I was here once for a farewell dinner. Recommended dishes are Oatmeal prawns and the sweet and sour fish. It's also famous for its buffet.
Went there for a second time as a friend was holding a wedding dinner there. The food arrived in a timely order. The food for the wedding seem to taste better.
The overall ambience for this place can be rather old since it has been there for quite some time. It isn't that big for more than 30 tables. I had to squeeze myself each time I tried to leave my table. It is suitable for a small wedding though.
On normal days, the tables are not so close together.
The Singapore Flyer is touted as the world’s largest observation wheel, even higher than London Eye. Our nation’s pride. Minor breakdowns before were already ominous signals that a catastrophe will happen one day. Alas, the dreadful thing finally struck. How the mighty has fallen. The management should have already looked into and made backup plans, but it failed anyway. Now, time for us to do some self-reflections and damage-recovery.
While the flyer remains closed for investigations, the ones to suffer the backslash are the restaurants and other tenents. Senso Bistro, is coming up with a 50% promotion off all their a la carte menu from now until the flyer starts operating (date unknown yet).
The natural vibe of the restaurant, with its simple layout and decorations, provided a good place for either a causal lunch, or nice dinner without burning a hole in the pocket.
Not to mention there’s also al fresco dining, which would be ideal for dinner, with the sea breeze and eating under the stars making it a romantic affair.
The waiter kindly asked us whether we’ll like some garlic bread ($4) while waiting, but he failed to mention it’s not free. Naturally when he offered us bread i thought it was complimentary. There’s no free lunch in this world. All right, it’s not so much about the money, we are talking about principle, like shouldn’t they at least inform us the bread wasn’t complimentary? Next time, don’t be shy, ask!
With ten selections to choose from the Pizze menu, we were spoilt for choices. To be on the safe side, we went for the popular Hawaiian ($18 before 50% discount). The paper-thin pizza was huge, with eight slices easily filling up the four of us. The ingredients of pineapple, cooked ham were very generous. The only gripe? I lamented the fact that the pizza did not have enough mozzarella cheese. Still, with the promotion, it’s definitely a steal at just under ten bucks. It made the one I’ve at Galbiati looked pathetic.
Grilled tuna loin coated in fresh herbs. The Tonno ($24 before 50% discount) was a disappointment really. The fish was over-cooked, making the meat too dry and hard. I liked the side vegetables that came with it, lightly stir-fried, the greens were crunchy and fresh.
When asked to choose between the T-bone steak and veal loin, the manager recommended the latter for the delicate taste and tender texture. Veal loin is the meat of calves, and at Bistro Senso, the pan-fried veal loin scaloppine ($24 before discount) can be done in three different methods. Ours were ‘alla Pizzaiola’ with tomato and mozzarella cheese. The whole taste was like having a steak-pizza. A refreshing combination, but the meat was not tender enough, and came across as too tough. And since we had pizza already, now i’m wishing i chose the other method of breaded and golden crispy instead.
And how can we not have any pasta from an Italian bistro? The Ravioli ($18 before 50% discount) was essentially lobster and crab pasta served with assorted seafood ragout in tomato and basil sauce. This was actually my first time having a ravioli pasta. The tomato and basil sauce was flavourful and strong in taste. The prawns and squids were fresh, but to be frank, I didn’t quite enjoy ravioli. I still preferred my pasta to be spaghetti or linguine. Personal taste.
I was eagerly anticipating the desserts, well most people would find tiramisu ($8 before 50% discount) boring and chose some other interesting options. But there was no way I’m going to miss out trying the popular Italian dessert from an Italiano joint. The mascarpone cream was too light, and the espresso taste was not strong.
Another famous Italian dessert, Pannacotta ($8 before 50% discount). The bouncy texture was evident, but i couldn’t figure out what’s in the double cream flan. The raspberry coulis did provided a contrast with the pannacotta.
The last one, Creme brulee ($8 before 50% discount). The oven-baked egg custard of the Italian dessert did taste rather like our Chinese egg tarts. The caramelised sugar on top of the dessert wasn’t burned enough, and lacked the torched burnt taste.
Total bill was $65.91 for 4 person after a 50% discount. Although i wasn’t very impressed with the food, but with the promotional prices, the food is really cheap! The pizzas and pastas are like 9 bucks each, and the main course 12 bucks. The soothing ambience with the inexpensive price means that you should visit Senso Bistro before the Singapore Flyer reopens. Talk about patriotism, and national pride.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
We walked along the narrow street, wondering where was our destination. The road seems so distant, the future so vague. Just like the route we took, there’s much hurdle to be clear. At long last, we arrived, Dim joy.
Culture of all walks of life, our very own roots. Dim Joy offers a perspective much more than just eating dim sum. Its about the art of appreciating dim sum, the approach in understanding our culture. I like the small details they look into, like how they have tiny notes on the teapot to teach people about the correct method of teapot refill, like how they print their own manuals on the chopstick cover to educate about chopstick etiquette. Small little things like these, make a whole lot of differences.
Nestled in a shop house on neil road, the restaurant quaint and tranquil environment made me feel at home upon entering. There wasn’t much people on a weekday lunch, we had the whole lovely place to ourselves. This is just a place where you can seat down and chill for the whole day.
The simplistic approach to the chief, King shrimp har gao ($4). The whole taste was very subtle, the prawns were fresh, but the skin was again, too thick. While it wasn’t fantastic, dim sum just isn’t dim sum without har gao.
There wasn’t much difference with the Barbecued pork & celery in rice rolls ($5) too. It was way too short if i were to compare it with elsewhere. There was also the option of having the rice rolls in claypot, but i dismissed it as gimmick. I wanted a good steamed and savoury rice roll in light sauce.
There were bits of char siew which could passed off as bacon strips. And we were wondering how cool it’ll be if there’s bacon rice rolls. Nonetheless, the taste was again, very subtle and tame if i may just use the word. I didn’t quite enjoy the celery within too.
I was eagerly anticipating the Honey-syrup char siew bun ($3). With such a sweet name, we were like bees attracted to the beauty of the honey pot. The white pillowry bun was soft and fluffy, very good! But the char siew fillings could be better. While its sweet with honey-syrup infused, the fillings were too little, and i’ll preferred it to be more moist, like their char siew sou.
There is also Siew mai ($3.50 for 4), another dim sum staple. Chewy, shrimpy and not too oily. Value for money definitely, and its the only one that comes two by two. The ratio of shrimp to pork outnumbers greatly, with only a small portion of lean pork meat.
I always choose Pan-fried radish cake ($3) over its steamed cousins. I love the slightly charred surface of the carrot cake, but this one wasn’t charred enough. Well unlike most carrot cakes which are very filling, this one wasn’t very starchy, and had a different taste from the ones which i tried before. The jury’s out on this, you need to make your judgement.
Personally, i ain’t a big fan of the beancurd skin roll ($4.50) but my companion wanted to try this, so here we go. Instead of the typical prawn fillings, this one was all about mushrooms. The skin was a bit raw, and taste almost like beancurd, well it’s made from beancurd after all. The wholesome, vegetarian fillings within the beancurd skin roll didn’t work for me. But my companion rather enjoyed her helpings.
Now, my choice. The char siew so ($3.50) bears a great resemblance to our festive pineapple tarts. Golden brown in colour, with the buttery egg-graze taste on the pastry. While it didn’t come in the form of my favourite flaky skin, Dim Joy’s rendition was unique in its own right.
This time, the sweet honey infuse char siew fillings were more generous, and it was very moist within the pastry. But the char siew did lacked certain texture, and given time to improve, it’ll be better.
We were half-decided on ordering the Custard bun ($3) since we heard it wasn’t that good. But we decided to try for ourselves, taste after all is a very subjective thing. The vital factor for a good custard bun, the oozing out of the golden custard fillings. This one did, the molten custards flowed out of the bun, just like the lava erupted from a volcano. The salty egg yolk taste wasn’t strong enough, the bun was soft but, there’s some fine particles which we guessed was course sugar not dissolved properly. I had the best, and the worst before, this one would be good given some minor tweaks.
While i know Lingnan is an area in China, i couldn’t see the link what the place got to do with the Lingnan egg tart ($3.50 for 4). The best part about Dim Joy during weekend was there wasn’t much people around, so everything was made freshly, rather than pre-made. We waited 25 minutes just for the egg tarts to come out freshly baked. The egg fillings were nice and wet, but the pastry lacked the buttery undertone.
Total bill was $42.35 for 2 person. I must say, with 9 dim sum between us, the prices are fairly reasonable given the standards of the dim sum. I’ll definitely make a perennial visit again, and for that, See you there! And just for some background information, Michelle Saram’s the partner behind Dim Joy.
It also helped that Dim Joy served dim sum throughout the day, even during dinner. Most places don’t serve dim sum at night, so it’s a nice place if you are craving for dim sum after the sun set. I heard they are packed during weekend, so avoid the crowd come on the weekdays instead.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Television often play an important part in our life, and definitely have great influence on many people. But the debates on whether it is a good thing or not continues to rage on. Many certainly thinks that Television’s one of the greatest inventions, while some in the other camp believe that it is a bad influence on children, especially so when they get addicted to watching TV programmes. Did you ever hear a parent telling her kid to watch more TV shows?
Recently, we have a television show on Channel 8, “Buffet Buffet” which has garnered much interest among the young and the old. And its hard not to see why, food-related programmes have always been a hit with the audience, not to mention this one introduce all kinds of buffets in Singapore. I saw Penang place restaurant on one of the episodes, and since the price is reasonably cheap and near to my place, why not?
If you just watch the crowd in the place without knowing where is it, you’ll never guess its located within the International Business park (IBP) at Jurong. Perhaps that’s exactly the reason why the owner set up shop there, since there’s so many hungry white collar workers in all the offices around. The atrium building is just beside Creative, so its pretty easy to find, and there’s shutter bus from Jurong East mrt station.
Penang place oozes a sense of tranquil with its simple furnitures, and the water settings just beside the restaurant. It was fully packed when we visited on a weekday lunch, Singaporeans do love their buffets!
The selections actually is pretty decent given its reasonable pricing of $19.80 for weekday buffet lunch.
The Penang laksa actually comes in the form of Assam laksa, sour and spicy in taste, which differed greatly from our local version. The katong-laksa purist might not take quite well to this, which is more like a mix between tom-yam soup and laksa, with the sourish taste dominating the taste bud. But that’s the authentic Penang laksa for you.
I was rather impressed with the seafood soup, well for one it tasted like shark fin soup (even though there’s no shark fin of course), and secondly, i felt that it was similar to my mom’s home-made soup, and that’s a compliment!
What do you think of when I mentioned Penang? The name synonymous with the city is definitely Char Koay Teow. And if you didn’t notice, even the spelling differs slightly from ours. Well, there’s also Assam laksa, wonton mee and hokkien mee too, but Char Koay Teow certainly is the one which leave most people with memorable memories of Penang. Their rendition comes slightly spicy, not too oily and with a generous serving of ingredients. And the best part? Penang Place actually replenished their char koay teow in small portions very often, since it’s like the most popular dish there. While Char koay teow has a reputation for being unhealthy, and even though i had eaten it twice that week, i couldn’t help myself to second helpings. My sinful food.
The Nasi Lemak is served simple and nice with the fragnant rice, crunchy ikan billies, crispy peanut with cooling cucumbers. There are some other common dishes like curry chicken, fried food, but one dish which i found it good was the Batu Uban Ayam Panggang, which was seasoned grilled chicken with peanut sauce. A pity it was gone when i wanted to take a shot of it.
Glutinous rice is often use in the Asian context, and its no surprise to see the Kueh Salat here. Basically steamed glutinous rice topped with a layer of pandan flavoured custard. Well, i didn’t know if it’s just me or what, but i didn’t really enjoy glutinous rice done this way. The taste was rather weird for my liking, and i guessed i still prefer the Chinese dim sum glutinous rice in lotus leaf.
One of my personal favourites, the Kueh Dardan was actually pandan flavoured pancakes filled with sweetened coconut shavings. The pancakes were very soft and nice, with the coconut shavings coming not too heavy. Easily finished a few of them even thought we were full from the buffet.
Another dessert, or rather kueh that i enjoyed was the Kueh Talam. Essentially a pandan flavoured cake topped with a savoury coconut milk layer, the pandan cake was very fragnant indeed.
Total bill was $69.90 for 3 person at their weekday lunch buffet. I must say, for $23 per head after taxes and service charges, its rather reasonable for the amount of food served. Note, i didn’t say its excellent, but for the price, its rather acceptable since i find it hard to name another place serving buffet in the 20 dollar range which is good. I guess the money will be worth it if you eat more of their Char Koay teow which will cost $8.90 if you order a plate a la carte.
The location might be a tad difficult, since its within the International Business Park, people wouldn’t travel all the way there just for their buffet, but i did. Well for the rest of you lucky souls who are working in the area, i’ll say this is one place to check out for lunch when you are in the mood for a longer lunch.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I couldn’t forget you, no, not after what happen last time.
The two sided face of you. You were rich and good to me before.
But you showed me your cold side now.
I know we couldn’t be together.
But i can’t stop thinking of you.
Until we meet again, my duck.
The scones ($2.50) from Caffe Beviamo was soft and fluffy, with a buttery undertone.There wasn’t any “wow” from the strawberry jam, but it was enough to compliment the warm scones. If i may say so in my humble opinion, the ones here are better than the legendary Royal Copenhagen scones.
When you run out of names for your desserts, why not try some creative ones which can attract others attention? That’s exactly what Beviamo did. The hummingbird cake ($3.50) had was pineapple, banana and coconut involved, definitely no bird or what so ever. I love to eat pineapple and banana on its own, but to have them in cake is completely a different story all together. Banana cakes are just not for me, some things just can’t be forced.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Thanks to a dear friend, I got a chance to enjoy their lunch buffet recently. According to her, the variety of dishes has become lesser as compared to before they renovated and moved up the place. Not sure how long ago was that thou.
When I was there, the crowd were mostly the senior citizens who've retired and has lots of time (and money) to spend. There were also families and taitai look-alike there. If not for the lunch meeting, I would probably never have a chance to dine at such a place.
The food though variety is not plentiful, but the spread was good enough for lunch. And the most important thing is that its fresh and taste very well.
My favorite from that day was the Thai Seafood Curry, Fresh Salmon Sashimi, couple of the appertisers and the hazelnut chocolate cake from the desserts bar.
And the highlight at Rose Veranda is the huge variety of tea available free-flow(!!!) for customers. I spent 15minutes going through and deciding which to try. If I had the time, I would have ordered like few options (one after another) to try more varieties.
Rose Veranda is a great place to spend the afternoon with friends over good quality tea and great food. The setting is very comfortable and they've got very comfy sofa seats too.
If you're planning to give it a try, don't forget to call for reservations! Even if its on a weekday!
Its one of those rare days where you'll find me in a KTV room. But after that night with the crazy bunch, I think I'll be visiting these cosy rooms pretty often! They made KTV so fun and enjoyable! It's the best session I've had in years!
Like all KTV places, there'll be the standard fruit platters and tidbits which you're "forced" to pay for. And imo, the tidbits is to make our throat feel uncomfortable so that we will order more drinks to smoothen it so we can sing more songs/ better. But of course, you can choose not to those these tidbits and let it lao hong (gets soften) over the 4 hours in the air con room.
The collection of songs was great and about 85% of those we selected were of original mtv. The sound system was very good too. Except for one of the mic in our room which couldn't be turned off. The room was just nice for 9 of us, and the sofas were clean and comfortable too.
One thing I learned about singing at KTV rooms is never to go late! If you book the room at 10pm, be there on time. Their clock starts counting from 10pm instead of 10.30pm where we finally got settled in the room. So instead of the full 4 hours of singing time, we sang for only 3.5 hours.
I'm so looking forward to our next session together! Let's try their other outlets too!
Thanks to the food hunters! We managed to have our Christmas dinner at this hidden place. I think I've heard about it before but never really thought of trying it. But no regret after I tried it.
When we arrived, the place was empty with only one table filled. But as the night comes, the place gets very packed with hungry families and friends.
The choice of food is pretty decent, and they're fresh. Agree that the beef was fantastic! We should have ordered more of it! Love the mini custard bao which needs exactly 2mins in the boiling steamboat to cook/ heat it.
Their choice of cooked food though little, but they are of good quality too imo. Love the lemongrass chicken, fried chicken wing, sotong you tiao and cucumbers!
The service staff were helpful too. When the table couldn't put that huge number of plates we ordered, they helped us "throw" all the food into our steamboats too.
And do you know who owns this place? Its Terrence Cao the TCS actor.
Nice place for gatherings and hungry souls.
*No photos caused everyone was hungry and too lazy to take out our cameras! LOL!
They have been away for a long time now; the feel, touch, sight, smell were always in their mind, but its gradually fading away with each day passed. How they wished they could be back, but reality often gets the better of man. He missed the food, while she yearned for the familiar environment.
It struck them after entering the place, the comfortable and cozy environment, just like home. Jia Wei restaurant. How apt.
To have Christmas without the festive turkey and ham (both sets), it’ll be like to have the Mid-autumn festival without the mooncakes, or going through Halloween without pumpkins. He found the meat was too tough and dry, while there was the wasabi sauce, it was insufficient and wasabi didn’t exactly compliment the turkey meat well. Luckily there was the fresh fruits salad to save the day.
The highlight of the menu will definitely be Jia Wei Superior Shark’s Fin soup (Festive cheers menu) in hot stone pot. Thick and generous portions are discovered, the excitement just like discovering a treasure cove. The hot stone pot played a vital role in keeping the rich stock base warm and nice, a notable fact after they tried the other shark’s fin soup which wasn’t served in the stone pot. This bowl of treasure will most likely cost you a bomb if you have it elsewhere, but at Jia Wei, they do it cheap and good, its available on their a la carte menu too. Eating a Chinese delicacy for a frosty Christmas, the thought of home seem so far away.
While the superior shark’s fin soup with Conpoy (Christmas glow menu) offered the same ingredients as the previous one in hotpot, but the differential in price obviously meant that the higher priced festive cheers menu had slightly more shark’s fin. This one was lukewarm by the time they started eating, while the hot stone pot one remained piping hot. The dumpling-wannabe actually had water chestnut, vegetarian mushrooms and crab rob.
The layer of fats aroused her inner feelings. There was a struggle to ignore the calories and enjoyed the bliss. The grilled special rack of lamb (Festive cheers menu) made her succumb to temptation. If they were not to mention anything, you’ll never know the use of Chinese wine, together with a bit of Japanese Sake created a wonderful sauce which covered the usual strong lamb/mutton smell. Without the fats, the rack of lamb wouldn’t be as good, since they largely contributed the tenderness to the overall taste. And, the sweetness of the meat was actually extracted by chewing and sucking the bones. Sinful, yet so good!
One of the dish which he missed a lot from home was pork. The pan-fried fillet of pork spare-rib (Christmas glow menu) was exactly what he needed to satisfy his needs and homesickness. The special seasoning was very peculiar, the inital guess of fruits were proven wrong. Done in Japanese style, the sauce was slightly sweet and sour, which provided a tangy robust taste. The pork was pan-fried that the crispy layer was just right for the meat. It was very delicious. The downside? Portions were dainty considering it’s the main course.
While the braised bai ling mushroom with broccoli (Festive cheers menu) was what his mother used to prepare, he didn’t quite enjoyed the dish since the overall taste was a tad too subtle for his liking. Yes, although this vegetables dish was supposed to be light since the previous few dishes were rather strong in flavour, so i guess its more of different taste buds.
The similar dish on the Christmas glow menu, braised dry scallop with sea cucumber and bamboo piths. The vegetables were fresh, but being neither a fan of scallop nor sea cucumber, they didn’t know how to appreciate it.
There’s reasons for relatives to look alike. Was it baby lobster? Or is it crayfish? Gosh, wait a minute, it does rather looks like a big prawn instead! The home-made noodles were springy and smooth to the palate. The big prawns were fresh and succulent. But, there’s always the big BUT to look out for. Having used stock base for the Shark’s fin, the vegetables dish, and now the noodles. They couldn’t finish the home-made noodles with prawn (both sets) because the excess usage of stock base did seem a bit too much.
The simple, yet refreshing chilled lemon jelly (Festive cheers menu) was definitely a welcoming dessert. With the robust lemon sorbet, and the light lemon jelly, the all-lemon combination provided a sweet ending to the Christmas feast.
On the other hand, there’s the chilled mango pudding (Christmas glow menu) which wasn’t as good as it lacked the bouncy and chewy texture that a good pudding should have.The whole mango flavour was also not very strong, but you’ve to give credits to them for making the mango pudding so pretty.
The oriental Christmas feast at Jia Wei brought them closer to home, and the whole meal took 3 half hours to complete.
Christmas Glow ($78 ) Festive turkey, ham and fresh fruits salad Superior Shark’s fins soup with conpoy Pan-fried fillet of pork spare-rib with special sauce Braised dry scallop with sea cucumber and bamboo piths Homemade noodles with prawn and conpoy Chilled mango pudding
Festive Cheers ($98 ) Festive turkey, ham and fresh fruits salad Jia Wei superior Shark’s fin soup in hot stone pot Grilled special rack of lamb with Chinese wine Braised bai ling mushroom with broccoli Homemade noodles with prawn and conpoy Chilled lemon jelly
Enjoy a 30% discount on the Christmas feast from Monday to Thursday, except on 24, 25, 31 Dec 2008 & 1 Jan 2009. This was an invited food tasting session, I’ll like to thank Keane and Shu Ling representing Grand Mercure Roxy hotel for being a wonderful host. I’ll also like to take the chance to praise Jia Wei’s assistance manager, Jessica who was very professional and knowledgeable about the cuisines. And also to my dining companion for being a good company (you know who you are).
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
My fourth, her third, another’s second, and many others first. Our common love for food. That’s how it all began. At the heart of East-Meet-West. Persimmon.
Kopitiam, the symbolic of our local heartlands. The place where everybody grew up sipping their milo & coffee, where everybody settled their three meals when their mother was on strike, and the gateway to many delicious heritage hawker food.
Persimmon is quintessentially a swanky and upmarket kopitiam, retaining the traditional feel by using the classic kopitiam furnitures and floor tiles. The furnishings were a combination between comtemporary and rustic. And not to mention her location is right in the middle of Tiong Bahru, with the shophouses and kopitiam lining side by side.
Choices of desserts pick from a la carte buffet. Bread pudding, carrot cake, mango pudding, panna cotta, chocolate mousse. For the discerning us, perhaps only the carrot cake made the cut.
The kong ba bao (stewed pork belly) was way off my radar. The bun was hard and dry, the meat was not fatty enough, and lacked the delicious gravy. And oh ya, it wasn’t part of our menu, but was under the a la carte buffet offered.
Inspired by NoSignBoard white pepper crab, Persimmon white pepper Crabcake is all about that. Enjoyed the white pepper “crab”, no doubt in the form of crabcake, without any hassle. Under the sunny weather, the crab was toned prefectly brown, with a crisp-cross shell, and savoury meat within. Adiós
The crown of Persimmon. Hainanese Chicken Salad. Featured in almost all the media publications, there isn’t any excuse for you to miss this dish. The concept is simple, Singaporeans loved their chicken rice, but dreaded the calories. So what do you do? Remove the rice, throw in some greens, and voila! Singapore’s very own Hainanese chicken salad. Poach chicken, fresh local herbs & mesclun greens, rise crisps, and special dressing.
Tomato base pasta? Boring! How about our rich cream base instead? I hate cream! Right, why not try our Linguine laksa leaf Pesto? Specially created for your exquisite taste buds, the laksa infused linguine will definitely blow you away with its unique taste. Think laksa, but swop the thick rice noodles with pasta. Some felt that the laksa leaf was too heavy and overwhelm the whole dish. On the other hand, i thought the pasta was perfectly fine. Innovative with a big I.
Mixed blonds (fusion) are interesting in some ways, and the 8 treasures certainly roused my curiosity. Three mushrooms, two nuts, chinese sausage, parmesan cheese and risotto. What happens when Italian Risotto combine with the 8 treasures? You get the 8 treasure Risotto! The intial impression was Glutinous rice, but it was way better. I need to be honest, i couldn’t taste all of you. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter, you are all mine!
Staying true with the principle of fusion food, we have the European-style steak meeting heads on with our Asian carrot cake. The grilled ribeye with “chye tao kueh” carrot cake is bound to make your eyes popped out. The carrot cake was fried with XO and balsamic, with the latter providing a sour taste. A vast contrast with the steak. Not everyone could accepted sour carrot cake with steak though. Aspiring combination, but somehow failed to sizzle with the seemingly weird taste.
Eaten alone, the Slow poached salmon with zuchinni ribbons didn’t come as tender as we thought it will. But dipped in the green curry sauce, the fish went through a make-over in the taste department. There was cucumbers used in the green curry, which caught my attention. Like what one of our fellow friend say, when you don’t understand, just say “fusion!“
Our humble Otak is given a upmarket transformation by going créme brulée. With richly flavoured spicy kaffir lime & coconut used as the main ingredients, there was fish mousse hidden beneath the otak. The otak creme brulee is a very creative fusion dish indeed, but the experiement could perhaps be better. Some of us found the otak to be too watery, and maybe it’s meant to be this way. But is créme brulée ever so soggy?
There was a slight tweak to the menu compared to the one i previously shown. And the cost per person was 20 dollar nett, which everybody agreed was a reasonable price given we managed to try a variety of food. I hope everybody enjoyed their meal, and see you all at the next LIC food outing! We had 27 people for this outing, which was quite a healthy figure.
Well, like what some of you mentioned, it was a case of hits and misses, fusion food is pretty much an experiment between the Asian and Western cuisines, and it was certainly interesting to try some food which we’ll never get to try elsewhere.
And not to forget, LIC outing is all about the fun, joy and laughter during the event, and getting to know more friends. I’ll also like to take the opportunity to thank Helena and Sharon, the co-owners of Persimmon for having us there.
For those who missed this Persimmon outing, you can get the best discounts when you mentioned ladyironchef while you are at Persimmon. So do go down and give the fusion food a try.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
1=SGD 0.0587
I was here once for a farewell dinner. Recommended dishes are Oatmeal prawns and the sweet and sour fish. It's also famous for its buffet.
Went there for a second time as a friend was holding a wedding dinner there. The food arrived in a timely order. The food for the wedding seem to taste better.
The overall ambience for this place can be rather old since it has been there for quite some time. It isn't that big for more than 30 tables. I had to squeeze myself each time I tried to leave my table. It is suitable for a small wedding though.
On normal days, the tables are not so close together.
Rating given:
The Singapore Flyer is touted as the world’s largest observation wheel, even higher than London Eye. Our nation’s pride. Minor breakdowns before were already ominous signals that a catastrophe will happen one day. Alas, the dreadful thing finally struck. How the mighty has fallen. The management should have already looked into and made backup plans, but it failed anyway. Now, time for us to do some self-reflections and damage-recovery.
While the flyer remains closed for investigations, the ones to suffer the backslash are the restaurants and other tenents. Senso Bistro, is coming up with a 50% promotion off all their a la carte menu from now until the flyer starts operating (date unknown yet).
The natural vibe of the restaurant, with its simple layout and decorations, provided a good place for either a causal lunch, or nice dinner without burning a hole in the pocket.
Not to mention there’s also al fresco dining, which would be ideal for dinner, with the sea breeze and eating under the stars making it a romantic affair.
The waiter kindly asked us whether we’ll like some garlic bread ($4) while waiting, but he failed to mention it’s not free. Naturally when he offered us bread i thought it was complimentary. There’s no free lunch in this world. All right, it’s not so much about the money, we are talking about principle, like shouldn’t they at least inform us the bread wasn’t complimentary? Next time, don’t be shy, ask!
With ten selections to choose from the Pizze menu, we were spoilt for choices. To be on the safe side, we went for the popular Hawaiian ($18 before 50% discount). The paper-thin pizza was huge, with eight slices easily filling up the four of us. The ingredients of pineapple, cooked ham were very generous. The only gripe? I lamented the fact that the pizza did not have enough mozzarella cheese. Still, with the promotion, it’s definitely a steal at just under ten bucks. It made the one I’ve at Galbiati looked pathetic.
Grilled tuna loin coated in fresh herbs. The Tonno ($24 before 50% discount) was a disappointment really. The fish was over-cooked, making the meat too dry and hard. I liked the side vegetables that came with it, lightly stir-fried, the greens were crunchy and fresh.
When asked to choose between the T-bone steak and veal loin, the manager recommended the latter for the delicate taste and tender texture. Veal loin is the meat of calves, and at Bistro Senso, the pan-fried veal loin scaloppine ($24 before discount) can be done in three different methods. Ours were ‘alla Pizzaiola’ with tomato and mozzarella cheese. The whole taste was like having a steak-pizza. A refreshing combination, but the meat was not tender enough, and came across as too tough. And since we had pizza already, now i’m wishing i chose the other method of breaded and golden crispy instead.
And how can we not have any pasta from an Italian bistro? The Ravioli ($18 before 50% discount) was essentially lobster and crab pasta served with assorted seafood ragout in tomato and basil sauce. This was actually my first time having a ravioli pasta. The tomato and basil sauce was flavourful and strong in taste. The prawns and squids were fresh, but to be frank, I didn’t quite enjoy ravioli. I still preferred my pasta to be spaghetti or linguine. Personal taste.
I was eagerly anticipating the desserts, well most people would find tiramisu ($8 before 50% discount) boring and chose some other interesting options. But there was no way I’m going to miss out trying the popular Italian dessert from an Italiano joint. The mascarpone cream was too light, and the espresso taste was not strong.
Another famous Italian dessert, Pannacotta ($8 before 50% discount). The bouncy texture was evident, but i couldn’t figure out what’s in the double cream flan. The raspberry coulis did provided a contrast with the pannacotta.
The last one, Creme brulee ($8 before 50% discount). The oven-baked egg custard of the Italian dessert did taste rather like our Chinese egg tarts. The caramelised sugar on top of the dessert wasn’t burned enough, and lacked the torched burnt taste.
Total bill was $65.91 for 4 person after a 50% discount. Although i wasn’t very impressed with the food, but with the promotional prices, the food is really cheap! The pizzas and pastas are like 9 bucks each, and the main course 12 bucks. The soothing ambience with the inexpensive price means that you should visit Senso Bistro before the Singapore Flyer reopens. Talk about patriotism, and national pride.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
We walked along the narrow street, wondering where was our destination. The road seems so distant, the future so vague. Just like the route we took, there’s much hurdle to be clear. At long last, we arrived, Dim joy.
Culture of all walks of life, our very own roots. Dim Joy offers a perspective much more than just eating dim sum. Its about the art of appreciating dim sum, the approach in understanding our culture. I like the small details they look into, like how they have tiny notes on the teapot to teach people about the correct method of teapot refill, like how they print their own manuals on the chopstick cover to educate about chopstick etiquette. Small little things like these, make a whole lot of differences.
Nestled in a shop house on neil road, the restaurant quaint and tranquil environment made me feel at home upon entering. There wasn’t much people on a weekday lunch, we had the whole lovely place to ourselves. This is just a place where you can seat down and chill for the whole day.
The simplistic approach to the chief, King shrimp har gao ($4). The whole taste was very subtle, the prawns were fresh, but the skin was again, too thick. While it wasn’t fantastic, dim sum just isn’t dim sum without har gao.
There wasn’t much difference with the Barbecued pork & celery in rice rolls ($5) too. It was way too short if i were to compare it with elsewhere. There was also the option of having the rice rolls in claypot, but i dismissed it as gimmick. I wanted a good steamed and savoury rice roll in light sauce.
There were bits of char siew which could passed off as bacon strips. And we were wondering how cool it’ll be if there’s bacon rice rolls. Nonetheless, the taste was again, very subtle and tame if i may just use the word. I didn’t quite enjoy the celery within too.
I was eagerly anticipating the Honey-syrup char siew bun ($3). With such a sweet name, we were like bees attracted to the beauty of the honey pot. The white pillowry bun was soft and fluffy, very good! But the char siew fillings could be better. While its sweet with honey-syrup infused, the fillings were too little, and i’ll preferred it to be more moist, like their char siew sou.
There is also Siew mai ($3.50 for 4), another dim sum staple. Chewy, shrimpy and not too oily. Value for money definitely, and its the only one that comes two by two. The ratio of shrimp to pork outnumbers greatly, with only a small portion of lean pork meat.
I always choose Pan-fried radish cake ($3) over its steamed cousins. I love the slightly charred surface of the carrot cake, but this one wasn’t charred enough. Well unlike most carrot cakes which are very filling, this one wasn’t very starchy, and had a different taste from the ones which i tried before. The jury’s out on this, you need to make your judgement.
Personally, i ain’t a big fan of the beancurd skin roll ($4.50) but my companion wanted to try this, so here we go. Instead of the typical prawn fillings, this one was all about mushrooms. The skin was a bit raw, and taste almost like beancurd, well it’s made from beancurd after all. The wholesome, vegetarian fillings within the beancurd skin roll didn’t work for me. But my companion rather enjoyed her helpings.
Now, my choice. The char siew so ($3.50) bears a great resemblance to our festive pineapple tarts. Golden brown in colour, with the buttery egg-graze taste on the pastry. While it didn’t come in the form of my favourite flaky skin, Dim Joy’s rendition was unique in its own right.
This time, the sweet honey infuse char siew fillings were more generous, and it was very moist within the pastry. But the char siew did lacked certain texture, and given time to improve, it’ll be better.
We were half-decided on ordering the Custard bun ($3) since we heard it wasn’t that good. But we decided to try for ourselves, taste after all is a very subjective thing. The vital factor for a good custard bun, the oozing out of the golden custard fillings. This one did, the molten custards flowed out of the bun, just like the lava erupted from a volcano. The salty egg yolk taste wasn’t strong enough, the bun was soft but, there’s some fine particles which we guessed was course sugar not dissolved properly. I had the best, and the worst before, this one would be good given some minor tweaks.
While i know Lingnan is an area in China, i couldn’t see the link what the place got to do with the Lingnan egg tart ($3.50 for 4). The best part about Dim Joy during weekend was there wasn’t much people around, so everything was made freshly, rather than pre-made. We waited 25 minutes just for the egg tarts to come out freshly baked. The egg fillings were nice and wet, but the pastry lacked the buttery undertone.
Total bill was $42.35 for 2 person. I must say, with 9 dim sum between us, the prices are fairly reasonable given the standards of the dim sum. I’ll definitely make a perennial visit again, and for that, See you there! And just for some background information, Michelle Saram’s the partner behind Dim Joy.
It also helped that Dim Joy served dim sum throughout the day, even during dinner. Most places don’t serve dim sum at night, so it’s a nice place if you are craving for dim sum after the sun set. I heard they are packed during weekend, so avoid the crowd come on the weekdays instead.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Television often play an important part in our life, and definitely have great influence on many people. But the debates on whether it is a good thing or not continues to rage on. Many certainly thinks that Television’s one of the greatest inventions, while some in the other camp believe that it is a bad influence on children, especially so when they get addicted to watching TV programmes. Did you ever hear a parent telling her kid to watch more TV shows?
Recently, we have a television show on Channel 8, “Buffet Buffet” which has garnered much interest among the young and the old. And its hard not to see why, food-related programmes have always been a hit with the audience, not to mention this one introduce all kinds of buffets in Singapore. I saw Penang place restaurant on one of the episodes, and since the price is reasonably cheap and near to my place, why not?
If you just watch the crowd in the place without knowing where is it, you’ll never guess its located within the International Business park (IBP) at Jurong. Perhaps that’s exactly the reason why the owner set up shop there, since there’s so many hungry white collar workers in all the offices around. The atrium building is just beside Creative, so its pretty easy to find, and there’s shutter bus from Jurong East mrt station.
Penang place oozes a sense of tranquil with its simple furnitures, and the water settings just beside the restaurant. It was fully packed when we visited on a weekday lunch, Singaporeans do love their buffets!
The selections actually is pretty decent given its reasonable pricing of $19.80 for weekday buffet lunch.
The Penang laksa actually comes in the form of Assam laksa, sour and spicy in taste, which differed greatly from our local version. The katong-laksa purist might not take quite well to this, which is more like a mix between tom-yam soup and laksa, with the sourish taste dominating the taste bud. But that’s the authentic Penang laksa for you.
I was rather impressed with the seafood soup, well for one it tasted like shark fin soup (even though there’s no shark fin of course), and secondly, i felt that it was similar to my mom’s home-made soup, and that’s a compliment!
What do you think of when I mentioned Penang? The name synonymous with the city is definitely Char Koay Teow. And if you didn’t notice, even the spelling differs slightly from ours. Well, there’s also Assam laksa, wonton mee and hokkien mee too, but Char Koay Teow certainly is the one which leave most people with memorable memories of Penang. Their rendition comes slightly spicy, not too oily and with a generous serving of ingredients. And the best part? Penang Place actually replenished their char koay teow in small portions very often, since it’s like the most popular dish there. While Char koay teow has a reputation for being unhealthy, and even though i had eaten it twice that week, i couldn’t help myself to second helpings. My sinful food.
The Nasi Lemak is served simple and nice with the fragnant rice, crunchy ikan billies, crispy peanut with cooling cucumbers. There are some other common dishes like curry chicken, fried food, but one dish which i found it good was the Batu Uban Ayam Panggang, which was seasoned grilled chicken with peanut sauce. A pity it was gone when i wanted to take a shot of it.
Glutinous rice is often use in the Asian context, and its no surprise to see the Kueh Salat here. Basically steamed glutinous rice topped with a layer of pandan flavoured custard. Well, i didn’t know if it’s just me or what, but i didn’t really enjoy glutinous rice done this way. The taste was rather weird for my liking, and i guessed i still prefer the Chinese dim sum glutinous rice in lotus leaf.
One of my personal favourites, the Kueh Dardan was actually pandan flavoured pancakes filled with sweetened coconut shavings. The pancakes were very soft and nice, with the coconut shavings coming not too heavy. Easily finished a few of them even thought we were full from the buffet.
Another dessert, or rather kueh that i enjoyed was the Kueh Talam. Essentially a pandan flavoured cake topped with a savoury coconut milk layer, the pandan cake was very fragnant indeed.
Total bill was $69.90 for 3 person at their weekday lunch buffet. I must say, for $23 per head after taxes and service charges, its rather reasonable for the amount of food served. Note, i didn’t say its excellent, but for the price, its rather acceptable since i find it hard to name another place serving buffet in the 20 dollar range which is good. I guess the money will be worth it if you eat more of their Char Koay teow which will cost $8.90 if you order a plate a la carte.
The location might be a tad difficult, since its within the International Business Park, people wouldn’t travel all the way there just for their buffet, but i did. Well for the rest of you lucky souls who are working in the area, i’ll say this is one place to check out for lunch when you are in the mood for a longer lunch.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Love is just like raindrops.
They evaporate, and leave stains behind.
I couldn’t forget you, no, not after what happen last time.
The two sided face of you.
You were rich and good to me before.
But you showed me your cold side now.
I know we couldn’t be together.
But i can’t stop thinking of you.
Until we meet again, my duck.
The scones ($2.50) from Caffe Beviamo was soft and fluffy, with a buttery undertone.There wasn’t any “wow” from the strawberry jam, but it was enough to compliment the warm scones. If i may say so in my humble opinion, the ones here are better than the legendary Royal Copenhagen scones.
When you run out of names for your desserts, why not try some creative ones which can attract others attention? That’s exactly what Beviamo did. The hummingbird cake ($3.50) had was pineapple, banana and coconut involved, definitely no bird or what so ever. I love to eat pineapple and banana on its own, but to have them in cake is completely a different story all together. Banana cakes are just not for me, some things just can’t be forced.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Thanks to a dear friend, I got a chance to enjoy their lunch buffet recently. According to her, the variety of dishes has become lesser as compared to before they renovated and moved up the place. Not sure how long ago was that thou.
When I was there, the crowd were mostly the senior citizens who've retired and has lots of time (and money) to spend. There were also families and taitai look-alike there. If not for the lunch meeting, I would probably never have a chance to dine at such a place.
The food though variety is not plentiful, but the spread was good enough for lunch. And the most important thing is that its fresh and taste very well.
My favorite from that day was the Thai Seafood Curry, Fresh Salmon Sashimi, couple of the appertisers and the hazelnut chocolate cake from the desserts bar.
And the highlight at Rose Veranda is the huge variety of tea available free-flow(!!!) for customers. I spent 15minutes going through and deciding which to try. If I had the time, I would have ordered like few options (one after another) to try more varieties.
Rose Veranda is a great place to spend the afternoon with friends over good quality tea and great food. The setting is very comfortable and they've got very comfy sofa seats too.
If you're planning to give it a try, don't forget to call for reservations! Even if its on a weekday!
Next to find chance to try The Line!
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Its one of those rare days where you'll find me in a KTV room. But after that night with the crazy bunch, I think I'll be visiting these cosy rooms pretty often! They made KTV so fun and enjoyable! It's the best session I've had in years!
Like all KTV places, there'll be the standard fruit platters and tidbits which you're "forced" to pay for. And imo, the tidbits is to make our throat feel uncomfortable so that we will order more drinks to smoothen it so we can sing more songs/ better. But of course, you can choose not to those these tidbits and let it lao hong (gets soften) over the 4 hours in the air con room.
The collection of songs was great and about 85% of those we selected were of original mtv. The sound system was very good too. Except for one of the mic in our room which couldn't be turned off. The room was just nice for 9 of us, and the sofas were clean and comfortable too.
One thing I learned about singing at KTV rooms is never to go late! If you book the room at 10pm, be there on time. Their clock starts counting from 10pm instead of 10.30pm where we finally got settled in the room. So instead of the full 4 hours of singing time, we sang for only 3.5 hours.
I'm so looking forward to our next session together! Let's try their other outlets too!
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Thanks to the food hunters! We managed to have our Christmas dinner at this hidden place. I think I've heard about it before but never really thought of trying it. But no regret after I tried it.
When we arrived, the place was empty with only one table filled. But as the night comes, the place gets very packed with hungry families and friends.
The choice of food is pretty decent, and they're fresh. Agree that the beef was fantastic! We should have ordered more of it! Love the mini custard bao which needs exactly 2mins in the boiling steamboat to cook/ heat it.
Their choice of cooked food though little, but they are of good quality too imo. Love the lemongrass chicken, fried chicken wing, sotong you tiao and cucumbers!
The service staff were helpful too. When the table couldn't put that huge number of plates we ordered, they helped us "throw" all the food into our steamboats too.
And do you know who owns this place? Its Terrence Cao the TCS actor.
Nice place for gatherings and hungry souls.
*No photos caused everyone was hungry and too lazy to take out our cameras! LOL!
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They have been away for a long time now; the feel, touch, sight, smell were always in their mind, but its gradually fading away with each day passed. How they wished they could be back, but reality often gets the better of man. He missed the food, while she yearned for the familiar environment.
It struck them after entering the place, the comfortable and cozy environment, just like home. Jia Wei restaurant. How apt.
To have Christmas without the festive turkey and ham (both sets), it’ll be like to have the Mid-autumn festival without the mooncakes, or going through Halloween without pumpkins. He found the meat was too tough and dry, while there was the wasabi sauce, it was insufficient and wasabi didn’t exactly compliment the turkey meat well. Luckily there was the fresh fruits salad to save the day.
The highlight of the menu will definitely be Jia Wei Superior Shark’s Fin soup (Festive cheers menu) in hot stone pot. Thick and generous portions are discovered, the excitement just like discovering a treasure cove. The hot stone pot played a vital role in keeping the rich stock base warm and nice, a notable fact after they tried the other shark’s fin soup which wasn’t served in the stone pot. This bowl of treasure will most likely cost you a bomb if you have it elsewhere, but at Jia Wei, they do it cheap and good, its available on their a la carte menu too. Eating a Chinese delicacy for a frosty Christmas, the thought of home seem so far away.
While the superior shark’s fin soup with Conpoy (Christmas glow menu) offered the same ingredients as the previous one in hotpot, but the differential in price obviously meant that the higher priced festive cheers menu had slightly more shark’s fin. This one was lukewarm by the time they started eating, while the hot stone pot one remained piping hot. The dumpling-wannabe actually had water chestnut, vegetarian mushrooms and crab rob.
The layer of fats aroused her inner feelings. There was a struggle to ignore the calories and enjoyed the bliss. The grilled special rack of lamb (Festive cheers menu) made her succumb to temptation. If they were not to mention anything, you’ll never know the use of Chinese wine, together with a bit of Japanese Sake created a wonderful sauce which covered the usual strong lamb/mutton smell. Without the fats, the rack of lamb wouldn’t be as good, since they largely contributed the tenderness to the overall taste. And, the sweetness of the meat was actually extracted by chewing and sucking the bones. Sinful, yet so good!
One of the dish which he missed a lot from home was pork. The pan-fried fillet of pork spare-rib (Christmas glow menu) was exactly what he needed to satisfy his needs and homesickness. The special seasoning was very peculiar, the inital guess of fruits were proven wrong. Done in Japanese style, the sauce was slightly sweet and sour, which provided a tangy robust taste. The pork was pan-fried that the crispy layer was just right for the meat. It was very delicious. The downside? Portions were dainty considering it’s the main course.
While the braised bai ling mushroom with broccoli (Festive cheers menu) was what his mother used to prepare, he didn’t quite enjoyed the dish since the overall taste was a tad too subtle for his liking. Yes, although this vegetables dish was supposed to be light since the previous few dishes were rather strong in flavour, so i guess its more of different taste buds.
The similar dish on the Christmas glow menu, braised dry scallop with sea cucumber and bamboo piths. The vegetables were fresh, but being neither a fan of scallop nor sea cucumber, they didn’t know how to appreciate it.
There’s reasons for relatives to look alike. Was it baby lobster? Or is it crayfish? Gosh, wait a minute, it does rather looks like a big prawn instead! The home-made noodles were springy and smooth to the palate. The big prawns were fresh and succulent. But, there’s always the big BUT to look out for. Having used stock base for the Shark’s fin, the vegetables dish, and now the noodles. They couldn’t finish the home-made noodles with prawn (both sets) because the excess usage of stock base did seem a bit too much.
The simple, yet refreshing chilled lemon jelly (Festive cheers menu) was definitely a welcoming dessert. With the robust lemon sorbet, and the light lemon jelly, the all-lemon combination provided a sweet ending to the Christmas feast.
On the other hand, there’s the chilled mango pudding (Christmas glow menu) which wasn’t as good as it lacked the bouncy and chewy texture that a good pudding should have.The whole mango flavour was also not very strong, but you’ve to give credits to them for making the mango pudding so pretty.
The oriental Christmas feast at Jia Wei brought them closer to home, and the whole meal took 3 half hours to complete.
Christmas Glow ($78 )
Festive turkey, ham and fresh fruits salad
Superior Shark’s fins soup with conpoy
Pan-fried fillet of pork spare-rib with special sauce
Braised dry scallop with sea cucumber and bamboo piths
Homemade noodles with prawn and conpoy
Chilled mango pudding
Festive Cheers ($98 )
Festive turkey, ham and fresh fruits salad
Jia Wei superior Shark’s fin soup in hot stone pot
Grilled special rack of lamb with Chinese wine
Braised bai ling mushroom with broccoli
Homemade noodles with prawn and conpoy
Chilled lemon jelly
Enjoy a 30% discount on the Christmas feast from Monday to Thursday, except on 24, 25, 31 Dec 2008 & 1 Jan 2009. This was an invited food tasting session, I’ll like to thank Keane and Shu Ling representing Grand Mercure Roxy hotel for being a wonderful host. I’ll also like to take the chance to praise Jia Wei’s assistance manager, Jessica who was very professional and knowledgeable about the cuisines. And also to my dining companion for being a good company (you know who you are).
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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My fourth, her third, another’s second, and many others first. Our common love for food. That’s how it all began. At the heart of East-Meet-West. Persimmon.
Kopitiam, the symbolic of our local heartlands. The place where everybody grew up sipping their milo & coffee, where everybody settled their three meals when their mother was on strike, and the gateway to many delicious heritage hawker food.
Persimmon is quintessentially a swanky and upmarket kopitiam, retaining the traditional feel by using the classic kopitiam furnitures and floor tiles. The furnishings were a combination between comtemporary and rustic. And not to mention her location is right in the middle of Tiong Bahru, with the shophouses and kopitiam lining side by side.
Choices of desserts pick from a la carte buffet. Bread pudding, carrot cake, mango pudding, panna cotta, chocolate mousse. For the discerning us, perhaps only the carrot cake made the cut.
The kong ba bao (stewed pork belly) was way off my radar. The bun was hard and dry, the meat was not fatty enough, and lacked the delicious gravy. And oh ya, it wasn’t part of our menu, but was under the a la carte buffet offered.
Inspired by NoSignBoard white pepper crab, Persimmon white pepper Crabcake is all about that. Enjoyed the white pepper “crab”, no doubt in the form of crabcake, without any hassle. Under the sunny weather, the crab was toned prefectly brown, with a crisp-cross shell, and savoury meat within. Adiós
The crown of Persimmon. Hainanese Chicken Salad. Featured in almost all the media publications, there isn’t any excuse for you to miss this dish. The concept is simple, Singaporeans loved their chicken rice, but dreaded the calories. So what do you do? Remove the rice, throw in some greens, and voila! Singapore’s very own Hainanese chicken salad. Poach chicken, fresh local herbs & mesclun greens, rise crisps, and special dressing.
Tomato base pasta? Boring! How about our rich cream base instead? I hate cream! Right, why not try our Linguine laksa leaf Pesto? Specially created for your exquisite taste buds, the laksa infused linguine will definitely blow you away with its unique taste. Think laksa, but swop the thick rice noodles with pasta. Some felt that the laksa leaf was too heavy and overwhelm the whole dish. On the other hand, i thought the pasta was perfectly fine. Innovative with a big I.
Mixed blonds (fusion) are interesting in some ways, and the 8 treasures certainly roused my curiosity. Three mushrooms, two nuts, chinese sausage, parmesan cheese and risotto. What happens when Italian Risotto combine with the 8 treasures? You get the 8 treasure Risotto! The intial impression was Glutinous rice, but it was way better. I need to be honest, i couldn’t taste all of you. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter, you are all mine!
Staying true with the principle of fusion food, we have the European-style steak meeting heads on with our Asian carrot cake. The grilled ribeye with “chye tao kueh” carrot cake is bound to make your eyes popped out. The carrot cake was fried with XO and balsamic, with the latter providing a sour taste. A vast contrast with the steak. Not everyone could accepted sour carrot cake with steak though. Aspiring combination, but somehow failed to sizzle with the seemingly weird taste.
Eaten alone, the Slow poached salmon with zuchinni ribbons didn’t come as tender as we thought it will. But dipped in the green curry sauce, the fish went through a make-over in the taste department. There was cucumbers used in the green curry, which caught my attention. Like what one of our fellow friend say, when you don’t understand, just say “fusion!“
Our humble Otak is given a upmarket transformation by going créme brulée. With richly flavoured spicy kaffir lime & coconut used as the main ingredients, there was fish mousse hidden beneath the otak. The otak creme brulee is a very creative fusion dish indeed, but the experiement could perhaps be better. Some of us found the otak to be too watery, and maybe it’s meant to be this way. But is créme brulée ever so soggy?
There was a slight tweak to the menu compared to the one i previously shown. And the cost per person was 20 dollar nett, which everybody agreed was a reasonable price given we managed to try a variety of food. I hope everybody enjoyed their meal, and see you all at the next LIC food outing! We had 27 people for this outing, which was quite a healthy figure.
Well, like what some of you mentioned, it was a case of hits and misses, fusion food is pretty much an experiment between the Asian and Western cuisines, and it was certainly interesting to try some food which we’ll never get to try elsewhere.
And not to forget, LIC outing is all about the fun, joy and laughter during the event, and getting to know more friends. I’ll also like to take the opportunity to thank Helena and Sharon, the co-owners of Persimmon for having us there.
For those who missed this Persimmon outing, you can get the best discounts when you mentioned ladyironchef while you are at Persimmon. So do go down and give the fusion food a try.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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