Saturday, August 29, 2009

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak & Old Airport Road Food Court

Having to source for all the furnishing for our new home with me moving at tortoise pace got us to rent a car. Immediately, we decided to drive all the way to have a taste of the famous Chong Pang Nasi Lemak.

I had fried chicken wing, shrimp paste sambal, fried anchovies with nuts, taiwanese sausage, eggplant and small 'otak' as my dishes. My husband had fried chicken wing, fried egg, long beans and big 'otak'. Our meals came to SGD8.80.

The sambal was a little spicy and sweet, the way Singaporeans love it. We enjoyed it too. The place was packed even at 8 + pm. But IT is a Friday night. However, the next day both of us had upset stomach. I guess you need a strong stomach to eat there.

Today, after a gruelling day of driving around to source for clothes rack, carpets and dining tables, we headed to the Old Airport Road Food Court. The place was packed with people and with loads of choices of food.

I just could not help but join the queue at the Lau Fu Zi Char Kway Teow stall. The sauce was again on the sweeter side but it did not disappoint. It could also be due to the long wait for it. Then I tried the roast chicken wing. It was okay but priced well (SGD1/piece. Min order:2 pieces).
We also tried the claypot chicken rice (was so so) and satay. The chicken satay cost SGD0.40/stick. Cheaper than normal but also half the size of the normal satay stick. However, it was full of flavour and the peanut sauce was also good. I then ordered the vegetarian curry fish. It came with cucumber and tomatoes instead of with eggplant and long beans as the picture suggested. Boy, I was definitely disappointed.

Though feeling full to the brim, we could not resist packing home the 'Ah Boling' with peanut sauce (SGD2) for dessert. It's still in my kitchen while my food is being processed in my tummy.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Cats Musical

Just got back from watching 'Cats'. Cats is a musical performance composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot.

If this is your first time watching Cats, you are in for some fun with lots of surprises. If you plan to get tickets, I suggest you get those seats near to the stage. You’ll feel like you are part of the theatre performance especially if you are seating at the aisles. Do not read on if you do not want to know more before watching for yourself.

Immersed into the starting of the show, I suddenly saw something that looked like two circles of torch light in front of me. I thought, “You must be kidding me. You are bringing people in now?”, before realizing it was a 'Cat'. Haha. Be prepared to have cats ‘rub shoulders’ with you throughout the show.


Loved the dance routines and their voices just soars. Some of them could really move like cats, like the black cat with a star on the hip. A fatter cat reminded me of the lion from wizard of oz. :) And these Jellicle Cats seem to appear everywhere in the theatre. You will find out what is a Jellicle Cat from the performances.

I would say the start was interesting. The mid was so-so. I like their group dance, especially with the Jellicle Ball song and before the end of the first part, ‘Memory’ was sang beautifully and again later in the second part. The second section was good. Overall, a must watch if you like to watch a lot of dancing and good singing.


(I thought I spotted the Mediacorp CEO with his trademark hair :) )

________________________
Songs – 3.2/5
Performance – 4.2/5
Story – 3/5
Overall Rating – 3.8/5
__________________________

Friday, April 10, 2009

Vis-A-Vis French Dining Restaurant

My aunty & uncle were down to visit their children in Singapore. Wanting to catch up, they and my cousins invited us for dinner at Vis-A-Vis.

I must say this restaurant stood out because of their waiters. When it was time to order, one of their waiters enthusiastically recommended us some dishes and gave us a history of the dishes. There are the classical dishes which have been there since the opening of the restaurant and there are dishes from the 'modern menu' as he put it which have been introduced recently.

Then, another waiter (they both look pretty similar that I had to take a second look) came with the same high spirits and explained more about the restaurant itself and the dishes, many of which he created. (I'm guessing he is also the boss).
We had escargots for entrees and it melted into my mouth. For main course, among us, we had the duck, pigeon and pork. I must say it was delicious. Having been to Europe on a business trip recently, I was a bit worried that I might be having too much meat, but the portion wasn't too large and was just right for me.
The best part of the dinner was definitely the desserts.
We had :

Chocolate Torte (Description from Menu: Warm torte that oozes with coffee paste, paired with banana gratinated with Tia Maria sabayon served with homemade rum & raisin ice-cream). This was personally my favourite. I forgot the exact order but I think we were told to eat the torte together with the ice-cream. But better to double confirm.


Lemon Soufflé (Description from Menu: Fluffy citrus meringue baked in crepe paired with baked plums complement by tangy yuzu sherbet). The waiter said this item has been on the menu since the very beginning. Am still wondering where I can get a fork like that. We were told to eat the whole strawberry at one go.


Baked Alaska (Description from Menu: Rich vanilla ice cream & puree of strawberries coated with meringue flambé with Grand Marnier). The flames made the whole dessert more exciting. Liked this too. Yum. Very good.

Each of us were also given home made dark and white chocholate and they were tantilizing to my taste bud.

The restaurant isn't that big so I suggest that a prior booking is made. I also understand from the waiters that they do home orders. For more details, visit http://www.vis-a-vis.com.sg/.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ambience - 3/5
Service - 4/5
Food - 3.5/5
(Their desserts deserve a different rating)
Desserts - 4/5
Price - 3.5/5
It was a treat so I do not know the exact price.
But I think it's cheaper than other French Fine Dining
restaurants but pricier than your average restaurant.
Be prepared to pay an average of $50 -$100/pax)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Hook On Heads

A few weeks back, my SIL asked her bf to help make me a night guard. And he didn't want to accept any payment. Thanks guys....

So in return, my hubby and I decided we should at least take them out for dinner. They suggested Peranakan food. After some googling and searches, we decided on Hooked on Heads. The reviews seemed good. To find out more, go to their website, http://www.hookedonheads.com/.

By the time we got there, it was pretty late. I recalled it being later than 8.30 pm.

We ordered the a full fish head curry but it turned out pretty small. I'm not sure if it was because we were rather late, thus only small pieces were left but we weren't happy with the portion.


Next was the Crispy Home Made Tofu. This dish tasted great. If you like crispy tofu, you should definitely try this.

After reading all about their prawn paste chicken, we decided to try it. Maybe our expectations were too high, but it was only okay to us. But it got better as the dish cooled down.


Wanting to try a dish closer to the Peranakan/Nyonya style of cooking, we ordered the Mixed Assorted Vege, or 'Chap Chai'. Unfortunately it was sold out so we went with Kang Kong cooked with Garlic. It tasted like the standard dish.

Since we weren't that full, we moved on to dessert. The Chendol dissapointed us. The Thai style Boh Boh Cha Cha was pretty ordinary. But the Thai Tapioca was good.

The restaurant layout was spacious and the pricing was reasonable.

****************
Ambience - 2.8/5
Service - 3/5
Food - 2.8/5
Price - 3/5, $25/pax including desserts
(Visit their website to look at the menu and pricing)
**********************

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dallas at Boat Quay


Sometime back when my in-laws were down, my husband suggested we try this restaurant called Dallas. They were having 20% promotion for their a-la-carte menu for quite a number of credit cards.

Best part was, their ribs were (are) going at 50% on Monday and Tuesday nights from 5.30pm to 10.30pm and we love baby back ribs. A full rack of ribs is priced at $28 while half a rack goes for $22 before the 50% off.


My FIL tried their Margarita. I don't recall him saying it was fantastic but he seemed pleased. We were happy with the ribs but wished there were more sauce to the ribs. The wedges were good but I really liked the fries.


Their buffalo wings were okay. Would have prefered blue cheese dip instead of ranch sauce to go with it. My husband liked the ranch sauce though.


We sat on the 2nd level to enjoy the air-con and the quieter atmosphere. It wasn't as packed as the ground level where the bar is located. Outside was equally packed with people enjoying the scenery at Boat Quay.

The staff was rather friendly as well. Overall, a great night out!

~*~*~*~*****~*~*~*~
Ambience - 3/5
Service - 3/5
Food - 3.7/5 , Taste Good, Right Portion
Price - 4.2/5 ($30/pax with 50% promotion + drinks)
~*~*~*~*****~*~*~*~

To find out more, To find out more, here's their website: http://www.dallas.sg/

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Hungarian Food (Feb '09)

2 things I found Hungarian food to be:

1st - They do use a lot of spices. Similar to the Indian cookings which make them flavourful.

2nd - They use a lot of salt. Most dishes are pretty salty to me and I am someone who likes salty food. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the weather. Most of the dishes seem to have more meat than vegetables too.

Overall, I like the food over there. I managed to eat some local Hungarian food prepared by my colleagues over there. One of them is chocholate/jam wrap. Simple to prepare, taste good and makes a good snack. Also had some local cakes. The texture of the cake is soft, like a sponge cake but wetter than a sponge cake. I think it is made of milk.




The other local must try Hungarian food is the Goulash soup. There's so much meat in it that by the time I'm done, there's little space left for the main course. The beef (and other meat) are oh so tender. I wonder again if it is the weather.
Before the start of every meal, bread is always served. Oh, and everyone starts and finish every course at the same time.

The dessert I liked a lot was this sticky stuff (like sago) in milk. And the main course would be the risotto rice with chicken I had at the hotel I stayed in, Novotel. They also had 2 kinds of mineral water. One was gassy and the other isn't. Blue bottle is used for the gassy type and pink for the normal mineral water.




And in Moscow, I found out that Borsh soup isn't a Russian dish but Ukrainian. Russians have their own type of soup. The Borsh soup had vege, like beetroot in it, thus the red colour.

Zipangu Shangrila (31/12/08)


After months of fasting for my wedding, I finally got the green light to enjoy whatever I want.

So on New Year's eve, my husband took me out to Zipangu, Shangri-la KL. We had the new year's eve set dinner. The food was great (not sure if it is because of my fasting). I enjoyed every dish that was served, from the sashimi to the wahyu beef. Either that or the strong Sake made everything good.... :P


The ambience was nice and the food presentation made the food appetizing. The sashimi was fresh and sweet. The clear soup with grilled rice cake was something new. You could still taste the grilled flavor even though it's soaked in the soup. Very interesting. The chawanmushi was also very smooth. Even the red bean dessert was special.


Rating - 4.5/5
Price - SGD50 - SGD100 /per pax

Shanghai Hairy Crabs (23/11/08)


A family friend sent my mother-in-law (mil) some hairy crabs all the way from Shanghai.

In order to get the original flavor of the crab, my mil steamed it without any seasoning. I wondered if it would taste blend without any seasoning. Surprisingly the sauce was full of flavour.

Though the hair put me off sucking the crab but the crab's egg roe certainly got me hooked!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Dinner at Boat Quay


~ * ~ * ~* ~* ~ * ~*~*~
Here are some photos taken after our dinner at Boat Quay:


~ * ~ * ~* ~* ~ * ~*~*~