陶陶居海鲜火锅酒家 (Tao Tao Ju)

We asked the concierge from our hotel where to get good chinese food. And he recommended that we go to 陶陶居 to try their traditional cantonese dishes. Apparently, it's been around for seventy years. It took us quite a bit of trouble trying to find this place. It's hidden in a small road, and it's easy to miss. So, keep your eyes peeled when you're walking and you shall be rewarded with good food!

I know the below looks like abalone, but it's not. It's pomelo skin 柚皮. How they make it to the final product, it's for me to know and for you to find out.

This is a crab pocket with prawn 鲜虾金钱蟹盒. The outer layer is pork, and the inner is stuffed with crab meat, prawn, roe and winter melon (apparently).

and this is... i'm sorry i don't know what this is. But it shouldn't be that significant since I can't remember what it was!
This was the dish which left us so bemused, albeit slightly irritated. So there was a confusion between siew yok (roasted meat/pork) and siew awk (roasted duck). And the waitress shouted at my mum who was ordering to pronounce it properly, when everybody at the table heard roasted pork. Oh well, at least the roasted pork was worth it! Crispy and not too salty!

Ultimately, this place serves good food. However, it was a letdown in terms of service. Asian restaurants are not known for requiring tips. However, a waitress was hovering next to us, obviously waiting for tips. Go there for the food, cross your fingers, and hope you have some decent people waiting on you!

陶陶居海鲜火锅酒家

新馬路爐石塘巷6-8號地下

(853) 2857 2629

Read More

Taste Paradise

Honestly, why settle for mediocre dim sum when there are such good dim sum places here? Two of my favourite places to have good dimsum are: Crystal Jade and the newly discovered Taste Paradise. There used to be another place that I really liked- Neptune, but it has unfortunately closed down.

This place is a good place to refresh your Chinese history. There were paintings of Chinese emperors hung in the restaurant. As you ate, all you saw was: 赵匡胤，李世民 etc. Their little teapot also caused a mini ruckus at our table because well, it was a special teapot!

We ordered many dim sum dishes, and not all of which are appearing in this post, because I was busy eating, more than pressing the shutter button.

The usual suspects were the har gow (shrimp dumpling) and siew mai. The prawns were fresh and the skin of the har gow was thin. I love those thin skins, because it's like this that you can really taste the prawn!

There was also the chee cheong fun. I preferred the prawn chee cheong fun to the scallop one, because I couldn't really taste the scallop in the chee cheong fun. i.e. they must have been really small, because all I knew I was eating was the skin of the chee cheong fun.

Oh these lovely char siew sou. My sister goes gaga over those char siew sou at crystal jade. The ones at Taste Paradise are smaller- but somehow I prefer these! Sweet charsiew, filled in the crispy crust. om nom nom.

And then, there's my favourite egg tarts. Before we reached, my sister made a point to remind us to order the egg tarts. Seriously, why wouldn't anybody love these egg tarts? These little egg tarts and their buttery pastry, served piping hot. These little jewels are expensive though- $1.20 per small piece!

We also ordered xiaolongbaos, pumpkin 锅饼, the deep fried mango roll, custard bun, mango pudding and the aloe vera with lime dessert (along with dry ice).

The xiaolongbaos were filled with soupy goodness, and the deep fried mango roll was filled with lots and lots and lots of mayo with mango and prawns. I didn't eat the custard buns because they didn't really appeal to me, but apparently it tastes really good!

Good dimsum is worth a go, even though it may not come as cheap as many other places.

Update (17 Dec 2011): You might want to visit Canton Paradise, part of the Paradise Group, and newly opened at 112 Katong.

Taste Paradise Ion Orchard

2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard

Read More

Restaurante Fernando (Macau)

Undoubtedly the best meal I had in Macau. Slightly pricey, but for the ambience, for the taste- it's well worth it! Located near the Black Sand Beach (Hac Sa), it's safely tucked away in some corner. It's quite a distance away from the casinos. And the two times we went there, we were told to take the cab. Well, if you're looking at shaving a few bucks off cab fare, you can just take a public bus there. It takes something like 45 minutes from the city centre, but you save $$!

Portugese food- the very thing you need to have when you're in Macau!

The bread is freshly baked, and when i say fresh, i really mean fresh. It's one of the best bread I've ever eaten. Crispy on the outside, fluffy in the inside. To top it all off, it's served hot, with butter! (Not that like I butter, but still, for butter lovers, it's a total treat!)

The prawn is so-so though, we felt like it wasn't too fresh, even though they were rather big prawns.

The next two dishes are certainly worth a mention. One is the cod fish and the other is the roasted pork. The cod fish was very fresh and had a very smooth texture. Although there was a hint of saltiness, it only serve to enhance the overall taste of the fish.

And i'm saving the best for the last. My mother never ever remembers what she eats. She forgets the places she visited 3 years ago, let alone where we ate. But this, she remembers. And the roast pork stays as good as it ever was. The crispy outer skin of the pork, coupled with a layer of fat below the skin, together with the not-dry meat makes a great combination. Although I would say that the skin is really the thing that makes this dish shine through.

But they have a strange rule- no bringing of your own drinks in your restaurant. So we had to buy bottles of mineral water from them which was actually double or triple the price of water sold elsewhere in convenience stores.

But, oh well, will that really turn you away from yummy food?

p.s. check out the wall where people from all around the world put their currencies into the "walk of fame"!

Restaurante Fernando 法蘭度餐廳
Praia de Hac Sa, Nº 9
Coloane, Macau
2888 2264

Read More

Macau II: Everything besides Casinos

Besides casinos, there are other things to do in Macau as well. Macau is well know for its almond biscuits. There are two main brands, but the one below is the more famous one. You can see many shops selling these kind of pastries near the streets at St Paul.

Look at the crowd in Koi Kei on a normal day! We also tried the almond biscuits from their next door neighbour and I conclude that Koi Kei's almond biscuits are better. By the way, there are free samples in all the shops. So, if tasting is believing, why not? Also recommended are the egg rolls, with different variations. There are those with the seaweed ones which are pretty awesome.

Another popular snack in Macau is the portugese egg tarts. It's somewhat like creme brulee with some puff pastry. But I still prefer the normal egg tarts, but well, for a change, portugese egg tarts are pretty good too!

and of course, there is the ruins of st paul's. It's basically just a wall. It was built in the 1600s, and destroyed by a fire during a typhoon in 1835. The day we went, there were some performances going on to celebrate ne zha's birthday. And for your information, next to the ruins, there is a ne zha temple. Although it's very easy to miss it, it's a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Another site that is listed is the Temple of A-Ma, after which macau is named. It has a history of over 500 years, just imagine that!

Other attractions that might be worth a mention include the Fisherman's Wharf. Honestly, I don't think this place is much of a big deal. It's only for people who think they will never get to see the real Colosseum. Otherwise, this place is very empty, and there are no good and cheap restaurants around. There's a pretty good seaview at this place though!

There is also the 黑沙滩 (Hac Sa Beach) where there is black sand. This photo doesn't do the place justice because it doesn't capture the black sand. There is yellow sand appearing in this picture only because the government refilled the sand with yellow sand so that there wouldn't be further erosion of the black sand.

It's possible to go to all the casinos and still see the other face of Macau. We completed all the casnios and these places (and other eateries) in 4 days! Because Macau is so small, it's very easy to get around as well!

Read More

Macau I: Casinos

One relates Macau with casinos.

And one relates casinos with Macau and Las Vegas.

Although, take note, Singapore is expected to pass Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue. (Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.) It was very eye opening to see everything the casinos had to offer.

There were buses from one casino to another, from each casino to Zhu Hai (lots of shopping). Even if your hotel does not have a shuttle bus that goes to Zhu Hai, you can take a shuttle bus to one of the major casinos then go off from there. Here's a tip: You can even take taxi everywhere. The taxi prices are insanely cheap.

Every casino had its own special characteristics. It would be good to do your research before you go. For example, Sands has hourly performances, Wynn has its beautiful water display with fire, etc.

Even if you don't gamble, it would be nice to just walk in and look at how they run the place. The glamour of the interior walls, the sound of the jackpots rolling, both forlorn and excited faces.

But seriously, Macau isn't all about its casinos. Think about the St Paul Street, 黑沙滩，the Portuguese egg tarts, the almond biscuits- all these to come in a second part!

Read More

Lai Lai Casual Dining

We entered Lai Lai because the set meals looked pretty worth it. There was a 2-person set meal for $28++. It included your choice of claypot meat, vegetables, some side dish (we ordered deep fried sotong), 2 drinks, 2 bowls of rice and 2 bowls of soup.

the claypot herbal chicken was pretty good, although the portions were a little small.

the rest of the dishes were so-so. the sotong's batter wasn't the awesome kind of deep-fried batter, the veggies were very ordinary, and the soup was a tad oily.

The highlight of our meals were supposed to be our drinks though. We were highly anticipating it, because the waiter made it sound like it's the most awesome thing ever. Well, the banana kiwi was not bad. But the coffee hazelnut (i think) was far too sweet.

Although the food didn't live up to expectations, if you are looking for food that is relatively cheap, and will fill you up, this may be the place to come. Plus the service is good, the waiter who served us had good knowledge of the menu.

Rating: 3.7/5

Lai Lai Casual Dining

Nex Mall

23 Serangoon Central

#B1-30/31

Read More

Annoying Singaporean #1

Basically, in Singapore, on escalators, you have to keep to the LEFT. no matter what you did in your home country, it's LEFT LEFT LEFT in Singapore! it used to be anything, but in the last couple of years, we started standing left.

At first, it was terrible. nobody adhered to it and everybody was still blocking the traffic. truth to be told, the situation is so much better than it was, say, 5 years ago. But still, nobody complains if there's still room for improvement. So, if somebody chokes up the traffic when he/she could well walk up or keep left, it annoys me to no end.
i will either trying stomping my feet loudly, or clear my throat, and wait for the person to make way. unfortunately, some people are pretty deaf and cannot hear such stomping and foot clearing!

so, these are my proposed solutions.

1) Paste little neon strips of green (left) and strips of red (right) on the escalator. A little unsightly though.

2) Instead of putting annoying LED lights (dhoby ghaut mrt station) that makes me giddy (haven't you seen those disco lights -_-), put the LED lights to good use. Line the road towards the escalator with little small LED lights, one side green, one side red.

3) Just scream at the person in front of you and whack his head. (no, i'm kidding. really.)

Read More

Canele Patisserie

I don't set foot in places that scream atas. Atas means upstairs in malay. So, atas in urban language, means high class. Canele is exactly the place that will shock you will how atas it looks from the outside. But since it was for a classmates gathering, I suppose I will have to exchange some good conversations for an empty pocket. By the way, the name is so atas then we had some problem trying to figure how to pronounce the first part. (We didn't come to a conclusion.)

The decor inside was really pretty. It had a wonderful colour coordination, and it was a great place for tea. We spent 4 hours there, drinking tea and having cakes. It was a great place to hang out at! (Note the macaroons tree- they tempted all of us to actually have some macaroons!)

My friend ordered a savoury crepe. One friend claimed that it's a two people portion, but the one who actually had it said that it's just enough only for one. Whatever the case, while I didn't try this crepe with ham, egg and cheese, my friend found it delicious.

I had a tiramisu which cost me (I think) around $7. While I loved the flavours, I didn't really like the top layer of the top layer. Plus I think the fingers to form the sponge layer were too soggy. I know they are meant to soak up all the essence, but at the same time, ever since I had eaten the tiramisu in Strega, the texture of this doesn't really come close. I don't know what real good tiramisu tastes like. I only know what kind of tiramisu I like.

My friend had a macha cake. He took 3 hours to complete it. I suppose it could only mean that it was pretty good!

Slightly too expensive for my own taste, but a great place to hang out for tea, nonetheless!

Rating: 4.3/5

Canele Patisserie

Various locations

Raffles City Shopping Centre

252 North Bridge Road,
#B1-46/47.
Singapore 179103

www.canele.com.sg

Read More

Dorayaki @ Nex Mall

I always loved those Japanese pancake (fish shaped) with red bean inside. Yesterday I went to NEX mall (first time there- huge mall!) and I chanced upon this shop selling dorayaki. Dorayaki is doraemon's favourite food! okay that was besides the point.

Anyway, they make the dorayaki fresh on the spot. It was pretty cheap too, $1.20 for a original red bean pancake.

They had many flavours to choose from, including durian paste, peanut cream, matcha cream etc.

This small little pancake is good! Especially since it's done on the spot, it's still piping hot. And then you get the joy out of looking at how your pancakes are done. The pancakes are light and fluffy. And the red bean inside is not overly sweet, like how many people do the red bean stuffing! Oh and I must add, it's really quite intriguing when they use a heat stamp to stamp the picture of the cow onto the pancakes. A great little snack!

Rating: 4.5/5

Dorayaki

NEX Mall

Shokutsu 10 B1
23 Serangoon Central

Singapore 556083

Read More

Singapore: Tutu Kueh

The amount of grievances I have with regard to bad tutu kueh can fill a book- The flour is too hard, the flour is not fluffy, the filling inside is pathetic, and most importantly, the cost of tutu kueh has increased over the years! I know it best because I have been eating tutu kueh for as long as I can remember. It used to be 5 for $2, now it's now $2.50 or $2.80 for a box of 5.

But still, I love good tutu kueh even though it's now more expensive. Tutu kueh is made from rice flour or glutinous flour. It is filled with either shredded coconut or ground peanut. I normally go for the shredded coconut! It is then placed on pandan leaf for that added aroma.

It's quite difficult to tell where the good tutu kuehs are. The problem is that those selling tutu kuehs normally have some makeshift stall, because they only need one tutukueh machine. I have tried many atrocious tasting tutu kuehs, but there are a few good ones, including the one at the basement of Junction 8. But here are a few well-known permanent stores:

Jia Xiang Tu Tu Kueh

Beo Crescent Food Centre

38A Beo Crescent, 169982

Tan's Tutu Coconut Cake
Block 449 Clementi Avenue 3, #01-211

Read More