Chef Daniel's Kitchen ~ 090511

Since my mum & I were both on leave on 9th May, Monday (in view of Polling day), I decided to bring her to have lunch at Chef Daniel's Kitchen. I tried the food previously last year & pretty much like the food & ambience as it was located at the Sky garden of the Illuma shopping mall (away from the crowd) Interesting find ya? ;)

Chef Daniel's Kitchen

Open concept kitchen

They serve Set lunches at an affordable price of either $10.50++ or $16.50++. Each set came with a soup of the day, main course & a dessert! Indeed, value for $! =) If you would like a drink, you can also top up $2 for a cup of Coke/Sprite. That's what we did as the weather was so sweltering hot! FYI, the restaurant charges $0.50 for water (yes, you heard me right!)

I ordered the Terikyaki Chicken set ($10.50++) & my mum ordered the Pan-fried Seabass ($16.50++). The soup of the day was Cream of Corn Soup. To be honest, I am not a big fan of corn soup, I would have much preferred it to be either Clam Chowder or mushroom soup! I was apprehensive about the soup but surprisingly, it turned out to be quite tasty & sweet. You can still taste the corn bits in it!

Corn Soup

We loved the unique bread served here. There were chilli flakes on the bread (as you can see) & the bread was warm & soft & had an unique flavor due to the spices used.

Bread

The Pan-fried Seabass was yummy! The fish was tender and fresh whilst the outer layer was really crispy. There was a slight infusion of Indian herbs which was used to marinate the skin of the fish before frying it.

Cod fish

My order of the Teriyaki chicken was indeed a good choice! The chicken was well-executed and retained the juiciness! The teriyaki sauce went very well too! ;)

Teriyaki Chicken

What's for dessert? ~ Strawberry Apricot Mousse cake! Looks pretty ya? The mousse was not too sweet and the texture of the sponge chocolate cake at the base was fine. O, my mum loves the bubbles (orange flavor) at the side of the cake. She loved how it popped in the mouth, Lol! (reminded me of the Sally bubbles that I had at Sour Sally).

Strawberry Apricot mousse cake

Overall, we had a good lunch. Food & ambience was good but what was lacking was the service as there was a clear shortage of manpower during lunch time. Perhaps the restaurant can look into this area. Would definitely recommend you to give it a try if you are in the Bugis area ;) FYI, this restaurant changed its menu on a regular basis so be in for a surprise next time round!

Chef Daniel's Kitchen is located at 201 Victoria Street, The Illuma, #07-02/03.

Sour Sally

After a satisfying meal at Izakaya Nijumara, we decided to walk along the streets of Orchard to digest our food. LOL. Whilst in the basement of Wisma, we stumbled upon Sour Sally! (Ms Sing has been raving to me how good it was). So we decided to give it a try! ;)

Sour Sally

Waiting for my yogurt

We ordered a medium sized cup of the Pinklicious twist ($6.20, after I used the Citibank promo). It basically consisted of the plain flavor & the Strawberry flavor yogurt! The thought that came to mind after the 1st scoop was "It was so icy"!!! Haha, this was frozen yogurt as compared to the usual ones that I had @ Yami yogurt. I loved how it melted in the mouth & YP was commenting that it was not too sourish as well. There were many interesting toppings to choose from & I decided to get the staff to recommend. He recommended me to take the granola & the Sally bubbles and so I heed his advice. The Sally bubbles were indeed a JOY to eat! They literally burst in the mouths and evoked sweetness of the mango juice! I am sure this must be a hit with children esp! ;) However, the granola was too hard for our liking (I still prefer the ones used at Yami Yogurt).

Pinklicious Twist

I would definitely go back to try out other flavors they have. If you would like to eat it there, I am afraid you would be disappointed as there are only 2 small tables avail. I really hope in time to come, they would open more outlets & widen the space for customers (like me) who would want to sit there & indulge in the frozen yogurt trend! ;)

Just to add on, if you hold a Citibank card, you will get a 10% off (no min. purchase required). Also, the yogurt here are 100% FAT-FREE!!! Woo, how wonderful is that?! LOL

Sour Sally is located at 435 Orchard Road #B1-47 Wisma Atria.

You can also check out their cute website at http://www.mysoursally.com/

Izakaya Nijumara ~ 050511

Last Thurs, I met YP for dinner after work. This time round, we are going to check out Izakaya Nijumara tucked at one corner on the 2nd floor of Cuppage Plaza which I have heard raving reviews about! This was my 1st time inside this dodgy building & wow, this place is full of Jap restaurants! (haha, what an eye opener to a mountain tortoise me). As it was only 610pm when we reached, there were not much people inside the restaurant. Typical Japanese setting with warm yellow lighting. Loves the cosy ambience of this place. The aunties staff there were also very friendly and service was prompt! :)

Izakaya Nijumara

Cosy place

We ordered a Nijamaru Bento, Okayu don & chawanmushi for sharing. The Nijamaru bento ($20) consisted of assorted sashimi, grilled saba fish, tempura & Jap style braised pork. Value for $, isn't it? We get the best of 4 worlds, LOL!

Bento

A close up of the Grilled Saba fish! (Keke, one of my many Favs in Jap rest). The meat was juicy & the skin lightly charred! I like! *slurps*

Saba fish

We did not really like the texture of the Prawn tempura (though the batter was thin). The prawn was not the springy type and tasted rather soggy. The vegetable tempura tasted much better.

Fried tempura

Woo, this is a MUST order when having Jap!!! This was so....YUMMY!!! The fish were very fresh & look at how thick each slice was! Simply a sweet indulgence! =)

Sashimi

I love this dish, Jap style Lor Bak (braised Pork). It was soft & tender & you must eat it with the fat deposits which melted in the mouth! The sauce was slightly sweeter than the usual braised pork & I was telling YP that it reminded me of those canned braised pork used when frying bee hoon! Do try it for yourself!

Braised meat

Chawanmushi ($5) is what I would order (without fail) when I have my Jap. Loved the smoothness of the egg here. Look, there were no air bubbles on its surface! The only downside to this was I found the price to be on the steeper side (even for a good chawanmushi).

Chawanmushi

This is YP's must order of all times. The eggs were not overcooked and the onions gave the don a sweet tangy taste. However, the chicken was slightly hard and required more chewing than usual. The portion was rather huge & despite the sharing, we still did not manage to finish it. *oops* (FYI, this is really value for $ as it was only $8 for this generous serving!)

Oyaku Don

I would definitely be back! So next time, if you are craving for authentic Jap food in town, you may want to check out this place! =)

Izakaya Nijumara is located at 5 Koek Road #02-10/12 Cuppage Plaza.

Shin-Sapporo Ramen ~ 020511

Hi folks, I must apologize for the late postings....(has been eating faster than the speed that I blog! Oops!). Bear with me ya! ;)

After the monthly massage session with mum, we went to Shin-Sapporo Ramen @ Century Square for lunch. I have always been a HUGE fan of ramen & when I saw that an authentic ramen place is going to be opened in Tampines, I can hardly contained my excitement! And so, I went with great expectation & anticipation. LOL!

Newly Opened Shin-Sapporo Ramen

We ordered a set for sharing which consisted of their signature ramen, Kara-Miso, Mini Oyaku don, salad & a beverage (cold/hot green tea) ($16.80). As the ramen also came in a mini size, we decided to add $3 to upsize it! =) Btw, I always like a good hot green tea when I am in a Jap restaurant & sad to say, the green tea was not fragrant & it was not hot at all! Pretty disappointing  =(

We found the salad dressing too little for this plate of cabbage. It would be much nicer if more salad dressing was used!

Salad

Here's what we were here for ~ Ramen!!! The look of it seemed not bad with the kind of runny egg that I like! There were cha shu, cabbage, corn kernels, bamboo shoots & an egg. The noodles were springy (very similar to the texture of instant noodles) which I did not find it fantastic. As for the soup, it has a charred miso taste...hmm.... Verdict: Edible but So-so.

Kara-Miso

The Okayu don fared better than the ramen (yes, surprisingly!). The egg was not overcooked & chicken meat was tender despite using breast meat! The shoyu sauce blended well with the rice, chicken & egg! A comfort food indeed!

Out of curiosity, I went to google Okayu don & got an interesting find which I thought of sharing with you. The meaning of this dish literally translates itself to "parent and child donburi". A "donburi" or Japanese rice bowl dish is when you have chicken, egg, green onions & other ingredients simmered together in a sauce & then served on top of a large bowl of rice. The name of this dish is a poetic reflection whereby both chicken & egg are used. How interesting ya! =)

Mini Oyaku Don

Overall, I do not think that I would be revisiting this place so soon (unless, I really have strong cravings for ramen when I am in the area).

Shin-Sapporo Ramen has 2 outlets, Century Square #B1-10/11 & Suntec City
Tower 4, #01-223.
You can also check out their website, http://shin-sappororamen.com/

Ladies' Nite Cooking Workshop ~ 070511

Hi folks, hope you guys & gals had a lovely weekend despite the sweltering heat!!! Mine was packed with activities & fun! On Saturday, I was lucky to be one of the chosen 8 bloggers by Channel U who got invited to the Ladies' Nite Cooking Workshop (from 2pm - 5pm) held @ Cookyn Inc! ;) Each blogger was allowed to invite 3 friends along for this workshop & so, I invited my beloved mum (who loves to watch "三菜一汤" & a fan of Vivian & Michelle), YP & Ms C.

Ladies' Nite Cooking Workshop

Held @ Cookyn Inc

Loved the orientation of this cooking school. There were 4 tables spread across the room facing the cooking stations. Each table came with the ingredients for the day's 2 dishes i.e. Cold Rice Salad with Prawns & Steam-Baked Fish roll! FYI, these 2 dishes were taught to Michelle & Vivian by different chefs for "Ladies' Nite"& would be featured in one of their "Ladies' Nite" episode under the Cooking section. So be sure to catch it on TV! :)

Table full of ingredients

Michelle demonstrated the 1st dish which was the Steam-baked fish roll as it took about 30 mins for it to be done due to the baking process (with an onlooking Vivian as "Latisha" to Michelle for those who watched "The Noose") LOL.

Michelle on the 1st dish

After her demonstration, we did it on our own & I must admit that this was my 1st time attending a cooking class & to speak the truth I never rarely stepped into the kitchen (except the occasional cooking of instant noodles!) Oops! This really put my culinary skills into good test! ;)

There were few steps for this dish. First, we have to pan fry the mushrooms which we were going to use for the roll. Next, we have to roll up the ingredients i.e the ham, dory fish fillet & sauteed mushrooms using the cabbage provided. Once rolled up, we will pour some Chinese wine (花雕酒) & sesame oil over it with ginger slices & put it to bake for about 30 - 40 mins (depending on the thickness of the fish fillet). After which, we will stir fry the spring onions & ginger to pour on the baked product to enhance the taste!

Haha, I did my fair share of dicing the fresh mushroom whilst Ms C & YP did the cleaning & washing portion. Luckily, I had the hindsight to bring along my mum who's the chef at home! In no time, she chopped up the rest of the ingredients, stir fried it & we helped to do the wrapping of the rolls. Due to the wrong vegetable provided (should be Chinese cabbage instead of cabbage), we had a hard time trying to keep the roll intact ;) But still, it was good fun! =) After 40 mins or so, we took out the steam-baked fish roll & look at how pretty the inside looked! It smelled really good due to the Chinese wine used *Slurps* The fish was tender & blended really well with the sauteed mushrooms & ham. It would taste even sweeter if we had used the 大白菜 (chinese cabbage)! Do try it at home folks (a dish suitable for the elderly, sickly & children). LOL!

Steam-Baked Fish roll

Look @ how pretty it was!

Next, Vivian taught us how to make the Cold rice salad with prawns. By the name of it, this dish sounded really interesting! Hmm, cold rice (who would have thought of it?) Apparently, this dish was taught to Vivian by Chef Mervyn and it will be telecast in one of their "Ladies' Nite" program (so do watch out for it!).

This dish was indeed much simpler as one would just need to chop all the ingredients (i.e. french beans & tomatoes) into cubes. Then, mix the rice with diced french beans, tomatoes, canned corn kernels, olive oil & orange juice. Once done, you can add on the prawns & coriander leaves as garnishes. Loves the array of colours! You could also choose the ingredients that you like to go with this cold rice salad for e.g. crab sticks/ sausages/ carrots/ lemon juice etc. To make it taste better, leave it in the fridge to chill until ready to serve! =)

Cold Rice salad with Prawns

At the end of preparing the 2 dishes, each group was to present their dishes and used the colourful papers provided to us for decorative purposes. Haha, being the not so creative us we decided to keep things simple & came up with 2 names for our dishes. We renamed the Cold rice salad to "Colourful Platter" & the Steam-baked fish roll to "三色鱼卷". =) The winning team (I think was either group 3 or 4) walked away with t-shirts designed by Fann Wong.

Our presentation of the dishes i.e. Group 1

Group 2

Group 3 & 4

Group 5

It was indeed a very COOL workshop as it was my 1st time attending a cooking class & hosted by 2 lovely ladies! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and not forgetting, the yummy mini high tea that was provided at the end of the workshop! We absolutely loved the cheesy macaroni!

Cheesy macaroni

Thumbs up to Michelle as she was feeling under the weather & yet, she still displayed a friendly disposition and was truly professional! Special Thanks to Vivian too who made my mum so happy during the workshop, happily chattering away with her! Final thanks to the工作人员 who made this event possible & a huge success! I am definitely looking forward to more such events hosted by Channel U!!! =)

Group peek with Michelle & Vivian!

Folks, be sure to catch "Ladies' Nite" every Tuesday on Channel U at 8pm! =)

Xin Wang Hongkong Cafe ~ 230411

Met up with Bestie for late dinner on a Saturday 2 weeks ago at Siglap. We headed to Xin Wang Hongkong cafe where we ordered the Black Pepper Pork chop (as bestie was craving for some Western), Pan fried dumplings, Iced Milo, Iced Milk tea & Peanut Butter Toast.

The Black Pepper Pork Chop ($8.90) was quite sizeable. There were 2 pieces of meat, baked beans (my fav), french fries & a sunny side up! Looked really appetizing & inviting! The meat was not that tough as we imagined it to be. The black pepper sauce was not too spicy & overwhelming. Thumbs Up to the sunny side up as the egg yolk was still runny & not overcooked! Fries were rather dry though. Haha, I finished the baked beans since bestie does not take them.

Black Pepper Pork Chop

Next up, we had the Pan Fried Dumplings ($4.90). This tasted very much like the instant ones that can be bought off the shelves from the supermarkets! The skin was not crispy and I was commenting to bestie that these tasted like they just got out from the freezer, yet to thaw & fried (not to perfection though!). There was not much meat inside the dumpling, tasted more like vegetable dumplings instead. Slight disappointment! :(

Pan Fried Dumplings

The Peanut Butter Toast ($4.20) was an after meal dessert (as I was craving for something sweet, keke). Look at how thick the toast was! On the 1st bite, it tasted soft, very "peanut butter taste" & sweet (due to the condensed milk). Overall, the peanut butter was too thick for my liking & to be honest, we had a hard time trying to finish it off & in the end, we gave up! *chuckles*

Peanut Butter Toast

Overall, the food was pretty average (nothing out of the ordinary) & prices reasonable.
They have several outlets all over the island (Apparently, bestie was saying that the one at Marina Square is currently under renovations).

You can check out their website, http://www.xinwang.com.sg/

Tawandang Microbrewery ~ 200411

Hi folks, back to the local food scene (though I have one last HK food posting pending in the pipeline!). Had dinner with my colleagues at Tawandang Microbrewery @ their latest outlet in Suntec City on a Wednesday 2 weeks ago (Oops, this post is so late on this wagon!).

Since there were 6 of us, we ordered the Deep fried Pork Knuckles, Tom yum soup with prawns, Stir fried Morning glory, Grilled Sea bass with salt & Steamed squid (my all time favourites) for sharing. This was my 5th time visiting this restaurant. I still remember the very 1st time was with BBC at Dempsey to celebrate our 7th year anniversary, 2nd was with my colleagues, 3rd was with my family celebrating my dad's birthday (all these at their 1st outlet at Dempsey) & the most recent one was at Suntec with my 3 darlings on 31st Dec 2010 (yes, sort of end of year celebration dinner). Guess you can see how much I like this place.*chuckles*

The Pork Knuckle was crispy on the outside and the meat was tender & juicy! Mr Yeo even commented that "they maintained the same standard throughout"! (Since the last time he had this was like a year ago!) Definitely one of the better Pork knuckles in town! =)

Deep fried Pork Knuckles

Since I am at a microbrewery, how can I miss out on the beer? ;) I ordered a 0.3 litre of Weizen beer. The beer was light & fruity which I liked (guess, most gals would prefer this as compared to the Dunkel beer). Haha, whilst doing research on this posting, I realized that the Weizen beer (5.5 per cent) has the highest alcohol content as compared to the Lager (5 per cent) & Dunkel beer (4.5 per cent)! Interesting find! ;)

Weizen beer

We ordered the Tom Yum soup with prawns (without the coconut juice). I like how the soup was served in a hotpot (since I am a big fan of steamboat). The soup may look harmless but mind you, it was lethal & potent! You have been warned!!! LOL

Tom Yam soup with prawns!

Hehe, you must be wondering do Thai restaurants serve spaghetti?! Nah, this was not spaghetti but stir fried Morning glory (which is a traditional Thai vegetable dish). The Morning glory was crunchy and there was an unique after taste which I like. So far from what I know, this is the only Thai restaurant that serves up this dish! Do give it a try!

Stir fried Morning glory

This was the 1st time that I am having this dish here ~ Grilled seabass with salt. A lovely choice, indeed! The sea bass was fresh and despite the grill, the meat still retained the juiciness and tenderness. It came with a spicy seafood sauce for us to dip the fish. I love how the sauce further enhanced the freshness of the meat! (For those who know me, you would know how picky selective I am on my fishes) (",)

Grilled Sea bass with salt

Woo, just by looking at this peek makes me drools & salivates!!! LOL. This is my MUST order dish ~ Steamed squid when I visit this restaurant! The squid was very fresh (there was even roe in it!) & the homemade lime juice with traditional herbs gave the soup a sourish & spicy taste! Simply appetizing & opened up my tastebuds! *Slurps*

Steamed squids

I can't really remember how much this meal cost (think was approximately $190 after discount?). Right now, they are having a 10 per cent discount off the full bill if you have an OCBC credit card. I would definitely recommend this place for a group gathering or if you simply just love a good Thai meal! FYI, they also have a daily live band which they brought all the way from Thailand! ;)

You can check out their website, http://www.tawandang.com/home.html