seafood lunch @ ECP

That day, during lunch, I was sorely disappointed with the cam.

For it had felt like one of the best lunch experiences ever, what with a great location, great atmosphere, great weather, great company and most importantly, great food. And yet, the cam chose to die on me (batt flat) right when I'm about to snap photos of the food.

Nice timing. Grrr...

great location, great weather, great company

It wasn't even 4pm, that Sunday afternoon. The lunch crowd were long gone and the dinner crowd would be in only later. So East Coast Lagoon Food Centre was pretty much a picture of peace. It was sunny and pretty breezy. We managed to secure a table at the very shady pavilion which had pretty spacious seating and it overlooked the nearby lagoon.

After fetching my bro from work, my mum had wanted to patronise the Thai Restaurant near the Sultan mosque but the rest of us were somehow resistant to the idea. Not surprisingly, here, my mum also asked to have the same type of meal that we would have had, over there.

Namely, a plate of rice each and an array of dishes. She must be hungry.

We were seated right behind this stall which we have never seen before. Must be new. It's called Adim Ann Seafood & Satay Specialist. What caught my eye was the weird name. Sounds really foreign, almost.... Thai.

My bro and I proceed to make the order. Cereal prawns is a must on my list right then. Kangkong belachan and kailan (veggies are good for health, ok?). My mum refused to have BBQ fish. I saw that they do serve sweet & sour so I ordered that. Somehow the guy offered the '3-rasa' (3-flavours) instead. That one is more like a Thai kind of sauce- sweet, sour AND spicy. We agreed on that.

I saw the array of fresh fish on display on the bed of ice in front of the stall and chose the seabass cos' that- to me, taste pretty good when fried. I cheekily asked that it be fried till' really, REALLY crispy.

I guess there's really something about a heavily pregnant woman making special reaquests when ordering food. You just have to abide. The fella literally wrote down on the order chit - beside the 3-flavours seabass, 'Very, VERY crispy'. Heh.

Also ordered satay. I somehow missed having tripe so I ordered 5 sticks of those and 10 sticks of beef. Surprisingly, my bro refused to have chicken, this time.

The 15 sticks cost us $8. Not exactly cheap, actually but that price seemed to be the norm, nowdays. But they tasted pretty good. Even the sauce. Now, when everyone in a Javanese family unanimously agree that the satay is good, you gotta believe them. Satay is a specialty of the Javanese, after all.

The first dish to come was the cereal prawn and boy, were we taken aback. The portion was huge! It's definitely large. Thing is, the stall didn't state any portion sizes so we didn't see the need to specify. We were worried as to how we were gonna finish all that. There was a mound of cereal over the prawns there. I took a spoonful of the spiced cereal....

It-was-sooo-good! They were generous with the curry leaves and chili padi. Those tiny red bits were also really spicy, an indication of the freshness. My mum told me that the prawns were fresh, because she had to tug hard at the head to separate it from the body. And the flesh was sweet and firm. Ummmm..... I like the fact that they didn't fry the prawns in some batter, like how it's done in some places.

Now that I count back the number of prawns each of us had, I dare say that there were at least 10, big, fat and juicy tiger prawns, there. Maybe, there could even be 12!

The portions for the veggies were pretty small though. I'm surprised at the way they prepare the kangkong belachan. There were cut red chilies and rings of red onions fried together with the greens, hence giving the dish a pretty nice hint of sweetness, "...just like how mum cook," my bro remarked. I agree.

And lastly, the deep fried seabass in '3-flavours' sauce (ikan siakap 3-Rasa). I poked at the fish. It sure is crispy. Very crispy, alright. I first attacked the crispy meat around the fins. And the sauce was awesome! Sweet, sour and pretty spicy. And they were pretty generous with the kaffir lime leaves, which were torn by hand.

Seeing that, I looked back into the stall to spot the cooks. I told my mum, "..Are the cooks Thai? Something tells me that they are..." She also start looking in and we spotted a couple of guys and a lady helming the kitchen. "The guys sure looked Thai to me.." she replied.

Thai or not, their cooking style is reminiscent of Thai cooking. Should have tried their tom yam...

For that large portion of cereal prawns, 2 plates of veggies and a medium-sized seabass + 4 white rice, I paid merely $45.

I recommended this place to my colleague and she treated her family there yesterday. Imagine- she ordered stingray, cereal prawn, calamari, kangkong belachan, omelette and tom yam; and she was charged only $70. And that's for 8 pax!

She told me the calamari is nice. I remember my bro mentioning calamari. He was wondering if they have that there. Well, we have our answer!

Another visit sure is due (before they start changing cooks or compromise on their quality or even revise the pricing).

...Pretty long entry, eh? If I only I had the photos, I needn't have to describe so much. Hmph! =((

sakura

23102009

A spontaneous decision for a get-together with gal pals of TMS. Coincidentally, one of the gals just had her birthday a couple of days back.

We were thinking of 'buffet' for the varieties and also to accommodate or vegan fren. Carousel's too expensive. Guess Sakura @ Downtown East it is (very close to home!).

One thing I learn about coming here - keep expectations low. VERY low. There's very poor chance that the food (esp. the seafood) here is fresh. And taste-wise.... well, if you're pessimistic, just stick to the safer choices.

from the sushi bar

It's a great risk that I'm taking, taking slices of sashimi. One bite tells me that I should just forget about it.

My colleague told me that a few slices of FRESH sashimi, esp. the premium ones from authentic Japanese restaurants should be fine. But this...?

I just savour the seaweed roll w/ prawn tempura and the california roll with unagi. That mussel in the foregroud was from the grilled-food section. Mussels topped with this sweet, orange-coloured creamy sauce (I can't figure out what). That was decent.

from the cooked-food section

Photo taken of the belated-birthday gal's first plate. Fried stuff, mostly. I was kinda' disappointed to see all that breadcrumbed stuff. I was hoping for some tempura, esp. since they were having this 'Japanese Food Promotion'. Was I asking for too much?

from the salad bar

Now this is what delighted me. The reason why I love buffets is because of the array of salad greens and cold dishes.

There were several cold dishes that had tuna in it. I just took a couple of those. These's something that looks like cold yakiniku. The chuka idako (Japanese seasoned baby octopus) was really starchy/gooey.

Wish I could have taken more of the alfalfa sprouts. I LOVE, love them alfalfa sprouts. But I read somewhere that pregnant women should hold back on consuming them because the way they are grown, there's a high chance of them harvesting a lot of bacteria.

Shucks, I know.

And on the top-left corner are 2-halves of boiled slipper lobster (aka crayfish) which was really cold and bland. Even the various sauces didn't perk up the taste. Sheesh.

my plate of cooked-food

I tell myself that the cooked food didn't look that very promising so I just try to go for 1 round of it.

Got the chawanmushi (bland), deep-fried vietnamese rolls (nice), a couple of dim sum (there are like 4-5 varieties but all the fillings looked the same), some breadcrumbed prawns & crab-claw.

From the grilled-food section, I got the teriyaki chicken (very dry - should top the meat with more sauce, post-grilling), more of that mussels and grilled prawns that's topped with the same orange-y sauce (doesn't taste that fresh).

I actually went for a 2nd round of the fried foods because I just spotted the wasabi mayo (my weakness!). But the wasabi taste was sorely lacking. Should have taken the actual wasabi from the sushi bar and mix it in!

I realise that I didn't even bother to try the food on the cook-upon-order section. Stuff like hot-plate grill, soups and teppanyaki. I was tempted to try the teppanyaki wagyu beef but something held me back.

one of my faves

Fried salmon skin! Nom nom....!

little pieces of cakes ~
background (L-R) - blackforest, oreo cheese, choc. truffle
midground (L-R) - choc. fudge brownie, choc. mint
foreground (L-R) - marble cheese

After the disappointment with the food, the desserts were thankfully, a saving grace.

Especially the marble cheesecake. They were just topping up on that one when I was at the fridge (must be popular!) so it was refreshingly cold to the bite, just like cheesecake ice-cream. And tasted just nice, not too sweet nor creamy.

The letdown was the blackforest for there was no hint of a cherry flavour. Just like a normal choc. cake. The mint in the choc. mint was lacking, too. The oreo was too overpowering because the proportion of it to the cheesecake was like 3:2.

The choc. fudge brownie & truffle cakes were decent. pretty nice, actually.

All in all... the foods aren't really THAT worth the $27. I noe there are other places out there that serve better food for a little more.

ayam penyet

Okay... this should have been posted sometime back, seeing that I had these on the same day I bought the baby schtuffs at Takashimaya.

Yea, as I've mentioned previously, my mum-in-law had wanted to eat 'ayam penyet' at Lucky Plaza. Actually, she's been craving for the avocado juice.

They've (my in-laws) often gone to the Ayam Penyet Ria on the 4th storey. This time, I decide to bring them to my family's favourite, Ayam Bakar Ojolali.

Ordered quite a fair bit and sad to say, they've ran out of the avocado juice (of all things?!).

The in-laws shared a set of Ikan Lele (catfish) and Gado-gado (mix-vegetables w/ peanut sauce). My dad had the Gado-gado, my mum- the namesake Ayam Bakar Ojolali (grilled chicken) and myself, the Ayam Penyet (fried chicken). There's also Sayur Asem (sour soup) , Sup Buntut and Ikan Goreng Kipas (deep-fried 'Gurame' fish).

I only managed a couple of pics because my mum-in-law kept teasing me whenever I fished out the cam. She asked if I'm taking these photos, "so that I can learn to cook the food". As soon as she said that, I kept the cam. Shouldn't try to build up her expectations ...

Ayam Penyet

Check out those crumbs! Kinda' remind one of the pisang goreng (fried banana fritters), eh?

The condiments/sauces were free-flow; kept in 2 jars on every table. The spicy chilli sauce (sambal) and the soy sauce with chili padi were such a hit that by the time we left, the 2 jars were almost empty, especially the chili.

Even I who can't take spicy stuff couldn't resist. I mixed some soy sauce into the sambal to neautralise the heat. My sis-in-law remarked that the chili here is definitely nicer than the one upstairs...

Sayur Asem -delish!

A mix of veggies like long beans, tomatoes, squash, cabbage, sweet corn and peanuts in tangy/sour soup. Sometimes, buah melinjo and daun melinjo is also added.

The pink drink in the background is the Es Ojolali (pink ice coconut) which is; young coconut, nata de coco and basil (selasih) float. My dad's order.

baby schtuffs

Let me see.... 3 more days to the 8th month of my pregnancy, I FINALLY bought my first batch of baby goodies!

That was yesterday, by the way.

stuff from Takashimaya

I kept procrastinating and procrastinating till' it's this late.

It dawned onto me, a week back, that I'd already have booked a bed at the hospital and the 8th month can be pretty crucial, seeing how I myself was supposedly born around that period. Besides, if I wait any longer, I'd been much bulkier and of course, lazier to go and buy these things. It's bad enough that I hate shopping. The husband, too.

Thankfully, there's the $100 Takashimaya voucher given by my bosses to somewhat made me a little driven for it. So I strategised...

Knowing just how much the hubby detested Orchard Road, I planned to bring along people who love shopping for company - namely my own mum and mum-in-law. I will take the afternoon off and visit the gynae. Besides my mum's been griping about the fact that I never brought her along to the gynae. As for the mum-in-law, she been talking about eating the ayam penyet at Lucky Plaza, so I plan to head there before shopping at Takashimaya.

Double cases of 'killing 2 birds with 1 stone'. Smart, or not?

When the day arrive, I end up bringing an entourage.

My dad was on mc (but he appeared ok, to me). My mum-in-law brought along her younger daughter and grand-daughter (my sis-in-law & niece). Which was cool.

Seeing that the S-I-L was around my age range and already a mother-of-2 herself, she's a good person to have around to consult. If I had listened to my mum, I might have ended up buying a baby rocker.

It's quite a headache, thinking of what to buy. Oh wait, CORRECTION. I mean, thinking of what NOT to buy- seeing that many had offered several hand-me-downs which I totally don't mind at all, seeing that infants grow quite fast and things like prams and others are already available at home. I even got a breast pump from a cousin. Heheh.

Seriously, all I had in mind was a baby sling/sarong carrier and Avent baby bottles, which were highly recommended. The elders were amused that I would want to spend so much on that sarong carrier when they could have made one out of the REAL sarong anyway.

C'mon, lah. I wanna look a little glam, can? Besides I have to consider the hubby. He'll definitely won't want to use a batik sarong, EVER! (Funnily enough, I bought one in brown...)

In the end, I also got a rubber mat, bed pad, bottle cleanser, breast pads and even a couple of nursing bras. Still got the diapers, my sanitary pads.. what else...?

Ermmm... help? =(

something from the kitchen...

My grandma and mum-in-law decided last week, to hold a 'kenduri' (feast) to commemorate my late grandpa-in-law's 40th day death anniversary. Everyone will sit together and recite prayers for the deceased, after which food will be served.

I didn't really partake in helping with the food preparations for I ain't of much use in the kitchen, actually. The grandma, m-i-l and the maid are all so deft in getting everything done that all I did was to snoop around.

I know, I know... Some kind of daughter-in-law, I am. Hey, I can't even fry my own egg without the maid taking over the spatula and shoo me away. "If not, I'll get a pay cut," she said. =P

ANYWAY, the menu that day was supposed to be rawon, the ubiquitous Javanese beef stew and its accompaniments like urap/keluban (vegetables with spicy shredded coconut), sambal goreng kecambah, bergedil (fried potato patty) and ayam kalio (chicken in spiced coconut stew).

Somehow, something went wrong with the rawon and it seemed to have something to do with it's key ingredient - the buah keluak. The stew actually tasted bitter. They eventually threw out the gravy and quickly washed the meat. What a waste!

And that rawon dish got replaced with daging semur (beef braised in sweet soy sauce).

bergedil - nicely arranged

I can't help taking a photo of this bowl where the bergedil were nicely arranged by the grandma.

bergedil - up close

There's just something about freshly cooked potatoes that make it so irresistibly tempting. Even this potato patty which is pretty common in the malay cuisine.

Very much akin to a croquette sans breadcrumbs. Potato cut into smaller wedges and fried before being mashed. Fillings vary but it's sometimes mixed with minced meat or simply has fried shallots, scallions and cilantro. The patty is then dipped into beaten egg and fried (again).

Not exactly the healthiest of food, I know. But that's why it tastes so good, I guess.

kecipir

That's how they it's known in Javanese. The Malay call it kacang botol (bottle bean). In English, it's called 'Winged bean' or 'Four-angle bean'.

These are cut into thin pieces to be mixed with the tapioca shoots, bean sprouts and long beans for the urap/keluban dish. Although I prefer them in their fresh, crisp form (I can't help popping in a few for a quick snack), they eventually decide to blanch all the vegetables for the convenience of those lacking in the 'dental department'.

The spiced coconut that's prepared by the grandma was really delicious albeit VERY spicy. Some of you are aware that my tolerance for spicy foods have dropped drastically during my pregnancy so when I decide to savour the urap dish on its own, like a salad - I actually kept a jug of water on standby. =PP

portugese egg tart

portugese egg tart

From this bakery, D' Pastry, located nearby the office - along the main road of
Ubi Avenue 2 (same row as those famous suckling pig shops). Oh, it's neighbours with the OCK branch there.

Sales seem to be especially brisk during lunchtime, when office ladies stop by for a quick sugar fix. Their cheesecakes slices cost only $3.90 each and they have durian schtuffs, like durian cake, durian crepes etc.

They also have savoury pastries like chicken, tuna, sausage pies.

Oh and they're halal-certified, too.

Their stuff are nice, save for the fact that their pastry is a tad too greasy/buttery for my liking.

Yes, that applies for the egg tart, too. Too bad, for the layers look gorgeous! And I personally asked for them to give me "the black-black one!"

bibimbap! dinner

(Don't mind the exclamation mark. It's just the expression I used whenever I mentioned the word. Makes me soo excitable!)

While chatting with her online, my cousin Nor kept mentioning how much she missed eating Bibimbap, the famed Korean mixed-rice dish.

She's one of those with whom I always visit ZingDo with and we can't help reminiscing the affordable, yummy and halal Korean fare that we could get from there.

For those in the unknown, ZingDo used to be at Jurong Entertainment Centre, located at Jurong East Central. However, the whole building is currently undergoing extensive renovations and it's not yet known if ZingDo is going to re-open there or find another location elsewhere.

Or if it's even re-opening at all.

We searched online for halal Korean fare and came up with BBQ Chicken (Korea's version of KFC, albeit high-end), Seoul Garden (BBQ meat buffet) and Fresh Bulgogi.

Out of this, only Fresh Bulgogi really serve bibimbap. And the only location is the one all the way at Changi Airport Terminal 2. Oh bummer!

I know there are halal Korean food stalls around somewhere but their fare is not quite decent. We've been quite pampered by the foods at ZingDo and Fresh Bulgogi, where the flavours are pretty much authentic. Oh, the both of them are under the same company, except that Fresh Bulgogi is more high-end (and of course, more expensive!).

So Fresh Bulgogi it is.

Trooped down all the way there (thankfully, someone's driving). All four of us are big fans of Korean dramas and we've been very much intrigued by the scenes of food being served, which is pretty much ubiquitous in EVERY one of their dramas and even movies.

Fried chicken drumlets ~ $5.99

For my cousin Imah, who LOVES her chicken.

Deep-fried assorted mushrooms ~ $5.99

Something that I never missed ordering back at ZingDo.

Crispy spinach ~ $5.99

Used to order this back at ZingDo, too. Check out the crispy exterior! The batter obviously had lotsa' chili/seaweed flakes and sesame seeds. Yums!

Kimchi ~ $3.99

MUST order an extra portion of this, to be eaten with the side dishes. I really love their version, which is less acidic/sour.

The portion is definitely smaller here as compared to ZingDo.

Seafood and chicken hotpot ~$26.99

We opt for them to prepare this for us in the kitchen because we're too lazy and hungry for any D.I.Y.

But they brought out the dish a tad late, so the contents seemed pretty much over-cooked.

If I last recall, the kimchi flavour used to be much stronger last time I was here. Did some customer complain of the flavour being too overpowering or did they deliberately dilute the taste?

Beef Bulgogi bibimbap ~ $10-99

Bulgogi marinated beef with seasoned mungbean sprouts, stir-fried spinach, kimchi and raw egg in the centre.

The gojuchang (Korean sauce made of fermented bean paste and chili) was served in a separate bowl. Oh, how I miss the free-flow of gojuchang and chili paste back in ZingDo. They were kept in 2 small jars and were readily available on every table.

Chicken Bulgogi Bibimbap ~ $9.99

I don't know why the chicken version was rated with 2 chillies on the menu, meaning that it's rather spicy. I thought the bulgogi marinate should be the same, be it for beef or chicken?

They serve the 'Dolsot Bibimbap' version here, (the following is quoted from Wikipedia) where the contents are placed in a hot stone bowl/pot in which a raw egg is cooked against the sides of the bowl. The bowl is so hot that anything that touches it sizzles for minutes. Before the rice is placed in the bowl, the bottom of the bowl is coated with sesame oil, making the layer of the rice touching the bowl golden brown and crispy.

...I love that last line. Heh.

We were darn full at the end of the meal. Desserts were definitely out of question.

Service was quite lacking in the beginning, probably due to that the restaurant was pretty packed then. Towards the end, the service improved much and the servers met to our requests for drinks top-up of both ice & warm water every now and then.

Total damage was $103.50. It could have been cheaper had our cousin been able to use her Zingrill discount card but it was public holiday eve, that day.

Iced double choc., Ultimate ice-blended, hot chai latte & cake

Despite being full, the short walk to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf somehow subside the discomfort a little and we decide to chill for a bit.

I insist on ordering a cake, despite their protests, for I want to somewhat celebrate the belated birthday of my cousin, Sue. So much for being 'very full'. All the drinks ordered were the largest portion. =P

When I gave Sue the honour of having the first bite, another cousin (who's used to getting the attention) asked, "Why her and not me?"

"Because it's her birthday yesterday...?"

Only then she relented. Like that also can, ah? pfft!

PS: After having that hot chai latte, I had a very looong and satisfying burp. What a relief! Must be those cardammoms!

still bored, i guess

I don't know why but I was surfing around for donuts that day.

By lunchtime, I was determined to head down to Bedok after I knock off, to get my fix from my fave, Munchy Donut.

Munchy's my favourite because of their extensive variety of dark chocolate donuts. Followed by Donut Factory and J.Co.

Somehow, when chatting online with my cousins, one of them mentioned fries and my mind immediately flew to think of Yella Fellas at Bugis. I was reminiscing the Wasabi Mayo & Nacho Cheese topping that I had the other time. I was even considering to get some Chewy Junior puffs while I'm there.

But then I end up knocking off late. So I just thought of giving Dippin' Donut at Ehub! a try since it's near my home. However, I decide that going to Ehub! is such a hassle, when White Sands is right at the doorstep of Pasir Ris mrt.

Now thing is, the one at White Sands is Donut Empire and I never really like their stuff cos' I find theirs to be too sweet for my liking. And by the time I got there, the variety of flavours available seemed pretty dismal.

What I eventually did was to order medium fries from MacD and snack on them while I find something else that's to my liking.

And I end up getting this:

Ya Kun ice-cream toast

Chocolate flavour, no less.

They actually ask, "Do you want the bread to be toasted?"

Why, of course! I'm paying $1.70 just for that. Or I might just as well pay only $1 to get normal ice-cream sandwich from any ah-pek out there.

Part 2

They toasted 2 slices of bread, which they then slice length-wise so that the bread became pretty thin and they cut the whole piece further into 2.

Part 1 of the sandwich had the slab of ice-cream being in slightly frozen state. Part 2, the ice-cream had slightly melted around the edges. Warm, crispy toast with cold ice-cream.... niiice...!

It's thoughtful of them to provide a layer of plastic for a more hygienic and less messy eat.

Cheesecake - courtesy of hubby's cousin

My collegues and I were discussing about cheesecake during lunchtime and I came home to see that my hubby's cousin, who live at the next block, had come by to give us the cheesecake that she baked in school that day.

No, she's not from 'homec' class. She's actually training to be a pastry chef?? (not sure of the actual course) in Shatec. So practical lessons involve the making of real-sized cakes and pastries. Isn't that cool or what??

I was looking forward to her chocolate truffle cake but I miss out on that for I was busy tending to my guests at home, when she brought the cake to my sis-in-law's open house. Huhu!

oh, the things i eat!

...When I'm bored, that is.

myojo tom yam

Not the healthiest of things, I know. In fact, this is wayyy unhealthy.

Never been fond of instant noodles, cos' I'm somewhat intolerant to MSG (mono sodium glutamate). But I guess I tend to give in to erratical thoughts and ideas when I'm truly, truly bored.

I usually consume my instant noodles right at the 2min. mark, because I like my noodles springy and firm. Soggy noodles are just so bleargh! As if these things don't taste bad enough.

Noodle-wise, I like those of the Korean brands. The portion is bigger, the noodles thicker and springier. I'm partial to KOKA's flat rice-noodles too.

Flavour-wise, I do enjoy those Korean kimchi ramen flavours, Myojo's Lor Mee and Tom Yam and Chu Qian Yi Ding's sesame oil. But mostly, I prefer the dry, 'fried' noodles version. Maybe because by having it that way, I'll not be obliged to drink up the soup.

And my mum (who's a borderline health-freak at times) always discouraged us from putting ALL the seasoning in and that has become a habit for me, till' now. Bland flavour? Naaahhh.... Less MSG, that's what matters.
--------------

PS: I've been wondering just what appears wrong with that picture... Well, I figured out that the cutlery (stainless steel, Korean made) was placed wrongly. Chopsticks should be on the right, don't they?

Then again, to assimilate with Muslim customs, my mum (yes, dear mum the disciplinarian) always discouraged us from spooning food into the mouth using our left hand as it's considered 'dirty' (left hand is used to wash ourselves). Therefore, it's become a habit of mine to use the chopsticks with my left hand and the spoon with my right.

And thanks to that habit, I'm able to declare myself (slightly) ambidextrous with the chopsticks... =)

fruzen yoguz

My latest craze... Fro-yo.

Fro - WHAT???

Frozen yogurt, la. Something's telling me that yet another new craze has hit our shores...?

I mean... there's:
- Yami Yogurt (the longest to helm the froyo market here)
- Slurps + Scoops (supposedly under Yami Yogurt?)
- Berrylite
- Yoguru
- Frolick
- Red Mango
- Fro-yo
- Glacious

... Aside from Yami (which already have numerous branches) there are those above that already had more than 1 branch here.

Well, not that I'm complaining. I mean, this stuff is supposed to be healthy, rite? Okay, fine.. at least HEALTHIER than... ice-cream, donuts and bubble tea.. etc.

And then there's this - Fruzen Yoguz ~ the yogurt design factory. Newly opened at White Sands Shopping Mall, replacing an ice-cream shop's premise (does that indicate anything?).

MY choices

It's prime location right at the main entrance is totally hard-to-miss. So much so that I got the urge to drop by there everytime I saw it whenever I exit from the MRT station.

And that tagline -"The yogurt design factory" brings on a concept that's new to this whole fro-yo scene and I'm totally digging it. Well, one have got to try something to stand out amongst all that competition I guess.

Everything is D.I.Y here. Make your own combo with all the various fro-yo flavours and toppings which range from fresh fruits, to chocolates and cereals.

They then charge you by the weight of your cup ~ 30cts per 10g (they're currently having a grand opening promo ~ 20% disc. till sometime this month).

Isn't that cool? I'm a sucker for varieties and I can go crazy just figuring out which topping(s) to complement the flavour I chose!

If you see the pic above, I had topped my Mango-Tango (new flavour!) fro-yo with FIVE different toppings. I simply took 3/4 of the usual portion of the fro-yo to create more space for my toppings of fresh strawberry & kiwi, canned peach, muesli and coco pops.

The cashier must have been amused to see this pregnant lady going bonkers with their array of toppings (I tried my best not to be messy).

Guess how much my combo cost?? I can't really recall the weight but I paid only $4.70 for it.

Sooo affordable, can? Now I got a good answer for my sugar-fix!

PS: I joined their FB fanpage and they informed me that they created a new formula for the mango tango flavour... Guess I'll see myself there again.

truffs = truffles

My colleague Jim promised us that he'll get us the the truffles from Truffs for Hari Raya.

Yes, this is the same fella who gave us the Sins chocolates for X-mas.

Apparently the chocolatier behind this newly-minted shop is a friend of his and he brought back some samples one day, after he went to their launch.

Oh, that first taste was totally out of this world!

I've never been fond of plain chocolates. But this type of 'plain' chocolate has 3 different textures. From the soft ganache center, to the slightly crisp shell and then the thin cocoa power coating... Oh bliss!

Before that, chocolate truffles, to me, are a 'see-no-touch' affair. Because they're are just too expensive! I can't imagine eating a chocolate ball that's at least $2/pc.

Scarily though, since that first taste.. my mindset changed.

The box for a set of 9 pcs.

That's the minimum number that you can buy, it seemed.

Nice..

Reminds me of the packaging of Japanese sweets.

70% Honduras

Excerpt from their website:

"For the true dark chocolate lover, the intense taste of this chocolate reveals hints of flowers from the Criollos and Trinitarios trees, the best cocoa beans from the island."

TRUE dark chocolate lover - I AM.

the reveal

Neat, huh?

looks don't matter...

No, these aren't meteors.

another angle

up close

No, it's not asam-boi (chinese preserved fruit snack) either!

taken

satisfied

DO read

info

My words here are minimal, ain't it...?

Words can't really describe such exquisite taste... Mmmmm!

These aren't just regular chocolates that one can get off-the-shelves. The taste of this variant of dark chocolate might not be appreciated by many (read: kids). Even some adults find this taste yucky.

Therefore, when I got this package, I had only some people in mind - my choc-loving buddies.
People with whom I went thru' thick and thin to explore the world of desserts. People whom I know can savour this whole flavour to its' fullest.

I had some of these babies and eventually called them down to take away the package.

2 facts about something nice:
- it is meant to be shared.
- too much of it ain't good.

So there. And please don't be taken aback at the price of these chocolate truffles. Truffles are after all... expensive. And this is Valrhona that we're talking about, ok?

this is ALSO not a Ramly burger

My quest for the famous Ramly burger still didn't get me to venture to the bazaar at Geylang Serai.

In fact, I got myself something much better..

just the way i like it - my style

My mum's homemade burger.

Ok fine. So not everything's homemade, save for the beef burger patty (which was really juicy!) and the omelete.

That gloppy mess was just some generous slathering of mayo, sweet chili sauce and freshly-cracked black pepper.

Just like the generic Ramly burger sold outside, except that my mum used TWO eggs for that omelete there, a WHOLE slice of cheese was melting inside that omelete - on the patty and slices of Japanese cucumber plus some salad greens to complete the picture.

One big messy eat, there. But who cares when you're enjoying it at the comfort (and privacy) of your own home?

this is NOT a Ramly burger

Blame it on food blog-hopping.. I came across someone who had burger Ramly in JB and i got really tempted.. The beef patty with wrapped with egg omelette, cheese and all that jazz...

aargh!

The only time I come across stalls selling burger Ramly is when there's a bazaar of sorts and please dun mention Geylang.. I'm soo not going there...

Despite the fact that I'm like.. 5mins away whenever I took the train from Paya Lebar to get home.

Anyway, as per habit, I head to White Sands to check out my fave temaki (handroll). Sold out. Choco-almond croissants also sold out. waargh!

Then I start thinking of burger Ramly. Was thinking of getting the closest possibility: McD's Double Cheeseburger.

Then I came across Burger King and thought that their burgers are more worth the calories. BUT - I made the mistake of sticking to the same order.

double cheeseburger

I have never ordered this from BK before. How was I to know that it'll so big??? Well.. comparing it to the one from McD....

Should stick to their singles selection instead...

At least when comparing it to the actual Ramly burger... sesame buns - check. Juicy beef patty (patties in this case) - check. Cheese -check.

But no black pepper sauce, mayo or the thin omelet wrapping the patty... :(

Will do, lah.

PS: No, this ain't some craving. This habit of mine - yearning to eat something (especially after food blog-hopping) started since waaay back.

eclairs again

Ah, yes. Silly me went browsing into Prima Deli's website when I got bored at work...

Was thinking of their truffle cake and wanted a slice of it. Just too bad, the variety available at the branch in Ehub! just seemed so... pathetic.

So I end up with this baby, here.

Prima Deli's eclair

I used to think that this version from Prima Deli is the holy grail of eclairs.

The first time I had a taste of eclairs was during a cousin's engagement. Someone brought over these box of mini eclairs and I must have gobbled down like 10 of them.

Back then I didn't even know the name of these delightful goodies.

When I described these to another cousin, she went, "Oh, you mean eclairs??"

E - what???

"You should get the one from Prima Deli. Sedaaappp!"

Back then, Prima Deli wasn't as established as they are now. I found out the nearest branch was somewhere in Tampines. And I really did seek it out.

And never looked back since. .

Unlike other conventional eclairs, this one here had the puff cut on top and the chocolate cream nicely piped in. Then there's the chocolate fudge squiggle on it. The puff doesn't only have the fudge, they even sprinkle almond flakes on it.

In terms of presentation, they win hands down. Taste-wise... well, they used to reign supreme in my books, until I was exposed to the world of dark chocolates... It's a whole different realm altogether.

I've yet to find a really tentalising dark chocolate eclair (maybe using Valrhona?)... Anyone with recommendations??

sushi!

Well, the past weekend seemed somewhat Japanese-themed somehow. Due to the death in the family, I backed out of the dinner buffet with my cousins.

Somehow, they got the VIP room. So they closed the door and packed some food back. They then called me down to meet them, when they handed be a pack of grilled unagi (freshwater eel).

So sweet of you all. Thanks ya!

When I brought that home, everyone turned away, disgusted. However one of my hubby's aunt, who's more adventurous - physically and gastronomically; upon being offered that, actually scooped some rice, took a slice of omelet and eat that with a couple of slices of the unagi.

assortment of sushi

Courtesy of my sister-in-law.

When I caught sight of those orange pieces of the salmon, I remarked, "Is that what I think it is?"

She sniggered as she kept them in the fridge. "Later we try, ok?"

unagi roll

salmon mayo roll

nigiri sushi

Raw fish or not, I ate them up anyway. Just-can't-resist. One slice won't harm, right??

spicy sushi

Gosh, my tastebuds had gone really low in its tolerance for spiciness that this simple spicy sushi became SUPER spicy to me.

Hope this phase pass after I give birth.

softshell crab temaki

makimono

By the time the maghrib prayer call sounded, she had lined all these up on the counter.

However, everyone were rushing to take their ablution for the jemaah prayers, so I managed to wallop the unagi roll and the salmon mayo roll. Delish!

Post prayers, I saw the 'spicy' sushi and got cuirous... Gosh! Bad move.

I'm so gonna go back there for more of this. Thankfully, this is just a mere 10 mins walk from home.

Hope it won't look weird to see a pregnant woman sitting alone in that restaurant, gorging down all the sushis...

death in the family

Minutes before I was even supposed to go back home, my sis-in-law called to say that, "Grandpa's gone..."

Given the fact that I've been feeling a tad more sensitive since my pregnancy, I actually cried all the way from the office and in the cab ride home.

Worse luck was when I got a really chirpy driver. I love chirpy drivers but not that moment, la... He eventually shut up after a while, when he realised that my replies were more curt than they were friendly.

Thankfully the tears dried up as I got home. Grandma looked fine. Mighty fine, in fact. For someone who had just lost her husband.

*Salute!*

I soon realised that that despite some gloom, the mood was more positive that it should have been. Positivity that stemmed from relief, that the old man, who had been bed-ridden since the past year need not have to suffer no more.

Come to think of it, my mother-in-law lost both her parents in a single year... Poor her.

And due to his funeral, I finally managed to really bond with my hubby's side, many thanks to the tahlil held over the 2 days that weekend. It was a beautiful experience, being able to perform jemaah prayers together as a family. And for that, I can never be more grateful.

...Semoga Allah mencucuri Rahmat ke atas roh-nya. Al-Fatihah.

when chocolate come-a-calling,,,

...This time I start thinking of eclairs.

eclair

The peeps at Four-Leaves only make their eclairs (they call these 'chocolate puffs') on alternate days and every time I got there, they're sold out.

Must be good.

One evening, I was lucky enough to get my hands on 1 of them (only 2 left).

Well.... they definitely used a much better quality chocolate than Prima Deli and especially Polar. But it's not as bitter as I expected.

I really should quit pitting these regular bakeries with Bakerzin, seriously... Having tried the stuff there has totally raised the bar for me.. Sheesh!

i'm thinking....

b u f f e t s....

I've covered 1 Indian one last week... Free-flow of naans, briyani rice (I didn't have that), Tandoori Chicken, Matter Paneer, Aloo Gobi, Mutton Korma, Fish Masala etc....

Oh and not forgetting the papadums dipped in refreshing mint and yoghurt sauce... ummmmmm...!

All washed down with Mango Kheer (Rice Pudding) and some other pudding that's heavily infused with cardamoms. And a cup of masala tea to complete the meal.

Pictures?? What pictures? Was so hungry that I wolfed everything down before I remember having a camera.

Coming up will be another 1 at Sakura D.E. Not keeping my expectations high for the food at that one. Just gonna enjoy quality time with my cousins. Now pondering whether to have the sashimi at all...

Next.. hopefully another 1 with my mates. Can't disclose that the location for that un...

And oh.. That irritating Swensen's ice-cream buffet ad on radio is getting on my nerves. ...Cos' it's just so tempting!

Funnily enough though... Despite the saying, "Eating-for-two", I find myself being unable to eat much nowdays. Stomach space taken up by babe, I guess... =P

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak to all Muslims out there!

May you will be much blessed during this holy month and may all your religious duties be well accepted By Allah swt.

PS:I hope Muslims out there won't accidentally stumble into my blog during daytime, when they should still be performing their fast..

I sure do not want to play a part in attributing to you unecessarily drooling over the food pics!

Please come back in the evening, after break fast, ok?

southern thai cuisine II

Okay, meant to post this yesterday...

All in all, we seemed to order around 9 different dishes. Mostly medium-sized portions and a couple of large ones.

Som Tham (Green Papaya Salad)

Ever since I watched that Thai action-comedy of the same name, I've been bugging my bro to get me this (no, it wasn't a craving of sorts!). If you watch that movie, believe me, you'll wanna eat this too!

The tangy sour-spicy-sweet taste of the sauce is what the deal is all about. What more they used the larger version of dried shrimps, which brought me back to the days in Bangkok, where I ate the Som Tham ordered from the street vendors there.

Green Curry

We last had this at Magic Wok (Capitol branch). The lingering mild curry taste never fail to impress us all. There are chunks of chicken meat and egg-plant inside.

Squid Fritters

We were debating between the squid and the prawns. My bro eventually settled for this, seeing how he like his (deep) fried stuff.

Upon biting into it, I asked my mum if this squid has eggs (roe) for in between the rings of meat was a translucent piece of something which I can't make out. My mum wondered if they has mistakenly given us the stuffed squid instead.

Love it! The batter was nicely spiced and the sweet Thai sauce on the side totally complement the fritters.

Ginger Chicken

The restaurant ran out of the famous Pandan Chicken so my bro settled for this instead. I was apprehensive so I asked if this is a stir-fried dish (my bro may not like soggy stuff!). The Thai staff can only say that it's 'cooked in Chinese wok'.

When it came out, my bro gave a taste and remarked it to taste, "Superb!"

Well, in my opinion, one can never go wrong with ginger and chicken, right? And those thick strips of old ginger does give the chicken chunks the added zing. And the onions add on to sweeten it nicely.

Beef in Red Sauce

Honestly, I can't recall what the actual name of the dish was. I only know there's 'beef and 'red'.

The tender slices of fried beef came stir-fried in a thick sweet and spicy sauce which coats the meat nicely, making it look like it was barbecued instead. The were generous amount of 'kailan' (Chinese vegetable) too and I almost thought that this was the Kailan w/ Beef that we've ordered. My dad reminded me that the server had specified the name of the dish upon serving it.

My mum insist on ordering this for her son-in-law, knowing how much he love his beef.

Seafood Tom Yam

Oh, how can one dine in a Thai restaurant and not order this?

Nicely done, though I believe that the one I had in Bangkok still taste the best (duh!).

3-Flavour Fish Strips

I opt to have the fish in fillet form, for convenience and didn't expect the portion to be pretty small, so we immediately asked for another portion.

The 2nd batch came out much nicer, the seabass fillets crispier. The sauce tasted great, naturally. A little bit on the sweet side though and less spicy than the ones served in Chinese style eateries.

Kailan with Beef

This comes as a pleasant surprise. And it DOES look similar to the previous beef dish that we ordered.

We had totally expected a dish similar to what we've always eaten at other (Chinese-style) eateries. Little did we expect the thinly-sliced beef to be pounded before being fried, giving it a texture much akin to beef jerky. And the fact that they used my favourite cut of meat, the 'curry-meat' where there are equal amount of sinewy tendon and meat in each slice.

Man, I can eat the beef on it's own. Seeing that they used the regular-sized 'kailan' instead of the more leafy 'baby' version, they also included the stems which were sliced thinly. They were tender and surprisingly sweet.

Glass Noodle Salad

Seeing that this was a starter dish, we had expected this to come together with the Som Tham. It came out last and became quite the finisher. Maybe because they need to soak the glass noodles first.

Despite being a 'salad' dish like the Som Tham, it tasted entirely different. The sauce tasted much milder but there's definitely something that accentuate the glass noodle, though i cant figure out what.

And it came with 2 large prawns and some squids, which were most likely boiled before being tossed into the salad mixing bowl.

This is good enough to be eaten on its own...

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Would you believe that the whole meal set my bro back only $78++? When he came back, he looked all grave and we asked, "How many hundred was it?"

He gave us a quizzical look, "Not even there.."

I looked at the receipt, and remarked to my dad, "Pa, it's not even $80!"

"I wonder if they had miscounted..." my bro muttered. No wonder he looked so lost.

The proprietor then came out for a smoke and took the opportunity to thank us and start a small conversation with the guys. He said that the upper level can be accomodated for a large family who had made advanced booking.

Wow, good food, good service, good company.. good pricing! Location wise.. it may not be easy for drivers. We came on a quiet Sunday afternoon (before 6pm) and we only managed a lot at the end of Jalan Keledek.