Victor’s King prawn dumpling is rather thin, and the prawns inside looked like its going to burst out anytime. The fresh prawns go easy on the palates and always welcome with second helpings.
Carrot cake with XO sauce ($3.80)
I was rather amazed when i saw the Carrot cake with XO sauce served. For one i wasn’t expecting the carrot cake to be literally soaked in xo sauce, i thought it will be something like the one i had at Peach Garden, or Yan Ting, but i guess again, there isn’t any “fried” or “pan-seared” attached with the name here.
The name’s scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce, but i hardly had any hint of the presence of scallop and sausage in it, and i think i still preferred my carrot cake to be fried than soup. Nonetheless, the amount of XO sauce given was rather generous, and i guess its more of a personal issue, some might just fancy this over the normal fried carrot cake.
Oyster sauce Char Siew Bun ($2.80)
I preferred my char siew bun to be those restaurants-type where there is three parts one. There’s no trace of oyster sauce in the char siew bun, or maybe i happened to miss the flavor.
Nevertheless, the char siew bun is still quite soft and fluffy, the juicy char siew captured within is also enjoyable. Not the best char siew bun i had, but it will suffice.
Milky Custard Bun ($2.80)
I am getting warm up to Custard bun nowadays since i used to only flavor char siew bun when i had dim sum. You know a good custard bun when you see one, hot milky custard oozing out of the bun, tempting you with both visual and taste.
However, the case is not to be with Victor’s Milky custard bun. Touted as their signature dish, i was totally disappointed with the one i had here. Maybe the ones at Victor’s don’t ooze out, but for the custard buns to come cold is another complete matter all together.
Having heard many wonderful things about their signature custard bun, i must said i was shocked by the revelation in the quality of the buns. Maybe its a case of a bad hair day, but i’ll give it a chance and re-visit to try it again the next time.
Spare Ribs rice ($3)
I’m not even sure if i want to elaborate on the spare ribs rice. First thing first, the rice is hard, too hard. I do understand that ribs being ribs do not have much meat, but this one, the pork ribs were not even tasteful. A waste of 3 bucks, kindly ignore this if you ever go to Victor’s.
Phoenix Porridge ($3.50)
The century egg porridge or pi dan chow is transform in the name of Phoenix porridge. However the majestic name did itself no favors with a run of the mill watery porridge. There are bits of century egg and chicken chunks, but i don’t see the point in paying $3.50 for an average small bowl porridge.
Deep fried spring roll ($3)
The deep fried spring roll is pretty decent, with the usual mix of turnips inside. The vinger dip was a commendable mention, with the slightly sourish sauce going well together with the deep fried stuff. The spring roll was crispy and you could hear the “crisp” sound with every bite you took.
Char siew cheong fun ($3)
The trails of a good char siew cheong fun are smooth and silky skin, which comes with juicy char siew. However the skin of the cheong fun or rice roll is rather thick, i’ll prefer it to be slightly thinner. The char siew within the cheong fun is still acceptable.
King prawn cheong fun ($3.50)
I think we over ordered, which results in having another one, the King prawn cheong fun. I presumed the prawns are the same as the ones in the har gau, and they are fresh and good, pity the skin of the cheong fun though.
Total Bill is $51.1 for 3 person. Victor’s kitchen is definitely affordable and rather cheap with its array of dim sum served. The maths work out to be around less than a dollar per piece for most of the items, which can be a good place for your dim sum fix if you want something cheap and not bad.
Victor’s Kitchen is a case of hits and misses. However the misses hit me more because i had high expectations of the place since there are much rave about the dim sum here. With the silky custard bun as the biggest upset in this visit, it is likely i will visit the place again in the future, to prove whether its a fluke or one-off thing.
The place is small, and they don’t take any reservations, do go at earlier timings or be prepared to queue a while for the seats. Its also advisable to go in small groups since there aren’t much space and table to accommodate a large crowd.
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:
Yes its Dim Sum for me and my gf on a weekend morning again. This time round, the venue of choice was Wah Lok. Known for its exquisite Dim Sum offerings and excellent Cantonese food, Wah Lok sits on the second floor of Carlton Hotel. Wood, like in many other mainstream Chinese restaurants, plays a main role in bringing out the understated opulence of the interior, especially that of the main dining hall. One can't help but feel very at home in this subtly lavish yet comfortable layout.
The Appetizer of BBQ Pork, Salted Vegetables, Chilli and Sesame Seeds was something that I've honestly never tried before. And it was good. The BBQ pork was sweet while the salted vegetables were salty, naturally. This balanced things out really well and the sesame seeds gave it a nice fragrance while the mild chilli spiced things up a little.
The Steamed Carrot Cake was a great dish to start off with. The carrot cake came piping hot in a small glass bowl and was very smooth without coming across as too soft and mashed up.
I've always been a fan of BBQ Pork Pastry, or better known as Char Siew Sou, so it's no surprise that this dish was in our order list. The BBQ Pork Pastry was quite well done with the pastry being flaky and a little sweet from the exterior glazing. The BBQ Pork filling was held together by a semi thick and sweet gravy, which is very unlike most of the Dim Sum places I've tried that only wraps the meat without any gravy. However, the pork itself lacked the barbequed taste - a flaw that could make or break this dish. But all in all, still an above average eat.
The Baked Egg Tart came across as pretty normal in terms of taste and texture. There was no slightly burnt crust taste which I like, but the egg filling was not too sweet, which was a plus. Other than that, just an average egg tart.
Now this dish came recommended by our server and it proved to be excellent. The fried beancurd skin was brittlely(If there's such a word) crispy with fillings of prawns and some vegetables. Dip it in the accompanying premium grade soya sauce and you get a match made it heaven. The soya sauce gives it the salty yet zesty flavour. And I'm not kidding about the premium soya sauce label. It really is of premium grade. Try it and you'll know what I mean.
Steamed prawn dumplings or better known as Har Gao is one of the de facto dishes of Dim Sum literally. Wah Lok's rendition tasted quite fine, with the shrimps evidently fresh. The skin was also relatively thin and moist.
Like the Steamed prawn dumplings, the Steamed pork dumplings aka Siu Mai, are also another de facto dish of Dim Sum. I found this rather normal, but it didn't come across as too heavy on the palate, which was a change from the nausea inducing ones that I often eat.
Century Egg porridge - This is my gf's favourite dish and although I'm no fan of it, I did find it quite good. The porridge was not too starchy neither was it too watery. I can't quite describe the taste because I honestly know nuts to nothing about Century Egg Porridge.
Shark's fin dumpling - This was the most expensive dish we ordered ($7.80 per serving) but it was well worth the money. The shark's fin soup was light and sweet and came with a few strands of inferior quality shark's fin(hey its $7.80, what do you expect?). I did find the dumpling's skin a little too soft though, probably from soaking in the soup for too long.
Fried Ice Cream - This is one rare dessert. I can't really tell you where to find this delicacy anymore. Wah Lok's rendition is different from all the others that I've tried. Here, the Mango Ice Cream is coated with a layer of Coconut shreds and flour before deep frying. The result is a crispy Coconut exterior encompassing a rather pleasant Mango Ice Cream. Quite good!
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The 2 for 1 tag line is recognized with Canadian Pizza, and their easy-to-remember hotline 6241 0241 is another reason which has make Canadian Pizza a widely popular choice for pizza delivery services.
With mainstream competitors Pizza Hut which besides the delivery services has their own restaurants, and Sarpino’s which offer the same gimmick by having the 1-for-1 promotion, and the new Rite pizza, it can only mean good things for consumers who want a quick one on their pizzas.
Having tried Canadian Pizza a couple of times before, i thought that for the prices their pizzas are actually not bad, so on this occasion i decided on having Canadian Pizza instead of Sarpino’s as the previous time i have tried them already.
Teriyaki Chicken (Reg 10”)
Teriyaki chicken, mushrooms, sweet corn, capsium, roasted sesame seed. The first bite of the pizza already told me everything i should know, i ordered the wrong pizza! All right, i understand that you can’t really be expecting huge chunks of the teriyaki chicken, even though i accepted the small bits of chicken, but where’s the taste? There’s not much of a flavor in the chicken, and this is supposed to be a teriyaki chicken pizza.
Canadian pizzas are all thin-sliced, personally i would prefer my pizza to be those thicker kinds rather than the thin ones. But there are places which served excellent thin slices, and the same goes for thick slices, so it largely depends on the place where you get your pizza.
Hawaiian Classic (Reg 10″)
Turkey ham, turkey bacon, diced pineapples, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and edam cheese. The Hawaiian classic fared slightly better, although not much to redeem Canadian Pizza. I supposed the turkey ham is cut rather generously, but other than that, not much really.
This shows exactly the effects of not having enough cheese. If the pizza is cheesy enough, then when you pull the scene will be a total different one. Yes cheese can be expensive and its understandable that Canadian needs to cut cost given the pizzas are 1-for-1. But i feel pizza without enough cheese is not pizza. Period.
Total bill is $23.90 for 2 reg 10″ pizza. To say that i am utterly disappointed with the quality of Canadian pizza is not an understatement. And i will probably not call 6241 0241 again. Based on my previous experience with Sarpino’s, i think they fared better than Canadian, but i’ll have to try again to find out.
Pizza hut is of course the better one among the three, but obviously more expensive. But one common problem among the three pizza deliveries, is that they often does not provides enough cheese sachet. For this order, they only provided me with one cheese sachet, and i remember my previous encounter with Sarpino’s, they didn’t even give me any cheese sachet!
I have to admit, on my part i forgot to remind them to give me more cheese sachet. But really, how much can a pack of cheese sachet cost? Does it happens to you too, or i happened to be unfortunate on those severals occasions i called for pizza?
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:
A lazy weekend afternoon is spend at Starbucks @ Holland Village. What I like about Starbucks is their free WiFi via Wireless@SG which enables me to sip my coffee and blog at the same time.
Not being a coffee lover didn't deter me from this place as I fell in love with their Cafe Mocha (less whip) since poly days. The coffee is smooth and the chocolate syrup adds a dimension that seeks to satisfy the non-coffee lover in me.
I have also recently fell in love with their Banana Nut Muffin that is made from banana puree and chopped walnuts. Do remember to ask them to heat it up for you - that's when you will be overwhelmed by the flavoursome banana aroma when you have a bite to it!
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Had another bout of Thai food craving and didn't fancy braving the terrible parking(and exorbitant drink prices) at First Thai so decided to try out P&P Thai Food, which is just a 15 min drive from my house. Formerly located at a coffeeshop along Veerasamy Road in Little India, P&P's claim to fame is its authentic Thai food and the various newspaper writeups are a testament to that.
Located under a block of HDBs at Geylang Bahru, P&P occupies a rather small and inconspicuous unit which faces the main road. The place is done up simply with white washed wall and limited tables, probably at about 10 tops, including those placed along the pavement. Air conditioning here is at a premium, with barely cool air whispering out of 2 air conditioning units.
Mango Salad - A nice appetiser would have started the meal just right, but the mango salad, though spicy, didn't taste out of the ordinary. Everything was overwhelmed by the spiciness. Also, 6 bucks does seem a tad pricey for just some shredded vegetables and fruit.
Tom Yam Soup - Served up in a small claypot, the tom yam soup was actually quite good. Clear spicy broth with an overhanging heavy dosage of zest that didn't weigh down too much on the palate. One thing I found odd about the soup was the inclusion of slices of hotdog - a sign of cost cutting?
Phad Thai - I found P&P's Phad Thai comparable to the one I had at First Thai just a couple of weeks back except that the glass noodles used in the former were slightly finer than usual. Both were of the wet variant but the prawns in P&P's offering weren't exactly fresh and that marred the experience for me. I still stand by the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy.
Olive Fried Rice - The undisputed star of our meal, the humble olive fried rice. Served with sides of egg, cashew nuts and a mixture of what seemed like dried shrimp and pork, the rice was fragrant and very well fried sans the oil with a lingering tinge of olive. I would have gone for seconds if not for the rather steep pricing ($7 for 1 scoop).
Fried Kang Kong - What looked like an ordinary dish turned out to be something rather top notch. The Kang Kong had a wok hei taste to it and was rather spicy although it didn't look the part. Only gripe I had was the excessive salt content, which can be a little overwhelming.
P&P Crispy Pork - I would have expected more from a dish bearing the name of the restaurant but sadly it came across as rather normal, if not on the salty side. The flour was crispy without being too oily but the meat did seem a little too fatty at certain parts, which made me a tad nervous about my health.
Durian Sticky Rice - I was looking forward to this delectable dessert and all hopes for a humongous portion were dashed when it came served in a small leaf shaped plate. The glutinous rice was a tad savoury with lots of bite while the durian flesh was sweet but rather runny. Drizzled with coconut milk, the entire dish made for a very nice ending. However $10 for such a small portion is a rip off in my humble opinion.
$57 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but I wouldn't deem it cheap either. Food quality is actually quite decent and personally I prefer it to First Thai. Price wise, both are comparable but service and ambience at P&P is definitely better. When we finished my dinner at about 7pm on a Sunday evening, there were still a few tables empty so I guess having no queues is a plus point too. One thing to note though, P&P doesn't serve free ice water. Its 50 cents for a refillable cup.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Having heard much good things about the Indulge from online forums and websites, i decided to make a trip down that same day i had my anniversary with my gf. In fact, this came after Braise and was an early dinner for us. Touted as a reasonably priced and good gourmet food restaurant, it had alot to live up to. Did it meet expectations though?
Indulge Yourself ($6.50) - Indulge Special ($7.50) - The interior is decorated with art pieces, soft lighting and simple chairs for a simplistic yet comfortable touch. Fronting the door is the bar were drinks are prepared while the restaurant has a seating capacity of about 30 people. The drinks were recommended by the waiter who informed that the drinks were made using real juice. The Indulge Yourself drink is made of half mango and half strawberry juice which was actually decent but the novelty wears off after a while. The Indulge special has mango, watermelon and a blue coral mix which was also cooling but extremely sweet.
Crispy Prawn Tossed with garlic mayo and sunflower seeds - Quite a mouthful in terms of a name but in actuality, it has much in common with the wasabi prawn. The batter is thin and crispy while the mayo is decidedly fragrant enough to warrant a taste. I did find the prawns a tad too small and the serving size too little but thats also testament to me wanting to have more of the dish.
Szechuan Sweet and Spicy Soup - Having not gotten the mild pumpkin soup ready in the kitchen, the chef nicely told us of the alternative of having a special szechuan soup which i feel is actually pretty good. Sweet, sour and spicy, it has some of the Szechuan flavor one might come to expect. Its not very strong though so it comes across as just right. I could have a second bowl of this easily.
Pan Seared Salmon in Kung Po Sauce - We asked to change the lemon sauce salmon for the pan seared kung po salmon as it was one of the winning dishes this restaurant has produced for the Singapore excellent food awards. Alas, i beg to understand how this dish could ever win? The salmon was pan fried too dry with the meat being dry, hard and lacking taste. No doubt the kung po sauce is excellent but the salmon itself totally disappointed me and my gf. Not to mention the size of the salmon was decidedly small. Its quite a let down actually.
Grilled Ribeye With Braised Mushroom - Another award winning dish for excellent food awards, i was also disappointed as the meat was tasteless and could only pass for average at best. The presentation is pretty good but tastewise, it leaves much to be desired. In fact, i was constantly given the impression that these dishes were sold short as they were included in a budget set dinner menu but thats just me i suppose.
Passion Fruit Panna Cotta With Chocolate Ice Cream - The panna cotta is blurred off in the back of the picture. The ice cream is average at best. Supermarket quality if i'm not wrong but the panna cotta tasted fresh, sweet and smooth enough to recommend. Now if they could give a full cup of it instead of 1/3 cup, that would be great
The final bill clocked in at $72.75 for 2 people. Its a real mixed bag but to me, my hopes were built too high and the drop too steep to feel the meal justified.
Rating given:
Sage the restaurant, recently relocated to one of Mohamed Sultan’s historical conservation shophouse, just across the street from their previous place at a rather obscure location on the second front of Robertson Walk. Sage is one of the widely hype restaurant in our local food scene who has won acclaims from many foodies.
Sage the restaurant has just started their set lunch menu which offers 3 course at $38 , and 4 course meal at $45 . Given that the main course for their dinner menu ranges from 30s to the 40s individually, i’ll say that the set lunch do seems rather value. And note that lunch is only served from Wednesday to Friday.
The husband and wife combination works very well for Sage, with Chef-owner Jusman So helming the kitchen while his friendly wife, Kimberly taking charge of the service aspect. Chef Jusman So also recently won the choice title of rising chef of the year in the World Gourmet Summit (WGS).
The interior of the newly furnished restaurant speaks contemporary chic. With Black and grey being theme colour, the white simplistic tables strikes out bringing the simple-yet-elegant feel of the place. There is just a single picture frame to adorn the black wall, with the back of the room leading to the open kitchen
The open kitchen concept provides a insight of the chefs hard at work to provide a satisfactory meal for us. I do believe that having an open kitchen concept is a rather important aspect of a restaurant, for one, diners can have a look at the chefs at work, and also by doing an open concept, it shows that the restaurant has nothing to hide, and it does build a bridge linking the diners stomach and the chefs heart for their effort.
I applaused the fact that Sage chose to retain its seating capacity at 38, when they can actually have no problem expanding the place and filling it up every night. That for me, is a true sign of Sage’s intention, not to compromise the standards of the food quality with any increase in capacity.
Complimentary bread
The complimentary bread was very good, soft and fluffy, with the cheese spread that comes along together, i’ll have asked for second helpings if not for the fact that we still have a four course meal ($38 ) to finish.
Smoked Salmon ($12)
Scottish smoked salmon loin on cucumber relish with avruga caviar. Cauliflower couscous salad and dill infused leek & potato vichyssoise. The smoked salmon loin was tasty although i found it to be slightly salty. I didn't like the cauliflower couscous salad as i felt that its rather heavy for a salad but my friend thought that it was all right.
The avruga caviar, pearlescent black in colour, is a more sustainable alternative to its more expensive relative, Beluga caviar, completes the salmon loin.
Crab & tomato ($12)
Marinated crab salad topped with oven dried tomatoes and avocado mousseline, taggiasca olive tapenade and vine ripe tomato gazpacho. The oven dried tomatoes and the vine ripe tomato gazpacho, enhances the flavor of the crab meat. I couldn't quite make out the taggiasca olive tapenade, but it tastes nice to me. Same goes for the avocado mousseline, but then again i am not really a fan of avocado.
Overall a simple dish (maybe not that simple in cooking it) that packs a lot of different flavors into one. The cooking method do seems to be the trademark of Chef Jusman who use many different type of ingredients to blend into one.
Mushrooms soup ($12)
Cappuccino of wild mushrooms. My friend and i had no words to describe the soup after having a spoonful. The plain-looking mushroom soup has a make-over and the interpretation comes in the form of a cappuccino, not quite what you will picture for a soup.
Nevertheless, the mushrooms soup was nothing short of excellence. Like what i mentioned before, mushrooms are always a tricky task, cook it for too long and the mushroom becomes over-cooked, while finishing it too early the soup will fail to absorb the essence of the mushrooms.
The mushroom soup arrived in a cup of cappuccino, with foamy top layer, and creamy base. Some common mushroom soups might still have bits of mushrooms in it, but not this one. The wild mushrooms seem to blend together naturally, and every mouthful just tasted so flavorsome.
Personally i do not like mushroom soup, but the fact that one spoonful of soup leaded to the other, with me finishing the whole soup tells you how good the soup is. There are definitely better mushroom soups out there, but for now, this is the best mushroom soup i had before.
French Onion soup ($12)
Perhaps the mushroom soup was too good, that we actually find the French onion soup to be quite normal in contrast. Nonetheless, the soup was still very rich, with its strong onion taste.
Traditional French onion soup with crouton and melted gruyere cheese. Crouton is the small piece of sauteed bread that acted as a companion to the soup. However we did not really taste the melted gruyere cheese because the bread became rather soggy in a short while.
Cod ($42, with $15 supplement applies to set menu)
Roasted fillet of cod topped with prawn and cognac butter on salt cod brandade and bouillabaisse sauce. The Cod was definitely the star of the show. Both my friend and i arrived at the conclusion that the cod was class. The roasted fillet was wonderfully balanced, there were hints of the roasted element, but it did not shows on the fillet.
If the end product of the Cod was the magic produced, then the prawn and cognac butter was certainly the wand that produce the magic. The cod on its own did not warrant a perfect score yet, but wait until you tasted the cod together with the prawn and cognac butter layer, that was pure magic.
The mashed potato beneath the cod also tasted well together with the bouillabaisse sauce. The sauce which was made from a traditional provencal fish stew has a fulsome flavor, and when you have a piece of the roasted cod with the prawn and cognac butter on top, and dipped with the bouillabaisse sauce, there was nothing quite like to describe the taste.
Duck Confit ($28, with $10 supplement applies to set menu)
Duck leg confit on a savoy cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion in pommery mustard sauce. We chose duck confit because it's always a dish that is difficult to handle, and can test the skills of the chef. The mark of a good duck confit obviously lies in the meat, if the duck is cooked for too long, the meat will become soggy and soft, while under-cook will make it becomes too tight and hard.
Poking a fork into the duck leg confit, we were glad to find that the duck meat remains firm while retaining its perfectly crispy skin. With the price tag, this was one expensive duck leg, which you otherwise could have a whole duck elsewhere, but made no mistake, the duck leg confit was certainly worth the money.
The pommery mustard sauce did come across to us as rather weird initially, but mixing it with the firm duck meat brought out the brilliance of it.
My friend enjoyed the Pernankan-inspired cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion, but it did not works for me. I felt that the cabbage parcel was too salty for my liking, and the leek and red onion combination did not really suit my tastebud.
Strawberry Panna Cotta ($12)
Vanilla panna cotta topped with strawberry jelly and chocolate ganache, compote of strawberries and crunchy nougat. The sweet vanilla panna cotta and chocolate ganache striked a good balance with the slightly sourish strawberry.The panna cotta itself was quite thick and rich with the fragrant vanilla taste.
The serving size was quite adequate, and the strawberry panna cotta was quite good, until i try the Oreo Semifreddo, which is in a different league all together.
Oreo Semifreddo ($12)
Oreo cookie semifreddo with frozen raspberry mousse and soft coffee scented meringue. This, is the first time i am having a semifreddo, and i am already regretting why have i not try this earlier. The Oreo semifreddo was made up of three different compositions, with the top layer being the soft coffee scented meringue, the middle layer the oreo cookie semifreddo, and the base the frozen raspberry mousse.
The oreo semifreddo really, was playing with our scents, the soft coffee meringue was more to the bitter side, while the oreo cookie ice cream added the sweet touch, and the frozen raspberry mousse completed with a chilly sourish zang. Trying the three different parts separately yielded nothing special, but it was when you united the three layers together then you realised what the oreo semifreddo was about.
Total bill is a princely $135 for 2 person, and this is lunch, not dinner. This ought to be the most expensive lunch i ever had, but all the same, the best lunch. The amount is madness really, two set lunches at $45 each, we topped up $10 for the duck confit, $15 for the cod, and factor in the 17% additional charges, do your sums!
The way that Chef Jusman uses a combination of many different ingredients in one dish is one thing, but to blend all the tastes is another matter all together. There are of course positive and negative things for everything, and there is no exception here too. The slightly negative aspect will be every dish is too flavorsome and it really takes time to absorb and digest what you eat. However you can choose to look at that from a positive angle too.
One thing i ought to mention as well, before this visit to Sage i made a few attempts to go actually but on those few occasions i were held up in the very last minute and couldn’t make it. Each time i called up Sage to make another new reservation, and each time Kimberly picked up the phone and answer my every inquiry politely and patiently. There was never a time where i felt that she was frustrated by this guy here calling up a few times to keep on postponing the reservation. For that i applause her for her sincere altitude, which can be genuinely felt across the phone.
I rave about Sage the restaurant, I praise the way Chef Jusman uses his ingredients and play with his food. I appreciate the manner which Kimberly treats her customers, genuine, friendly yet professional which makes you totally free at home. Not to mention the other serving staff at Sage which i find are quite knowledgeable and know when’s the right time to approach us and when not to disturb us. The combination of all the factors make Sage the restaurant a strong contender to ladyironchef’s best restaurant 2008.
I do believe that there are certainly better restaurants out there, Les Amis, Saint Pierre, Iggy just to name a few, are all stronghold in their own rights, but since i have not try the other restaurants, i can only comment on what i have tried. And for the restaurants which i have been to, i say Sage is one of the best, until i experience a better one then, Sage the restaurant it is!
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!
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