My favourite porridge Saturday, Mar 27 2010

Doesn’t look like something impressive, but it’s my all-time favourite after my dental trips! Tiong Bahru century egg porridge with pork balls! Mmmmmm

Leave a Response »

 

The Stock Pot Sunday, Sep 13 2009

On Friday morning, it was decided that we (colleagues and myself) shall visit the Comex fair as we had a booth there and we also wanted to check out competition. So off we went, and ended up parking at The Esplanade Mall as the carparks at Suntec City and Marina Square were full.

We had lunch at The Stock Pot before heading over to the crowded fair. On first glance, it resembled The Soup Spoon and/or even Souperlicious. TSP offered sandwiches, salads and soups.

We had 3 soup sets (soup, sandwich/salad and a drink) to share among the 5 of us. The soups were Beef Borsch (this was VERY GOOD), Mushroom Ragout, Boston Clam Chowder, and we had three mini sandwiches: Bacon & Cheese, Beef and Grilled Eggplant, Grilled Mushrooms. My vote goes to the Beef Borsch and the Grilled Mushrooms sandwich.

My only grouse was that they had a huge poster for OCBC members, saying that soups are 1-for-1. We excitedly chose our soups (cos we had OCBC credit card members amongst us) and when we got to the counter, the guy told us we need to have a coupon for the entitlement. *raises eyebrows* The poster didn’t mention anything about needing a coupon. We double-checked the poster for fine print, still nada.

The Stock Pot

#01-01/03

T: +65 6884 5658

Opening Hours
11.30am – 10.30pm daily

Leave a Response »

 

Anjappar 2 Monday, Jun 15 2009

Super overdued post again… I’ve been caught up in a whirlwind of Taiwanese Idol dramas and computer games (read: Sims 3!)

I went to the nearby shopping mall with my colleague one day to get some supplies needed for our Sundown event, and decided to have lunch there. Went to the new foodcourt and saw that there’s an Indian restaurant there! Indian food is always welcomed.

Had egg briyani, stir-fried crab meat to share, and a tomato soup (for the colleague on diet). The egg briyani wasn’t that fantastic, so was the crab meat. There was too much rice and it got to me halfway through the meal. The crab meat was dry and tasteless. I think I would go for more traditional dishes in future, such as aloo gobi, butter chicken and steamed basmati rice.

It wasn’t too expensive though, about $25 for the whole meal.

Leave a Response »

 

The new grilled entrée at Long John Silvers Monday, Jun 1 2009

I wanted something light and healthy for lunch, so I decided to go for LJS instead of a humongous burger from Burger King. I ordered a grilled fish with corn on the cob for my side. As it was grilled (& a new item which not many will order), I had to wait approximately 10 minutes for my meal. That was almost the longest 10 minutes I had ever waited. I was really starving and the place was so crowded, I didn’t have any where appropriate to stand.

When I finally got my takeout, I prayed hard that it would be good. Sadly, it wasn’t. The dish came with black pepper sauce on top, served on a bed of white rice. Let’s start off with the rice, shall we? The rice was mushy and plain. I hate mushy rice. Rice is the easiest thing to cook (IMO) and no one should ever be allowed to overcook or undercook rice. Next, the sauce. It reminded me of bottled pepper sauce which I have in my fridge. And the amount of sauce given was really too paltry. Now, the main star of the meal – the fish. The fish was underseasoned, didn’t even look like it was grilled, and had skin on it!!! I hate fish skin, so slimy and gross. And it had a slight fishy smell.

I don’t think I’ll be trying out the rest of the grilled entrees again. Seems like LJS can’t do grills right.

Leave a Response »

 

Marche Vivocity Thursday, May 28 2009

I always struggled when it comes to lunch time alone. It’s not like being with your colleagues who can secure a table for you while you’re buying your food. I hate to struggle with my heavy bag and tray of hot food, and still have to wait around for an empty table at the hawker centre/food court. So on the rare times where I have to lunch alone, I always choose cafes, coffee joints or restaurants. I initially made up my mind to dine at Cedele yesterday but I changed my mind at the last minute, as usual. I headed to Marche instead. Had my favourite cream of mushroom soup and a grilled seabass fillet (desperate attempt to ditch the carbs). Cream of mushroom, as always, is a winner at Marche – but I think my sister’s version of it is still much better. We just whack in tons of mushrooms.

The grilled seabass was a surprise for me. It was delightfully crispy (I think it was panfried). The flesh was firm yet yielded to the slightest touch of the fork. It also didn’t need much seasoning; just a light squeeze of lemon over it and it was tasty on its own. All signs of freshness. I didn’t care much for the salad at the top; it was a little weird tasting for me.

Service at Marche was top-notch. I sat near the seafood station and from time to time, the wait staff would come by and see if there’s anything I require (I was alone and wasn’t available to leave my stuff to go get a drink or anything else). The chef also came by to ask if the food was to my liking.

Leave a Response »

 

Souperlicious Thursday, May 28 2009

After loads of carb-laden meals, I felt the need, the urge to go green & healthy. But it can get a little difficult in suburban Singapore where cheap hawker foods are everywhere while healthy salads cost an arm (plus a leg) in cafes. I had to travel downtown to get my soup & salad craving satisfied: Souperlicious at Suntec City (just outside Carrefour hypermart). I have seen the store being renovated and set up previously and have always wanted to try it. But as usual, my colleagues are not really up for soup & salad as a meal, so I went alone on a Friday afternoon.

I ordered a set meal (salad side, soup main course & a drink) – Waldorf salad, French onion soup & iced tea. Waldorf salad was supposed to be “julienned apple and celery, chopped walnuts, grapes, and mayonnaise or a mayonnaise-based dressing.” Instead, I think I had an apple salad instead. The whole bowl of salad only had two slices of celery, no walnuts. I was mainly eating chunks of green & red apple and some raisins. Very disappointing. In fact, when I was ordering my meal, most of the sides were not available, and it was only abt 1245pm!

The french onion soup, on the other hand, was pretty good – rich and flavourful. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The chefs didn’t use gruyere cheese obviously, but it had some cheese at the bottom of the soup bowl.

Having said that, I wouldn’t be running back urgently for another meal. The service there was lacking. The placement of utensils was awkward (to the far right of the cashier counter, but the queue moved towards the left). In order to take the cutlery, you’ll have to cut across another customer to reach it; that or you’ll have to struggle with your tray of food and your bag(s) if you’re alone. Also, I thought the service wasn’t consistent as in the staff helped place cutlery on the tray of the customer before me, but when it came to my turn, the staff merely just said “you’ll have to take it yourself” when I asked about cutlery and nudged me in the direction of the cutlery tray. It may be a small matter but it says a lot about their culture.

Leave a Response »

 

Breakfast @ Millenia Walk Monday, May 25 2009

Bubble & Squeak – Coffee Club, Millenia Walk

The Bubble & Squeak was alright – it needed a little seasoning to make it taste better, but I just ate it up anyway. It seemed really easy to make, but I wouldn’t rush to make it anytime soon – I hate cabbage. The roasted tomatoes were good though, very juicy and sweet – tomatoes any way are good. There are 2 slices of bacon underneath the tomatoes and I really enjoyed it when the juices of the tomatoes soaked through the bacon, adding another dimension to the salty flavour. It was really cheap, only S$6.90 and it comes with a cup of coffee or tea!

Carrot Walnut Cake – Cedele, Millenia Walk

My 2nd time having this cake, and it’s still just as good as the first. I was early, so I took the first slice of the cake – none of that dried out at the edges crap. The cake was moist and flavourful with cinnamon spice, the cream cheese frosting was smooth and rich. Yummy!

Leave a Response »

 

Anjappar Tuesday, Apr 28 2009

I’ve been bugging my colleagues to have North Indian food for lunch for ages. Finally, they gave in to me! I was late cos I had to pay one of my customers a visit before I went down for lunch. Anyhoo, they settled on Anjappar, a high-class looking Indian restaurant located just opposite Mustafa Centre.

The guys ordered briyani for themselves (Mutton $8.50 & Chicken $8) and a chicken dish (it’s only known as spl chicken on the receipt and the chicken was 20% gone by the time I reached the restaurant. -_-”). But I reckon the chicken ($12)  had too much spice for them to handle because they were perspiring like nobody’s business, and quite frankly, it was embarrassing. They also ordered a cheese naan ($3) to go along with their meals.

I ordered up quite a feast for myself too – plain basmati rice ($3.50), prawn tikka ($13), aloo gopi masala (potato & cauliflower curry) and a kashmiri naan ($4). The aloo gopi masala ($5) was nice and creamy but it had too little cauliflower. There are 6 bursty prawns in the prawn dish – a little spicy but otherwise, forgettable. I did like the mint sauce that came along with the prawns though.

Highlight of my meal was the kashmiri naan. It’s a flatbread with dried fruits and it’s my favourite type of naan. The guys never had it before and so I took this chance to ‘introduce’ them to it! It is slightly sweet (as a result of the dried fruit) and savoury due to the butter. The naan wasn’t too oily, a little crisp in fact, at the edges. We couldn’t stop picking at it!

Anjappar (Authentic Chettinad Restaurant)
102 Syed Alwi Rd S207678
Tel: 6392 5545
11 am to 12mn; seven days a week

Leave a Response »

 

dadi’s indian food Monday, Apr 27 2009

Credits to Aslam

——

it took me a while to write about this – not sure why, but i have an inkling it’s probably due to a short-term memory. ANYWAY, dadi’s is located just a couple of shopfronts away from the niqqi’s cheese prata shop, just outside NUS.

it’s a pretty small place, i guess their main business comes from catering and home delivery. their food is pretty good and fresh! cheap, i wouldn’t say so, but most north indian food places aren’t cheap anyway.

we’ve ordered from them a couple of times when the family was at nearby varsity park doing some stuff. it took about 15-20 minutes for our order (on average, 4 dishes + naan) to be ready, and the food is always piping hot, so it must be the chef preparing our dishes to order.

on both occasions, we had naans and butter chicken which was actually a favourite, but was later on replaced by chicken tikka masala. their palak paneer was pretty good too, with the cottage cheese reminding me of haloumi cheese. i had to fight with my inner voice, not to eat the cheese (dairy products give me rashes ). their aloo brinjal was a tad on the salty side though, so you definitely had to eat it with rice.

one thing about north indian dishes is that the servings may look small, but don’t be deceived by the sizes. they are extremely filling as the gravies are very rich and creamy. so go easy on the ordering k?

now go enjoy. =)

2 Responses »

 

Cedele Carrot Walnut Cake Sunday, Apr 26 2009

I’ve never tasted a carrot cake (the western version) cos I’m not sure of how cream cheese frosting would turn out, and I don’t take well to dairy products. But cousin’s MIL got us a lovely carrot cake from Cedele and I just got to try it!

Cedele’s healthy sandwiches and all have always intrigued me, and I do want to try them for lunch, but dining with colleagues meant that we tend to go cheap and less healthy. Furthermore, car-fanatic isn’t a fan of sandwiches – doesn’t keep him full for long.

I’m glad auntie got us the cake. It was SCRUMPTIOUS!!! Absolutely fantastic. The cake was moist and flavourful while the cream cheese frosting added another dimension to it. The walnuts provided some crunch to the otherwise soft cake. We went through almost 3/4 of the cake already!

Leave a Response »