Cumi Bali

Went to Cumi Bali @ 66 Tanjong Pagar Road for some good balinese fair. We went in without much expectations but came out really satisfied and happy. The service level could be improved though but I guess Singapore is having a labour crunch now and everyone is having problems with the service staff. It took us quite some time to get their attention and multiple orders before we could get our water topped up. But yeah. 

Anyway, the food was amazing. Tasted very good and pretty authentic. You have to absolutely order the Otah. They literally have an entire fish in it. The satay, beef, chicken, egg, kangkong that we ordered still lingers in my mind. 

Super high in fat but too super yummy. Can't wait to go back to eat it again. 

Fish and Co Express

Went to try out the Fish and Co express at University town. We ordered a seafood platter and a Spaghetti Marinara. This is a fast food chain run by Fish and Co. We thought the concept was pretty interesting. We spent about $15 in total for the 2 items on the menu. It was standard comfort food although a tad oily cause the seafood platter was completely fried. Nonetheless I thought it was worth the value that we paid, so not complaining. 

The Spaghetti was pretty al dente and not too soggy which I enjoyed. My dinner date liked the fish but didn't like the nachos as they were too soft. Will be back to try the other items when I'm in a comfort food mood ;)

Sapore Italiano @ Utown

Decided to drop by University Town's Sapore Italiano for some good old italian fare. We ordered this pork cutlet thing, a chicken salad and a pesto pizza. They don't look quite like the picture and we weren't very impressed by the pork and chicken salad. The pizza however was pretty good. Although the pesto wasn't evenly spread out, we loved how it tasted. The herbs worked well together. 

It wasn't really pricey, we paid around $25 in total for the food. If I were to come back again, will definitely just go for the pizza. 

El Patio @ Holland Village

Had cravings for Mexican food again and decided to go to El Patio at Holland Village to eat them Mexican. Ordered the caesar salad, fried Jalapenos and El Patio Special Fajitas. I think they smeared some kind of anchovy sauce on top of the croutons(?) for the caesar salad. It was so super salty and I think it would be better if we mixed them into salad. 

Fried Jalapenos was good and the guac on the side made a nice complement to the dish. I know, it's so super fat but at least the mozzerella inside the Jalapenos wasn't overwhelming so we could still finish everything on the plate. The Fajitas was nice, and we polished everything off though we left 1 of the fajita wraps untouched trying to go low(er) carbs. 

All in all, a good meal and we will be back again :)

Chocolate Devotion @ TCC Bugis

Cheat day today and I decided to indulge in some chocolate lava cake. Went to TCC at Bugis and ordered their chocolate devotion - approx $12. It is so good, the moment you slice open the cake, the molten chocolate inside actually flows out in a gush. I'm not kidding! Most of the molten cakes that I've had were pretty dismal, even the one at Morton's ($38 mind you) didn't ooze out of the cake much. 

Am very pleased with this particular one that I had at Bugis, will definitely be back :D

Creamz @ Clementi Road

Went for some dessert at this little unassuming corner shop, Creamz, along the end of Clementi Road nearer to West Coast Park. We ordered the waffle + 2 scoops of icecream. The Sea Salt Caramel and Cookies and cream. Totally, absolutely loved the icecream. The waffle was a very well done crispy and melt in the mouth goodness, paired with rich and yummy icecream drenched in chocolate sauce. I practically wolfed the entire thing down and bought another tub of icecream home. The above cost us around $9.

They also have interesting flavors like Kaya. Go have a taste and see what fancies you. Well worth every single calorie I must say, will definitely be back to try the other flavors.

F&J Cafeteria Hot Pot @ Bugis

One of my favorite hotpot joints is the F&J Cafeteria @ Bugis / Joo Chiat. They are my favorite for 2 things - the sauce counter which has this epic peanut butter and sesame sauce to pick from as well as they have this uber large cockle like the size of the palm of your hand which I don't see from other places. $20/head for an all you can eat buffet.

As I grow older, it seems like I can no longer stuff food like before. I get filled up pretty quickly and end up eating only a few items at buffets. A sign of aging lol? Anyway if you guys are planning to pick a hotpot joint along Bugis street, why not check out F&J. They are always crowded so be early though :)

PS they also have this 2 hour eating rule that you can't sit for longer than 2 hours if I'm not wrong.. do watch out for that. 

Korean Kwakwaja

Friend bought me this really pretty box of Kwakwaja during his trip to Korea. It has only a short shelf life of 5 days and it needs to be refrigerated. they are like a mix between moochi and mooncake. The correct way to eat it as described in the little printout - is to slice the Kwakwaja into thin slices and enjoy it with a cup of tea. 

It was indeed a very intricate experience biting and tasting this exquisite food. It probably packs as much calories as a mooncake. But it is too pretty to skip out on :P

Mad Jacks at Simpang Bedok

Decided to check out Mad Jacks finally after procrastinating for so long. We visited the branch at Simpang Bedok. Was kinda surprised that it wasn't too crowded, probably because the prices aren't exactly very very cheap compared to the other food around. We ordered the broccoli salad above, a ribeye and grilled chicken + 2 drinks. The bill came up to S$40+.

One thing to note when going to Mad Jacks - they don't have service staff, so you basically fill up a form that you can get from the table and note the table number. Then you go order over the counter and pay up first. They will then send the food over. 

I felt like a noob when I tried getting the attention of the servers until eventually they explained that I had to go to the counter to order. I'm like perfectly fine with it, but it will be cool if they had bigger signs explaining the process and not make me feel stupid. 

Food wise, pretty good quality. Although I thought the broccoli salad had way too much yoghurt in it and smelled a bit funny. But I'm not picky. We were very full after the meal. The rib-eye was kinda medium rare bordering on medium but still passable. It's the kind where you know it is in between. Not rare enough to be there and not cooked enough to be medium lol. 

I'm not too sure if I'll be back though but my tummy was satisfied at least :)

Brotzeit Sausage Platter @ Vivocity

Loving Brotzeit. We walked past the Vivocity's branch and decided to have tea there as they were having some sort of Oktoberfest celebrations. Ordered the sausage platter. Pretty yummy as there was a generous serving of sauerkraut and 5 types of sausages if I wasn't wrong. I have absolutely no idea what were in the sausages but my tea date and I concluded that we both loved the white coloured sausage. Am so going to order it the next time round. 

Didn't feel as greased out after having the platter. Will definitely be back. 

(And btw, we weren't too impressed with the german pretzel, so it wasn't pictured here.) 

Kopi Roti Central

Had a craving for something sweet and decided to order the Horlick Shake at Kopi Roti @ Central. I thought the Horlick shake would be something like a milk shake, seems like it resembled a horlick dinosaur instead. Nonetheless, I had enough Horlick powder to satisfy my cravings. There were so much powder that I semi choked when I accidentally inhaled it. 

Hah! I know right.... It is terribly sinful and I'd limit this to once a few months at most, if not a year :P

Ootoya at Clementi Mall

Went to Ootoya at Clementi mall for lunch. Wanted to try something interesting and decided to check out Ootoya. It was pretty interesting that this restaurant brands itself as a healthy restaurant so there are actually calorie counts attached to all the food items. We ordered the curry mini udon and the curry katsu set. The portion for the set was pretty massive and these 2 items were more than enough to fill us up. The set is approximately 1000 calories and it's quite scary how much food is being served at each meal when we eat outside. (Not referring to Ootoya specifically).

Might be back again to try out their other food items ;)

Healthy salad

And so, I've been starting on my ultra healthy diet and this was one of my creations. Sesame seeds, avocado for good fats. Baked chicken, ham and cottage cheese for protein. Dressing was a light Japanese sesame dressing :) 

Tastes really good!

Fruit Paradise @ Vivocity

Went to fruit paradise at Vivocity for some desserts. Ordered the seasonal fruit with cheese base (S$7.80) and the strawberry chocolate (S$7.80) with bitter chocolate base. Fruits were so fresh and absolutely delectable. Although the queue was pretty long, it cleared quite fast as most people just ate and left. 

Do try the fruit teas when you visit, very very yummy tasting teas. Will definitely be back again!

100gsm noodle

I've always wondered what 100grams of yellow noodles actually weighs and today I took out the weighing scale to find out. It was pretty interesting that a 100grams portion size of noodles is actually only this much. Seems like I've been eating way more than the calories that I've been counting. :/

Freshness Burger @ Central

Decided to check out freshness burger at Central Clarke Quay. Asked for additional vegetables in the freshness burger set and they were very generous in giving me 2 more slices of tomatoes which made the entire burger stand up sky high. 

Flavor was great and you had this arsenal of sauces that you can pick from at the sauce bar. We spent about $14 for 2 burgers, one of which we made it into a meal and changed the fries to avocado salad and drink to Yuzu tea. Ingredients were very fresh and I loved the tomatoes. 

Definitely will be back!

Jones the Grocer

Went to Jones the Grocer at Mandarin Gallery for lunch. Ordered a side walnut salad, one of their artisan breads - a brioche(? can't remember which one) and their sandwich. Lovely flavour. The bread that I got was very light and not too sweet. It was bursting with flavour and the texture was just right. The sandwich was great too, with generous fillings. The bill came up to $40 including a coffee. Not too bad for some gourmet-ish food I guess. 

Will be back again :)

Pique Nique @ Taka

Decided to check out Pique Nique at Ngee Ann City for tea. Have walked past it a few times but never had a chance to really check it out till today. As my lunch buddy and I already had our lunch, we came here for dessert. Ordered the Mango mouse and choco-mint cupcake. 

I wanted something savory and ordered the beef chili fries (can't remember the exact name - around $15). The beef chilli had chunky beef pieces in it, unlike the standard minced beef. Very hearty. We didn't throw all the gravy on top of the fries, instead we used the chilli as a dip. I found that letting the fries soak up the chilli for a while gave a new dimension to the fries.

I also ordered another peppermint tea. The total bill came up to be about $36? A little bit pricey but I guess coming from a branch of Antoinette's (yeah same group), the price range is quite there.

Interesting place, might be back, only for the beef chilli fries :)

Selfish Gene Cafe

Went to Selfish Gene Cafe at 40 Craig Road. Nice quaint little cafe that serve brunch and sandwich food. I ordered the poached eggs ($15?) and was very happy. The eggs were poached perfectly and they used large eggs unlike Group Therapy. I'm an egg-fanatic so I can tell haha. They served the poached eggs on top of salmon and a toast with a side of creme fraiche. 

Had to take a pic of this as the perfect yolk just oozed out from the eggs. Super duper happy. Worth every single calorie. Will definitely be back again :) 

Full House @ Central Clarke Quay

Went to have a light meal at Central Clarke Quay. They have converted most of the basement into a food place. I tried this lil HongKongesque eating corner called Full House and ordered their "Braised Meat Rice". $5.50 gave me a bowl of rice, with wonderfully braised meat, a side of vegs, 1 tofu and 1 egg + 1 soup. Not too bad.

The pork was well marinated and not overly greasy, rice was a large portion. I ate most of it up (ok maybe 25% of the rice). Good comfort and cheap food in a mall. 

Will go back again :) *burp*

Roast Pork @ Vintry Clarke Quay

Love going to Vintry @ Clarke Quay for yummy wine and roast pork with my friends. Their roast pork is very very crispy and worth every single calorie. They usually go at $12, but if you can go during their happy  hours on weekdays, before 8pm, you can get it at $6. 

Not too oily and yet very flavourful. You must eat with their special chilli, super nice! Go try it!

Brotzeit @ Vivocity

Went to Brotzeit@Vivocity to celebrate the boyfriend's birthday. We wanted a light dinner as it was already 11pm and so we ordered just a mozzarella salad and smoked pork sausages. We had this beer with cola (can't remember the name) and it was very delicious. This meal was enough to fill both of us up as the salad was massive. All in all the bill total came up to only $50 and it was pretty alright, considering we were at a semi-classy place.

We chose this place initially cause I wanted somewhere that was a sit-down restaurant and they still served food until 12 midnight as we had a movie at 12. Brotzeit came to mind and it was conveniently located at Vivocity where we can catch our movie.

Very pleased with the food, will definitely be back!

Ya kun @ Terminal 3

Disappointing! We went to Terminal 3 to send off a friend and decided to have some food at Ya Kun. We ordered Mee Rebus and Laksa. Think Mee Rebus was $3.80 while Laksa was $4.50

Yes, what you see was what we got. The Mee Rebus DIDN'T even have half an egg in it. It was pure carbs and peanut sauce. Laksa was just normal, even though they claimed that the gravy was from Katong Laksa. I vaguely remember seeing an egg in the picture, but when my food was served, no egg. That said, in my entire life, Mee Rebus is always served with egg!!

Just had a very unsatisfying meal there. Never having their cooked food anymore. What a ripoff.

Forty hands chocolate tarts

And so, we went to Forty hands for coffee. They have these epic chocolate tarts that are to die for. The coffee is fragrant while the tarts just melt in your mouth. The brown tubular thing is some kind of hazelnut that you really gotta eat together with the tart to taste its full glory. 

Definitely worth every single calorie ahahaha. 

Oh yes, the barista is also very very handsome ;)

Poached eggs at Group Therapy

Went for brunch at this quaint little place called Group Therapy at Duxton. It's very arty farty and is a hit with the breakfast crowd. We decided to go check it out. While the ambience was fun and retro, I kinda thought the food was pretty overpriced. I ordered Poached Eggs and I think it cost me $16 for a slice of thick toast, some salmon (very little), 2 small eggs and hollandaise sauce. Being an expert with eggs, I could tell that they used smaller eggs instead of the regular big ones. I mean, paying $16, I would expect the eggs to be bigger? Lol. 

But I guess our main gripe was that the service took a really long time. Like 20-30 mins before the food can be served. I wasn't exaggerating but it was really really slow. 

I guess the flavor was alright, I kinda liked the poached eggs but my friend's order of the sunny side up was returned because the parma ham tasted funny. I think we feedbacked to the owner and at least she was nice enough to change the order to a stack of pancakes and followed up by saying that she will check on her batch of the ham. 

My friends got really pissed and started to joke about how we need to go for Group Therapy after eating here. They really need to work on the pricing a little bit + service speed. 

Once is enough :)

Lago Kitchen @ Clementi Road

We went to have a late night dinner at the shophouses at the junction of clementi and Pasir Panjang road.

I must say that I was impressed by the quality of food. We ordered a chendol for $2 while we had BBQ stingray with rice and egg for only $5.

The flavor was there, stingray was huge for $5 and there was even a fried egg. We were very happy diners and will be back to try the other stuff next time!

Dates from Golden Landmark Hotel

It was the first time that I actually ate dates and it was actually a pretty good experience. Being chinese, the only experience I have with dates are the funny tasting kinds where they boil with the soups. Naturally I thought that dried arabic dates would taste somewhat like the ones I am used to hence I never really was enticed to try the dates....

Until a girlfriend of mine bought an entire bag and insisted that I try. I took the first bite with trepidation but was very surprised that it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would be! In fact I liked it so much that I fell in love with dates. Haha! So yes, these dates were bought at the basement of Golden Landmark Hotel's shopping area. There is a shop that sells only dates and they have a huge variety from the different countries. 

Do check them out if you're looking for some good ol' middle eastern fare. 

Evertop @ Joo chiat

Went for dinner at Evertop @ Joo Chiat Road. It's a halal restaurant serving local chinese fare. A good place to bring your muslim friends to if you would like to introduce them some chinese halal food. We ordered the horfun, black pepper chicken and sambal kangkong. All were pretty spicy though so if you can't take space, remember to tell the server to add less chili. All these set us back by about $22 including drinks. I think it's a pretty good deal and nice rustic chill out place. Will be back :)

Asian Weight Chart

Came across this on one of the public weighing scales and thought it would be nice to archive it here. Asian BMI is slightly different as we have different frames. Some food for thought.