The Blue Ginger Restaurant

We finally succeeded on our third try in getting a seat in this restaurant. Moral of the story: If you want to eat here, place a reservation. I have heard so much about this award winning restaurant and wanted to see if it really served good Peranakan food. 

Kueh Pie Tee ($7) is one of my favourite Peranakan dishes. Who doesn't love these bite-sized deep-fried little cups of goodness? It might have been my imagination but it feels smaller than a normal pie tee cup. Nonetheless, a crunchy cup loaded with shredded bamboo shoots and turnips, topped with a piece of fresh prawn. One cup leaves you craving for more. 

Maybe I have cheap tastebuds but I didn't find the Otak Otak ($3.40 for 2 pieces) much better than those decent ones which you get at BBQs. The fishcake recipe is rich in flavour with a hint of spice but it didn't impress. 

 
I know many people who love their Ayam Buah Keluak ($17). Acquired taste I think.

The Nonya Fish Head Curry ($28.30) was so addictive that my friend was content to just have the curry with the rice. I found the fish slightly overcooked such that it was a little hard. It was fresh nonetheless.

The Sambal Sotong ($16.50) was a little salty but fine when it went with rice.

While I wouldn't say that the food blows me away, I think they serve above average Peranakan food. That said, I think I would visit Ivins soon. I haven't been there for some time and the thing I remember about it is that it served pretty good food at more affordable prices. Service here was disappointing as well.

The Blue Ginger Restaurant 
97 Tanjong Pagar Road
Tel No: 6 681 6666

Read More

The Rotisserie

I always try to indulge in some good food on Fridays since it's nice to reward yourself for a week of hard work, instead of having the usual packed food from the nearest food court for dinner. Since tomorrow is a public holiday, my self-imposed rule got shifted to Thursday night instead. I decided to go to The Rotisserie today, after my friends introduced me to this part of CBD which I never knew existed. 

It was initially quite confusing how I should place my order. I ordered a Quarter Roasted Chicken ($11.50) which gave me the choice of Hot Chips/Vegetables/Salad. Vegetables and salad sounded pretty much the same to me. So I had to ask the cashier what they were. She pointed to another counter and helpfully stated that if I changed my mind, I could just tell the lady at the counter that I wanted the other option instead. It would have been so much better if they had just put a board saying what the sides were though!

I'm very picky about roasted chicken. It can't be dry, it can't be bloody. This was neither- it was tender yet cooked well! I chose vegetables. This came with mashed potato, corn and cauliflower. Pretty standard.

I also had the Lemon Drizzle Cake ($4). It reminded me so much of the afternoons I used to sit on the couch watching Ina Garten from Food Network cook or bake using the ingredients from her garden. The homely feel of the food was contained within this cake. So deceptively simple yet so delicious. The thing I really liked about the cake was that it was not too sweet. You were also given the choice of how much to drizzle over the cake- or for that matter, whether to drizzle or not. The syrupy thing was sour and sweet, and it's the kind of combination with the cake that makes you think, "My life is simple, but it sure is good."

Very decent prices considering that it's in the CBD area. Definitely putting it on my list of places to revisit!

The Rotisserie 
China Square Food Centre
51 Telok Ayer Street
#01-01
Tel No: 6 224 5486 

Read More

The Fabulous Baker Boy

I was reading a magazine that recommended this place. Tucked safely at Fort Canning Hill opposite Liang Court, it was a place that I would definitely not have chanced upon. 

I ordered a Towkay Ng's Eggs Benedict ($10.50). It is probably one of the cheapest egg benedicts you can find in Singapore. I loved this dish- the two egg benedicts were served on warm toasted brioche with a layer of sauteed spinach. The egg white was firm with runny egg yolk. The roasted potatoes felt a little extra though. The portion was, however, not enough for someone with a huge appetite. I went on to try some pancakes and they were really fluffy.

Desserts are a must-order here. Feeling more adventurous than my usual chocolate-cake-only order, I got a Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte ($7.50). I didn't regret choosing this. Layers of rich and moist chocolate, were complemented perfectly by the salted caramel. So delightful.

Based on the food alone, I would recommend this place. But service from a particular server was ridiculous. To cut the long story short, place your reservations well in advance otherwise the server may not give you a seat even if the tables are empty. One table only indoors, with a very small table. Sitting outside might be a better choice if you don't want to feel so cramped.

The Fabulous Baker Boy
The Foothills
70 River Valley Road
#01-15
Tel No.: 6 694 8336 

Read More

Ba Xian 八仙

I have been eating too much dim sum for my own good. But here's one more to add to the list. The first time we went to Ba Xian, it was pretty good. But this time, we felt like the dim sum was nothing special. Furthermore, I wouldn't pay a price premium just to get a view from the 62nd floor. Weekend dim sum is cheaper. 

1) Steamed Siew Mai with Dried Scallop ($3.60 for 3 pieces) 

It was an interesting combination with the dried scallop, as compared to the normal roe. Fresh juicy prawns. 

2) Mini Egg Tartlets ($5 for 3 pieces)
These had lotus seeds embedded within the egg. Not the best combination I would think. Furthermore, the egg was overcooked.

3) Steamed Har Kow with Asparagus ($3.60 for 3 pieces)
The asparagus didn't add any flavour to the har kow. The prawns were good though.

4) Steamed Chee Cheong Fun with Prawns, Scallops and Pork Char Siew ($5 per portion)
The fresh ingredients were wrapped snugly within the smooth skin of the chee cheong fun.

5) Pork Congee with Dried Scallop and Century Egg ($4.50 per portion)
This has to be one of the most boring porridge I have tried. It tasted like nothing was added to the congee. Good for the health conscious. But it was very bland and lacking in ingredients.

6) Stir-Fried Carrot Cake with Prawns in X.O. Sauce ($5 per portion)
It used to be one of our favourite dishes here. While still good, it just didn't strike us as being as wonderful as the previous round. Slightly spicy.

7) Pan-Fried Chee Cheong Fun with Sesame and Seafood Sauce ($5 per portion)
The accompanying sauce was delicious- how can a combination of sesame and seafood sauce not be? Other than that, it was just plain old boring chee cheong fun, where the highlight is really the sauce.

8) Deep fried dumpling 
Pretty standard.

Service was so-so, where we only got a refill of our tea cups one throughout the whole meal. Food took quite some time to come when we ordered a second round. As I said earlier, I probably wouldn't pay this amount for the view. Please note that dress code applies. 

Ba Xian @ Tower Club

Republic Plaza

9 Raffles Place

#62-64

Tel No: 67373388 

Read More

Chiso Zanmai

Having heard about the spread at Chiso Zanmai, we headed down to try the Japanese buffet. As the Singlish adage goes, "good things no cheap, cheap things no good." 

From the way some of the sushi were wrapped, I kept my expectations for the sushi low. Indeed, the rice was a little hard. I can't vouch for the freshness of the food also as one of the prawn sushis tasted really weird.

Deep fried food sure appeals to me. Here, you can try some Takoyaki Octopus Ball, Stir Fried Udon Noodle, Tompeiyaki Pork and Cabbage Omelette etc. Problem is most of the food were actually served cold, not sure how long ago they were cooked.

You could also make your own ramen although I gave this a miss because I didn't want to waste my stomach space on carbs.

Some of the appetisers included Chilled Tofu, Edamame, Potato Salad etc.Of all of them, I tried the Chilled Tofu which was nothing special.

More deep fried items including my favourite Prawn Tempura and White Fish. The Chawanmushi was too salty. The Deep Fried Tofu with Light Soy Sauce had a gooey layer which was quite unappetising.

Desserts are always my favourite section. The best was the green tea tiramisu as it was light and not too sweet. The rest were pretty average.  

Although $19.90++ is a really cheap price to pay for a weekend lunch buffet, I wouldn't come here again. Lots of natural lighting made this place comfortable. But the food really awaits improvement.

Chiso Zanmai
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-17
Tel No.: 6 221 3177 

Read More

Lei Garden

I haven't been to Lei Garden for almost a decade. It was due time to visit Lei Garden when I read Bern's post on it on the exact day my friend told me about his visit there. As it's the Chinese New Year period, the human traffic was quite heavy and there were three time slots we could choose from. We chose the earliest timing of 11.30 a.m. 

Always comforting, a bowl of piping hot Rainbow Egg and Shredded Pork Porridge ($4.80) can't go wrong.

We then had some Panfried Carrot Cake with Waxed Meat ($5.80). I found this a little salty although my friend didn't find it so. Anyway, it's not oily so it's pretty good.

The obligatory Steamed Fresh Shrimps Dumplings ($.580) and Steamed Pork Dumplings with Black Mushrooms ($5.80) were fairly typical of good dim sum restaurants- fresh, juicy and bouncy shrimps encased within the skin of the dumplings.

I have a particular aversion to parsley so I didn't take a liking to the Steamed Cheong Fun with Honey BBQ Pork ($5.80).

We ordered a Deepfried Spring Roll with Fresh Lobster Meat ($6.80). I couldn't really detect the sweetness of the lobster meat but the springroll itself was good because it was thin, crispy and not oily.

The Baked Mini Egg Tart ($4.80) was very average and was nothing like the melt-in-your-mouth egg tarts at Royal China. Seems like it will take a lot to meet the standard at Royal China!

Service was efficient and friendly. Overall, the food is typical of a good dim sum restaurant, but nothing to rave about.

Lei Garden
Chijmes
30 Victoria Street
#01-24

Read More

Dudu Dessert 嘟嘟甜品

Walking through the streets of Chinatown on CNY eve, we decided to seek respite from the crowds and had some dessert at Dudu Dessert. The shop space was small to begin with and they were probably shorthanded, so it took a very long time for our desserts to come. 

They had quite an extensive dessert menu.

I ordered the Mango Mini Mochi ($4.80). The sweet mango/mango juice was blended with ice, resulting in the slightly crunchy ice texture. The portion was quite generous as well. Together with the chewy mini glutinous rice balls, this made a pleasant dessert to eat when it's really hot.

Dudu Dessert
29A Trengganu Street

Read More

Royal China

The first thing that captures your attention when you are at Royal China is that just like Canton Paradise (another dim sum place I put on the must-go list), it isn't plastered in typical hues of red. Instead, it's somewhat in the range of Tiffany blue. After a disappointing trip to The Cathay Restaurant, the dim sum here has restored my faith in, well, dim sum.

We went there on a Saturday afternoon and apparently there are two time slots that you can choose from when making reservations. We chose the later one which was at 1.15 p.m.

Here are the three dim sum items that we unanimously thought was good.

1) Baked Egg Custard Tartlet
The egg tarts (3 for $4.80) are simply mindblowing. I haven't eaten such good melt-in-your-mouth egg tarts in some time. The last time I ate such good egg tarts was at Neptune Theatre, before it closed down. I normally stop at 1 of these if it's average but I ate three of these mini delights (imagine how much butter I just consumed).

2) Baked Barbecued Pork Puff 
The Char Siew Sou ($4.80 for 3) had a flaky pastry which crumbled easily. Within it, the BBQ sauce together with the chewy pork made this a winner. Apparently they also have the famous Royal China Signature Baked Barbecued Pork Bun which is available only on Sundays and Public Holidays.

3) Custard Bun 
I do not eat custard buns but those who ate it said that it was one of the better ones around.

As for the ones that were not bad but did not deserve a spot at the die-die must eat list, here are two of them.

1) Deep fried prawn with Century Egg
This was an interesting combination of century eggs and prawns, with the prawns being very bouncy and fresh.

2) Steamed Prawn Dumplings
I would have ranked the har gow in the previous category if not for the fact that the prawns were probably mixed with some ingredient that I don't really like the taste of. Personal preference.

As for those that are not worth trying , here's it.

1) Pan-fried Carrot Cake
The Pan-fried Carrot Cake ($4.80) was very ordinary and lacking in taste.

2) Deep fried mango and prawn roll with Seaweed 
I would have preferred the roll ($5.40 for 3) to be encased in the white flaky skin instead of wonton wrappers. Somehow, the texture of the wonton wrapper is not compatible with the delicate nature of the ingredients within it.

3) Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee 
The Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee ($6.80) lacks smoothness. Also, it was a little too salty for my liking.

4) Pan-fried Red Bean Paste Pancake
The Pan-fried Red Bean Paste Pancake ($10) was nothing to rave about. It felt like like a tired dish.

Despite several minor misses, all of us walked away pleased as punch. The star attractions at this dim sum place were enough to overcome the slight hiccups. Service was nothing fantastic, in fact, it was quite difficult to get their attention. Very value for money. For that amount of food, we paid around $20 each.

Royal China
Raffles Hotel Arcade
1 Beach Road
Tel: 6338 3363 

Read More

Eggs & Berries

Recently, my good friend since secondary school days came back from Australia and together with another close friend, we decided on Eggs & Berries. Lots of fun colours at this place which serves all-day breakfast. 

I got Eggs Benedict ($16.80) which consists of 2 poached eggs with English muffins, bacon, ham, hash brown and salad. My idea of hash brown has always been the McDonald's kind. To me, this seemed more like rosti. The shredded bits of potato were a little clumpy. The eggs were runny and done nicely. Ham was pretty ordinary although I liked the bacon because it was not too salty.

We also got the Over the Rainbow ($13.80) which consists a variety of fruits and nuts. I'm not sure why the amount of fruits look significantly downsized, as compared to this blogger's picture. I love thick waffles and this was pretty decent, with a good portion of macadamia nuts and pistachio. You could also choose from a selection of chocolate sauce, maple syrup or raspberry sauce to drizzle over this delight.

I think it used to be more value for money but the prices keep creeping up. Nonetheless, it's still a good price to pay considering that the food's decent and it's a good place to spend the afternoon at. Service is also friendly.

Eggs & Berries
Changi City Point
5 Changi Business Park Central 1
#01-37/38
Tel: 6636 4212

Read More