Not another big menu - Eating my way (cheaply) around London and more

Yong Tau Foo from Food Fare, MBFC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:46:00 +0000

Yong Tau Foo from Food Fare, MBFC, a photo by monchichi10 on Flickr.

The new food court at Tower 3 at the Marina Bay Financial Centre has a yong tau foo stall which is ok - nothing amazing but it is after all a food court in an office building so lower the standards a little and it's actually enjoyable. Had this for dinner today, along with some beef kimchi soup.

Prawns for lunch at Level 33, Marina Bay Financial Centre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Prawns for lunch at Level 33, Marina Bay Financial Centre, a photo by monchichi10 on Flickr.

Two Coffees

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Two Coffees, a photo by monchichi10 on Flickr.

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:42:00 +0000

IMAG0736, originally uploaded by monchichi10.

Blogging from Flickr as this is better than not blogging at all!

Zheng Swee Kee Chicken Rice, 25 Seah Street, #01-01 Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:00:00 +0000

When my folks were in Singapore for a holiday, they mentioned a chicken rice place which was highly recommended by their friend. Said friend, being Malaysian and all, clearly knows a lot about good food, so instead of tossing the suggestion into the Bin of Rubbish Food Suggestions, we decided to check it out.

Not much was given as a guideline – the chicken rice shop by Raffles Hotel.

So, I put those exact words into Google and out came pictures of the place shown above. Must be famous then if those words alone could generate that many hits of the one place?

Chicken rice condiments – Garlic chilli sauce, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce

You gotta have the chilli sauce with the rice. Sod the chicken. Who needs chicken. It’s the rice I’m most interested in.

And of course, with most Hainanese chicken rice, you have to have the ginger mixed in with the chilli sauce and dark soy sauce.

So we ordered the Hainanese steamed chicken to have with the rice. Not my choice of chicken, to be honest, as I prefer roasted chicken which has less pink meat. When it comes to chicken, I’ve never really learned to eat anything other than the white meat. I mean, I’ve kinda stretched to the wings and that, but still can’t actually eat drumsticks and the lot. My folks enjoyed this quite a bit, saying that the chicken was tender and firm (organic chicken, if I’m not mistaken).

Oh uh huh yes this was what I came for. The rice. Not any common rice, but the flavoured chicken-rice rice. It tastes so fragrant, and each grain sits comfortably on its own. I just absolutely so love chicken-rice rice. This did not disappoint. In fact, it possible is one of the top three nicest chicken-rice rice I’ve ever had.

Thai-styled Kerabu Jelly Fish

Because I don’t like the chicken, and because the rice was just too good to not be accompanied by anything else, I decided to order something which would really offset the taste of the rice. This sour, sweet, tangy and spicy dish with a slight lemongrass tinge of crunchy jelly fish was an excellent choice to accompany the rice. Enjoyable and definitely something to be ordered again.

Definitely gonna make another visit to this place.

Le Pain Quotidien, South Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:41:00 +0000

Not gonna be too many words on this post, mainly because the pictures speak for themselves, you probably have a fair idea of what the items ordered taste like, and also because the waiting staff who served us was rude, smug and made us feel like we didn’t deserve to be there so the whole meal kind left a stale taste in my mouth.

Enjoyable, salty, as good as it could be.

Betty Bought Some Better Butter – Love the way the butter is presented (I love geometric-shaped food)

As much I as do find the food here enjoyable, and the setting usually quite relaxing, I find the smugness of some of the waiting staff (obviously not all of them) quite insulting. Anyhow, lots of other similar restaurants in London, so I guess if I don’t like it there, there’s always somewhere else to go to!

Rossopomodoro, 50 - 52 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, WC2H9EP

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:32:00 +0000

http://www.rossopomodoro.co.uk/

So the hubs and I decided that Day Two in our Two Day London Adventure was to be Date Day. This meant that we could eat, drink and spend as much as we (I) liked without considering the costs (within reason, of course). This, to someone in my profession, is something quite foreign and hard to comprehend. Because my profession kinda pays peanuts.

But since the rules were established, Date Day could begin.

After having had a brunch served up by the comfortingly rude waitress with just the right amount of scorn on her face for us (customers) from Le Pain Quotidien (story for another post, and yes, I shall post about that), we hadn’t eaten much else that day.

The idea was that since our train leaving London was around 9pm, we’d have dinner around 6-ish before heading to collect our bags from Waterloo station. But because we had to go to Selfridges to get one of those coffee machine thingees, and because we didn’t want to be carrying that thing around London, we had to eat our dinner first before going to Selfridges.

How now, brown cow? Oh well, gimme a glass of that prosecco.

We ordered the Affettato (£8.90) to share.

Black provolone Auricchio cheese, spicy Neapolitan salami, pecorino cheese from Bagnali, Mordadella cubes with cherry tomato jam and freshly baked bread in the brown paper bag.

The salami was salty and full of texture, but my favourite part of the meal was the cheese. Tomato jam was good, but didn’t taste tomato-ey enough to me, so I actually wondered, for most part of the meal, what it was.

Bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was a welcome nibble, but the bread was one of those gum-nemesis ones which just would not get soft no matter how much oil and vinegar was used. Enjoyable, on the whole, but it made the jaw ache a little after.

Tough on the outside. Tough on the inside.

The Carbonetta (£12.50) – seafood carbonara ‘spaghetti ala chitarra’ with crispy pancetta, eggs, clams, pecorino cheese and parsley. While the pasta was cooked perfectly, I found the taste to be slightly lacking in salt, as well as cheese. The cheese used in this dish is meant to be quite strong from the other carbonaras I’ve had, but this one didn’t really taste of anything. I suppose I could’ve added salt to it, but that’s not the point of this, so while I enjoyed it OK, I wouldn’t have said this was one of the better example of a carbonara I’ve had.

Fru Fru (£14.00) – Oval shaped three season pizza: buffalo ricotta cheese and Neapolitan salami, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, Parma ham, rocket and Parmesan cheese.

Really enjoyed this pizza. The base was perfect – not too chewy, but chewy enough, and the taste of the slightly salty dough managed to come through despite the strong-flavoured topping. The ricotta cheese was fluffy and just melt-in-the-mouth, and the chef must have been feeling generous that day with the amount of salami thrown on but I’m not complaining. Enjoyed this pizza in every way.

We’ve been here in the evenings before and also during lunchtime and it gets pretty crowded, so if you’re interested in making a visit to the place, best either make a reservation beforehand, or come when we did (around 5pm) and you can have pretty much the whole restaurant to yourself.

One Peekture A Day – Cucumber Alley

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

One peekture a day – Hallo, Kitty. Meet Andy, Warhol.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Oh found you!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Maybe I should explain myself a little before I begin. So, after the post below, having eaten a lot in the month of December, I finally started my new job in January. It’s not that I stopped eating from there on, but I’ve been so busy that even the thought of taking any photos or blogging was enough to make me panic a little.

But anyway, all that is a story for another day.

We’re currently in the UK for a few weeks, winding down and relaxing a little, so the fingers started itching for the camera and this blog once again. Having arrived on Monday, we went for a short 2-day break to London on Wednesday, and boy oh boy are there quite a few Union Jacks (and all Union Jack-related items) around London (Jubilee weekend is next week).

View from Embankment Bridge – Southbank-side.

Bring out the moth-bitten summer clothing. Warm weather is here (for a few days).

Saw this guy sitting by Southbank as I was crossing the bridge and found his posture and colour coordination too interesting to not be captured.

Standing on the bridge, looking down, there was this array of …

Skateboards.

Man doing a bit of Baywatch-style boating across the Thames.

My usual fruit stall outside Embankment Station.

Rubbish exchange rates and definitely pretty sure no appreciation in value but at least you get nice colours.

Joooooobleeee

Union Jack made entirely of cupcakes!

Changing the lightbulb.

OK just a few pictures to start off with. More coming soon – food related ones too.

Todai International Buffet, Marina Bay Sands Shoppes, Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:46:00 +0000

Perhaps the most pictures in one post ... ever.

View from Marina Bay Sands Shoppes overlooking the CBD

So the other day, when I was sitting around trying to come up with a Good Food Itinerary, I trawled the web for a good place to eat at on Christmas Day. The criteria wasn't that difficult - as long as it served turkey, had a good atmosphere, and could provide us with the Very Full feeling commonly associated with this time of the year, that would be sufficient.

Marina Bay Sands Shoppes - coming down escalator

There are SO many food blogs in Singapore, it's unreal.

Oh well - here's another one to add to the pile then.

Anyway, a quick search on the food blogs revealed that the Todai Buffet was quite seafood-oriented and as the pictures alone made me kinda hungry, I decided that we were going to have Christmas Dinner there.

Just in case you wanted to know when you're at the restaurant

Still kinda unsure how this is pronounced.

In the festive mood

I started sending links and pictures from other blogs to hubsy, getting him prepared for the feast that awaited. We almost trained for it like a professional athlete would - no effort was spared.

The placemat which is also helpfully a map of the restaurant

When Christmas Day came, and when all the festivities had been enjoyed, we ate a small lunch at a nearby food court (Kopitiam just for own reference) and made our way to the mall nice and early (around 45 minutes early).

As the place was still closed (4.15pm not usually being a popular time for dinner), we had a stroll around the mall and went back to the restaurant at around 4.45pm only to find this ...

Everyone is hungry

Yes, for those of you who are considering going to this place, they operate a registration process (even when you've booked) where by the lady at the counter gives you this handwritten piece of paper with your name and reservation time on it. With the table number also included on the piece of paper, that is your ticket to ...

Ready, steady, go

I whizzed past the entrance and other hungry diners (hubsy included) and below was what I saw on my way to the food counter (so I could be the first one to photograph the food, you understand).

Food!

(Maybe) Korean stars on the wall of fame

From the ocean

See food

As with all professional buffet wrestlers, I usually zone straight in on the seafood section. I'm sure everyone does that too ... come on, admit it.

Not zoning in on seafood specifically, but zoning in on what you think is the best value for money.

Twenty of these in my tummy

The prawns were fresh and enormous. What more is there to say? Each prawn took 2 bites to demolish, and every single one of them was crunchy, juicy, and very fresh. I had about twenty and could've easily have had more but self-control set in after a while.

Alaskan Crab Legs

These were so fresh. Todai provides pairs of scissors with which to eat the crabs and you could literally pull out the entire piece of crab meat from the shell if cut correctly.

Nice to meat you

Definitely 'happy day' with this amount of beef

Have a nice day (before)

Had a nice day (after)

Brazilian Churrasco section

We mostly spent our time here. All the meat you could want in one sitting.

Mushrooms, pineapples, sausages, chicken wings and beef

Pork belly before being cooked

Beefy goodness

Really liked these mushrooms - couldn't quite get the name but they were fabulous

The sushi and sashimi section

My favourite - squid sushi - so fresh and chewy

Sweet octopus

Boiled prawn with crabstick salad - really liked this

Each thickly sliced piece was just what amazing sashimi should be

The cooked food section

Korean beef bulgogi

Duck and peach which was so tender - who knew peaches went so well with duck

Grilled Japanese fish on sticks

Korean kimchi section

Grilled gyoza

Not sure what this was but took a picture so I posted this anyway

Christmas Day Specials

Roasted suckling pig

Because we were dining there on Christmas Day, there were several special items on offer for the occasion. First up was the suckling pig which was gone in mere minutes. Everytime they took out a pig, there was a queue and within minutes it was pretty much gone again.

We had a few pieces and the conclusion was that the skin was very chewy while there wasn't anything overwhelming about the meat itself.

Lobster in the gobster

The other special of the day was the lobster. Served directly to the table, we really enjoyed these little critters.

Down in one

The meat detached itself neatly in one swift forkful, and even when eaten cold, the lobster was very juicy, delightfully crunchy and fresh. The garlic herbed butter went brilliantly with the lobster, as it usually does.

A plateful of smiles

I could get used to eating like this everyday

And something for afters

Strawberry mousse

Todai seem to promote their Korean strawberries quite a bit. A lot of the dishes (even savoury ones) were cooked with some strawberry in them. Guess I never knew Korean strawberries were famous but they sure were sweet.

More?

Possibly the best waffles in a buffet. Ever.

When we took some waffles and drizzled them with maple syrup and some vanilla ice-cream, we didn't think that it'd be any good. We just wanted to give it a try since I like waffles anyway. So we were nicely surprised when each mouthful of waffles was so airy, light, yet lovely and buttery - going so well with the maple syrup.

Surfing?

The above-mentioned Korean strawberries

And when all has been eaten and done ...

Waitress refilling the buffet for the next session at 8pm

Ho ho ... wait a sec while I adjust my beard

This Santa was hilarious. He went round each table just kinda saying hi to everyone, but by the time he got to our table, his hat was falling off and so was his beard and hair. Pretty much the complete ensemble was falling off bit by bit, so the other pictures we took of him were just hair and a red outfit.

View of Marina Bay Sands hotel

I took about 380 photos during that dinner, and obviously couldn't post them ALL up here (couldn't say I didn't try though) so for those of you who really, really like looking at pictures of food, here's a link to the full Flickr set (click here).

We all enjoyed our Christmas dinner here, and if you like your seafood and meat (plus all the other items on offer), you'll probably like Todai buffet. The stuff served up were fresh, things were replenished quite frequently, and the selection of drinks (cold and hot, but all non-alcoholic) was above average. Quality AND quantity.

Useful information: Everything you need to know on their website.

But just for you ...

Location: #b2-01 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018972

Pricing:

LUNCH

Monday to Friday

Adult: $42++ Child (below 1m 30cm): $22++

Sat., Sun. and Holiday, Holiday Eve

Adult: $58++ Child (below 1m 30cm): $26++

DINNER

Monday to Thursday

Adult: $54++ Child (below 1m 30cm): $26++

Fri., Sat., Sun. and Holiday, Holiday Eve

*Holiday Price

Adult: $70++ Child (Below 1m30cm height): $32++

Applied Date: 24,25,31st December 2011 and 1st January 2012

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday

Lunch: 11:30 to 15:00 / Dinner: 17:30 to 22:00

Saturday to Sunday

All Day Dining: 11:30 to 23:00

BreadTalk Steamed Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

We were in BreadTalk (Plaza Singapura), and after I'd gotten my tray full of cheesy ham buns and such, I made my way to the counter to pay for the stuff (least favourite bit about the buying process, but has to be done).

By the counter, sat these cute little things in green, orange and pink - all wrapped up in shiny plastic.

The steamed cake from Bread Talk is apparently quite famous, from what I can tell from Google anyway. Some sites have said that it contains 200 calories with no fat, but then again, I doubt these sites a little as they also say that the cake contains nothing else aside from 200 calories ...

Anyway, the reason I eat it is not because it has 200 calories, but because it's soooooo soft.

Fluffy like marshmallows, not too sweet, and somehow moist despite having sat in the fridge for about 5 days. Loving this cake.

And finally, a picture of the snack I had a few days ago. Chicken wing, sotong ball and codfish tofu cake.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Merry Christmas 2011 to everyone!

May you have lots and lots of this ...

And if I don't post anything between now and New Year ...

Happy New Year too!

May all your dreams and hopes (food-related or otherwise) come true and may you all have a warm, love-filled festive season ahead!

*Time to start training that belly for the chocolates that are to be nommed.*

Hard Rock Cafe, Sentosa Island, Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Sunshine! Good weather!

BUT, unlike in the UK where sunshine equals topless men with one-packs flexing their beer drinking skills, over here, sunshine is pretty much available all the time. Except at night, of course.

Sunshine is even available when it's raining! And it's been raining quite a bit the last few days. On Sunday it pretty much was raining from the moment we were up till evening time.

Thing is, Hubs was most insistent on getting to a beach. Any beach. He wasn't fussed. Though, beaches are kinda few and far between in Singapore, so we made our way to Sentosa Island.

Wikipedia facts below:

- The word 'sentosa' means 'peace and tranquility' in Malay
- There is a 2km long sheltered beach on the island (Where is it??? We couldn't find it. Nowhere on the map did it say Beach at any point ...)
- You can get to Sentosa Island from Singapore mainland through a variety of methods (discussed below the next picture).

The walkalator to the island (from VivoCty mall)

Depending on how deep your pockets are, you could:

- Take a monorail to the island (Sentosa Express) S$3
- Take a cable car S$24 one-way
- Walk S$1

Waterfall just by the end of the Boardwalk

We chose to walk, not just because we're miserly but because:

- It was a warm day
- There are actually walkalators along the way
- We've been eating too much

There is a blog which tells you what you can do at Sentosa for free.

For example, once you get to the island, past the Visitors' Centre, keep going and you'll come to this.

Came all the way around the globe (ha ha) to come to Universal Studio in Singapore.

But being cheapskates, we didn't pay to go in and all. Just pretended that we'd been here having taken pictures of the outside.

Come on - we've all done that ...

It was raining pretty much all day that day, but it didn't really stop us from getting around the island as there are shelters and covered walkways pretty much everywhere. It's like one huge mall / theme park, and this wasn't even the bit where you had to pay to get in to.

As usual, with every place we go to, we checked out their Hard Rock Cafe.

- New York
- Penang
- Vegas
- Bali
- London
- Edinburgh
- And now, Singapore

The restaurant is located next to the hotel. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali and really enjoyed the themed rooms, amazing buffet brekkie and also relaxed atmosphere at the hotel, so I'm guessing if standards are maintained, that it's pretty OK here at the Singapore one too.

Sorry, what's this place called again?

Lights on ceiling as soon as you enter the restaurant

The interior is consistent with all the other HRC we've been to. Waiters/waitresses are kinda 'wacky' (I think that's the image they're trying to portray anyway, otherwise it needs working on) and definitely friendly.

We were there around 4pm (we seem to be eating at this time more and more) so it was quite empty, meaning the waiting staff to diner ratio was around 2:1.

The HRC shop located by the entrance

Somehow, I managed to resist buying something from here. I've been collecting t-shirts from the various HRC we've been to - not that I'm one of those people who do that (or I never used to, anyway) but ever since realising that we do actually go to HRCs in most cities, I decided to buy something from each one to remind me that I've been there before.

The next three pictures I took because it amused me to see how HRC was trying to 'localise' itself. I don't recall noticing this at the Malaysian one or even at the Bali one before, but that could be because I had some free time here so was taking a little more interest in the place.

Heinz meanz ... chilli sauce

Nice touch though, commendable for trying to blend in with local tastes.

Wok and (spring) roll! Nasi goreng and Char Kway Teow

Possibly the most indulgent burger menu around

For drinks, I had the Cecil Iced Tea which tasted a lot like a Long Island Iced Tea without the alcohol. Maybe it was meant to be a mocktail?

Chilli crab dip S$15

It's Singapore chilli crab blended into a dip, and served with Chinese buns. You gotta give it to the chef - he's tried to put as much local flavours into the menu as possible and this one works a treat, too.

Taste-wise, almost exactly like how you'd imagine spicy chilli crab to be like if it were blended into a paste-like consistency. The buns were slightly crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. Should've asked for tortilla chips instead as this was kinda heavy as a starter (shared) so we took most of it back as a takeaway.

Cobb salad S$22

Really like the HRC version of the Cobb salad. I've had this at almost all their restaurants and they've been consistently good. And huge in portion.

The salad weighed more than what I'd like to imagine and had loads of lettuce, bacon bits, hard boiled egg, avocado, onions, grilled chicken, tomatoes, cheese and was served with 2 dressings on the side.

Not sure how I did it, but I finished it (well, with a little help from the Hubs - just a little).

Hickory-smoked BBQ trio combo S$35

The trio consisted of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken and pulled pork. The pulled pork was really tender but the star of the meal was the ribs. Flavours were intense, and texture was excellent. With the perfect balance of meat to fat, the Hubs (who usually doesn't like eating ribs) finished the entire rack without so much as an offer of a nibble to me.

The chicken kinda let the show down - dry and chewy. Maybe they should've served just the darker meat bit of the chicken which would have remained a little bit more tender than what was served.

The chips were fab - they were seasoned with the lovely Cajun (?) sweet and salty seasoning I so love on my fries. Coleslaw was OK - it had some raisins in it but could've been a little tangier. BBQ beans were good, kinda like most other BBQ beans I've had but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Things like BBQ beans shouldn't be surprising in any way, in my opinion. As long as they taste like BBQ beans, it has exceeded expectations.

When the waiter had set all the plates out on the table, he looked at us and said 'Good luck'.

We showed him

Don't mess with us (or our plates).

Overall, one of the more expensive meals we've had so far. But definitely very enjoyable, and worth a visit if you're wanting big portions and lip-smacking noms.

Bali Honeymoon 2011 (The Elysian and Kuta Beach)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:51:00 +0000

We went on our honeymoon in June 2011, and because I sometimes just like looking at photos, I'm not gonna say too much in this post.

Just lots and lots of photos.

The hotel: The Elysian, Kuta Beach, Bali

(Honeymoon package inclusive of some meals - link here)
(NOT sponsored, by the way - just liked it a lot so am recommending)

Entrance to the resort

The honeymoon package included a single-room suite with pool

The Food:

Breakfast delivered to the villa daily - choices abundant from a menu. Ventured out occasionally to the poolside-restaurant for meals, and daily afternoon tea by the pool was included in the package too.

The poolside restaurant - Afternoon tea and meals are served here also

The pool - In the day and in the evening

Ku De Ta:

I'd read a lot about it and also wondered what it was like, so for the benefit of those of you who're also wondering what it's like, here it is.

Kuta Beach:

We had a great holiday here, and if it weren't just that slightly expensive (actually, a lot expensive), we'd definitely like to go back again. If you're interested in trying it out, make sure you come prepared with a good book and some DVDs as once you're in the resort and in your villa, it's very hard trying to persuade yourself to go out!

Chatime, Orchard Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

When I was in the UK, I'd read longingly as bloggers such as Su from Delectable wrote about what they had from Chatime, while I drank my filtered Brita water pretending it was bubble tea.

But now, I can have Chatime for real!

No more pretend bubbles! No more pretend tea!

The Chatime I visited was in the basement of a mall somewhere along Orchard Road. If you'd read the Din Tai Fung post, you'll probably know that I still have not managed to find my way around Orchard Road yet (and doubt I ever will).

Every mall is connected to another mall which in turn is connected to the same MRT station.

Boggling.

I think I need some time to ponder this menu

With a selection bigger than most restaurant menus, it takes time trying to figure out what to order here. Plus, some of the things need a little translation of their own. For example:

QQ Milk Tea which would be ...?

Anyhow, I finally decided on the Matcha Tea Latte which turned out a little milkier than how I like it (I'll know for next time anyhow).

Pretty, isn't it?

When stirred, the green and white layers (green tea and milk) get mixed together and the resulting taste is very similar to that of green tea (because it is green tea). Slightly salty (just very slightly), and with a slight bitter green tea taste to it, I found it to be quite nice. Would probably try something a little lighter next time.

Din Tai Fung, 290 Orchard Road, #B1-03 The Paragon, Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:01:00 +0000

You've got the mojo and you know it.

This is our latest Favourite Dining Place In Singapore.

To be fair, we've only been in Singapore about two weeks, and between conquering my fear of directions and Hubs being at work, we've been doing pretty well (I'd like to think) as far as food is concerned. Having had dinner almost every day at Plaza Singapura, we decided to try something new on Orchard Road at the weekend.

When we were in Singapore a few years ago, our friends and us stopped by at Din Tai Fung and had one dumpling each. Yes, the 8 of us went into the restaurant (it wasn't peak time otherwise I doubt we would've been too successful) and ordered ONE portion of 'Siew Long Bao' to be shared.

Roughly around $$1.25 each, and 1.25 dumplings per person.

We also decided that it was going to be Christmas Shopping Saturday, so, fueled with the anticipation of finding all sorts of interesting and joy-giving presents, we made our way towards the myriad of shops along Orchard Road.

3 exhausting hours later, we were still lost in the labyrinth that is the Singapore Underground MRT - Shopping Complex Maze.

Designed to confuse tourists and make us think that the outside world does not exist, it was impossible trying to find our way out of the place. Everytime we came up an escalator, we were in another mall.

HOW DO WE GET OUT OF THE STATION?!?

When we finally found some (day)light at the end of the (escalator) tunnel, I was grumpy, tired, without presents, and very hungry. It was around 4pm - perfect time to have an early dinner / late lunch and to avoid the hungry crowds, we thought to ourselves - smiling at how brilliant we were.

Turns out, Singapore is full of brilliant, hungry diners who all thought at 4pm was the perfect dining time.

When we were fighting our way through the crowd, it didn't even occur to me that this could have possibly been the waiting queue. I thought that this was the meeting point or that people just liked waiting around there for their friends.

Nope.

Wanna know how popular this place is? There is a dedicated counter at the front of the restaurant which just hands out numbers to waiting diners.

Efficiency at its best.

We walked up to the counter, were told that it was going to be around 20 minutes for a table, were given a piece of paper with a number on it, and then handed a clipboard with which we were to place our food order.

These kinda things bring out the slightly unreasonable in me. Why can't I tick every box?

After a bit of give-and-take negotiations, we finally decided on our order, and proceeded to wait for number 229 to be called out. Around 20 minutes after we were given our number, the signboard flashed.

229 = It's Our Turn!!!

I know I'm jumping to the end here but I really, really, REALLY like this place. Something about the whole experience (even the waiting bit) made me feel excited and yet comforted at the same time.

The setting of the tables, the lighting, the food, the service - everything came together really well, and I felt like I could've sat there all day.

I guess other people flock to this place because of how fresh everything is. All the dumplings are made by hand, on site, by the trained chefs in the kitchen.

I stood there watching them for a bit, and came away amazed at the efficiency of their production-line methods.

One guy portions out the bits of dough required for the dumplings, and actually weighs them to make sure each piece of consistent with the others. Then, the little round dough balls are given to the guy behind him to be rolled out into flat circles.

Those are then given to another guy who fills them up with a variety of fillings, and the dumplings are then sealed with precision. I read somewhere that it's really important how many folds there are in a dumpling - didn't wait to count any of them though while I was munching.

OK, you know how the bill usually comes at the end of a meal?

Not here. Here, the bill is placed at your table pretty much the moment you sit down at it. It's quite unusual but also good in a way because it means you know upfront how much you've (mistakenly) ordered, and if you don't decide to add anything else to your order, you can just get up after the meal, head towards the counter and leave.

I quite liked that about this place. Again - efficiency at work.

My favourite bit about a meal is usually the condiments. I know, chefs are waiting to throw me out, right?

Bla bla bla.

Give me a bottle of ketchup and I'll probably have finished it by the end of a meal.

Loving the black vinegar here. If you've never had Chinese black vinegar, it's kinda like malt vinegar but with a more intense, slightly sweet and yet more sour taste. I much prefer this version of vinegar to the malt version, but that's because I like my tastes intense.

Not being an expert in any way, so don't take my word for it - but I've always eaten dumplings / siew long bao this way. Shredded ginger and vinegar in a small plate - and the dumplings are dunked generously in this mixture. Sometimes I even drink a small spoonful of vinegar after I'd chewed on a dumpling.

Issues? Maybe.

Hot and sour soup (small) S$6.80

Described as 'small' on the menu, this was big enough to feed the both of us and with third helpings too. It wasn't hot (as in spicy) to me, and neither was it sour enough for me, but a little addition of the vinegar solved that quickly enough. I loved the soup. Full of crunchy vegetables, soft silky tofu, and plenty of taste, I almost finished the entire soup myself.

Picked cucumber in vinegar (around S$2.50)

Mmm mm mmm my favourite type of dish. Served cold, each baton of crunchy cucumber was lovely accompanied by the slight heat from the chilli oil, and tang from the black vinegar.

Pickled mustard with shredded meat S$2.50

And another one of my favourites. I'm tellin' ya, I like this place a lot.

The mustard leaves must have been rinsed slightly of their pickling juice as it wasn't anywhere near as salty as I'd expected it to be. Crunchy and tender, the leaves surrounded a small surprise of delicate shredded pork which lent a nice contrast to the textures.

Stir-fried Hong Kong kailan with special sauce S$10.00

Hubs ordered this for me as he knows how much I like kailan. When we were in London, we'd get our kailan from either Gold Mine or Peninsula, and since arriving in Singapore, we'd not had much vegetables in our meals.

This was done very nicely with the kailan maintaining the green, tender texture without being overcooked.

Veg pork wantan tossed with well-seasoned chicken broth S$6.50

This dish is what I describe as an 'extra'.

You know what I mean - the kind of dishes you order when you're very hungry, and when everything on the menu looks good. So you go ahead and order it, thinking surely I'll be able to finish it all. No problemo.

Then, the dish arrives and while it's not a let down, it just doesn't compare to the rest of the dishes on the table.

While it would have been perfectly top class in any other restaurant, and while it tasted fresh, juicy and all that, the flavouring of it wasn't as good as the other dishes we had on offer. I suppose it's meant to be slightly more bland (not being cooked in anything other than chicken broth) but I much preferred the stronger-flavoured dishes we had that day.

Oriental wantan with black vinegar and chilli oil (around S$8.00)

Oh yup uh huh gimme more.

The juicy little parcels of meat were floating in the chilli oil and vinegar mixture in the bowl, just waiting to be munched on. Each bite produced a burst (literally) of meat, meaty juice, chilli heat and saliva-inducing tang from the vinegar.

Like a perfectly co-ordinated X Factor song.

Only it's much, much better than the X Factor.

And it doesn't make me wanna punch the television.

Steamed crabmeat and pork dumpling - 10 pieces for S$13.80

"Those people outside are queuing up to see you, Mr. Bao."

"Oh really? OK, tell 'em they can come kiss my hand. But only for a minute or two."

And kiss their hands we did. One gulp at a time.

First, take one beautiful, elegant, gorgeous mouthful of a Siew Long Bao and place it delicately in a spoon.

Then, bite of a TINY piece of the dumpling from the top, allowing the steam to escape.

Drink a little bit of the juice to allow space for the vinegar to be added in.

Be very liberal with the vinegar.

Open your mouth.

NOM.

Steamed pork dumpling (siew long bao) - 10 pieces for S$9.00

As we were here mainly for the Siew Long Bao's, we ordered 2 different versions of the dumplings. Much preferred the second version which is actually the original version consisting of mainly just pork.

I liked this better as it was more meaty and also had a better texture to it compared to the crabmeat one which was kinda mushy because of the crab.

Hubs had ...

THIRTY FIVE dumplings in total, including the ones in chilli oil.

Steamed Chinese layer cake (around S$6 if I'm not mistaken)

Hmm well, we took this back as a takeaway. Partly as I didn't like the taste of it much, and also partly because we were stuffed.

Victory is ours.

And although it would've done us good to have walked back from where we were, we didn't take that option. Instead, we walked around Orchard Road for a bit - Christmas lights are up!

We missed the switching on of the lights on Oxford St this year (not that we were there at the other years' but just saying) so it was nice to savour the lights here. Almost the same designs and colour - wonder if they bought it from the same people?

ToriQ Yakitori Sticks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:10:00 +0000

I'm really liking Singapore food courts - found in every mall, which in turn, is found at almost every MRT station. This latest fav is the ToriQ Yakitori Bacon and Asparagus stick.

Yum yum on a stick for about $2.

Manna Story (Korean), 68 Orchard Road, #B2-22 Plaza Singapura

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:16:00 +0000

I am now possibly an expert on all things Plaza Singapura. If I was into one of those 'check-in' things which awarded you stars or diamonds or something when you checked into a place and then opened up some door or something when you've been there enough times, I would've perhaps by now, owned the mall.

So it should be no surprise to you that I've perused every single menu there is on offer here, and with a lot of effort, have zoned in on which ones I like the look of.

We'd eaten here once before - sometime last week - and really enjoyed it, so after a whole afternoon of more Korean drama with my aunt (both of us sat on the couch, gripped to the storyline which we didn't quite understand but which fascinated us anyhow) I was in the mood for some Korean chow-down.

Most restaurants here have menus outside (just like in the UK) for customers to check out the stuff on offer (and most importantly, the price range) before deciding to go in or not.

This one goes one step further with neon signs.

The menu here is definitely not another big menu. Consisting mainly of pictures, and cute little drawings representing which animal you wanna chew on, this menu couldn't have been any more simple than it is.

So, with such an easy-to-use menu, featuring pictures of what you would be served, you would've thought that the diners wouldn't find it too difficult to order what they wanted to eat, right?

Not.

I have a story here which is probably not worth telling, but it irked me so much that all throughout the meal I was just twitching my fingers, wanting to tell someone off, but resisted. So I'll tell it here.

Anyway, so, a little background. As you can probably tell from the first picture above, space in this restaurant is tight. If you're dining with one other person, chances are you'll get seated in a single table located directly next to another single table (with so little room that you'd have to move the other table to get into your seat). Anyhow, I am completely fine with that concept - after all, you try to get as many customers in as you can, so no problems there.

However, this does mean that you're now privy to the entire conversation of your dining neighbours. Again, not much of a problem especially if the conversation is an interesting one.

Not so much.

Back to the story. So sitting next to us (on both sides) were 2 girls at each of the tables. The pair to my right got there after we'd ordered, and made an order of their own quite quickly. Then, our massive pot of a meal arrived (pictures below) followed by their meals.

Lady 1 - tucking into her noodles: "Eh? Why is this noodle cold? It's disgusting, why do they serve cold noodles?" --- Small point to note here, for you readers. She'd ordered the 'Cold Buckwheat Noodles'.

Her dining companion who probably knows how to read a little better said "Oh I've had this before, and yes they usually serve it cold."

Lady 1 again - possibly slightly embarrassed by her lack of ability to read - then asks the waiter to come over and ACTUALLY says "Hey, why didn't you tell me that this noodle would be served cold when I was ordering it? I don't like it, I don't like cold noodles. You should've said something when I was ordering it."

Baffling how sometimes the customer thinks they're always right. Even when they're so wrong. Even when the menu says 'Cold Buckwheat Noodles' and the picture shows no steam, and nothing to indicate that the word 'cold' was put there merely as a joke.

Not content with just blaming the waiter for not telling her that she might not like the food she decided to order, she then ordered some other noodle and proceeded to spend the entire meal doing a running commentary on ours.

Gems spouted included "Oh we should've ordered theirs" while peering across the table into ours.

"The waiter should've told us about the promotion (ours)" (re: neon sign by the entrance).

"Next time we're here, we're definitely ordering theirs. Wonder which one it is." Proceeds to open up the menu, turn around in her seat, and actually compare each picture on the menu to what we had on our table.

All this taking place about 10 inches from our seats.

Remember the other girls sitting to our left? Repeat scene above without the whole cold noodle bit.

Fun times.

Quick drink? Cute little cans at 120 calories a can. Pear-flavoured pop, it was.

This was a side dish from the back section of the menu which I decided to order but I don't reckon I'll be ordering this again. Too little dressing, and a little too much raw carrots for my liking.

But you don't see me asking the waiter why this salad is all veg, do you?

Because that would've been a stupid thing to do, that's why.

Banchan (side dishes)

Oh how I love free banchan!

Clockwise, from top-left: Beansprouts, crunchy sweet anchovies, kimchi (Korean fermented cabbage) and stewed sweet potatoes

This is the first place where I've tried the stewed sweet potatoes (which I assumed were picked radish aka Chinese-style). The sweet anchovies were also similar to what we usually have our Chinese rice-porridge with. Beansprouts were nice, but could've been better if they'd used the big-headed beansprouts instead but that might be a cost or supply issue thing.

Spicy chicken in hotpot (Tak toritang?) Around S$14.80 per person

The promotion meant we could order 3 additional toppings instead of the original 2. Any other addition on top of that is charged at S$2 per topping. We chose glass noodles, rice cakes and squid.

Look at that food mountain that arrived at the table. No wonder the other diners decided to watch us while they were eating.

Taste -wise, it was very good. Very well-flavoured and definitely no where as spicy as it might look. The chicken remained very tender, and the vegetables surprisingly crunchy even as it was bubbling away in the pot. Overall, I enjoyed this very much.

These pictures were taken at half-hour intervals, and as you can see, we didn't do that well in finishing the dish. It seemed like a never-ending pot - we picked and picked and picked at it, but it was still there. Deciding to maybe take on the chicken first, we continued on paving our way through the pot but it was still there. We then moved on to the vegetables, by then feeling quite full - but the mountain remained. I don't know how this is a portion for 2.

So, if you're around Plaza Singapura, are feeling hungry and up for a challenge, perhaps you'd like to sit next to those 2 tables and explain to them how a menu works.

Dreams of curry rice - Al-Jilani Restaurant, 127 Bencoolen Street, Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:40:00 +0000

Long before we moved to Asia, my husband had already begun imagining how nice it would be if we could have curry rice sitting by a roadside in the warm weather on an (almost) daily basis.

That, to him, was the epitome of Asian living, and, I'm convinced, the reason he wants to come to Asia. Anyhow, since we'd been dining in the mall for the last week or so, having pretty much the same Japanese and Korean food all the time, we decided it was time to have some of the stuff he likes so much.

On the way from our hotel apartment to Bugis (amazing shopping where everything is $10), there is this Indian restaurant which we've been going by quite frequently. Everytime we're there, the place has been quite busy, and the food eaten by the diners there looked quite good too.

I wasn't sure if the waiters here spoke English or Malay as over in Malaysia, you're pretty much OK speaking Malay to just about anyone. Gingerly, I tried a little English and when that succeeded, I got a little braver.

This restaurant has a little rice/dishes counter where I guess you're meant to choose your dishes from. Thing is, all the time we were there, I didn't see anyone standing at the counter choosing anything. Plates of rice with dishes on them just kept getting brought out to the table by the waiters - but anyway, doing things the Malaysian way, we stood at the counter and picked out what we wanted to have.

Plus, that way, you can kinda ask for more.

Roti telur (eggy bread)

We ordered this mainly to compare this place to the ones we're familiar with (Kanna Curry House) and found it to be a little tough in comparison. Maybe it had been made earlier on and been sitting there for a bit, but taste-wise it was nice. Curry sauce was tasty, can't say too much else about this/

Briyani rice with curry chicken

Surprisingly flavourful. I say surprisingly because having tasted the roti telur above, I wasn't that confident about how the rice would be. Served lukewarm (party my fault since I spent about 5 minutes taking pictures), the rice was perfectly seasoned. The curry sauce was delicate and just about right in the spicy department, while the chicken remained very tender and fell apart at a mere push with the fork.

The whole meal including a S$2 packet of takeaway vegetables came up to S$12.40. Is that cheap? Is that expensive? Not a clue. Enjoyable, though, and we continued our evening having a stroll around the neighbourhood.

First Week In Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:52:00 +0000

I've been watching lots and lots of Korean soaps. The telly here shows them pretty much consecutively one episode after the other, and although it took me a while to figure out that they WERE indeed Korean soaps (mouths weren't moving in sync with sounds, plus, everything is dubbed in Mandarin, with English subtitles - so they could've been soaps of any origin), I've now begun to get into the storyline and am actually enjoying the gripping plots.

The housekeeper who comes by daily must wonder why I just sit staring at the computer screen while occasionally staring at the telly - or maybe this is what she gets in every apartment when the husbands go to work. A little background - I am sitting here in our serviced apartment for a month while the husband is at work. We've found a place of our own (albeit to rent) so after this month, I should be staring at the computer and telly from another location.

Yes, I should of course be trying to get some form of income to support all this eating but that is another story altogether.

Anyhow, here are some photos I've put together. As mentioned in the previous post, these are collages because the picture quality is so poor that I couldn't bring myself to post them up as they were. Lots and lots of editing, and some squashing together, here I bring you - Our First Week In Singapore.

Plaza Singapura - Ichiban Sushi

The serviced apartments we're staying in for the month is located near an MRT (tube) stop called Dhoby Ghaut. That is (I'm led to believe) around 20 minutes walk from Orchard Road - the main shopping street in Singapore. Whenever I mention I might walk to Orchard Road, I'm met with stares of disbelief, so much so that I am now very much doubting that this is indeed, if at all, a possible feat. So, I've been pretty much going about a 500m radius from the apartment to Plaza Singapura and back, and then, from the apartment to Bugis and back. Last weekend, we actually ventured all the way from Bugis to Plaza Singapura. I know.

For the geographically-weak (like me) and for my future reference:

Bugis - Apartment - Dhoby Ghaut - Plaza Singapura - Orchard Road

Anyway, Plaza Singapura is one of those malls with anything and everything. I've been up and down this mall so many times this week I reckon I could do quite well in the Information Counter. I've tried almost everything in the food court, and together, the husband and I have perused the menus of almost all the food outlets in the mall.

We ate at Ichiban Sushi twice, Sakae Teppanyaki once, this Korean place once (ordered WAY too much food), and sampled street food in the Basement once. The picture above shows the stuff we ate at Ichiban Sushi - nothing much to explain here.

Sim Lim Food Court

On the way to Bugis from the apartment is this multi-storey mall consisting entirely of computer and mobile phone shops called Sim Lim Mall. It's a techy geek's dream come true which is why we spent our second evening there. Prices aren't that cheap if you know what you're intending to pay - but there is a very interesting food court beneath the mall. I have a source which tells me the 'Mee Pok' there is very good indeed though I have yet to try it out.

While we were there, we took the lazy route and just had Thai food as shown above. It was alright - spicy, tangy, very Thai, and kinda cheap. $11 for the two of us.

Stellar @ 1-Altitude (62nd Floor) (Raffles Place)

Last night (Sunday), we decided to splash out on a treat seeing as we'd been eating at food courts pretty much all week. Don't even talk about Saturday evening, as we met up with a friend, went to Zouk, and then to Home Bar (excellent indie music, with lots of English people there, felt almost like London) and about who knows how many hours later, we pretty much slept all of Saturday away. Interrupted only by a quick trip to De Laundrette in Burlington Square ($10/kg for wash and fold), Burger King (2 double Swiss Mushroom Burger Meals) and in the evening, a quick dinner at the 24-hour food court across the road.

Anyway, back to Sunday. We went furniture shopping at Furniture Mall along Beach Road, had some nibbles at Plaza Singapura (where else) and then after an ironing session (whoever invented the ironing board obviously didn't have to iron men's shirts), decided to have a nice dinner at the posh place shown above.

Located 62 floors above ground, we didn't have a view as we were seated away from the (reflective) windows. #epicfail

Food was good, service was mixed. One of the waiters brought me a shawl when he heard me say that it was really cold in there. The other waitresses didn't know that we'd ordered the set menu ($55++ pp) and also didn't understand the meaning of service with a smile but hey, I wasn't eating the service so who cares.

The 3-course set menu came with some stuff you could pay extra for ie the sushi starter (additional $5) and the beef main (additional $10). I took the seafood starter while the husband took the sushi, and for mains, I had the seabass while the husband had the beef. He incurred a total of $15 additional on the set menu. Just saying.

Dessert was some sharing thing consisting of sticky toffee pudding (?), a fruit flan (?) and a passionfruit panna cotta (?). Just guessing. Menu didn't say.

1-Altitude Bar (63rd Floor) (Raffles Place)

Then, we headed one floor up to an equally grumpy receptionist / front of lift whom we paid $18 pp for entrance to the bar with one complimentary drink (Hoegaarden for him, ginger beer for me). View was spectacular, jazzy music not so great, while the waiting staff went around with walkie-talkies telling each other who didn't have a drink. Seriously. The table next to us had to convince the waiter that their friend was really really at the bar getting a drink for them, after which the waiter leant across the barrier to check at the bar that the friend was really getting a drink.

Anyhow, that aside, the view itself was worth the $18 pp so if you're around there, worth making a little stop here.

Phew It's Hot Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:58:00 +0000

So anyway, it's been roughly a month since I last posted anything on this blog. In between dusting off the ... dust, and mopping up the sweat off my brows, I've also been travelling from the West to the East, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, eating, settling in, trying to get accommodation, furniture, food, and also something to pay for all of the above.

Needless to say, it's been warm. Like 29 degrees Celcius warm. Every day.

I would do one of those *warm happy jump* expressions so favoured on texts and blogs to show cute emotions, but as I lack any of that sorta cuteness, I'll just probably say it out the way I would.

Warm happy jump.

But I've been eating, too. Not while jumping, of course, as that frequently results in appendicitis or something similar. I've been eating mainly in food courts, and in fact, been eating in the same mall for about five days straight.

Nothing too unusual, I suppose, for those who know me ... re: Itsu.

I'll trump this untrumpable post with something a little more pictorial in a bit - as soon as I get round to downloading the pics of the dSLR. The places we've been dining at have not been too inspiring so far, so it's gonna have to be small, montaged photos for now. Plus, the one place I wanted to show off about was the one we ate at last night, but these posh places really should spend more on decent lighting, as all my pics came out somewhat meh.

Or maybe I should learn to use my camera better.

But anyhow, coming right up in a bit as soon as I finish procrastinating.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Website here. Nearest tube station: Knightsbridge. Full set of Flickr photos: Here

OK - first things first. The real reason we actually found the courage to book a table here was because of the Set Lunch Menu available only on weekdays from 12-2pm. The most important feature of this Set Menu was the Set Price of £28 for 3 courses. As I didn't fancy taking out a short-term loan from Wonga for the purpose of this lunch, this was pretty much the closest we'd ever get to eating anything that comes out from a Heston Blumenthal kitchen.

Of all the things we could've done with our free, unemployed daytime, we chose to do this. Yes, it has been my dream for many years to be able to take advantage of all these mouth-watering, money-saving lunch deals that seem to taunt most decent, wage-earning people stuck in an office from 9am to 5pm. Deals which do not exist when these hard-working people leave the office, and deals which never are valid at weekends. (Yes, I also understand why this is so, but never you mind.)

So, in our first week of free-time-dom, we put on our finest finery and got ourselves on the Tube towards Knightsbridge. I'd never been into the Mandarin Oriental before, so those really grand doors were really quite imposing and a little intimidating.

Thing is, though, everyone at that hotel is just so friendly. From the doorman to the lady at Dinner's reception counter thing, to every single one of the waiting staff who served us during lunch. All so very friendly, very welcoming, and always ready with a pleasant little chat whenever they came to our table. Rarely had I ever encountered such genuinely pleasant and warm waiting staff from 'posh' restaurants like this one.

This possibly contributed towards the first time I'd ever felt like wanting to actually pay the 10% discretionary service charge added on to the bill. Heck, why not even 12.5%.

Plus, they have jelly mould lights.

There wasn't much point in debating what to order because there was only 2 items to choose from per course, and since we were going to try every one, we just kinda said to the waitress "One of every item, please". And, because we'd seen it on telly many times before, we decided to order the Meat Fruit too (more on this later). With nothing much else to do in between ordering and waiting for the food to arrive, I looked wistfully out the window at the orange autumn leaves scattered all over Hyde Park.

They really should do more sweeping.

As with all good restaurants, complimentary posh bread.

Or as I call it, "A Minute On The Lips, And Somehow Things Don't Fit."

Now before you think I'm being all mathematical with my circa this and that, the numbers after each dish represent the year in which the recipe or dish was first discovered. Or so I'm told.

Lemon salad (c.1730) Goat's curd, Buckler Sorrel & Raisins

OK this was not a good start to the meal, but luckily this was not representative of the items yet to be tasted. Blame my unsophisticated tastebuds, but to me, this tasted like some goats cheese had been whacked on a plate, drizzled with some lemony tangy drizzle and made a little more interesting with some plump, juicy raisins. Finished it all anyhow. Like I was gonna leave any of it unfinished - come on ... it would have cost easily £15 or so if it wasn't on the set menu so I was gonna inhale every bit of it even it it did taste like goats cheese on a plate. Which it was.

Ragoo of Pigs Ears (c.1750) Anchovy, Onions and Parsley

Now I really liked this. Earthy, very full-flavoured, and interestingly crunchy yet soft - this tasted like something very familiar. I've had pigs ears before but never like this. The Chinese method of serving pigs ears is usually either the cold, stewed version of it sliced finely, or in some sort of (disgusting) jellied terrine. This version was surprising and introduced a very refreshing spin on a part of the pig so commonly overlooked. It went ridiculously well with the thick, absorbent and chewy slice of bread sat comfortably underneath the saucy mountain of ear slices.

OK OK - now comes the exciting bit. I mean, come on, this IS Heston Blumenthal's restaurant. And come on, I HAD to try it. So, don't get too excited (I know I did), but here it is.

The MEAT FRUIT.

Meat Fruit (c.1500) Mandarin, Chicken Liver Parfait and Grilled Bread £14.50

Possible like every other person before me (and after), I'd ordered this simply because I'd seen it on Heston's Feasts programme and it looked so darned good. The chicken liver parfait ball is dipped in a jelly infused with mandarin puree (recipe here) before it's left to set and cool.

Had to give it a squeeze. Come on - you would've done the same. It just looked so ... squeezable. You'd be pleased to know that it did not maintain the original shape after being squeezed, and sat there forlornly looking quite squashed so we quickly ate it.

Because as some people always like to say (and I am NOT one of them) - you eat with your eyes first or something along those lines - I had expected the parfait to taste of something orange. Or at least a hint of orange. But nope. I know the recipe said mandarin puree, and it's been written on other places about this being a mandarin chicken liver parfait but I didn't manage to taste any citrus in it. Not a criticism because who am I to criticise this genius of a chef who can pummel me with his Michelin star, but just sayin'.

Aside from that, it sure tasted good. In fact, MORE than good. Good-er?

It tasted like a hundred chickens had been put into this dish. It was meaty, it was intensely smooth, it was so many things. And it was the best chicken liver parfait I'd ever had.

Smothered on to the delicious piece of toast, this was not only a fabulous specimen of a starter, but, dare I say it - it was almost worth the £14.50 we paid for it. Portion-wise, nothing to complain about. Taste-wise, definitely nothing to complain about. Price-wise ... hey, I'll always complain about the price so let's be realistic and leave it at that.

Sure is a popular dish.

Cured Salmon (c.1670) Beetroot, Sea Aster and Olive Oil

Part-way through chewing on this, the husband and I consulted one another on what we thought of the dish. It's tough trying to look like you're thinking, while munching, so with quite an amusing-yet-thoughtful look on his face, he said something along the lines of "Mmm. Mmm mm ... mmmmm?"

Where as I went, "I think it's good, but I prefer the texture of the one we had at Casa Mia" (bearing in mind that it's a completely different dish, made by completely different chefs, and so cannot possibly be compared but hey).

This salmon was lovely and fresh, with natural sweetness and a lovely flaky texture to it, with the texture slowly changing towards the middle of the piece of fish. Thing is, unlike the poached version we had at Casa Mia, where I really liked the spongy, resistant texture of the fish, I couldn't really tell the difference in texture in the different bits of this fish.

Even though I could tell by looking at it that the textures were meant to be different, I just couldn't distinguish the difference when chewing on it. So, while it tasted nice and all, perhaps it didn't quite achieve what it set out to achieve? Or maybe I'm just being over-analytical on a piece of fish. Such pretentious behaviour really has no place on this blog. I shall shut up on the topic of fish.

Bath Chaps (c.1860) Savoy Cabbage, Lardo, Ham hock and Robert broth

Lardo and Robert Broth sound like quite fun guys, don't they.

This dish was easily my favourite of all the items we had. It was simple to eat, and it had all my favourite things in it.

Meat - yup. Cabbage - yes please. Delicious gravy which tasted like it contained all the best intense meaty juices of the last century condensed into one tablespoon of gravy goodness - uh huh. And as an added bonus, the texture of the meat was tender and yet chewy.

Prune & Tamarind Tart (c.1720)

You know how if you've been presented with loads and loads of amazing, tap-dancing gold fish, and suddenly a 'common' goldfish is just not so impressive anymore? Yes, that is indeed described commonly as 'being spoiled'.

Which is exactly how I felt when this was brought out. I don't know what I was expecting but it sure wasn't a slice of what looked like creme brulee in triangular form. But this is being rather harsh on a dish so lovingly created by the chefs working hard behind the glass-covered kitchen so just disregard all that I've said in the paragraph above.

The sugar-crust thing did crack when tapped on like a creme brulee, and the consistency of the tart filling was creamy and thick like in a creme brulee. And while the taste of it was also slightly creamy with a hint of rich egg like a creme brulee - this tart had a base to it which no creme brulee has ever had.

We finished it, we enjoyed it, and it was not creme brulee.

Orange Buttered Load (c.1630) Mandarin & thyme sorbet

Also described as 'Husband's Favourite Dessert Of All Time Except For His Mam's Apple Crumble Which Cannot Ever Be Relegated'.

Mmm warm and squishy and all things comforting - this was deliciousness in a loaf. Bready and soaked through and through with all things citrusy, every spoonful yielded the most tantalising, tangy mouthful of doughy goodness imaginable. And then, like a little burst of sunshine, the sorbet with its curiously-sweet-yet-slightly-indescribable-but-wonderful taste cleansed the palate to ready it for the comforting orange buttered loaf again.

Maybe it was because we looked like we weren't full enough (if the belly-rub isn't a universal sign of being full, I don't know what is), or maybe we were just nice to the waitress that day, they brought over this little cup of chocolate mousse infused with Earl Grey Tea.

Which I couldn't say no to. So here we go again.

It was amazing. It was like molten chocolate which somehow someone had managed to blend in with some Earl Grey Tea. I finished it. Very full. Can't type.

Brick Lane Beigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Brick Lane, huh? The stuff of novels, mediocre curries, and 24-hour bagels. You heard right - 24 hours, 7 days a week, bagels on tap.

Where do I get this tap, you ask. Why at the Brick Lane Beigel Bake, of course. Don't you use Google?

Famed for being one of those places in London loved both by the locals and also tourists who come from afar just to say they've been to this legendary bagel-producing takeaway, it remains to this day, one of the places we'd never quite made our way to.

Until now, that is. Veni vidi vici.

It also seems to be one of those places untouched by the Disgusting Claws of Inflation. These prices look acceptable in the eighties. How much for a piece of cheesecake?!? I almost was afraid to ask if the prices were actually valid - fearing my complete lack of self control but even after I'd ordered about half the board, it only came out to about £8 so I can safely say that yes, those prices are in fact, real and valid.

By the way, for those of you reading this who're not British, and not too familiar with the way things are priced here, the numbers on the board represent the amount of pennies you'd have to shell out for the item. For example, to avoid any doubt, 70 means 70p, or £0.70.

That amount buys you about half a piece of toast in a normal establishment. Here, it gets you a slice of cheesecake, or chocolate fudge, or even a carrot cake.

It's not just the prices that're stuck in the decades gone by - the interior is, too. Not necessarily a bad thing though as it does create a nice, comforting sense of nostalgia as you walk into the shop from the (sometimes) bleak Brick Lane vibe outside.

By the window is a huge slab of hot salt beef - just tantalising those tastebuds and anyone who walks by (scroll to last picture below for a quick smile). Guarding these meaty treasures are 2 As-East-End-As-You'll-Get ladies who exude the personalities of dinner ladies with attitude. Brisk, brief and bustling - they ask for your order, hand it to you, and off you go. None of that pansy "How're you today, love" nonsense.

For £3.50, you get this doorstop of a beefy, boffy bagel. What I liked about it was the fact that these bagels were oh so darn chewy! Chewy chewy chewy. Each chewy bite was such a pleasure to bite into - cheeeeeeewy. Then, as I sank my teeth further into the meaty treasure, I bit into MORE chewy - in the form of the hot salt beef. Chewy in a good way though. It was moist, it was meaty, it was flavourful, and it was oh so chewmazing.

A little zingy zing from the English mustard so generously slathered on and we were set to want more.

And because this chicken bagel cost £1.50, I couldn't resist. While the chicken was literally just that - chicken - it was kinda enjoyable in its own way, too. The taste was clean, uninterrupted, and if you like chicken, you're in for a good bagel.

This was the pastry (1 of 2) that I somehow managed to order in the time between deciding which bagel to have, and actually saying those words out loud. Nothing amazing, but for that price (under £1), what more could you ask for.

How could you walk by and not bagel?

This lil guy looked hungry outside the shop.

Full Stop Bar, 202 Brick Lane, E1 6SA London

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:03:00 +0000

Twitter @fullstopbar if you're that way inclined.

So while the husband and I are exploring the lifestyle of the unemployed - waking at noon, breakfast at lunch, and going out at rush hour (6pm), having lunch at dinner, you know the drill - we've also been diligently trying to get through our London List. This is the list of things we should have done perhaps four years ago when we first moved to London, but because of the lack of time, energy and commitment, somehow they've just gone off the radar.

Not anymore, though. The list is now back in action and we're working our way through it.

After forcing ourselves out of the flat around 1pm, we decided to make our way towards Brick Lane.

A bit of background here, if you may. My husband used to go to Pete's cafe everyday while it was located at Church Street Market near Marylebone (when it was called Indie Coffee). This is the same husband who, until about 5 months ago, hated coffee like I hate commuter crowds. He didn't like the smell of the beans, the taste of the liquid, and pretty much hated anything to do with coffee. Then, succumbing perhaps to some peer pressure (busy people having busy coffee), he decided to try a bit of the wonderful stuff. It wasn't love at first gulp, and after a few persistent months of Flat Whites, he got hooked.

He began to like coffee, and most of all, grew to enjoy the little chats he had with the guy who ran the stall. So, it was without question that when this guy then opened up his new coffee shop in Brick Lane, that we'd go check it out before we left London.

Full Stop Bar is the shop in question - located on Brick Lane, handily opposite the road from the famous Brick Lane Beigel Bake (a place which would've made me very fat had I worked / lived / commuted past it on a daily basis).

The outside of the shop still says Antiques on the board, so you could easily walk past it thinking the chairs and tables by the window were for sale. They're probably not. What they were, though, however, were very comfy places for us to perch our bums on while we had our excellent coffee and more than excellent brownie (more on that later).

I ordered a White Americano as I just couldn't justify having that much milk so early on in the day (my daily Starbucks Soy Latte was calling for me). While it was smooth and definitely one of the best Americanos I've had, it was no match for the ...

... Flat White.

This is by far one of the nicest Flat Whites in London. We've been to quite a few coffee places in London, but this stands out from the rest. Guess it helps that we like the guy who makes it, too, but that aside, Full Stop Bar actually has comfy chairs for us to sit in. The other places we've been to in London have usually been the type of crowded, small and cramped places where you'd have to scoot by in a certain sideway fashion to get to your seat, while then balancing your cuppa on the WiFi-enabled laptop that came as an accessory.

Helps too that their brownies are softchewilicious. Crumbawumba. Chockawocka. Get your hands off it.