Jos Loves Food

Rocky Master (Biopolis)

2012-01-29T22:10:00.000+08:00

8 Biomedical Grove
#01-11-13/15-16
Neuros Singapore 138665
Tel: 6464 2082

What's for lunch? Rocky Master is one of those sandwich joints. The gourmet iced chocolate is something to shout about. If you have not tried it, I strongly recommend that you give it a try. It is very different from other iced chocolate from other cafes including starbucks, CBTL.

Since it was lunch, I decided to try their mushroom soup and curry potty pie. The mushroom soup was surprising thick and filled with small bits of minced mushroom. Good value. However, the potty pie was obviously a frozen pie, heated up in microwave oven. Forget about ordering the pie. It was a disappointment =(

Dessert Indulgence at Brunetti

2012-01-29T00:46:00.002+08:00

Brunetti Singapore

163 Tanglin Road

01 - 35 Tanglin Mall

Singapore 237993

Telephone: +65 6733 9088

The dessert was surprising crowded on a working weekday with customers who are students, business executives and tourist. Tanglin Mall isn't a very convenient location, being quite a distance from the MRT station, yet this manages to draw an impressive crowd.

I suppose the reason behind this might be the wide range of beverages. Besides the usual coffee and tea, beer is also available from this dessert bar. But, I think the biggest draw is the range of desserts that look so irresistable. Pretty-looking cakes, cute pastries, drooling chocolates/pralines, gelato that comes in usual (chocolate, tiramisu, macha) and un-usual (hazelnut, caramel) flavours. The experience seems incomplete, if you walk out of the dessert bar without a taste of their gelato. But if you already had more than you should, perhaps just ask for some sampling and hopefully, that satisfied your curiosity and craving about the gelato.

Chili's Restaurant

2012-01-28T20:42:00.000+08:00

Chili's Restaurant
#02-23 Tanglin Mall, 163 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247933

Operating hours :
Sun - Thurs : 11:30 am - 10:00 pm
Fri - Sat : 11:30 am - 11:00 pm
Tel : +65 6733-3317

Website: http://chilis.sg/default.html

Chili's has been in Singapore for the longest time, at Tanglin Mall. In the recent years, they opened a second restaurant at Resort World Sentosa. For their years of existence in Singapore, I've never had the chance to try their food until last November.

It was a lunch set meal - Monterey Chicken with baked potato soup. The chicken steak, which is a marinated and grilled chicken breast in BBQ sauce was tender and juicy. It was served together with smoked bacon, cheese and tomato cubes. The freshness of the tomato cubes took the "jer lat-ness" away from the fried stuff.

Had to say that the baked potato soup was totally unique and delicious. The soup may be too thick for some but I love it perfectly.

Next is the tostada chips. The warm and crispy chips is something that you should not miss. The salsa sauce is heavenly.... infinitely better than those you can from supermarket. Try it!

CNY 2012 - Pineapple Tarts from Bakery Hearts

2012-01-21T01:53:00.001+08:00

What's your favourite pineapple tart for CNY 2012? My pick for this year is Pineapple Tarts from Bakery Hearts. $16 for a bottle.... the price is very reasonable, isn't it? Furthermore, it is food for a good cause during this festive season! Quality of the pineapple tart is actually quite good! Not too sweet, not too jerlat.

Just what is Bakery Hearts?

Bakery Hearts is a project organised by The Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centres. It hopes to provide women from low-income families with numerous young children or have difficulties getting employment, the opportunity to supplement their household income. Through the project, the women are equipped with baking and social skills which prepares them to rejoin the workforce.

Bakery Hearts taps on community resources such as Teck Ghee Community Centre, CS CDC funding and volunteers to make it possible for these dedicated women to bake and for childminding to be arranged for their children.

Please support Bakery Hearts and give hope to the women who are working hard to provide a better life for their children and family. Visit their FB page at https://www.facebook.com/bakeryhearts.amkfsc

Eggless Love Letter from Yes Natural

2012-01-21T01:05:00.003+08:00

有蛋跟没蛋的蛋卷有差吗？答案是没有。。。Bought from Chinese New Year fest at Taka. $12.80 per bottle with over 70 pieces.

Name of shop: Yes Natural (www.yesnatural.biz)

Lo Hei

2012-01-21T00:41:00.004+08:00

It's the time of the year again... to Lo Hei! 捞啊。。。捞个风声水起啊！I've heard that the dish Yu Sheng originates from Singapore. Yes, unbelieveable, right?

What do you like best about the dish? The shredded vegetable, the raw fish, or the crackers? Me loves the crackers... love the crispiness and best of all, it is called 黄金满地 which can literally be translated into "land full of gold"!

I've just head my first Yu Sheng yesterday... certainly don't mind if there are more to come =)

Ya Kun (Kaya Butter Cracker)

2012-01-03T01:44:00.000+08:00

Life can be just as simple as kaya and butter with toasted crackers. The crunchy crackers tasted extremely good with the thick slab of melting butter in between. That's the type of simple pleasures that our parents and grandparents had experienced when life was so much simpler and unsophisticated. Highly recommend that you try this during breakfast or afternoon, if you haven done so at Ya Kun. $1.60 for this set of crackers.

Nam Heng Restaurant

2012-01-02T02:34:00.000+08:00

The coffeeshop, located at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Simon Road has moved to a new location - 965 Upper Serangoon Road, accordinly to ieatishootipost forum. The coffeeshop is popular for its grilled chicken wings, satay, carrot cake, oyster omelette, ngoh hiang etc all under 1 roof.

(source: ieatishootipost)

What's left at the old site is only these....pathetic....

Anyway, I hope to check out the new location soon....

Delcie's Desserts (Mud Fudge Cake)

2012-01-01T01:54:00.000+08:00

I have been wanting to try the cakes and cookies from Delcie's Desserts for a loooong time. The opportunity finally came when Groupon was selling a coupon - $25 for $60 worth of cakes or desserts. The cakes from Delcie's aren't cheap, minimally $50+ for a small cake. This is because organic ingredients aren't cheap. More than 85% of the ingredients used are organic, according to the baker herself.

The Groupon coupon expired end of last year (which was like yesterday, haha) and I decided to use it to get a cake for a gathering which came up. Since the Mud Fudge cake was a popular one among the customers, I decided to give it a try. Here it is!

It came with thick layer of real chocolate (not cocoa). Besides being organic, the cake was baked egg-free, gluten-free and dairy-free. How will such a cake taste like? It was suprisely pretty sweet, the real chocolate was really good. Perhaps the best way to eat it is to heat up in microwave for 10 secs so that the chocolate will melt and the cake is warm. And there, you get a warm chocolate cake! Other than that, if you're someone who needs a cake to have butter taste, then sorry, I think it is not for you then.

The price for this cake was $70. =) The shop has moved to Upper Serangoon Road since Nov 2011. It is about 5 to 7 mins walk from Kovan MRT station, opposite Heartland Mall.

Since CNY is just around the corner, they have also started selling healthy CNY cookies. Tried some of the cookies while I was there to collect the cake, my personal favourite is the cashew cookies. Very fragrant cashew taste with cookies with the right crunchiness. The cookies aren't cheap either - $28 to $30+ per bottle. But for the reason of good health, it may be worth the investement =P

Delcie's Desserts

http://www.delciesdesserts.com/

Tel: 9789 2309 | 62822 951
(call between 11am-8pm, Tue-Sun)

Email: order@DelciesDesserts.com

951 Upper Serangoon Road (5 mins walk from Kovan MRT)
Singapore 534714

Tue-Sun, 11am-8pm
Close on Monday

Christmas Cookies by The Icing Room

2011-12-26T00:13:00.002+08:00

Comes in a pretty pink box, the cookies are too pretty to be eaten. Taste wise, it tastes like any regular cookies, a taste that you may forget the next day. What stays in your memory would only the pretty shapes and decorations on the cookies :)

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie

2011-12-23T00:35:00.000+08:00

Paragon Shopping Centre

290 Orchard Road #B1-K8 Singapore 238859
Telephone (65) 6733-8893 Facsimile (65) 6733-8896

Opening Hours
Mondays to Sundays : 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thanks to the UOB Christmas 2011 Charge and Redeem programme, I managed to qualify myself for this promotion. Collected this cake from the Paragon (B1) branch.

The outer layer is a thick chocolate mousse. Inside the cake, there is a layer of chestnut cream and sponge cake. Between these 2 layers, it is filled with lychee mousse and pieces of fresh lychee! The chocolate mousse is extremely smooth. You may even taste a tint of bitterness because it uses dark chocolate for its mousse.

More High Tea Recommendation

2011-05-14T10:12:00.000+08:00

Saw this post on inSing.com. Most of restaurants named are already quite familiar with many and need not much introduction....

http://food.insing.com/feature/5-best-high-tea-buffets/id-69843600

Si Chuan Dou Hua (Raffles Place)

2011-01-22T23:36:00.000+08:00

Nothing beats having a good meal. We've recently discovered a few more delicious dishes at Si Chuan Dou Hua. Having been dining there for years and still impressed by their standard, this is certainly a place to go for interesting and delicious (but not cheap) food.

Baked Butter Cod - Cod fish has been deep-fried before topping with baked butter, mixed with chilli padi and curry leaves. Minimum order of 2 slices is needed. Each slice costs $12.

Crispy Rice Bubble with Beancurd (锅粑豆腐）- I was expecting to eat burnt rice but it turned out that crispy rice (unburnt) was served instead. The crispy rice was served in a separate bowl to keep it crispy. Add the rice to the tofu dishes (a little similar to sour & spicy soup although it is much milder version). If you like it, eat the crispy rice by itself, and you will discover that it is a very delicious piece of food on its own... $18 for the tofu + the crispy rice.

Kim Joo Guan Bak Kwa

2011-01-22T22:35:00.002+08:00

I did not know about this shop call Kim Joo Guan until a few days ago when I was shopping at Taka Atrium and sampling the new year goodies. Besides Bee Cheng Hiang, the other bak Kwa shops aren't that agressive to set up stalls at CNY fairs.

I was hoping to get some sample from this stall, but unfortunately, there was no sampling. I was ignorant and did not know that this is the shop that supplies bak kwa to Lim Chee Guan. Which Singapore does not know Lim Chee Guan? They are always in the news for the long queue outside their shop at Chinatown during CNY season. And so I thought "Wow... then Kim Joo Guan's bak kwa must be quite good". My curousity was further aroused when a guy, who already bought 5 packets (1kg each) of bak kwa, asked if he could "tong bang" me. This was because the stall has limited purchase of 5kg for each customer. Each kg costs $45 now. And I heard that the limit will be changed to 3kg per cutomers and $48/kg from 24 Jan... Pre-order of bak kwa has closed since 14 Jan =(

While I was still a little undecided, a large part of me was instigating me to buy a pack to try. But I know 1kg was a little too much for me. But the 1/2kg packs will only be available in the evenings at 5pm/6pm. Well, for me to rush down just to get a 1/2 kg pack, and still run the risk of it being sold out by the time I am there, I thought it was quite a good deal.

The salesgirl was reminding that mine would be last 1kg pack left for the day (at 12noon)... out of kiasuism, I bought it...

Packaging was already done, in a nice gold colour box. And to think that I had bought something which I never sample and see (cos already pre-packed), I must be quite out of my mind. It had better not disappoint me.

I did some surfing about Kim Joo Guan there after, and realised that Dr Leslie Tay has good reviews about their bak kwa. I was a little relieve. And first thing I did when I got home in the evening was to unpack and try it.

The nice fragrant was released from the packing and the nicely BBQ bak kwa looks very appetising. Personally, I hate thick and hard bak kwas. KJG's bak kwa wasn't that thick and quite tender. It was sweet and juicy at the same time too. I finished 1 piece within the next 15 minutes (and with much satisfaction). Like it, like it, like it! Haha!

Buttermilk Waffle @ Coffee Club

2011-01-09T21:15:00.001+08:00

Good Morning! breakfast set from Coffee Club @ Tiong Bahru Plaza. Took me a while to decide from the menu with about 10 choices. Finally, I decided to try the Buttermilk Waffle. The breakfast set came with a complimentary coffee or tea.

A set of 3 waffles was served about 10mins later. I was initially a little disappointed that the waffles were not piping hot when served. I like hot waffles because it gives the impression that it was freshly made... =P

The waffles was sprinkled lightly with icing sugar and doused with maple syrup. It came with a small pot of blueberry jam and unsalted SCS butter (not in photo). The waffles was soft but a little dry. I always like to taste food in its original taste before adding other stuff. The plain waffles was.... really plain. But as soon as I spread the SCS butter on it, the waffle became much delicious compared to when it was just a plain piece of waffle!! It was also great when i dipped it lightly into the jam.

At $7.90 (before taxes), the breakfast set was "expensive" compared to other breakfast I could get from Tiong Bahru Plaza - Ya Kun or Mac or Toast Box. However, because of its "atas-ness", the cafe was one of the quieter place to munch away your breakfast, and relax yourself with some light jazz music... on a Sunday morning.

Laksa @ Ghim Moh Market

2011-01-09T02:12:00.000+08:00

I am lucky, yet at the same time unlucky to have a stall selling delicious curry laksa near my workplace @ Ghim Moh Market (Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road). Lucky to be able to enjoy a bowl of delicious laksa with thick flavourful gravy. I hate laksa gravy that is diluted, masked behind the notion of it being healthy. I say, it is healthy as long as I exclude hum (cockles) =P

Since tou geh isn't my favourable at all, that is always excluded as well. Without both, this laksa can still taste very appetising with the thick bee hoon, tou pok and fish cake and sambal chilli (err, I think there is no prawn in it). Bottomline is - the success factor depends on the quality of laksa gravy. Delicious gravies will be thick, savoury yet a taste of sweetness in it. Yummy! Check it out!

Because of the popularity of their laksa, it is usually sold out by noon time. So, do be early if you're making a special trip down to Ghim Moh just to try the laksa. By the way, there are 2 stalls selling laksa in Ghim Moh Market. The core business for this stall is hotpot noodles (小碗面)... yet their laksa is more popular than the Katong Laksa stall in the hawker centres. What an irony. Haha!

驿站 (Yi Zhan) again.... [Shop has Closed]

2011-01-03T22:38:00.001+08:00

My second visit to 驿站 within a month. This time round, what caught my eyes was the 鲁肉饭 (Stewed Pork Rice). The white rice has been covered by the fragrant stewed pork and gravy. The 2 yellow pieces are pickles.

Felt a little sinful after finishing most of the stewed pork as half of it are fatty meat =P Washing down the rice and the pork is a bowl of clear vegetable soup. Yummy dinner!

Honeymoon Dessert (满记甜品)

2011-01-02T21:11:00.001+08:00

Honeymoon Dessert has arrived in Singapore in 2010 but I did not have a chance to try it until months later. The Singapore outlets can be found at Vivocity (#01-93), Bugis Junction (#01-70) and 313@Somerset (#04-20 and #04-32).

The outlets' facet are similar to those at Hong Kong... Big brown signage at the entrance and cosy interior and yellow dessert bowls. This dessert has come a long way since it started in 1995 at Sai Kung district in Hong Kong. It has now expanded to mainland China, Indonesia and now Singapore.

Desserts ranges from cold to hot variations. Mango, durian, sago, black glutinous rice are some of the main ingredients. My favourite so far has been the Thai Black Glutinous Rice with Mango (Coconut Juice). In fact, the best part of this dessert is the coconut juice, a light fragrant drink with vanilla taste. The glutinous rice was "crunchy" and not over-cooked. However, the mango was a little sour. Would have been perfect if it was sweeter =)

Since I'm spoilt for choice, would definitely be back to try the other desserts, especially the Mango Pomelo and Sago Sweet Soup with Ice Cream (雪山杨枝甘露) which is the most popular dessert accordingly to the shop.

MOF (Ministry of Food)

2011-01-02T19:46:00.001+08:00

You can find green tea latte at Starbucks, you can find green tea gelato at Haato (and at many other Japanese ice cream outlets). But, have you tried combining both in a beverage?

This is truly my preferred combination - green tea latte and green tea gelato =) *drool* Has anyone tried this combi at other places, besides MOF??

驿站 (Yi Zhan) [Shop has Closed]

2011-01-02T18:56:00.000+08:00

Was shopping around Tanjong Pagar MRT xchange one day and chance upon this Taiwanese food cafe 驿站. It is located at basement 1 in the station and next to The Soup Spoon.

Decided to give it a try since I just missed the Taiwan Food Fair =( Apart from their regular menu, there are also a few other chef's recommendation on their standee banner. Although I can't say that the dish that I ordered was really authentic Taiwanese food, I fell in love with it afterall. It is 奶油鱼柳套餐 (Butter Fish Fillet set meal). It comes with sauteed long bean veggies, potato wedges and rice! Oh well, by the time i finish the fish, veggies and wedges, tummy definitely has very little room left for the white rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds =(

The best part of this dish is none other than the butter sauce. It is buttery (that goes without saying), a little savoury, a little sweet and extremely fragrant. Could they have added curry leaves? Sounds a little weird but the dish suits me perfectly well!! I am also suspecting that the batter used for the fish fillet contains some secret ingredients.

But calories wise.... I think it is best to ignore it for the time being.

Since this is located at Tanjong Pagar, the office crowd wasn't there even at 7pm. Suspect that they either are rushing home for dinner or still hard at work. That makes it a good place to eat and relax, with a cup of chinese tea after the main course. =)

CNY 2011 - Pineapple Tarts

2011-01-02T18:32:00.001+08:00

What's your favourite CNY cookies? I've placed order for pineapple tarts, chocolate chips and almond cookies at Joyus Pastries (located at Tanjong Pagar MRT xchange) and collecting it at end Jan. The pineapple tarts is $19 per tub and for the rest of the cookies, they are priced at $11 per tub (CNY price).

What are you planning to get for CNY 2011? Do share...

Claypot Sausage Rice

2011-01-01T17:07:00.004+08:00

My first attempt in cooking Claypot Sausage Rice. This is a relatively easy dish to prepare. However, just like preparing many other dishes, the most amount of time is spent in cutting the ingredients =P

Ingredients:

- Cooked Rice (portion for 2 persons)
- 1 piece of chinese sausage (lup cheong)
- 150g of chicken breast meat
- 1 piece of chinese dried mushroom
- 1/3 piece of carrot

Marinade:
- 1/2 tablespoon Sweet Sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce
- A few drops of Sesame Oil
- A dash of Pepper

Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken breast meat into cubes. Season it with marinade for 1 hour.
2. Soak the mushroom in hot water for 10mins to soften it. When it is soft, cut into cubes.
3. Slice the chinese sausage into thin slices.
4. Slice the carrots and steam it for 1 minute in microwave oven.

Cooking:
1. Heat up cooked rice in claypot. Add some water to give it moisture
2. When it is heated up, add in chicken and sauage and continue cooking until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
3. Add in carrots.
4. Simmer the rice until carrots turn soft.

During the cooking process, stir the rice often so that it doesn't get burnt.

Kiat Lim Vegetarian

2010-11-07T15:18:00.001+08:00

Looking for restaurant-standard vegetarian food (zichar), yet unwilling to burn a hole in your pocket? Check out Kiat Lim Vegetarian stall located at Blk 728, Ang Mo Kio Ave. 6, Coffee City Coffeeshop. Tel: 9693.2138.

During peak days ie. 1st and 15th day of every lunar month, expect the queue to be long (perhaps waiting up to 30 minutes) and claypot dishes will not be available. Those are dishes that take longer to cook. But then, there are a lot more dishes which you can try out.

Claypot Bee Hoon （沙煲米粉） comes with lots of ingredients (cabbage, yam, snow pea, cauliflower, carrot, capsicum, black fungus, fried bean curd and mock eat) and costs only $4!!

This is one of my all-time favourite - Hotplate Bean Curd (铁板豆腐). The sizzling hotplate come with 7 square pieces of bean curd and loads of vegetables again. The sweet and spicy black sauce makes the delicious looking dish even more appetising. Costs $7.

One of the chef's special dish - Butter Fried Frog Legs (奶油田鸡）, is indeed good. The battered abalone mushroom were deep-fried before frying in butter gravy. I'm not too certain about the green leaves - which could be curry leaves, added to the fragrance. The very slight spiciness from the chilli padi makes it even more outstanding. Costs $8.

In all, I think there are at least 100 dishes available form their menu. Will take a while for me to experiment them all. But next on my list shall be cereal prawn, sambal fish, yi mian and mee goreng! Stay tune for more updates!

Soft Shell Crab Tsukemen @ Ajisen

2010-08-08T12:19:00.004+08:00

Ajisen has recently launched Tsukemen, a type of Japanese noodle similar to ramen but the noodles are served dry with the ingradients (in this case, with soft shell crab). There is a separate bowl of soup, which we are supposed to dip the noodles. The soup is made from seafood/pork broth which appeared to be a little salty and oily. For those who prefers their soup to be less salty, just add in some white-coloured soup.

The noodles were a little dry but tasted alright after dipping into the soup. However, the soft shell crab was not as crispy than I'd like it to be. The crab sticks were fresh and juicy, the most satisfying ones I've ever tried.

The ala carte item costs $12. Topping up to $15.80 would give you 1 drink and 1 side-dish such as fried tofu or fried chicken or fried prawn etc. Besides soft shell crab tsukemen, on the menu is also cha shu tsukemen which costs $1 less.

Sandwich Obsession @ Coffee Club

2010-08-07T11:54:00.001+08:00

Coffee Club is having a sandwich promotion now. Selected sandwiches comes with a complimentary smoothie (regular price: $6.90).

I had a Norwegian Catch which comes in layers of warm smoked salmon, sliced eggs and toasted tomato. It comes with a serving of french fries. This sandwich-smoothie combo costs $15.90.

The food finally arrived after a 30-min wait. The Holland Village outlet was terribly short-handed with only 2 service staff. One of service staff was also the barista. At one point, the cafe ran short of culteries and cups for take-away drinks. My colleagues sitting at the cushioned seats were being asked (politely by the service staff) to give way so that they could get cups stored under the seats for our take-away drinks. Under such stress, it was unevitable that the barista made a mistake for one of my colleagues' drinks, but she had to turn down the offer for a change because we had already exceeded our lunch time....