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Sport & Recreation
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1=SGD 0.0587
I had read so many rave reviews about it from magazines and newspapers, so it was high time I tried it out for myself. Brightly lighted and immaculately done up with floor to ceiling windows, the interior sits probably about 10 people, with a couple more seats outdoor for those who prefer Al fresco dining. Chocolates are sold in a small room partitioned by a glass door and I found the variety rather limited. Same goes for the variety of pastries available. However, the selection of tea is rather unique and I had the Moroccan Mint Tea to try together with a slice of their famous Black Forest Cake and the ever popular Chocolate Tart.
I wasn't too impressed by the Moroccan Mint Tea as all I could taste was the strong mint taste. Peering into the teapot, I could only make out a few bits of tea leaves. So much for the tea. Well to give it credit, the tea was served in a nice and quaint teapot, but that's just about it.
My Black Forest Cake was greeted with oohs and ahhs from the neighbouring table as they had tried to order a slice earlier on, but it was sold out. Lucky me. First bite, I was cringing from the copious amount of whipped cream present in the cake. Essentially 2 of the 5 layers were whipped cream. Now that's a lot of whipped cream! The layers of cake were moist and tasty with the berries a little sour and accompanied by smooth milk chocolate. It would have been better if not for the obscene amount of whipped cream (too much whipped cream is bad for your health as well). I had high hopes for this one as I really like Black Forest Cakes and have been eating them since I was a kid, but it just didn't deliver. Maybe I'm just being picky.
Surprisingly, the Chocolate Tart shone and surpassed all expectations. 3 different layers of chocolate atop a biscuit wafer and topped with an interesting looking piece of baked chocolate, with a serving of whipped cream. This was simply heavenly and trust me, I don't use such words often. I don't even know how to begin to describe it. All 3 layers were smooth and rich, with the base being crunchy and slightly nutty. Just imagine that! The thin slice of chocolate, according to the waitress, is created by pouring a thin layer of chocolate into a mould, freezing it and then baking it in the oven. The result is a delectable slice of chocolate with a slightly burnt taste. You just have to try this!
The desserts cost $25.30, which is slightly on the high side. The waitresses were friendly, but seemed a little confused at times. The chef and his wife (I presume) weren't exactly very friendly though and I witnessed an incident where the chef stood arms akimbo when some customers were undecided on their orders. That gesture alone says alot! I probably will be back just for the Chocolate Tart and nothing more.
ps: I read somewhere that photography isn't allowed, so I had to sneakily take some shots, hence the poor pictures.
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Along Joo Chiat Road lies this discreet small shop with a seemingly run down facade which sells only Durian pastries. For the uninitiated, this tiny shop houses Puteri Mas, one of the most famous names in Durian pastries, aside from Goodwood Park Hotel's Deli. Bite sized durian puffs are sold in boxes of 20 and they have other stuff like Durian rolls, cakes etc. Bite into one of the Durian puffs and the Durian literally explodes from within the thin pastry. Only gripe I had was that the puff was too thin and thus became a little soggy. $10 for 20 mini puffs isn't cheap, but its worth it. Miss trying it at your own loss. ;)
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Make no mistake, Dessert Boutique of Delectable Blessings! is actually the name of a dessert shop housed along the newly refurbished Market Street Carpark. Just 7 weeks old and located just a few doors down from RoGues, this outfit prides itself on selling healthy desserts. No more oily and excessively sweet or salty desserts. Everything here is freshly made and natural flavours are key to the desserts. I had a few samples, courtesy of a lovely lady, who also happens to be one of the owners of the shop and found them quite delectable. The In All Fairness (trust them to come up with such names), which was essentially Barley, Gingko with Beancurd Skin, was very light and refreshing. This dish is best taken chilled. The Mango Tango!, on the other hand, was a little creamy with Sago, Pomelo and Watermelon. I didn't quite taste the Watermelon, but the Pomelo provided an added zest to the dish. It tasted like your normal day to day Mango Sago, albeit a creamier and less sweet rendition. My favourite was the White Fungus with Chinese Almonds and Papaya, which happened to be the Delectable Experiment of the week. For $3, you get a huge cup of White Fungus swirling in a sweet but light syrup and lots of Chinese Almonds. I could see the pieces of Papayas, but they were too mashed up too have any taste. Experience the chilled syrup trickle down your throat and all memories of a bad lunch quickly dissipates.
Do try it if you happen to be in the area. They do delivery to nearby areas within a 10 minute walk from the shop, but the minimum order is $10. Other than that, the minimum order goes up to $30 and a delivery charge of between $5-$10 is imposed, depending on location. They also serve healthy breakfast items which might be a good alternative to those MacDonalds or Char Kuay Teows. There is a small dining area which can seat up to 6(?) people, but it is rather cramp, so you are better off eating on the go.
See all my pictures here
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Yummy prawns!
It was a great lunch outing and boy the food! If not for the bright bright sun from out the window, it might seem like we were having a dinner feast! Ha!
The spread was good. But there's two item that I enjoyed most! And both are prawns!
The first prawn dish was an add on to the set menu ordered. This is one of their signature dish, the Wasabi Prawn balls. The wasabi prawn wasn't powerful enough. It tasted more like salad prawn with all the fruits (honeydew, dragonfruit bits and strawberries) that came with it. Nevertheless, it was nice and easy to eat too. (No need to peel the shell mah! Haha!) Give me this dish alone and I'll be happy to eat it with a bowl of rice.
The next one was from the set menu, not sure about the name, but it seems like cereal butter prawn. (Picture) Before the prawn was served, waiter brought a bowl of lemon water and everyone started discussing whether the ladies or the men will be doing the peeling. Haha! Everyone sighed a sign of relief when the prawn was served. The prawn was big and fragrant. The mixed of dried chilli, curry leaves and dried shrimp makes the whole dish very flavorful and yummy. Enjoyed it!
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In recent years, many food outlets claiming to sell restaurant quality western food at coffeeshop prices have sprung up in the heartlands across Singapore. Think Aston's and Botak Jones. Western Chow is the latest contender to have jumped on the bandwagon.
Opened just barely two weeks ago, Western Chow is hidden at the corner of a secluded coffeeshop just off Lorong Ah Soo. The system of ordering is simple. You make your order at the counter, pay up and you will receive an order number (as shown in the picture above). Take the number and sit anywhere you want and you will be served shortly.
Ribeye Steak ($14) - I had my ribeye medium rare and it came looking a shade of red, indicating its over doneness. That aside, the beef was way too soft, hinting of a possible use of tenderizer or "Peng Seh" as my parents term it. The beef had no bite whatsoever and no natural beef taste, masked by the overpowering black pepper sauce. Its really a sheer waste of such a good cut of beef.
Chicken Chop ($5.80) - As with the ribeye steak, the chicken chop was soft and a didn't really hold up to much chewing. I liked the sauce though, BBQ square with a dash of pepper. Having said that, the sauce alone wasn't enough to salvage the chicken chop. A pity really.
The 3 of us spent $33.80 in total, which was relatively expensive given the below average quality of food. To give them credit, all of the staff were very friendly. I certainly hope they will do something about it before they start losing customers. Oh and if you do ever patronise, please sit along the fringes of the coffeeshop or risk smelling like cooked food when you are done due to the fumes from the Char Kway Teow stall.
See all my pictures here.
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While I must admit, the donut itself was soft and melted in my mouth, I dislike the thick sweet stuff that they have placed over it. I found them too sweet. Maybe this would be suitable for sweet tooths.
The queue was never-ending and the donuts that I wanted were still in the racks, so I had to order some other flavours. Even the Oreo flavour was too sweet for my taste.
Verdict: Suitable for sweet tooths only.
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Had a craving for Japanese curry so dropped by Curry Favor's newly opened outlet at Novena Square for dinner. Curry Favor, which has its flagship outlet at Stamford House, purportedly dishes out one of the best authentic Japanese curries in Singapore and South East Asia. Quite a statement I must say.
The interior is simply done up with ample distance between tables which allows for limited privacy. Not that it was really necessary as the place was quite dead on a Saturday evening, with only 4 tables occupied.
Rosu Katsu (Pork) Curry - Curry Favor offers the flexibility of ordering half portions for certain dishes, which caters to small eaters or people who tend to opt for a lighter meal. The half portion of Rosu Katsu came with about 5 slices of succulent and not overly deep fried pork chops and a regular serving of rice. With a name like Curry Favor, it is rather obvious that the curry should take centre stage. And this is where it falters, well almost. The curry was light and sweet ( a little too sweet in fact) but didn't posses the wow factor. It lacked the fragrance as well. I would say its very decent but certainly not the best in Singapore or South East Asia.
Filet Pork Stewed Curry - This was a full sized order and honestly, the amount of pork fillets in it didn't justify the price. There seemed to be more potato cubes and carrots than pork fillets. Sure, the fillets were tender and full of bite and the curry thick and lightly sweet. But as with the Rosu Katsu, the curry lacked the oomph factor and fragrance, although I must say I did enjoy the overall dish quite a bit.
A rather filling but hardly satisfying dinner for 2 cost about $35 ($30 with $5 discount). Filling because there's a lot of starch in the dishes, rice, potato and curry. But having said that, food quality is still reasonably above average but prices could drop a notch or two. It does help that service is good as well.
See all my pictures here.
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Many would have known by now that I've been suffering from teeth problems for a few weeks now. I had been the patient of a popular dental chain until recently when the last job by them was poorly done and was very painful.
The last job started to give me problems and I asked around for recommendations. My colleague gave me the address of this clinic and I booked an appointment. There are four inhouse dentists so it's quite easy to get an appointment.
I went for my first visit which was pretty normal. A Dr. Chan (I think), a lady dentist, tended to me and she explained that she needed to do a re-filling. She was gentle and professional but certainly didn't waste any time with me. I was out in a jiffy so that she could move on to the next patient. No complaints I guess. But she did mention that the refilling might not help things as the damage might be too bad. So she told me to go back if the pain continues.
True enough, the pain came back fast and more furious. So I called them and managed to get an appointment with Dr. Leonard Tan in a few days.
Dr. Tan is the reason why I'm writing this review really. With the pain I was having I was really afraid when I went into the room as my gums and teeth were really sensitive at that point. But Dr. Tan was really gentle and I felt at ease in the chair. He was really careful when probing the affected area and didn't poke too hard until he was sure I wouldn't scream. (heh) Then he took me over for an X-ray and while waiting for the X-ray results, he patiently explained to me my options if the results were BAD.
He clearly explained what the root canal treatment was and told me exactly how much it cost. He didn't harp on it and told me I have other options like having the problem extracted.
When the results came back and were not conclusive, he advised me to tolerate the pain a bit and told me to do a number of things to see if they spark off unbearable pain which will point to damaged nerves.
What I really liked was how he wasn't money-minded and gave me my options and let me make the choice. He didn't charge me for this consultation and he gave me painkillers for free too. He only charged me $15 for the X-ray. Very reasonable isn't it?
Immensely happy with the service, I think I will make Dr. Tan my regular dentist. My colleague also recommended Dr. Zhou whom she said had plenty of experience.
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On my family's previous dinner trip to My Mum's Place, we had spotted a few stalls beside it which we had meant to try. One such stall was Lau Hock Guan Kee Bak Kut Teh, which I was told, sold decent Bak Kut Teh. As with Tasty Penang just 2 doors down, Lau Hock Guan Kee is rather old school, opting for fans in favour of air conditioners. Read, it can get quite stuffy and warm if you choose to sit inside. Manned by a few old ladies, Lau Hock Guan Kee doesn't offer a menu unless you specifically request for it. The old ladies rattle off whatever's available and are very warm and hospitable, although in a rather loud sense. We had the Fried Baby Kailan with Oyster Sauce, Beancurd with Minced Meat and Bak Kut Teh.
The Fried Baby Kailan with Oyster Sauce was a little too "sweet" for me due to the excessive oyster sauce. The generous serving of fried shallots atop was a bonus and added flavour to the dish. Beancurd with Minced Meat might seem like an easy dish to prepare. Just get good beancurd, throw some minced meat and garnishes in and you are done. Even a novice cook like myself can easily whip up Beancurd with Minced Meat, but doing it well is an art by itself. Lau Hock Guan Kee's version exceeded expectations. What looked like a pathetic excuse for the dish turned out to have soft and silky tofu (similar to the Agedashi Tofu in Japanese eateries) and a tantalising gravy owing to the hearty mix of minced meat, carrots, spring onions, mushrooms and other garnishes. But then again, it would have been better if the cook had gone a little easier on the salt.
I'm sure everyone has eaten quite a bit of Bak Kut Teh in their lives and I'm no exception. The 2 most popular versions of Bak Kut Teh are the Teochew version, which has a clear and peppery soup and the Hokkien version, which has a dark and herbal soup. Lau Hock Guan Kee's rendition belonged to neither group. It's soup was slightly darkish and had seaweed and vegetables in it. It had no Bak Kut taste but tasted strongly of the seaweed. Rather weird, but still very decent in my opinion. The Bak Kut itself was nice though. The meat was tender and we had no difficulty tearing the meat off the bones. If they can do something about the soup, I'm sure this will be a smashing Bak Kut Teh.
Dinner for 3 pax with drinks cost a mere $30/-. For the huge portions (all of our dishes can feed 4 pax), this is definitely a steal. We had actually wanted to try their fish head and Fish Stomach with Bittergourd, but were too stuffed to even harbour such thoughts at the end of our meal. As such, I'll definitely be back to pick up from where we left off.
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Dropped by Empire Cafe with my gf for dinner since we were in the vicinity, didn't fancy spending much on food and Empire Cafe looked pretty crowd free at that time.
Sitting right at the corner of Raffles Hotel, Empire Cafe plays home to a nostalgic interior styled to mimic a typical 1920s Singapore coffee house, with air conditioning of course. There's the booth seats, marble floors, granite table tops and wooden chairs, all reminiscent of an era long past and forgotten.
Crab Meat Fried Rice - For $18, the crab meat fried rice was terribly expensive considering its quality and portion size. True, the rice was throughly fried with a noticeable Wok Hei taste but it just wasn't tasty enough, coming across as a little on the bland side. The not too generous ingredients didn't help either. Portion size was just a little bigger than your $3/plate fried rice at the coffeeshop. The only consolation was probably the not too sizeable crab claw that came with the rice.
Bak Kut Teh - I really didn't know whether to cry or to laugh when I had a sip of the Bak Kut Teh soup. It was sweet from all the wolfberries that came with the soup. Maybe its just me, but I don't think Bak Kut Teh is supposed to be cooked with wolfberries, is it? At least the ones I've tried so far aren't. Soup aside, the meat was fibrous yet tender and quite a size to boot. All in all, I wouldn't say that this was a bad dish, just that it was different. For me, I didn't like it one bit.
Durian Chendol - What can I say? This dish was as common as it gets. Probably the only up side was the finely shaved ice, which then again can be found in many other places that sell this dish for half to a third of the price.
Can you fathom paying close to $63 for such a meal with 2 glasses of free flow lime juice? I honestly can't and the experience still seems rather surreal as I write this entry. So much for wanting to cut down on our expenditure for the evening. Strangely enough, the restaurant was almost full when we were done - a sign of growing affluence?
See all my pictures here
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