Their signature Warm Chocolate Cake is sinfully delectable. Described as the “melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake oozing with rich Valrhona chocolate”, Valrhona, founded since 1924, focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. And I would say what a huge difference it made especially since I could evaluate it to the second-rated one I had at Friends@Jelita. Also the warmness of the cake prepared freshly by the chef harmonised perfectly with the cold Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream. What is also often overlooked is the Orange Confit at the bottom that amazingly complements the bittersweet chocolate cake giving it a subtle fruity flavour to it.
Finally rinse it off with the revitalising Lavender Violet Lime that comes in a romantic purple – an Italian soda with lavender flavoured syrup that tasted so refreshing. I like it as it wasn’t very sweet but however, I would prefer if peppermint leaf were used to give it a better lift instead of the lime, as the drink tends to turn bitter towards the end. My friend had the Strawberry Lavender Lime that is very much sweeter but still as good. Definitely a favourite with the ladies!
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
The good thing about working in a foreign company is you get to meet lots of people from different walks of life from different nationalities, discovering different cultures and traditions. In my company, I have worked with Americans, Dutch, Swiss, Japanese, Korean, Malaysians, Indians, Filipinos and Chinese to name a few. And it was one day that my Korean colleague introduced me to Korean food at this place. She said she find the standard of food served here similar, if not better, than most of the other Korean restaurant she has been to so far - for a fraction of the price.
Taking her word for it, we ventured to Le Meridien for one of our lunches. Lunch was Spicy Beef Soup with rice plus a choice of condiment between Kimchi, Cucumber, or Anchovies.
Serving was generous with the bowl filled to the brim with Beef, Tofu and stalks of Spring Onions (It helps that I love eating spring onions!). The soup with a dash of Sesame Seeds was served piping hot and although MSG laced, the hint of spiciness make the soup truly enjoyable to taste.
The beef slices could have been bigger but for a meal costing less than $10, I have no complains against the serving and standard of the food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
On Friday, it was an honour to be invited to Yebber’s 1st anniversary event. The event was held in Mint (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) – Museum of Toys, across from Raffles Hotel. Showcasing an extensive collection of vintage toys from all over the world, it is regarded as one of the finest in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. At the basement was Mint Café – Asia’s very first toy-themed café.
I arrived early and did a quick tour of the place before the event started at the 3rd Level and was greeted with toys and characters that I was familiar with – from Popeye to Ultraman, to retro Matchbox car collectibles, Kampung toys and even the Beatles.
All the guests were later treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner consisting of Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Seafood Platter (Calamari, Dory Fillet, & Scallops), Bruschetta (Wild Mushrooms, Tomato Checca & Salmon Cream), and Linguini with Crab Sauce.
Personally, I thought the Wild Mushroom Bruschetta was the best – the toast was crispy and the mushrooms were flavoursome. I bet the salmon cream ones were just as great but unfortunately, I didn’t managed to lay my hands on them before they were cleared out. Oh, the desserts were pretty lovely as well, especially the Strawberry Panna Cotta - the sourish berries was a delightful complement to the sweet pudding.
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Before J.Co arrives in this little small dot, I'd read bloggers from across the causeway sharing how good it is and how much they love it. So when I head they've set up their very first outlet at Raffles city, I was delighted! Off I went to try the infamous J.Co donuts.
When I was there, the queue wasn't as long as I'd expected. Instead the competition nearby, Donut Factory, was having a longer queue than J.Co.
I joined in the queue and started observing the staff behind the counter. They've in place an ordering system where each staff is incharge of some flavors within the hand-reach. And each customer is given a number for their order. The first staff will ask the quantity you want to buy and get the boxes ready. She's in charge of the first few flavors and will issue you a number when she passes you to the next staff who'll serve you for the rest of the flavors available. When you're done with your selection, you'll then proceed to the cashier where they'll tally your order and collect payment.
This seem like a systematic and effective way for them. But its not so friendly to some of the customers. Especially if they're there for the first time and not sure of what flavors they want. I would recommend to decide on the flavors and quantity for each before you reach the first staff. This will surely speed up the ordering process.
Hmm... looks like I've spent more time typing and explaining the process rather than talking about the donuts! Well, because, after tasting almost all the brands of donuts available in Singapore and also those from Krispy Kreme, I find the J.Co is just another brand of donuts. Nothing much to wow about. Other than some of the interesting looking ones with special names for some, there's just nothing much I would comment on. But because this is the only outlet here in Singapore, for now, I'm sure many will still queue to buy some just to get a taste of this sweet indulgence that is still getting the attention for the mass in Singapore.
As for me, I'll be staying away from these fattening snacks for now. :)
Together with a few Yebbers, we met at mint cafe for an informal gathering. The cafe is cosy and comfy. Located at the basement of mint museum, decorated to the theme of the museum. The cafe is filled with retro looking movie posters and toys. Even the cushion on the seats were printed with robot (if I'd not remembered wrongly). The cafe thou small, house quite a good variety of food.
Some of us ordered their set lunch at $13.80 and some ordered the tea set at $7.80 .
There's a few mains that one can choose for their set lunch. And the set comes with soup, main, dessert and drink. As for the tea sets, one can choose any cakes/desserts in the menu and any of the tea/coffee available.
The soup served was nicely cooked and thick. For my set lunch, I ordered the Crispy Chicken Chop as my main. When it was served, I could smell the aroma coming from the generous piece of chicken. The main was served with mashed potato and side salad. One cut into the chicken and I knew I'm going to love it. Taking my first bite, I could taste the crispy crust and the meat inside was marinated and I love the taste. (Know when I'm writing this, I think this is the same chicken served at the night of Yebber's anniversary! No wonder it tasted familiarly delicious that night. Hot favorite by everyone.)
The dessert served with my lunch set was a tad too sweet for my liking. Couldn't remember what is its name thou.
On my other visit to the cafe, I ordered their tea set with Mississippi pie as the dessert. The chocolate mousse covering the layer of chocolate pie was not too sweet and complements the entire pie pretty well. I would recommend to enjoy the pie together with the whipped cream at the side. It's there for a reason. If you are not a whipped cream person, I recommend you try their other selections. Cos the pie gets a little "sick-to-eat" if eaten on its own.
Will surely be going back for their lunch set if I've the chance to. The spaghetti in their lunch set selection looks nice too.
Footnote After the event at mint, I would personally recommend anyone who's looking for a classy place to host your events at Mint museum. The staff are all very helpful and despite my long-winded conversation and constant reminders, the lady planning the event with me is always friendly and helpful. Thanks Mandy for the wonderful coordination and effort! As for the food, I'm sure many whom attended will agree with me that its good. Right?
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4) Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4) The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80) The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50) Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50) There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80) The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3) Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5) The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
I remember when TV Mobile first started, I was very disturbed. It was not properly set up and the whole system wasn't stable yet. I don't usually sleep on the bus but I find having some quiet time useful so it isn't really a boon.
At some places, TV mobile will tend to lag and freeze at certain scenes. Occasionally it would leave the actors/actresses in an ugly pose which will send me giggling. People probably think I'm weird then.
Now I think they've lowered the volume and ask people to tune in from the radio station if they wish to hear. But It's kinda like bring your own entertainment isn't it? I think it really defeats its purpose at times. Also very few people carry portable radios these days.
Nonetheless I always enjoy it when the Gags show up. That's my favourite. And I think lots of people enjoy watching it as it usually sends many people into peals of laughter.
TV mobile has a long way to go... meanwhile.. it's back to good ol' MP3.
Hua Xia Tai Mao Bi is a little shop in KK hospital which makes chinese brushes from children's hair. Newborns between 3 to 15 mths are brought to the shop to have their hair shaved off and made into chinese brushes for keeps.
I went with my friend's newborn that day and the lady patiently explained the process and let my friend choose the brush she wanted. They had quite a wide range,from fine ones to thicker ones. There were some with more intricate designs and others with simple paintings on them. The cheapest brush was $49 and the most expensive was $500 , I think.
Well the lady was quite gentle with my friend's 3 month old boy while shaving his head. He didn't cry at all and even fell asleep. He had plenty of hair so my friend chose 2 brushes.
The lady kept the enough to make the 2 brushes and returned my friend the rest. They had to go back 1 month later to collect the brushes. I was wondering to myself... how one would know whose hair was on the brush they made. Just purely based on trust I suppose.
Well the brushes DO NOT come in boxes and you have to purchase boxes too... which are slightly over $100...
The total for 2 brushes and a boxes to put both brushes in was $600.. which is a hefty sum I must say... I seriously don't think I would be spending this sort of money.
But I would have to give the lady credit for being so patient and providing such good service. Apparently Zoe Tay had her brushes done there too!
1=SGD 0.0587
Their signature Warm Chocolate Cake is sinfully delectable. Described as the “melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake oozing with rich Valrhona chocolate”, Valrhona, founded since 1924, focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. And I would say what a huge difference it made especially since I could evaluate it to the second-rated one I had at Friends@Jelita. Also the warmness of the cake prepared freshly by the chef harmonised perfectly with the cold Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream. What is also often overlooked is the Orange Confit at the bottom that amazingly complements the bittersweet chocolate cake giving it a subtle fruity flavour to it.
Finally rinse it off with the revitalising Lavender Violet Lime that comes in a romantic purple – an Italian soda with lavender flavoured syrup that tasted so refreshing. I like it as it wasn’t very sweet but however, I would prefer if peppermint leaf were used to give it a better lift instead of the lime, as the drink tends to turn bitter towards the end. My friend had the Strawberry Lavender Lime that is very much sweeter but still as good. Definitely a favourite with the ladies!
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
The good thing about working in a foreign company is you get to meet lots of people from different walks of life from different nationalities, discovering different cultures and traditions. In my company, I have worked with Americans, Dutch, Swiss, Japanese, Korean, Malaysians, Indians, Filipinos and Chinese to name a few. And it was one day that my Korean colleague introduced me to Korean food at this place. She said she find the standard of food served here similar, if not better, than most of the other Korean restaurant she has been to so far - for a fraction of the price.
Taking her word for it, we ventured to Le Meridien for one of our lunches. Lunch was Spicy Beef Soup with rice plus a choice of condiment between Kimchi, Cucumber, or Anchovies.
Serving was generous with the bowl filled to the brim with Beef, Tofu and stalks of Spring Onions (It helps that I love eating spring onions!). The soup with a dash of Sesame Seeds was served piping hot and although MSG laced, the hint of spiciness make the soup truly enjoyable to taste.
The beef slices could have been bigger but for a meal costing less than $10, I have no complains against the serving and standard of the food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
On Friday, it was an honour to be invited to Yebber’s 1st anniversary event. The event was held in Mint (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) – Museum of Toys, across from Raffles Hotel. Showcasing an extensive collection of vintage toys from all over the world, it is regarded as one of the finest in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. At the basement was Mint Café – Asia’s very first toy-themed café.
I arrived early and did a quick tour of the place before the event started at the 3rd Level and was greeted with toys and characters that I was familiar with – from Popeye to Ultraman, to retro Matchbox car collectibles, Kampung toys and even the Beatles.
All the guests were later treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner consisting of Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Seafood Platter (Calamari, Dory Fillet, & Scallops), Bruschetta (Wild Mushrooms, Tomato Checca & Salmon Cream), and Linguini with Crab Sauce.
Personally, I thought the Wild Mushroom Bruschetta was the best – the toast was crispy and the mushrooms were flavoursome. I bet the salmon cream ones were just as great but unfortunately, I didn’t managed to lay my hands on them before they were cleared out. Oh, the desserts were pretty lovely as well, especially the Strawberry Panna Cotta - the sourish berries was a delightful complement to the sweet pudding.
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
Not as special as I thought
Before J.Co arrives in this little small dot, I'd read bloggers from across the causeway sharing how good it is and how much they love it. So when I head they've set up their very first outlet at Raffles city, I was delighted! Off I went to try the infamous J.Co donuts.
When I was there, the queue wasn't as long as I'd expected. Instead the competition nearby, Donut Factory, was having a longer queue than J.Co.
I joined in the queue and started observing the staff behind the counter. They've in place an ordering system where each staff is incharge of some flavors within the hand-reach. And each customer is given a number for their order. The first staff will ask the quantity you want to buy and get the boxes ready. She's in charge of the first few flavors and will issue you a number when she passes you to the next staff who'll serve you for the rest of the flavors available. When you're done with your selection, you'll then proceed to the cashier where they'll tally your order and collect payment.
This seem like a systematic and effective way for them. But its not so friendly to some of the customers. Especially if they're there for the first time and not sure of what flavors they want. I would recommend to decide on the flavors and quantity for each before you reach the first staff. This will surely speed up the ordering process.
Hmm... looks like I've spent more time typing and explaining the process rather than talking about the donuts! Well, because, after tasting almost all the brands of donuts available in Singapore and also those from Krispy Kreme, I find the J.Co is just another brand of donuts. Nothing much to wow about. Other than some of the interesting looking ones with special names for some, there's just nothing much I would comment on. But because this is the only outlet here in Singapore, for now, I'm sure many will still queue to buy some just to get a taste of this sweet indulgence that is still getting the attention for the mass in Singapore.
As for me, I'll be staying away from these fattening snacks for now. :)
Rating given:
Lovely place with lovely food
Together with a few Yebbers, we met at mint cafe for an informal gathering. The cafe is cosy and comfy. Located at the basement of mint museum, decorated to the theme of the museum. The cafe is filled with retro looking movie posters and toys. Even the cushion on the seats were printed with robot (if I'd not remembered wrongly). The cafe thou small, house quite a good variety of food.
Some of us ordered their set lunch at $13.80 and some ordered the tea set at $7.80 .
There's a few mains that one can choose for their set lunch. And the set comes with soup, main, dessert and drink. As for the tea sets, one can choose any cakes/desserts in the menu and any of the tea/coffee available.
The soup served was nicely cooked and thick. For my set lunch, I ordered the Crispy Chicken Chop as my main. When it was served, I could smell the aroma coming from the generous piece of chicken. The main was served with mashed potato and side salad. One cut into the chicken and I knew I'm going to love it. Taking my first bite, I could taste the crispy crust and the meat inside was marinated and I love the taste. (Know when I'm writing this, I think this is the same chicken served at the night of Yebber's anniversary! No wonder it tasted familiarly delicious that night. Hot favorite by everyone.)
The dessert served with my lunch set was a tad too sweet for my liking. Couldn't remember what is its name thou.
On my other visit to the cafe, I ordered their tea set with Mississippi pie as the dessert. The chocolate mousse covering the layer of chocolate pie was not too sweet and complements the entire pie pretty well. I would recommend to enjoy the pie together with the whipped cream at the side. It's there for a reason. If you are not a whipped cream person, I recommend you try their other selections. Cos the pie gets a little "sick-to-eat" if eaten on its own.
Will surely be going back for their lunch set if I've the chance to. The spaghetti in their lunch set selection looks nice too.
Footnote
After the event at mint, I would personally recommend anyone who's looking for a classy place to host your events at Mint museum. The staff are all very helpful and despite my long-winded conversation and constant reminders, the lady planning the event with me is always friendly and helpful. Thanks Mandy for the wonderful coordination and effort! As for the food, I'm sure many whom attended will agree with me that its good. Right?
Rating given:
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4)
Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4)
The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80)
The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50)
Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50)
There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80)
The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3)
Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5)
The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” I love dim sum, dim sum love me “
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My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
See all my pictures here
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I remember when TV Mobile first started, I was very disturbed. It was not properly set up and the whole system wasn't stable yet. I don't usually sleep on the bus but I find having some quiet time useful so it isn't really a boon.
At some places, TV mobile will tend to lag and freeze at certain scenes. Occasionally it would leave the actors/actresses in an ugly pose which will send me giggling. People probably think I'm weird then.
Now I think they've lowered the volume and ask people to tune in from the radio station if they wish to hear. But It's kinda like bring your own entertainment isn't it? I think it really defeats its purpose at times. Also very few people carry portable radios these days.
Nonetheless I always enjoy it when the Gags show up. That's my favourite. And I think lots of people enjoy watching it as it usually sends many people into peals of laughter.
TV mobile has a long way to go... meanwhile.. it's back to good ol' MP3.
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Hua Xia Tai Mao Bi is a little shop in KK hospital which makes chinese brushes from children's hair. Newborns between 3 to 15 mths are brought to the shop to have their hair shaved off and made into chinese brushes for keeps.
I went with my friend's newborn that day and the lady patiently explained the process and let my friend choose the brush she wanted. They had quite a wide range,from fine ones to thicker ones. There were some with more intricate designs and others with simple paintings on them. The cheapest brush was $49 and the most expensive was $500 , I think.
Well the lady was quite gentle with my friend's 3 month old boy while shaving his head. He didn't cry at all and even fell asleep. He had plenty of hair so my friend chose 2 brushes.
The lady kept the enough to make the 2 brushes and returned my friend the rest. They had to go back 1 month later to collect the brushes. I was wondering to myself... how one would know whose hair was on the brush they made. Just purely based on trust I suppose.
Well the brushes DO NOT come in boxes and you have to purchase boxes too... which are slightly over $100...
The total for 2 brushes and a boxes to put both brushes in was $600.. which is a hefty sum I must say... I seriously don't think I would be spending this sort of money.
But I would have to give the lady credit for being so patient and providing such good service. Apparently Zoe Tay had her brushes done there too!
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