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How to excel in Food-o-logy Visiting new eating places Re-visiting old and good eating places Willing to try almost anyting and everyting Try out various recipes on your own Fail? Try again! Share cooking experiences with people Lastly, spread the marvel of FOOD! Other Foodies Sg food blogs Credits  Blogskins Soup-Faerie.com for Cursor 
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Monday, June 11, 2007 had dinner w family and 3rd uncle's family on grandma's treat at this Hokkien restaurant called Ban Ting at the 5th floor of OCBC Building. so since its a typical Hokkien restaurant, most of wat we order are typical Hokkien dishes familiar to grandma and parents' generations. Firstly, we started off with a bowl of fish maw (he piu in Hokkien) soup. its the thick, starchy kind of soup, which people from china would call geng(1). but its pretty tasty, without tasting fake i.e. such dat it came from a can or packet. other den fish maw, there are also crabmeat, mushrom, spring onion strips, carrot strips and some other ingredients i cant quite remember.  the next dish is called hae cho, or rather deep fried minced prawn and pork ball. some versions add in chestnuts too, but this version doesn't have, so dats minus the slight sweet crunch. but they coated the ball in grated potato (according to the waitress) b4 deep frying, although we dun really taste any potato.  this is how it looks like inside. a little oily though, coz its fried, and not really a favourite of mine.  this is the hokkien style of or luak, or fried oyster omelette. this version uses lesser starch den the ones found in hawker centres, and their eggs r broken up rather den as an omelette. but there is a very thin crispy layer (dunno if u can see from the pic) which i m not so sure wat is it, flour? a sweet and spicy chilli sauce is lathered over the oysters, which hints dat the oysters r cooked separately from the rest?  close-up view. oysters are rather plump and juicy, but i dun tink its very fresh.  the next dish is a plate of very normal looking stir-fried spinach. nothing much to comment abt it coz theres nothing very special abt it. nothing very disastrous, but nothing very good either. but 1 thing to note, it pretty expensive at $28!!  this dish is chicken stewed in a brown salty and slightly herbalish sauce with green peas, mushrooms and ginko nuts, something similar to wat we know as herbal chicken. once again, although the sauce is pretty tasty without being overly salty, its a pretty average dish too. the chicken is not as tender as i would like it to be too.  this dish is a household hokkien dish, known as kong ba pao, or stewed pork bun. slices of pork belly are stewed in a dark brown sauce which is both salty and sweet, and den sandwiched in between chinese buns or mantous. this version is ultimately guilty. only suited for pork fat lovers, becoz every slice of pork belly has a ratio of 3:1 of pork fat:meat!! the min i saw the pork fat "wriggling" on top of the meat when its served, i knew i will never touch a piece of that thing. so i ended up having juz 1 of the bun dipped in the sauce, which tastes not bad, juz dat i find it a little too watery for my liking.  the last dish was of coz the noodles. we had this hokkien stir fried mian xian, which kinda looked like ee-fu noodles. it was fried with all the usual ingredients like veg, fish, squid, pork. another average dish again, abit like those u get at wedding dinners.  for dessert, we had the traditional or nee, or yam paste with ginko nuts and pumpkin slices which was 1 of grandma's favourites. i dun really like yam so i wun say i enjoyed this dessert. but i guess the pumpkin when mashed and mixed with the yam paste, adds sweetness to it, and the paste isn't too cloyingly sweet such dat it makes u thirsty.  Place: Ban Ting Restaurant 5th floor, OCBC centre, near shenton way. Rating: 2.5/5 Wednesday, May 23, 2007 this is a really nice dim sum restaurant located at vivocity. what originally attracted us there, was its promotion of 50% off all dimsum and dessert, from mon-sat 2-5pm. but after trying their food, its worth going bk for a few more times. this is 1 of their speciality, the famous custard buns. what is special about their buns is that, most of the other places serve their custard in a semi-solid, custardy form in the bun, but for this place, their custard is in the form of flowing liquid!  when u break open the bun, the custard juz flows and flows! the custard is fragrant, with a pretty strong salty egg-yolk taste. those who do not like 'xian dan' might not like this dish. but its still worth a try. next is char siew cheong fun. cheong fun is prob a must-have for any dim sum session. they have a few other types like prawn, mushroom and other cheong fun, but we decided to go for the usual type. the cheong fun skin is very smooth, and the sauce is not over-salty. worth a try too.  the next dish is a green tea scallop siewmai. it is basically siew mai with a whole prawn wrapped in a supposedly green tea flavoured skin with a small piece of scallop on top. name sounds nice, but taste is juz average. the prawn is fresh, but the scallop is very meagre. and not much siew mai in there too. the green tea skin has no green tea taste too.  next is another must-have, the har gow (prawn dumpling). nothing much to complain abt this, the prawn is whole and fresh, skin is smooth.  the all time fav is of coz the xiao long bao. we were afraid it was not enough for us (6 per basket), so we ordered 2 portions. the 1st pic is the green tea xiao long bao, which we realised is basically juz nice name for a greener skin.  and this is the original xiao long bao, which is pretty much the same, except for a original whiter skin.  the xiao long bao is pretty good. as seen from the pic, theres alot of soup in the bao, and the soup is very flavourful, having taken in all the essence from the pork in the bao. definitely muz try.  we had to try their dessert, so we shared a portion of mango sago w pomelo. its a very typical cantonese dessert, oso known as 'yang zhi gan lu'. the mango cream is very fresh and refreshing, with bits of mango meat in it. the sago is also done pretty well, and you don't find clumps of sago stuck together. the sour pomelo adds abit of kick to the dessert too. worth a try.  Place: Bosses Restaurant Vivocity, 2nd floor. Rating: 3.5/5 this entry is about a really cool cafe. define a cool cafe? a cosy place for pple to sit ard and chill + comfortable chairs/seats/cushions + magazines on the shelf + interesting menu, thats it. and well, this cafe fits the equation. been here a few times with friends, but only tried their drinks (they specialise in all sorts of tea, english ones mainly) and finger food. but so happens, this particular day that we were there, we decided to have dinner there, which accounts for the pictures. juz a short impromptu entry, so shall not talk much. this is the lemongrass chicken cutlet, served w jasmine rice cooked with saffron (i think) and a side salad. the chicken is nicely crumbed and fried, and is very tender. the rice is fragrant, with a sweet-savoury sauce accompanying it.  this is matcha (green tea) grilled fish, served with the same rice as above and the same salad. the dory fish is grilled juz nice, with the fish not being too dry and the meat still retaining its soft texture. the matcha sauce accompanying it is more on the sweet side, with hints of green tea taste. a rather good accompaniment.  Place: Essential Brew Holland Village, along Cold Storage that stretch, near Hog's Breath Cafe Price is normal cafe prices Rating: 3.5/5 Sunday, May 20, 2007 this post is abt 1 of rather over-rated noodle shops...Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee Shop....they have a few branches, the particular 1 i went to is in vivocity....basically wat they specialise in is sarawak style wanton mee.....but other than the usual one with veg, charsiew and wanton, they have versions with abalone slices and prawns....but it is a little over-priced...the usual one which i ordered cost me nearly $6, not including drinks.... as seen from the pic, i had the dry version....which comes with noodles, veg and charsiew in dark sauce, and a bowl of soup with the wantons and fresh prawns....in all fairness, people commented that their chilli is quite good, which i didnt try, so i won't comment on that...  this is the close-up version of the noodles....which looks suspiciously like maggie mee...portions r actually quite small for that price....a big-eater might not be satisfied....  and this is of the soup...1 good thing is that they have fresh prawns in it, which not many wanton mee stalls have....and the prawns r quite fresh and springy...soup is quite flavourful too, although prob a tad too much MSG?  PS: sorry for the not-very-sharp pictures....cant expect a very good quality with camera phones rite? hehe... Monday, March 26, 2007 i joined the hype dat every1 got into, by queuing for the famous Donut factory donuts! The Donut Factory is located in Raffles City B1, next to the Tea Pal shop, opp Chippy's. It is famous for fresh donuts with interesting flavours and cheap prices. but 1 drawback is, u have to have LOTS of patience in order to get these donuts! i had to queue for nearly 2hrs!   so finally, my prized possession, 12 donuts!!  here are the names 1 by 1: top row L-R: apple cinnamon, cheese tartare, double choc, hazelnut milk choc 2nd row L-R: spicy cheese, blueberry, double choc, strawberry 3rd row L-R: kaya white choc, lotus mocha, peanut butter dark choc, strawberry heart prices are as follows: 1 pc: glazed - $1, assorted - $1.20 box of 6: glazed - $5.50, assorted - $6 box of 12: glazed - $10, assorted - $11 went to try the new seafood restaurant at Bottle Tree Park on my bdae. juz realised theres actually 2 places, 1 is Bottle Tree Park, the other is Bottle Tree village. the one i went to was the park, which is located in yishun. theres a side entrance opp yishun swimming complex, the main entrance for cars to drive in is at Lor Chencharu(i am not sure if its spelled this way), which is a small lane off Sembawang road. the village one is at sembawang, somewhere off the far end of Sembawang Park (Jalan Memburong or sumthing). this dish is deep fried beancurd topped with minced pork. pretty common dish, nothing much to rave about. but its not bad to eat w rice coz the minced pork is pretty salty.
this is the stir-fry ginger and onion fish slices. not bad. the fish slices r pretty fresh n spongy, and doesnt taste like those which are kept in the freezer for ages.  this is the hotplate beef. the beef slices r tender, and the sauce is not bad to go w rice too. not bad.  lastly, the mixed veg w scallops. this dish is not as good as it looks. the veg are ok, not overdone, but not very fantastic either. however, the scallops are a disappointment, they dont really have much taste on its own. prob are those frozen ones.  prices are average, like those cze char seafood restaurant prices. however, ambience is not bad is u can get a table outside next to the pond (provided its not raining). muz make reservations coz its often very packed. Thursday, March 15, 2007 The last post for today is on Astons. famous for its good quality beef at cheap prices. its located along east coast road, opp katong shopping centre. and the prices are really cheap. you choose your main dish, and get to choose 2 side dishes for free. The 1st pic is tenderloin with coleslaw and fries.  the 2nd one is ribeye with mash potatoes and onion rings. the 3rd one is honey bourbon ribs with garlic rice and coleslaw. and the last one is grilled fish with herbs, with corn-on-the-cob and pasta salad.  This is a special post dedicated to 1 of my best sec sch buds, who juz came back from exchange in germany, and brought back ALL these yummylicious chocs for us to try!! a very big thank you char! enjoy!     This is in Grapevine, a small cafe along Upper Serangoon Road, near Kovan Mrt. Its located in the ground floor of a building between the Crocodile farm and Hotel 81 Kovan. Firstly, the stuffed chicken leg, served with rice.  Next is the grilled oriental chicken also served with flavoured rice. This is the breaded dory with fries.  lastly, the baked rice with mushrooms and ham and etc.  You should end off your meal with their brownies, its to die for! I forgot to take a pic of it, but its really quite good. imagine cold cold vanilla ice cream on top of hot hot choc brownie. no further explanation needed. This next one is about an all-time favourite. Ask almost any foodie on the street, they will definitely know about it. The famous IKEA! this is the new branch at tampines. Starting off, is the famous IKEA swedish meatballs.  Next is their seafood spaghetti. and lastly, another must-eat, the fried chicken wings! this is really gd!  This post is about the Ma Lai La Mian restaurant which is famous for its stewed beef noodles. However, since me and my companion didn't feel like eating noodles on that day, we just ordered a few dishes to share. There are 2 branches that i know of, 1 is at Parkway Parade (nex to Macdonalds), the other is opp Bugis Junction(MOS burger side). This is the Bugis branch. The 1st pic is their famous stewed beef.  Next comes the pepper salt chicken.  The braised intestines (lu da chang).  The deep fried tofu (with seafood paste).  Lastly, the braised cabbage.  overall, the quality is not bad. |
