Rainy days are good for sleeping in, but if you are not, the weather makes you sleepy and gloomy. Sunny days are best if you are at the beach, otherwise you probably will be cursing at the blazing sun! I like windy & cloudy day, the breeze simply cheers me up; just like a slice of that very delicious cake.
It took a while before the first of the lot arrived on our table, and everybody focused on the pretty decorations before returning our gaze back to the beautiful cake. The patissier’s hands must be a gift from god - they make everything so pretty!
Honey, would you like some honey? Oh yes honey, I’ll like your honey!
One particular word stood out in the description, “layers of HONEY chiboust cream and strawberry jelly sandwiched within crispy almond dacquoise.” Baby, I was attracted to you, just like bees to honey. And lovely name too, Nid d’abeilles ($7.90).
Why is a black forest call a black forest? Is it because the cake was first created in a forest so black and depressing that it was a shining beacon that brightened up everything? This, was my kind of black forest cake ($7.90); it had very little kirsch soaked cherries. I always wondered why nobody did a black forest without any cherries.
My dear, would you do one for me, pretty please?
The red velvet ($7.90) was completely opposite from its name, it was red but nowhere velvety; the cake was overly-dry. It was definitely a bimbo; pretty to look at, but no substance inside. A real pity - I was eyeing the cherry ganache with much interest.
I always had a thing for rose, you know she’s pretty, cute and even her name sounds so sexy! Even though she got together with lychee, but I’m happy for the sweet couple. They tasted good together, so dreamy, blissful and pleasant! And Oh, how I wish there’s more of the Valrhona ivory chocolate glaze; I’m on cloud nine after having the Lychee rose ($7.90)!
Mango cakes are typically the type of cake that I used to have for my childhood birthdays. For the Mango Mascarpone ($8.90), there was hardly any cake since the composition was made up mostly of the mascarpone cheese cream. It came slightly disfigured, personally I felt that it would taste better if not for the addition of the coconut crumble.
And I will like the cake to have a bit of cake.
And this, was totally my-kind-of-cake! The breathtaking of her beauty seemed to suck the air out of the room, and to complete this vision of perfectness, there was the cute chocolate-film decoration. It would be divine if there’s more of the hazelnut praline feuilletine; I just couldn’t get enough of it!
If there’s a dessert to define me, this would be it, the chocolate praline cake ($7.90).
When the dessert-holics come out to play, there’s only sweets and more sweets! I love desserts outing, we get to try so many cakes just by paying one slice of cake each! Are you a dessert-holic? Join us for more sweets next time!
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!
It was quite some time ago that i had a go trying out Vientai and the results were less then spectacular.
The food was lacklustre due to a lack of identity.
I had the Vietnam hor fun which came with some fried crisps and beef balls in a dark transparent soup base. It wasn't totally bad since the soup itself was rather thick with taste reminiscent of prawn soup. But its the feeling after the noodles were finished that you feel rather disappointed. After all, paying $10 for a bowl of prawn soup hor fun isn't exactly a value for money event.
The other item we had was something akin to phad thai. Slightly spicy and rank with peanut taste. The prawns were pretty good as is the rice noodles itself. But its still the aftertaste of receiving the bill that really ticks it off.
In the end, if this was a normal coffee shop set up and price. I would have recommended it to no end. But as it stands now, i'd have to say no thanks.
With a poached egg sitting pretty on top of the pastas, the Carbonara ($13.50) looks great and tasty when it first arrived. But when I finally got to try it, the cream base pasta was a tad too strong; it was great for the initial few bites, but the cream was way too overwhelming.
Spaghetti tossed in a classic rich tomato meat sauce and aged Parmesan cheese, the classic Bolognaise ($14.50).
Bolognaise and poached eggs doria ($16), the traditional baked rice covered with cheese, and did you saw that? Poached eggs!
Croque Madame ($13.50) Homemade pain de mie (white toast bread) baked with ham, Swiss Gruyere cheese, sunny side up and side salad with house dressing.
“Sandwich for dinner?” You raised your eyebrow. “Why not?” Don’t look down on this Madame, she can sure hold her weight with the others; the thick slice of bread, the heavy cheese, the egg, ham, and salad - everything you need for a filling meal.
Something sweet, to end the meal, before we continue elsewhere
One of us had the Earl Grey ice cream ($8) from Canele before, and she was bend on having it, wish acceded, it’s her birthday that we’re celebrating after all. The very distinctive earl grey flavour, the seemingly-smaller-scoop-than-my-previous-visit, and the milk chocolate shards.
We almost fought over this, the madagascar ($8) was way too, common (read:plain), to worth the money. But I was proved wrong; open your eyes wide, that’s vanilla beans you’re looking at! Ooh, ah! That, alone, made me felt better about paying eight dollars for a scoop of ice cream. Fresh strawberries that were not very sweet, and almond crumble at the bottom to provide a crunchy texture to the smooth and soft ice cream.
I looked around the adjacent tables, throwing envious glances to the mont blanc, the tiramisu, the macarons, that the others were having. Unfortunately, the rest (on my table) did not have the same feeling as me, they never like cakes you see.
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I wasn’t really impressed with the main course that Canele offered, but, to be fair, I think they are priced reasonably. And if I may, I’ll also like to think that the ice cream here are under-recognised; people always rave about the cakes available, but I don’t think much people know that they serve good ice cream too.
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!
Twenty four of us descended to Gunther’s in a foodgraphy-frenzy. Hells hath no fury like a floggers' hunger. The long discussion of food, followed by the occasional exclaims of ‘ooh‘, and ‘aah‘. Welcome to the world of the food lovers.
It was smooth, and silky, strands of it sticking out; yet in the dim light setting against the white background, it looked angelic, yes, this must be it: Cold Angel-hair pasta. I enjoyed every slurp, and I’ll gladly have it again.
This, is the In-thing for this season, like the latest fashion trends for each year; rejoiced people, it is this time of the year for the sacred white asaparagus, not green, not red, but white. And then, I spotted the yellowish sauce over the the Poached white asparagus with Bouchot mussels.
I stopped, and slowly took a bit of it with my spoon; “it couldn’t be, Oh yes it is!” I dipped everything on the plate with the hollandaise sauce, and made sure not a single drop of it was left.
“Have you had white asparagus before?”
“No, I don’t see what's the craze over them..”
A surprise always had the biggest impact when you least expected it, and it came pleasantly of course.
There was pata negra, and salted baked seabass for the folks who couldn’t have beef; and damn, the roasted black pig from Spain sounded so good, I should have claimed to have allergies against cows!
My piece was very well balanced in the portions of the fats and meat (read: too much fats). I took a bite of the meat, and chewed down some fats. And it’s not that the Grilled Cote de Boeuf wasn’t good. In fact it was more than excellent; the slightly tinge of pink fully captured my imagination.
My eyes tweaked to see what was coming. It was supposed to be desserts next, but they were serving us, pizzas. You know, the elongated slice of thin-crust bread with toppings all over. Ah no, I was clearly mistaken, this was no pizza, it’s the Fine apple tart a la dragees, with rum & raisin ice-cream.
Once we had our desserts, once we paid off the bill, it would be bye-bye until a year later. Or at least that’s what the script wrote. A year, is far too long a time for us to meet up. We should meet up regularly my friends, and hunt down all the good food around our island.
Note: The 4 course Carte Blanche set menu was $45 per person and done especially for our Food Bloggers lunch, it's not available to public.
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!
Contrary to normal beliefs that guys don’t like sweet stuff, I, for one, however proved to be the complete opposite. I like things that make me happy; food that can cheer me up, the happily-ever-after fairytale-like stories, and naturally, sweet nibbles that I always crave for.
The lady took one, from the pile of mountain-stacked high; this was the one destined for me. Poking a hole into the bottom by tucking it in, she pressed the pump; the lovely custard swam into the tiny hole, just big enough, for everything to flow inside.
Dusted with some icing sugar; it was akin like putting on the make-up for the pretty. I was excited by the sticking in and out, with each done, I could barely hide my excitement. And she repeated this process, six times in total.
Do not, I repeat, Do not (note: in bold), share your sweets around, they are not meant to be shared. What’s the point of passing them around, only to feel slightly agonizing over the fact that you are going to have less for yourself?
Stop staring at my cream puff. They are mine, and mine alone.
This, will come down as, one of the toughest decision you will make in your life. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberrry? And there’s the lovely eclair winking at me, the tiramisu trying to seduce me. It is a land, of temptations. I decided, like what seemed to take an eternity, to go for just half-a-dozen with the chocolate and vanilla flavours. The rest, are my excuses for coming back next time.
And I regretted just getting six.
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!
Sometimes back, I was told that De Coder's Cafe opened a new outlet in Clementi. The boss is now a friend of mine after some past "commotions" and constructive feedback few of us gave after the unsatisfying meal on my birthday last year. But I'm happy to say that they've improved! Not to the extend that it turned their entire menu around to serve restaurant standard food, but the taste, variety and quality have surely become better.
I visited this new outlet of theirs at Clementi, located at the void deck of a very long flat. About 7-9 mins walk from the Clementi MRT station. The shop is spacious and has the same color scheme as their other outlet at Newton.
As its a neighbourhood, they're also catering for the people staying around with breakfast sets. And I was told this was included in their menu after hearing feedback from their regular customers living nearby. Thumbs up for them for responding to customers request. And I believe, they really want to make their food and service good for everyone.
Food tasted that day includes Nacho Chips & Cheese, Roasted Honey Wings, Americaya, Teriyaki Chicken Chop, Brownie with Vanilla Ice-Cream, Waffle with Gelato Ice Cream, Chocolate Decadence and Oreo Milkshake.
My friend and I love the cheese. It's better than those served at one of the cinema but not as thick as we would have liked it more. But definitely the yummy cheesy taste is there.
Next favorite that day was the Roasted Honey Wings. Roasted to the right texture and the skin is slightly crisp. Marination was good too as the honey has been absorbed into the meat too.
Servings of the main dishes were appetizing and attractive. The size is good to fill up most hungry stomachs.
The late lunch ended with lots of sweetness. Both of us love the waffles and the pistachio gelato ice-cream is of good quality too. I personally love it!
Overall the experience and food has improved. Guess they should already have made the same adjustments too at their Newton outlet. Perhaps if you'd been there before and didn't like the food then, give it another try. You might enjoy it more this time round.
I would have never imagine this; I froze at the mention of it, the sacred foie gras. And hold on a second, what were they saying, I thought I heard something like Juicy dumpling with foie gras. Wasn’t this supposed to be XLB, now where did the foie gras came into the picture?
Believe it or not, they actually contain the French delicacy within our XLB, well maybe just a morsel of it since there wasn’t any trace of the foie gras.
Fresh, is one of the word which has been over-used to describe food. How else would you use to depict the prawn within the crisp vermicelli, well maybe I would say juicy, succulent, and I ran out of vocabulary. Oh well. Deep-fried filo dough.
It was wet, a little moist inside, so I stuck my finger in, and poked it in a little further. I took a bite, beneath the crispy exterior, was duck shreds. Deep-fried yam croquette with minced duck.
I was caught by surprise when they told me this was called the Deep-fried scallops with sugar cane. I was happily biting it off the sugar cane (read: I use it), thinking it was very prawny, and there they were, telling me it was deep-fried scallop!
Naturally I was amused, how could scallop taste like prawn? Ignoring that, the slightly-sweet-slightly-sour sauce was most excellent - it was refreshing. And the sugar cane added some brownie points to the whole artistic value.
May I introduced to you, ladies and gentleman, the scarce Harm Soei Gok, or Deep-friend traditional chicken dumpling. Honestly, I did not know about its existence before this, since many places didn’t served it due to the complexity and effort needed to produce it.
The whole, Shark’s fin within the soup, it was so big! With an equally flavourful stock, all of us agreed that the Double-boiled dumpling with Shark’s fin was a delight, well maybe not for the sharks lovers.
I liked this. I’m a char siew sou man. And I was disappointed when there was no sight of it on the menu. And then the baked fluffy skin pie with chicken and mango came. Having the same (or almost) crispy, buttery pastry skin, the interior of the usual char siew was replaced by chicken and mango instead. And the marriage of chicken and mango was a good one, those two totally complimented each other well.
How can one reinvent a dish already done to death and found everywhere? Well, they either provide premium stuffing or reinvent the skin used to wrap the stuffing. For the steamed pork dumpling, they did neither but it was still a cut above the rest. The prawn was sweet and there wasn’t an overly-porky after-taste.
My, my. It was interesting to note, a mini version of claypot rice appearing in a restaurant. Call it a classic, the Mini pot rice with chicken was nothing mini in taste; the tasty Chinese sausages, the succulent mushrooms, and the tender chicken chunks. I had it a taste without any sauce initially, then I added some of the superior sauce that came along with it, and it did wonders - it literally enhanced the taste of the whole mini pot.
There was three different types of steamed rice roll served, but I just showed one photo since all rice rolls looked the same less the fillings. It was the standard-trio, scallops, char siew and prawn. And needless to say, most Chinese restaurants definitely uses fresh ingredients, so it was really down to the rice roll to determine the winner.
And I must say, Man Fu Yuan had silky smooth rice roll, and most importantly, they were not overly-thick.
I never liked beef balls, or for that matter, any type of meat balls. Just the sight of it made me full, I took a bite of the beef balls with bamboo pith, and unexpectedly, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. And there’s tripes at the bottom of the beef balls too.
It is a fine line between tradition and new, and I feel Man Fu Yuan balanced it very well. There are the traditional dim sum available for the purist who want their fix regularly, and not neglecting those who craved for innovation and excitement in their dining experience, the chefs played around with some other ingredients that are not commonly used in Chinese cuisine.
This marks the end of the dim sum marathon, and I must say I’ve enjoyed myself very much together with the rest; chatting and enjoying the good food. My appreciation to Sharon, the PR manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
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!
If you're looking for some cheap CDs or cheap clothes or very chinese stuffs, you can come to CK Departmental stores! There are 2 outlets in outram area, one is on the chinatown side and another is in pearl centre side in this building opposite the OG which i could not recall what building is that.
Both outlets sells nearly the same things however the outlet at the Chinatown side apparently has got more stuffs.. If you like cheap DVDs or anything else for your viewing and listening leisure, yesss... this is the place to hang out.... The clothes are not very fashionable or of a good make however they are pretty value for money for a leisure casual wear especially for children as they outgrow their clothes in the matter of minutes..
If you want to find some very chinese food stuffs, they also do carry some very chinese food stuffs direct from China.... however, its always good to read the ingredient labels and hope you do not find Melamine there.... Heh Heh!
The toiletries I find them not as cheap as the distributors on top of the foodcentre next to the OG.... and don't expect any good service from the staffs.. they usually give you the FACE... so please pick your stuffs carefully and prepare for RUGBY if you're going there on a weekend.. Expect alot of aunties with sweaty armpits and big boobs out to squash you.......
This is indeed another of my favourite hangout... I mean don't you just love walking the departmental stores.. They display an array of goods especially chosen to suit your needs from your head to your toes all the way into your tummy and your bed where you spend 1/3 of your life snuggling in...
I always love the comprehensive list of items Tangs have and each items comes in different shades of colours with so many designs, brands, materials and sizes to choose from. I particularly love to walk the bag section... Which is the first section you enter.. there you can see the helpful staffs waiting to serve you.. I mean.. its difficult to find helpful staffs in departmental stores... They are always hiding somewhere talking or resting.. I mean its tough standing all day but isn't it the goal of the job to serve your customers till they happily leave the store?
Anyway, back to the Bags... They carry a good number of brands and while walking the colourful bag section you could see the brightly lit skin care and perfume section. Here you can find all sorts of international brands in which you could lavishly try the scents till you find one of your delight. Walking on you can find the man's sections with assortments of leather belts, ties and shoes with various Macho Designs as well as young and colourful young Punks dressing as well as travel bags of all sizes to suit all your travel needs. The watch section i particularly enjoy browsing through the different brands and shiny glass cases.
Upstairs you can find kitchen appliances, accessories as well as bedding needs... I particular like the fact that theres a mini honey corner where you can buy all sorts of products to please your HONEY as well as a mini chinese medicated tea shop to soothe the heatiness...
Also check out the Lifestyle section where they display these crystal clear audio CDs of old fashioned songs... Wo de bu dao ni de ai qing......
Also.. It pays to be a member as they do have closed door sales and on top of the sales items, you do get rebates up to 12% on all your purchase. Best of it all... Even if you redeem your tangs dollars you could still get rebate on the balance you paid.. Its a great place to go with savings out of my imagination...
The beautiful, each piece: Oh-so-dainty, Oh-so-refine. Almost like art, delicately crafted.
O’ my dear, I love you so. Never in my heart, I stopped thinking of you. Miss sushi, and Miss tapas: both seemed to be more popular than you, but I will always put you in the first place.
It was big, no, huge! This was, one of the many, different renditions of har gau we would see today. Essentially a har gau without the skin; the crab meat dumpling. It was prawny, with a nice bite - but crabby (no pun intended) it was not, well who cares?
Rather than an-overly-thick-skin, give me a dumpling without skin.
The well-admired Steamed Prawn Dumplings had an injection of carrot purée which only served to beautify the appearance of the har gau skin.
“We protested! We protested!”
The purist camp did a demonstration on the streets, crying for the restoration of the conventional har gau which they were so used to. But for the ladies; the boost in vitamin A. What was missing however, was the carrot taste.
The novelty. The inclusion of preserved vegetables was a brilliant stroke of art; the saltiness enhanced the flavour of the pork, which brought us to the question: why didn’t anybody thought of this before? Steamed pork dumpling with preserved vegetables, siew mai.
Now this was a not-so-simple bun that was bound to turn heads. Served piping hot, the bun seemed quite insignificant until you took a bite at it. Immediately, you would realize that you just had something very special. The bun itself was soft, fluffy and light as a feather while the fillings were so, so sweet and juicy. The Steamed kurobuta char siew pork fluffy bao, was the winner for the day.
The humble har gau did an open-faced sandwich; with shark’s fin on top. Luxury, it was, wealth, it symbolized, and prestige, it presented. Sorry sharky! Steamed shark’s fin dumplings with dried scallops and shrimp.
The tinge of pink, at the top of the tri-top; pretty and so pretty. Another piece of art we seen, at the gallery of Cherry Garden. However, the Scallop and spinach crystal dumpling did came across as slightly dry.
Truffled Essence Crystal Dumplings stuffed with Assorted Fresh Mushrooms. This, was a beauty; the translucent skin, the jelly texture, the array of mushrooms, almost perfect - but it was too large!
Prawn was the main lead, and mango was the second lead. There was the accompany of the green, hot wasabi! Netted rice crispy turnover. I held you, in my arms, into the late wee wee hour: without the wasabi! My dear, the netted rice crispy turnover.
And there was the famous XLB. The voluptuous folds, the goodness of the soup stock, everything, gushing out.
Like a peacock spreading his feathers, the netted rice crispy did a peacock effect: it caught everybody’s attention. Oh my, so beautiful, was this meant to be eaten?
And oh wait, there’s something hiding below the feathers; the netted rice crispy I meant. Ah, that’s the pan-fried chives and chicken dumplings!
Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of chives - I would leave the taste of the dumpling to your own imagination. This was, a piece of art! Why don’t we turn it upside down?
This was the umpteenth time we had a make-over of the har gau, they called it, Steamed Chinese spinach dumplings. The spinach, provided the lovely lines, just like how a painting adorned the wall. The egg yolk, provided the oomph, so, so good.
This, was a poisonous pear, for snow white. The wicked witch threw in some pumpkin, a pinch of jicama, stirred stirred, mixed mixed, and finally, some vegetarian ham.
Poof! With a wave of her wand, the deep-fried potato “pear” appeared. Crispy texture checked, mesmerizing appearance checked, vegetarian (snow white is on a diet) checked. Sticky innards (to stick the mouth together) checked. Everything was present, and OH, where’s the poison?
And we took a plunge, into the deep, deep blue sea. From the land to the sea, the Symphony of live pacific grouper prepared in three different ways. The first: we have a soup, grouper fish broth with ginger, onion and Silken tofu.
Steamed grouper crystal fish dumpling. Was this a dim sum, or was this a fish? It was both, with a twist. Brilliant it was, bravo we shouted. Grouper fish meat inside a dumpling of the fish skin. It was beautiful, too beautiful to eat.
It was not all smooth-sailing, nothing was. As much as I loved the creativity, there was a snag. The use of fish skin, for the translucent was great for the eyes, but not for the mouth. It was chewy, and slightly fishy: non fish lovers, would say, no no!
Prawn and pork, were absent. I give you fish, fish for dim sum. The very first, I believed. Let there be more, say fish siew mai? This, surely, would be a great day for all the fish lovers.
One price, one fish, for the value of three. Worthy, indeed. Sautéed grouper fillet with asparagus, no parts of the fish were wasted, from the meat, to the skin.
I have always wanted to go to Cherry Garden. And I’m glad I finally did. It was a feast, for the visual senses. The dim sum, so delicately craft piece by piece, was an art, for all to enjoyed. Creativity was certainly in the air, the adventurous use of different ingredients, the details to attention for the tiniest things, the emphasize of making it look as good as it tasted. I’m sold. Praises, have to be reserved for the savvy and charismatic executive Chinese chef, Mr Hiew Gun Khong.
Cherry Garden has the weekend dim sum ala carte buffet at $45 per head, which has a selections of 20 over dim sum, and other Chinese food as well. My appreciation to Kelly, the PR relations manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
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
Rainy days are good for sleeping in, but if you are not, the weather makes you sleepy and gloomy. Sunny days are best if you are at the beach, otherwise you probably will be cursing at the blazing sun! I like windy & cloudy day, the breeze simply cheers me up; just like a slice of that very delicious cake.
It took a while before the first of the lot arrived on our table, and everybody focused on the pretty decorations before returning our gaze back to the beautiful cake. The patissier’s hands must be a gift from god - they make everything so pretty!
Honey, would you like some honey? Oh yes honey, I’ll like your honey!
One particular word stood out in the description, “layers of HONEY chiboust cream and strawberry jelly sandwiched within crispy almond dacquoise.” Baby, I was attracted to you, just like bees to honey. And lovely name too, Nid d’abeilles ($7.90).
Why is a black forest call a black forest? Is it because the cake was first created in a forest so black and depressing that it was a shining beacon that brightened up everything? This, was my kind of black forest cake ($7.90); it had very little kirsch soaked cherries. I always wondered why nobody did a black forest without any cherries.
My dear, would you do one for me, pretty please?
The red velvet ($7.90) was completely opposite from its name, it was red but nowhere velvety; the cake was overly-dry. It was definitely a bimbo; pretty to look at, but no substance inside. A real pity - I was eyeing the cherry ganache with much interest.
I always had a thing for rose, you know she’s pretty, cute and even her name sounds so sexy! Even though she got together with lychee, but I’m happy for the sweet couple. They tasted good together, so dreamy, blissful and pleasant! And Oh, how I wish there’s more of the Valrhona ivory chocolate glaze; I’m on cloud nine after having the Lychee rose ($7.90)!
Mango cakes are typically the type of cake that I used to have for my childhood birthdays. For the Mango Mascarpone ($8.90), there was hardly any cake since the composition was made up mostly of the mascarpone cheese cream. It came slightly disfigured, personally I felt that it would taste better if not for the addition of the coconut crumble.
And I will like the cake to have a bit of cake.
And this, was totally my-kind-of-cake! The breathtaking of her beauty seemed to suck the air out of the room, and to complete this vision of perfectness, there was the cute chocolate-film decoration. It would be divine if there’s more of the hazelnut praline feuilletine; I just couldn’t get enough of it!
If there’s a dessert to define me, this would be it, the chocolate praline cake ($7.90).
When the dessert-holics come out to play, there’s only sweets and more sweets! I love desserts outing, we get to try so many cakes just by paying one slice of cake each! Are you a dessert-holic? Join us for more sweets next time!
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:
It was quite some time ago that i had a go trying out Vientai and the results were less then spectacular.
The food was lacklustre due to a lack of identity.
I had the Vietnam hor fun which came with some fried crisps and beef balls in a dark transparent soup base. It wasn't totally bad since the soup itself was rather thick with taste reminiscent of prawn soup. But its the feeling after the noodles were finished that you feel rather disappointed. After all, paying $10 for a bowl of prawn soup hor fun isn't exactly a value for money event.
The other item we had was something akin to phad thai. Slightly spicy and rank with peanut taste. The prawns were pretty good as is the rice noodles itself. But its still the aftertaste of receiving the bill that really ticks it off.
In the end, if this was a normal coffee shop set up and price. I would have recommended it to no end. But as it stands now, i'd have to say no thanks.
Rating given:
With a poached egg sitting pretty on top of the pastas, the Carbonara ($13.50) looks great and tasty when it first arrived. But when I finally got to try it, the cream base pasta was a tad too strong; it was great for the initial few bites, but the cream was way too overwhelming.
Spaghetti tossed in a classic rich tomato meat sauce and aged Parmesan cheese, the classic Bolognaise ($14.50).
Bolognaise and poached eggs doria ($16), the traditional baked rice covered with cheese, and did you saw that? Poached eggs!
Croque Madame ($13.50) Homemade pain de mie (white toast bread) baked with ham, Swiss Gruyere cheese, sunny side up and side salad with house dressing.
“Sandwich for dinner?” You raised your eyebrow. “Why not?” Don’t look down on this Madame, she can sure hold her weight with the others; the thick slice of bread, the heavy cheese, the egg, ham, and salad - everything you need for a filling meal.
Something sweet, to end the meal, before we continue elsewhere
One of us had the Earl Grey ice cream ($8) from Canele before, and she was bend on having it, wish acceded, it’s her birthday that we’re celebrating after all. The very distinctive earl grey flavour, the seemingly-smaller-scoop-than-my-previous-visit, and the milk chocolate shards.
We almost fought over this, the madagascar ($8) was way too, common (read:plain), to worth the money. But I was proved wrong; open your eyes wide, that’s vanilla beans you’re looking at! Ooh, ah! That, alone, made me felt better about paying eight dollars for a scoop of ice cream. Fresh strawberries that were not very sweet, and almond crumble at the bottom to provide a crunchy texture to the smooth and soft ice cream.
I looked around the adjacent tables, throwing envious glances to the mont blanc, the tiramisu, the macarons, that the others were having. Unfortunately, the rest (on my table) did not have the same feeling as me, they never like cakes you see.
* * *
I wasn’t really impressed with the main course that Canele offered, but, to be fair, I think they are priced reasonably. And if I may, I’ll also like to think that the ice cream here are under-recognised; people always rave about the cakes available, but I don’t think much people know that they serve good ice cream too.
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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Twenty four of us descended to Gunther’s in a foodgraphy-frenzy. Hells hath no fury like a floggers' hunger. The long discussion of food, followed by the occasional exclaims of ‘ooh‘, and ‘aah‘. Welcome to the world of the food lovers.
It was smooth, and silky, strands of it sticking out; yet in the dim light setting against the white background, it looked angelic, yes, this must be it: Cold Angel-hair pasta. I enjoyed every slurp, and I’ll gladly have it again.
This, is the In-thing for this season, like the latest fashion trends for each year; rejoiced people, it is this time of the year for the sacred white asaparagus, not green, not red, but white. And then, I spotted the yellowish sauce over the the Poached white asparagus with Bouchot mussels.
I stopped, and slowly took a bit of it with my spoon; “it couldn’t be, Oh yes it is!” I dipped everything on the plate with the hollandaise sauce, and made sure not a single drop of it was left.
“Have you had white asparagus before?”
“No, I don’t see what's the craze over them..”
A surprise always had the biggest impact when you least expected it, and it came pleasantly of course.
There was pata negra, and salted baked seabass for the folks who couldn’t have beef; and damn, the roasted black pig from Spain sounded so good, I should have claimed to have allergies against cows!
My piece was very well balanced in the portions of the fats and meat (read: too much fats). I took a bite of the meat, and chewed down some fats. And it’s not that the Grilled Cote de Boeuf wasn’t good. In fact it was more than excellent; the slightly tinge of pink fully captured my imagination.
My eyes tweaked to see what was coming. It was supposed to be desserts next, but they were serving us, pizzas. You know, the elongated slice of thin-crust bread with toppings all over. Ah no, I was clearly mistaken, this was no pizza, it’s the Fine apple tart a la dragees, with rum & raisin ice-cream.
Once we had our desserts, once we paid off the bill, it would be bye-bye until a year later. Or at least that’s what the script wrote. A year, is far too long a time for us to meet up. We should meet up regularly my friends, and hunt down all the good food around our island.
Note: The 4 course Carte Blanche set menu was $45 per person and done especially for our Food Bloggers lunch, it's not available to public.
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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I have a sweet tooth
Contrary to normal beliefs that guys don’t like sweet stuff, I, for one, however proved to be the complete opposite. I like things that make me happy; food that can cheer me up, the happily-ever-after fairytale-like stories, and naturally, sweet nibbles that I always crave for.
The lady took one, from the pile of mountain-stacked high; this was the one destined for me. Poking a hole into the bottom by tucking it in, she pressed the pump; the lovely custard swam into the tiny hole, just big enough, for everything to flow inside.
Dusted with some icing sugar; it was akin like putting on the make-up for the pretty. I was excited by the sticking in and out, with each done, I could barely hide my excitement. And she repeated this process, six times in total.
Do not, I repeat, Do not (note: in bold), share your sweets around, they are not meant to be shared. What’s the point of passing them around, only to feel slightly agonizing over the fact that you are going to have less for yourself?
Stop staring at my cream puff. They are mine, and mine alone.
This, will come down as, one of the toughest decision you will make in your life. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberrry? And there’s the lovely eclair winking at me, the tiramisu trying to seduce me. It is a land, of temptations. I decided, like what seemed to take an eternity, to go for just half-a-dozen with the chocolate and vanilla flavours. The rest, are my excuses for coming back next time.
And I regretted just getting six.
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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Sometimes back, I was told that De Coder's Cafe opened a new outlet in Clementi. The boss is now a friend of mine after some past "commotions" and constructive feedback few of us gave after the unsatisfying meal on my birthday last year. But I'm happy to say that they've improved! Not to the extend that it turned their entire menu around to serve restaurant standard food, but the taste, variety and quality have surely become better.
I visited this new outlet of theirs at Clementi, located at the void deck of a very long flat. About 7-9 mins walk from the Clementi MRT station. The shop is spacious and has the same color scheme as their other outlet at Newton.
As its a neighbourhood, they're also catering for the people staying around with breakfast sets. And I was told this was included in their menu after hearing feedback from their regular customers living nearby. Thumbs up for them for responding to customers request. And I believe, they really want to make their food and service good for everyone.
Food tasted that day includes Nacho Chips & Cheese, Roasted Honey Wings, Americaya, Teriyaki Chicken Chop, Brownie with Vanilla Ice-Cream, Waffle with Gelato Ice Cream, Chocolate Decadence and Oreo Milkshake.
My friend and I love the cheese. It's better than those served at one of the cinema but not as thick as we would have liked it more. But definitely the yummy cheesy taste is there.
Next favorite that day was the Roasted Honey Wings. Roasted to the right texture and the skin is slightly crisp. Marination was good too as the honey has been absorbed into the meat too.
Servings of the main dishes were appetizing and attractive. The size is good to fill up most hungry stomachs.
The late lunch ended with lots of sweetness. Both of us love the waffles and the pistachio gelato ice-cream is of good quality too. I personally love it!
Overall the experience and food has improved. Guess they should already have made the same adjustments too at their Newton outlet. Perhaps if you'd been there before and didn't like the food then, give it another try. You might enjoy it more this time round.
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I would have never imagine this; I froze at the mention of it, the sacred foie gras. And hold on a second, what were they saying, I thought I heard something like Juicy dumpling with foie gras. Wasn’t this supposed to be XLB, now where did the foie gras came into the picture?
Believe it or not, they actually contain the French delicacy within our XLB, well maybe just a morsel of it since there wasn’t any trace of the foie gras.
Fresh, is one of the word which has been over-used to describe food. How else would you use to depict the prawn within the crisp vermicelli, well maybe I would say juicy, succulent, and I ran out of vocabulary. Oh well. Deep-fried filo dough.
It was wet, a little moist inside, so I stuck my finger in, and poked it in a little further. I took a bite, beneath the crispy exterior, was duck shreds. Deep-fried yam croquette with minced duck.
I was caught by surprise when they told me this was called the Deep-fried scallops with sugar cane. I was happily biting it off the sugar cane (read: I use it), thinking it was very prawny, and there they were, telling me it was deep-fried scallop!
Naturally I was amused, how could scallop taste like prawn? Ignoring that, the slightly-sweet-slightly-sour sauce was most excellent - it was refreshing. And the sugar cane added some brownie points to the whole artistic value.
May I introduced to you, ladies and gentleman, the scarce Harm Soei Gok, or Deep-friend traditional chicken dumpling. Honestly, I did not know about its existence before this, since many places didn’t served it due to the complexity and effort needed to produce it.
The whole, Shark’s fin within the soup, it was so big! With an equally flavourful stock, all of us agreed that the Double-boiled dumpling with Shark’s fin was a delight, well maybe not for the sharks lovers.
I liked this. I’m a char siew sou man. And I was disappointed when there was no sight of it on the menu. And then the baked fluffy skin pie with chicken and mango came. Having the same (or almost) crispy, buttery pastry skin, the interior of the usual char siew was replaced by chicken and mango instead. And the marriage of chicken and mango was a good one, those two totally complimented each other well.
How can one reinvent a dish already done to death and found everywhere? Well, they either provide premium stuffing or reinvent the skin used to wrap the stuffing. For the steamed pork dumpling, they did neither but it was still a cut above the rest. The prawn was sweet and there wasn’t an overly-porky after-taste.
My, my. It was interesting to note, a mini version of claypot rice appearing in a restaurant. Call it a classic, the Mini pot rice with chicken was nothing mini in taste; the tasty Chinese sausages, the succulent mushrooms, and the tender chicken chunks. I had it a taste without any sauce initially, then I added some of the superior sauce that came along with it, and it did wonders - it literally enhanced the taste of the whole mini pot.
There was three different types of steamed rice roll served, but I just showed one photo since all rice rolls looked the same less the fillings. It was the standard-trio, scallops, char siew and prawn. And needless to say, most Chinese restaurants definitely uses fresh ingredients, so it was really down to the rice roll to determine the winner.
And I must say, Man Fu Yuan had silky smooth rice roll, and most importantly, they were not overly-thick.
I never liked beef balls, or for that matter, any type of meat balls. Just the sight of it made me full, I took a bite of the beef balls with bamboo pith, and unexpectedly, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. And there’s tripes at the bottom of the beef balls too.
It is a fine line between tradition and new, and I feel Man Fu Yuan balanced it very well. There are the traditional dim sum available for the purist who want their fix regularly, and not neglecting those who craved for innovation and excitement in their dining experience, the chefs played around with some other ingredients that are not commonly used in Chinese cuisine.
This marks the end of the dim sum marathon, and I must say I’ve enjoyed myself very much together with the rest; chatting and enjoying the good food. My appreciation to Sharon, the PR manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
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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If you're looking for some cheap CDs or cheap clothes or very chinese stuffs, you can come to CK Departmental stores! There are 2 outlets in outram area, one is on the chinatown side and another is in pearl centre side in this building opposite the OG which i could not recall what building is that.
Both outlets sells nearly the same things however the outlet at the Chinatown side apparently has got more stuffs.. If you like cheap DVDs or anything else for your viewing and listening leisure, yesss... this is the place to hang out.... The clothes are not very fashionable or of a good make however they are pretty value for money for a leisure casual wear especially for children as they outgrow their clothes in the matter of minutes..
If you want to find some very chinese food stuffs, they also do carry some very chinese food stuffs direct from China.... however, its always good to read the ingredient labels and hope you do not find Melamine there.... Heh Heh!
The toiletries I find them not as cheap as the distributors on top of the foodcentre next to the OG.... and don't expect any good service from the staffs.. they usually give you the FACE... so please pick your stuffs carefully and prepare for RUGBY if you're going there on a weekend.. Expect alot of aunties with sweaty armpits and big boobs out to squash you.......
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This is indeed another of my favourite hangout... I mean don't you just love walking the departmental stores.. They display an array of goods especially chosen to suit your needs from your head to your toes all the way into your tummy and your bed where you spend 1/3 of your life snuggling in...
I always love the comprehensive list of items Tangs have and each items comes in different shades of colours with so many designs, brands, materials and sizes to choose from. I particularly love to walk the bag section... Which is the first section you enter.. there you can see the helpful staffs waiting to serve you.. I mean.. its difficult to find helpful staffs in departmental stores... They are always hiding somewhere talking or resting.. I mean its tough standing all day but isn't it the goal of the job to serve your customers till they happily leave the store?
Anyway, back to the Bags... They carry a good number of brands and while walking the colourful bag section you could see the brightly lit skin care and perfume section. Here you can find all sorts of international brands in which you could lavishly try the scents till you find one of your delight. Walking on you can find the man's sections with assortments of leather belts, ties and shoes with various Macho Designs as well as young and colourful young Punks dressing as well as travel bags of all sizes to suit all your travel needs. The watch section i particularly enjoy browsing through the different brands and shiny glass cases.
Upstairs you can find kitchen appliances, accessories as well as bedding needs... I particular like the fact that theres a mini honey corner where you can buy all sorts of products to please your HONEY as well as a mini chinese medicated tea shop to soothe the heatiness...
Also check out the Lifestyle section where they display these crystal clear audio CDs of old fashioned songs... Wo de bu dao ni de ai qing......
Also.. It pays to be a member as they do have closed door sales and on top of the sales items, you do get rebates up to 12% on all your purchase. Best of it all... Even if you redeem your tangs dollars you could still get rebate on the balance you paid.. Its a great place to go with savings out of my imagination...
See you there at Tangs today SHOPPER BABEs!!!
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The beautiful, each piece: Oh-so-dainty, Oh-so-refine. Almost like art, delicately crafted.
O’ my dear, I love you so. Never in my heart, I stopped thinking of you. Miss sushi, and Miss tapas: both seemed to be more popular than you, but I will always put you in the first place.
It was big, no, huge! This was, one of the many, different renditions of har gau we would see today. Essentially a har gau without the skin; the crab meat dumpling. It was prawny, with a nice bite - but crabby (no pun intended) it was not, well who cares?
Rather than an-overly-thick-skin, give me a dumpling without skin.
The well-admired Steamed Prawn Dumplings had an injection of carrot purée which only served to beautify the appearance of the har gau skin.
“We protested! We protested!”
The purist camp did a demonstration on the streets, crying for the restoration of the conventional har gau which they were so used to. But for the ladies; the boost in vitamin A. What was missing however, was the carrot taste.
The novelty. The inclusion of preserved vegetables was a brilliant stroke of art; the saltiness enhanced the flavour of the pork, which brought us to the question: why didn’t anybody thought of this before? Steamed pork dumpling with preserved vegetables, siew mai.
Now this was a not-so-simple bun that was bound to turn heads. Served piping hot, the bun seemed quite insignificant until you took a bite at it. Immediately, you would realize that you just had something very special. The bun itself was soft, fluffy and light as a feather while the fillings were so, so sweet and juicy. The Steamed kurobuta char siew pork fluffy bao, was the winner for the day.
The humble har gau did an open-faced sandwich; with shark’s fin on top. Luxury, it was, wealth, it symbolized, and prestige, it presented. Sorry sharky! Steamed shark’s fin dumplings with dried scallops and shrimp.
The tinge of pink, at the top of the tri-top; pretty and so pretty. Another piece of art we seen, at the gallery of Cherry Garden. However, the Scallop and spinach crystal dumpling did came across as slightly dry.
Truffled Essence Crystal Dumplings stuffed with Assorted Fresh Mushrooms. This, was a beauty; the translucent skin, the jelly texture, the array of mushrooms, almost perfect - but it was too large!
Prawn was the main lead, and mango was the second lead. There was the accompany of the green, hot wasabi! Netted rice crispy turnover. I held you, in my arms, into the late wee wee hour: without the wasabi! My dear, the netted rice crispy turnover.
And there was the famous XLB. The voluptuous folds, the goodness of the soup stock, everything, gushing out.
Like a peacock spreading his feathers, the netted rice crispy did a peacock effect: it caught everybody’s attention. Oh my, so beautiful, was this meant to be eaten?
And oh wait, there’s something hiding below the feathers; the netted rice crispy I meant. Ah, that’s the pan-fried chives and chicken dumplings!
Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of chives - I would leave the taste of the dumpling to your own imagination. This was, a piece of art! Why don’t we turn it upside down?
This was the umpteenth time we had a make-over of the har gau, they called it, Steamed Chinese spinach dumplings. The spinach, provided the lovely lines, just like how a painting adorned the wall. The egg yolk, provided the oomph, so, so good.
This, was a poisonous pear, for snow white. The wicked witch threw in some pumpkin, a pinch of jicama, stirred stirred, mixed mixed, and finally, some vegetarian ham.
Poof! With a wave of her wand, the deep-fried potato “pear” appeared. Crispy texture checked, mesmerizing appearance checked, vegetarian (snow white is on a diet) checked. Sticky innards (to stick the mouth together) checked. Everything was present, and OH, where’s the poison?
And we took a plunge, into the deep, deep blue sea. From the land to the sea, the Symphony of live pacific grouper prepared in three different ways. The first: we have a soup, grouper fish broth with ginger, onion and Silken tofu.
Steamed grouper crystal fish dumpling. Was this a dim sum, or was this a fish? It was both, with a twist. Brilliant it was, bravo we shouted. Grouper fish meat inside a dumpling of the fish skin. It was beautiful, too beautiful to eat.
It was not all smooth-sailing, nothing was. As much as I loved the creativity, there was a snag. The use of fish skin, for the translucent was great for the eyes, but not for the mouth. It was chewy, and slightly fishy: non fish lovers, would say, no no!
Prawn and pork, were absent. I give you fish, fish for dim sum. The very first, I believed. Let there be more, say fish siew mai? This, surely, would be a great day for all the fish lovers.
One price, one fish, for the value of three. Worthy, indeed. Sautéed grouper fillet with asparagus, no parts of the fish were wasted, from the meat, to the skin.
I have always wanted to go to Cherry Garden. And I’m glad I finally did. It was a feast, for the visual senses. The dim sum, so delicately craft piece by piece, was an art, for all to enjoyed. Creativity was certainly in the air, the adventurous use of different ingredients, the details to attention for the tiniest things, the emphasize of making it look as good as it tasted. I’m sold. Praises, have to be reserved for the savvy and charismatic executive Chinese chef, Mr Hiew Gun Khong.
Cherry Garden has the weekend dim sum ala carte buffet at $45 per head, which has a selections of 20 over dim sum, and other Chinese food as well. My appreciation to Kelly, the PR relations manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
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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