Sunday, October 3, 2010

I'M ON A DIET (!!)

Hmm I have not updated my foodie adventures for over two months now. Getting busier with my day job and have no time to keep up with the updates. And sadly, you will see less and less good food recommendations from me for the next month or two (at least), because I am now on a special DIET, which just doesn't allow me to anything and everything I want anymore. In the meantime, I will try to compensate with some mouth-watering food shots that has been piling up all this while. :)

Now a little more about the special diet! I heard of this from my sister, proven to be effective by big-size colleague of hers, who successfully lost 19lbs in 3 weeks just by following the diet framework. But before I share any details of the framework here, I shall take on the challenge and see for myself the effectiveness. The overall idea is simple: Each day you would have something more to give up (eating) for the rest of the week - mainly sugar and carbohydrates. (Yes, no carbo!!) The best part - NO EXERCISE REQUIRED and you are free to eat ANY AMOUNT you like.

Starting my 2nd week on the diet today (it begins on a Sunday, ends on Friday. Saturday is a Free-to-Eat day!). 1st week was just tough. Inexperienced and lack of preparation, there was hardly anything left for me to eat by Friday. This week, I made plans - bought lots of veggies and mushrooms (the best duo for this diet) from Fairprice earlier. Oh, and eggs too!

Erm don't ask me the result from 1st week just yet. Because the "sotong" (blur) me forgot to weigh myself before I started on the diet! Hehe but according to my sister, who is also experimenting the diet with me, she has lost 3kg by Friday. This was really a great encouragement for the both of us, because we were almost giving up by the end of Friday. Seems like our determination is paying off. Now we just need to persevere.

Lets keep it up!!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Paradise Inn @ Thomson Plaza

Wanted to have Sakae Teppanyaki the other day, so headed to the nearest location at Thomson Plaza only to find out that the Sakae outlet there had already closed down. :( The storefront had been replaced by a Chinese restaurant - Paradise Inn. I dined at Paradise Inn @ West Coast Plaza before, but the food was not too impressive. Anyways, since we were already there, we thought we would give it a try.

Whenever we dine at a new place, we love to try the special and the new. So this was our first pick - Fragrance Tea with Lavender, Rosemary, Chrysanthemum and Dried Longan for a refreshful start!



paradiseinn_1

Next, we went for a typical Chinese dinner setup - 1x vegetable, 1x meat, 1x tofu or egg, 1x soup.

For soup:




As you can see from the photo, soup at Paradise Inn looks professional - big pot, continues to be heated while you dine, plus lots of ingredients ("liao") in it!



The egg trio refers to: chicken egg, century egg, and salted (duck) egg. A usually very flavorful vegetable dish, but we find this one a bit too watery and bland. The Soup Restaurant serves the same dish and is a lot tastier.




Looks good, taste good - Soft and not too oily!



Here's a mistake we tend to make whenever we see Ma Po Tofu on the menu. Bottom-line: If you like your Ma Po Tofu to taste what the name suggests (ma po), then never order this dish in a non-Sichuan style restaurant! You will only be met with disappointment. To us, this was just a normal tofu with minced meat dish.

All in all...


  • Old Cucumber with Pork Ribs Soup, Rating: ★★★★
  • Chinese Spinach with Egg Trio, Rating:
  • Dong Po Pork, Rating: ★★★
  • Ma Po Tofu, Rating: ★★

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sakae Adventure: July's Special Seafood Promotions

This month's Sakae Adventure...

It has been a while since we dined in at Sakae (we usually call for delivery), so we went to Sakae Sushi @ Junction 8 on a week night just to try something new! Ehh actually it was because they don't have Sushi Buffets at this branch lah... Well, it was a good chance for us to explore a different part of the Sakae menu, plus I could use some of the Sakae Dollars that I had accumulated on my Sakae Card :)

We were there at the right time - July's theme for the Sakae Signature promotion is on Seafood!



We could hardly give this a miss, so we ordered the Special Ika Maki ($9.99).

sakaesushi_1

You might wonder what about this grilled ika (squid) is so special.. and why do they call it a maki (rolled sushi)?

Well it is just as the name suggests. The ika maki is special because it's sushi rice wrapped up in a squid! And it's not just the usual white sushi rice though, it's sushi fried rice.

sakaesushi_2

That didn't taste too bad at all! It was a lot lightly flavored than the color might suggest. The sushi fried rice was slightly sweet (I think it's tomatoes) and complemented well with the not-too-chewy grilled squid in a thin layer of teriyaki sauce. I would like to point out that it was quite professionally done too - the rice didn't just fall out of the squid rings when you pick it up with chopsticks.

On top of that, we also had some side orders, sushi from the conveyor belt, plus 5-pc gyoza on offer ($3.99)! For our entrees, wx got a Unagi Don ($14.99).

sakaesushi_3

That was a huuuge portion even for someone the size of wx :p I was a lot smarter of course hehe. Since Sakae Delivery Menu does not offer any noodle dishes (except cha soba as side order), I settled for some soupy noodles to end my occasional craving for udon - the Niku Udon!

sakaesushi_4

Sprinkle some Japanese chili powder and the soup becomes perfect. I would prefer if the beef were in thinner slices. But the udon noodles were very Q. sluuurpy!

Total: $67.05
I paid just 5 cents for this meal. The rest were deducted from my Sakae Card :) Don't you wish to be a Sakae eJournalist too?

Rating: ★★★

Crispy Fluffy Waffles

YAY It's waffles time again!

Do you like your waffles crispy or chewy, crunchy or fluffy?

Well, I like mine like this:

haagendazs_waffles2

Yes...crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside!

So this is what we had:

haagendazs_waffles1

The Passion Fruit Mango ice cream was a little too strong taste (sour & sweet) for me - some might like the rich passion fruit sorbet-like mix in it though.

If you like the crunchy type of waffles, read my post on the Waffle Place Cottage last year.

Gelare is still around! They serve the fluffy type of waffles too. And I think they still have half-price waffles promotion on Tuesdays. A little out of reach for me though, so Haagen Dazs @ Junction 8 is my best choice. Plus, for every $10 you spend at Haagen Dazs until 8 August 2010, you get 5 letters to complete the crossword puzzle for the Haagen Dazs Word Hunt Contest! Hehe.. I just like little games like this. Fun, simple to do, and a chance to win great prizes :)

Rating: ★★★

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Mushroom Park, the Mushroom Paradise

Weeehee! Chanced upon a restaurant called Mushroom Park (while cleaning up the database for a new dining app) and well, being a Super Mushroom Lover, of course I was dying to check it out! We made reservation on the website a day earlier so we could get 10% off our bill :)

We managed to arrive just before 7pm for our reservation (phew!). Anyway, it was alright because the restaurant was practically empty on a Tuesday night. The experience was great - it was a very nicely renovated place, peaceful and undisturbed, with "personal" attendants. Like VIPs!

We were impressed by the whole interior - glass table top with marble pebbles underneath, and a built-in stove right in the middle. You can tell that this place is really dedicated to serving their healthy mushroom steamboat cuisine. Classy!

mushroompark_1

The dishes were unique too! For starters, we had Mushroom Sashimi, Crispy Mushroom (like dried fruit crackers) and Shredded Mushroom (meat floss-like snack). Wow, didn't think we would be eating mushrooms like that! We probably looked like total newbs, wow-ing at everything like we're from the outerspace hehe. Oh, and the perfect drink to go with a healthy meal? The Chinese Eight Treasures Tea! (This is real stuff ok, not some instant 8-in-1 packet drink.)

mushroompark_2

This restaurant really goes all out in ensuring that its customers enjoy their mushroom steamboat the proper way. There is a process to follow and actually they will serve you for the most part so you can just sit and watch until you are ready to do your "shabu shabu" thing. First, they invite you to taste the original mushroom soup base, before anything else is added. Then, they add in the mushrooms, cabbage, Taiwanese frozen tofu, and a kind of herbal yam (explaining what each ingredient is as they are added). A kitchen timer is set on our table: Time left to devour is exactly 6 minutes. :)

mushroompark_3

Once again after it's ready for our chopsticks to make a dive, we were invited to taste the soup again - it had a nice extra sweetness to it from the mushrooms and vegetables added. Finally, we were ready for "shabu shabu"!

mushroompark_4

mushroompark_5

Fresh thin slices of beef and pork, and the soup were perfect complements for each other! So fresh and sweet that we ate it plain (without any sauce) after cooking it to just right in the soup. And the soup was just filled with the rich essence of the meat, the mushrooms, the vegetables - we couldn't help but finish the entire pot of soup in the end. :p

Another of our favorite dish was the special Mushroom Treasure (Steamed) Rice. Try their special red chilli sauce! The slight sweetness blends in perfectly with the steamed rice.

mushroompark_6

Now for the desserts :D Green Tea and Plum Jelly! It's nothing like the normal jelly or the Japanese konnyaku that we usually eat. This jelly is really soft yet still spongy (like jelly!). I love the Plum Jelly, lightly-flavored and not too sweet (I thought the Green Tea one was too sweet though).

mushroompark_7

That's it! All of the above are part of a set meal. There are five types of steamboat set meals, and an ala-carte menu as well. The cheapest, Healthy Set Meal is priced at $26.80++. The most valued (imo), Natural Set Meal or Creamy Dory Set Meal is priced at $36.80++. (There are also the Dynasty Set Meal, the Vegetarian Set Meal, and the Tilapia Fillet Set Meal, which were slightly over our budget.) We both picked the Natural Set Meal. But don't feel restricted that you have to pick the same set meal as your partner (even though you will still be sharing the same pot of soup)! The variations are only on the type of meat/fish and the rice/noodles. With the Natural Set Meal (& above), you get a free upgrade to the Mushroom Treasure Rice, which is otherwise $3 on the ala-carte menu.

This is definitely a thumbs-up place for me. In fact, I've already recommended it to my family, and I dined there for the 2nd time the same weekend - yes, I went there twice in 5 days! The restaurant was full house on the weekends though. So I would suggest to go during the week if you don't like the crowds and noises.

But hurry up if you are keen on trying this place, because they are closing down on 1 August 2010. Sobs, it's really sad. I wished I had found out about this place sooner. We only learned about the closing by chance when we asked them about their signature Mushroom Fishball, which they won't be serving anymore. So quick quick, if you are even considering about checking them out - I would say, go for it - why not! Only half a month left before it's gone forever!

mushroompark_8

Mushroom Park is located at 87 Serangoon Garden Way (near Chomp Chomp). Reserve online today so you can get 10% off like I did! [website]



Rating: ★★★★★

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Crispy Prata for Supper?

I'm sure many are already fans of The Prata Place in Springleaf Garden (Thomson). If you are a prata fan, this is probably the first place you should hit up.



Took a break in the middle of our family mahjong tournament. This place opens till midnight, so it's great for supper.

prataplace_1

We went there around 10:30pm and it was already packed with people. We had to wait quite a bit before our food is served. If you want to beat the crowd, best time to arrive is ~11pm, you'll still have an hour to eat. :)

prataplace_2

Prata is crispy just as it is known for. But suggest to order those flavored pratas (rectangular ones), like cheese prata, as they are a lot thinner and crispier than the kosong type (round ones). If you're feeling a bit adventurous, perhaps you would like to try their chocolate prata or durian prata! (Too weird for me personally hehe)

All in all, we ordered 3 cheese pratas, 1 onion prata, 3 kosong, 1 mutton curry, 1 cabbage side dish, 3 iced milo, and 3 teh haliah (traditional ginger milk tea) for just $26.90 - ~$5+ per pax.

Rating: ★★★★

I can cook! : Steam Meat Loaf with Mushroom

As a special dedication to my new foodie blog, let me present you my very own steamed meat loaf with mushroom!!

Just randomly decided to cook something, it's my my first attempt (using my own recipe!) so still in the experimenting stage...

INGREDIENTS:
  • Minced meat
  • Garlic, diced
  • Mushrooms, diced (need Chinese Mushrooms, but I've only got button mushrooms :\)
  • Light soy sauce
  • Dark soy sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • White pepper
  • Corn flour
  • Some water
Just mix them all up and put to steam for ~10 mins!

homecooked_meatloaf

Not too bad for first try, says my family. :D

A simple way to eat this is meat loaf bread:

homecooked_meatloaf2

A Hungry Night @ The Soup Restaurant

You know how hungry we were? Here's an idea.
We wanted to take photos first, but as soon as the food came we dived right into it. By the time I remembered that I forgot to take the photos, our table of dishes became like this:

souprestaurant

wx was holding his chopsticks all ready to pounce on the food again when I managed to snap a shot of the mess.

Here's what we ate:
  • Samsui Ginger Chicken, Rating: ★★★★
  • Hand Chopped Minced Pork with Salted Egg, Rating: ★★
  • Claypot Tofu, Rating: ★★★/
  • Fried Noodle with Fish Slice, Rating: ★★★
  • Lotus Roots with Pork Ribs Soup, Rating: ★★★★
Total was $60.50. A little pricey though. For about the same number of dishes, Din Tai Fung costs around $50 for two.

Well what is The Soup Restaurant without having their famous Samsui Ginger Chicken!? Their specialty lies in their ginger sauce. Even the sliced cucumbers goes well with it. They also sell this sauce in small bottles at $4.80 per bottle.

I would recommend the Claypot Tofu, though perhaps they could add couple of those big mushrooms to complete the taste. For one that doesn't like egg tofu, I actually ate quite a bit of this. So 3-4 stars for this!

I was quite disappointed with the meat loaf actually, especially when they were advertising it as "Painstakingly hand chopped...," so only 30 servings per day. Trying it for the second time, the first was with salted fish. They added water chestnut in the minced meat to make it crunchy. But I would suggest to dice up the water chestnut even more, so it would mix more evenly with the minced meat - I was tasting the water chestnut more than the meat in every bite.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Swensen's 1-for-1 is (still) ON!

If you ever walked pass a Swensen's in the day and wondered why it's been so crowded all afternoon, it's because their 1-for-1 lunch treats is still on!

Check out our favorite picks:

swensens_1

swensens_2

swensens_3

We also ordered a Celebrity Brownie for dessert! (All desserts and ice cream are not part of the 1-for-1 deal.)

Totals out to only $30+ for 2 fully satisfied tummies ^^

Rating: ★★★★

Best Picks @ Bedok 85 Market

4 months! I've abandoned my blog for so long! Someone might be complaining - I have not done my part as a Sakae e-Journalist for that long too. So I'm back now... & with a new home too :) I've moved all my food posts to this new domain, and will be blogging only about food here. (Yes, I'm trying to become a casual food blogger! ;])

So here's a welcome back post for myself - dinner at Bedok 85 Market, the best picks!

bedok85_1

This is the best chai tow kueh (carrot cake) I've had so far that I actually eat it with the eggs. My favorite non-eggy (on special requests) chai tow kueh is at the Bedok Reservoir Blk 600+ market.

bedok85_2

Unique - the top layer skin is crispy fried - & Fresh - the flesh toughness is just nice. Don't go to the wrong stall though, there's another seafood bbq on the side of the famous bak chor mee and sugarcane stalls. This stall has been there for 20 years already, I think about 2 rows after.

bedok85_3

This is the famous traditional bak chor mee. Pretty much the only bak chor mee that you eat only in soup. They pride themselves on their soup (filled rich with the sweetness of the minced meat), their QQ noodles, and their hand-made meat balls.

Don't forget to get a sugarcane juice with lemon - original sugarcane taste!

Rating: ★★★★

Saturday, March 6, 2010

13 Lo Hei Ingredients & Their Meanings

Of all the Chinese New Year food, I hate Lo Hei (Yu Sheng) the most. Gosh it's like randomly throwing everything together, give them a meaning, and give them a representative color to fit their meaning. They simply don't taste right to me. And raw fish is just not my type.

But this Chinese New Year, I had 3x Lo Hei. Once at Din Tai Fung, once in Malaysia, and once at Tung Lok. The coolest thing for me was just the procedure to pour the ingredients together. Then the actual "lo hei".

Do you know what are the ingredients and the meanings behind their colors? How many can you name?

I picked up a flyer from Ichiban Boshi with 13 lo hei ingredients, and their respective meanings in both English and Chinese. Of course the ingredients here are tailored for Ichiban Boshi's Yusheng set this year. I read on wiki that they are 27 ingredients in the original dish.


1. Chuka Kurage
Excellence, 锦上添花

2. Red Sweetened Ginger
Luck, 鸿运当头

3. Peanut Crunch
Wealth, 金玉满堂

4. Pickled Leek
Divination, 妙算如神

5. Sweetened Lime
Merit, 苦尽甘来

6. Pickled Cucumber
Advancement, 平步青云

7. Winter Melon
Harmony, 甜甜蜜蜜

8. Fried Sesame
Prosperity, 生意兴隆

9. Chuka Wakame
Youth, 青春长驻

10. Pickled Melon
Tranquility, 风调雨顺

11. Pok Chui Biscuits
Affluence, 遍地黄金

12. Five Spice, Cinnamon and Pepper Powder
Fortune, 招财进宝

13. Salmon Sashimi
Abundance, 年年有余

Do you like Lo Hei? What was your favorite or least favorite Chinese New Year dish/snack?

Friday, February 26, 2010

Sakae Adventure: Who Says No Money Cannot Eat?

Hmmm....it's been 3 months now since my last pay! What the heck... & Always in the last week, we try to scrimp and save. But who says no money cannot eat?

In times of need, we were so glad to have my Sakae Card around!

..with $55 Sakae Dollars from the e-journalists program. Just in time to celebrate wx's birthday too! Hehe

3 colored plates, $2.29 each + 1 red plate, $5.59

Nabeyaki Udon, $11.99

Tempura with Yuzu Soba, $13.99
Totals to $46.50. We paid only 50 cents!!

The yuzu soba was quite interesting. We were given this raw quail egg (poked with a small hole) and for a while we weren't sure what to do with it.


Do you know the correct way to eat your yuzu soba?

Rating: ★★★
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