W39

Post tennis treat! We went to w39 (39 Jalan Mas Puteh) after an early Friday day for me ( short ds list ) and cohesion day for him. Played at KE till glare of lights killed our game. Was thinking really hard about tamoya udon but we decided to this homely neighbourhood joint instead. Has the vibe of windowsills, food vibe of morsels- but we LOVE the hearty portions at extremely friendly prices. Great find for the start of the year !!

king crab soup- the first of the January specials, with potato and leek. j was fiddling with the oil on the soup and wondering if it was truffle. Didn't get to figure it out but the cream went awesomely well with the generous chunks of crab.

king crab salad- tangy with mango salsa and tomatoes.

Our second favorite of the night - seared tuna with avocado. Very meaty tuna. 

Baked mushrooms. j and I have mastered mushrooms enough to be of this standard ( or better, with the help of truffle oil :p)

The braised lamb was an awesome combination with the mantou- it was rather gamey on its own.

An awesome wind down to the first week  of posting. Back to the books momentarily ( and awesome Meiji milk and red bean icecream ) at home !

French ladle

Scopes am/asc pm, finished on time and for once, full attendance on the dot at dinner place , French Ladle at Pandan Valley condo. Love the convenience here- near home , free parking right in front of the restaurant.

Excellent warm and cosy atmosphere, felt like I was being hosted for a dinner at someone's home. Lots of magazines to browse too, am sure it will be nice to hang around post brunch on a weekend. We shared the truffle fries ( with lots of Parmesan cheese ) and French onion soup. ( lots of sweetened onions ). I had the board special- the barramundi which came with mash and butter. Ended up koping most of xuans fries and salad after she was done with her steak:p Pek had a mushroom risotto.

Enjoyed our convos about human behavior and food webs haha. Can't wait for our next French date (prob at toots or shelter in the woods!)/dirty dancing.

The Knolls, Capella

Love the variety in the bread basket

Love the froth in the seafood soup!

Seabass pasta...the tiny bits of pasta was really delicious in the tomato based sauce though im not usually a fan of the latter...

Creme brulee...and a very thin layer at that (such that the caramelised layer felt as thick as the creme layer)

Enjoying the art at Capella..

Hugx

Its just too dark everywhere in capella...

But drive in through the dark for this gem;) restaurant week 11

Buyan, Marmalade Pantry at the Stables

Cheese sticks - Buyan

Salmon soup - Buyan

Cheese and mushrooms -Buyan

Double black out cake - PS cafe, Ann Siang Hill

Above and Beyond

Marmalade Pantry - Crabmeat Caesar salad

Marmalade pantry - Burger

Us against the world.

All geared up for Above and Beyond (thanks alot, Matt!! back door man!) we headed to the Duxton area for dinner - I wanted to try either Sabio or Buyan (Qian recommended Buyan's casual restaurant) and since Chongs tried Sabio before we headed to Buyan (Duxton Hill) for dinner. Buyan is a Russian restaurant and has areas for fine dining , casual dining , and the bar. We dined at the casual dining area which is at level 1. Level 2 is the fine dining area. Attracts a predominantly foreign crowd - mostly by the bar having drinks. Surprised the waiter and eventually the boss for not ordering any drinks. Apparently they do have good non alcoholic drinks as well.

We started off with the cheese sticks - half expecting it to be the thick mozarella kind- but no, it was like strips of unadulterated cheese! It was uber long and fun to eat cos it was so chewy and salty. Very savoury and I guess very good together with drinks.

We also had the salmon soup - lotsa carrots within, this was clear, comfort soup.

Also ordered the cheese mushrooms- oily and succulent with a layer of cheese atop. the favourite of J's!

Didnt take a picture of their signature dish - The plov. It was a rice dish with tender slices of lamb within and tasted between a hybrid of bryani and risotto - herbed and spiced, fluffed up grains. very interesting to eat.

We then headed to the Ann Siang area looking for desserts and ended up at PS cafe (Ann Siang Hill)- they were closing but were okay to take desserts. Drowning in the double black out cake - why cant the proportion of ice cream to cake be greater?? love love the ginormous cakes.

To Above and Beyond - parked outside for the night (turned out to be a great idea), and met M before he brought us in through the back, stampless. haha. Was still okay to get around though - Velvet was closed for renovations. Hung around members which was uber uber crowded, and got really sleepy despite! redbull (thanks M....) and took turns asleep at the bend. Then again at the car (no more re-entries through the back :( ).Until 5am when we had enough with the knocks (and unlocked...) and headed to my place to sleep over. Plans for bf at 530am were postponed cos we concussed till brunch time - Headed to Marmalade Pantry at the stables.

Oh boy it was crowded! indoors was definitely full, alfresco was out cos it was drizzling so we were sent to the area facing the carpark (and trees) with the balloon kids. We loved the balloons( i loved the bomb) and the balloon man very politely asked if we wanted any. I shoulda taken the bomb! Ordered the crabmeat caesar salad and the burger. I actually preferred the salad. The burger's patty was really nothing much to shout about.

Then headed to town to shop around Cine/Mandarin Gallery in our shirt/shorts combo until she realised at the very end that gasp! she left her credit card behind at the Stables! It marks the end of the night to day adventure. really misst this spontaenity so so much! age!

Eighteen chefs

On a particularly light clinic day, when many were blocked cos some went for the part3 prep course and hence only a record of 10 pts to see (i only hit half a column....), so we quickly headed out for lunch at Eighteen Chefs (East point). It being the school holidays we actually snagged a seat inside (got shooed in) though mr l kinda missed his dosage of vit d. haha.

Ate here twice - when i was a student and then when i was working.. feels like very nydc, maybe on a budget. Bright, colourful, cheery and everything with self service, but with the boss still playing host.

The soup with bits of corn. Didnt catch the name but I like almost any kind of creamy soup.

Since I've been always trying the cheese baked stuff, I decided to try the new items on the seafood menu - Salmon with orange butter. Again nothing can go wrong with lotsa cream but....I'll stick to the cheese baked stuff if i'm back again! I miss the Three Amigos at NYDC lots. Anyone wanna relive teenage years with me at NYDC again?

Soup Broth Asia

Hainanese Fish Maw Soup
Ginseng Chicken Soup
Appetisers - Fried Fish, Mango Salad, Cold Tofu, Eggplant Belachan (clockwise from top left)
Carol's Mango Sago

My Durian in Vanilla ice

Monday was supposed to meet S but i had to meet Carol pre-school; so left behind car and was half an hour early for our 730pm date at cityhall - considered brotzeit, Tokyo Deli, and we act sat down in the latter before we decided the portion was just too small and selection too small, and almost decided on the sharing platters in brotzeit but in the end wandered to basement of Raffles City cos I also wanted to try Soup Broth Asia (Basement 1, Raffles City). You can choose a soup, add an appetiser and either 1) meat or veg 2) meat and veg/veg and veg. We chose option 1 and shared everything (but the soup and rice, of cos). Carol had the Ginseng Chicken, and I had the Hainanese Fish Maw Soup.

And guess who we saw!! nevertrustascrawnyfoodie and jane!! finally gotta meet the jane oft so mentioned. We sat side by side and with Mich always peering over at our food. We had sides of Eggplant with sambal (very very VERY spicy), Mango salad (mango not unripe and tart enough), Fried fish slices (left out too long) , and cold tofu.

My fish Maw soup was so-so, fish slices was much in abundance, relative to the fish maw. Carol's Ginseng was hardly tasted in her chicken soup.

Eventually C and I went to draw money, and eventually joined M and J at Sun Kee Desserts - C had the Mango dessert while I had the durian pudding with vanilla sauce - loved mine. The durina pudding was essentially the durian pulp surrounded in a moat of vanilla sauce. Sweet to the max but I like.

Love the Chagggh tales and I was in fits, but im gonna suffer these fits soonish. UGH!!

Halia

Whilst waiting for the girls outside the entrance of Botanics I was mulling over a novel (what a luxury) and Eliza was the first to arrive and we both again mulled over what was the mysterious car that dropped off qian and jas (but i guess it was no surprise lol). It was quite a distance to the Ginger Garden where Halia (Botanics Garden) is.

Love the simple wholesome flavours of the food in Halia and the intimate atmosphere. The jazz band is so smooth that the whole time we thought it was the cd playing..

We had 3 appetisers to share.

White asparagus with truffle icecream. Just nice, each of us had one - the truffle icecream didnt taste very specific (and was rather icy in fact).

Mushrooms with poached eggs. There were some crispy bread croutons but otherwise quite unremarkable.
Mushroom soup which was rather creamy. Nothing beats the chunkiness of the mushroom soup in Blue Basil

Love the bread roll with herbs. Absolutely delish in vinegar and olive oil.

However the mains rocked! I had the seafood consumate and the broth was so flavourful without being thick or overwhelming. All the seafood inside - the fish, squid, prawns, scallops and clams) were well done - loved how tender the seafood was, so much so that the scallop had the same consistency as the fish. and I mopped up everything with the crisp long bread.

Yi Qian's Lamb Shoulder which was a little tough.

Eliza's Seabass which she enjoyed.

Jas's fish - Perch came wrapped up in a pouch and it was such a show with the waitress having to open it up !

Tada !! With Japanese rice on the side. She loved every bit of it.

We were somehow so full we couldnt dessert. I'd love to think that we were full listening to updates from J's Lasik outing (LOL) and my passing. Hope you girls enjoyed the treat !! (and whoops about the long walk out). Halia's a great place to come if you love an unassuming and quiet ambience amidst lush greenery - and for walking a sweat in before dinner!

Sultan Kebab, Inglourious Basterds, Food for thought

It was a Friday and after morning rounds we were supposed to attend happy flower's tut at 2pm but when we found out it was an invite to join another group (no need for so much vigorous thinking of ways out) and that my effort to ask around for other groups' happenings (another case presentation at 1pm) were to naught, we decided to head far away for lunch. Anyway the journey here was most roundabout. We thought of Whampoa Market again, but somehow we went to Little India - got lost, not finding the Tekka Market carpark and landing up instead at Mustafa, curse the one way roads, and cos the other car decided not to have lunch at Komala's and suggested a pay-as-you-deem-fit vegeterian place which didnt pick up calls, we landed at Sunshine Plaza where the Thai food was closed and finally we ended up walking over to Sultan Kebab (1 Sophia Road #01-15 Peace Centre). Hell of an unexpected journey.

What Kelly and I wanted to try was the beef kebab here, cos the first time we were here in the evening for dinner only the chicken was left - so we tried the chicken with rice and the iskender chicken. Hence this time, we tried the beef kebab roll - and it was lovely, with the tortilla being toasty and warm, with generous slabs of beef kebab. It seems really healthy though, with no compromise to taste - it was extremely tasty.

The iskender beef, on the other hand, packed even more beef on the plate - and is on a piece of toasted bread. If you eat it fast enough, you might be able to eat some toasted crusty bread before the sauce sogs it all up.
Along with some old school kacang in a cone from the uncle hawking outside...
We then walked over to Le Cafe Confectionery & Pastry (264 Middle Road Elias Building) to try the soya bean tarts - as strongly recommended by Dedrick who said that it was like a taste of heaven - and it seems popular for each customer was only allowed ONE box of eight tarts (preferbly to call before collection). They sell a range of pastries of which their pineapple tarts in the shape of golf balls seem to be most popular.


The soya bean tart was a contrast of textures - really smooth, wobbly silky soya bean custard on a hard buttery crust. It was almost as if the crust was premade and the custard was just poured in on order. There were other flavours for the soya bean egg tart and we'd love to try the grass jelly soya bean egg tart the next time round.

Kelly got innovative and cos we moved onto Rochor Original Beancurd (2 Short Street) for tauhuay later on, she scooped some of her tauhuay into the hard crust (after she sucked up all the original custard) and concluded her own invention was tastier! Note that the hot tauhuay here is much better than the cold (probably in storage for too long).

Looks like our CG mates were getting really too innovative. (and he was then having tauhuay-orrhoea through all the created orifices....gross) Marc's dad unknowingly finished this up when he saw this tart....lol ignorance is bliss..

Luckily I decided not to join any of the 2 tutorials cos they ended up being 1/2 hour apart from each other so decided to hurry to watch Inglorious Basterds with Kelly at the Cathy (yes this is a dated entry, this was way before surg started), and we were amazed by how sadist we were at the sadism. I mean, I was wincing from my behaviour. This movie comes in 5 parts, in each character's perspective and talks about how it all finally culminates in an act, which was reminiscent of War of the Worlds - this movie, if you are a movie buff, has plenty of references to other films, Quarantino style.

Introduced Kels to my new finding.....the Diet Cream Soda Root Beer is DAMN FRIGGIN AWESOME.

Tried the portuguese egg tarts at the Mooncake Festival at Takashimaya at this stall called Yah Weh Confectionary. This is almost like eating a sweet eggy curry puff for the crust was extremely flaky yet thick, and the custard itself was also blowtorched to form this lovely crust. The main outlet is at a really secluded place in Yishun so I guess this is the first and last time we're having this.

Took the train down to Raffles City cos we were still on a quest to find that kaya toast at Beach Road when we stumbled upon these creatures..... there are almost always strange walking advertisements around - the last time round we spotted naked people in cardboards advertising for Ikea.

Finally nailed down YY Ka Fei Dian (37 Beach Road). This is the row of shophouses along Beach Road that is behind Raffles Hotel, on the way to Shaw Towers. The teh ping (Kelly's) and my hot yuanyang was really shiok! They still use stockings to brew their coffee, no less.

Their kaya buns are just what you expect - lightly toasted, with steamy soft bread within. Not spectacular - for I think if I practise enough at home I can achieve this too! Note that they do not have the thin kaya toast here - if you want the flat bread its pretty much the normal Gardenia variety they use. Popped by the National Library again and managed 3 books - The Pig that wants to be eaten, Book of God and Physics, The Thing around your neck. I just finished the Hour i first believed... not great.

After the library visit, we went to Food for thought (420 North Bridge Road #01-06 North Bridge Centre) . I dined here with Matt and Chiara (desserts only), and subsequently Jillian (dinner - sandwich and soup set), so I roughly knew what I liked at this place. What I didnt try though during my previous visits, was this very interesting tomato garlic soup - this had a layer of olive oil atop the soup and when stirred around this was a symphony of all the condiments as mentioned, and was lovely with the chewy bread that was provided, which soaked up the soup very well.

The mushroom soup here didnt come with any cream, and you can taste the earthiness of the mushrooms in this soup.

We then had desserts - if you get a chance try the Brownie-Expresso-Marshmallow-Chocolate-sauce-icecream this dessert rocks my world. But I decided to try something different and had this peach butterscotch crumble which turned out to be rather disappointing. Warm peach pieces taste strange (prefer the frozen cold ones in condensed milk!), and the butterscotch got too cloying amidst the (very little) crumble pieces.

But the red velvet cake tasted as good as ever - sour cream cheese layers amidst the red flour - its a tad like a carrot cake minus the nuts and other condiments. Kels said the colouration is cos of the vinegar treatment to the flour. Imagine your friend's surprise/horror as she slices the whole cake to find the cross section to be as such!