Burrito, Quesadilla & Nachos @ Viva Mexico

Shrimp Burrito (S$22)

Cheese Quesadilla

Cheese Nachos

According to Time Out Singapore, this is one of the closest you can find for authentic Mexican food. Some reviewers commented not to expect "tex-mex" style food here. I don't know if it's true or not, whatever it was -- it was delicious.

I ordered their burrito with prawns. You can choose to have beef, pork and chicken if you want. It was served with Mexican rice and sauce. The burrito was very good. Unfortunately, I had stuffed myself with the nachos and quesadilla that I couldn't finish it off. All the dishes were very filling with a generous serving size. The surprise of the entire dish was the Mexican rice. It was white rice mixed in with basil (?) and it was sweet, herby and refreshing to eat with the burrito.

As mentioned above, we ordered their nachos and quesadilla for appetizers. You can also choose to add beef, pork and chicken to both dishes. We only had cheese. The guacamole was delicious and the nacho chips seemed homemade - just the right amount of salty to go along with the salsa, guacamole and chilies.

Unless you haven't eaten for days or not as heavy eaters like we were, I suggest you stick to ordering one dish. The burrito would have been enough for me without the nachos and quesadilla.

The verdict was we would definitely go back. The next time we'll skip the appetizers in order to appreciate the main courses more.


Viva Mexico
23 Cuppage Road
Singapore 229453
T: 6235 0440

Operating Hours:
Open Daily 12pm-2:30pm, 6pm-11:30pm

Thin Crust Pizza @ Peperoni Pizzeria

Half-half Pizza: Frutti di Mare & Diavola

Half-half Pizza: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma & Salmon

To continue my previous post on Peperoni Pizzeria: after the appetizer of their delicious Portabello Mushroom, we ordered two of their family size - XXL at 21 inch (S$50) - pizzas with both half and half types of pizzas.

For the first one, we had half the Proscuitto Crudo di Parma (pork) and Salmon. The Proscuitto Crudo di Parma had tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parma ham and rocket salad. The verdict by the carnivores was good. They loved it. The Salmon had tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh salmon, caramel onion and capers. I was actually expecting fresh as in raw salmon but it was actually cooked salmon cubes. While it wasn't what I expected, it was very good nonetheless. 

The second pizza we had was half Frutti di Mare and Diavola. The Frutti di Mare or roughly translated "fruits of sea" (correct me if I'm wrong) had tomato sauce, mozzarella, and mixed mushroom (button, shitake, porcini). Also very, very yummy. The Diavola had tomato sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni. Also very good but one comment was that the pepperoni looked and tasted almost like tocino. Which actually makes sense because tocino is sweet cured pork. Their pepperoni is not the usual red circular things you see in other pizza places.

The pizza crust was very thin and crunchy but since we ordered a very large pizza when you get a slice in the middle (it was sliced in squares), it got soggy and not crunchy anymore. Some guys ended up looking for crusts at the end.

On another note, I am so thankful to have understanding friends. As the only pesky pesce in the group, they were very gracious to always choose a seafood half on the pizzas.

Peperoni Pizzeria
6 Greenwood Avenue
Hillcrest Park
Singapore 289195
T: 6465 6556
www.lesamis.com.sg

Opening Hours:
Mondays to Sundays
All day dining: 12pm - 12am (last seating at 10:30pm)
Closed on certain holidays

Portobello Mushroom @ Peperoni Pizzeria

The highlight of the dinner at the Peperoni Pizzeria. This was our appetizer before finishing off two very large pizzas (review later).

This is one huge piece of portobello mushroom deep fried with chicken & red wine sauce. It's S$17 bucks but definitely worth it. It was that good and the size of the mushroom makes up for the price.

The mushroom had a coating outside that gave it a crunchy texture along with the smooth and chewiness of the mushroom. The sauce itself was a perfect complement to the mushroom. Most of us were swirling the mushroom around the sauce to get more of it.

Word of advice: reserve your table before heading out because it's usually packed. It was so busy that Friday night that we were told we had to leave an hour and a half after we said on our reservation. So be on time and order ahead if possible.

A definite must-try. Oh, we decided to order this thanks to some tips left of the Foursquare app. That's social media at work.

Peperoni Pizzeria

6 Greenwood Avenue

Hillcrest Park

Singapore 289195

T: 6465 6556
www.lesamis.com.sg

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Sundays

All day dining: 12pm - 12am (last seating at 10:30pm)

Closed on certain holidays

French Fries with Dips @ Rock & Ash

I saw this store on my way to the MRT a few months ago and thought it was worth a try. So when I found myself in Marina Square with no appetite for a large dinner, I went to Rock & Ash for some of their fries. 

From outside, the store seems to be an upscale version of Potato Fries (that's a kart-type stall in the Philippines selling french fries sprinkled with all kinds of flavors -- sour cream is my fave). They offer made-to-order crispy fries with a unique range of homemade dips. But they apparently also serve a selection of main courses like chicken, pasta and fish.

I ordered their large fries combo which was an order of large fries, 2 types of dips and a drink. I chose their spicy cheese and barbecue with their homemade lemonade. Unfortunately, the fries themselves were nothing special. Seemed like something you can buy off a supermarket freezer and deep fry at home. The spicy cheese dip was very good while the barbecue was a let down. It didn't go well with the fries at all, in my opinion at least. I made do with their free ketchup at the counter. 

While there were 8 types of dips available, they lack the more staple versions like plain nacho or cheddar cheese, or gravy (I miss McDo in the PH), or  even plain mayo. They have:

• Spicy Cheese Sauce - surprisingly very spicy
• Special Meat Sauce
• Wasabi Mayo
• Mayo & Chili
• Black Pepper Sauce
• Chocolate
• Lemon Curd
• Barbecue

I'm kind of surprised they didn't have curry sauce considering it's such a local specialty and I see a lot of people requesting it when in McDonald's.

They should take a look at NYFD's selection of dips: gravy, pesto, hawaiian curry, ranch, tartar, peanut, honey mustard, and more.

Rock & Ash (Fries, Dips, Coffee)
B1-03, Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard
Singapore 039594
T: 6336 6682

Opening hours:
10am - 10.30pm (weekdays), 11pm (weekends)


How to get there:
Nearest MRT - Esplanade MRT (via new Marina link) 

Lotus Paste Pao @ Tanjong Rhu Pau & Confectionery

The Tanjong Rhu Pau & Confectionery is near my place and if I just get off one bus stop before my regular one, I can pass by this place and grab a few paos (pau?) for dinner.

Before I gave up beef, pork, chicken, lamb, etc., I loved Tanjong Rhu Pau's pork bun with egg and their char siew buns. Now, I just treat myself to their lotus paste buns.

According to Wikipedia:

Lotus seed paste is a Chinese dessert ingredient made from dried lotus seeds. It is traditionally considered as a luxurious ingredient.

This is the same ingredient you usually find in mooncakes and it's heavenly in a hot steaming bun. That's my advice -- when you buy lotus buns, try to eat them while they're still hot. The lotus paste is creamier and tastier that way. If you've got leftovers, steam them again before you eat another serving.

I also ordered one of those yellow buns which for the life of me I cannot recall the name of. Anyone? Help?

The lotus paste and red bean buns or paos in Tanjong Rhu are mini in size. You can eat one lotus pao in one bite, two at the most. The ones with meat are bigger in size but still smaller compared to the regular siopaos out there.

Tanjong Rhu Pau & Confectionery

Corner of Lor 34 & Guillemard Road

Fried Fish Soup with Noodles @ Banquet

Lunch this day was at the Banquet food court at the Keypoint building near our office. I had initially planned to get something from the yang tou fu stall but when we passed the the fish noodle stall, it had a queue and that's always a good sign.

I ordered their Fried Fish Soup with noodle (you can also get this with a bowl of rice). It was surprisingly yummy with a generous serving of deep fried fish slices, greens, dried fish, dried garlic and some stringy things I did not recognize. The soup was tasty and served very hot (burned my tongue a couple of times). You can choose from their selection of noodles from ban mian to bee hon to egg noodles. I think they had at least 5 types of noodles you can choose from.

Banquet Keypoint
371 Beach Road 
Keypoint #01-16A 
Singapore 199597
Tel: +65 63278030

Shrimp Paste Fried Rice @ Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen

Shrimp Paste Fried Rice or in Pinoy style: bagoong fried rice. The shrimp paste or bagoong was already mixed in with the rice and served with strips of scrambled egg, Chinese sausage, pork bits, strips of green mangoes, lemon, chili, onion and cucumber slices. 

I transferred the chili, onion, lemon, cucumber, pork bits and sausage slices to another plate and mixed the rest together with the rice. (Hmm... it would have been shorter to say I mixed in the mango strips and egg with the rice while the rest I discarded. Ha.)

The dish was good. You can taste the strong shrimp paste flavor and it wasn't too much to overpower your taste buds. The tartness of the mango strips brought in a nice flavor to complement the shrimp paste. The eggs added texture and protein to the dish. 

I also ordered the Thai Mango Salad which was more strips of mango, pickled and mixed in with strips of onion and chili. The sweet and sour taste of this salad was a nice mix to the fried rice. 

My lunch buddy ordered their Thai Bamboo Salad (top dish on the photo below) and that was a bust. It smelled weird and tasted weird too. We didn't eat any of it but the server had it packed in a doggy bag without us asking to. We ended up throwing it in the trash outside. I know, such a waste of food but we couldn't stomach it. The smell alone turned us off.

Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen
#01-57/58/59, Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Road S(199588)
T: 6293 5101


Hours:
Mon to Sun: 6am - 10:30pm

Fried Calamari @ Fish & Co

A pescetarian's haven -- what else can a restaurant called Fish & Co. be? Even back in the Philippines, and when I was still a carnivore, it has always been a favorite of mine. My friends and I would treat ourselves to lunch at Fish & Co whenever we've had a few stressful days at work. It's comfort food.

Now that my meal options are limited, Fish & Co is a godsend. You don't have to skip over 90% of the menu to find the only one (or two) dish that you can have. Fish & Co's menu is full of seafood options from all kinds of fish to prawns to crab -- grilled or fried, in pasta or in pizza and more. 

For this trip, I ordered my favorite -- the Fried Calamari. It is actually under the appetizer section to share but I more often than not order it as my main with a side order of their Paella Rice. The calamari was a bit tough this time but breading was tasty as always and best dipped in their chili sauce. The serving is generous so even as a main dish, this can still be shared by two.

I also ordered their soup of the day as part of their set menu (soup + drink = $5). It was Fish Chowder and it was yum. Not the usual watery soups you get when you order any "set meal". 

Fish & Co.
Bugis Junction
80 Middle Road, #01-90/91
Singapore 166201
T: 6338 2836
F: 6338 2846
www.fish-co.com

Opening Hours:
Sun - Thurs / PH: 11:30am to 9:30pm
Fri - Sat / Eve of PH: 11:30am to 10pm
*Alfresco dining available

Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach Fusilli - Home Cooked

I'm sure I am not the only one out there who enjoys grocery shopping. It's fun to go into a supermarket with no idea of what you want but just letting whatever you might discover dictate what you'll have for your next meal.

One of my favorite lanes in a supermarket is their pasta lane. I especially enjoy it more now with all kinds of pastas being offered. From my perennial favorite the fusilli to spinach flavored pasta to pre-stuffed raviolis. The section for bottled pasta sauces is also a haven for quick and easy meals. I've discovered many a yummy pasta sauces there. One such discovery is Leggo's Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach sauce from their Pasta Bake range. Traditionally, it's supposed to be baked in an oven but since I didn't have one in the apartment, I had to make do.

Ingredients:

- pasta, any kind you want

- Leggo's Tomato, Ricotta & Spinach pasta sauce

- shredded mozzarella cheese

- Tabasco sauce

How:

1. Boil and cook pasta as instructed in the package

2. Once cooked, stir in the pasta sauce. Stir in as much as is needed based on the amount of pasta cooked.

3. Once pasta is covered with the sauce and sufficiently hot, place in your serving plate and top with shredded mozzarella cheese (which melts beautifully into the hot pasta).

Optional: Put in a few drops of Tabasco sauce for a kick of flavor. I find that pasta sauces with cheese tend to be too sweet for my taste.

This really works for any bottled pasta sauce you have on hand so go and try it.

Cheezy 7 Pizza @ Pizza Hut

A good thing about being pescetarian or vegetarian is that you end up avoiding fast food restaurants because of the lack of options it provides. For example in McDonald's, the only thing a pescetarian can get from their menu is the Fillet-O-Fish and honestly, I don't even know if that is fish. Plus, it doesn't really taste all that good at all. If you were a vegetarian, you'd really be out of luck.

While abstaining from fast food restaurants is good, the downside is the fact that those are usually the only types of restaurants that offer food delivery. So when you're at home and lazy to cook or get take out, you really don't have a lot of choices to choose from.

This was one such night. Whenever I have food delivered, my first choice is usually Pasta Mania because of their Prawn Aglio and other pescetarian options. But I wasn't in the mood for pasta. I ended up ordering something from Pizza Hut. I was already thinking of their regular cheese pizza but lucky me, they had a new flavor out: the Cheezy 7 Pizza.

The Cheezy 7 pizza is the "ultimate pizza for cheese lovers", according to their site. The seven cheeses used are: mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, romano, monterey jack, provolone, and cream cheese. It is a lot of cheese in a bite and it's real good. The blend of all these cheeses are just perfect on a pizza. I was only able to finish off two slices because cheese is very filling. I hope this won't be a seasonal flavor. I'd love to see this as a regular item on their menu.

Pizza Hut
www.pizzahut.com.sg


Delivery Hours: 10:30am to 11pm

Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet & Sour Sauce @ Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen

To continue my previous post about lunch at Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen, here's my review on their Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet and Sour Sauce (S$12).

First for a 12-dollar dish, I was expecting a bigger serving. I think it had no more than 10 fillets of fish in the dish with a lot of them only bite size. One serving would barely be enough for two people.

Second, the dish reminded me of the classic sweet and sour fish also popular in the Philippines. More on the sweet side with chunks of pineapples and tomatoes in the dish. Overall, it was tasty and refreshing. A great complement to the previously blogged about Salted Fish Fried Rice.

Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen
#01-57/58/59, Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Road S(199588)
T: 6293 5101


Hours:
Mon to Sun: 6am - 10:30pm

Salted Fish Fried Rice in Claypot @ Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen

My friend and I usually avoid Golden Mile Complex when it comes to lunch destinations -- for various reasons. This time, we were invited to have lunch with one of our colleagues and this was the place chosen. It's a shop on the ground level of Golden Mile Complex beside many Thai restaurants and stores the place is known for.

The place was clean with great service. We were seated immediately with a surprisingly varied menu given to us. They serve soups, salads, seafood dishes (crab, fish, prawns), meat dishes (chicken, beef, pork), vegetables and some authentic Thai and local drinks.

I ordered their Salted Fish Fried Rice in Claypot and Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet & Sour Sauce. The Salted Fish Fried Rice was like it says fried rice with bits of salted fish, scrambled egg strips and cashew nuts. It was served in a claypot but it looked like it wasn't actually cooked in the claypot. It was most probably cooked in a wok and then just served in a claypot. Usually, claypot rice dishes have a semi burnt taste to it and with rice sticking to the pot. Tuk Tuk's claypot rice didn't have any of those. No matter though, it was still good cooked in a claypot or not.

As for the Fried Fish Fillet with Sweet and Sour Sauce, that will have to be reserved for the next entry. 'Til then, happy eats!

Tuk Tuk Thai Kitchen
#01-57/58/59, Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Road S(199588)
T: 6293 5101


Hours:
Mon to Sun: 6am - 10:30pm

Pad Thai @ Beerthai House Restaurant

After how many weeks of having lunch at this place, this is the first time I have ordered their Pad Thai, a classic Thai dish.

I was kind of surprised to see that for their version, they use a different kind of noodles that I'm used to seeing in pad thai dishes. I'm not sure what kind of noodles they are but they're almost like vermicelli or glass noodles. Besides that whole noodle confusion, the dish was tasty and served with good-sized shrimps. I make a point of saying that because I've tried pad thai dishes where they serve those dry packaged shrimps that taste like cardboard. Ick.

We also ordered their Tom Yum Seafood Soup with milk. Always a good dish to have on a rainy day.

Beerthai House Restaurant
Golden Mile Complex #01-96
5001 Beach Road, (S)199588
Tel: 63922491

Super Stacked Chocolate Cake @ Awfully Chocolate

My fourth and last (for now at least) entry on Awfully Chocolate. You can find the others here: Rich Chocolate Cupcake, Rich White Chocolate Cupcake and White Chocolate Butterscotch Cake.

According to their website:

Super Stacked Chocolate Cake = A thicker, richer version of our All Chocolate cake with more bite, with different kinds of chocolate used for the six inner and outer fudge layers

Honestly, this is not the most decadent chocolate cake I've ever tasted. There are much more chocolate-y cakes out there. Those named Death by Chocolate are usually so. Awfully Chocolate's Super Stacked Chocolate Cake is different. It's not just one chocolate flavor you taste. It's a mix of sweet and dark, moist cake and fudge plus the frosting. You get a mix of chocolate flavors and texture in one cake. That's what makes it different. And very, very yummy.

I took another photo with the cake slice down, just to show you how the layers are so thin and compact:

Awfully Chocolate - VivoCity
1 HarbourFront Walk
01-156 VivoCity Singapore 098585
T: (65) 6410 9725
F: (65) 6224 5507
www.awfullychocolate.com


Open 10am - 10pm daily


FYI: they have 6 other branches in Singapore as well as branches in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Jakarta, Dalian and Guangzhou

Rich White Chocolate Cupcake @ Awfully Chocolate

Third post on Awfully Chocolate. You can find the other two here: Rich Chocolate Cupcake & White Chocolate Butterscotch Cake.

And like the other two, this one did not disappoint. This is similar to the chocolate version but topped with white chocolate. The white chocolate frosting is sweeter than the dark chocolate so those with a much sweeter tooth may like this more. 

I personally love anything white chocolate so I'm loving this one. Actually, I love them all. I will definitely drop by Awfully Chocolate again to buy another round of these cupcakes... and any other cake they have available. :-9

I took a photo of this cupcake halfway as I was eating it just to show you how the cake looks like:

Awfully Chocolate - VivoCity
1 HarbourFront Walk
01-156 VivoCity Singapore 098585
T: (65) 6410 9725
F: (65) 6224 5507
www.awfullychocolate.com


Open 10am - 10pm daily


FYI: they have 6 other branches in Singapore as well as branches in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Jakarta, Dalian and Guangzhou

Saba Shioyaki @ Sangokai Japanese Restaurant

My second visit to Sangokai Japanese Restaurant. The first visit with the gindara was good so my expectations were high this time.

I ordered their Saba Shioyaki (S$12) off from the lunch set menu. The saba is a mackerel flavored with just salt. The lunch set came with miso soup, rice, 2 pcs of gyoza, a side salad and 2 slices on honeydew melon.

The miso soup was surprisingly good. I usually don't like miso soup but Sangokai's version was very flavorful. The side salad was just lettuce, a cherry tomato, carrot strips with mayonaise. The highlight of the set was of course, the mackerel. It doesn't look like it but the fish was quite big. I was only able to finish half of it that the server asked if there was anything wrong with my meal. I think that fish could have been good enough for 2 persons. The fish was very good, fresh and lightly salted. I personally would have enjoyed it with soy sauce but that might have offended the chef and every Japanese person in the restaurant.

Oh, and it's always a good sign when you find a lot of Japanese people eating in a Japanese restaurant. The chances are high that food is good because it's probably as authentic as it can get. Works also for different cuisines.

Sangokai Japanese Restaurant
327 Beach Road
Singapore 199560
Tel: 6396 7009
Fax: 6396 7010
www.sangokai.com.sg

White Chocolate Butterscotch Cake @ Awfully Chocolate

This is the second post from my Awfully Chocolate series. I first blogged about their Rich Chocolate Cupcakes and now I'll be blogging about their White Chocolate Butterscotch Block.

This is another hit for me. It is a perfect combination of sweet and salty. Sweet from the creamy white chocolate frosting and salty from the butterscotch in between the layers of the cake roll. The moist dark chocolate cake holds both flavors well together. The cake itself is not too sweet so it won't give you an overpowering sweetness when you have the cake and frosting together.

I have two more to posts on Awfully Chocolate so look out for that in the coming days. In the meantime, why don't you head on over to one of their branches in Singapore and have a slice or two. :-)




Awfully Chocolate - VivoCity
1 HarbourFront Walk
01-156 VivoCity Singapore 098585
T: (65) 6410 9725
F: (65) 6224 5507
www.awfullychocolate.com

Open 10am - 10pm daily

Fresh Baby Red-Claw Crayfish @ The Queen and Mangosteen

Sorry for the crappy photos. Taken by an iPhone and in poor lighting. The restaurant was candle lit.

I have heard about The Queen and Mangosteen before from a couple of friends. Now that I've tried out the place, I remember those friends only mentioned liking the view and the drinks. No one ever mentioned food. I now know why.

I ordered their Fresh Baby Red-Claw Crayfish (S$24) cooked in beer served with warm potato salad and hot sauce.

When I ordered their crayfish, I thought "baby" would mean a smaller version of the regular crayfish. I didn't realize it meant almost miniature-sized crustaceans. Bad assumption on my part. Or maybe I just don't know my crayfish.

One, these baby crayfish were a pain to eat. While it's always a pain to eat such things like crabs and lobsters with their hard shells, having them in miniature was worse.

Two, the restaurant had poor lighting giving us only 1 candle to light our table. This is not good when you're eating something you have crack open and pick apart. As you know, crustaceans have that greenish/blackish/orangeish parts in them. While some people like those, I don't. So it was hard to pick them out of each baby crayfish. I ended up tossing the heads and eating just the parts that was easiest to get to: the body. Definitely not enough "meat" to satisfy.

Three, I really don't know what the "hot sauce" was there for. It didn't really go well with the dish.

Last, the warm potato salad was the "best" part of the entire dish. In quotation marks because if it were competing against other potato salads in the country, it wouldn't even make it to top ten.

The minute we stepped outside the restaurant, I tell my friend I am not eating there again. My entire meal cost around S$37 ($8 cranberry juice! + GST + service charge) and it was definitely not worth it.

The Queen and Mangosteen
#01-106/107
Vivocity 1 Habourfront Walk
Singapore 098585
www.queenandmangosteen.com


Contact details
Tel : 6376 9380
Fax : 6376 9384
email : enquiries@queenandmangosteen.com

Rich Chocolate Cupcake @ Awfully Chocolate

I have heard of Awfully Chocolate from friends' postings on Facebook and some desserts blog online. So when I finally realized that it was that chocolate store in Vivo City, I had to stop by and get some for home.

I may have ordered more of half of what they had available that afternoon. I took home a slice of their White Chocolate Butterscotch, another slice of their Super Stacked Chocolate Cake and two cupcakes: chocolate and white chocolate (pictured above).

According to their website:

White Chocolate Butterscotch = A unique combination of white chocolate and sweet-salty butterscotch with a dark chocolate swiss roll

Super Stacked Chocolate Cake = A thicker, richer version of our All Chocolate cake with more bite, with different kinds of chocolate used for the six inner and outer fudge layers

Rich Chocolate & White Chocolate Cupcakes = Soft chocolate cupcakes dressed in delicious soft dark chocolate frosting with a dollop of dark chocolate fudge or with white chocolate milk frosting drizzled with dark chocolate fudge

As of this posting, I have only tried their Rich Chocolate Cupcake and boy were they right to put "rich" before that name. It was a moist chocolate cupcake topped with dark chocolate frosting and a penny-sized drop of dark chocolate fudge in the middle. I love the dark chocolate frosting, perfect blend of sweet and bitter. Unless you're a serious chocoholic, you probably can't have more than one cupcake in one sitting. It was that rich. The cupcake itself was very moist and perfect partner for the frosting.

Awfully Chocolate is said to have their own proprietary recipe of chocolate used in their products. So it's a unique taste just for them. Something you would not be able to get anywhere else.

I cannot wait to try out the other goodies I brought home with me. I also would definitely drop by the store again to check out their other offerings, particularly their Chocolate Banana Cake. Chocolate + Banana = heaven in your mouth.

I only have photos of the cupcakes so far, so shots of the cakes would have to wait until I actually get ready to eat them. I'm thinking tomorrow. :-)

Awfully Chocolate - VivoCity
1 HarbourFront Walk
01-156 VivoCity Singapore 098585
T: (65) 6410 9725
F: (65) 6224 5507
www.awfullychocolate.com


Open 10am - 10pm daily


FYI: they have 6 other branches in Singapore as well as branches in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Jakarta, Dalian and Guangzhou

Scallops Ramen @ Aoba Hokkaido Ramen

Another day spent at Vivo City and we decided upon having lunch at Aoba Hokkaido Ramen for two reasons: (1) we love Japanese food and (2) it had a queue which if you've been to Singapore, you'd know it would at least have decent food on the menu.

I had their Scallops Ramen. Actually it was called another name but unfortunately, I didn't save the receipt and they do not seem to have any online presence. I also ordered their Butter Corn as a side dish.

Their ramen was good and tasty although not as tasty as the one at Suki Sushi. There was a respectable amount of scallops in the dish although very tasty. It also had 2 halves of an egg, scallions and a sheet of seaweed. Overall, it was good dish. Perfect for when you need something warm in your tummy. I think their other noodle dishes would be better so you non-vegetarians/pescetarians should try those if you happen to be there.

As for their butter corn, that was a bit of a disappointment. I feel like all they did was open up a can of corn kernels, saute it in a teaspoon of butter and serve. I remember a similar dish from a local restaurant back in the Philippines called Oyster Boy. Their butter corn was served in a hot place topped with a generous amount of butter and cheese. Now that would have been worth the S$3.50 price.

Aoba Hokkaido Ramen
1 HarbourFront Walk 
#01-104/105 VivoCity 
Singapore
Tel: +65 6376 9519


Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30am – 9.45pm

Christmas Is On With Starbucks' Red Cups

You can't help but feel Christmas in the air when you see Starbucks' red cups replacing their traditional white and green.

Christmas is probably the only season where I start drinking more coffee than usual. That's because this is the only time when Starbucks' offers their super delicious Peppermint Mocha. I <3 their Peppermint Mocha, hot or cold it doesn't matter. I now always associate Christmas with it.

Mushroom Risotto @ The Marmalade Pantry

Truffled Field Mushroom Risotto

And once again, a risotto dish to review.

My main reason for heading to The Marmalade Pantry was for their red velvet cupcakes. Unfortunately, I went there too late (dinnertime) that they ran out of most of their cupcake selection. So that would have to be for another time.

Since we were already there, we decided to just have our dinner at the same place. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they served mushroom risotto (pictured above) or what they call the Truffled Field Mushroom Risotto (S$22).

Overall, the dish was good. Risotto cooked perfectly as well as a generous serving and variety of mushrooms. There was truffle but I could not distinguish the taste from the other flavors. Not sure if that's how it's supposed to be.

Since I've tried a somewhat similar dish from Jones the Grocer, I could not help but compare. I prefer the version from Jones the Grocer. I think it could be because the mushrooms were chopped up in Jones the Grocer's version unlike the one from The Marmalade Pantry.

Having the mushrooms whole seemed to give me a different flavor with every bite. This is because for me, each kind of mushroom tastes different from another. Sometimes one spoonful of the dish was just a piece of mushroom. Yes, maybe I could have sliced or chopped them all up but somehow that defeats the authenticity of a risotto dish. For Jones the Grocer's version, the mushrooms were chopped up and mixed in with the risotto. It made each different mushroom taste less powerful and blended well together overall. It gave the dish a consistency with its flavor.

My friend had their Oriental Grilled King Salmon (S$24) with soba and scallions (pictured below). The verdict was good so maybe I'll try this the next time I drop by. Hopefully with a red velvet cupcake for dessert.

Oriental Grilled King Salmon with soba and scallions

P.S. Serving size of the salmon dish was kind of small considering its price. They could have plated a bigger slice of salmon or served two pieces of the same size.

The Marmalade Pantry
Unit 03-22
Orchard Ion
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801


telephone 6734 2700
facsimile 6734 2279
tmp@marmaladegroup.com
www.themarmaladepantry.com

Mango Desserts @ Honeymoon Dessert

Mango Glutinous Dumpling

Mango Glutinous Dumpling (inside)

I've posted about Honeymoon Dessert before here. This time I brought my friend to try it out and we ended up ordering everything mango. 

Just like before, I ordered the Mango Sago and Mango Pomelo & Sago Sweet Soup. Along with that, we had their Mango Glutinous Dumpling and Mango Fresh Milk Iced. 

The Mango Glutinous Dumpling (pictured above) was the best. It had a generous slice of mango inside the coconut-covered glutinous ball. The fresh and cold mango was just perfect. We wanted to eat the dumplings one after the other. This is definitely something I will order again the next time I go back.

As for the Mango Fresh Milk Iced (pictured below), it was good. Simply fresh milk with mango slices, mango juice and crushed iced. Very like a traditional mango shake but more ice-y and less creamy.

Mango Fresh Milk Iced

Honeymoon Dessert

1 Harbourfront Walk

Unit #01-93, Vivo City

Singapore 098585

www.honeymoon-dessert.com

Old Southern Red Velvet Cake @ Food For Thought

And this is the reason why I ventured out of my usual "lunch zone" -- Food For Thought's Old Southern Red Velvet Cake.

Ever since I tried Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, I've been trying to find all things red velvet in Singapore -- cupcakes, cakes, cheesecakes, it doesn't matter. I want to find the best one so when my red velvet craving hits, I know where to get me some.

According to their menu:

3-layered cherry cocoa vanilla pound cake slathered all over with a lemon cream cheese icing

So here's my short review: the cake was good but not great. It might have been the pound cake that lacked a little flavor, I don't know. It just didn't get me to finish one slice and buy another. Believe me, I had planned to buy a slice to take home. I ended up having more than half of the slice packed up in a to-go bag.

Maybe it wasn't freshly baked? Sat in their display cooler for more than a day? I was disappointed, I didn't find the cake I was looking/hoping for.

But fear not! I have a couple more options to try out: Room For Dessert and Marmalade Pantry (cupcakes!). I hope I find something better there.

Do you know of any other place that serves red velvet desserts? Do let me know.

Food For Thought - North Bridge
420 North Bridge Road
North Bridge Centre #01-06
T: +65 6338 8724
E: eat@foodforthought.com.sg (reservations and inquiries)
W: www.foodforthought.com.sg

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 10a.m. - 10p.m.
Kitchen Opening Hours: 11.30a.m. - 2.30 p.m. (lunch) and 5.30p.m. - 9p.m. (dinner)

Garlic Prawn Pasta @ Food For Thought

I found this quaint little cafe from an online search of red velvet cakes in Singapore (that's a separate post). One of their branches was near my office -- a little further away from our lunch area but thought it was worth a try.

I was there expressly for their supposedly great red velvet cakes so I didn't really know what their lunch menu was. They had a lot of choices with several semi-vegetarian options like their Grilled Vegetable Medley sandwich, Shiitake Mushrooms pasta, Garlic, Thyme and Roasted Tomato pasta, and more. I, predictably, chose their Garlic Prawn pasta.

The dish was served in a wooden plate (side comment: slightly unstable serving dish that it wobbled especially when I was trying to slice or spear something) with a side salad of greens and cubed tomatoes. The side salad could have been better with more vinaigrette dressing but fresh enough ingredients to save itself. The pasta was slightly overdone for me but the taste was wonderful. Just enough garlic and spices to not be overwhelming and with a good amount of prawns served along the pasta. Though for a price of S$16.90, the serving size could have been more.

Take note, while the cafe is open until 10pm, their kitchen closes at 2:30pm for lunch and 9pm for dinner (FYI, their other branch's kitchen is open all day, see hours below). The rest of the time, you can only have drinks and desserts.

Overall, I would definitely drop by Food For Thought again. I will definitely visit their Queen Street branch because it has a wider menu selection. They have risotto! 'Nuff said.

Food For Thought @ North Bridge

Food For Thought - North Bridge
420 North Bridge Road
North Bridge Centre #01-06
T: +65 6338 8724
E: eat@foodforthought.com.sg (reservations and inquiries)
W: www.foodforthought.com.sg

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 10a.m. - 10p.m.
Kitchen Opening Hours: 11.30a.m. - 2.30 p.m. (lunch) and 5.30p.m. - 9p.m. (dinner)

Food For Thought - Queen Street
8 Queen Street
T: +65 6338 9887
F: +65 6338 1080
E: omnomnom@foodforthought.com.sg (reservations and inquiries)
W: www.foodforthought.com.sg

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 9a.m. - 10p.m. (Last orders from kitchen 8.50p.m.)
Sun 9a.m. - 9p.m. (Last orders from kitchen 7.30p.m.)

Salmon Steak Sukiyaki/Shabu Shabu @ Sho Teppan

Friday night dinner was a good but exhausting kind. My friend and I ended up at ION Orchard after work and on a Friday night most restaurants had queues a mile long -- okay, I exaggerate but most of them had at least a 15 minute wait. We chose the one with the shortest queue and that's how we wound up at Sho Teppan.

According to their business card, their tag line is "D.I.Y. Teppanyaki". The menu consisted of two parts - teppanyaki (grill or dry) and sukiyaki / shabu shabu (soup based). Both sets have similar food items from wagyu beef to mixed seafood to sliced pork.

I had their salmon steak (of course!) in shabu shabu style. For the shabu shabu style, you can choose to have it with either rice or udon. Along with the rice or udon, each set comes with a vegetables (assorted greens, carrots, mushrooms and tofu), salad and raw egg. The raw egg is supposed to be your dipping sauce. Their menu said that it helps tone down the heat from your cooked meat. That didn't seem to appetizing for me so I asked their staff what else I can do with the egg. They told me that you can choose to mix it in your soup. Now that seemed like the better option.

Overall, the food was okay. The best thing about it was the soup - tasty and bottomless (they add more as it evaporates due to the cooking). The salmon was cooked in the boiling soup but it wasn't as tasty. Not pre-marinated with anything. The salad was just more lettuce, a cherry tomato and weird looking dressing. The worst thing? The heat and steam coming from cooking your own meal. Not very comfortable I tell you. But then, that's the attraction isn't it? You don't really come for the food but for the novelty of it.

The salad, the udon and the raw egg. Bow.

My salmon (I must say it was a generous serving) and my friend's assorted seafood.

Sho Teppan

2 Orchard Turn

#B3-19 ION Orchard

Singapore 238801

T: 6509 9969

www.creativeeateries.com.sg

Assorted Mushrooms @ Beerthai House Restaurant

It's a Meatless Monday for me! And I find myself at Beerthai House Restaurant once again.

Over the weekend I read an article from PETA called Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Shrimp. That title really grabbed my attention because if you've read my previous entries you would know I love shrimp and prawns. They are actually one of the reasons why I decided to go pescetarian instead of vegetarian. The #8 reason listed on the article was the worst for me. They called it "cholesterol bombs" -- with a whopping 152 milligrams of cholesterol per 100-gram serving of shrimp (four or five shrimp), just two servings would put you over the daily recommended allowance of 300 milligrams of cholesterol!

And right there is my other reason for giving up meat. Cholesterol is so my enemy. So for now, it will be strict moderation for me. And to start that off, I went for a Meatless Monday lunch at Beerthai House Restaurant.

I ordered their Assorted Mushrooms (S$10-12) dish which was simply different kinds of mushrooms sauteed with garlic and enoki or golden mushrooms deep fried in batter (the one in the flour cup). There were button mushrooms, shiitake, crimini and more I did not recognize. Along with the mushrooms were slices of carrots and placed over a bed of Chinese broccoli. Overall it was a light and simple dish and definitely something I'd order again.

Beerthai House Restaurant
Golden Mile Complex #01-96
5001 Beach Road, (S)199588
Tel: 63922491

Kakiage Soba @ Sushi Tei

After a day a hot day on the beach and cold hour in a movie theatre, nothing beats a good bowl of Japanese soba.

My friend and I decided to have Japanese for dinner at Sushi Tei in VivoCity. I had tried this restaurant ages ago but never went back. Not because of the food but because of the long queue it always seems to have -- which is supposedly a good sign when dining in Singapore. I say supposedly because some restaurants with long queues I don't like. Oh well, to each his own.

I ordered their Kakiage Soba (S$10) which is basically soba noodles in soya sauce soup with a side of fried vegetables and prawn patty. The soba noodles in soya sauce was good but the kakiage was too dry and floury for me. When you order this dish, you can actually choose between soba, ramen or udon. Each noodle gives you a different soup: miso or pork-based. Since I don't like miso and well, pork you know I can't have -- left me with the choice of soba.

And of course when in a Japanese restaurant, who can resist a plate of salmon sashimi. Sushi Tei's was very fresh and generously sized.

Sushi Tei
VivoCity
1 Harbour Front Walk
#02-152/153 VivoCity
Singapore 098585
www.sushitei.com

Telephone +65 6376 9591
Facsimile +65 6376 9592


Opening Hours
11.30am to 10.00pm daily
(last order 9.30pm)

Cafe del Mar

Cafe del Mar
Sentosa Island
40 Siloso Beach Walk
Singapore 098996
T: 6235 1296
www.cafedelmar.com.sg


Open Mon-Thu, Sun 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat 11am-2am