Siam Kitchen

(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

My colleague had wanted to get some raw (premium) meats for a bbq that night and I recalled seeing a butchery at Parkway Parade basement. We followed him down to the basement, all the while pondering as to what to have for lunch.

As the lift doors opened, we were greeted by the signage for Siam Kitchen; which is located right across the lift lobby.

We excitedly looked at one another and unanimously agreed to dine there. Phew! Choosing a place for lunch has never been made easier!

Seems like this restaurant has undergone some renovations. The interior + furnishings looked different from what I can remember. Then again, I hardly pass by this part of Parkway Parade...

Prawn crackers

To keep us occupied while we wait for our orders to arrive.

Here's where I wanna gripe a weeny bit. I used to dine here a few times, before they had this renovation. I remember that every table has a set of 4 little jars, filled with fiery condiments. Stuff like 'chilli padi' (birds-eye-chilli) in soy sauce, chilli flakes, pickled green chilli and grounded red chilli with vinegar.

Now, only 2 of those are left on the tables. :(

Our beverages

Clockwise from top-left -  Thai Lime Rose, Thai Ice Milk Tea (x2) & Iced Lemongrass Tea.

I had the milk tea. Had always been fancinated by the slightly orange-y tint of their milk teas (as compared to our 'teh-tarik').

Yum Mamuang - Green mango salad

No way can I enter a Thai restaurant without ordering either this or the Som Tham (Green papaya salad).

Sweet, sour, spicy, salty all in one. Plus the added crunch from the strips of green mango, carrots and the generous amount of cashew nuts. How can I not love this?

Deep-fried soft-shell crab

Deep-fried seafood never fail to please me so. What more newly-molted crabs with sweet-sweet meat and (very) crispy exterior. And paired with spicy mayo. Great appetiser!

Siam Kitchen Basil noodles

2 of my colleagues were enticed by a picture they saw on the promo poster outside the restaurant. However, when they ordered this, the server looked a little doubtful before struggling to explain to us something. "I need to tell you that the noodles... not red like that.. is it ok?"

My colleagues noded their heads anyway..

True enough, when the plates of noodles were served, both of them were aghast. Honestly, what arrived looked a lot like aglio olio- fried with basil. Even the noodles looked like linguine!

So this was what she meant by 'not red'?

My colleagues duly request for some chilli flakes. :P

Phad Thai seafood noodles

I stick to my perennial favourite. It's either this or the black olive fried rice. Or pineapple rice. Maybe Tom Yum soup. Or beef noodles even. I always try to play it safe. ;)

This one didn't disappoint save for the fact that they gave those little cubes of tofu a miss. Aren't those tofu cubes supposed to be prevalent in a Phad Thai?

Anyway, you can take a look at their menu HERE. 

Siam Kitchen @ Parkway Parade 
80 Marine Parade Road #B1-126, 
Parkway Parade 
Singapore 449269 
Tel: 6342 1588

Kriston Catering

Came back one night to find this pretty box in the kitchen. Inside were a mix of 20 canapés- both savoury & dessert selections. Interesting…

These were the remnants of what's left in the box… Each canapé/tapas item is placed inside individual plastic shooter cups. Very convenient!

Now here's the interesting part. I will initially give my own description  as to what I thought the item was. Then after, I will put the ACTUAL name of that item, as taken from the website. :P

Smoked salmon & seaweed roll

I thought it was THAT simple. WRONG.

The actual name (which also describe the ingredients): 'Smoked Salmon Roulade with Curd Cheese & Apricot.'

Like… Whoa!


This one was a tad salty. Smoked salmon on its own can be pretty salty, what more when paired with cheese. Can't taste much of the apricot, though.

Cherry tomato with anchovy & olive

It DOES look like that, right?

Ok, here goes: 'Duet Char Vegetables with Olive Vine Tomatoes.'

So that wasn't anchovies. I guess it was mashed-up grilled peppers or eggplant?

Prawn with melon

This was simple enough. It's actually', 'Prawn Wasabi on Cantaloupe Melon'.

Wasabi? Hmm... Didn't seem to taste it. Cantaloupe, huh? I call that 'Hami' Melon.

Devilled egg??

Ok, I gave up on this.

'Buckwheat Blinis w/ Fraiche Tobiko Caviar.'

No worries, I did the homework (also to satiate my own curiousity). 'Blinis' is actually Russian pancake that's similar to crêpes, save that yeast is used in the process of making it. Any type of flour can be used and in this case; buckwheat.

'Fraiche' is actually homemade yoghurt and 'Tobiko Caviar' are those teeny-tiny fish eggs. From a flying fish.

Chocolate ball


Dessert selection. This one I got it right. It's a ball of rich chocolate cake, covered in white chocolate and crushed almonds.

There was a chocolate-coated marshmallow which I took a bite of, before remembering to snap a pic. The other 2 types missing here (eaten up) were 'Strawberry Dip Chocolate' and 'Cream Puff'.

----------------------------------------------------

Was wondering who could have brought this over. First thought flew to hubby's cousin, the pastry chef working at Hilton (back then). But I can't seem to assimilate the name, 'Kriston' with Hilton, somehow. Seeing the packaging and presentation, one can't help thinking of hotels, can't they?

Checked on the name and went to their WEBSITE. Turns out it's a Halal-certified SG caterer, serving mostly 'atas' (classy) food selections… I was blown away to see what they have to offer!

Anyway, the next morning, my MiL told me that the tapas items were bought by my SiL, who chanced upon her paternal cousin at the Halal Food Fair at Singapore Expo, that weekend. Apparently, he was an acquaintance or a partner of the business or something like that. And she bought a box of these as a form of support. There was a promotional rate of around $30++, that time.

Actual rate is $48 for 20 pieces - 4pc for each item.

Btw, I saw some pictures HERE. I guess they should be pretty popular amongst high-end corporate firms with expandable budget and the need to impress. Classy, Halal foods for their clients…

…Why not?

My advanced 3rd anniversary dinner

My gosh, it took me so long to blog about this that I almost forgot what went on that night.

Well yeah, wedding anniversary fell on a weekday and hubby's last off day for that week was on the eve so I told him to meet me somewhere for dinner.

I don't mean to be a bad mummy or anything but right then, I was hoping to have a dinner with JUST him. Not exactly a romantic candlelight dinner or anything (so cliché!!) but I was thinking about how nice it'll be, making small talk over our meal; without having to mind (or even go after) a toddler with super-short attention span. Yes, the one who's currently going through the 'terrible-twos' phase.

But I guess that was not to be so I chose the nearest available kid-friendly diner - Swensen's @ Tampines Mall. And lady luck was on our side that night- we got the last table available, located at the far end; with full-length glass panels looking out to the MRT station next door.

My son (and I) can never be happier. The trains can easily distract him and hold his attention while we dine in peace (or so I thought). Goodness knows how much the boy love them MRT trains!

Kid's meal

Distracted or not, I got him a kid's set meal just so that he'll stay away from our food. Chose his favourite source of protein- in the form of fried chicken sticks that came with cute smiley-faced potato nibblets and a small cup of corn kernels (which I gladly finished up). There's also a small glass of ice Milo.

The basket of food came served on top of this colourful plastic plate and cutleries with designs incorporating their mascot, 'Snowie'… Cute!

As kid-friendly as they can get. I like!

Meatballs in Pepper Sauce

I got my hubby to choose the appetisers meant to fill us up while waiting for the mains to arrive. He chose these meatballs. No surprise, there.

Very savoury option and should the portion be a weeny bit bigger, this can be a meal on its own.

We also go the fries, which came in their trademark cone and 2 dips- salsa and tartar sauce.

Crayfish Pasta

My order, which arrived first. And since I was feeling ravenous (I just knocked-off work afterall!), I attacked it head on.

Spaghetti in tangy tomato sauce, with deep-fried battered crayfish, crabstick (surimi), fish fillets and mushrooms. I'm one of those who picked the crayfish with my hands and attempt to bite off bits of the fried batter from every crevice of the its shell. And if I'm lucky enough, I get bits of crayfish meat as well. :)))

Chicken Victoria

Hubby initially chose to have the rib-eye steak. But he chose this in the last minute. I was pretty surprised actually. Was he being health-conscious or something?

First he chose the beef-steak over his favourite lamb options (Lamb Shashlik/Lamb Chops). And then this?

Grilled chicken breast with homemade Victoria sauce (whatever that is), served with daily vegetables (boiled corn cob, long beans & carrots) & US Potato (a stack of baked potato medallions, topped with cheese).

Honestly, the dish looked bland and a wee bit 'healthy'. Even for me. I wonder how my hubby will even like this. True enough, he only ate the chicken meat and the other items on the plate remained untouched. I took the corn (that and my son's kernels… corn overload!), nibbled on the veggies (bland!) and took the top layer of potato medallion (with the cheese).

Well yes, I ended up feeling really stuffed. Did I mention that I tried to help my son finish up his meal, too? I'm surprised I didn't do the 'merlion' right then. Can't help it. I just can't see food going to waste…!

But wait… how can we dine at Swensen's and not have ice-cream??! (*o*)

Chocolate Crunch Sundae

Hubby can't make up his mind and leave it to me to choose for him. He likes chocolate and since I assumed to Sticky Chewy Chocolate sundae to be too much for him, I went a step lower and got the Chocolate Crunch Sundae instead.

He left behind a substantial amount at the bottom of his sundae cup. And when I took a scoop of that brown puddle, it turned out to be a concentration of thick, gooey chocolate fudge and chocolate ice-cream. Erk!

Coit Tower Sundae

Myself meanwhile, decide to share my sundae with the kiddo and finally decided on my all-time favourite- the Coit Tower, that has almost all my favourite ingredients in an ice-cream sundae. Chocolate & vanilla ice-cream, with choc. fudge and strawberry sauce, topped with crushed almonds and fresh banana slices.

I gladly gave the whipped cream to my son (he doesn't have to watch his weight!).

Ahh... as it turn out, those MRT trains can only (fully) distract my son for all of 10 mins and I end-up spending part of my meal-time tending to his antics & whims (like going under/over the table to the other side etc.)...

When we're done, I can't help noticing that I ended up waddling instead.

THAT. FULL. *burp*

*Happy 3rd Anniversary, Dear.*