Royal China: Apple Snowskin

During the festival, snow-skin moon cakes almost outnumbered the traditional baked. Young adults and youth are more attracted in them; the reason is no other than the unique flavours. In traditional baked, the typical flavours that you'll obtain are lotus paste, pandan, red bean and green tea. Snow-skin has more distinctive flavours: they're basically anything, from nuts, fruits, chocolates, even the one with a touch of alcohol. I don't really into them, they tastes just like mochi which you can get all year round. However, I had sampled Royal China's green apple I quite like it. They're a little sour and not too sweet with thin but soft skin, a plus mark despite the super tiny shape. 

Tambuah Mas: Indonesian Homestyle

Being a true Indonesian, I can’t really let times went by without having some of our customary foods. Indonesian cuisine is somewhat famous here, seen by the number of restaurants of it. Is it because the Indonesians who always come here during the holidays (even weekends), or their taste bud just similar, or they’re really that good, I’m not quite sure. As our country comprises of diverse ethnicity, the type of foods you can get varies greatly. This place that I went combines several dishes from different parts of Indonesia.

Crackers and some nuts.

Tahu Telor is basically Tofu fried with omelettes which are eaten with sweet soy sauce. The eggs are crispy but the tofu remains firm and not too watery. It came in a portion enough for about 3 persons.

Next up is the Chicken Satay: chicken chunks grilled in skewers. Usually this is to be eaten with some peanut sauce and onions.

The most common veggie dish, kang kong belacan. This spicy veggie makes a great companion to the slightly sweet tofu and chicken satay.

They have lots of other dishes that are worth to try for. All of the dishes above are best eaten with some white rice, as we always did. For those of you who has big appetite, the rice is free-flow. ;)

Tambuah Mas

290 Orchard Road

#B1-47 Paragon

Singapore 238859

Tel: 6733 2220

Bosses: Mooncake

When I saw that moon cakes are being sold everywhere, I knew that the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up. Around September-October annually, the Chinese people celebrates this festival, when the moon is at its fullest and roundest. Traditionally, this chinese pastry are eaten during this festival, whilst enjoying the full moon where the families gather together.

Pandan Moon cake with single egg yolk

The classic shape of the baked moon cake is round / rectangular, with thin skin and thick fillings which consisted of lotus paste. Commonly the centre consisted of an egg yolk, which is said to be symbolizing the full moon. During the festival, almost all bakeries and restaurants in Singapore compete in making the best-seller moon cakes (I even saw Starbuck's and Haagen-Dazs'), although some of them adopted the modern-modificated version: snowskin moon cakes.  

I bought this Pandan Moon cake from Bosses Restaurant in Vivo City. The waitress came to the table post our lunch and offered some sampler for us. The typical moon cakes are always been too sweet for my liking but this one isn't. The pandan gives an aromatic flavour to the lotus paste, and how beautiful they're when being cut!

Bosses

1 Harbourfront Walk

#02-156/157 VivoCity

Tel: +65 6376 9740

Black Forest Cherry Torte

Originated from Germany, for some reasons black forest cake seems like the most common type of cake I ate since I was a kid. While at times back then I wasn't allowed to have the one with rum/kirsch, I'd actually prefer it more than the kid's version. This cake, from Big O, would be the best black forest cake I could find here. I didn't expect it to be this good at first, as I knew they specialized in cheesecakes. The cake is not too rich in creams, very generous with pitted cherries and chocolate savings. I like the addition of chocolate mousse in between the layers. It makes a nice different version of the cake.

Big O Cafe. Restaurant

501 Orchard Road
#02-04/#02-05 Wheelock PlaceSingapore 238880
Tel: 6737 8472

Toast: Another Coffee and Sweets

We stopped by Toast for some coffee and sweets (again) today. Until today, I still quite don't understand how people figure out this place. Words from mouth to mouth seems to be a solid explanation. Anyway, I love the atmosphere is this place. It's laid-back and very relaxing, and also, the display foods makes me want to eat more.


I treated myself lemon tart. The other day my friend has complained about how I always ordering desserts containing lemon. I tried to change that habit today but I can't resist that beautifully burned meringue on the bed of sweet and sour lemon curd.

Having been missing the NY's Cheesecake factory, my friend had this chocolate cheesecake. I like the idea of using chocolate to balance the sour and creamy cheese, but this would be too heavy for me.
As if all the above are not enough, I bought some loaf cakes for take-away. They'll make a great breakfast. ;)


Toast
391 Orchard road
#02-11 Ngee Ann city
Tel: 6733 8489

Mellben Seafood

In Singapore, seafood almost equally means crabs. Yes, crabs are that famous here, especially the one cooked with chili-based gravies. The old and traditional seafood restaurants has grown larger over the years, becoming high end family dinings and have spread their branches across the island. Jumbo, No Sign Board, Long Beach, you name it. Mellben Seafood, however, remained as original as the time they had started the business, in a coffee-shop both in Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio. 

The Creamy Butter Crab is one of their Specialties. So far I have not seen it in other places yet. I think this is way better than chili crabs, although their's are also great. The butter sauce works very well with the crispy fried mantau; once you dip in the sauce and eat it, you can't stop. The best thing about being known by the owner is that she'll give you the best crab, with the claws as big as your palm and meats that come off easily.

The Crispy Baby Squid is a must, but here's a little warning from me: don't take too much if you're a 'spiciness intolerant'.

Prawn, Prawn, Prawn.. We picked the Cereal Prawns. I can eat all the crispy oats on its own, its that good, but they're also great with the crab's butter sauce.

This is the Mongolian style Venison (deer meats). It's not my kind of thing, but according to my friend, the meat is nicely done, tender and best eaten with some rice.

We were supposed to have some veggie but we decided to get some tofu instead. This delicious fried tofu has some fish and veggie mixture inside.

So you see, with that much foods you might want to order, it's best to come in a group. Less person means less to try, right?

Mellben Seafood

Blk 211 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh

#01-11/15

Tel: +65 6353 3120

A Spoon of Soup

The picture below looks like a self-made pumpkin soup, and I wish it is. I visited The Soup Spoon for more than a couple of times; had redeemed the free soup from their member cards and tried most of their other stuffs beside the soups.

Calling me a loyal customer seems not that appropriate. As much as I like eating their soups, sometimes I opted for something else when I got the choice. It does, however, offer a great meal during a rush lunch, where you wanted something nutritious, light, yet filling your stomach finely. My favourite is the pumpkin soup, after adding some tabasco and ground peppers to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin. The picture in this post was when I bought the take away version of the soup (serving size of two) and use my own toasts as companion.

The Soup Spoon
Paragon Shopping Centre
Basement 1 Unit K4/K7
Tel No: 6738 3860

A Cone in A Hot Day

How would you like to eat your ice cream? In a cup, cone or a la mode with waffles / brownies? I like eating them in a cup to give a boost to the original flavours without being interfered by the cookie-like taste of the cone. However, Udders said differently that afternoon. I sought after my typical cup of ice cream when I smelled that freshly made cone from their kitchen. Warm crisp cone topped with the soft creamy tiramisu ice cream? Definitely. Licking the ice ball from the cone made me felt like a kid again, except that this flavour isn't kid-friendly; it contains a hint of alcohol!

Udders
155 Thomson road
Goldhill Shopping Centre
Singapore 307608
Tel/Fax: 62546629

Billy Bombers

This would be those times where I craved for a good burger after watching a particular series of "How I Met Your Mother". I blamed Robin for that. On the back of my mind, I certainly knew a place I could easily get that: Relish. But I wanted to try my luck at a new burger experience that day, so I took myself to Billy Bombers. Burgers were originated from America, so this American dining deserved a chance, right?

The menu consisted of typical American foods: fries, onion rings, grilled meats, aaand burgers! For starter, we shared a basket of onion rings and fries. The choices available are quite limited, we could see that there are baskets of this fried stuffs on other tables too.

Despite the unusual name, the Obama Burger came out rather normal. The onion rings on top of the patty gives that extra crunch but unfortunately the patty ifself is lacked in juiciness. If you are an original ( I mean the traditional ) burger eater, there are shakes you can order to accompany the burger too.

I picked the Naked Gun and I put on some clothes on the chicken: American chilies and jalapeno. The tender grilled chicken is too oily for me, but the chilies are divine. People should add them to their burgers to give that extra flavours (and meat? =P). All in all, I'm still longing for that perfect burger. Could Lily, Marshall and Barney help?

Billy Bombers Classic

2 Handy Road

#01-11/12 The Cathay

Tel: +65 6735 5381

Fermented Cassava Cake

While being very famous in Indonesia, I could hardly find any cassava products in other countries. For those who never heard about cassavas before: they're woody shrubs that are usually grown in tropical areas. The roots are the part that are usually consumed. Since it's high in carbohydrates, some countries have it as one of the citizen's staple foods. Today, since less people consuming it on its own, they're mostly found in traditional pastries.

This cake, made from the fermented ones, is an all-time favourite. There will be no adress attached in this post as you can't find it here. A friend of mine brought it for me from Jakarta. I must admit that was my first time in trying them too.. Wait, maybe I had them some where, some times ago, but I doubt that was this good. My first slice was not enough, I had three slices of that wonderful cake at one go. The super moist cake rise perfectly and crumbles at your bites. The crusts are nicely browned (the best part I think) and crisp a little at the day it was baked. They're good after weeks too, as I kept them in the fridge. Perfect companion for my coffee!

Aji-tei: Post lunch dessert

Matcha is the new vanilla; well at least in some Asian countries. For me, the two of them are in the different ends of the extreme. I'm very fond of everything with green tea but I felt the other way with vanilla. Japanese restaurant has almost always been my choice whenever I was longing for some green tea dessert, especially after having some Japanese meal. This ice cream in a bowl, topped with some fresh fruits, red bean paste and mochis was splendid. The soft ice cream was very smooth and creamy, not being overly sweet without eliminating the strong matcha flavour. It came with some brown sugar syrup that I didn't added on as it was good enough without it.  

Kyoto Sabo Ajitei

68 Orchard Road

#02-01 Plaza Singapura

Tel: +65 6341 9045