This is a story of boy meets love, and you should know up front, this is definitely a love story. Boy meets dessert, boy fall in love, oh yes, this is a happily-ever-after ending.
The Tart pudding was highly raved upon by the staff at Tampopo Deli; we decided to get it since there’s no harm trying – I mean how bad can custard and tart be? It’s almost like an egg tart, albeit in an Japanese manner, so lets just call this the Japanese egg tart. I enjoyed every bite of the crispy tart, with the soft eggy custard sitting on top; it was not wow, but pretty good.
Meet Chiffon, she’s terrific, if I may: light, moist and airy in all the right places. The texture of the chiffon is amazingly soft, and it’s one of those things that you have totally no idea of what you are eating, and you just keep putting more into your mouth, until it’s gone. And there’s the shredded cheese which gave the light chiffon an additional distinct taste. This is it.
Cream puff is one of my all-time favourite dessert – they are incredible. Like really really incredible. The sweet Japanese cream within the crispy choux pastry was amazing, I took a bite and I don’t know if there’s any thing else that can make me feel so happy. I swear – Tampopo Deli has one of the best cream puffs!
Apparently, the cream puffs are in such great demand that they get sold out very fast. Either make a call to reserve them, or go on the hourly spot (they baked each batch by the hour). There’s no denying that I have a massive sweet tooth. Cookies, chocolate, fudge cake, cheesecake, give them to me, give them all to me. Can you ever say no to them? In short, I like anything sweet, I’m definitely a dessert-holic! It’s so tempting to just order every single dessert from the shelf, and for now, boy will meet love in the dreams.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
We all have our own bad hair days, at times where you have to deal with unreasonable people when you rather be sitting down in front of your computer to read at food blogs. At times where you are working your ass off, and it seems work will never end. You know what I mean, and that is why we always look forward to lunch.
My choice of a dining place usually depends on the-craving-of-the-moment, and for this occasion, my dining companion was yearning for some Bak ku teh (bkt), and she brought me to one of her favourite place. I’m a self-proclaimed pig-lover; from roast pork, bacons, to bak kwa; there’s nothing that I don’t like about pork. I know many people refuse to take pig intestines; they are not exactly healthy but they sure are tasty.
The presence of the distinct herbal taste was characteristic of the bkt here. My dining companion had the pork ribs ($5 per bowl) while I had the combination bowl of pork ribs and a mix of pork offals like the intestines, liver, and stomach. I have a love-hate relationship with pork ribs. On one hand I always complain that the ribs are not meaty enough, but I like to gnaw on the bones to finish every bite of the meat, and suck the sweetness of the bones. And the pork liver was cooked nicely, retaining a tinge of pink.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Had dinner with a couple of my relatives at Tai Seng Restaurant, one of the long standing traditional Teochew restaurants still around in this era of fast food and modern Chinese cuisine. Established in 1933, it used to be located at Outram (if my memory serves me correctly) and was apparently very popular back then.
Currently located not too far from its original location, on the top floor of People's Park Centre, Tai Seng looks just like your typical nostalgic restaurant from yesteryear. Think Red Star or Yan Palace.
Prawn Roll - Our dinner trotted off to a good start with the prawn roll or Har Zhor, which was crisp without involving too much oil or fatty meat in the equation. Dipped into the plum sauce, it was a nice blend of sweet and salty.
Cabbage Braised with Mushroom - A traditional Teochew dish, the braised cabbage isn't exactly my cup of tea because of the way it is prepared - very soft from being soaked in the gravy. But that's just a personal preference. My parents liked it though.
Deep Fried Crayfish - I loved this dish for its flavour - salty carrying a hint of spiciness and its crisp and dry texture. The presence of fried garlic provided a whiff of fragrance as well as the nice garlicky after taste. Very good!
Braised Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw - The sea cucumber didn't come across as too gelatin or slimy, which upped the appetising factor (for me at least). Coupled with mushrooms and fish maw that didn't gross me out by being too slimy, it was simple yet good.
Goose Meat - One of the few yardsticks I use to measure Teochew cuisine and also one of my personal favourites, the goose failed to make the cut, to say the very least. It had a rather gamy taste and did seem a little dry. What piqued my interest was the inclusion of the neck, something which I rarely see nowadays. But its just a mere novelty.
Steamed Pomfret - Teochew cuisine is famed for its steamed pomfret, which is steamed with mushrooms, tomatos, sour plums and the likes. Tai Seng's rendition was excellent if I may say. The rather sizeable fish was very fresh, sweet and steamed to perfection. The gravy was nice and light and complemented the fish very well.
Yam & Pumpkin - My other yardstick for guaging Teochew food - the humble yet labouriously intensive to prepare, yam paste aka Orh Nee. Besides being a little too sweet for my liking, the yam paste lacked fragrance probably due to the reduced usage of lard. At least it was smooth and definitely palatable.
$216 for a dinner for 7 is relatively value for money considering the food that we got. Quality of food is a case of hits and misses and service is patchy but decent. Overall a decent place to try if you want Teochew food and are looking to avoid the crowds in the other more popular Teochew restaurants like Huat Kee and the likes.
I always dread to have dinner in Orchard, well the place is great for shopping, people-watching, movies, but food? It is always an issue whenever my friends want to meet there and if you ask me, there’s hardly any place that I like in Orchard.
Most people will have thought that KPO stands for Killiney Post office since the cafe is located on the premises of Killiney post office. But the name actually comes about because it’s at the intersection of Killney, Penang, and Orchard road.
We started dinner with the Pizza Yorkshire ($25). The 10 inch thin crust pizza was thoroughly enjoyable; sweet thin slices Yorkshire pork and well-baked crust with mozzarella cheese matched perfectly with the natural crust.
Even though the Grilled juicy mini beef patties were tiny, I love the way they are done – topped with melted Emmental cheese and served in home-made baguette. The Patty Melt ($12) is one of those things that you wish it would come in bigger portions. And oh yes, the home-made chips were great too! But for the kind of price, it’s more like a snack to go along with drinks rather than a main course for dinner.
The KPO Pork Ribs ($23) was the other signature dish of the cafe. A full slab of ribs marinated with the tantalizing sauce, we have to agree that the marination was very done-well. But having tried better pork ribs elsewhere, KPO’s rendition lacked the ultimate melt-in-the-mouth sensation. Still, it was pretty good.
* * *
I have no doubt that KPO, situated right in the middle of town and yet seemingly away from the hustle of the city, will be a success. The location is already a hit, with the chic environment, it is definitely the place-to-be-seen-at. While it’s a great watering-hole, with the food being pretty decent, but they really need to improve on the service.
I got a shock when the first question they asked, was not what I’ll like to order, but whether I’m paying by credit card or cash. No matter how nice the ambience was, or how excellent the food tasted – that was a total turnoff. But oh well, at least there’s no service charge & GST. Anyway, with the good location plus the chill-out atmosphere, I went back again the following Saturday.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Had the opportunity to indulge in a food tasting session at Petals & Leaves Bistro one grey Saturday afternoon, courtesy of the bistro's management, which runs Garden Asia, an event management cum landscaping company.
The place proves quite a hassle to get to, hidden deep within the wilderness of Kranji. Housed within the premises of Garden Asia, Petals & Leaves is the epitome of idyllic-ness. A large sheltered al fresco dining area flanked by a pond amidst lush flora and fauna, with only the light patter of raindrops breaking the tranquility - the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The Works Platter - We started off with The Works Platter, which consisted of sausages, chicken wings and cheese sticks - typical pub grub which I personally fancy quite a bit. Nothing came across as particularly outstanding though. The sausages were alright but a little on the bland side. The cheese sticks didn't have the gooey cheese oozing out of the sticks and the taste of deep fried flour threatened to overwhelm the already faint taste of the cheese. As for the wings, I personally felt that they lacked marination and chomping on one was akin to chewing on flour.
Chicken - The piece of chicken thigh looked really well grilled and most appetising. However its appearance belied the fact that marination was lacking and the texture tended more towards the rubbery side. The sauce did seem a little weak as well.
The Bull's Eye - A slab of beautifully grilled medium rare ribeye, topped with red wine pepper sauce and apparently a signature dish of the eatery. A pity it was rather lacklustre, coming across as a little too tough sans the inherent sweetness of the beef. What I thought was mildy interesting was the side of sliced potatos which were coated with potato flour then deep fried, giving rise to something that tasted a little similar to potato tempura.
Oreo Tiramisu - Oreo Tiramisu
I 've always been a fan of oreos and tiramisu. Put this two elements together and I would expect something explosive, if not decent at least. The truth be told, it wasn't fantastic but at least it was palatable. The sponge fingers had little icicles in it probably due to water being present during the freezing stage of the tiramisu and that affected the overall texture. Apparently there was Baileys in it but I couldn't make any out probably due to my alcohol desensitized taste buds. Last but not least, the mascarpone cheese leaned towards the heavy side - a little too much egg yolk maybe? The oreos didn't make much of a difference to the dessert in my humble opinion.
Well, I wouldn't say that the food was totally bad but it certainly has lots of room for improvement. I like the ambience of the place though, charmingly serene and tranquil - perfect for whiling the morning/afternoon away with a nice cup of tea/coffee in hand. Please allow me to end off by thanking Petals & Leaves for kindly extending their invitation to me. Thank you.
You already know by now, I’m sure, that I like desserts. However, it does gets me into trouble as I constantly (read: all the time) think about them and the craving just won’t go away. At least not until I satisfied the sweet tooth. So much so that I eat desserts first, and I can even skipped the main course for the sweet stuff.
Anyway, our initial plan was to have desserts for lunch at Buttercake n Cream – only desserts and nothing else. But we just couldn’t resist the kurobuta pork that was waving at us, I mean who can?
Buttercake n Cream was formerly known as Peaberry & Pretzel (selling German food), but the owners have since changed the concept to an ice cream parlour and dessert place. They are famous for their sundaes, and when I heard that they are serving sundaes, the first thing that came to my mind was MacDonald’s hot chocolate fudge. But trust me, their sundaes are really much better than that; we were considering between their berry berry good and Apple Pie Ala Mode ($7) since we didn’t want chocolate or banana in their other options, and we had the latter.
On paper, it was two scoops of vanilla ice cream, with apple pie fillings and almond crumble. Spotting the speckles of vanilla beans was enough to make my heart flutter, and surprisingly, the manner in which they deconstructed the apple pie ice cream (as we like to call it) turns out to be good. I like how the almond crumble provided the crunch while the apple pie filling added an tangy touch to the cold vanilla ice cream.
Tiramisu. Say it with me: Ti-ra-mi-su!
Desserts too, are special. Why end off your meal with a cup of espresso or a shot of alcohol when you can have soaked sponge fingers into both of them, with the mascarpone special that will set tongues wagging and licking at the whipping combination of coffee-liquor-mascarpone. And there’s the most wonderful cocoa powder sprinkled on top of the fluffy mixture which makes you go: oh-my-it-is-so-good!
As our spoon cuts into the Tiramisu ($5.50), the top cocoa powder layer gave way and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the soaked finger layer tasted like wet biscuit with espresso, and the masarpone like any other ordinary cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The different layers seem to fuse perfectly, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Maybe it’s just me, but honestly, all tiramisu taste good to me; how bad can a tiramisu be? Okay, you are thinking about the really lousy one; what I meant was between the pretty decent, and the very good one. This means us to the question: is a good tiramisu one that has a) strong liqueur taste b) no liqueur or c) a good mixture of both espresso and liqueur? Some people swear by the strong liqueur taste lingering in the tiramisu, while the original tiramisu actually do not have any alcohol as they were meant for children. There’s no such thing as a best tiramisu, everybody have a different preference to the espresso-alcohol proportion.
I feel silly discussing this with you, but the-best-tiramisu is a topic that foodies have debated for centuries. There’s no doubt about it, I like all tiramisu.
Here’s another reason for you to explore Sunset way, TGIF!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Today is not Monday, but I decided to surprise you with a slice of rich and good cake anyway. Sorry I have been kept busy by a lot of stuff, and I’m not able to blog as frequently as I’ll like, there are so many places that I went recently and I’ll love to share them with you. Until then, lets keep our attention to the cake shan’t we?
Cakes come in all form and sizes, there are the pretty-but-can-be-better-ones, and also some-which-I-absolutely-fall-in-love-with. There’s also those which are very simple and made me go back twice in four days. Cakes are good on a date, and it’s meant to be share with your love ones and friends, there’s just nothing like ending on a sweet note yeah?
I love the look on your face when you grazed upon the slice of rich and good cake, so stop resisting, you know you need that slice of cake! I think I’m getting pretty obsessed with cakes, I even dream about them at night. Oh gosh.
I confess: I’m definitely a dessert-holic, and why not? Desserts chase your monday blues away, a slice of good cake never fails to cheer you up, and I couldn’t help feeling “oops I did it again” everytime I eat a dessert. But who cares? Desserts make me happy. I’m superficial. Whatever.
Coming back to the rich and good cake, I have been hearing so much about it. Therefore when I was in the area last week, I know I have to get it. The sponge was very, very delicate, it’s quite unlike your typical sponge cake. But the kaya can really be better, it would be perfect if they give more kaya fillings too! Not that I’m complaining anyway, it’s still a slice of rich & good cake.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
It was only my second time to Mount Faber, so I was pretty happy when I know that we are going up to the Jewel Box for lunch. And I was impressed within five minutes after arriving, the toilets have this amazing view – it’s even better than the ones in 6 star hotels!
The beauty of the traditional soya smoked fish ($10) lies in the simplicity of it; the use of soya sauce to enhance the sweetness of the delicate fish.
First thoughts, wow, it’s my favorite sweet & sour pork! Until someone pointed out it was actually youtiao. The crispy dough stuffed with seafood mousse ($8), was drizzled with the appetizing sweet & sour sauce. Who will have thought that youtiao can taste so good!
From afar, I smelt blood. And suddenly I felt awaken deep inside. I want blood, give me the pig liver!
The Spinach and pork liver soup ($8 per portion) is one of the more delicious soup that I had in a while (other than my mom’s homecook soup). It’s definitely no easy task to prepare liver; if you under cook it, the surface will be too raw, while if you leave it for too long the whole thing will be hard and tasteless. The liver, I have to say, was lovely; it was done just right with a pinkish tinge in the middle.
You know every year during relatives gathering, I’m always known as the-boy-who-love-fish, so i was quite excited to see the steamed white pomfret ($48) on our table. A restaurant wouldn’t dare to serve steamed fish unless it’s very fresh, or do they? Unfortunately there will be no answer because we were doing the programme recording halfway when the fish arrived. And it was already cold when they distributed it into individual portions after we finished.
I like prawns. And I dislike prawns too. Well, I like to eat them but I’m a lazy person when it comes to shelling prawns. King Caramelized King Prawns Har Lok ($26 per portion 2 pcs)
If there’s one thing that I can eat everyday with white rice, it would definitely be the shrimp omelette. A fried egg on its own will never taste as nice as one that has shrimp. The Old fashioned Whampoo fried noodles ($20 per portion) were served with eggs and shrimp on top, while I enjoyed every bit of the egg, the crunchy shrimp came across as a tad too salty.
Empress Jade prides itself on serving heritage Chinese food – the taste of 1970s. I have to agree that the food evokes nostalgic memories of childhood but prices seem slightly steep when you are paying for home cook food. Still, It is a good place where you can impress your date and his/her family. Getting up to Mount Faber might be a hassle if you are not driving, fortunately there’s free shutter bus going up every 30 minutes from Harbourfront Tower 2. I will like to thank Jiafa & Peifen from YES 93.3, and Jewel Box for the invitation.
Finally made the journey west to Two Chefs Eating Place, after reading about it a couple of months back in the Straits Times. Housed in a small coffeeshop in a rather remote part of Commonwealth, the place is rather small and tables are limited. Apparently the crowd starts coming in at about 6pm so get there before 6 or be prepared to wait.
Radish Soup - We started off with the radish soup, which wasn't on the menu. Light and mildly sweet, noticeably from the use of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Nice but excessive drinking is certainly not encouraged.
Butter Ribs - The butter ribs were a misnomer really. Ribs should come with bones, shouldn't they? But I'm definitely not complaining. The meat was tender without being fibrous or soft. What was interesting was the fact that the meat was coated with a concoction of cheese flakes, a dash of sugar and a sprinkling of curry leaves - Nice and sweet with a mild hint of spiciness, belying a smooth cheesy sensation with that tinge of curry aftertaste.
Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic - This was your regular stir fried broccoli fried with tons of chopped garlic. Decent but a wee bit too soft and overcooked for my liking.
Beancurd with Golden Mushroom - I didn't think too highly of this dish though the tofu was smooth but rather bland and lacked silkiness. The sauce had lots of golden mushroom and minced meat but was weirdly sweet instead of savoury.
Hor Fun - The lowlight (as opposed to highlight. Ha Ha Ha. Corny I know) of the entire meal, the hor fun appeared rather slip shod. They were all clumped together and lacked any discernible wok hei taste. The pork and shrimp didn't taste fresh either. On a healthier note, there were lots of vegetables though.
At 50 cents shy of $34 for 3 pax, I wouldn't say it was expensive. However, only the butter ribs were good while the other dishes hovered around the average mark or faded into obscurity. Throw in the queues and I doubt I'll return, especially since the place is halfway across the island for me. But if I do, it will only be for the butter ribs.
It probably seems that I belong to the live-to-eat camp, everything I do revolve around food and that includes tweeting. And you probably envy me for the feasts and good food that I have all the time, right? Actually not quite. The truth is, there are many times where I get sick of everything.
Initially I thought it was because I had too much good food – that my taste buds were numbed so I didn’t even feel excited, not even when there’s so many delicacy in front of me, But really, it’s a lot more serious than that. My problem is nutella. I can give up everything when there’s chocolate hazelnut around, all I need is white bread, no I don’t even need bread – I eat nutella from the jar.
I will never forget that fateful day, flashed back many many years ago; I was young and inquisitive, which was not a good combination. I saw a jar with white lid on the table, it smelt good, and I wondered if it tasted as good. So out of curiosity, I turned the top and stuck my finger into the dreamily sexual-looking spread. My shoulders shuddered as I carefully placed my thumb that had the glossy, brown spread, into my mouth. It tasted like chocolate, and there’s something nutty about it. And I felt like I was in heaven, and you know what? I still feel the same way, every single time when I have it. Nutella is sex, no, nutella is even better than that.
It’s one of those defining moments in life where you know everything will never be the same again. I blame nutella for everything.
As we entered the place, my eyes scanned through the menu and I knew immediately what to order – nutella tart. The thing about it was, you can never go wrong with nutella, unless, you put too little of it. And here, they manage to grasp this simple, yet profound logic. They drizzled tons and tons of nutella with the tart; the half-melted chocolate hazelnut on top of a oreo-based tart, perfect! I enjoyed every bite of it, and it tasted even better when you shared it. We also had the vanilla eclair, while it was pretty good, but it pales in comparison beside the nutella tart.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
1=SGD 0.0587
This is a story of boy meets love, and you should know up front, this is definitely a love story. Boy meets dessert, boy fall in love, oh yes, this is a happily-ever-after ending.
The Tart pudding was highly raved upon by the staff at Tampopo Deli; we decided to get it since there’s no harm trying – I mean how bad can custard and tart be? It’s almost like an egg tart, albeit in an Japanese manner, so lets just call this the Japanese egg tart. I enjoyed every bite of the crispy tart, with the soft eggy custard sitting on top; it was not wow, but pretty good.
Meet Chiffon, she’s terrific, if I may: light, moist and airy in all the right places. The texture of the chiffon is amazingly soft, and it’s one of those things that you have totally no idea of what you are eating, and you just keep putting more into your mouth, until it’s gone. And there’s the shredded cheese which gave the light chiffon an additional distinct taste. This is it.
Cream puff is one of my all-time favourite dessert – they are incredible. Like really really incredible. The sweet Japanese cream within the crispy choux pastry was amazing, I took a bite and I don’t know if there’s any thing else that can make me feel so happy. I swear – Tampopo Deli has one of the best cream puffs!
Apparently, the cream puffs are in such great demand that they get sold out very fast. Either make a call to reserve them, or go on the hourly spot (they baked each batch by the hour). There’s no denying that I have a massive sweet tooth. Cookies, chocolate, fudge cake, cheesecake, give them to me, give them all to me. Can you ever say no to them? In short, I like anything sweet, I’m definitely a dessert-holic! It’s so tempting to just order every single dessert from the shelf, and for now, boy will meet love in the dreams.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Rating given:
We all have our own bad hair days, at times where you have to deal with unreasonable people when you rather be sitting down in front of your computer to read at food blogs. At times where you are working your ass off, and it seems work will never end. You know what I mean, and that is why we always look forward to lunch.
My choice of a dining place usually depends on the-craving-of-the-moment, and for this occasion, my dining companion was yearning for some Bak ku teh (bkt), and she brought me to one of her favourite place. I’m a self-proclaimed pig-lover; from roast pork, bacons, to bak kwa; there’s nothing that I don’t like about pork. I know many people refuse to take pig intestines; they are not exactly healthy but they sure are tasty.
The presence of the distinct herbal taste was characteristic of the bkt here. My dining companion had the pork ribs ($5 per bowl) while I had the combination bowl of pork ribs and a mix of pork offals like the intestines, liver, and stomach. I have a love-hate relationship with pork ribs. On one hand I always complain that the ribs are not meaty enough, but I like to gnaw on the bones to finish every bite of the meat, and suck the sweetness of the bones. And the pork liver was cooked nicely, retaining a tinge of pink.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Rating given:
Had dinner with a couple of my relatives at Tai Seng Restaurant, one of the long standing traditional Teochew restaurants still around in this era of fast food and modern Chinese cuisine. Established in 1933, it used to be located at Outram (if my memory serves me correctly) and was apparently very popular back then.
Currently located not too far from its original location, on the top floor of People's Park Centre, Tai Seng looks just like your typical nostalgic restaurant from yesteryear. Think Red Star or Yan Palace.
Prawn Roll - Our dinner trotted off to a good start with the prawn roll or Har Zhor, which was crisp without involving too much oil or fatty meat in the equation. Dipped into the plum sauce, it was a nice blend of sweet and salty.
Cabbage Braised with Mushroom - A traditional Teochew dish, the braised cabbage isn't exactly my cup of tea because of the way it is prepared - very soft from being soaked in the gravy. But that's just a personal preference. My parents liked it though.
Deep Fried Crayfish - I loved this dish for its flavour - salty carrying a hint of spiciness and its crisp and dry texture. The presence of fried garlic provided a whiff of fragrance as well as the nice garlicky after taste. Very good!
Braised Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw - The sea cucumber didn't come across as too gelatin or slimy, which upped the appetising factor (for me at least). Coupled with mushrooms and fish maw that didn't gross me out by being too slimy, it was simple yet good.
Goose Meat - One of the few yardsticks I use to measure Teochew cuisine and also one of my personal favourites, the goose failed to make the cut, to say the very least. It had a rather gamy taste and did seem a little dry. What piqued my interest was the inclusion of the neck, something which I rarely see nowadays. But its just a mere novelty.
Steamed Pomfret - Teochew cuisine is famed for its steamed pomfret, which is steamed with mushrooms, tomatos, sour plums and the likes. Tai Seng's rendition was excellent if I may say. The rather sizeable fish was very fresh, sweet and steamed to perfection. The gravy was nice and light and complemented the fish very well.
Yam & Pumpkin - My other yardstick for guaging Teochew food - the humble yet labouriously intensive to prepare, yam paste aka Orh Nee. Besides being a little too sweet for my liking, the yam paste lacked fragrance probably due to the reduced usage of lard. At least it was smooth and definitely palatable.
$216 for a dinner for 7 is relatively value for money considering the food that we got. Quality of food is a case of hits and misses and service is patchy but decent. Overall a decent place to try if you want Teochew food and are looking to avoid the crowds in the other more popular Teochew restaurants like Huat Kee and the likes.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I always dread to have dinner in Orchard, well the place is great for shopping, people-watching, movies, but food? It is always an issue whenever my friends want to meet there and if you ask me, there’s hardly any place that I like in Orchard.
Most people will have thought that KPO stands for Killiney Post office since the cafe is located on the premises of Killiney post office. But the name actually comes about because it’s at the intersection of Killney, Penang, and Orchard road.
We started dinner with the Pizza Yorkshire ($25). The 10 inch thin crust pizza was thoroughly enjoyable; sweet thin slices Yorkshire pork and well-baked crust with mozzarella cheese matched perfectly with the natural crust.
Even though the Grilled juicy mini beef patties were tiny, I love the way they are done – topped with melted Emmental cheese and served in home-made baguette. The Patty Melt ($12) is one of those things that you wish it would come in bigger portions. And oh yes, the home-made chips were great too! But for the kind of price, it’s more like a snack to go along with drinks rather than a main course for dinner.
The KPO Pork Ribs ($23) was the other signature dish of the cafe. A full slab of ribs marinated with the tantalizing sauce, we have to agree that the marination was very done-well. But having tried better pork ribs elsewhere, KPO’s rendition lacked the ultimate melt-in-the-mouth sensation. Still, it was pretty good.
* * *
I have no doubt that KPO, situated right in the middle of town and yet seemingly away from the hustle of the city, will be a success. The location is already a hit, with the chic environment, it is definitely the place-to-be-seen-at. While it’s a great watering-hole, with the food being pretty decent, but they really need to improve on the service.
I got a shock when the first question they asked, was not what I’ll like to order, but whether I’m paying by credit card or cash. No matter how nice the ambience was, or how excellent the food tasted – that was a total turnoff. But oh well, at least there’s no service charge & GST. Anyway, with the good location plus the chill-out atmosphere, I went back again the following Saturday.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Rating given:
Had the opportunity to indulge in a food tasting session at Petals & Leaves Bistro one grey Saturday afternoon, courtesy of the bistro's management, which runs Garden Asia, an event management cum landscaping company.
The place proves quite a hassle to get to, hidden deep within the wilderness of Kranji. Housed within the premises of Garden Asia, Petals & Leaves is the epitome of idyllic-ness. A large sheltered al fresco dining area flanked by a pond amidst lush flora and fauna, with only the light patter of raindrops breaking the tranquility - the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The Works Platter - We started off with The Works Platter, which consisted of sausages, chicken wings and cheese sticks - typical pub grub which I personally fancy quite a bit. Nothing came across as particularly outstanding though. The sausages were alright but a little on the bland side. The cheese sticks didn't have the gooey cheese oozing out of the sticks and the taste of deep fried flour threatened to overwhelm the already faint taste of the cheese. As for the wings, I personally felt that they lacked marination and chomping on one was akin to chewing on flour.
Chicken - The piece of chicken thigh looked really well grilled and most appetising. However its appearance belied the fact that marination was lacking and the texture tended more towards the rubbery side. The sauce did seem a little weak as well.
The Bull's Eye - A slab of beautifully grilled medium rare ribeye, topped with red wine pepper sauce and apparently a signature dish of the eatery. A pity it was rather lacklustre, coming across as a little too tough sans the inherent sweetness of the beef. What I thought was mildy interesting was the side of sliced potatos which were coated with potato flour then deep fried, giving rise to something that tasted a little similar to potato tempura.
Oreo Tiramisu - Oreo Tiramisu
I 've always been a fan of oreos and tiramisu. Put this two elements together and I would expect something explosive, if not decent at least. The truth be told, it wasn't fantastic but at least it was palatable. The sponge fingers had little icicles in it probably due to water being present during the freezing stage of the tiramisu and that affected the overall texture. Apparently there was Baileys in it but I couldn't make any out probably due to my alcohol desensitized taste buds. Last but not least, the mascarpone cheese leaned towards the heavy side - a little too much egg yolk maybe? The oreos didn't make much of a difference to the dessert in my humble opinion.
Well, I wouldn't say that the food was totally bad but it certainly has lots of room for improvement. I like the ambience of the place though, charmingly serene and tranquil - perfect for whiling the morning/afternoon away with a nice cup of tea/coffee in hand. Please allow me to end off by thanking Petals & Leaves for kindly extending their invitation to me. Thank you.
See all my pictures here.
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You already know by now, I’m sure, that I like desserts. However, it does gets me into trouble as I constantly (read: all the time) think about them and the craving just won’t go away. At least not until I satisfied the sweet tooth. So much so that I eat desserts first, and I can even skipped the main course for the sweet stuff.
Anyway, our initial plan was to have desserts for lunch at Buttercake n Cream – only desserts and nothing else. But we just couldn’t resist the kurobuta pork that was waving at us, I mean who can?
Buttercake n Cream was formerly known as Peaberry & Pretzel (selling German food), but the owners have since changed the concept to an ice cream parlour and dessert place. They are famous for their sundaes, and when I heard that they are serving sundaes, the first thing that came to my mind was MacDonald’s hot chocolate fudge. But trust me, their sundaes are really much better than that; we were considering between their berry berry good and Apple Pie Ala Mode ($7) since we didn’t want chocolate or banana in their other options, and we had the latter.
On paper, it was two scoops of vanilla ice cream, with apple pie fillings and almond crumble. Spotting the speckles of vanilla beans was enough to make my heart flutter, and surprisingly, the manner in which they deconstructed the apple pie ice cream (as we like to call it) turns out to be good. I like how the almond crumble provided the crunch while the apple pie filling added an tangy touch to the cold vanilla ice cream.
Tiramisu. Say it with me: Ti-ra-mi-su!
Desserts too, are special. Why end off your meal with a cup of espresso or a shot of alcohol when you can have soaked sponge fingers into both of them, with the mascarpone special that will set tongues wagging and licking at the whipping combination of coffee-liquor-mascarpone. And there’s the most wonderful cocoa powder sprinkled on top of the fluffy mixture which makes you go: oh-my-it-is-so-good!
As our spoon cuts into the Tiramisu ($5.50), the top cocoa powder layer gave way and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the soaked finger layer tasted like wet biscuit with espresso, and the masarpone like any other ordinary cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The different layers seem to fuse perfectly, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Maybe it’s just me, but honestly, all tiramisu taste good to me; how bad can a tiramisu be? Okay, you are thinking about the really lousy one; what I meant was between the pretty decent, and the very good one. This means us to the question: is a good tiramisu one that has a) strong liqueur taste b) no liqueur or c) a good mixture of both espresso and liqueur? Some people swear by the strong liqueur taste lingering in the tiramisu, while the original tiramisu actually do not have any alcohol as they were meant for children. There’s no such thing as a best tiramisu, everybody have a different preference to the espresso-alcohol proportion.
I feel silly discussing this with you, but the-best-tiramisu is a topic that foodies have debated for centuries. There’s no doubt about it, I like all tiramisu.
Here’s another reason for you to explore Sunset way, TGIF!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Today is not Monday, but I decided to surprise you with a slice of rich and good cake anyway. Sorry I have been kept busy by a lot of stuff, and I’m not able to blog as frequently as I’ll like, there are so many places that I went recently and I’ll love to share them with you. Until then, lets keep our attention to the cake shan’t we?
Cakes come in all form and sizes, there are the pretty-but-can-be-better-ones, and also some-which-I-absolutely-fall-in-love-with. There’s also those which are very simple and made me go back twice in four days. Cakes are good on a date, and it’s meant to be share with your love ones and friends, there’s just nothing like ending on a sweet note yeah?
I love the look on your face when you grazed upon the slice of rich and good cake, so stop resisting, you know you need that slice of cake! I think I’m getting pretty obsessed with cakes, I even dream about them at night. Oh gosh.
I confess: I’m definitely a dessert-holic, and why not? Desserts chase your monday blues away, a slice of good cake never fails to cheer you up, and I couldn’t help feeling “oops I did it again” everytime I eat a dessert. But who cares? Desserts make me happy. I’m superficial. Whatever.
Coming back to the rich and good cake, I have been hearing so much about it. Therefore when I was in the area last week, I know I have to get it. The sponge was very, very delicate, it’s quite unlike your typical sponge cake. But the kaya can really be better, it would be perfect if they give more kaya fillings too! Not that I’m complaining anyway, it’s still a slice of rich & good cake.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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It was only my second time to Mount Faber, so I was pretty happy when I know that we are going up to the Jewel Box for lunch. And I was impressed within five minutes after arriving, the toilets have this amazing view – it’s even better than the ones in 6 star hotels!
The beauty of the traditional soya smoked fish ($10) lies in the simplicity of it; the use of soya sauce to enhance the sweetness of the delicate fish.
First thoughts, wow, it’s my favorite sweet & sour pork! Until someone pointed out it was actually youtiao. The crispy dough stuffed with seafood mousse ($8), was drizzled with the appetizing sweet & sour sauce. Who will have thought that youtiao can taste so good!
From afar, I smelt blood. And suddenly I felt awaken deep inside. I want blood, give me the pig liver!
The Spinach and pork liver soup ($8 per portion) is one of the more delicious soup that I had in a while (other than my mom’s homecook soup). It’s definitely no easy task to prepare liver; if you under cook it, the surface will be too raw, while if you leave it for too long the whole thing will be hard and tasteless. The liver, I have to say, was lovely; it was done just right with a pinkish tinge in the middle.
You know every year during relatives gathering, I’m always known as the-boy-who-love-fish, so i was quite excited to see the steamed white pomfret ($48) on our table. A restaurant wouldn’t dare to serve steamed fish unless it’s very fresh, or do they? Unfortunately there will be no answer because we were doing the programme recording halfway when the fish arrived. And it was already cold when they distributed it into individual portions after we finished.
I like prawns. And I dislike prawns too. Well, I like to eat them but I’m a lazy person when it comes to shelling prawns. King Caramelized King Prawns Har Lok ($26 per portion 2 pcs)
If there’s one thing that I can eat everyday with white rice, it would definitely be the shrimp omelette. A fried egg on its own will never taste as nice as one that has shrimp. The Old fashioned Whampoo fried noodles ($20 per portion) were served with eggs and shrimp on top, while I enjoyed every bit of the egg, the crunchy shrimp came across as a tad too salty.
Empress Jade prides itself on serving heritage Chinese food – the taste of 1970s. I have to agree that the food evokes nostalgic memories of childhood but prices seem slightly steep when you are paying for home cook food. Still, It is a good place where you can impress your date and his/her family. Getting up to Mount Faber might be a hassle if you are not driving, fortunately there’s free shutter bus going up every 30 minutes from Harbourfront Tower 2. I will like to thank Jiafa & Peifen from YES 93.3, and Jewel Box for the invitation.
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Finally made the journey west to Two Chefs Eating Place, after reading about it a couple of months back in the Straits Times. Housed in a small coffeeshop in a rather remote part of Commonwealth, the place is rather small and tables are limited. Apparently the crowd starts coming in at about 6pm so get there before 6 or be prepared to wait.
Radish Soup - We started off with the radish soup, which wasn't on the menu. Light and mildly sweet, noticeably from the use of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Nice but excessive drinking is certainly not encouraged.
Butter Ribs - The butter ribs were a misnomer really. Ribs should come with bones, shouldn't they? But I'm definitely not complaining. The meat was tender without being fibrous or soft. What was interesting was the fact that the meat was coated with a concoction of cheese flakes, a dash of sugar and a sprinkling of curry leaves - Nice and sweet with a mild hint of spiciness, belying a smooth cheesy sensation with that tinge of curry aftertaste.
Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic - This was your regular stir fried broccoli fried with tons of chopped garlic. Decent but a wee bit too soft and overcooked for my liking.
Beancurd with Golden Mushroom - I didn't think too highly of this dish though the tofu was smooth but rather bland and lacked silkiness. The sauce had lots of golden mushroom and minced meat but was weirdly sweet instead of savoury.
Hor Fun - The lowlight (as opposed to highlight. Ha Ha Ha. Corny I know) of the entire meal, the hor fun appeared rather slip shod. They were all clumped together and lacked any discernible wok hei taste. The pork and shrimp didn't taste fresh either. On a healthier note, there were lots of vegetables though.
At 50 cents shy of $34 for 3 pax, I wouldn't say it was expensive. However, only the butter ribs were good while the other dishes hovered around the average mark or faded into obscurity. Throw in the queues and I doubt I'll return, especially since the place is halfway across the island for me. But if I do, it will only be for the butter ribs.
See all my pictures here.
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It probably seems that I belong to the live-to-eat camp, everything I do revolve around food and that includes tweeting. And you probably envy me for the feasts and good food that I have all the time, right? Actually not quite. The truth is, there are many times where I get sick of everything.
Initially I thought it was because I had too much good food – that my taste buds were numbed so I didn’t even feel excited, not even when there’s so many delicacy in front of me, But really, it’s a lot more serious than that. My problem is nutella. I can give up everything when there’s chocolate hazelnut around, all I need is white bread, no I don’t even need bread – I eat nutella from the jar.
I will never forget that fateful day, flashed back many many years ago; I was young and inquisitive, which was not a good combination. I saw a jar with white lid on the table, it smelt good, and I wondered if it tasted as good. So out of curiosity, I turned the top and stuck my finger into the dreamily sexual-looking spread. My shoulders shuddered as I carefully placed my thumb that had the glossy, brown spread, into my mouth. It tasted like chocolate, and there’s something nutty about it. And I felt like I was in heaven, and you know what? I still feel the same way, every single time when I have it. Nutella is sex, no, nutella is even better than that.
It’s one of those defining moments in life where you know everything will never be the same again. I blame nutella for everything.
As we entered the place, my eyes scanned through the menu and I knew immediately what to order – nutella tart. The thing about it was, you can never go wrong with nutella, unless, you put too little of it. And here, they manage to grasp this simple, yet profound logic. They drizzled tons and tons of nutella with the tart; the half-melted chocolate hazelnut on top of a oreo-based tart, perfect! I enjoyed every bite of it, and it tasted even better when you shared it. We also had the vanilla eclair, while it was pretty good, but it pales in comparison beside the nutella tart.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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