ANYWAY!! It was a cool, quiet and breezy morning, the estate is sooo slow and peaceful.

Ang Ku Kueh! You could say it’s the Singaporean version of the Japanese Mochi, and has been around for generations. It’s traditionally eaten during baby first month celebrations or any other festive occasions. Chinese use red as a symbol of fortune and good luck, which is why those at celebrations are red, although we now have different colours to show different flavours. The molds for these kuehs usually have Chinese words on it also – such as longevity/ fortune etc.

Mmm I was a tad disappointed because they weren’t hot, which might have made the skin even more chewy. Skin also felt a bit too thick for my liking. Would have preferred less of that skin and more of their filling because the filling was tasty! The peanut filling is made out of ground peanuts and sugar, somewhat like crunchy peanut butter without the creamy part of it. Coconut was like the tu-tu kuehs – grated and sweetened coconut. We also had sweet green bean and salty green bean. I like the salty one! It wasn’t too sweet, or too salty, wasn’t too grainy or too sticky either.

Ji Xiang Confectionary
Block 1 Everton Park
#01-33, near Cantonment Road
Singapore 081001
6223 1631
Opens Monday to Saturdays, 8am to 5pm. Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

Next up, Grin Affair.

The first time my friends and I visited Grin Affair, we enjoyed ourselves because the owner was very chatty and upbeat, and the place was a nice area to chill at. This time, the whole experience seemed a little cold and unfriendly though… not too sure what’s up. And you can’t sit in anymore! Only a takeaway.

We came out with Durian ($5.50). Bf’s verdict: Nothing special about it, just durian paste with a little dollop of durian on top. And overly buttery biscuit crumble at the bottom.

Hahaha I did prefer the honey lavender/ hazelnut that my friends and I tried previously, perhaps those flavours are more  creative and will taste more exciting and special!

Grin Affair
3 Everton Park
#01-77
8282 7375
Mon- Sat: 12pm – 8pm

Last stop, Nylon Coffee Roasters.

Here you see my 5 oz White ($3.80). Which was one of my most fragrant and tasty cups of coffee ever. Right temperature for sipping immediately, slightly sweet roast with a very pleasant aftertaste. 

Bf’s daily brew – which was too acidic and sour for my liking oops.

Nylon Coffee Roasters
4 Everton Park
#01-40
6220 2330
Mon, Wed- Fri: 8.30am – 5.30pm
Sat- Sun: 9am – 6pm

Overdue photos because it was in bf’s camera and everything got so busy once he left, I didn’t get the photos for him. So… before bf left for UK, he decided to bring me out for a nice meal (: Headed to Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant at M Hotel for a 9-course set, and yes it was pretty good! Got the Groupon set for $49.90, which is reasonable for the food we had, but I don’t think I’ll go there paying normal prices which are… crazy steep.

Sashimi

Love how they have ebi and hotate!!!! My two favourite types of sashimi!

Wafu salad

Pitan tofu (century egg tofu)

Ebi roe & crushed century egg bits over silky smooth tofu. Simple stuff, but good stuff.

Hokkaido Ginkarei Shioyaki

Chawanmushi with ikura

Wagyu beef with mushrooms

This was just like normal beef hahahaha but it’s okay, not a huge fan of beef!

Alaskan King Crab udon

Hokkaido Maki

Sushi Roll with Deep-Fried Seafood Wrapped in Seaweed, topped with Flying Fish Roe. I liked this! Different mix of textures made it a joy to chomp on this.

Green Tea ice-cream

Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant
M Hotel Singapore
Level 9, 81 Anson Road
Singapore 079908
6871 4068
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm daily

They have two types of set lunches that run from Monday to Sunday – the Tasteful one is $13.90++ and the Magical one is $19.90++.

Both come with the Chef’s Wild Mushroom Soup. A little too much salt for my liking. The Tasteful set comes with a drink (Pulpy Orange Juice in the background), while the Magical one offers you things like Sparkling Passionfruit.

Beef & Sausage Bolognese, as part of the Tasteful set. Tastebuds are pampered by the taste of freshly made pasta tossed in the sauce to let the flavours seep through, so this doesn’t impress. But still a hearty sauce.

Roasted Teriyaki Chicken Leg, served with baked potatoes and grilled button mushrooms. Another choice on the Tasteful set as well. I don’t think boys will be filled up by this, but pretty okay for comfort food.

Pan Seared Salmon Steak, with golden orange apricot sauce, seasoned greens and baked potato, as part of the Magical set. Didn’t try this but my friend looked like she was having fun eating it.

Beef Burger ($13.90 on the a la carte menu). My friend’s a picky eater but he approved of it – he enjoyed the soft bun and the ground beef patty! And very wallet friendly too.

Warm chocolate pudding ($9.90), served with vanilla sauce and vanilla ice-cream. This was good!!! I will eat this again. I think they use Varlhona, but it was sooooo rich and soooo chocolatey. You know how some places claim they are serving molten chocolate cake but it ends up all cakey, dry and hard? Complete opposite.

The other stuff are the set menu desserts, which are not much to shout about. The Tasteful set comes with a scoop of homemade ice-cream – I picked Rum & Raisin and it wasn’t a wrong choice. The liquor hits you as you bite into the raisins, yum!

There are always queue outside the Itacho branch at Ion… and for good reason. Food here is affordably priced, there is a great deal of variety and it is fast fast fast! If I want a quick fix for sushi, I’ll head to Ichiban Boshi/ Itacho – two of the better chain Jap places imo.

Salmon with soy sauce sushi ($0.40 per piece). Who doesn’t know what this is?? It’s the famed half price salmon sushi that always runs out by the end of lunch hour. Simple but comforting.

In the foreground – Salmon Lobster Salad Roll ($3.60 for two pieces). Their lobster salad has a refreshing crunch to it mm.

Scallop & Avocado Roll ($3.60 for two pieces). My weakness for scallops is evident. Scallop sashimi – not the freshest and not the sweetest, but definitely pairs with avocado. Don’t get the red strips though ahahha.

Sakura Don ($9.90). If you know me, you will know that I am a huge pig so I was really happy that there was lots of ingredients in this simple looking bowl. It wasn’t enough to fill me up, I had to eat other sushi, but it was a big enough portion to satisfy the raw fish craving. I didn’t like the octopus at all though – very chewy and very fishy. Nothing much to fault about the flying fish roe, salmon, white fish and tamago though. Very even and equal mix, and decent price!!

Bf was highly amused by this! I do like sushi rice that is warmer though, reminds me of the handmade sushi my daddy makes (home-cooked food is the bestttt)

So overall it’s a quick and very decent place for sushi – some things on the menu might be a little repetitive though so order carefully!

Itacho Sushi
#02-35 Plaza Singapura
6337 8922

Opening Hours:
Sun – Thu: 11am – 10pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – 11pm

Steamed Xiao Long Bao ($3.90). Not the best around, skin was a little thick imo, but still a sizeable portion and lots of delicious piping hot soup when the skin breaks! Sometimes I think I enjoy the experience of eating this more than the taste of it itself.

Steamed Spare Ribs ($4.20). I enjoyed this! Whenever I order this I tend to find that the fat:meat ratio is around 2:1 but the ratio here is about 1:3. Tasty!!

Steamed Yolk Cream Bun ($4.20), i.e. Liu Sha Bao! Please eat this when it first arrives at your table – it is amazing

Steamed Siew Mai topped with crab roe ($5.20).

Steamed Scallop Dumpling ($4.80). This is essentially a Har Kau (prawn dumpling) topped with scallop. Weakness for scallops and its sweetness

Cover charge here is $2.50 per pax which probably balances out the discount they give you ahaha but still a pretty good place to have dim sum! Service was prompt, waitresses were helpful, restaurant is clean and pleasant.

The Cathay Restaurant
2 Handy Road #02-01
The Cathay
Singapore 229233
6732 7888

Operating Hours:
Weekdays & Saturdays: 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm
Sundays & Public Holidays: 10am – 5pm, 6pm – 11pm

One word – MACARONS.

The macarons here don’t get enough publicity. It’s priced at $2.50 a piece and you will definitely think it’s $2.50 well-spent! Love the quality of the ingredients used, no artificial almond smells but pure ground almonds. I also like the generous amount of filling and the variety of flavours that you get here. For instance, blackforest has a brandied cherry in the middle of the dark chocolate filling! Talk about surprises.

Now that they’re at a bigger space with proper seating, they’re doing up lots of other desserts as well. Tried the tarts and they were rich, smooth, fulfilling! Nothing much to fault except that the lemon one was going a bit soggy by the time I had it

Almond croissants! Loved this especially after toasting them. Better than Tiong Bahru Bakery hahaha. Crazy flaky, fragrant pastry with very very tasty almond filling. Just oozes out with every bite mmm I like this!!

Cupcakes, some of which are similar to their macaron flavours. I like the yuzu one – cake filled with yuzu bits, a yuzu core, yuzu in the frosting – going gaga over all the yuzu!

They do lots of cake orders and dessert tables for special events, you should drop by to check it out! Did up a birthday cake with them for my bf’s 21st and it’s super well-decorated.

Anyway, if you need a reason to drive all the way to The Grandstand, I give you one word: macarons!

You won’t regret it, promise!

ET Artisan Sweets
200 Turf Club Road
The Grandstand #01-35A
Singapore 287994
6468 6700
Monday – Wednesday: 9am – 7pm
Thursday – Saturday: 9am – 7pm

The concept here is one that encourages communal dining. Plates on the table that are all for sharing. Something that I enjoy a lot! Don’t you find yourself happier after a communal meal? It’s the magic of giving and sharing what you have!!

A single mezze is $7, a set of four is $25. This was wholesome, awesome possum stuff.

On our table we have arabic bread ($4 per plate), which was served warm and fluffy and perfect for all the dips. Had about 2 servings for every 4 people. Clockwise from the bread: house marinated olives with fennel, garlic, lemon and thyme/ hummus – smashed chickpea with sesame and sumac dip/ labneh – artichoke’s yoghurt cheese with za’atar/ babaganoush – smoked eggplant with pomegranate & lemon.

That was a mouthful. Mezze stands for a selection of small dishes served before more Middle Eastern/ Mediterranean meals. And it was the best part for me. Okay I’m not a huge fan of olives, but the dips were all awesome. You could tell that the ingredients used are top-notch quality, the herbs and oil taste like they’re fresh from the garden. The dips were also all very smooth and flavourful, I really wanna go back for more!

Roasted broccoli, salted anchovy sauce, pickled garlic, chilli ($16).

A beef dish that I cannot find on the online menu – my apologies. If I go back I’ll take note of this! Beef was done medium rare and was very very tough , and wasn’t the most memorable out of all that I’ve tried. Go for something else!

Shish taouk – charcoal grilled 7-spice chicken, Lebanese pickles, toum garlic sauce ($26). Pickles pictured in the background in the following picture. They were INCREDIBLY sour but were quite addictive after a while. Acquired taste maybe?

Chicken was tender and tasty, but portion definitely wasn’t too filling for a sharing portion for 4.

Grilled haloumi cheese with dirty tomato salad ($18). This is a soft, curd-like cheese made of goat’s and sheep’s milk, and is often grilled if I’m not wrong. Salty for some, but very delish!! The sweet, plump tomatoes made for a suitable accompaniment to this too. And cheese can’t really go wrong, yumyum.

Sticky date pudding with coffee jelly, peanut caramel, sea salt and a smoked milk custard ($14). This was a whole myriad of flavours bursting through with every bite and it was a good mix. It kinda overwhelmed the taste of the pudding though, I couldn’t really discern how it tasted like. But overall something that’s good for sharing as well – sweet, crunchy, smooth, bitter, salty, all at the same time!

I’ll be back again to try out more food! This made for a very good introduction to Moorish food and I look forward to having more here. Do make your reservations, they tend to get packed. Look out for the specials on their blackboard, and brunch on weekends (heard some good things about it too!)

Artichoke Cafe & Bar
161 Middle Road
Sculpture Square
Singapore 188978
6336 6949
Brunch: Sat & Sun: open at 1130, last food orders at 245,
doors close at 4
Dinner: Tues – Sat: open at 630, last food orders at 945, doors close at 11
Closed on Mon

So what’s good about this place? I say that this outlet is pretty awesome. It has all the things that I love about Tonkotsu King (apart from the fact that it’s chicken broth), such as the rich broth, the immensely tasty flavoured egg and the cosy environment.

Come expecting a near-perfect bowl of ramen (like the ones at Tonkotsu King) but this time be prepared for the HUGE chicken thigh that sits in the middle of the bowl. I totally was not expecting it but the thigh was delicioussss. The meat just literally fell off the bones and melted in my mouth. Every single part of that thigh. Wow!

Prepare for a lighter broth as well, less rich less oily but still delightful. Personally, the chicken broth taste did not really come through for me, probably because I ordered the Black Spicy with Flavoured Egg ($14.90), which overpowered the already lighter chicken broth. Still good though – almost like black pepper sauce in black pepper crab, but not quite.

There are other options for you to fill out (choices, choices, choices) such as texture of your noodles and amount of oil. I enjoyed this bowl a lot – right temperature, right proportions of everything, enough in my bowl to keep me interested and entertained (you know how you just can’t work through some bowls of ramen?), and the broth being tasty down to the last drop. Sorry for the lack of photos everyone just started wolfing down their ramen I was a few steps too slow.

A friend had the Green Spicy with Flavoured Egg ($14.90). This version has the chef’s own wasabi on the chicken, which subtly flavours the soup. Quite a mild but interesting kick! Just don’t snort or laugh too hard during the meal, because all that wasabi might choke you up and cause you to cry (speaking from my friend’s experience ahaha)

Needless to say, take joy in the fact that you have many things to keep you busy during this meal! Grind your sesame seeds. Peel some hard boiled eggs – oh, normal or low cholesterol? With mayo or no mayo? And while you’re at it, go ahead and grab those beansprouts that are just so addictive. Come early to avoid the queues! But even so, just chill out in the queue and be prepared to pamper your stomach.

What I really love about both his outlets is the WHOLE experience when you dine here! It’s so incredibly sincere and warm, I’m almost dining in a home. This place screams hospitality – please, have more eggs, more beansprouts, some sauce, some mayo, and the bowl of ramen is packed full with ingredients. All things factored in, it’s one of the most reasonably priced ramens around, with the most expensive being $16.90 before service charge.

Okay as you can tell, I am a big fan of this place, but I am honestly filled with respect for people who strive to bring gourmet food to people at affordable prices, and who obviously put a lot of heart into what they feel for. Mr Keisuke Takeda please keep up with your ramen it’s way too good!!

Apologies for this super wordy post with only 2 photos!! BUT GO FOR THIS.

Keisuke Tori King
#03-15 100 AM 100 Tras Street Amara Hotel
Singapore 079027
6604 6861
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 10pm daily

Our selection for 3 people – a little too much but still manageable because the food was good! Bill came up to around $50.

Mingzhu rolls ($10). This is their signature dish, probably because of the varying tastes and colours of it. Certainly does make for a unique picture. Get ready for a crisp beancurd skin shell that houses  salted egg yolk, shitake mushrooms (lots of it, don’t order if you don’t like mushrooms), ham, prawns and a little parsley. Enjoyable, but a bit too oily after the 2nd/ 3rd piece. Good for sharing!

Chinese spinach with ikan bilis ($8). Tender spinach, golden brown ikan bilis. Good dose of iron everybody!

Marmite chicken ($10). They do their battered food well, imo! Crunchy, crispy, yet maintaining that succulence of the chicken pieces.

Salted egg yolk squid ($20). I really enjoyed this! Waitress recommended it and it is indeed a must-order. The salted egg yolk batter is one of the best I’ve had so far – it managed to remained crispy the whole mean, even when we left it to the last to finish. Plus it’s a hearty portion for $20, worth it!!

There you go, another photo taken by my brother hehe.

Come here!!! I think it’s one of the better zichar places I’ve eaten at, and for the prices you pay, portions are of a better size than places like Two Chefs. Though it isn’t near any MRT, it’s near IKEA Alexandra, which should make it easier to get to.

And hey when you’re here why not have a go at their crabs? Heard some good reviews about their chilli crab and salted egg yolk crab!

Keng Eng Kee Seafood
Blk 124 Bukit Merah Lane 1
#01-136 Alexandra Village
6272 1038
Open daily: 11.30am – 2pm; 5pm – 11pm

I’d really like to say I enjoyed the meal, because pictures of Liang Seah and on the website looked quite promising. Sad to say it was quite disappointing for me, but maybe it’s teething problems and maybe the Liang Seah branch is better.

The elephant is really cute though!

Pineapple rice ($10). Though this was quite tasty, it was a very small portion. Tsk totally does not fill one person up!

Tom yum goong (tom yum soup with prawns and seafood) ($10). The soup did pack a punch – looks clear and harmless but it is sour and spicy and causes you to choke if you don’t concentrate on drinking it properly (mm I mean this in a good way haha). But it just felt a bit slipshod, like the flavours in the ingredients didn’t really mix with the flavours of the soup.

Pahd thai ($10). Not too bad a rendition as well but the portions here are really tiny man, totally not enough to satisfy!!

I think one reason why I’ve such a bad impression of this place was the lack of cleanliness as well.. water was all over the floor, everything was so slipshod and the tables were wet and sticky. Hopefully that gets better soooon. Rather expensive too for the portions and the environment!

Porn’s @ The Star Vista
1 Vista Exchange Green, #02-09
Singapore 138617
Mon – Sun: 11am – 10pm
6694 3501