Food trail at Golden Mile Food Complex and Old Airport Road Food Centre, Potluck at Sheryl's house

Kelly and i met for lunch (after my relief stint) so that we could hunt for stuff to bring for potluck at Sheryl's. Since we were on the way to ECP we dropped by Golden Mile Food Complex (our drop by almost always means trying alot more than we originally thought) for the second time to try the elusive ROC pizza that was closed the first time we were here. Actually we were checking out our luck cos the parking there is always full even on off peak meal hours - the first time I parked at the Golden mile complex opposite where all the Malaysian tour buses depart from and the parking was crazy expensive. We managed to get a lot within a few steps of the hawker centre! Better eat more when we have the chance.

I first read about this stall in ieatishootipost. It is run by a young man (who seems to magically appear when he receives his orders from the other lady that mans the stall) and he serves thin crust pizzas here. When I was there there was a new offering - a beef salami pizza which seemed quite interesting.

Chicken sausage and Button Mushrooms, $7

His pizzas come in two sizes and are made on order. The base is tomato and there were plenty of yummy sausages, our only gripe being the insufficient cheese. The crust is really thin and the edges are crispy - but the outtermost borders were too burnt! Not packing as much flavour as Pepperoni's, but this is almost a quarter of the price. Indeed it feels like I'm having cheese and crackers, with meat.

Check out how thin the crust is! Even the sausage is thicker than the crust!
Still although we didnt walk much from the car it was still a sweltering hot day (I'm sure by now you can sense I'm quite heat intolerant) so we had Zhao An Grass Jelly again..our second visit cos we missed the smooth gliding grass jelly alot!

Hot Grass Jelly

Don't ask me why Kelly chose the hot version...

Cold grass jelly, $1.30

But i chose the icy version! Still as smooth as ever, perfect with ice. The lady tends not to add much sugar syrup so it tastes quite bland but I appreciate the texture much more this way when the sugar syrup doesnt overwhelm the jelly.

This was the other Western food stall that appeared on ieatishootipost - Pasta Planet so we decided to give it a go (although we forgot we were gonna have pasta at Sheryl's ). There were many many articles in the media, but we decided to try what the chef recommended.

Marinara, $5.50

We chose the seafood pasta - you have a chose of the type of pasta you want so its cooked upon order. The pasta is tossed in a tomato sauce with a spicy kick to it, and there was cheese dusting the pasta. The best part of the dish though, was the seafood. The squid was REALLY fresh and tasty! I could eat a whole plate of that. There were also small clams and prawns. Kelly was rather amused by the big shell right atop the pasta. The pasta was quite flat though, the flavours didn't really permeate through.

We were craving for some rojak so we decided to head down to Old Airport Road Food centre for it. But of cos we didn't stop at rojak, we made many new discoveries too! I think Old Airport Road will soon beat Maxwell for having more of our favourite stalls!

By the time we reached the hawker centre it was past the peak lunch hour already so the guy at Toa Payoh Rojak prepared our rojak pronto. This stall is run by an old(not I say one, its in Makansutra =P) husband and wife team with his son in law so it was prob the son in law that served us. Not sure how busy he can get or if he really utilises that queue system number - a good way to keep track of sales though, Kels and I were calculating his income for the day =P

Rojak, $4

Its self service so although we sat very near the stall we waited and waited (cos silly us thought he'd just bring it over) but he was simply too busy. We couldnt wait to try cos this stall was selected as a Makansutra Street Food Master and we love rojak so we couldnt wait to eat the die die must try dish.

What we loved about the rojak was the extremely fragrant assam hae ko sauce. The you tiao was also extremely sweet and freshly roasted - it tastes like it was coasted with sugar bits cos it was so crispy and sweet! The slippery cuttlefish was a joy to eat with the sauce too. Heck, everything tasted very good with the sauce - the pineapples, ban guang. Kelly liked the tau pok very much. What we wished for was more generous peanuts and a larger portion - we should have just gone for the biggest one at $5! - We eventually went back to takeaway the $5 portion to bring to Sheryl's potluck.

And Kelly was really thirsty after all that salty food so she got a drink from here (totally ignoring that fruit juice stall recommended in Makansutra =p even though it had her favourite plum juice) and it was a new discovery.

Soya bean with grass jelly, guess how much!

This is only 70 cents! (See how much those soya bean chain stores are ripping us off for the convenience) The grass jelly was smooth and went very well with the soya bean milk. Very good! But this is not the best soya bean discvoery! Read on!

Another comfort food I like to eat is chee cheong fan and the other place I quite like is the one at Killeney Road - House of Rice rolls and porridge. But again this stall Freshly made Chee Cheong Fan is recommended on ieat so we decided to give it a go.

Prawn Chee Cheong Fan, $2

The chee cheong fan here is freshly made on order and oh wow this was SUPERB! The silky smooth sheets just melt in your mouth and it was tasted so good on its own we didnt need the sambal chilli much. The prawns were extremely fresh and crunchy too. Fantastic with the light broth and the fried shallots. We're gonna come back and try the scallop chee cheong fan the next time round.

Oh but we were quite turned off by the lady cos she was really sour faced throughout the entire episode and there wasnt even any other customers to keep her busy - maybe cos she was eating her meal and hungry people arent happy people. Oh well but the food is too good we will still go back!
Then I recognised this stall, again on ieat, for its handmade fish noodles - its noodles made entirely from fish meat. Think fishballs in the form of noodles. I realise when I went back home that Citizoom Minced Fish Noodle has actually a few franchises and the original one is at Aljunied.

Handmade fish noodles, $2.50

This dish is really very healthy tasting - every thing here is very cheng. The fish balls are very good - very springy and firm to bite. Then there are some fish flakes and vegetables to top the very interesting noodles.

The noodles are gelatinous and chewy and have this rough texture - it is so unique that I think you should try it if you love fishballs - they are really fishball in strands.

This is the famous Wang Wang Crispy Puffs. Kelly and I were stuffed from the very long lunch so we took away 4 original curry puffs and 1 black pepper one. They ran out of the sardine one, and we didn't dare to try the yam paste one.

Despite sitting there on the counter, it was still fresh and hot after you put your curry puffs in the microwave. (But i think toasting it might be nicer). The curry puffs are flaky but more substantial than the ones at Crispy 1A Curry puffs which have a thinner flakier pastry..

The Old Days Delight shop next door was THE DISCOVERY OF THE DAY!

Pancakes, 60 cents each

We were initially drawn to the pancake shop cos the pancake shape is so unusual it looks like a curry puff! But! The pancakes were not the highlight (even though they were good).

The uncle was extremely friendly and offered to make fresh ones for us. We took away 4 pancakes - 1 each of chocolate and cheese (freshly made on the spot) and peanut and coconut. No the friendly uncle was not the highlight.

This is!!! The beancurd is SUPERB! While waiting for the pancakes to be ready, the enteprising uncle suddenly whipped out some samples of this bean curd and I swear Kelly was rather suspicious but I was game to try and boy it was so good we ordered a large one all for ourselves and 4 large ones to take away!! That was how good it was!

FANTASTIC bean curd, Large, $1.50

Kelly is the soya bean queen (she must have her soya bean almost everyday) and she was totally blown away by this dessert. This is unlike other tau huays around - those are bland curds and sweetened by a sugar syrup. This beancurd on the other hand tastes like a soya bean custard - it is really cold and melts in your mouth to release the sweet soya bean goodness! It is sweet on its own and is VERY VERY GOOD! We suspect its also the temperature at which the curd is eaten - it tastes very good when chilled and is extremely wobbly. We couldnt stop raving about it so we bought 4 more to share with our cg mates at the potluck.

So armed with the rojak from Toa Payoh Rojak, Wang Wang Crispy Puffs, 4 pancakes and 4 beancurds, we were ready to share our finds with our cg mates. (so we contribute more to the food pile than consume them) We were originally planning to buy stuff back from East Coast Road and Frankel Ave but the rain was a deterrent and we didnt expect to find so many interesting things at Old Airport road!

Kelly and I were early so we helped Sheryl with the spaghetti...

chopping up the ingredients..

The butter was Jason's downfall..

Don't these cuttlefish balls look like pacman?

All the food! The only one you might not recognise is the chicken wings right at the end of the table courtesy of Jason.

Rojak, $5 from Toa Payoh Rojak

Got quite soggy from the waiting and waiting (to be eaten) but the sauce again is phwoah. Kelly and I ended up cleaning the plate towards the end.

Wang Wang Crispy Curry Puffs, $1.30 each

The black pepper one was quite good, surprisingly, although Kelly was rather suspicious of it. But of cos the original curry chicken one was really good. The pastry is once again, more substantial than the thinner, flakier puffs at Crispy 1A Curry puffs, and doesnt crumble as much as the latter. Both stalls are good in its own right.

Pancakes, 60 cents each, from Old Days Delight

The chocolate ones were the favourite of most, because the dark chocolate melted when we placed them in the microwave. The peanut one was also a hot favourite - the peanut was extremely fragrant and gritty. The coconut was a dull orange and quite bland and the cheese was not that strong. But we loved the dough - very soft and fluffy.

Beancurd, $1.50 from Old days Delight

The amazing beancurd. Enough said

Yummy Baileys courtesy of Kumaran (who's our official CG alcohol supplier)

Ingenious combination of Baileys and soya bean curd, this was excellent. No its not a waste of alcohol, this was accentuating the Baileys okay.

Sorry Sheryl's brother, we ate so much of your hard Jap candy! I loved the brown ones.

China cookies, courtesy of Kumaran

Mine! Its some bean cookies that melt in your mouth, extremely smooth and yummy!

We stayed on to watch Bubble Boy (although I dozed off midway) Everyone left and I was with Sheryl catching an episode of House before heading home. I dunno why I was so drowsy throughout the movie!

I have a feeling I am gonna miss my CG very much.

Ah Hock Kaya Roti, Tom's Palette

Yoou'd have read a few posts (i almost typed toasts) back that i was on a kaya toast saga trying many many from Ya Kun and Wang Cafe and here I am at the ONLY kaya toast joint in Clementi. Yes you heard me right, there is no chain stores here (unless Ah Hock is one of them) and there is no pancake/soya bean chains here too. Clementi is officially untainted with the perils of commercialisation and franchises.

I was here for breakfast while on a break from an assignment nearby and I was craving for kaya toast...haha all your influence, Kelly...So here I was at Ah Hock Kaya Roti (Clementi). It is facing a bus-stop facing the Clementi Sports Complex, and is right next to the Macs. The small shop is run by a young couple and offers all those toast sets, and waffles ( with the machine strategically placed right in front of the shop)

I ordered the Kaya toast set which came with the kaya toast, eggs, and I topped up 20 cents to get the Yin Yang (coffee-tea) drink. Yeah I still havent learnt from my overdose of caffeine oh well. The toast was nothing to shout about, the Kaya is certainly the canned commercial ones. I miss Tong Ah very much!
I love soft boiled eggs and runny yolks. No sauce and pepper, just dunk kaya toast into eggs and eat!!
Or you can dunk into the Yin Yang tea....alright thats a little extreme....but the Yin Yang here is quite good...you can actually distinguish each flavour even though both were really strong. Just the thing to perk up a sleepy in the morning!
Like I said, untainted by the Mr Bean/Jollibean chains, I have to get my soybean fix from Heng Heng Sugar cane and Bean Juice in the Clementi hawker centre, manned by this funky auntie in denim shorts.....spot her! Its really cheap at 70 cents for a big big cup!
I just love the hustle and bustle of Singapore waking up and this is especially so in the wet market. The dynamics are really interesting to watch.
And I still think the aunties selling stuff are funky in their unique fashion right.
And I was back at Tom's Palette (Shaw Leisure Gallery, Level 1) for the third time. I like coming back to Tom's because it is a surprise each time I return.. There are always new flavours for me to try, so much so that I don't really eat those main-stay ones as much - even thought they are my timeless favourites, like the sea salt caramel cheesecake.

This time round, I tried the new flavours Wasabi Lime - I hate wasabi but the wasabi was rather light and lime more prominent, I liked the creamy thick Horlicks (which I chose), Apple Pie was good but I chose the Rosemary and Apple eventually. The Strawberry had icy bits of sorbet in it which I didn't like.

Rosemary and Apple, Horlicks

Rosemary and Apple was really unique. Usually, Rosemary is added to the stuffing in turkeys and then eaten together with cranberry sauce. This icecream has a strong herby taste but the sweetness of the apple balances it out.

And I love the creamy Horlicks! It is really thick and yummy. I bet Horlicks milkshake will be awesome stuff! With some chocolate bits and a scoop of Baileys icecream! Okay okay I imagine too much. Have a good Niu year ahead anyways. I found this animal on the counter of Tom's rather adorable. I'm destined to like only stuffed animals or animals on my plate. Muaha. Next entry will be a meaty one, in more ways than one..watch this space.

Graze, Laurent Bernard Chocolateir, FREE Frolick!, Marina Barrage

A recent fetish for breakfast food brought me to Graze (4 Rochester Park Tel: 6775 9000 ) with the girls on a Sunday morning.. Yes I am an early bird now I've finally kicked the nasty nocturnal habit and it feels great to kick start a day with a mighty big breakfast especially with the fantastic company of my closest friends.

Graze offers brunch only on Sundays and they serve modern Australian food. Their popular barbeque menu is also available during lunch on Sundays - although I hardly saw anyone eating that - everyone was tucking into the yummy brunch food.
I booked an indoor seat but we realised its much nicer to dine al fresco..there are no mosquitoes and we actually sat under a tree (which has low lying leaves - and we are all very tall). We were very scared throughout the whole meal that the leaves and branches will fall all over the food but luckily it didnt.

The ambience here is great for a Sunday breakfast ! Very relaxing sitting in the rattan chairs in the courtyard amongst the plants and water features. I feel like I am having breakfast in someone's house...overseas! Yes, the huge influx of expats is inevitable..

We were served complimentary toast with marmalade and butter.. It was thick toast and there was some variety in the bread- white and multigrain (although it wasnt very nutty). The marmalade was very good though, a very slight lemony taste.

The cast iron pan $18

Bratwurst sausage, Smoked bacon, mushroom, tomato, baked beans, country potato, plum chilli salsa

I didn't eat the meats, but this breakfast fry up is not as massive as it sounds.. very protein loaded and quite an oily feast - I especially liked the mushrooms.

Cinnamon raisin french toast $13

drizzled with maple syrup

simon johnson double cream

This was FANTASTIC! It was Eliza's and my favourite dish ! The french toast was crisp and the cinnamon taste was really permeating through the bread - divine with the slightly sweet double cream and the bits of raisins. You don't even need to add much maple syrup. I would return for this.

Banana pancakes $13

smothered in grilled bananas, walnuts and redcurrant syrup

with icecream

I thought the pancakes were rather floury and they crumble quite easily.. They are cinammon flavoured I think - certainly not banana flavoured. All these adjectives in front of pancakes are SO misleading! Like I thought the Coconut pancakes at Jones meant the coconut permeated the pancakes but it seems like in both cases they were not what they seemed! And all of us thought the redcurrant syrup was butterscotch and Jasmine and I drowned our pancakes in the syrup because it tasted so good. I prefer the fluffier pancakes at Rider's Cafe though.

Simply eggs benedict $16

with smoked salmon and spinach

There is a classic version and I figure that must be the version with the ham since Eggs Benedict always come with ham. But here, there is the option of smoked salmon and spinach instead. I always look forward to poached eggs (cos I cant seem to get it right at home) and I simply cant resist this whenever I have breakfast outside! This is good, it is like a combination of what I had at Rider's Cafe (spinach) and Choupinette (smoked salmon). I cant find any fault in this - everything is perfectly done from the egg to the smoked salmon, muffin and the Hollandaise sauce, although I still prefer the Eggs Royal at Choupinette if given a choice.
Ooh awesome runny egg yolk.
All our yummy food! (too bad about the half eaten cast iron pan!)
The mystery of the sweet tinge of strawberry-lime in your iced water solved.

For those nocturnals who don't believe in waking up for breakfast (I am reformed but I might not stay so for long =P), the last order is at 2.30pm. Reservations are recommended esp for al fresco seating.

And of cos desserts are a must with the girls and we went to Laurent's Cafe & Chocolate Bar (5B Portsdown Road #01-02 Wessex Village Square)

We were able to spy in the kitchen (and take all the photographs we want) because we sat at the common courtyard (shared with Pietrasanta) right inside and again it was another al fresco affair...

But it was worth the sweltering effort cos it is so interesting watching the chef at work! Eventually Mr Bernard (no this photograph is not of him the photophobic creature, of cos - he is not balding - yet) did appear and oh my the stuff he made were really droolicoius..

Though it was sweltering hot (the area is not as nicely ventilated as Graze's) - the music was really good - it is like those from a gramophone and again chilling here feels like being in someone else's home away from home. And no, the cafe didnt play that old English music - there was art exhibition going on and that was where the music was coming from. Again it was another interesting sight watching the patrons waltz in and out and a very curious group of children seemingly having an art lesson in the midst of it all..

Although the oil from the canvas was quite smelly, we were so zen that we hardly noticed.

Pleasure $9.80

Of cos good desserts played a big part in the zen-ness I finally got to try the Pleasure cake and oh my, it was really good! Layers of milk chocolate with the crisp hazelnut layer - easily collapsible but heck, the mess is so delicious. The top layer was really quite soft though - goes to show how hot the weather was to melt the chocolate layer so quick .

Chocolate tart, $6.50

I blogged about this before and would gladly blog about it again because thin as it is, the tart is awesome nonetheless - layers of chocolate and hazelnut chocolate on a flaky base - I was careful not to let the raspberry sauce contaminate the cocoa goodness though..

Iced Chocolate

Yi Qian ordered this and I stole a sip - it was rather powdery though and it is really very rich.

Don't waste your money (and calories) on their fruit drinks or fruit teas. Taste very syrupy according to those who ordered.

Porstdown Road is part of the Wessex estate where there are many colonial bungalows and there are many art gallery and eateries. We spent the lazy afternoon just strolling around the rustic area, and chanced upon this patch..We loved the tire hanging from the tree... Yes of cos the thought of who looped the rope through the impossible tree branch did pop up...

Then we wondered into one of the bungalows because we were lured by the fantastic unplugged music..It is amazing how good she is considering she only picked up the guitar 4 months back and she only sings her own music!

We entered through the doors and surprised by the gorgeous black and white films

Every piece is stunning..

The lady who owns these says that black and white film photography lasts forever (not colour) and she develops all these in a dark house within the same bungalow..she has an open house as and when she wishes and at other times she photographs others..

This is my favourite photograph..I love this couple-ish photo of innocence...

Alright..we shall go back to civilisation..we were back to town to get to the Harvey Norman sale..

So we landed at Millenia walk and of cos after changing locations we needed a snack so we landed here at Frolick (level one, Millenia walk)

Peach Flavoured Yoghurt, FREE!

I blogged about it before, but with the Zouk card, it is FREE! Free stuff taste the best sometimes!

Then we wandered into Chocolate Research Facility (Level One, Millenia Walk).. and had more free stuff! We sampled the Peanut butter chocolate and chocolate crunch chocolate..then he dished out more mystery samples and we totally couldnt guess the Mango flavour.

The many many mind boogling flavours - I even saw black sesame and tea flavoured chocolates. Chocolates are between 8-12 bucks per small bar. I'd rather invest in Laurent's, actually.

Again there is another Zouk offer - with every 5 bars there is a discount.

There is a bar here where you can order the brownies or the drinks..

For me, the vibe of this place doesnt make me feel like wolfing down chocolate(unlike Laurents, I could live on the chocolate scent of his cafe). When chocolate becomes as scientific as this, it loses its traditional home made feel don't you think? You lose the sense of who makes your chocolate or what goes into the chocolate.. I guess the contrast is especially obvious since we went to Laurents today and spent most of our time spying through the glass doored kitchen, watching the chef delicately hand make those delicate chocolates.

Went to Candy Empire (Level one, Millenia Walk) for some sweets and this Wonka sweet promised some tingling fun but NO THERE WASNT ANY! Friggin cheated of my $2.50 when I could have gotten Prez sweets at 1 buck instead.

But the colours are so pyschedelic and happyfying and the fruity taste was equally tasty.

Yi Qian had a fried food craving so of cos Jas and I koped some of her fried chicken from Shihlin Taiwan Snacks (Suntec City).. but I was feeling so heaty I needed a soya milk to wash it all down..

Rose Macaron, $1

Then we were on our way back to the Suntec carpark when we passed by the Bakerzin (Suntec City) and I couldnt resist their 1 buck promotion for their macarons! Bought the rose and chocolate ones...

Chocolate Macaron $1

The centre was really dense and chewy but the exterior was not that crispy. I liked the chocolate one much more - the dark chocolate cream was really good! I think it was a rather chocolatey day.

We had enough of civilisation and decided we needed another road trip to nowhere so we tried to go to the Marina Barrage again (our first try was a fail) - this time round, we were luckier cos we spotted the blue signs that led us there - but it was a real merry go round.

The curvaceous walkway up..

It feels like a science centre of sorts esp the exhibits..

Heh Kelly this is the splish-splash pool that the lady was talking about..for your info =)

There are many piers around..

See what I mean by being Science-centre-ish, the curvaceous walkway leads to this field and there was a big Solar panel here..

If you look carefully both signs say keep off the grass but one says newly laid and the other still maturing...looked pretty much the same to us laymen (no pun intended)

Best to come in the evening, its wonderful watching the city lights come on and the transition to darkness.

Dark. And tired... it was fun getting lost with the right company (and a petrol-loaded car). Thanks mountains I never have enough of you all! =)