Imperial Treasure Cantonese Cuisine (Crowne Plaza)

The thing about reviewing dim sum from well-known Chinese restaurants is that after a while, they kind of taste the same. So, I'm picking out a few dishes that may not uniformly be found in all restaurants or which deserve particular mention.  Imperial Treasure got me right at the honey coated cashews. Such a nice break away from your usual peanuts or the brown colour soft peanuts (whatever you call them).  Amongst the recommended...

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Makansutra Glutton's Bay

Makansutra Glutton's Bay is a place for tourists who want to try Singapore's food as quickly and as fuss free as possible. It is also for locals in the area who want to get a relatively cheap meal. These hawkers are specially handpicked by the Makansutra team. I never knew this, but upon checking out their website, you can actually request a sampler which includes 7 dishes (or more) and costs about $30. Check out the website if you're interested....

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Fast Food Nation

I haven't watched the movie based on the book Fast Food Nation. But if you are interested in watching the trailer, click here. I'm not embedding it within the post because its movie rating is R (Restricted). But to balance the views in the movie, here's a video titled "A Tour of McDonald's Meat Factories". I will then leave you to your discerning mind where to place your trust.   I always wanted to read this book and finally got...

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Taking Pictures at the Table- Is it Rude?

Sometimes when I take photographs of food, I feel a sudden pang of guilt creep over me. Am I ruining my fellow diners' eating experience? Am I intruding into the privacy of others? Or do I just look like some massive stalker? For the record, I don't switch on the camera flash, there is no sound from my camera, I take pictures extremely quickly and I don't climb onto chairs to take pictures of food. Most importantly, I never shove my hands in...

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The Joy of Quiet

For those who haven't had some quiet time away from this crazy world for some time, I think this NY Times article, "The Joy of Quiet", might encourage you to reclaim some sanity. Nothing makes me feel better — calmer, clearer and happier — than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind...

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Liang Liang Garden

I don't really blog about desserts from hawker centres because they normally cost the same and taste the same. But I'm blogging about Liang Liang Garden because of its price and the crazy amount of ingredients they provide.  By the way, this weather is driving me mad. First, it's the sweltering heat. Just as you thought you could get some relief after some rain, it just gets HOTTER. This is where desserts come to the rescue!  It's...

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忠于原味 (Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles)

Before you read anything else, I suggest you watch this 8 minute long video on 忠于原味. Unless you are really hungry and can't wait to join the queue. It tells you what meat is used for the char siew, including the meat from the pig's armpit 不见天. There are also two other kinds of meat.  I didn't know what was good at Tiong Bahru Market so I just joined the longest queue. The other stall which had a really long queue was the stall selling...

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Tow Kwar Pop

The rojak at Tow Kwar Pop makes your heart go "Pop pop, pop pop!" Okay, that was an awful slogan from me.  The wait for the rojak here can be a little long because they do everything on the spot so you can be assured that your rojak tastes fresh.  What I love about the rojak ($4) is how everything is toasted. Warm and crispy. The cuttlefish was also a welcome addition. The sauces were delicious and not overpowering. Those who...

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Marriott Cafe (High Tea)

I'll just be honest why I like the high tea here more than that in Equinox. Passion Fruit Cake. More about that later. Colours of the photos in this entry will be a little weird because they are taken with my iPhone. Generally, the food that you will find at the high tea are pretty localised, unlike some other buffets. Here are the different stations. The salmon selection is considerably wide. There's smoked salmon, curried salmon etc. This photo...

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Cutting for Stone

This is the period of time where I do nothing, but sleep, eat, read, eat and sleep. Life's fulfilling in a way, but it won't be for long, whether fortunately or unfortunately. I bought Cutting for Stone more than a year ago and finally sat down to read it. The thing about thick books is that they don't really appeal to me. My writing style is, if you could put it in one sentence, don't bother putting it in ten. Then again, when it comes to fiction,...

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Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant 灵芝

One fine day, I may become vegetarian. But not yet. In fact, the arrival of that day is still very far away. As much as I enjoy eating vegetables, I can't let go of all that meat either.  We decided to visit Lingzhi 灵芝 for some vegetarian fare today.  We opted for the hotpot buffet ($22.80++) which is probably the least money savvy option you can ever go for. For your hotpot, you get to choose 2 out of 3 soup bases...

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Hugo

I watched Hugo on the airplane- imagine a small little screen with bad resolution, bad sound system, air turbulence and an elbow poking from the person next to you. Despite all these, I was enthralled by the film. It is obvious that they deserved every single Oscar (bagging five of them is no mean feat). This movie is best watched 3D and is based on Brian Selznics' novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It is about a boy who lost his father in a...

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Tampopo Restaurant (Takashimaya)

I have heard about Tampopo quite a bit. Whenever somebody asks, "Where's the best ramen in Singapore?" Tampopo would be inevitably be one of the names raised. There are two branches- one at Liang Court and the other at Takashimaya.  There was no queue when we arrived at 630 pm.  It's easy to tell how I'm short sighted. I was planning to have the Tonkatsu Ramen because reviews said that it was very good! But my eyes got diverted...

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