On Saturday, after watching Yanice’s, one of our sisters, dance performance with empty stomach, we decided to head to Clarke Quay to grab some food. Everywhere was full ‘cos it was a Saturday night, so in the end we ended up at TCC.

I was pleasantly surprised that TCC turns out to serve great food in addition to its famous coffee (though I don’t drink coffee for that matter)!

Menu: Kahlua Salmon

Venue: TCC Clarke Quay (can be found in all TCC outlets actually)

Price: $16.50

Verdict: 4/5 (yummy!)

There was a choice between medium done or well done, and I chose the medium one. It was awesome! The salmon was cooked just nice, not too raw, not overcooked. It was juicy, tender and was draped in a unique sauce, special creation of TCC. It has a tint of coffee in it and other things that I can’t identify xP I don’t normally take coffee (even in a pathetically small dose), but the taste of coffee in the sauce is what makes the food a tick! The salmon was served along with mashed potatoes, which was also nice. The only drawback was perhaps its price – all the food there is quite pricy considering that it’s a café. Nevertheless, it’s still a must-try from TCC!

‘tiL then,

Serla =)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Get lost in the flavours of Italia at Modesto’s. This restaurant has not only won several awards for it’s amazing wine and dine experience, but it has also won my heart! Located at the Orchard Parade Hotel in Tanglin, the place attracts all kinds of crowds.

They are well-known for their traditional wood-fired pizza (Italia Stile! Mua mua!) and that’s exactly what I had for dinner.

Menu: Pizza Ai Wustrel
Tomato, cheese and chicken sausages

Venue: Modesto’s
Price: S$17.00 (Regular)
Verdict: Very Good (4/5)
Service: Good

Who are they kidding when they actually say Italians make the best pizzas! Unless you’re a fan of the deep dish American pizzas you get at Domino’s or Pizza Hut, you will enjoy every bit of the thin crust pizza you see in the picture.

Pardon me for the missing slice. We were a little bit too hungry.

The toppings weren’t overcooked neither were they too much or too little in proportion. They were just enough. The amount of cheese was just right and the chilli flakes that accompanied this pizza was just amazing. All you needed was just a dash of it. It was enough to complement the succulent flavours in this pizza.

Well that was the star of our food review. But here comes the co-star of the evening.

Menu: Calamari Fritti
Succulent pieces of fresh squid coated in a special Modesto’s batter, deep-fried to perfection and served with tartar sauce

Venue: Modesto’s
Price: S$15.50
Verdict: Very Good (4/5)

My mother (mamma mia) always used to tell me squid is the trickiest dish of all seafood. Too over cooked, it loses it’s tenderness. Too under cooked, it’s just raw and disgusting!

But these calamari rings my friends, were cooked to perfection! A light squeeze of the lemon and there was this tingling taste of citrus in the rings. This added more zest to the overall taste of this appetizer. Wow!

My overall experience at Modesto’s; a perfect place for all occassions. Be it a special date (thanks to the dimly lit and romantic ambience) with great food and drinks or a football match with some beer (there’s an outdoor bar with a huge plasma tv playing ESPN) or just a chill-out session with friends (the outdoor dining area).

However, the service could have been better if the waiters and waitresses smiled a bit more LOL!
But other than that, I would definitely recommend this place for all pizza and pasta lovers.

Cheerios,
tina

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