Food Journey sg: 2009

Swiss Fish & Chips @ Fish & Co.

may look like a simple piece of fish but inside lies tasty cheese. when you cut it open to eat, sometimes there will be strings of cheese hanging from the fish just like when you are eating pizza. have already had this twice because of a special promotion of only $9++ a set. give it a try! it got a non-cheese-eater to actually eat it twice with me.

Hokkaido Zuwai Shabu Shabu Nabe @ Sushi Tei, Holland Village

Chilli Prawns and Squids

Thanks to my grandparents that I get to have this delicious dish for dinner. So wonderful that from the moment I tasted it I said to myself that "I have to put this on my blog!"

Actually, it was me who gave a little suggestion yesterday to use the chilli sauce used in Chilli Crabs to go with prawns and squids. My grandmother actually went to the market to get the ingredients this morning.

Hope she cooks this again soon. Nothing beats the food cooked at home, nothing.

Tompeiyaki @ Watami, ION Orchard

Looks yummy? Its an omelette with sliced pork & raw cabbage. I did not notice that it has raw cabbage in it until I read the menu again on their website. Cool. It tastes like Takoyaki (Takoballs) except that this is a long and huge version. It doesn't taste bad but I'll recommend you to get a bowl of rice to go with it or you might get sick of it after a few mouths. It costs $6.80++ and is really reasonable for its quality.

ION Orchard #B3-23
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801

Tel: (65) 6509 9366
Fax: (65) 6509 9368

Operating hours: 11am to 10pm

Hotate Butter Yaki @ Watami, ION Orchard

Hotplate Scallops with Butter. I honestly have to say that I love the mushrooms in this dish more than the scallops. It is prepared nicely but I would not recommend this dish unless you like scallops alot or you got nothing else on mind that you want to eat. Otherwise, in my case, I'll not order this at $5.80++ again. Once is enough. Actually I can still imagine the weird oily feeling in my mouth now while typing even though I had this around 2-3 weeks ago.

ION Orchard #B3-23
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801

Tel: (65) 6509 9366
Fax: (65) 6509 9368

Operating hours: 11am to 10pm

Teppan Bou Gyoza @ Watami, ION Orchard

These are hotplate pork dumplings which tastes like the chinese version except that it is crispy on the outside. Oily but still acceptable. Gives a better taste after dipping into the soy sauce given. This would cost $6.80++ and considering Watami's good service, it's a great dish as a quick bite or as a side dish to your meal.

ION Orchard #B3-23
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801
Tel: (65) 6509 9366
Fax: (65) 6509 9368
Operating hours: 11am to 10pm

Cha Soba @ Sushi Tei, Holland Village

Tastes almost the same as the one made at home by my brother.

Cold Soba Noodles (Home Made)

At $7, it is a very reasonable price to be dining in such a nice environment. If you visit Sushi Tei at Holland VIllage, make sure to take the seats on the 2nd floor!

Pork Chops @ Astons Specialities, The Cathay Building

Fries missing from the plate because we were told that it will be served afterwards.

Fine...

Nothing very special about the pork chops except that the grill marks on it makes it very appetising to me .

Has just the right portions of fats on it which is to my liking. Who eats pork chop without fats anyway?

It comes with 2 side dishes and costs slightly below $10 including gst. Worthed in a restaurant setting.

BBQ Chicken Burger @ Bongo Burgers, Birdpark

Looks nice? Actually we actually ate the burger even before taking a photo of it because it looks just too delicious. This photo just shows a half-eaten burger, believe it or not.

Nothing much to comment, it tastes alright for something from a theme park and it's not very expensive. Just $7+ if you use the $1 discount voucher for every park admission you purchase. Be noticed that drinks are not included.

It is located right beside the entrance of the bird park.

Try it ;)

Fisherman's Catch & Baked Macaroni @ Say Cheeze, Tampines 1

Never seen a piece of fish look so much like bread before.

The fish is fresh but is of quite a small portion which is not enough for big eaters.

This dish is a little too boring for me. It's just cheese, macaroni and some bits of meat. Every spoon of this that goes into my mouth has the same taste and the same texture. Makes me feel like I'm a baby eating macaroni and cheese. On the good side, it does not taste bad at all.

The meal comes with a soup of the day and a drink.

The soup of the day was minestrone which was alright except that the vegetables are not soft enough to really taste good. I prefer the vegetables in the minestrone to be very soft and easy to just slurp into the mouth without chewing.

Thinking about the drinks just makes me uneasy. Already confirmed that we wanted 2 cups of coca-cola and they still served us iced water. They obviously forgot until I reminded the person who served us. He told us that he had to check whether there are still any left. What? How can there be no coke? After awhile he brings 2 cups of diluted coke. Enough said.

$7++ per student set, quite worthed it. Please no more diluted coke next time.

Stone Mixed Rice @ Baek Doo San, Jurong Point

First time eating a Korean stone mixed rice. Have been thinking of eating it for quite awhile. Looks appetising but just thinking that if it has more meat it will look better.

After mixing it up and tasting it, the rice can be described by the following words:
1. Soggy
2. Ketchup
3. Chilli Sauce
Yes, the rice tastes like the Maggi brand ketchup and chilli sauce. I actually tried a few mouths to make sure it wasn’t my imagination. I have no idea if the actual dish tastes like that but if it does then we can actually easily cook this dish at home.

Same disappointment as the Seafood Noodles that I had at the same restaurant. If you are a fan of Maggi tomato and chilli sauces you should definitely go for it. If not, don’t.

Address:
1 Jurong West Central 2
#03-37, Feast @ Jurong Point Jurong Point Shopping Centre

Seafood Noodles @ Baek Doo San, Jurong Point

To sum it up, it pretty much tastes like instant noodles. Nothing special. I could not manage to finish up that 1 bowl of noodles. Paid $8.00++ for instant noodles that comes with an orange juice and 3 side dishes (preserved vegetables) plus the only drink they have is orange juice. The waitress told me, “Orange juice, standard”. It’s actually pretty funny.

Do not recommend anyone to order this.

Address:
1 Jurong West Central 2
#03-37, Feast @ Jurong Point Jurong Point Shopping Centre

Catch an Ice Cream Machine @ Illumina

How cool (cold) is this machine?

This is the only machine that ever made me get $2 worth of tokens to try my luck. Ben & Jerry and Magnum. I decided to try my luck with the small containers of Ben & Jerry ice cream.

Did I catch anything?

Of course not. I would have shown the picture of the ice cream if I did.

Realised that it is something fun to do if you are sad or bored or both. If you catch something you get really happy plus an ice cream to make you happier.

Going to practice my skills in my brain. Going to play it again the next time I’m at Bugis.

R Burger @ Orchard Ion

Finally, get the chance to try R Burger!

About R Burger:
R Burger or Revolution Burger is a Japanese concept founded on the premise that hamburgers can be made and consumed differently. The idea that hamburgers are unhealthy have been completely revolutionised with our vision of a healthier and tastier alternative.
The hamburger, which was originally founded as a western fast-food, consists of baked buns, lettuce, pickles and sauces like Ketchup and mustard. R burger buns are substituted with white and fluffy steamed buns. The white colored steamed buns are chosen for its exceptional softness over normal hamburger buns. The creamy whiteness of each bun stands out in stark contrast to the meat patties sandwiched in between. R burgers are topped with our own Japanese sauces like the R sauce, the Ume or Ankake. Japanese Shiso leaves are used to replace lettuces instead to give its unique flavour.
Another distinctive feature of R Burger is its use of marine collagen as part of its ingredients. While not at all uncommon in Japan, R Burger remains the first hamburger café to put collagen in their buns. This helps to stimulate collagen production in our body and reduce the appearance of deep wrinkles and fine lines, encouraging skin renewal.
Ordered a R Burger Combo which costs $8.80 which includes a burger, salad stick, potato wedges and a beverage.

The burger resembles Kong Ba Bao (stewed pork belly wrapped in a bun) that my grandmother makes. Nothing much to comment on the meat as I can’t really feel the texture of it when I bite into the burger. I can only feel the bun and the crunch of the pickled daikon. I think it’s the first time I tried pickled daikon and it’s really very tasty. I can say it is what makes this burger special other than the steamed bun. The green coloured vegetable is actually Shiso leaves and it really looked inedible, like some plastic leaf decoration. It is used to replace lettuce in ordinary burgers and I did not actually feel it when I was munching into the burger.

I like the salad stick a lot. When I opened the container with the salad stick, the fresh fragrance of vegetables went into my nose. It's so unique to me as I never had a salad stick before. It is a salad so easy to eat. Just dip it in the salad dressing, take a bite, dip it in the dressing again and take another. In a blink of an eye, my salad stick was gone and into my stomach. The salad dressing was packed into a tiny container and it tasted so nice to me that I had to finish all of it by scooping the remaining bits of vegetables left in the dressing with the straw that I used to drink my Black Tea.

I did not like the Black Tea at all. Cold black tea tastes so weird. Actually it almost doesn’t have taste for something that looks so yellow. I prefer drinking hot tea. I think cold tea is only good when lots of sugar is added.
The wedges were fine. Has slightly more potato than flour compared to other potato wedges I have tried and does not feel as oily as others. I also saw the person who prepared the wedges try to squeeze in 2-3 more of it for me. How nice...

Overall I had quite a nice and refreshing dining experience. I probably wouldn’t eat R Burger anytime soon because there are so many other food stalls in Ion Orchard that I have already aimed and must try. However, I still recommend that everyone try it when you go to Ion Orchard. The stall is located at Ion Food Hall which has many other food vendors selling their own specialty food.

ION ORCHARD
2 Orchard Turn, B4-56/57
Singapore 238801

Jia Xiang Mian @ Jurong Point

The shop was empty at 3PM with no customers at all. Have planned to come to this shop to try their noodles for quite some time. Therefore, we just decided to go in despite the ‘no customers = not nice’ thinking.

The ingredients like the vegetables were very fresh and the Cha Shao was alright because it was not the factory-made-standard kind. The noodles looked unique to me although it resembles instant noodles. First few mouths and it really lacked flavour so I added some chilli which was placed on the table. After adding chilli, the noodles tasted much better. A bowl of soup was also served which had 3 wantons and 2 shrimps. I did not really like the soup, was pretty tasteless compared to soup I get from wanton mees but the shrimps and wanton were fine.

However, I’d say that $6.42 for this quite ordinary-tasting noodles is not worthed it. I’d be more glad to pay $2.50 for a plate of wanton noodles at a coffeeshop.

Opening Hours
10am to 10pm
Address
63 Jurong West Central 3 #03-90/91/92/93/94/95 (JP2)
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Singapore 64833

Baked Spaghetti Bolognaise @ Swensen's

This is one of the tastiest spaghetti bolognaise I have ever tried. Totally covered with cheese and bolognaise sauce, it is really very seducive pasta. The meatballs were not the best but they were big! This whole thing will fill your stomach up and leave you wanting more. I cleared the plate of all the sauce after finishing the spaghetti.

Sourdough 49ers Chicken @ Swensen's

New on the menu, these sandwiches are made of chicken slices, turkey bacon and cheddar cheese sandwiched between sourdough football buns. One bite of it and I already tasted the flavour of the chicken slices. What's more, it comes with fries that I like and coleslaw. However, getting a bread at Delifrance would be better if not for Swensen's 1-for-1 lunch promotion.

Fish & Chips @ Essential Brew, Holland Village

The fish & chips served at this restaurant is mediocre. A dish like this can be bought from somewhere else at a lower price.

The outer layer of the fish became soggy quickly.

The only thing I liked were the fries which I like to dip in the tar-tar sauce.

This not-so-special fish & chips dinner set that comes with a bowl of soup and a drink costs $22. Not worthed.

Honey Mustard Chicken @ Essential Brew, Holland Village

Nothing out of the ordinary.

The rice could have either had more taste to it or just serve white rice. I do not fancy food that looks tasty but has no tastes.

I can only taste the sweetness of the honey on the chicken and nothing else.

Nothing much to comment, not worthed the $22 for the dinner set which comes with a bowl of soup (more like half bowl) and a drink.

Food collection: Project C.A.N.

The day was tiring but it was worthed it! All the food we collected are for people who need them much more than we do. Our small group of around 38 people managed to cover 20 blocks of HDB flats in Sembawang.

Dear taking a photo with the food and everyone else behind.

My tokens of appreciation. Thanks! Also thanks to the families which were so willing to donate their food items (it was really heavy to carry them up and down the whole block).

Chicken Porridge @ KFC

Straight to the point. KFC smells horrible in the morning. The normal fragrance of crispy chicken in the restaurant was switched with a weird odour. Ordered this chicken porridge that comes with a cup of coffee at $3.50. It is a pretty small bowl of porridge.

The texture of the porridge is just nice and the taste is also good. It also comes with a packet of pepper that you can add. There were many chicken bits in the porridge, some with their outer coat of flour and some without but they all seemed to be leftover chicken from the previous day.

No matter how fragrant or how much ingredients it has, it's still a bowl of porridge that comes from a fastfood restaurant. I'd rather spend $3.50 on a bowl of porridge without the coffee from a hawker stall. KFC is not experienced in serving coffee anyway. I took a few sips and had to leave it alone.

Not worthed it, don't waste your precious breakfast on this.

Cinnamon Melts @ McDonald's

Tastes pretty good for something that comes out from the microwave in a fastfood restaurant! I have never tried this elsewhere but this McDonald's version is definately not some lame creation by a fastfood restaurant desperate to come up with something new. No matter how fancy it looks, it's just a few pieces of bread covered with cinnamon sugar glaze. The cinnamon sugar glaze was sweet but not so sweet that you will decide that you are sick of it after the first bite. However, I'll advise not to eat this before your burgers and fries or they might taste a little weird to you. I don't know how healthy or UNHEALTHY it is but it's worthed a try at $2.50.

Mango Ice-Cream @ Cold Rock Ice Creamery, Holland Village

It may look messy but it is because in this tiny ice cream restaurant, they will mix your ice cream together with your toppings from fruits to brownies and anything else you can think of.

We chose this combination called "Beat the Heat" which is mango sorbet mixed with mango, strawberry and raspberries. Cool right?

Imagine having mango ice cream with real mango and berries mixed in it to give it the texture and also make it sweet but will not let you get tired of eating it. I know it sounds gross but I can carry on eating it forever, let it melt in my stomach, pee it out then carry on eating.

It was heavenly. Seriously, it is the best ice cream I ever had.

At $11.50 for the large size, it is a little pricey but it is so worthed it. Best!

http://www.coldrock.com.sg/

24A Lorong Mambong
Holland Village, Singapore 277683

Teppanyaki @ Sakae Tepanyaki, Cathay Cineleisure

There wasn't anyone at all in the restaurant despite it being the lunch hours. We ended up with our personal chef and restaurant.

Ordered the beef set and chicken set which added up to around $22.

See the tofu being left slowly cooking at one corner of the griddle.

The egg at the middle of the griddle.

The bowl of rice left at the side is soon going to be turned into tasty garlic rice which tasted and looked like fried rice.

Teriyaki chicken never tasted so good to me. This is a must-try.

Squid! Very well cooked but have to finish it fast.It doesn't taste as good once it cools.

The beef was so juicy even though I asked it to be well-done. The sauce was so tasty that I even started eating the remaining garlic after I finished the beef.

It was such a fantastic experience and I'm sure to go back soon.

Cathay Cineleisure
8 Grange Road #04-01
Singapore 239695
Tel: 6333 8370
http://www.sakaeteppanyaki.com/

Spicy Thai Boneless Chicken Claypot Rice @ The Uncle Sam's Claypots, Clementi

It was only a little spicy and overall it tasted like mutton biryani to me. I still prefer the original Boneless Chicken Claypot Rice.

3151 Commonwealth Ave West
#02-11/12 CityVibe

Tel: 6778 3088

Seafood Claypot Rice @ The Uncle Sam's Claypots, Clementi

Gave me quite a disappointment. There were only a few prawns which were not very fresh and many pieces of fishcakes and crab sticks. The rice, which lacked dark sauce, was plain compared to the Boneless Chicken Claypot Rice that I had awhile ago. Not going to order their Seafood Claypot Rice again.

3151 Commonwealth Ave West
#02-11/12 CityVibe

Tel: 6778 3088

Boneless Chicken Claypot Rice @ The Uncle Sam's Claypots, Clementi

Although the chicken was not cooked together with the rice, the rice still seemed tasty to me. The chicken was tender and was of generous portion. The amount of dark sauce added is just nice; not too much, not too little. I even found a piece of salted fish at the bottom! I also liked the vegetables that they added on top.

Overall, the taste just ranks slightly below other famous claypot rice that I have tried.

What's more a student set, including a boneless chicken claypot rice, a glass of fruit punch and a bowl of ice kacang, costs only $5.50 before gst and service tax which amounts to about $6+. This set would have costed $14+ if ordered seperately. Value is not a problem at all. Would surely go back again.

3151 Commonwealth Ave West
#02-11/12 CityVibe

Tel: 6778 3088

"Old Man..." or "Cool Man!"?

I'm not anywhere in this photo but my nickname, given by some of my friends, is somehow related to it.

That name is none other than "Uncle".

Why?

Frequently during the weekends, I would make my way down to the coffeeshop in the morning, order a cup of coffee and take out my newspaper to read.

NZ Ribeye Steak with Brown Sauce

Blk 730 Ang Mo Kio Ave 6
#01-4274
Tel: (65) 6454 9677 / 6452 0142

Burger or Rice?

Thinking back to the time when I was in primary school simply makes me giggle.

There was a day when my science teacher presented me with an extremely easy question and an unusually tough choice.

I had to stand in front of a table.

On the left side, there lies a plate of burger and onion rings.

Placed on the other side was a bowl of fish soup and rice.

Burger or Rice?

Which choice did I make?
(Answer is in the picture below)

(Click to enlarge)

"Shake up with Nokia Comes With Music!"

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