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Showing posts from August, 2014

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

  I am not a fan of chain restaurants, but Carmen is addicted to Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe, so I have been to my fair share of Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe.   Iced Fresh Soy Milk doesn't quite taste like the freshly-made ones you get at hawker centres. It is very creamy and milk, it tastes very similar to the ones you get at convenience stores that come in small cardboard cartons.     Papaya Soup Bee Hoon is a speciality of Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe The broth is flavourful with pieces of well-cooked papaya. Milk is optional, but I personally feel that the addition of milk makes the broth smoother. The bee hoon soaks up the milky soup and tastes delicious. My favourite is Chicken Chop 'N' Egg Papaya Soup Bee Hoon. A thick and big piece of chicken chop is fried till the skin is slightly crispy. The chicken chop is tender and juicy.       Chicken In A Basket (3 piece) is my favourite snack. The chicken pieces are deep-fried to a crispy golden. The meat is ten...

Muthu's Curry

Muthu's Curry is one of the South Indian restaurants that has made it very big in Singapore. It's signature dish, Fish Head Curry, has been featured in numerous publications and is loved by many Singaporeans.  I generally try to stay away from chain restaurants because they are generally over-priced and the service is not very impressive most of the time. However, my father was having a craving for Indian food after watching a video introducing Indian cuisine, so here we are.   We decided not to have their signature dish, Fish Head Curry. Instead, we decided to order a few small dishes.     Since we are in an Indian restaurant, we decided to have Naans. We ordered Garlic Naans and Plain Naans. I have to say, the naans taste great dipped in curry.     Bhindi Masala is ladyfingers with onions and spices. The ladyfingers are cooked a little too long, and I find the spices a little too strong.     The mutton in Curry Mutton is done really well. The me...

Pack'd: Sandwiches, Soups and Salads

  Following  Pack'd: Mains and Desserts , this post is going to focus on sandwiches, soups and salads.      The sandwiches are prepared beforehand. The sauce is added after popping it into the oven for a few minutes. Everything is fresh and healthy. There are six flavours to choose from, you will not get bored.   There are six salads to choose from. All of the vegetables are fresh. The chicken pieces can be a little hard and a few of the carrots are a little dry, but everything else is alright.   There is mainly two soups to choose from, Minestrone Soup and Cream of Mushroom. I don't know if it's just me, but no matter how many time I drink the Cream of Mushroom, I always taste a metal taste. Pack'd has all-day set meals that will help you to save you money and fill you up too. Pack'd Address:   #B1-169-170  Suntec City Mall,  3 Temasek Boulevard  Telephone:  6884 7717 Opening Hours: 8am - 10pm

The Tiny Roaster - Specialty Coffee in the West

    If you are a coffee lover and you love specialty coffee, The Tiny Roasters is a coffee place you might want to explore.    As the name suggests, the place is tiny. Nestled in HDB blocks, the coffee place was recently set-up in 2013. They serve many different kinds of coffee, the coffee beans are roasted in their studio and lovingly brewed by the barista.    They also sells books and equipments for the avid coffee lovers who decide that they want to roast their own coffee beans.   I don't drink coffee, so I did not stay.   I have to say, the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans is intoxicating.   The Tiny Roasters Address:  #01-288,  612 Clementi West Street 1   Opening Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am-8pm (last order 7.30pm); Sunday 11am - 6pm (last order 5.30pm) (Closed on Mondays)

Jalan Kayu Prata Cafe (West Coast Plaza)

Now people residing in the West can also get to enjoy the famous Jalan Kayu pratas without having to travel halfway across Singapore. I don't know how authentic the Jalan Kayu Prata Cafe is, but it does serve its purpose of providing tasty Indian food to the residents in the area.       It is a prata place, so naturally the first thing I tried are the pratas. I ordered my usual: 1 Mushroom & Cheese Prata + 1 Egg Prata + 2 Plain Prata (minimum order for plain prata is 2). I asked for both chicken and fish curry.   Ironically, I prefer the plain pratas to the ones with fillings. Egg Prata and Mushroom & Cheese Prata is about the same everywhere. The plain pratas, on the other hand, are a little crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.    I prefer the chicken curry to the fish curry. I find the texture and taste of the chicken just right, but I find the spices in the fish curry a little too overwhelming. Well, at least they are consistent in thei...

Fish Mart Sakuraya (West Coast Plaza)

If you are staying in the West and you want to have Japanese food, Fish Mart Sakuraya is a good choice to consider.   The Chara Mushi is smooth and delicious. You can taste the chicken broth and pieces of chicken and mushroom. The steamed egg is silky smooth and slips right down your throat. Be careful, it is very hot.        This is a Fish Mart, so naturally eating fish is the best option here. Out of the grilled options, I chose  Grilled Shishamo. The shishamos  is not crispy enough on the body, but the head is slightly burned. There's definitely room for improvement.      The Hand Rolls are fresh and delicious.     Ume is of the four sushi sets available. The sushi are fresh but the sashimi are a little dry. The sushi rice could be more moist. Overall, it is not too bad for the small price.     Una Don is a good option for when you are very hungry. Well- flavoured sushi rice lies below pieces of well-grilled unagi....

Pack'd: Mains and Desserts

Pack's is really more of a sandwich and salad shop than a full-fledge restaurant, the perfect place to grab a quick bite during lunch. Whoever does the marketing has done a pretty good job, huge posters of delicious food tempts me every time I walk past.       It looks high class, doesn't it? Actually, this is just Mineral Water, but drinking from this makes me feel so classy.     This is one of their mains, Pulled Chicken. It is shredded chicken in sesame, cucumber, red pepper sauce. The red pepper sauce is a little too spicy for my stomach.      Farmer's Chicken Stew which is roasted chicken thighs in white wine sauce, is rather creamy and a little tasteless.        Beef Meatballs (with Moroccan spices) is my favourite of the three mains. The meatballs are firm and beefy and the Moroccan spices spiced up the sauce nicely.     Orange Muffin looks good, but it is quite disappointing in terms of taste. The muffin is ha...

Paddington House of Pancakes - Dessert Pancakes Are Delicious!

  Mariem wanted to try out this place, so here we are. I have to admit, "House of Pancakes" sounds like this restaurant is really passionate about pancakes. The slogan of the restaurant is "we live for pancakes", so far so good.     We ordered Cheesy Wedges & Fries. It looks good, but it really just passable. The fries are fat and soggy, the wedges are the same ones I can get at any supermarket. Sauces are plain mayonnaise and cheese with a wedge of lemon, which I can also get at any supermarket. If it's all things I can get at any supermarket and there's no real cooking involved, which means that I probably can do as good as or even a better job than them, why am I paying such money for such crap?!     Djion is grilled lamb shoulder with peach, plum and passionfruit mustard dressing, served with crepes. The combination of peach, plum and passionfruit in the mustard dressing is interesting but they should cut down on the peach and use more plum and passi...

Churrosity - Churros in the West

I have never heard this Spanish snack called churros until today. Churros is made of choux (a light pastry dough that contains  butter , water,  flour , and  eggs that  employs high moisture content to create steam during cooking to puff the pastry - Wikipedia).    Mariem especially wanted to try Churrosity, so here we are. Churrosity is the only churros take-away shop in the West.          There are two options: Regular Churros or Mini Churros Cup. We chose the Mini Churros Cup.     The churros is well-coated with cinnamon and sugar. The churros are crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. It tasted really good with the Chocolate sauce.      I prefer the Dolce de Leche sauce which tastes very much like caramel.    No wonder churros is fast becoming popular in Singapore. This tasty Spanish snack is very addictive and one is never enough.    Churrosity Address:  ...

Keng Eng Kee Seafood - Delicious Salted Egg Crab

  To celebrate our colleague, Wendy's birthday, our two doctors brought us to have dinner at Keng Eng Kee, a famous zi char place in Bukit Merah. It is so successful that it took over the entire coffeeshop and there is air-conditioned sitting too (reservation needed).   We ordered many of their signature dishes.      "Choy Hiang" Tofu is deep-fried homemade tofu topped with stir-fried minced meat. It is simple yet so delicious. Just give me two plates of this dish and a bowl of steaming rice and I will be as happy as a lark.     Coffee Pork Ribs is a little too sweet for me, but pairing pork ribs with coffee is an interesting idea.     Ever since I had salted egg crab in JB many years ago, I cannot forget how great it tasted. I have been on the hunt for good salted egg crab ever since. The sauce in this Salted Egg (Fried) Crab is very thick and delicious, but I do wish there were more sauce so that I can eat it with fried buns. The meat is fi...

Ya Kun Kaya Toast - 7.30am Breakfast at Suntec City

Every day as I walk about Suntec City Mall, posters of delicious breakfast make my mouth water. Today, I woke up very early just to have breakfast at Suntec City Mall. I start work at 8.30am, so I am looking for restaurants that opens at 7.30am   Although restaurants of every cuisine line up the walkway surrounding the Fountain of Wealth, if you don't consider fast food such as McDonald and Starbucks, there are actually very few options left for breakfast.    One of the only two restaurants open at 7.30am is Ya Kun Kaya Toast.   I am sure everyone knows of this establishment, so I shall not elaborate further.     A cup of Milo to start the day.     Ya Kun's famous Kaya Toast. The bread is toasted till browned and crispy. Is it just me or has the kaya become sweeter?     2 soft boiled eggs to give me the protein I need. I enjoy dipping the kaya toast in it. The mixture of sweet and salty, a true Singapore experience.    Ya Kun F...

The French Table - Casual French Dining in the West

  I found this chic little restaurant called The French Table on recent trip to West Coast Plaza. I can finally get some decent French food without having to go half-way around Singapore or burn a hole in my pocket.     Pasta de Champignon   looks pretty and tastes good too. The pasta is done al dente and the sauce is not too creamy.     Oven Baked 1/2 Chicken   is a little tough and not well-marinated.     Confit de Canard   is really good. The skin is crispy and the layer of fat under the skin makes the skin literally melt in your mouth. The meat is well-seasoned.         Pear and Berries   is the an interesting assembly of poached pear with berries and a scoop of yogurt ice-cream. Its tanginess make this the perfect dessert after a heavy meal.     Creme Brûlée   is good. The caramel is flamed just right and the custard is not too sweet. The French Table Address: #02-26 West Coast Plaza, 154 West...