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

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

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.)

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)

Mushroom Risotto @ Jones the Grocer

I've heard about Jones the Grocer before but never had the chance to try it. With a friend visiting from out of town, it was the perfect time to drop by their Mandarin Gallery branch.

I perused their menu but the minute I saw the words risotto, you know I had to get it. I had their Mushroom Risotto while my friend had their Jones Wagyu Beef Burger (S$26.50). We also had their Carrot Cake and Strawberry Shortcake to finish off the meal (pictures below).

Their Mushroom Risotto (S$25.50) was delicious. The risotto was perfectly cooked and topped with freshly sliced parmesan cheese. Side note: they are supposedly famous for their fromagerie and tapas. Anyway, my only minus point for the mushroom risotto dish was I thought it had too much onion mixed in. But maybe that's just me since I am not a big fan of onions.

Now for the desserts, it was both lovely and perfect. The carrot cake was moist and the frosting was sweet and delicious. The strawberry shortcake was very light but tasty. I am not a fan of the strawberry fruit but the cake and frosting were excellent.

Overall, Jones the Grocer has nice ambience for small gatherings among girlfriends while you gossip over artisan cheese and yummy main courses. It also has a bakery beside the cafe which I may go back and try.

Jones Wagyu Beef Burger

Carrot Cake

Strawberry Shortcake

Jones the Grocer
333A Orchard Road
Level 4 #21-23 Mandarin Gallery
Singapore, 238897 Tel: +65 6836 6372
e-mail: mandaringallery@jonesthegrocer.com
www.jonesthegrocer.com


Trading Hours:
Monday - Sunday
9:00am – 11:00pm

Louisiana Prawns @ White Dog Cafe

This dish is called Louisiana Prawns (S$12.90). Not entirely sure why the "Louisiana" in the name.

It was basically 6 good-sized prawns in butter and herb sauce with a side of greens, cubed carrots and one roasted potato. The prawns were good, juicy and flavored well. The butter and herb sauce was a good complement to the prawns.

The downside to the entire dish? The roasted potato. It was dry and looked like it was cooked or "roasted" hours before I ordered the dish. When I sliced it open, you can immediately see that it wasn't freshly cooked. If they didn't want to waste time roasting potatoes, they would have been better off accompanying this dish with mashed potatoes instead. At least that would keep well.

Overall though it was a good enough dish. The place also had a good selection of other dishes like steaks and pasta.

White Dog Cafe
1 Harbourfront Walk
Unit #02-131/132 VivoCity
Singapore 098585

Mango Sago @ Honeymoon Dessert

One Saturday at VivoCity, a friend from Beijing decided I needed to try some authentic Chinese desserts. We find a small but bustling place in the mall called Honeymoon Dessert.

They offered a lot of options some of which I felt shouldn't be considered as "desserts". For me desserts should be sweet, cold, fruity or creamy. I avoided anything that was hot or anything that had bean, potato, tofu or ginger in it.

I ended up ordering the very safe Mango Sago (right) while my friend ordered the Mango Pomelo & Sago Sweet Soup (left). Right off, let me just say that both were delicious.

The Mango Sago was just like the Pinoy version of it except for the fact that one serving had half a mango instead of cubes or balls. I really appreciated the generous serving plus thankful that this mango was sweet and ripe. The Mango Pomelo & Sago Sweet Soup was just like the Mango Sago but with additional ingredients of  pomelo and coconut milk.

I would definitely go back to Honeymoon Dessert for another serving of their Mango Sago but it'll be a long time before I try my hand on the other "desserts". Desserts are priced from S$3.50 to S$8.50.

Honeymoon Dessert
1 Harbourfront Walk
Unit #01-93, Vivo City
Singapore 098585
www.honeymoon-dessert.com

Swiss Rosti @ Marché

According to Wiki:

Rösti (often spelled Röschti in Swiss German) is a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes. It was originally a common breakfast eaten by farmers in the canton of Bern, but today is eaten all over Switzerland and also in many restaurants in the Western World.

One such restaurant is the Swiss restaurant Marché. One of my favorite places to eat due to its variety particularly in yummy seafood choices and desserts.

Everytime I visit this place, I always end up getting the same dish. The Swiss Rosti. It's just a simple dish - grated potatoes fried on a skillet. Nothing really special about it but I find it really hearty. A plain rosti is served with sour cream but you can choose any of the "set meals" they offer with a selection of sausages.

For this trip, other than the rosti I ordered their calamari and had chocolate mousse for dessert. Take note that the calamari is best shared since the serving size is big. As for the chocolate mousse, it was delicious.

Marché
1 Harbourfront Walk
Unit 03/14 VivoCity
Singapore 098585
T: 6376 8226
F: 6376 8227
www.marche-restaurants.com

Gindara Terriyaki @ Sangokai Japanese Restaurant

After weeks of Beerthai, Astons and Subway, my lunch buddy and I ventured out away from our regular haunts. We walked a few more blocks from the office as usual and discover this quaint Japanese restaurant called Sangokai.

I ordered their Gindara Terriyaki and a side dish of salmon sashimi. The gindara, although small in serving size, was very tasty and fresh. I had to portion the fish well or else I'd be eating only rice for the second half of my meal.

The salmon sashimi (pictured below) was also very good. Really, unless you serve bad fish, you can't go wrong with sashimi. One serving, for $3.80, had three thick slices of fresh salmon. Good enough serving size for a side dish.

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

Seafood Green Curry Rice @ Beerthai House Restaurant

Another lunch post brought to you by Beerthai House. :-)

This time I ordered their Green Curry Rice, seafood of course. You can also get this with chicken. The seafood were prawns, fish balls and squid. It also had some greens and red chilies. The rice was mixed in green curry sauce perfectly - not too soupy. Pretty spicy but very good. Can I just say how much I like how they serve their rice dishes? Pretty rice pyramids.

For this trip to Beerthai, we also ordered their Seafood Tom Yum soup. For some reason, this time around it was really, really, REALLY spicy.

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

Family Favorites @ Mann Hann

Back when I lived in Manila, a favorite place to eat was always Mann Hann. It served -- and continues to serve great and affordable Chinese food. So, when my Mom and I found ourselves back in Manila for a couple of days, the first stop had to be Mann Hann. We ordered our favorite and fail-safe dishes: yang chow fried rice, salt and pepper cuttlefish and oyster misua. I don't have a photo of the oyster misua because it came a little later after the above photo was taken and really, once this kind of good food is served, no one can put down their fork and spoon to take another photo. ;-)

Another thing I miss, Lipa Fresh Buko Juice. For some reason, you can't find this in Cebu. And it's even sometimes difficult to find in Manila as well. Somebody deliver a crate full of this, please? :-)

Seafood Risotto @ UCC Coffee Café Terrace

I meant to post about this months ago. I had this when I flew back to Cebu back in  August. After my niece's pedia appointment, my sister's family and I stopped at the UCC Coffee Café Terrace at Ayala Center Cebu for lunch.

As usual, when I spot a risotto dish on the menu there's no other choice for me. Unfortunately, this Seafood Risotto dish was a disappointment. The serving size was good, number of ingredients perfect, but it just felt like a rice dish smothered in tomato sauce. It didn't taste like risotto at all -- at least to my opinion. Maybe they used the wrong rice? It was not cooked enough? I don't know. If you don't think of it as risotto and you like your meals "saucy", then it's a good enough dish. Flavour-wise it wasn't bad.

I've been to the UCC Coffee Café Terrace a few times now. My dad loves their coffee and their crepes are good. For their main courses, I believe their hamburger steak is pretty good. They're a bit expensive for the Cebu market but it is a great place to hang out with your family, quiet and cozy.

UCC Coffee Café Terrace
The Terraces, Ayala Center
Cebu City, Philippines
Tel No. (032) 417-1344