Off to Hongkong!!! (",)

Am off to HK from 13th - 16th Apr! Will share my HK food adventures when I am back! Byez peeps! ;)

My Mum's Cuisine

On Wednesday,YP & JY and I had lunch together & since the weather was so warm, we decided to head to an air-conditioned place for lunch. So JY drove us to Novena Square & since we were totally clueless on what to eat, we decided to walk around for some inspiration, haha. That's when we stumbled upon "My Mum's Cuisine". I have previously heard about this place and the reviews seemed not bad so we decided to settle for lunch here. (As this meal was totally unexpected so I did not bring my camera but special thanks to my iphone! Am pretty happy with the quality of the peeks taken *chuckles*).

Since the restaurant was having set lunches promotion, we decided to order 3 different sets for sharing. JY decided on the Assam Prawn, YP on the Hainanese Beef & I decided to try the Honey Pork Ribs. Each set comes with the rice, tofu soup & vegetable. It also came with a drink & dessert. All these for just $13.90++ which is indeed Value for $ =)

They were pretty generous with the servings of the prawns (in total of about 6 prawns). The taste was not as "Assam" as we expected. It basically tasted sourish due to the pineapples used for the gravy. We could not really taste the tamarind which will give it that special kick to this Nonya dish (keke, Just so you know Assam means sour in Malay & the main ingredient used is the Tamarind which gives it that lingering & sourish flavour).

Assam Prawns set

The Hainanese Beef was well stewed! The meat was very tender and the gravy was succulent & sweet due to the carrots, onions & radish used. Simply delicious & goes very well with the rice! ;)

Hainanese Beef set

The Honey Pork ribs looked pretty with the glaze on however, the meat was rather tough & too chewy for our liking. The sauce was slightly oily too (as can be seen in this peek).

Honey Pork ribs

Next, we had the almond pudding which came with the sets. When the almond pudding came, we were amused by the colour that it came in. The colour of the pudding was yellowish instead of the usual white. The pudding was very sticky & there was no almond taste at all. Instead, the condensed milk took the stage which made it too sweet & also explained why the colour was such :(

Almond pudding

I had initially wanted to change my almond pudding to the chendol (I have heard pretty good reviews about) but was told that I can only change it to Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous rice with coconut milk). Since I am also a fan of Pulut Hitam, I took it instead. However, it turned out to be rather disappointing. It was watery & the coconut milk was slightly too much for this small little bowl of glutinous rice.

Pulut Hitam

Overall, we still had a pretty good lunch! The Hainanese beef would rank No.1 amongst the 3 sets followed by the Assam prawns & Honey Pork ribs. I would not mind coming back to try the other dishes & next time round, I will definitely order the much raved about Chendol! ;)

My Mum's Cuisine is located at 238 Thomson Road, #02-76 Novena Square. 

Forty Hands

Yesterday, I went to check out Forty Hands with BBC since I have heard raving reviews about this place. It is located at one corner of the old neighbourhood of Tiong Bahru. The place is rather cramped as it is not a big space to begin with. It was very crowded & so we did not manage to sit indoors. We took the outdoor seats where they were located below the 1st floor & to get down, you would need to walk down a metal staircase. (which to me, found it rather inconvenient as one would need to walk up to go in & place an order & to take water). Also, it can get rather warm due to the climate in Singapore!

I ordered a cup of Flat White ($5) & look how pretty it was :) The coffee was creamy, smooth & had a robust taste to it, I like! The only thing (in my own opinion) was that the coffee was rather pricey.

Flat White

We ordered the Eggs Benedict ($12) for sharing. Look at the plate they served it on! How nostalgic! ;) We love the Eggs Benedict here as it was slightly different from the usual ones that we normally had. Just underneath the piece of ham lie....the boiled spinach! Surprising find! BBC even commented that "all the ingredients complemented each other well & there was no instance where a bread was just a bread, the eggs just being the eggs." Haha, does that make sense? ;) Yes, it was slurped up in no time! We love it! =)

Eggs Benedict 

We also ordered a Jamaican Pork Sandwich ($9.50) which comes with the grilled pork, chunks of tomatoes, raisins, cheese, sunflower seeds & mango. Sounds delicious right? ;) But a pity, this was not the case *Shook heads*. The bread was very dry & the servings inside was limited. There was only like 2 small slices of pork (which tasted dry) & very small pieces of mango. Sad to say so, this was disappointing :(

Jamaican Pork Sandwich

Haha, we are still not done yet.... Being the greedy foodie us, how can we not order the famous Tau Sar Pao ($2.50)! This must be the most expensive Tau Sar Pao (bun filled with red bean paste) that I have ever eaten! ;) The skin was soft & trust me, we thought it was not piping hot but we were wrong! The red bean paste was still hot (we like) & it was smooth, not too sweet & pretty fragrant. Overall, if you were to ask me whether there's anything unusual about this, my honest answer would be NO! It tasted very much like any other good Tau Sar Pao that you can get elsewhere! Haha, I doubt I would ever pay so much again to enjoy this childhood treat! ;) (haha, whilst writing this, I can't help but realized that their Pao is not the right Pinyin, it should be Bao, LOL).

Tau Sar Pao

I do not think that I would purposely made a trip here as the place was really small & the food was pretty average with not much varieties as well. Can't really comment on the service as it was pretty much self service from going to the counter to place the orders & pouring of water. FYI, this place does not charge GST & Service charge :) Right now, they are also having a 10% off if you pay using HSBC card (which I missed out when I placed my 1st order & nope, I was not informed by the cashier when making payment...hmm)

Forty Hands is located at Blk 78 Yong Siak Street #01-12.

District 10

On Sunday, whilst in the midst of our wedding venue hunting, we stopped by District 10 for breakfast. The last time I came was with my girlfriends in 2009 for my birthday celebration. The place was still very much as I recalled it to be. The simple furnishing & lighting gave the place a cosy, warm and intimate setting. Service staff were also friendly too =)

Loves the glass house feeling

Cool peek ;)

BBC ordered the Eggs Benedict & I ordered the Old Times Favourites (which consisted of 2 sunny side up with bread, sausage, baked beans, tomato & wild rocket salad). Haha, I was actually debating between the Eggs Benedict & Old Times Favourites so when BBC said he was taking the Eggs Benedict, that instantly solved my problem, haha! Now, I can have the best of both worlds =) I also ordered a cup of Cappuccino ($5.50) to kickstart my Sunday morning. It was a good balance between the espresso & the steamed milk which gave it a creamy texture =)

Cappuccino

The Eggs Benedict ($16) was indeed a good choice! The poached eggs were nicely done with the egg yolk still runny inside. The hollandaise sauce was smooth and creamy & it complemented the poached eggs really well. (Just so you know, hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter, usually seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and a little white pepper or cayenne pepper). Woo, how sinful ;)

Eggs Benedict

The Old Times Favourites ($16) as its name suggested was the typical English breakfast set. Haha, call me boring but this combination of breakfast always make me a happy gal! :) I liked how the baked beans were being served in a bowl rather than on the same plate as it gave the whole presentation a neat & clean feel. The bread somehow tasted very much like the ones at Macdonalds! Haha, but still it was good, crispy on the outside & soft on the inside. The sausage was slightly salty & I would have preferred it to have more herbs & spices in it. The eggs were done just the way I like it! The egg white was perfectly cooked whilst the egg yolk was still runny....*SLURPS*

Old Times Favourites

We enjoyed the breakfast & I love how the sunlight filtered in through the glass & gave the place a cheery feel. What a relaxing Sunday morning =)

District 10 is located at 10 Winstedt Road. 

The Marmalade Pantry

After the earlier episode, we headed to The Marmalade Pantry (not only wanting to check out the food selection but also to "scrutinize" their service standards!) Over here, there was no queue & the minute we stood at the waiting area, we were immediately attended by a friendly service staff. We were even given the option to choose where we wanted to be seated *Thumbs up*.  As this cafe was ran in an open concept manner, there was not much of a done up. Furnishing was kept to the minimum but I love the little vase of flower on each table which gave the cafe a crisp & cheery feel! =)

The simple table sheet with its name on it

I love this little vase of flowers :)

After browsing through the menu, we decided to order their signature Steak Sandwich for sharing. As for drinks, we were totally spoilt for choices. We debated amongst the smoothies, hot floral tea & the shakes! In the end, we decided to go for the shakes! YP ordered the Oreo Cookies whilst I ordered the Fluffy Strawberry. Haha, how can we miss out desserts? YP saw the Chocolate fudge cake & couldn't resist ordering a slice. (",)

The Oreo Cookies shake ($9) was "overflowing" when it came (as can be seen from this peek). The shake tasted too milky for our liking. There was just a very faint whiff & taste of the cookies & cream which to me, tasted more like any other chocolate milkshake  :(

Oreo Cookies shake

The Fluffy Strawberry Shake ($9) came in a sweet pastel pink colour (which was so NOT me for those who know me, haha). But I do love my strawberries! ;) As it was very milky, the strawberry taste simply faded out into the background....how disappointing.

Fluffy Strawberry shake

When the Steak Sandwich ($20) was served, we were totally sold by the service here! Guess what?! When we ordered this, we told the lady to cut the sandwich into half since we were sharing & that's what they did & even better still, they actually put the halves into 2 serving plates (with full garnishing of the chips & wild rocket salad). Aint that impressive?! We were too baffled for words. Honestly, this is the 1st time that I encountered cafes which bother to put it into 2 serving plates as usually, they would just cut it into half & put it back onto the same plate. Need I say more about their service? =)

We got them to do the beef in medium. The outer part of the beef was crispy (which I especially loved) however, cant say the same for the meat. The beef was a tad too chewy & required quite some chewing to finish it. The chips were those of the healthier version i.e. the yam & sweet potatoes type which I personally do not really like the texture of it, found it hard & dry. This reminded me of the blue potato chips served in Food Barn (which was no longer around) several years back. The wild rocket salad was done in Vinaigrette dressing which was refreshing.

Steak Sandwich

There was only one word that we kept using on the Chocolate Fudge cake ($7.80) throughout the whole session. Haha, the word was "HUMONGOUS" Yes with capital letters! When it came, we were like "o gosh, is this called a slice?" It looked like it could serve at least 3-4 people in one go! We cautiously took a bite as we were trying not to topple the big slice of cake off the plate.

The chocolate fudge cake was not at all how YP or myself had expected it. There was no thick fudge on top of the cake, neither was there any fudge in between the layers of the cake....hmm, how "interesting". The texture of the cake was a little too dry & it was not fine at all. :( YP also commented that she did not like the chocolate shavings used on the cake. For me, it tasted very much like the Sara Lee chocolate pound cake which I used to have in my childhood days! However, sad to say this, I found my Sara Lee cake to be nicer than this! Thank goodness, we only ordered 1 dessert to share. YP was commenting if she were to finish this off, she would definitely stay off chocolate cakes for the next 1 month or so. LOL

Chocolate Fudge cake

This was how the cake looked like when we were halfway through struggling...

The aftermath of it! *haha, salutes to YP who ate most of it, turning the initially triangle looking shape to a rectangular one!*

Overall, the food was pretty average however, as you can guess we were very HAPPY with the service provided. The setting of this place creates a lovely ambience to chill out on a lazy Thursday afternoon whilst watching the world go by! ;)

The Marmalade Pantry is located at ION Orchard #03-22/28.
You can check out their website, http://www.themarmaladepantry.com/

TWG

Since YP & I took half day off from work yesterday, we decided to reward ourselves with an afternoon of pedi followed by high tea! We have always wanted to try out TWG & thus made our way there all eager to enjoy our afternoon. However, things did not go as planned :(

When we reached there at around 3pm, there was a short queue forming & we followed behind. We stood there for close to 10 minutes & still, no one came up to assist us. Not only that, since I was feeling bored from the waiting, I took out my camera & took 2 peeks & this little action of mine finally got the attention of a staff. She came up to me to inform that I am not supposed to take any photos of their place, products etc. However, I am free to take photos of me & my friend. Well well, I kept my camera & continued waiting...You would have thought by now, she/ someone else might have the courtesy to at least ask us" how many of you?" Nope, she just walked away & so, we carried on the arduous waiting!

The queue started moving (after like a good 10 mins) & a male service staff came up to us with a book in his hands. He finally asked the long awaited questions (note: without any smile or friendliness & of course, not a single word of apology from him). I replied "2" & he put that down in his book & said "you have to wait about 20 - 25 mins". That seriously got us pissed off & we decided NOT to wait & instead headed upstairs to .... The Marmalade Pantry!

P/s: I seriously wonder what happened to good customer service & seriously how long does one have to wait?! FYI, since we were so bored, we actually did a calculation of the no of staff in there & guess what?! There was a total of 15 staff seen! (well, I guess that says it all about their service).

SHASHLIK

I have been to this restaurant twice (a couple of years back & recently revisited them last year with my unimates). This time round, I brought BBC since we were in the vicinity! This restaurant is indeed a hidden gem in....the heart of Orchard Road! It is located at Far East Shopping Centre (kindly note that this is the one beside Hilton Hotel) & not Far East Plaza. By now, you must be wondering whether I am kidding you. Fret not! Indeed, it is located on the 6th floor of that old building which doesn't seem to fit in with the high end shopping malls down Orchard Road Even BBC was unaware of its presence until I suggested having dinner there yesterday! What a pleasant surprise for him! (",)

Upon entering the restaurant, you will be greeted by warm lighting & friendly service staff. The furnitures, table cloth, the fake flower in the vase on each table, the yellowish lighting, lamps & pictures on the wall all contributed to the super nostalgic feel of this place. BBC was quite amazed that this kind of place still exists in Singapore (seemed to have transported us back to the 70s/80s). It reminded him of his childhood days where his parents will bring him to the cafe at Metropole Hotel! (haha, what a lucky kid he was!)

Something interesting to share about this place is that by far this is one place which engaged mature service staff & I mean this literally! Like the uncle (who looks to be in his 60s) & still serving us hot cross buns the minute we were seated. If my memory doesn't fail me, this was the same uncle who served me some couple years back too! Another thing that never fails to amaze me when I am here is how they use a metal trolley to serve/ clear the dishes! =)

The nostalgic feel of the place

Dun undermine this hot cross bun! LOL. It was still piping hot when served! BBC liked his with butter while I prefer to eat it in its original form. Both tasted good & comforting.

Hot cross bun

BBC ordered the steak a la Russe ($26) (recommended by the friendly auntie) & it was indeed a good choice. The steak was medium done (with mushroom sauce) & came with mixed vegetables &  French fries. Even though the steak was done in a medium fashion, it still retained the juiciness of the beef & gave it a chewy texture. Somehow or rather, BBC & I found the mixed vegetables to be really old school but we like :) If you look closely at this peek, you will see a small dish beside the steak. That's actually something like a coleslaw (with sliced cabbage, onion & capsicum) which was complimentary.

Steak a la Russe

I ordered the Chicken chop ($18) which can be done either fried or grilled & I chose the latter. The chicken was well marinated & tender. A simple dish but it always touches my heart how much effort goes into this.

Chicken Chop

It was a good dinner & I am glad that BBC likes the place! Would recommend this place if you are in Orchard & craving for a good western/ russian meal (Not to mention, a short escapade to the bustling city life).

Just out of curiosity, I went to check out the meaning of "Shashlik". It originated from Russian Shashlyk which is of Turkey origin. The Russian Shashlyk is a dish consisting of marinated cubes of lamb or beef grilled or roasted on a spit, often with slices of eggplant, onion, and tomato (similar to a kebab). How interesting! FYI, the restaurant does serve this & I have tried it the previous time & liked it too! =)

Shashlik is located at 545 Orchard Road #06-19 Far East Shopping Centre