flavours of thailand

Yes you guessed it! Where else can you taste the flavours of Thailand? The very popular Thai Express has always never failed to impress me with the greater variety of dishes (main courses, appetisers, desserts etc.) that they offer; all at affordable prices.

Menu: Poo Phat Pung Kari (Curried Softshell Crab)
Venue: Thai Express
Price: S$ 10.90 (price excludes GST and Service Charge)
Verdict: 3.5/5

What I loved about this dish was the crab. It was softshell! Which means you don’t have to de-shell the crab to savour it. Served with thai fragrant rice (duh what else? ) this dish hit the spot. It was spicy so yes plain rice was good to balance out the dish’s overall spicyness. However I felt that garnish could have been a little better. Because the crab was curried, the lettuce, onions and cucumbers seemed like they were in a mess. But other than that, everything else about the dish was good! Especially if you love spicy food, Thai Express is the place to be.

Cheerios,
tina

P.S. – For more info http://www.thaiexpress.com.sg

hail Ceaser!

A Ceaser salad for brunch?! Why not? If it tastes as great as the one we had at Coffee Bean I could eat it every day. This time it was brunch at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with Co-agent Michelle. We tried three dishes but my personal favorite was the Ceaser salad.

Menu: Ceaser Salad
Venue: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Price: S$ 7.90
Verdict: 4/5

The lettuce was fresh and we all know that’s what makes a salad taste good. Besides it’s fresh and light taste, the salad dressing and the bread bits that came along with it completed the taste. Oh and not to mention the slices of boiled eggs at the side. Delicious!

However I do have to admit I was hungry a couple of hours after that. Don’t blame me! You can’t expect me to be full on salad (especially one shared with another sorrority sister hehe ). So the verdict! Yes to this salad but maybe not for lunch or brunch. It would be an excellent and non-sinful snack.

Cheerios,
tina

Mochi Ice Cream

I love Mochis.. and I love Ice Cream.. when those are put together.. you can’t get anything better on earth.. PRESENTING..

1st Row (from the left): vanilla, strawberry, strawberry dark chocolate

2nd Row (from the left): tiramisu, chocolate mint, raspberry white chocolate

Menu: Mochi Ice Cream

Venue: Still Takashimaya B1 Food Paradise

Price: S$11 for a box of 6 mochis

Verdict: 4.5/5

Review: It was just so awesome.. the different flavours are awesome.. vanilla was awesome.. the ice cream was so awesome.. i need to find another word.. but seriously the vanilla ice cream taste like the haagen dazs ice cream.. I haven’t eaten all of them.. I had the chocolate mint and tiramisu which were awesome as well.. I love how the mochi skin was so awesome.. it is just soooo awesome.. you all have got to try it..

XOXO,

~Ly

Durian Pies..

I lovedddd Durians.. and so today when my soulsister told me about Durian pies at Taka.. I had to get them straight away.. and so I did..

There were 3 kinds of them.. one was the durian puffs.. I didn’t buy it.. but they did gave me a piece to try.. it was awesome.. but I bought too much already..

I bought the other 2 kinds.. One is the Durian pie.. which was cold and awesome.. with chocolate on top of it.

Menu: Durian Pie

Venue: Takashimaya B1 Food Paradise

Price: S$5.00 for 2 pies

Verdict: 4/5 (awesomeness)

Review: It was a slice of heaven, it was sooo awesome, the durian was like so nice.. the nicest type of a durian you can ever get.. plus chocolate on top.. and I just loved it..

Another one was the Durian tart.. this one is warm.. like an egg tart but this one’s durian.. I prefer the pie though..

Menu: Durian Tart

Venue: Takashimaya B1 Food Paradise

Price: S$4.00 for 3 Tarts

Verdict: 3/5

Review: This one was served warm, and I felt it was too warm.. didn’t really like warm durian.. haha.. but it was still nice anyways..

So yea.. that’s all from the Durian world.. I have another fabulous dessert.. but that’s for another post.. nitez..

XOXO,

~Ly

Swaadhisht

This time, I relished the amazing flavours of India at Swaadhisht. In sanskrit (an ancient Indo-Aryan language), swaadhist means tasty and they most definitely lived up to their name. Located in Little India, the restaurant serves a variety of both North and South Indian dishes. But they’re specialized mostly in South-Western Indian cuisine (mainly food inspired from the region of Kerela in India).

Menu: Chicken Dum Briyani
Venue: Swaadhisht
Price: S$ 9.00
Verdict: 4.5/5

This is their signature dish and it was the best briyani I’ve had in Singapore!

The rice was fragrant and the chicken that came along with it (it’s buried inside the pot so you can’t really see it), was tender and delicious. The portion is more than enough for 2 persons.

Don’t be deceived by the plain look of this dish. I know it looks like plain basmati rice (the kind of rice used to make briyani). However, you need to taste it to believe when I say that this is one of the best briyanis I’ve had here.

Menu: Chettinad Chicken
Venue: Swaadhisht
Price: S$ 6.00
Verdict: 4/5

This was like an accompaniment for the briyani, especially if you enjoy gravy with your rice. While the portions were not huge, the gravy was smooth and extremely tasty. The dish was garnished with just enough spices and it was quite obvious that coconut was used to add to the extreme taste of this dish!

We had to wait at least a good 20 minutes before the dishes arrived but trust me it’s worth the wait. The chicken was cooked just right. Like most of us, I tend to dislike ala-carte non-vegetarian dishes that have been overcooked or re-heated just minutes after the order. However at most of the Indian restaurants that I’ve been to, that’s what happens with exceptions to this one of course!

Their service was excellent because they gave us all dessert on the house, despite having ordered only ala-carte dishes! Is that great or what?! The pricing was not too over-priced especially when I compare them to their direct rivals (restaurants that serve similar dishes that are located within close proximity from them). On the whole, it was an excellent and fullfilling experience for me at swaadhist. Can’t wait to get back there!

Cheerios,
Tina

PS – For more info visit http://www.swaadhisht-singapore.com

crêpe’d up

I finally made my first trip to Out of the Pan. I’m pretty sure everyone who frequents Raffles City knows that place. Located at B1, just below the escalators and around the fountain area. That’s the place!

This restaurant is especially for those who prefer to have a light and simple meal. Although the menu had limited choices of main course with only one type of food (crêpes) it had a variety of desserts and drinks. However today wasn’t a day for dessert or drinks so I had a crêpe.

So what on earth is a crêpe? It’s a type of very thin pancake, originating from France. Crêpes are prepared by pouring the thin batter onto a pan. It is usually made of wheat but there are other variations too.

Menu: Cheesy Chicken Sausage crêpe (Whole Wheat)
Venue: Out of the Pan
Price: S$ 13.00
Verdict: 3/5

The crêpe was not elaborate and perfect for me this afternoon as I wasn’t hungry and did not want a heavy meal.

The chicken sausages were well sauté and smeared with just the right amount of cheese. I personally prefer not to have too much of cheese in my meal. Too much of any type of accompaniment ruins the whole meal!

The salad that came as a side was fresh and without any dressing. But it was definitely a good side for the crêpe.

While there was no variety in the kind of food served there, I was thankful that I at least had the option of choosing the type of crêpe I wanted; plain, whole wheat or sun-dried tomato.

On the whole I enjoyed my meal today. The service was good. The waiters were quick to take our orders and bring our orders. They filled our glasses before they got empty and eventually brought the bill without having to make us wait for long. However I do feel that they restaurant could have offered more variety for the customers, instead of just serving different types of crêpes.

Cheerios,
tina

Original English Breakfast?

It was called.. Brek ‘O’ Day..I suppose it means Breakfast of the day?

Well before I jump into the dish itself.. did you know the origin of the word breakfast? It was from break (v.) + fast (n.). Cf. Fr. déjeuner “to breakfast,” from L. dis-jejunare “to break the fast.” The verb is from 1679. The English word derives from the concept that sleep prevents eating, thus an involuntary fast occurs during sleep; this fast is broken by the first meal – called breakfast.

It is the most important meal of the day. Research has shown that children who did not have breakfast perform worst in school. And it gives rise to higher risk of obesity.. and you thought skipping breakfast will make you thinner.. HAH..

Haha.. Interesting huh? If you ever want to know more about breakfast, just click on the word. =p

Anyways, back to the Brek ‘O’ Day.

Menu: Break ‘O’ Day
Venue: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Price: S$ 7.20
Verdict: 3/5
Review: I’m not exactly sure if it’s an English breakfast, but it involves scrambled eggs, toasted bread, 2 sausages and an awesome salad. Top it off with a choice of tea or coffee. It was quite heavy for breakfast, but the servings were attractive and definitely delicious. They have a different kind of salad which was very fresh and awesome. It had small tomatoes, berries, almond nuts on top of lettuce, along with an unidentifiable yet lovely sauce which combined all the unusual ingredients together to make one fabulously bright and tasty salad. The eggs, bread and sausages were.. well.. ordinary? But I think I was very satisfied with this choice for breakfast.

Authentic Thai Food..

So today I had a Royal Feast, at the Sabai Restaurant, which serves authentic Thai food. It was kinda pricey at first glance, but that was one of the steps I never regret taking.

The place was royally decorated, very much like the name card on the left. Red wall, red ceiling, and a lot of intricate ornaments. Situated strategically at Ngee Ann City #04-23, Takashimaya, they definitely catch one’s eyes. The ornaments are embedded in almost everything we saw, even the food.

So first things first, the service there, was the ultimate awesomeness. Never empty glass of water, good recommendations of food, fantastic politeness and how the manager was trying to ensure that we know what we’re ordering and checking whether the dish will suit our taste buds. Awesome ambiance, romantic, quiet, clean. The only downside to this whole place was only the bill waiting for you at the end of it all. But for what we were about to devour, it was definitely worth it.

Well another down side was this, the manager kept walking around us, such that, I felt super weird taking pictures of the food, despite its OMG presentations. I only managed to take 2 photos out of 5 of the dishes we ordered, DANG.. but THAT gives ME another reason to go back.. haha.. to be faithful to our readers who are waiting for the nicest dishes in town.. =D

Let’s get on to the juicy stuff.

Menu: Pat Thai Gung
The famous tasty Thai Fried Noodles. Stir-fried with prawns, chicken, yellow beancurd, eggs, ground peanuts, sweet tamarind sauce and beansprouts.

Price: S$18.00
Verdict: 3/5
Review: I’ve eaten too much Pat Thai, it seems that all of them taste about the same, this one wins on the presentation, but other than that, not much difference.

 

 

 

Menu: See-Krong Moo Op Nahmpeung
Deep fried smoked honey pork ribs

Price: S$19.00 (for about 8-10 pieces of ribs)
Verdict: 4.5/5 (ultimate!)
Review: This dish, which I couldn’t take pictures of since it looked too good to wait for a snap, was seriously the ultimate honey pork ribs ever, it was soft and tender, succulent, with a distinct taste from the fact that it was smoked. An excellent combination of spices, which I don’t know, were evidently so working for that dish. I LOVED it.

Menu: Gang Mussaman Neua, Gai
“Ancient recipe” red peanut curry with potatoes and a choice of beef or chicken

Price: S$ 18.50
Verdict: 3.5/5
Review: It was better than the Pat Thai, and this curry actually smells nice, but to me, it doesn’t come across as something which is out of the ordinary, it taste a little bit like Indonesian dishes, but if my mom loves it, since she hates curries, it must be something right?

Menu: Saengwa Gung Pao
Kaffir lime juice dressing with grilled prawns, lemograss, chillies and mint leaves, served with deep fried crispy fish and raw vegetables. This dish was originally “Royal Food”, the relish it always served in a carved vegetable; pumpkin or green melon and together with carved raw vegetables; carrots, cucumber, and apple eggplant.

Price: S$18.00
Verdict: 4/5 (VERY good)
Review: The relish was definitely something different, if you love Indonesian rujak, it’ll definitely be a winner. I loved it. And how all the things were carved, the eggplants, the carrots, sooo beautiful, the cucumbers and all were also carved, and check ot the bowl from the pumpkin, so beautiful right?? It’s a bit sour, a bit sweet, a bit spicy, in Indonesian we call it “Nano, nano, manis, asem, asin, Ramai rasanya” loosely translated it means “Nano, Nano ( a name of this candy thing in Indo), sweet, sour, salty, all the different tastes combined into one..”

Menu: Mee Grop
One of Sabai’s ancient recipes – sweet and sour crispy noodles with prawns, chicken, beancurd, pickled garlic and yellow bean past

Price: S$17.50
Verdict: 4.5/5
Review: Seriously they were awesome, super super awesome, it was crispy and just nice, splendid with rice, but fantastic if eaten alone. I can’t really describe it with words, it was just awesome. You have to try it to know what I mean.

So what are you waiting for?? Go get your asses down at the Thai Palace!!

XOXO,
~Ly