The Coconut Club

If our Prime Minister deems this a worthy place to bring the Philippines President for a meal, it must be really good right? So we headed down to The Coconut Club, some 10 months after their meal- patience is a virtue as we immediately had a seat on a weekend afternoon instead of having to deal with snaking lines. 

The interior was modern, with seating spaces both inside and outside of the shop.

The menu is not extensive but it didn't bother us because we were really only here for the Nasi Lemak ($12.80). If you compare this to the hawker centre nasi lemak, this may seem way too expensive. But these are the reasons why I think their price tag is justified:

1) The rental here is probably a lot higher.

2) The Ayam Goreng Berempah is not your usual deep fried chicken- the big piece of chicken leg was very tender, and marinated with ginger, turmeric, galangal and lemongrass, giving a new interpretation to the usual nasi lemak deep fried chicken. The crispy bits of marinade were addictive.

3) Everything was XL-portion (whether the chicken, the sambal, the nuts or the ikan bilis)- I felt so full after having the Nasi Lemak that I fell into a food coma for the rest of the afternoon.

4) They use premium ingredients, such as young kampong chicken, mawa coconuts from Perak to extract the coconut milk and old jasmine rice from Thailand. Even the ikan billis is sourced from Pangkor, with the insides gutted for a cleaner and lighter taste. 

The rice was fragrant, but didn't have an edge over the good nasi lemak stalls.

We also ordered the Otak-Otak ($10.50) to share. Again, is the price tag justified? I guess I would have been more willing to fork out $12.80 for the plate of nasi lemak than to pay $10.50 for the otak otak, simply because there are more "sides" in the nasi lemak. The otak otak which is made fresh daily and cooked over a charcoal grill came in a large and thick slab with visible fish meat (mackerel) in it (not your usual blended-until-cannot-see-any-fish kind of otak).

For those with small appetites, you may wish to consider ordering one plate of nasi lemak for both to share, so that you save enough stomach space for their famous chendol.

The Coconut Club 
No. 6 Ann Siang Hill
Tel No: 6635 2999 

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The Plant Story

I requested for a DIY terrarium kit for my birthday this year. As my husband was of the view that it will be easier for us to attend the workshop with people guiding us through the process, I ended up selecting a workshop at The Plant Story. 

The Plant Story has its own peaceful little corner, complete with greenery. 

It felt tranquil and for that afternoon, it was as though we stepped into a separate world, one where we were not required to keep up with the quick pace of the corporate world.

We chose the Miniature Garden Workshop ($80 per person). Another couple also attended the workshop. While the course technically lasts for an hour, we were given all the time we required to complete our terrariums.

Our instructor gave us an introduction on the various types of terrariums, including the rainforest garden, desert garden, air garden and water garden. She also told us what kind of care each garden requires- this is very important because I learnt that the water garden requires quite a bit of maintenance, something that I was not prepared for.

After going through an introduction on the types of gardens, the instructor also explained how to build your own garden and the ideal environment for different plants to thrive in.

Thereafter, it was hands on time! We first decided what kind of jars, gardens and plants we wanted. I chose the air garden while my husband chose the rainforest garden. If you choose the air garden, you would be done in no time because the air plant does not even require any soil, which means that your only responsibility is really to decorate the jar, without having to care about issues of drainage etc.

We had a few types of sand, gravel and pebbles to choose from. The instructor was also very helpful and would be ready to assist with any queries you may have. Other than that, your only restriction is your creativity. If you wish to add some decoration to your terrariums, you may choose from the selection below, and add an additional $5 per figurine. They were all so cute, I knew that I would end up getting one!

This is my final product! It's not Christmas but who said you can't have a snowman in your terrarium?

If you are craving some food after the fun terrarium workshop, you may want to order some food at the Garden Cafe.

After the workshop, we put the jars back into their original packaging and brought them home. I was in an extremely good mood that night because I felt that I had put my time to good use and had a restful afternoon after soaking in all that green energy. While $80 may seem a little pricey, for that crash course on how to build your own gardens and having easy access to materials, it did seem worth it afterall.

The Plant Story
Passion WaVe at Marina Bay
11 Rhu Cross
#02-03
Singapore 437440 

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Otoko

I have been going to Hougang Midtown more frequently ever since I discovered AM Bakery. Before getting my bread fix, we dropped by Otoko as we heard about their curry rice. 

The lower floor is where they have the cashier and the kitchen. The upper floor is where they have the seating space. Seating space is quite limited- basically, what you see in the picture. You can choose whether to customise your meal or to go for Otoko's Donburi. I chose to build my own curry.

The first step is to choose whether you want curry rice or udon and the second is where you choose from a variety of sides. The lady at the counter told us that it is usual for people to choose around 3 sides. There is a range of mostly deep fried sides, such as pork cutlet, chicken cutlet, salmon fillet, bacon tomato, onion rings etc. 

I first got a Curry Rice ($2.80), added on a Chicken Cutlet ($2.80), a Shitake Mushroom ($1.80) and a Bacon Tomato ($1.80). That worked out to be a dish slightly under $10. If you were to compare to it to Udon Goen, I think Udon Goen is more value for money as you get a huge slab of cutlet for around $10 - $11. That said, the food here is more than decent- they were generous with the curry sauce which was spicier than normal Japanese curry, the deep fried items did not taste oily, and there were interesting items such as the Bacon Tomato which was both salty and sour at the same time (in a good way) and gave a fresh take on the usual deep fried items. Although each portion can be quite small, these can be quite substantial when added together- 3 servings should therefore be just nice or slightly more than enough.

Otoko
The Midtown
1187 Upper Serangoon Road
#01-20
Tel No: 9274 6542 

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Spice Sutra

We went to Spice Sutra one Sunday evening for dinner. It was surprisingly empty for a weekend dinner, and there were at most two tables occupied at any one time, which was a pity given that the food was pretty good. 

We had a difficult time choosing what we wanted because the menu was rather extensive.

We ordered the Plain / Delhi Naan ($4) and Tandoori Rooti ($3.50). They were served piping hot and were a perfect accompaniment to our main dishes.

Being the boring old me, I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala ($17.90). In the menu, there were symbols showing whether the dish was spicy and if so, how spicy it was. Although there was no chilli sign next to this dish in the menu, this dish was spicy. The boneless grilled chicken was cooked in a rich tomatoes and cashew nut sauce. The chicken was very tender.

The food and service here is good. The person serving us could answer any questions we had about the menu, and was friendly.

Spice Sutra
Thomson Imperial Court
200 Upper Thomson Road
#01-03
Tel No: 6255 4730 

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