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.

MOF の my izakaya

Here's a little japanese language lesson: the character の (pronounced like a forceful 'no') is what is known in English as a possessive adjective, or rather, it transforms the root word into a posessive adjective. Like watashi means Me, I etc and watashi(no) means My.

eg. Watashiwa Sheryl desu = I am Sheryl.

Watashino namae (name) wa Sheryl desu = My name is Sheryl.

(ignore the desu and wa, take it that they are punctuation)

Therefore, MOF の my izakaya really means MOF's 'my izakaya.' I'm not really sure whether this means that 'My Izakaya' refers to the restaurant and 'MOF' refers to the group (like Tung Lok group) etc. But that's the only way that makes sense to me. And if so, I guess we can expect MOF to come up with restaurants other than My Izakaya.

An Izakaya is a popular japanese drinking place that also serves food much like a bar that sells bar food in our context. So imagine my surprise when My Izakaya is branded as a cafe/restaurant in Singapore. It's supposed to be a watering hole!

Nonetheless, I am very pleased by My Izakaya. Their menu is admittedly limited but offers quite a few interesting dishes. And, the food served is actually quite good.

Mekajiki (swordfish) sashimi.

This was rather good; firm and fresh. However, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

This is the plum rice sushi. It is pretty darn fantastic, if I may say so. I like tamago a lot but I always think tamago sushi is quite 'bo-hua'. So I usually end up ordering unatama maki (unagi+tamago maki) hoping that it will be good. But it never is. Somehow the combi just does not work for me. And it is difficult to find a tamago that is really spectacular and which hits that oomph spot. Yes, the humble tamago is easy to make but it is not easy to perfect it. I think it says a lot about a chef if he pays attention to this simple dish.

The tamago is in, Shally's words, "eggy like eggo pancakes" (though Shally didn't even try it and Sharon doesn't think that eggo pancakes taste eggy. Sheryl doesn't know what to say.)

But in all honesty, the tamago was quite good. It was very sweet and the firmness was just right, just that it lacked a bit of the eggy oomph.

The main thing about this plum rice tamago is not the tamago but the plum rice. Sharon really liked this because the plum rice is not too sour and is super fragrant. Without even putting it in my mouth, I could already smell the plum fragrance. I kept putting it at my nose and sniffing it. A bit unglam. It was an interesting dish; I think the plum kinda whetted our appetites for more food to come. You know, 'kai wei', which literally means 'to open stomachs'.

I love this dish. This is the salmon mango sushi. I expect Hong Kongers especially to love this. Everything in HK is mango-inspired. EVERYTHING. They put it into every plausible dish. They have mango desserts that are super mango-ey. Like mango pudding with mango bits topped with mango syrup and mango sago. These Hong Kongers are crazy over this fruit.

So anyway, I liked this a lot. I thought that the mango made a normally dull dish very refreshing. I liked the sudden burst of sweetness the mango provided as I put it in my mouth. In particular, the sauce that they drizzled over the sushi was delectable. Sharon reckons that it's a mango-mayo sauce. I have no idea but it went with the sushi and that's all that mattered. The sauce, the mango and the muted salmon flavour.. Very nice.

It is definitely not your traditional sushi and I think purists would probably balk at this but I thought this was very unique. I know that Sushi-Tei has a mango-inspired sushi too but I've never tried it so I can't compare. But I do like the version here. Sweet squishy mango with salmon. MMmmm.

What I did not like though, was how much rice there was. I felt that the proportion of rice to salmon/mango was too great and that took away from that wondrous flavour a little.


We ordered a seafood toji set. The seafood toji was forgettable. The gravy was ok, the prawns were fresh, the scallops overdone. It was aight but nothing to shout about. You can get such standards anywhere.
Our seafood toji set came with chicken katsu. It was nicely fried and you can see the salt/pepper seasoning on the chicken. The chicken was very soft too. Other than that, I think I'll pass on this the next time I come here. I have a feeling their mains are not as good as their side dishes.

We had a imo dessert. It came with a card, this is what it said. "The imo series is a marriage between hot and cold desserts. While sweet potato is hot the Hokkaido milk base soft serve ice cream is icy cold. The best way to eat our japanese sweet potato series is to spoon a bit of everything and then eat them together. MOF uses premium Grade A Jap sweet potatoes imported from Japan. It is so sweet we do not add in sugar to it!"

It was goooood. The imo set we ordered came with the soft serve ice-cream, red bean paste, deep fried sweet potato and deep fried yam. It was so good. The ice-cream was reminiscent of McDonald's cone ice-cream. In fact, the one at McDonald's was stronger-tasting; sweeter with more vanilla kick. I quite liked the red bean but Sharon thought it tasted like chinese red bean soup and not japanese an pan. We liked the yam and the sweet potato A LOT but (despite the shortcomings of the red bean paste and the ice-cream) I'm sure it was the combination of everything that created that magic and left us spell-bound.
The sweet potato was mashed but not too finely, so that you can still savour the odd lumps of sweet potato. And the sweet potato was really sweet and full-bodied. It's one of the better Japanese sweet potatoes I have had. It's fried to a nice crisp golden and the crispness and the half-mashed/half-lump creation was quite a marvellous marriage. It was also pretty to look at, like a golden pillow.

The yam is outstanding. It had a very strong yam taste to it. Normal yam desserts out there are quite bland and dull, with merely a whiff of the yam taste. This was not one such dessert. The yam taste was very 'full-on' and potent. It wasn't very sweet, I don't think they added sugar or anything to it, it was just very yam-mish! It did not taste like orh-nee because it was unadulterated by sugar/coconut milk or anything. Just straight up pure yam. It wasn't very smooth and had the same lumpy consistency that made it all the more authentic. Very hard to come by indeed.

The yam is not the "star dish", the sweet potato is supposed to be the selling point. But the yam stole the limelight from the sweet potato in our opinions. This is because good yam stuff are just so hard to come by. And this yam flavour really shone through, even when we ate it with the ice-cream and red bean sauce and all that. The batter was somehow "chewier" according to Sharon.

We liked this dessert so much we ordered it again, this time with black sesame. (No photo) It was even better. The black sesame was very authentic and very pang. We liked this imo series so much we were craving it the next day.

MOF の My Izakaya

Marina Square (Cafe & Restaurant)

6 Raffles Boulevard

#02-128E Center Stage

S(039594)

ji dan zai aka tumour

Whenever I watch TVB dramas I always think to myself how wonderful the food in HK looks. In particular, I wanted to try the curry fishballs and ji dan zai oh-so-badly. (not so much the smelly tofu. they stink way too bad for me to try them.)

When I first went to HK, I told Tina that I wanted to try the ji dan zai. She replied in surprise that Singapore sells these at Plaza Singapura and commented that they look horrible and resemble tumours. That's how we coined the term tumour and that's how this term became synonymous with ji dan zai. Sometimes I even feel like telling the Auntie 'tumour' when she asks me what I want.

I recommended this to Sharon and Sharon is even more in love with Tumour than I am. For the uninitiated, Tumour (or more accurately ji dan zai, which is loosely translated as 'egg boy'), is a sheet of many golf-ballish erm well, balls made from waffle-like batter.

It tastes like the waffles that you buy from Prima Deli (not the belgium waffles) with the kaya/peanut butter/blueberry/chocolate/red bean/whatever spread you can think of. But it's less coconut-milky and more eggy. It's still very fragrant and incredibly tasty. I don't think it's bland at all, even if you can't add a spread to it. It's perfect the way it is. (although I think that the stall sells it in an assortment of other flavours too)

It's very crispy, crunchy almost, especially at the fringe of the sheet, where the batter spreads out thinly. But even the tumours themselves are perfectly crispy on the outside. The inside is slightly hollow and therefore very light. It is also super spongy and dewy, although some tumours at the periphery are just crispy and hollow inside. It is very good.

I just don't understand why no other place sells this. I've never seen it anywhere except in PS. When I was in HK, they sell it everywhere! You'll find a vendor selling this around every nook and corner. It's easy to make too, it's simply a matter of putting the batter into the mould and voila! Tumour!

Ok, so it may not be easy to replicate the perfect HK version but I'm sure even the imitation will be good and can't go very far off. So why not? Singaporeans are so peckish and into snacks; there's no reason why this will not take off in Singapore. It tastes like waffles, is cheap, light and delicious. It tastes very traditional too and has a certain nostalgic ring to it (even though I first ate them last year). I can see many Singaporeans taking it as comfort food because it's a very familiar taste.

There are days when I crave Tumour but I can only find them in PS. I wish more vendors would sell this. It's really good and I believe Singaporeans will love them.

Ji Dan Zai store (beside D'Bun, stall no.2)
Plaza Singapura
Kopitiam Level 6

the canopy@Aramsa

I can't believe it took me this long to come to this gem of a restaurant. It's nestled in the heart of Bishan Park II and so very convenient. I read a few bad reviews of this place online but I've also heard some good stuff about this place from friends who have been here so it was with mixed feelings that I came here. I loved it.

For one, the ambience is amazing. Stashed away from the glaring street lights, shrouded beneath the lush green foliage of the park, all within the vicinity of your own home. From the moment you step out of your car, you're greeted by the warm light that beckons you towards the restaurant. You're in the heartlands but it feels nothing like it.

It's so peaceful and quaint; and not in the least bit pretentious that many restaurants in Singapore are like. Even in the restaurant, people were joking and laughing merrily, clinking of glasses and hearty guffaws could be heard from tables all around us. It was very comfortable and yet very elegant. No forced hushed whispers or anything like that. I see joggers and dog-walkers ending their day off here, it is such a fantastic whimsical joint.
Grilled Snapper Fillet with Moroccan flavours served with rice pilaf. The fish was way way way too overdone. It was hard. Normally when I eat fish, I can cut the fillet using just a fork. I had to use my knife for this fish. It was so tough it was more like chicken. Snapper tends to be tougher but this was obviously way too overcooked.

The moroccan sauce was unusual. I quite liked it. It was a very intense tomato-based sauce with roasted red peppers undertones. I liked how tangy it was and the slight spicy punch the peppers gave. It was not fantastic but it was unique. Sharon HATED it. She wanted to gag because she hates hates hates roasted peppers. I guess that means no moroccan food for her in future.

Now, the star of the meal is not the fish, not the sauce but the rice. The rice is amazing. I don't know why but it tastes like chicken rice. It's probably cooked in chicken broth. It is amazingly fragrant and gorgeously savoury. Raisins were sprinkled into the rice and anything with raisins works for me. The raisins gave a nice burst of sweetness when bitten into and that complemented the rice very nicely. It was very refreshing, to say the least. I also liked that they added toasted almond slices to it. The rice was fluffy; the raisins were plump; and the almond's crunch really pepped things up. It brought a fascinating contrast to the already differring textures. The rice is the thing to go for here.

We also ordered Duck Meatballs with Fettucine and fresh herbs.

The pasta was overdone but it was very tasty. It was engaging and sapid, with a faint aftertaste of the duck.

I thought that the meatballs tasted of duck but Sharon thought that they tasted like normal meatballs. I could smell the distinct aroma of duck as I bit into the meatballs. I think this dish is not bad at all. The only thing is that it was a bit oily.

The serving is small and I think deliberately so, because one gets very jelat of the taste after a while.

We wanted to order the flourless chocolate cake but they were out of it so we opted for strawberry shortcake as recommended instead. It's more like apple pie than strawberry shortcake, except that in place of apples they used strawberries. I wouldn't say that it is spectacularly good but it is pretty good. It tastes very homemade, old-fashioned and is exceedinly comforting. The vanilla added a wonderful warm touch to this dessert and I was properly satisfied by it.

All in all, I enjoyed my dinner very much. I guess the bad reviews stemmed from people ordering the wrong dishes (as is the usual case) because the food was really not bad! So the trick, is to order what the restaurant is known to be good for, and not hazard a guess from the descriptions. That's why food reviews are important, so you know what to order and what not to.

The Canopy @ Aramsa
1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

Bishan Park II

THE legendary zhen zhen porridge

There was a time when I thought that I had no fate with Zhen Zhen Porridge. I have gone to Maxwell SO many times, specially to try the porridge famed as Singapore's best. Unfortunately, they're always either closed or sold out.

But my luck has changed for the better. I have managed to try THE porridge. No more Tuesday boo-boos for me, going after lunch or going at lunch or going on days with only an hour to spare.(They're closed on Tuesdays and they sell out quick on other days and you almost always have to queue) Today, before 8am, I was savouring the legendary Zhen Zhen Porridge. I feel privileged.

This bowl of porridge is not Singapore's most famous bowl of porridge without a reason. The porridge is supposed to be the Hainanese type, which means in between the Teochew grainy version and the Cantonese creamy gruel. It is definitely not as creamy as the Cantonese chok I'm used to (can't find those around anymore, you have to cook it yourself for a full day to get it right); but close enough. The rice grains in Zhen Zhen's porridge are not totally dissolved to form a thick velvet paste but cooked long enough for the grains to partially disintegrate into a smooth consistency. It is definitely more Cantonese than Teochew. For sure.

I like congee so I liked this one. I think it might be a bit too smooth for some people, they may think it's like drinking soup rather than eating porridge. But I think true blue porridge-lovers will like this. Because porridge is not water + rice. Porridge is a completely different substance altogether. It takes on a different dimension. Cooking porridge is an art.

I like my porridge to be really really thick and smooth, the really old school chok that my grandmother used to cook. First you have to soak the rice in sesame oil. Then she would boil it for a full day till the grains have dissolved completely into a thick paste. Throw in some pork (or whatever ingredient you fancy, ) a dash of pepper, a lot of sesame oil, a raw egg.. Her porridge was good enough to beat any top restaurants. But proper chok requires so much work I can't imagine anyone willing to put in that effort. Only dear old grandmothers who love you so much would go to such extent for you.

So anyway, Zhen Zhen's porridge is really smooth and nice, the way I think porridge-lovers will like it. Look at that consistency! It's really quite hard to find a place that sells it this thick.

They are also very generous with their ingredients so its very good.

The fish was a bit overcooked but it can't really be helped since the fish will continue to cook in the steaming-hot porridge, after the initial douse in hot water. I don't understand why they gave so much ginger too, it almost felt like I was eating ginger porridge than fish porridge. I like my porridge to be infused with the fragrance of sesame oil and there was not enough sesame oil so my porridge wasn't very pang initially. Luckily, the stall offers you extra sesame oil in a saucer if you request for it. Other than that, no complaints. Zhen Zhen's Porridge is really quite a formidable bowl of porridge and I fully understand why it's hailed as Singapore's best.

Zhen Zhen Porridge

Maxwell Food Centre

Stall 54

tapioca cake @ maxwell

Our next introduction is the humble tapioca cake and we will be introducing the best one that we know of at Maxwell Food Centre. I didn't what the shop name is till I took notice of it this time round, we just know it as the Maxwell Tapioca Cake. (I'm not even sure why we know it as Tapioca Cake. It's obviously a steamed kueh.)

The most striking thing about this tapioca cake is the texture. The tapioca cake here is the softest thing ever. It's a downy pillow showered in coconut shavings. It's so soft that when I press it, I feel like it's melting from the pressure. My fingers are moist from just handling it because its so full of water. It's really more like gel than kueh. These darlings melt in your mouth AND in your hand. This place is extremely generous with the amount of coconut they give so the kueh is very coconutty. A few hours later I could still taste the coconut in my mouth. The coconut shavings are very very good. The top-grade kind of coconut without the sour aftertaste of stale coconut. This kueh also had the very distinct tapioca flavour; very clean, subtle and light. I could eat 10 of these!

Xing Xing Tapioca Cake/Ondeh Ondeh

Maxwell Food Centre

Stall 31

p/s- Remember to go early because this place sells out quick!