Max Brenner, Vivo City

Hello, Mr. Bald Man, it has been awhile since we last met! How have you been? It seems like your business is still doing good there, be it in Melbourne or Singapore. Good on you!

First know Max Brenner, chocolate by the Bald Man when I was in Melbourne. I love their desserts. However, for me who is not a chocoholic, the desserts must be shared! Don’t think I can manage to finish any one of their desserts all by myself :P

I used to like their Oreo milkshake when I was in Melbourne. However, this one that I had was a bit diluted, did not have a strong Oreo taste and fragrance but more to milk powder taste. Not that bad I guess, cos E liked the milky taste but it was definitely not what I expected *sighs

We ended up having the Frutti-Tutti Waffles, though the main purpose of visiting Max Brenner after having dinner at Queenstown was to have the chocolate soufflé here, grins. The waffle was nice! Love it! However, the vanilla ice-cream was rather disappointing, hmmm…

We also had a Peanut Butter Chuncky Chocolate Crepe to share...
The crepe was not bad, but if you were to ask me to choose between waffles and crepes, I will go for WAFFLES! *drools

Adrenaline rush after all the sweets *happy*

Ajinomori, Holland Village

Visited Ajinomori at Holland Village with J for dinner before her status changes from colleague to ex-colleague cum friend.

Decided to trial on this Japanese restaurant mainly because J who has a nose for good deals bought a voucher from Groupon. So, we ended up only paying SGD15++ when we got to eat a dinner worth SGD 50++ ;)

The Go Iro Sushi/ Rainbow Sushi, was really colourful and looked interesting. Taste wise, it was not that interesting. They mixed Japanese rice with long grain rice, and the roll was not made firm enough so the rice was a bit scattered *groans

We also had Doufu Chi-zu Yaki; Tofu and cheese gratin which was nice on the first few bites. Fish roes were delightedly found in the cheese topping, yummy~ However, if you are going to finish this up on your own, it will be fairly nauseating, I think.

We ordered a dinner set to share - Kim Chi shabu-shabu served with chawan mushi, miso soup, potato salad, soft shell crab and fruits. The shabu shabu was nice, but the chawan mushi was overcooked, and the soft shell crab was too oily… Hmmm…

I really like the atmosphere of the restaurant, but food wise… *ahem. There is ROOooooOOM for improvement *winks

Epicurious, Upper Bukit Timah Road

Time flies. It was Sunday again! And I was in Singapore yesterday. So, what does that mean?

Well, it simply means, it was time for BRUNCH again! And, we had it at Epicurious, The Rail Mall yesterday *winks.

We literally MISSED brunch and had lunch instead. WHY? Cos we waited for one of the brunch pal for almost 1.5hours *faint. We were lucky that the last order for brunch was 3.30pm. Otherwise, Y and I who had waited for soOOoo long would give this never-ever-change-for–being-late-queen a good few yells and smacks :P

Y and I were really hungry then. So, while waiting for S, we ordered a Choco-Nana, where the banana and nutella were sandwiched between buttered toast, dusted with a little bit of sugar and a sprinkling of chopped strawberries. It sounds so simple yet so tasty *yummmm~

When S finally arrived! We ordered a Full Month aka Hobb’s Choice to share. This set has a combination of 3eggs (we chose scrambled), sausage, bacon, grilled tomato, mushroom, baked beans, roasted potato and buttered toast, including a regular coffee/ tea and a glass of orange juice. The bread was fairly decent and the scrambled eggs were light and fluffy *drools

We had my all-time-favourite Eggs Benedict too. But I was really disappointed. This was the worst Eggs Benedict I have ever had thus far *moans

The Baked Eggs with Toast Soldiers was something interesting which I don’t usually find on brunch menu. The eggs were baked with bacon, mushroom, tomato, cream and cheese till gooey. Another heavenly stuff. Best to have it with the toast soldiers as some bites might be a tad salty largely due to the bacon *contented.

It was another egg-y day! Need to limit the intake of eggs (egg yolks to be specific) for the next couple of days *grins.

Michelangelo's Restaurant, Chip Bee Gardens

Fourth visit to Chip Bee Gardens in less than one month *winks.

This time round, we tried another Italian restaurant at Chip Bee Gardens – Michelangelo’s; one of the competitors to Da Paolo outlets around that area.

I like the red bean dip they served, besides the usual olive oil and balsamic vinegar to go with the bread . The red bean dip was really nice, I believe it will be as good to have with celery/ carrot sticks *yummylicious.

As a start, we ordered an Insalata di Spinaci, which is a salad of warm baby spinach tossed with bacon, walnut, vinaigrette and crumbled Greek feta cheese. It was a fairly decent antipasto.

For the main, we had Griglia di Misto di Mare, a medley of char-grilled fillet of Barramundi, marinated calamari, slipper lobster and USA diver scallops, which are lightly bathed in garlic butter. Ohhh, and I love the truffle mashed potato served together with the dish. I have been missing truffle mashed potato badly since I last had it in Melbourne. That restaurant in Melbourne which I went to, served pieces of black truffle together with the mashed potato; that was the best mashed potato I have ever had *drools.

We also ordered a Frutti di Mare, served with our choice of sauce and pasta. We chose to have it with zesty tomato and spaghetti. The pasta was cooked to al dente, but the sauce was not as good as we expected. The tomato –based pasta that I had at Da Paolo was better.

As we were indecisive if we should go for the back by popular demand Sticky Date Pudding or the nobody does it better Tiramisu Tradizionale. So, we decided to have them both. LOLs.

The so called back by popular demand Sticky Date Pudding was a disappointment. I personally find the sticky date pudding at Marmalade Pantry a better option.

Luckily the Tiramisu made our meal complete that night. (p/s: I am not sure if nobody does it better, but it was definitely better than the Tiramisu at Da Paolo, grins).

The Connoisseur Concerto (TCC), Anchorpoint

Hooray, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) 2011 is ongoing now! Shopping spree~

And, so is TCC. They are having the 1 for 1 pasta or main course in conjunction with GSS *yipee~

Have tried their desserts a few times at different TCC. However, I have only tried the main course/ pasta/ sandwich from this TCC at Anchorpoint. Apparently there is some discrepancy in the quality of savoury foods at different TCC. Well, different chefs/ staff then, so please expect some inconsistencies as long as it is within your tolerance ;)

Nonetheless, this TCC at Anchorpoint has not disappointed me thus far. *winks.

Visited this place for dinner (to enjoy the promo of course! LOLs) when my friend came to look for me at my workplace.

We ordered a Pan-seared Chicken Breast with Shogayaki Sauce… The chicken was so moist and tender *yummmmy

And a seafood aglio olio… Flavourful yet not too oily *nom nom nom

Pretty decent main course and pasta. And definitely worthwhile when you are paying two for one! I will definitely go back for more before the promotion ends next month. *grins

Da Paolo, Chip Bee Gardens

Chip Bee Gardens on Jalan Merah Saga, is a really nice place to hang around on your own or with your friends. It has bevy of gourmet food stores, art galleries, cool baking supply stores, cooking/ baking school and et cetera.

I like Chip Bee Gardens almost immediately when my friend brought me there for lunch end of last month. I have then been to Chip Bee Gardens almost once every week. LOLs.

Nonetheless, a lot of outlets there are owned by Da Paolo, including Da Paolo La Terrazza, Da Paolo Pizza Bar, Da Paolo Gastronomia and Da Paolo Colci.

Haha, I have tried two out of four Da Paolo outlets @ Chip Bee Gardens thus far, including Da Paolo La Terazza, for lunch and one of my friend’s birthday dinner and, Da Paolo Gastronomia for a quick lunch ;) Now, let the pictures do the talking *tsk tsk

Set lunch At Da Paolo La Terazza is value for money and definitely cheaper than dinner, but you can only choose from a selected items on the lunch menu. It doesn’t really make a difference if you would like to try out other options from the ala carte menu. You can go anytime you prefer to ;)

Whereas for Da Polo Gastronomia, they serve a range of pasta/ lagsane and desserts for takeaway (chilled). Nonethless, they do help you to heat up the food upon request or as necessary. You could then enjoy your meals at the benches available along the corridor outside (p/s: if the weather is good, grins).

The Crumble berries cheesecake at Gastronomia was nicer than the Tiramisu I had at La Terazza. The sponge cake/ fingers for the tiramisu were too soggy to my liking.

Overall, I was quite happy with my meals at Da Paolo . Otherwise, I would not have visited Da Paolo outlets 3times in less than a month. *grins

Hmm… it is time to explore other restaurants next time tomorrow, when I visit Chip Bee Gardens again! *winks

Hatched, Evan Lodge

BREAKFAST… I HEART!

Fall in love with breakfast/ brunch when I was studying in Melbourne. My friends and I would hunt for good breakfast places to spend our mornings when we don’t have to rush for classes. That’s the luxury being a student. These days, I only get to enjoy my breakfast/ brunch on weekends. *sighs

Went to this place specializes in egg dishes with B. I was first attracted by its name. Then I knew I MUST visit this place when I know they sell a range of egg dishes. And the best thing is they serve breakfast all day long. You can have breakfast for dinner! *happy*

We had Papilotte… perfect scrambled eggs with smoked salmon *drools, I am in heaven!

I love poached eggs with hollandaise sauce <3. How could I resist myself from ordering Sir Benedict (for two) then? *grins. It was served with bacon and ham instead of my usual order, smoked salmon as we already had it in another dish.

Be it scrambled or poached, my perfect combination for eggs would be smoked salmon then ham. Though many think that egg and bacon are the best couple ever.

Now, no one says I must like what everyone else likes, right? Everyone is unique in their own way *tsk tsk

I must say Hatched is an ideal place for egg-party, whenever you are craving for one! *winks

Whole Earth, Tanjong Pagar

Let’s go VEG!

I find this vegetarian restaurant rather unique and healthy compared to the usual vegetarian stalls we will usually come across. I must say that going vegetarian doesn’t necessary mean that you are having a healthier diet as the vegetarian stalls we have here are usually loaded with deep fried items and tend to be pretty oily.

We were served with this compulsory entrée – deep fried beancurd sheet with seaweed, while we were waiting for our orders. It was really crispy and yummy!

We ordered a soup to share, the Healthy Wolfberry Soup. It tastes better than its appearance. The wolfberry gives the soup a bit of sweetness and it has a mild herbal taste as well, I think they added a bit of dong guai in it. Nice~

We ordered 5 out of their 12 top dishes, including Assam Pedas…

Oatmeal Tofu…

Penang Redang…

Sambal KangKong…

And, Olive Rice…

We also ordered the Signature Olive Brown Rice for extra carbo ;P

Yummylicious! I was really satisfied with the foods served at this vegetarian restaurant, though it could be a bit pricey. BUT I think it is value for money as long as the food is good!

And, not to forget to mention, certain dishes on their menu are granted with the healthier choice symbol - i.e. less oil, less salt, less sugar (?). We are getting more and more health conscious, aren't we? Tsk tsk.

Father's Day 2011

Prepared lunch and dinner for my parents yesterday as part of the once a year Father’s Day celebration. It seems to be a tradition for me to cook on Mother’s and Father’s Day these years. Smile.

My dad laughed happily when I told him I am going to bring him to different countries on his-day, tsk tsk.

We went Korea for lunch on Father's Day. We had Kim Chi as the side dish...

And our main was sweet and spicy Tteokbokki …

Dad and mum had tried the Chinese style of stir fried rice cake but not the Korean style. Nonetheless, I am glad that it was well accepted by my parents, especially my dad who likes to eat chewy foods such as gummies, mochi and etc.

Thank you Y for the SOS from Singapore. Without you, the stir fried Korean rice cake would definitely be a failed attempt *winks

As for dinner, we went Western. Hehe.

For appetizer, we had the Ultimate Mushroom Bruschetta (Jamie Oliver’s style)…

For main, we had Pan Fried Salmon with Mashed Cauliflower and Greens Salad…

And, how can we not have something sweet to make the celebration sweeter? ;P

Mum was the first to try on my first-ever-attempt Apple Crumble Pie; our dessert that night. Her feedback was, the tart was good and the crust was better than the bakeries we have at our small little town before she started to complain that the crust was not thick enough, haha. I am glad that the dessert turned out well. I was quite worried that the crust would be as hard as a rock *phew, relieved.

So, we had the Apple Crumble Pie with ice cream to make our meal complete. Dad likes it with ice-cream, and he asked for a bit more ice cream to go with the apple pie as the ice-cream served was too little as you can tell from the photo, haha. (p/s: Of coz, I didn’t make the ice-cream ;P).

Happy Father’s Day my dearest daddy. I am counting my blessings to have you as my super-daddy. Love you lots *Hugs and kisses* <3