b.r.b.

I know you people have been checking on us (yes, the statcounter does not lie. we even know who you are ;) )

You're probably wondering why we haven't posted in a week since we are so fond of posting 3,4 times a day (that's how much we eat). Well, the truth is, when exams beckon, Sheryl has to study, or at least try to.

And we all know how Sharon is lazy.

Nevertheless, stay tuned. New posts will come up soon enough in say, 2 more weeks? (Or sooner if Sharon gets active.)

Cheers.

hooked II

Did we not say previoulsy that we were hooked on Hooked?

For a number of reasons, Sheryl and I found ourselves back at Hooked for lunch last weekend. Well, truth be told, we didn't plan on coming back here quite so soon. Neither was this place our first choice for lunch.

Reason 1: We both had a busy morning and could only do lunch at 2. By this time, all the places we had intended to visit were just about rounding up their lunchtime orders.
Reason 2: We were near the area and didn't want to travel too far for lunch.
Reason 3: We had originally wanted to go to Sushi Tei at Thomson Plaza but were instantly repelled from the shopping centre by the LONG line of cars waiting to enter the carpark. (Why is there ALWAYS a queue to enter the carpark on weekends? Always. No matter what time in the day you go, there's a queue. And when it's raining outside? Oh man, don't even get me started on that) Being at the mercy of the few good restaurants located in the area, Hooked thus presented itself as a viable alternative.
Reason 4: We didn't want something too heavy as a late lunch would mean we would still probably be filled by dinner and, being the foodies that we are, we weren't about to let anything mess with our dinner. (Yes, we make it a point to have 3 meals a day, no matter wat. Having more is always welcomed. But 3 at the minimun. No two ways about it)
Reason 5 (and perhaps the most poignant one): We were hungry and needed to fill our stomachs. Pronto.

So Hooked it was to be again.

As with our previous visit, the restautant was quite empty when we got there. Worryingly so actually. Save for two other tables and us, there were no other patrons for the entire time we were there. Then again, it could also be because it was rather late to be having lunch. Quite a few groups of people walked past the restaurant though, but they merely gleamed through the menu, and left.Why people? Why? Does the menu not interest you?! Come on! it has over 100 items! Surely you can find something that catches your eye? Hell, I don't even like fish and I already know what I'm having my next visit there. Aye, next time, just go in. I promise you you won't be disappointed.

Again, we had a tough time deciding what to order. Everything on the menu looked so good, we wanted to try everything. That was when I had an epiphany (or rather when I just got greedy). Why not order a combo? That way, we would get to sample a little of everything. Closest thing to ordering everything on the menu we could get, I say. And so we did just that. Lover's platter for two. Steamed snapper with asaparagus, grilled half-shell scallops, baked squid, grilled prawns, fries. Call me greedy but I had expected the plate to come teeming with glorious seafood. But by golly, look at the white expense of the platter! (Think the seafood platter for two at Fish & Co and this serving seems like it was meant for 1. Ok, 1.5 people at most.)

No I'm serious about this. Someone (else) should tell them to increase the size of their portions.

The baked squid was adequately prepared. Slightly firm to the bite but not overbaked till the point where it became rubbery. It came with a mayo-like dressing which I thought added a pleasant dimension of flavor to an otherwise uninspiring dish. Maybe it's because I prefer my squid grilled, slightly charred around around the edges and boasting of smokey flavor. Sheryl didn't take to this dish as readily though as she's never been a "mayo-groupie".

Next was the steamed snapper. The steamed snapper was served steaming hot. It was a bit tough but snappers are tougher fish. I quite liked this dish, the broth(?) was delightfully tasty. Infused with the succulence of seafood and laced with a tinge of lemon, this broth was light and invigorating and reminiscent of homemade goodness. The taste was clean and brisk, keenly sapid yet not overbearing. This went particularly well with the rice pilaf that we ordered, although the rice pilaf is a far far far cry from the one at Canopy.

The prawns were, in my opinion, the best offering on the platter (I think Sheryl would contend this though. I have a feeling she prefered the fish). Albeit being a little on the small side, the prawns were firm to the bite and blanketed in a delicious creamy sauce. The sauce actually tasted like ba-hu to me, a mixture of savoury and sweet. The combination was strikingly successful and was a bit reminiscent of lobster mentai for me, except with the added taste of pork floss.

The baked scallops were a let-down. For starters, they were overbaked. As a result, the shellfish had atrophied and became really tough to the bite. Sheryl literally had to pry the scallop from its shell. The butter sauce used to flavor this dish teetered on the overbearing side which I felt took away from the natural sweetness of the shellfish. They offer this as a starter too but my vote would be to give this a miss and try the salmon wonder rolls instead.

Hooked! Leaving second time satisfied and awaiting our 3rd visit there. Hmm, sometime next week perhaps, Sheryl? Anyone wanna join us? !

Hooked!
203 Upper Thomson Road

Yan Kee aka BK Eating House

When people talk about BK Eating House, they refer to this fishball noodles stall. It's like Yan Kee and BK Eating House are synonymous. They have no identity outside of each other.

Go around and ask "eh you know the Yan Kee fishball noodles?" I promise you, most people will say "don't know." If, however, you ask "eh you know the BK Eating House fishball noodles?" Chances are people will go "yar yar yar, that one." Try it!

Well, Sharon and I are a bit queer. We know it as the "Circular Road fishball noodles." We first went there to try their dry mee sua. I love mee sua. But that's a different story. Anyhow, we weren't very impressed by it. I prefer the authentic mee sua in soup. What struck us though, was the fishball. The fishball here is quite 'tok-kong'.

Bak Chor Mee (mee pok tar). The pork was tender but no way as tender as Meng Kitchen. It also came with only ONE slice of mushroom. ONE. And ONE mandatory leaf. Might as well don't give right?

Another thing about this place is that I think they think vinegar is very expensive. You can hardly taste any vinegar in this at all. I like my mee pok to be laced with a tinge of vinegar, that baffling acetous twang that whets your appetite and keeps you wanting more and more.

That said, the sauce was still commendable. Definitely above average. Just not shiokalicious.

The noodles were slightly limp, but as usual, because we let it sit for too long. Nonetheless, this bak chor mee is definitely better than Singapore's average bowl.


I had the fishball noodles (mee kia) The mee kia was very good. I liked it a lot. It was 'hou-Q-ah', springy with a bite. Loved it.

The fishballs were as usual, fantastic. This was what we came here for anyway. The fishballs are, according to the stall, "special handmade fishballs". Very very springy, with a high fish:flour ratio. Only thing is that they are very big and I don't really like big fishballs. I like them bite-sized, don't know why.

I remember liking the East Coast 132 mee poh kueh teow mee fishballs very much. I should go back and try them again, to see which fishball I prefer, that or the Yan Kee one.

Yan Kee

Boat Quay BK Eating House

21 South Bridge Road

udders - a new porn star is born!

I knew that title would capture your attention. But the porn star is not u.d.d.e.r.s. That word just cannot be linked with porn. Even if it is associated with breasts. (If, however, you find udders porn material, well, what can I say? Whatever rocks your bed, I mean boat.)

We've always passed by this U.d.d.e.r.s. but we've never actually tried it. Then Dewi tells me that U.d.d.e.r.s has the best ice-cream in Singapore and insists that I try it. So off we went, in search of the best ice-cream Singapore has to offer.

When we were there, we started to think, "how can we make the ice-cream look as tempting as possible?" You see, Sharon and I are really into porn, food porn that is. And of course we would like to create some porn of our own (food porn ah! naughty you). However, as you can tell, our photography skills are not very up to scratch and our photos are really embarrassing at times.

We then found out to our dismay that just a plain picture of an ice-cream cone is not very exciting at all. Imagine, we already have a lousy camera, lousy photography skills. Now we have a lousy subject!

We put on our thinking hats and started to brainstorm on how to make this ice-cream look inviting. Then I had an epiphany. Why not photograph me eating it? I was positive that this would provide a novel twist on our photographs, if we could capture the raptures of elation that we experienced when we have had something (well, since this is a cheeky post) orgasm-worthy. ;)

Alas, I proved to be very unphotogenic. The photos were complete failures. We decided to change subjects. Why not have Sharon do the honours for us? The result? You won't believe how sexy our photos turned out to be. Check it out. Sharon is an official porn (food porn!) star.

Look at that mint ice-cream melting uncontrollably on her tongue! Look at those colours, the white of her teeth, the pink of her tongue, the red of her plush lips and that mint-green! If we set up a kissing booth to raise funds for charity, we should post this picture. The queue would extend to JB and back. Any interested soul? ;)

On a side-note, the ice-cream tasted like Colgate to me. (notice how the review becomes the peripheral issue?) It was SO minty. Sharon loved it. I think the first lick was fine, but I definitely cannot stomach an entire cone of pure-mint. You might as well give me the leaf itself to munch on. I can guarantee you'll have kiss-worthy breath after this though. (It doesn't take a genius to guess that Sharon had very kissable breath after that right? Still no takers?)

If you like mint, this is the ice-cream to go for.

I love this shot. The pear sorbet is literally glowing, like a beautiful iridescent pale white pearl.

At first 'lick', the sorbet was not very good. The pear taste was much too subtle. But compared to eating toothpaste, well, let's just say the one-eyed's king in the land of the blind. To be fair though, when the sorbet had melted a little, it tasted a lot better. Somehow the pear's sweet tang was a lot more pronounced and so much sharper in semi-liquid form.

The texture of the sorbet was quite good. They had actual diced pear bits in them. These little pear chips were still firm and crunchy and it was very interesting. The granular texture of the sorbet also imitated the beady disposition of the pear nicely.

That said, if you're looking for first-rate, this is definitely not it.

(Sharon sampled the mango and the soursop sorbets too. She says that the suggestion of soursop is even more imperceptible than the pear. She thinks the mango is the best)

I was expecting a lot more from this place, after all, Dewi had said it was better than Island Creamery, The Daily Scoop etc. But it's probably our own fault because U.d.d.e.r.s. is famous for their liquored ice-cream, which we did not try because well, we are members of A.A. and we didn't think it wise to jeopardise our recovery. (of course not. we're just really guai girls who dislike the taste of alcohol. We never get drunk, never get into drunk-escapade-trouble.)

U.d.d.e.r.s. Ice-Cream

Goldhill Centre

155 Thomson Road

p/s- Sharon would like to clarify that she is not really a porn star. She is the next bright star in the financial sector.

first thai

Sharon's colleague Christine introduced her to this Thai restaurant and she swears by it. Being the crazy foodies we are, we wasted no time checking this place out. I've been wanting to go to a proper authentic Thai restaurant to flaunt my Thai abilities after taking a course in Thai. (Alas, I've forgotten the most part of it)

First Thai Food turned out to be situated in an old-school coffeeshop setting. It seemed very promising and I immediately conjured up thoughts of authentic piping hot tom yum soup in cheapo metal bowls. There's a certain rustic charm about these coffee-shops that I cannot resist.

Parking is a problem if you are driving, because there are only limited PARALLEL parking lots. (It's a big problem for me la ok.)

The menu, which is a bit unsettling for me. I'm guessing it's a thai girl there. But she looks nothing like a Thai. in fact, I think she looks almost Indian. I think it's the huge huge eyes.

Mango salad. We ordered it "phet maak dai mai" which means literally means "very spicy, can or not?" (I told you I need to show off a bit right?) Well phet (spicy) it was. Not crazily spicy but with a very satisfactory kick to it. The mangoes were very fresh, and just unripe so they were still very firm and crunchy. Somehow, they weren't very sour as I find mango salads are wont to be. The zest was just right. We were very impressed by this unassuming dish. Very good.


We had a crabmeat fried rice. This was amazing. The crabmeat was sweet and succulent; they were generous with their serving, the rice was perfectly dry and fluffy and individually encased in that adored wok-hei. After the mango salad and this, I couldn't wait for what was coming up!

The tom yum was great. They were so generous with the ingredients that the soup was cloudy with the precipitate. I've never had clear tomyum made murky like this before. The bowl was literally overflowing with ingredients. Very very good.

The soup tasted great. It was very authentic, with that sour-sweet-spicy thing down pat. We spotted occasional chicken pieces (treasure!!) and the chicken was oh-so-soft. The prawns however, were not very fresh. Other than that, it was good.

Chicken fried with cashew nuts. I did not like this. There were more cashew nuts than chicken. More chicken skin than chicken meat. In short, where's the chicken?! It was also way too salty for my liking. I felt like I was chewing on deep fried chicken skin doused in gravy.

The hotplate tofu did not taste very Thai and we were disappointed with this too. I thought it was very average and Sharon thought it was too salty.

There were more hits than misses. I would say this is a good place for some-what authentic Thai food although I think that it is slightly overrated. There must be a better Thai restaurant waiting to be discovered. That's why we call our blog next-stop-ambrosia right?

First Thai Food
23 Purvis Street

Bobby's

We had wanted to check out the new restaurants at Cuppage Terrace and found ourselves in Bobby's. There is quite a story behind Bobby's as we later found out from the Manager, Desmond, who turned out to be quite a character. (If you do make a trip there, be sure to steal a conversation with him. You wil be thoroughly entertained)

Well, rumour has it that Bobby's was originally known as Bobby Rubino's, the restaurant at Chijmes. It was set up and owned by a Canadian couple who got into trouble with the law and sold the business off to an enterprising lady in the finance industry named Susan. She chose a new name for a restaurant, hired a new team, launched a new menu and Wala! Bobby's was born.

Yeap. I hear you. AS IF it were that easy right? Well, seems easy enough that Bobby's just set up its second branch at Cuppage Terrace.

The first thing that struck Sheryl and I when we entered the restaurant was how discordant everything seemed to be. From the zebra-print couches, to the plasma TV showing ESPN to the piped-in hip hop music, everything about the restaurant screamed incongruous. "Think of this restaurant as an American restaurant with an African beat" was what we were told by Desmond.

Uhm, ok Desmond, whatever floats your boat. I guess sometimes incongruity can be lost by novelty-seekers? Perhaps others would like the feel of this retaurant. But us? not so much. Give me either Africa or America. I don't understand the concept of an African-America. Or an American-Africa for that matter.

Moving on to serious business, the menu. Don't expect any surprises here. Yes, the menu is rather extensive. Yes, some of the food do sound appetising. But if its eye-catching, attention-grabbing, EAT-ME-NOW kind of food you're after, Bobby's is not the place for you. Bobby's offers standard American fare. We're talking Pizza, Pasta, Burgers and Grills here.

Bobby's is having a discount for lunch-goers. Order a main course between 12noon - 3pm and get a Caesar salad and dessert on the house! We had 2 of their signature dishes; ribs and the beef burger. Unfortunately, the beef burger did not qualify as a main and did not come with the promotion. This, as we later found out, was to be a good thing. Be warned that the servings here are huge. For a moment there, I felt like Gulliver in Brobdingnag.

The Caesar Salad, pressumably. I don't know about you but this did not look like a Caesar Salad to us. It was more like a garden salad served with some random tasting dressing that they tried to pass off as Caesar. Oh not that it was bad or anything. It was passable. Just definitely not Casesar dressing. So more like a Garden Salad served with a dressing that tasted remotely like Caesar. Need I say more about the incongruity of this place?Next up, the ribs. Mind you, this is the smallest order of ribs they offer. The menu reads "the lighter appetite". I'm not sure I want to know how big "the steel city rack" would be. These ribs were succulent and finger-licking good. I appreciated that the BBQ sauce wasn't too overbearing that it took away from the taste of the ribs. That said, I've had better and I felt that the ribs were a bit tough and did not fall off the bone. The coleslaw served with the ribs was forgettable too. The cabbage was limp and lifeless, as if it had been soaking in the slaw dressing for far too long. I've had better- at KFC.

Sheryl had the beef burger. We had asked for it to be medium-rare but it came more like well-done. No blood! No sweet blood! Nonetheless, the patty was juicy and flavourful. It was rather decent. It was supposed to come with Swiss Cheese but came with a disappointing thin slice of Kraft Cheddar Cheese look-a-like, taste-a-like. It wasn't even melted properly and it lacked that glorious cheese-in-every-nook-and-cranny, stretchy, gooey, wonderful cheesy thing. In fact, I thought that the amount of cheese was too pathetic and was completely lost in that gigantic patty.

The apple pie was great. The apples were not cooked till they were mushy but instead retained that firmness and crunch. It was not sickeningly sweet either and was in fact all rather tart. It looked more like a mini-chicken-pie, the size of a tart, that you can get at Delifrance. In fact, it tastes like that too. The pastry was commendable. Very buttery and nicely browned. I'm just not sure I would come back to Bobby's just for it.

Bobby's. Definitely a place to go if you're into food sharing. Or if you have one helluva appetite. But, with the myraid of options diners have at the revamped Cuppage Terrace, its easy to overlook this restaurant in favor of the other, more unique, ones.

P.S We didn't take many photos this round as we got stopped by Desmond who told us that they had a 'no food photography' policy lest other restaurants follow their recipes, presentation etc. This I don't understand. How can you copy a recipe from a photo? And seriously now, how many different ways are there to plate a burger or ribs?

Announcement

Hello Friends (and random pple who just happen to chance upon our blog. BUT all are welcome),

Our apologies to those of you who have come to our blog in the hopes of seeing an updated post but are leaving disappointed. (Oh, we know who you are). Sheryl has been busy with work; Shally doesn't even have a gmail account and does not know how to post; and Sharon has been, well, Sharon IS lazy (Read: October 23rd's post on Sun Moulin).

Nevertheless, thanks for supporting our blog. Thanks to those who've linked us to their blog, tagged on ours as well as those who've been sending us emails. Check back in with us later today and we should have a new review posted. In the meantime, keep those emails coming! Remember that you can request for us to review anywhere and we'll do our best to accomodate your request.

Cheers, from all of us.