A great cuppa in the office

Such'a cute little machine!

It's the real deal ok?

Drip, drip....

Oooh, look at that dark, dark pool!

Ok, last few drips... Almost done!

My colleague brought his birthday gift to work.
Birthday gift that comes in the form of a “La Sorrentina” ™ ® Atomic Type Coffee Machine.

That machine is just so gorgeous. And expensive to boot (US$450).

Pair that with good coffee beans from Papa Palheta and you get yourself a mean cuppa to start the day right.

Not to mention that it makes the whole office smell like a high-end coffee joint. Heavenly!

ASLI Village

@ Downtown East

(Excerpt from Downtown East website)
"...ASLI Village is more than just a place to eat. The name ASLI means natural, original and the real thing in line with our food offering. Village is reminiscent of back in the old days time. We want it to be a place where we can get to know you better, just like back in the kampung days. A place where family and friends can get together and have a good makan all under one roof. Customers have the freedom to sit at our cozy and aircon dining area or enjoy alfresco dining while tucking into the wide choice of Halal local and international cuisines being served at ASLI village. ASLI Village – you are always welcome. "

Fried Popiah

Chicken Cutlet Noodle

To think I live merely 10 mins walking distance away. Finally came here after my family, who live in Bedok got curious about this food court - and that is after seeing a newspaper article on it. :P

There are still some vacant stalls and there's more coming up. Even a franchise of Chicken Champ by the Nuradee Bros will be opening a stall here soon. The main player here is the satay stall, seeing that Jumain Sataysfaction is the owner of this premise. Gotta get their stuff soon.

The chicken rice seem to be hot stuff here, so much so that they actually ran out of the rice when my parents made their order. Not willing to wait for 20 mins, they got the chicken noodles instead. My mum love that the wantan noodles are firm & springy.

Bro got the Fish & Chips from the Western food stall. The battered fish were soggy. I saw that they have this thing called 'The Messy Burger'; like a disintegrated burger on a plate. Looks cool, actually. They also sell nachos.

Also got the grilled Yuo Tiao + Tau Pok rojak from the Opeh/Upih Noodles stall. It was pretty nice. The sauce was adequately spicy with good amount of heko/petis and peanuts.

I discovered the Thai food stall and noticed that they are offering pretty authentic Thai fare like beef noodles, papaya/mango/vermicelli salad, pineapple rice, olive fried rice, pad thai etc.

I settled on the Phad Thai (fried kway teow). It was nice, actually. The Phad Thai carry just the right flavours. I like that there's this occasional bites on goong haeng (dried shrimps). Those who don't like their food to be sweet can pass on this for one of the essential ingredient here is palm sugar. Just too bad there's not enough wok hei (smoky aroma) because they're overwhelmed by orders that night so the stir-frying pair were too busy to let the food fry longer.

Those ordering stuff like salad & beef noodles get their pretty quickly for they're prepared by this Thai-looking lady at the front. The beef noodles are topped with a spoonful of minced-garlic. I like that! If only they pound the som tham (green papaya salad) instead of just mixing it up in a bowl before serving. That would have been more authentic.

Since this is so near to home, I really should find time to explore the other eats available here.

PS: They have separate musollah rooms for male/female at the back.

Chocolate-y Birthday

All my colleagues seem to gang-up and give me ALL chocolates this time. Mostly dark chocolates. They sure know what I like!

ROYCE Potatochip Chocolate

Read my previous entry on this HERE.

Assortment of choc goodies

Read my previous entry on the Pepperidge Farm cookies HERE.

And the Loacker biscuits are all individually packed and coated with dark chocolate. Mmmm...!

My favourite Ritter Sport mini has gotta be biscuit, cornflakes & hazelnuts. Mazipan is wayyyy down on my list. I can't take the overwhelming almond essence, which reminds me of some kinda' childhood medication.

Toblerone Dark Choc.

This is the huge one. Swiss Dark Chocolate with Honey and Almond Nougat. Can everybody join me and say, "Yum!"

Random foods

KFC's AM Platter

This one was a serious downer. Don't know which is worse. The service there (Downtown East), that morning or the food.

The porridge took 15mins to arrive. Maybe that batch ran out and when they finally served, they did it by the dozens. Same goes for the waffles, which were supposedly prepared ala minute.

The only fast one has got to be the breakfast platter, where the contents were at the food warmer, ready to be assembled upon order.

Those scones go well with the given maple syrup. If only they weren't so hard...

Not necessary to drag me here screaming & kicking but if I ever come back it'll only be for their American am Twister, simply because there's bacon (I love bacon). I had a feeling I might just crave for their waffles & egg one day.

Otherwise, just stick to McD or Burger King.

Kacang Pool Mustafa

Ah, my favourite food, from my favourite stall at Geylang Serai Food Centre. Imagine how much I suffered when I strictly avoided eating this throughout my pregnancy...

I love ordering from this stall (which sells only this, btw) because there are jars of these fragrant cumin powder which complement the spiced fava beans oh-so-well. It's up to us, how liberally we want to sprinkle on our dish (not too much I hope, the strong scent may just overwhelm the whole dish). You can see some of that powder on the top-right corner of my plate.

The runny sunny-side-up eggs are only cooked upon order and they'll mash some of the beans on the spot (you can see it done as you wait, it's self-service after all). As a result, the mashed fava beans has varying consistencies to tease the tastebuds.

This dish is a bad idea for lunch on a weekday, actually. Not good if you have meetings afterwards.

Beans cause flatulence. What more when paired with those raw onions. Flatulence + dragon's breath? You don't want to scare people away!

7-eleven Pocket Sandwiches

These fluffy things didn't taste all too bad. It'll be nice to get the freshly-made ones (do check the dates).

There are 3 varieties available: Chicken Ham & Cheese (always sold out!), Chicken & Mushroom and Tuna & Corn.

At only $1.60, these babies are more of a bargain than their the triangular sandwiches which easily cost more than $3 ea.

Mad Jack Cafe

White Sands

Hubby suggested having my birthday dinner somewhere nearby since we just knocked off work that evening. I suggested Manhattan Fish Market (MFM), since I'm keen to try out the White Sands branch. Besides, hubby did express interest in that place by asking me what their food is about.

Somehow on that evening itself, he grimaced when I mentioned MFM. He looked up to where Mad Jack Cafe is and said, "Why don't we just eat there?" Sigh. So much for looking though MFM’s menu earlier in the day...

We took the dinner set which comes with coke, soup-of-the-day, mains & dessert-of-the-day. There are 3 options for the mains: Lamb Chops, Rib-Eye Steak or Premium Fish & Chips. Both of us chose the steak.

I tell you, if he chose the fish & chips after rejecting MFM, he sure deserve a good socking in the face.

Since hubby went to the counter to make the order, it became somewhat a mystery to me as to what the 'soup-of-the-day' & 'dessert-of-the-day' could be.

Soup was cream of mushroom, which is thankfully, hubby's favourite (he's the picky eater, not me).

Grilled Rib-Eye in Black Pepper Sauce

Luckily hubby opted medium for us both.

And the steak was done nicely. Cooked outside and a nice pink inside. Too bad the meat wasn’t premium quality (with that price I shouldn’t ask for too much).

The black pepper sauce sure pack a peppery punch. I mixed in a bit of the sauce from the mashed potato when it gets too overwhelming.

Love the boiled veggies on the side. The sweetcorn lived up to its name. The mashed potato was alright. Guess I've tasted better.

Mad & Rich Dessert

I chose to have the set meal not only because it’s value-for-money but I want to have dessert without appearing 'too greedy' in front of the hubby.

I’ve been secretly hankering to have the luscious-looking Mad & Rich Dessert. Everytime I pass by this eatery on the way to the bank, that cake just seem to call out to me.

As I anxiously waited for the 'secret' dessert I tell myself that I can easily spare myself this anxiety by asking the server directly, what the dessert-of-the-day was. But all this wait seem to give me an adrenaline rush.

Imagine, what a pleasant surprise it was, to see just THAT being served at the end of our meal. I was grinning like the Cheshire cat!

I remember the tagline for this cake: "WARNING! For choc die-hards!"
And I have to agree. It was mad sinful, can? Hubby didn't even finish his. But I like! :)))

Save for the somewhat lacking service (manpower shortage), it was a pretty pleasant dining experience. Maybe because it's a weeknight.

Menu available HERE.

Riverwalk Tandoor dinner buffet

At 5th Storey of Landmark Village Hotel (formerly Golden Landmark Hotel).

The plan to break fast with my old pals on the very last week of Ramadhan had been on for sometime. Somehow, being the last minute aficionados that we were; that very morning, we were still debating about where we should eat that evening.

In the end, we realised that we were on a pretty tight budget after all. We also want somewhere centrally located and we figured out that a buffet will be nice.

After hours of debating, it turn out that ALL of us were thinking of the SAME PLACE right from the start! Sheesh! -_-

This place was also the very same one where we break fast together, last year. I was around 7 months preggers then. I remembered that the food was warm and comforting. Just what one needs after a day of work & fasting.

Plain & Butter Naans

The naans here are free-flow. 3 flavours available - plain, butter & garlic. With each order, these will come piping hot from the kitchen and served to our table directly.

Garlic Naan

For each portion, every piece of naan will be quartered. We love these soft & fluffy naans (and sometimes with crispy edges) so much we don't really bother with the biryani rice.

Just these naans to soak up all the curries & sauces and wrap around all those veggies & meat. Yum.

Assorted dishes

(clockwise from top)
Gobi mutter masala - cauliflower & peas masala
Tandoori chicken that's totally covered with butter sauce
Cubes of paneer (Indian cheese) in butter masala gravy
(Bottom, with the curry leaves) Chicken in butter sauce (different from that of the paneer)
Fish masala
Mutton Korma

My favourite dish that night has got to be the paneer. Then again, I'm impartial to ANY paneer dishes. I LOVE paneer! The ultimate would have been palak paneer (cheese in spinach sauce).

That butter sauce that night was so creamy and smooth that I ladled some of the sauce over the tandoori chicken for added goodness (I'm weird like that). Even when the tandoori chicken had been good on its own.

And gobi. My favourite Indian vegetable dish has got to be anything with cauliflower. Especially aloo gobi masala (potato & cauliflower). In fact the soup-of-the-day had been this gobi soup, the flavour of which I accentuate with a good dose of chili powder. Really comforting.

Oh, the Butter Chicken was pretty good too. In fact, I'm loving any Indian dish with butter sauce as of now. Rich, creamy... Would have been good with rice, actually.

The fish was okayyyy only. The mutton was good, though. Really good. Meat was tender and not gamey. Plus the heavily spiced sauce goes really well with the naans. Shiok!

Also available on the sides were achar, papadums that would have gone well with the mixed raita & mint sauce.

For desserts, there were fruit custard (light custard with fruit cocktail), cuts of fresh fruits and the ever popular Gulab Jamun, a very sinful sweetmeat.

Extracted from wikipedia:
"... made of a dough consisting mainly of milk solids (often including double cream) and flour in a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron..."

Masala chai

I chose to end my meal with a cup of masala tea (not part of buffet) to wash down all that richness as I chat with my pals, post-meal.

A meal here never fail to make me really contented...

Online menu available HERE and HERE.

PS: Do try to come before 8pm on weeknights cos after that, busloads of Indian tourists will come and dine there. The queue down the buffet line is pretty outrageous during that period.

Hassan Moroccan Chicken Rotisserie

This stall at Ayer Rajah Food Centre (West Coast) was quite a pleasant find.

Quattro roasted chicken set w/ fries (also available with butter rice)

It was hubby's birthday and he requested to come here after we fetched my bro from work, late that night. As it turned out, he had every intention to have the ayam penyet from that pretty famous 'Boombastic' stall (No. 29). Just too bad that it was closed that night.

Right across from that closed stall, I saw a couple of whole chickens being roasted on a rotisserie; at the front of this particular stall. Right beside it was the rotating kebab spit, where layers of chicken meat are stacked together and roasted before chunks of them sliced off for doner kebabs.

I then saw a lone Arabic-looking man working inside. Going by the name of the stall, guess it's safe to assume that he's Moroccan?

My dad chose to have his doner kebab roll (also available with thick pita breads). Service was a lil' slow that night because he seemed flanked by many orders (popular, I assume?) and it's just him manning the stall. And it's not self-service, mind you. He'll send the plate of food to your table, personally.

Taking a bite from my dad's roll, I tell you - the whole wait is so worth it cos' the chicken meat inside tasted fabulous! Tender chicken meat that's soooo nicely marinated, it totally hit the spot!

I quickly pointed out to my mum that this fella's specialty must have been his roasted chicken. I still can't get the sight of those 2 beautifully golden chickens rotating on the rotisserie, out of my mind. I've never been too fond of roasted chickens but that delicious chicken doner kebab got me all curious about how those whole chicken meat will taste.

And when I came back to the stall to make my order, imagine my surprise when I saw that there was only 1 bird left on that spit. I hastily made my order, seeing there there were a few others and I feared that I might have missed out on the very last piece.

True enough. He then took out the very last chicken and proceed to cut it up. Someone ordered a 1/2 chicken set, leaving another half. Take away the quarter portion that I ordered, that will leave another 1/4 portion for a very lucky person that night.

As the plate was being place on the table, I can't help whiffing a very nice aroma wafting from this bird. Lotsa' spices definitely. And that powdery thing on the chicken had to be cumin, for it smelt & tasted similar to the one available one the side; at my favourite kacang pool stall in Geylang Serai Market.

The skin carried the full-bodied flavour of various spices used to marinate this bird. And that thin skin was crisp from all that roasting. And the meat? Tender, juicy and really shiok!

The dipping sauce on the side wasn't really chilli sauce. It had this tangy flavour which complement the chicken really well. The fries on the side aren't really freshly fried. There's also some ok-tasting coleslaw on the plate. I wonder how the butter rice would have tasted like.

Besides the doner kebab and roasted chicken, there's also panini (sandwich) available -with chicken or tuna stuffing.

I'm so going back there for more of that chicken! Maybe a 1/2 bird to share.

Chai Chee Seafood Restaurant

Breaking of fast with paternal cousins

We have planned that the early birds shall choose the food to order. All these foods were chosen by my cousin & myself, based on our knowledge of the food here and what we assumed to be other peeps' favourites.

All dishes are medium-sized, save for the chicken dishes - which are small.

Kangkong Belacan - $10

A favourite amongst most people, it's hard to miss out on ordering this.

Somehow, this plate of greens lacked the usual, flavourful depth.

Hotplate Tofu/Beancurd - $14

Another favorite. What I notice here is that their hotplate tofu is listed simply under tofu ONLY. Maybe because there are other seafood dishes available so they don't really offer hotplate tofu with all the works.

Not bad, this one.

Baby Squid in Oyster Sauce - $14

This one here is forgettable. Because I can't remember much about this dish. Blah.

Shanghainese Chicken - $9

I remember my family recommending this dish to me. They supposedly came here without me one time and ordered this and fell in love with it. I wasn't to impressed when this was served to me at first. It's just chicken cooked in sweet soy sauce.

In fact, when I (confidently) asked for this one, the waiter was quick to remark that this is simply chicken in sweet soy sauce (this variation must have not been popular with some).

However, this dish is da bomb for me too. The chicken is deep-fried till really crispy before being tossed into sweet soy sauce with chili padi, curry leaves and onions. Sprinkled with sesame seeds before being served.

My cousin got hooked on this (and insist on ordering this one) that night. My cousin's son couldn't help relishing this too. Even my husband liked this.

Lemon chicken - $9

This one was pretty dismal. I remember we asked for a medium portion but I think we were served a small plate.

Though crispy, the chicken cutlet was on the thin side. The sauce, despite the eerie yellow tint, only carry a weak lemon-y flavour. Well, I wasn't expecting a lemon taste so strong that it'll remind me of detergent but the taste was seriously lacking here.

Cereal Prawns - $28

This was another disappointment. Sure the portion looks like there's a lot but the size of the prawns were inconsistent. Maybe they somehow ran out of the properly-sized prawns that Friday night?

Some of them were the oft-used medium-sized tiger prawns. But there were also the occasional small ones that seemed more suited for stir-frying with noodles or rice.

The cereal bits were alright but I'm sure I've tasted something better when dining here previously.

Seafood Tom Yam - $14

First time that I saw a crayfish inside my tom yam soup. Maybe because this is the medium portion?

Not exactly my favourite rendition of tom yam but it sure is chock full with ingredients. And honestly, those tiger prawns taste much better than the crayfish.

3-flavour fried seabass - $26

Translated from Malay: Ikan 3 Rasa. The sauce is of Thai origins. Sweet, sour, spicy. Was asked to choose between Seabass & Grouper. Chose the former, for it can get really crispy when fried.

The sauce was good. However, my personal preference would have been the sweet & sour. But this one help to add on some spice amongst the various foods ordered.

Just too bad that I was busy with the other dishes to fully focus on digging out the nicer bits from this fish. Hubby seem to love it, though. He ended up nibbling the bones.

Dessert

Ended the dinner on a sweet note with a surprise birthday cake for my hubby, whose birthday fall on the next day.

Had to ask a favour from my cousin since I won't have the time (also to value-add the element of surprise). Gave the green light to purchase ANY chocolate cake. Personally though, I would have preferred cake from Prima Deli.

Not only was the cake bought from there, she had also chosen my favourite, the Belgium Chocolate Divine. Last I had that was during my karaoke cum hen-night cum birthday party, more than a year back. And it was yummeh!

The Belgian chocolate mousse and crunchy choco balls really did me in. Not surprisingly, the whole cake was gone by the time we left. Oh yeah. Licked clean!
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Was pretty disappointed that the food was really not up to their usual standards (inconsistency alert!). However, I should have known better than to dine there at their most hectic period; where they're under pressure to have the orders of food cooked and served, all at the same time. To obviously very hungry customers, nonetheless.

Will come back on another time, during their lull period and order my favorites again... This place had been my favourite haunt for far too long for me to lose hope on them. :P

(weird) Japanese snacks

Snacks from Hokkaido

My female boss went on an 'all-ladies trip' to Hokkaido with her 3 friends recently. These are some of the souvenirs she brought back.

The non-food item is a small pouch filled with lavender petals, the scent of which help to relax our mind when placed inside the pillow we sleep with. It's bought from this flower farm called 'Farm Tomita'. She went right when the lavender & sunflowers are blooming nicely. Gorgeous!

Here are a list of the weird snacks (some) she brought back.

Unique Kit Kat flavours

The one on top is: WASABI flavoured Kit Kat. I, of course can't resist trying. Well, the wasabi flavour was disappointingly mild. A tad too sweet for my tastebuds, too.

The lower one is : Green tea/matcha flavoured Kit Kat. Yet to have a taste of that. Will update when I finally do.

**update: The matcha (green tea) flavour, like its wasabi counterpart also lacks its namesake flavour. To creamy, too sweet. Even the green tea-flavoured ice-cream from Haato packs more punch!

Milk candy

My colleague had a taste of this. "Very milky," he said. I asked if it's similar to the 'white rabbit candy' that we have here. "This one nicer."

Well, no surprise there, seeing that Hokkaido milk is known to have a 'strong milk taste & is smooth'. It's also much favoured by the Japanese themselves.

Seasoned dried scallop

We've heard of dried squid snacks. But it's my first time seeing a dried scallop snack. And they are really small, so cute!

This one, I believe, will go nicely with piping hot rice. Reminds me of the seasoned scallop sushi one can easily get here. But I guess, this one here is chewier.

Potato snacks

Hokkaido (or Sapporo) potatoes are known to be really tasty so it's no surprise that these snacks were soo delish!

The small packet on the right, called Jyagapokkuru, is apparently a pretty famous product that sold out pretty fast almost everywhere there. Looks and taste a little like Calbee's Jagabee. A box of 10 small packs cost a little more than SGD13. Limited to only 1 box per customer. Can you believe that?!

Check out more details HERE.

The box on the left is Hanabatake Bokujo Angel's potato caramel. In case you are wondering, yes, they are CARAMEL-COATED potato chips.

As a non-caramel fan, I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. But my boss made us have a taste and boy! The caramel flavour is pretty mild, almost creamy; so it isn't cloyingly sweet. And when paired with the tasty Hokkaido potato chips...? YUM! Pretty addictive.

Chocolate potato chip

And this one here... is from Hokkaido. But it was purchased in Singapore. At Suntec City, in fact.

Eversince I read about these chocolated-coated potato chips, I had been most curious about the odd-pairing. However, I can never find the time to actually head down to any of Royce's outlets (Suntec City, Taka & ION). Yes, Royce, the Japanese chocolate boutique where the products are flown in directly from their factory in Sapporo, Hokkaido.

When my colleague had to go here for a site visit, I can't help but asked a favour from him.

The verdict? Well, I don't know if I should compare with the Angel's caramel potato but I just can't help it.

One difference is how Royce's potato chips is a lil' salty (Angel's chips are just plain). The taste was pretty jarring, at first. But with more bites, I find how interesting it was to have 2 contrasting tastes (salty potato + sweet chocolate) finally complementing each other. Another thing is how Royce's chips are much thicker.

As quoted from their website:
"... The wave shape of the potato chips is to enable a well-balanced taste when the sweet taste of the chocolate and the salty taste of the potato chips melt together in the mouth. The nice crispy sensation generates from the thickness of the potato chips and the chocolate. The combination is unexpected and once you start eating them you cannot stop ..."

Ahhh.. sohhh....

That box also didn't come cheap. $15 for 190g. I'm also curious to try their 'Potechi Crunch'. (Pls pardon the weird use of English on their website...)

The Cove Trailer

PLEASE, SAVE THEM DOLPHINS!



Really need to find some time to watch this movie. Hate to admit this but motherhood make my 'me' time all the more precious, cos' it's just so rare!

Hawa Restaurant part deux

As I've mentioned previously, my colleague and I came back here the very next day, bringing with us, our other 2 colleagues. I was a tad apprehensive about bringing the fella, he who loves his food (plus he can be critical) and he's also Chinese so he must have had wayyy better Chinese fare.

Well seing how Hawa serves halal Chinese food, I wanna know his take on it.

Half a roasted chicken - $14

He was pretty impressed by the sight of roasted chicken on display and sought to order 1/2 a chicken to share. He even asked for chicken rice instead of the regular white rice.

I asked for his opinion and he said, "Not bad." He continued to remark that he's eaten those that are wayy better but they're non-halal so there's no way he can compare. Especially when he often prefer to have some char siew (roast pork) alongside his chicken.

And it's true that Hawa restaurant serves pretty good chicken rice. The chicken meat ain't dry, the skin look & taste like it's been roasted well and the sauce poured over the chicken pieces complement them nicely. And the 1/2 chicken was more than enough for us 4. Would have fed 5 pax just right.

The chilli is available free-flow in a jar on every table, alongside the pickled green chillies. Cut red chili padi available on request.

Cereal Squids - $12

Felt like trying out their rendition of 'cereal prawns' but we find that having prawns during lunch seem a tad overwhelming. Therefore, we settled for squids instead.

The squid ringlets aren't tough or overly chewy. And those cereal bits... Yummy! Love it enough to have a spoonful with every mouthful of rice.

Kailan w/ Beef - $10

For our choice of veggies, I have no idea why we didn't settle for the popular kangkong belachan (morning glory/water convolvulus stir-fried in shrimp paste chili).

Here they used the baby kailan (chinese kale), which has tender leaves with slightly sweet taste. The regular kailan have thicker leaves which are slightly bitter. Plus they also have these very thick stems that can be a turn-off to some.

The beef slices were tender (not sure if they used tenderiser or simply corn starch). The canned button mushroom was just.. ho-hum. Would have preferred straw mushrooms instead.

Personally, in Chinese cooking, I prefer to have the slight gingery scent & flavour with any beef dishes. To counter the meaty smell and it also add dimension the the taste. That aspect was missing here.

Tom Yam Soup - $12

It was drizzling when we were dining here. Seeing that this is an al-fresco dining area, with no walls; we felt 'exposed' to the weather. So we took the chance to order a bowl of hot soup.

What better than to have a bowl of tangy & spicy tom yam, chock-full of ingredients? Not exactly the best I've ever had but it's good enough to please us.
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I'm just so glad to have discovered this place. Should I happen to have cravings yearning for a good plate of chicken rice or some halal zhi char, at least I know there's a place nearby for that. (((:

Verdict: As quoted by my colleague, "Not baddd..."

Hawa Restaurant

Al-Fresco dining, outside City Plaza.

I sure have been neglecting this blog much, haven't I?

I tot' of using this fasting month to give myself a break, but I guess not. Not when the publishing of these pics here have been more than a month overdue...
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My colleague who always drove us around for lunch headed to City Plaza to see a chiropractor there, leaving me with another colleague wondering, "Where to..?" for lunch. One colleague was on leave so it's just us 2.

Arnold's is out of question. Last time we dined there, we had to wait more than 1/2hr just to enter the restaurant. Then I recalled the Indonesian eatery, Es Teler located just outside the main building. When outside, we noticed that a new eatery has taken over the Sembawang Satay Club.

What drove us try check them out were the yummy looking roasted chickens hanging in the display counter!

However, we realised just how extensive their menu is and we got fickle. Instead of the initial intention to simply order chicken rice, we decide to share some dishes between ourselves; to try out their food. Besides, we were pretty hungry.

**All small portions, $10 each (checked receipt).

Sambal Chicken

Chose this dish, which easily met our criteria for 'some chicken' and 'something spicy'.

Small cuts of chicken fillets - deep fried and then stir fried with sambal sauce (plus lots of onions). I wish I can describe the sambal as 'fiery' but it is sambal done the Chinese way, heavily infused with dried shrimp (hae bee hiam) and was rather mild.

But it did go well with the chicken, its slightly pungent aroma reminding me of Har Cheong Kai; the deep fried prawn-paste chicken.

Deep-fried baby squid

Who doesn't love this dish? Baby squids, deep-fried and then stir fried with sweet & sour sauce.

The only risk involved is to have the squids undercooked, making them tough & rubbery. Or overcooked, putting them beyond crispy to very hard instead. Thankfully these were nicely crispy with the sauce evenly coating every bit.

Chewing on those crispy morsels had been fun!

Hot-plate Tofu

This, to me is my idea of an all-in-one dish. I can have my veggies, seafood, tofu, egg & gravy by just ordering this!

And this one here was done nicely. Chock-full of ingredients, pretty much overwhelming for us both. Wayy better than the dismal one we had during lunch one time. Notice how the soft tofu was cut into rectangular pieces instead of the usual round ones?

We had anticipate our colleague to join us after his massage session but he had to rush off for a meeting, even leaving us behind cos' we chose to take our time to savour the food, since we eventually had to finish up food meant for 3 pax.

Thankfully, the taxi stand is a mere 10 metres or so away!

Only after paying and looking at the receipt, do I realise that this had been 1 of Hawa Restaurant's branch. That explains the yummy looking roasted chickens, since they've been known to serve pretty delish chicken rice!

Verdict: We like it enough to come back here again. The next day, in fact. With our other 2 colleagues in tow.

B Bakery

Desserts galore!

Lemon tart

My boss's order. She loooooves lemon-y desserts. This had been the umpteenth time that I saw her ordering a lemon tart wherever they're available.

It's thanks due to her that I became a lemon tart convert. I used to have a phobia of them ever since that one time, I actually ate one where the cream tasted like detergent. No joke!

The lemon curd/cream inside this one was thankfully, not too... tart (ok, pardon the pun). It's tangy alright but not overtly so. And the beautiful meringue over it is also not too sweet and help to nicely balance all that sourness.

And the crust... Oooh I sure liked the shortcrust tart base. Nicely crunchy with a hint of buttery taste. Almost like a biscuit!

Sad to say, though, I've yet to find a lemon tart that can contend with the one from Ricciotti at Riverwalk. If I'm not wrong, it's called, 'Limoncello'. That one was... fwah!

Chocolate raspberry tart

My boss had initially wanted this. However, seeing that we've chosen it first, he stepped back *guilty*. Well, we all end up sharing anyway, so he did have his bite of it. Naturally, he declared this one his favourite.

Chocolate ganache sitting atop the raspberry layer with dark, maraschino cherry on top. Yeap, that's gold, flake-y crumbs, there. Ah, and that nice tart base. Who would have thought that chocolate and raspberry can go well together? Well, this one does. Slightly bitter and sweet, intertwined with a hint of tang.

Yum.

Manjari chocolate cake

'Manjari' is short for Valrhona Manjari - where the cocoa beans originate from Madagascar, with 64% cocoa content. Yes, pretty bitter stuff but it sure taste awesome when whipped into a cake like this.

Manjari chocolate mousse that sandwich a layer of pretty tart lemon mousse. Yet another sweet-sour pairing. However, unlike the raspberry-chocolate pairing, the lemon flavour comes off as way too sour, giving it a somewhat jarring taste.

Well, I guess it takes some getting used to. By the 3rd forkful, my tongue had gotten used to the taste and it then start to blend well. Thankfully. Or it would have been such a waste of those fine chocolate mousse layers.

Chocolate fudge/mousse cake

One word came to mind, with the first taste of this: DECADENT.

Damn rich chocolate cake, I tell you. Dark chocolate... Mmmm....!

Don't be fooled by the term 'fudge'. It's not those cheapo chocolate fudge you get at your regular confectioneries. This is equivalent to a chocolate TRUFFLE cake. My fave!
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We were initially eyeing this small, cylindrical cake with a glossy chocolate covering. Were told that it's called the Praline Mousse cake. The friendly lady at the counter told us that it's chocolate mousse with a layer of crunchy praline at the bottom. Sad to say, she added that those remaining 2 pcs have already been reserved. Okay.... I don't know that one can reserve cakes like that. Interesting service they have here. Rather personalised, eh?

The lady who took our order at the counter comes across as the proprietress of this little cafe. And true enough, when she was free, she came by to our table and enquired about the cakes. Really warm and friendly service.

When we were done with our cakes, our boss asked if we want to have their 'sticky buns'. STICKY buns?! I'm sorry, but only funny things come to mind when I hear that. I took a look and saw a tray loaded with what looked like large cinammon rolls, albeit more brownish looking.

She bought 3 of them anyway and remarked that, "These will be our breakfast tomorrow morning." As she made her payments, a group of boisterous working ladies came in, hung around the counter area and left before us.

As I looked back, I saw that the 2 'reserved' Praline Mousse cakes were gone. And only 1 'sticky bun' was left. Hmmm....

I checked B Bakery out on Hungrygowhere.com and found out just how popular those 'sticky buns' are! Apparently, they make a limited amount daily and one have to be truly lucky to get their hands on them. Besides selling out fast, there are people who call them up to make reservations, prior to heading there. Is that cool or what?!

And yes, those buns taste fabulous. And mind you, we consume them the morning after (heated, of course). Imagine how much better they would be, when eaten fresh? Unlike those common cinnamon rolls, where white sugar icing is used; here it's only brown sugar- inside and out. So it's the caramelised brown sugar that makes them buns, sticky.

You can also go here for another review on B Bakery. Be sure to click on the individual cake links near the end!

B Bakery
15 Bussorah Street
Singapore 199436
Tel: 6293 9010

Alaturka Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant

My bosses want the company to have a meal together (all 6 of us) before the start of Ramadhan (the Islamic month where it is compulsory for Muslims to fast - namely abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until sunset).

It's always the same dreaded question that really ticked me off, "SO what's for lunch?"

My lady boss suggested Indonesian. Or Japanese? *Yawn!* Same old.. same old...

Then she mentioned 'mediterranean food at Arab Street'. I instantly thought of Alaturka, where my parents and I were really pleased with the authentic Turkish food in a really nice setting during our previous visit.

A quick note: Parking is a nightmare during lunch hour!

Meze Tabagi
clockwise from top: Patatessalata, Tabouleh, Hummus, Dolma, Saksuka, Babaganoush & some mysterious, spicy dip

'Meze' is a selection of appetizers or small dishes that acts as a start to Mediterranean meals.

My female boss left it to me to order for us, since I seemed to be familiar with the food there (I've only been there all of ONE time- years ago!). Egad!

What better way for a group of 6 to start a meal, than to share a large platter of mixed 'mezes'? There's the:
~ Dolma - Spiced rice wrapped in grape leaves.
~ Patatessalata - Mediterranean potato salad
~ Tabouleh - Mint leaves & 'bulgur' (ground durum wheat) salad
~ Hummus - Chickpea w/ tahini dip
~ Saksuka - Deep fried eggplant w/ tomato sauce
~ Babaganoush - Roasted eggplant & garlic dip
~ and the spicy, reddish dip that reminds me of heavily spiced hummus

All were good and the Saksuka was a hot favourite amongst most of us. This platter was accompanied with Lavash, the traditional middle-eastern bread (seen in background of picture above) that came bloated with hot air and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Really yummy!

I ate one of the dolma and find that it tasted a lil' tart. I wonder what contributed to that. The spiced rice (assumed to be pilaf) or is that how grape leaves taste like?

I also ordered the falafel (deep-fried chickpea patty) which reminds me of the Indian masal vadai (deep fried 'dhal'/lentil patty), though this one here seemed lightly spiced.

My boss the meat-lover was appalled to see that the platter was very much a vegetarian dish. We assured him that the dishes we've already ordered will be pretty much carnivorous.

Chicken Etlipide

Pide is generally 'Turkish pizza', where 'pita' (bread) is topped with ingredients such as veggies or meat with cheese and then baked. The sides of the bread are usually folded in to create a boat-like shape.

This one here had marinated chicken pieces with a generous amount of cheese. The bread was soft and fluffy. All of us love it!

Tavuk Sis/Shish Tawook

A skewer of marinated chicken pieces that's served with pilaf (middle-eastern rice), vegetables and spicy mushroom & tomato sauce.

I highly recommend their chicken. The chicken meat was nicely marinated and the cooking, well-executed. It's tender and juicy. Quite pleased to see that my boss was impressed with this. Phew!

The pilaf was very fluffy and aromatic. "Like chicken rice!" as remarked by my boss. Well, the reason is that; like chicken rice, pilaf is also cooked in broth. And the sauce that the pilaf and cooked veggies soaked in was also yummy!

Karisik Kebab

Mixed kebabs platter.

There are pieces of Sis Tavuk, Kuzu Pirzola (lamb chops) and Lamb Adana Kebab (minced meat on skewers).

My boss got the lone lamb chop and he remarked that it's really good and we should order another plate of simply that. But we're afraid that we wouldn't be able to finish everything else.

The lamb meat in the Adana kebab was a tad too salty for my liking. Thankfully, it didn't smell or taste too 'gamey'.

Chicken Iskander Kebab

Sliced marinated chicken in tomato sauce sitting on bread cubes, with homemade yoghurt on the side.

The tomato was tangy enough. Together with the yoghurt, this dish comes off as tasting a tad too sour. I guess, Turkish people likes their food that way, huh?

The cubes of bread at the bottom soak up all the flavours from the sauce and chicken and comes off as pretty delish; sans yoghurt, of course.

Moussaka

My female boss remarked that she loves eggplants so I was contemplating to either order this or the Ali Nazik, where cubes of lamb meatloaf stew is served in creamy, mashed eggplant dip.

Then I recalled that she doesn't like lamb so I got her the Chicken Moussaka instead, which had layers of eggplant, potato and chicken meatloaf that's topped with cheese and then grilled. Oooh.. all that hot, melted cheese with the works... Really delish!

Looking at the pics, you might have noticed that they were pretty generous with their greens. Those fresh salad clusters were prevalent in almost every dish, much to my delight. And the varieties used were the 'higher-end' types; like the rocket/arugula, butter head, cos/romaine, oak leaf & lollo rosso lettuce, radicchio and endive.

I'm just soo glad that the bosses somewhat enjoy the foods here. I was pretty apprehensive about the fact that I felt almost responsible for the choice of restaurant and food. Took a whole load off my shoulders to see them smiling at the end of the meal.

Their menu here.

The service was a tad patchy. Sometimes the servers were attentive and responded quickly & warmly. At times, they just seem like wanting to ignore us. It wasn't THAT busy...

My boss told us about a confectionery next door and that we'll be having desserts there...

Let's save that for the next post, shall we?

Alaturka Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant
16 Bussorah Street Singapore 199437
Tel/Fax: 62940304