Over-indulgence

From left clockwise: Ikoi, Ootoya, Akira, Marutama, Hachi Tei, Ootoya

From left clockwise: Cold Storage, Chikuwatei, Sun with Moon, Sushi Tei, Watami, Black Pig Ramen Shabu 29

What whets my appetite. As you can guess, I’ll have Japanese for breakfast lunch dinner and supper too if they are opened those hours. I miss being in Japan. It’s a food heaven where you’d be walking along the street and you can take a chance with any random average stall and odds are it’ll be something better than you’d ever find in Singapore.

Our regular pizza hangout

Roasted Artichock & Spinach pizza and Pepperoni Supremo pizza

There are only two places we think of when we have cravings for pizza, and California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is one of them. It’s easy to find a decent piece of pizza, but for it to be awesome in our books, generous amount of fresh ingredients and cheese must be used. The thickness and crunch of the dough is very important too.

The cream based Roasted Artichoke & Spinach with chicken pizza worked well in enhancing the unique taste of the artichoke. As for the Pepperoni Supremo pizza, it was the best pepperoni pizza we have tasted in Singapore so far. Nothing beats quality Italian sausages on a tomato based skinny pizza.

Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo Pasta & The Works

The Works pizza was an equally good pizza with italian sausage and pepperoni; it had more greens (onions, green peppers and olives) if you prefer a more varied taste. The Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo Pasta was alright but nothing remarkable as you would expect out of a pizza place.

Chocolate Souffle Cake

The Chocolate Souffle Cake à la mode was the bomb! We had to go back a week later to eat it again because it was that good. It wasn’t too sweet even though it was a combination of all our favourite things: chocolate, souffle, cake, vanilla ice cream & incredible homemade hot fudge!

Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae and Tiramisu

The Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae and Tiramisu were great too, but the Chocolate Souffle Cake trumped all. We would probably give the Warm Apple Pie Pizza a try the next time we are there.

The salads were not the highlight of the meal, but they were delightful too. I thought of NYC and Gossip Girl when I saw the Waldorf Chicken salad on the menu and it certainly tasted like how I would imagine it to be with the field greens, crandied walnut, Granny Smith apples, grapes and homemade Dijon balsamic vinaigrette. The Chinese Chicken Salad was quite an interesting eat with ingredients such as napa & red cabbage, lettuce and even fried wontons and sweet & sour dressing.

* This review is a combination of two trips to CPK.

California Pizza Kitchen
#01-42 Forum The Shopping Mall

Universal love for bacon

We love breakfast/brunch on weekends and bacon adds that extra oomph. Enjoy the best of two continents with these easy recipes.

American style
Sandwich with milk. Spread mayonnaise on both slices of your bread. Place bacon, cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato in your sandwich and chomp away

English breakfast
Scrambled eggs, baked tomato, fried bacon and toast with mushroom. Tastes best with a nice cup of tea/coffee

Filipino food 101

Tapsilog & Bangsilog (aprx $5)

Tapsilog is a simple dish of beef with rice and a fried egg, but you should not underestimate it. Its secret weapon lies in the black and white vinegar. Very understated but oh so flavourful when you dip your beef in the tangy sauce. You can try equally yummy Bangsilog (fried fish) too. Oh, and the meals come with soup and free flow drinks. Only two types of cordial were available, but no complains.

Chop Suey (aprx $10) & Crispy Pata ($28)

Crispy Pata (fried pork knuckles) was the highlight of our meal. It was so nicely fried that it was crispy throughout and the oil was properly drained. There wasn’t a huge layer of fats, and it tastes good with or without vingear. Definitely better than the one I tried in Paulaner Bräuhaus. We also ordered Chop Suey (mixed vegetables) to have some greens amongst all the glorious meat.

Brazo de mercedes

We ended our meal with Brazo de mercedes which didn’t have much taste. It is a sponge cake roll looking meringue with custard filling. I am not sure how I spent most of my life without trying Filipino food but I will make up for it. 😉

Jologs Bistro
304 Orchard Road #04-03 Lucky Plaza Singapore 238863

Old school steamboat at Whampoa market

The Whampoa Fish Steamboat jaunt is one I make pretty regularly – especially on days when I feel like this equation (don’t wanna dress up + feel like hawker food + don’t want just char kway teow + don’t feel like squeezing with crowds) = Whampoa Fish Steamboat.

It’s a lone stall in the breakfast section of the Whampoa market, so even when there are lots of people, there isn’t any jostling or crowd-confusion.

One stall. 3 Fish Choices. One hour. Eat.
Go on a weekend evening and you are likely to have to wait an hour or more for your steamboat to arrive. Preposterous length of time for ANY hawker stall but as with all good things in life, it’s worth waiting for. I love how it comes with yam.

They also offer 3-4 choices of side dishes which you can pick from. We highly recommend the braised duck, it is super yummy.

This famous Whampoa Fish Steamboat is so popular that it has prompted many similar ‘imitations’ in the Whampoa Hawker vicinity. To ensure you are ordering from the right stall, double check that it’s located at the Breakfast Market – where Loy Kee Chicken Rice is also situated. You’ll find most of the stalls closed save for those selling drinks.

Xin Heng Feng Guo Tiao Tan
Whampoa Drive Food Centre
Blk 91 Whampoa Drive, #01-15

I love tea!

I have a crazy affair with tea. Crazy enough to like them when they are warm or cold, sweet or unsweetened. I would have them with condensed milk, evaporated milk, fruits, flowers and even pudding. The only thing I don’t think they go well with is the chewy pearls from bubble tea. I love the strong aroma of hot chinese tea that doesn’t require sugar to enhance its taste. The musty taste of thai ice tea is so awesome when it is served with crushed ice. I enjoy Japanese macha tea in all solid to liquid state – cake, ice cream, frappe, mochi and the list goes on. Lemon tea is oh so wonderful when it’s homemade and you can pour in just the amount of sugar syrup you want. Tea is just my cup of tea!

DB Bistro Moderne

From left to right: Wu Tang, Golden Monk and Earl Grey Martini

We’ve heard friends rave about it, and being one of the few kitchens in town that can boast of being opened by a celebrity chef, it was with much excitement and expectation when we decided to go to DB to celebrate Eileen’s birthday.

Daniel Boulard is an award-winning Lyon chef who made a name for himself in New York. Drawing from the influence of the french and the new yorkers, the restaurant resembles an opulent, romantic American Diner that can be interpreted as an upscale version of Billy Bombers. (I know many would scream objections, but DB is really just a posh burger joint). Unfortunately it was fairly crowded and noisy – waiters were constantly moving hurriedly, and there were a number of families with small children.

Complementary bread

If first impressions are anything to go by, it’s usually not by the standards of its foie gras or crème brûlée which we judge a restaurant, but by it’s bread basket! DB has a more than exceptional variety of toasty warm and freshly baked bread to start.

We started with the mouth-watering Foie Gras Terrine that we would have ordered more if it wasn’t made from ducks and gooses that are force fed. The smooth buttery texture went really well with the toast.

Since they were well-known for their burgers, most of us picked a different one from the menu. We had the Original DB Burger, the Yankee and the Frenchie which were met with mixed reactions from the table. Some of us felt that they were amaaaazing. Mouth-watering goodness in every minced patty. Larry, on the other hand, was disappointed with his NY Yankee burger. It was a quality beef patty that was slightly undercooked as he prefer to have his beef well done. Being a cheese lover, he didn’t expect to see an American-themed burger without cheese.

The seafood casserole gave us much to rave about as well, although it could have been better served with toast.The Steak Frites was juicy and very well done.

Being slightly adventurous, we ordered three different cocktails – The Wu Tang, Earl Grey and The Golden Monk. Surprisingly, the Earl Grey turned out to be the best concoction, the Wu Tang the prettiest.

We spent about $80 per person, reasonably okay for the burger goodness that’s hard to get elsewhere. But just a note of caution – we paid approx. $100 just for water + gst + service charge.

All in all, we will give this place 8 out of 10. It’s good but it’s not a place to go to often. Mixed feelings about the service. The waiter attending to our table could have been friendlier – we felt he was slightly aloof. Though, I left my phone back at the restaurant and when I went back to claim it, they were really thoughtful to have charged it (the battery was flat) for me just in case I was worried and decided to call. That, and that they called to say they had stored it in a safe, scored full marks for service to me.

I’d say if you want to know what makes a burger, DB is definitely worth giving a try.

Visit the MBS website for more information.

For Reservations call +65 6688 8525

Try eight cruisine in one place

MEDZS was a nice cozy place to hang out with my uni mates as there wasn’t a crowd on a Sunday night. There were eight gourmet stations offering Spanish, Moroccan, French, Turkish, Greek and Mediterranean cruisine as well as a wide range of beer that was on 1-for-1 offer for DBS card holders.

We were all laughing when we tried the rice which was quite salty. It was acting more like a condiment for the kebab that was quite bland. The seafood paella was quite good but we can’t quite get use to rice which was cooked differently from the asian style that we are familiar with. The grains were smaller and harder.

To be honest, none of the dishes stood out. The lamb, chicken and hot plate kebab were alright. The crushed potatoes had herbs that we didn’t fancy. I knew I was taking quite a risk when I ordered the snapper skewer, and as expected, it turned out quite dry and bland. I guess I need to do more research on the food before I pop by again so that I’ll make better food choices. 😉

MEDZS
Orchard Central #B2-01/03

Baking adventures of dessert-loving foodies

Baking is so therapeutic when it turns out the way you want it to be. I am glad the short shelf life of the raspberries prompted us to bake the peach & raspberry tart on a busy Monday night. All it took was filo pastry, butter, fruits, caster sugar and some jam to create this crispy fruity pastry in less than an hour. I can’t wait to try it with other fruits and perhaps top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Speaking of which, I just bought some vanilla pods. Stay tune for more!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Cold Stone Creamery is not your usual ice cream parlour. You can choose the flavours and toppings you want, or try one of their Signature Creations. Here are the three we tried:

• Founders’ Favourite: Sweet cream ice cream, pecans, brownie, fudge and caramel
• Peanut Butter Cup Perfection: Chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, REESE’S peanut butter cup and fudge
• Banana Caramel Crunch: French vanilla ice cream, roasted almonds, banana and caramel

Watch them mix in the different ingredients before tossing your ice cream in the air and catching it with a cup. A little gimmicky but I assure you that the ice cream taste great in their freshly made molten state that can’t be replicated when it is pre-made. I would also request them to go easy on the caramel so that it’s not too sinfully sweet. 😉

Founder's Favourite and Peanut Butter Cup Perfection

PS: The plain waffle tastes much better than the chocolate coated waffle.