Ayam Penyet @ Joo Chiat

Because today was Mother's Day, we brought mum out for lunch at the Ayam Penyet Indonesian Restaurant near Joo Chiat for lunch. I ordered the Ayam Penyet, Gado-Gado and Kerupok Udang and Emping for them.

The first time I heard of this chain of eatery was when an Indonesian friend brought me to the main eatery in Lucky Plaza. That time, we ordered Ayam Penyet (aka Smashed Chicken aka Squashed Chicken aka Depressed Chicken), Milo Dinosaur and Gado Gado. I remember falling in love with that place because the food is really good!

The Joo Chiat branch is infinitely inferior to the main one at Lucky Plaza. It is a smaller eatery with simple decorations, not as authentically Indonesian as the Lucky Plaza branch. The food is not as good too.

In any case it was a very filling lunch. One pull factor is the price. Despite everything I ordered, it cost just S$20.00 for all three of us! My mum said it is really worth it because the food is nice, inexpensive and filling at the same time. I am just glad that she enjoyed the meal!

Cuisine : Indonesian
Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 3 out of 5
Price : 4 out of 5

Sizzling Rock @ Boat Quay

There is this place called Sizzling Rock situated at Boat Quay just by the Singapore River. The restaurant is different in that customers have to cook the main dishes themselves, whereas the side dishes will be prepared and served separately from the main dish. The main dish will be put on a hot stone slab and served, sizzling, to the customer.

My friend K had a one-for-one dining voucher for the place, so we went there for dinner last night. He ordered salmon and sirloin while I had chicken and tenderloin. When the hot plates appeared in front of us, all the pieces of meat were still raw, and oil splattered around. So all we needed to do was wait until the meat cooked.

How to determine if the meat was cooked? Just lift up the meat and look at the colour at the bottom. If it is of a decent colour (cannot really say what colour since it differs from meat to meat), then turn it over and start cooking the other side. Another way is to stab the fork in and feel the texture, but this normally works only when both sides of the meat are cooked.

One good thing about this is that you get to control exactly how you want your steak to be, whether rare, medium or well-done. One disadvantage is that for people who cannot cook so cannot tell when the meat is cooked, they may end up either eating half-cooked food or food burnt to a crisp, in which case both may later upset their bowel movements.

But it was enjoyable, looking at the meat, seeing the oil bubbling, then making sure the colour was just right before turning the meat over and start cooking the other side. My chicken was just right, not too hard and not too soft, and the tenderloin steak was a perfect medium-well. I must say, I am a good cook! ;-p

I had to help my friend out a little as he could not tell whether his was cooked. But sirloin steak tends to take a little longer to cook than tenderloin, as the texture and size differs. His salmon was good though, at least it was cooked to a perfect colour.

Dessert was chocolate fondue! I was telling K the origins of the original cheese fondue, where it was partaken only at orgies and balls (as in, those massive extravagant big parties thrown by the rich and famous people in the past, not the other meaning). The chocolate fondue was just right, although he thought it a bit thick. At least it was better than the previous one I took, where the chocolate was so bland.

Overall, it was an interesting dining experience. Considering the food was cooked by ourselves, I must say it was pretty good, at least for a non-professional and non-expert standard. Better than some of those restaurants where the food does not taste good at all, despite supposedly to be cooked by professionals.

Cusine : Western
Food : cannot really comment since we cooked it ourselves
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5 (we were sitting alfresco)
Price : 4 out of 5 (its pretty worth it considering the food we ordered!)

Ikoi Japanese Restaurant @ Miramar Hotel

I am quite picky on Japanese food. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I find the local Japanese food of inferior standard as compared to the Japanese food in Japan (where else?). However, there are a few places which I have had real good authentic Japanese food.

 

Like today, I had the best Japanese food in ages! We went to Ikoi Japanese Restaurant at the second level of Miramar Hotel. The setting itself was quite Japanese-like, you can choose to sit on tatamis with your legs crossed on the floor, or you can sit on normal tables and chairs.

 

Outside the restaurant hangs two round lanterns and a sliding door that opens into the restaurant. The whole restaurant gives a modern Japanese feel to it. I was impressed! This is as authentic as it can get.

 

We had fresh raw sashimi served authentic Japanese style (not the type you find on the Sakae Sushi conveyor belt), soup served in the little Japanese teapot poured into little Japanese teacups to drink from, and steamboat out of paper-thin aluminium foils which for some reason did not have a single burnt mark despite the strong fire (I think they call this nabe).

 

There were lots of fresh raw salmon, sword fish, and the cooked dishes consisted of mackerel, more salmon, roast chicken, agedeshi tofu, chawamushi (that egg dish, wonder if I got the spelling right), fish soup, miso, California rolls (the Japanese version of a taco, wrapped in seaweed), lots and lots of tempura and fish roe. There were even raw chilled celery and carrot sticks dipped in ice! A real gourmet feast!

 

Do drop by if you are ever in the River Valley vicinity, this place is not to be missed!

 

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 4.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4.5 out of 5
Price : Erh... no comments since I was not the one who paid. :-p

A Week Of Feasting

Ever since Sunday, I had been eating non-stop. Last week alone, we had two successive birthdays - my maternal grandma and my youngest brother. So I had two days of feasting!

For my granny's birthday, we went to the Indonesian restaurant, Tempuah Mas, for dinner on Sunday. The food there is really delicious! I will really recommend it for anyone who wants authentic Indonesian fare. I had sambal kang kong, sweet and sour fish (at least that was what the fish tasted like - any of you know the exact name?), chicken satay, authentic Indonesian rice (which was described as "fragrant" rice), a bean curd dish which unfortunately I did not catch the name of (the bean curd was fried and layered into some sort of round wall), and for dessert - authentic Gula Melaka! I always said I have a sweet tooth. :-D

Last night (actually a few hours back), we went to one of the seafood restaurants at East Coast Park. We had black pepper crab (although I prefer chilli crab anytime), cereal prawn, oyster vegetables, anchovies (aka ikan bilis) fried rice, sweet and sour fish (again), and for dessert - honeydew sago. My dad, for the first time, even allowed me to drink a whole big glass of Tiger Beer! Hmmm, anyone salivating yet? I think I am feeling hungry again....

Then I had McDonald's for supper on Tuesday night. After that I had two Vietnamese feast earlier on today. We were at this Vietnamese eatery called "Va Va Voom" opposite Bugis Junction. I had fried Chicken Chop (which tasted very salty) with rice and Ice Lemongrass Honey drink. Delicious! The drink was really soothing, especially to the throat, and the slight lemongrass taste made the honey taste even better than normal.

After lunch we had some time to kill so we adjourned to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Republic Plaza where I had my usual order - Pure Chocolate Ice Blended with lots and lots of whipped cream! We went back to Bugis at six, and since the friend we were meeting wanted Vietnamese food as well, we went back to "Va Va Voom" again.

We ordered the Morning Glory Salad, and this time I ate Lemongrass Pork Chop with rice. I was initially intrigued by the Morning Glory Salad, until I found out it was just kangkong without the leaves. What a letdown!

When all of us have eaten our fills, we went to Billy Bombers at Bugis Junction for Chocolate Malt. I am so full right now! I am really going to pound on all the pounds if this continues. Most likely we will go out for supper again tomorrow. I have a tendency to put on weight, although it is amazing I can still maintain my weight and figure despite my eating habits. I cannot help it - I enjoy good food too much!

Centrepoint "Food Street"

My vocal coach is leaving, so tonight, after my lesson, R and I bought her dinner and had a last gathering with her before she leaves. We went to Centrepoint "Food Street" and had dinner at "Prima Taste", a cosy coffeshop-like restaurant that sells fantastic local food, like laksa, chicken rice, bak kut teh (pork ribs soup with herbs) and spring rolls. We had a fantastic dinner and chatting session.

One can never imagine the variety of food alleys around Centrepoint "Food Street"! The moment we stepped into the basement of Centrepoint, the aroma of sweet-smelling spices and a mixture of food comes drifting up to our noses. Another place to explore if I am ever in the mood to try a big gourmet meal!

Gourmet Satisfaction

I had my taste buds satisfied today. First, I went out for lunch with a friend who treated me to Jalan Kayu prata! I ordered all my favourites - Tissue Prata, French Prata and the infamous Milo Dinosaur with my beloved fried chicken wings!

For dinner, I met up with a certain birthday boy. I wanted to buy him dinner for quite some time already for all the help he had rendered me. We went to Phins Steakhouse at Liang Seah Street off Bugis. The place is really famous for its steaks. The ladies cut Sirloin steak I had was really sumptuous, especially with the mushroom sauce on it.

My friend had about the same thing, except his was the Ribeye steak with the gentleman's cut. In the end, he ended up paying for dinner. (Thanks, friend!) So I offered to pay for dessert and we went to Swensen's at Bugis Junction. I wanted the Frosty Chocolate Malt ice-cream to satisfy my chocolate craving, but unfortunately it was not available :-( so I settled for the Coit Tower instead.

I ate so much and felt so stuffed that we had to take a long walk from Bugis Junction, past Shaw Towers, down to Suntec and then through Citylink Mall so I could at least digest a little. In fact, I was so full that I could hardly walk! But the long walk did me good, at least now I do not feel that stuffed anymore.

All in all, it was an enjoyable day. I got to eat to my heart's pleasure and in company of my good friends. I hope they enjoyed as much as I do.

Supper at Old Airport Hawker Centre

As the title implies, this blog is anything and everything to do with food. Hence I will be posting my food adventures around the island and the world, as well as the recipes, restaurant reviews and cookbooks which I managed to get my hand on.

So let's start with this supper I had last night with some friends. We went to Old Airport Hawker Centre and ordered chwee kuey (little white round cakes made from flour witl broiled radish on top), rojak (Indian cuisine consisting of a mix of all types of food with sweet sauce), ngo hiang (Chinese "rojak"), fried carrot cake (flour and shredded carrots mixed with eggs and fried till crispy) and sugar cane juice.

All the dishes were fried (I could actually see the oil glistening on the surface) and soaked in chilli and spices. Yummy!! Whenever I go for supper with this lot, there will always be a couple of food gurus among them. So we will talk about food while eating food. It is actually very enriching indeed, as I can get to know all the best hawker fare scattered around the island.

My friends' recounts brought me from Amoy Street Market to Maxwell Hawker Centre to Zion Road Hawker Centre to Tiong Bahru Market to Bedok Food Centre (at the interchange). What heavenly gourmet bliss. For someone like me who spends time experimenting and discovering where the best restaurants in town are, finding out where the best simple hawker fares lie is dreamy indeed.

Now I have more variations where to go whenever I want to fill up my delectable taste buds. It was really great to have great company and great food at the same time! Any of you gourmet lovers willing to follow me around for a salivating taste-testing experience?