Curry Favour @ Novena Square

Curry Favor is a Japanese fusion type restaurant, specialising in Japanese Green curry. I was there for lunch on Sunday. There are two outlets, one at Stamford, one at Novena Square, and I went to the latter. The menus consist of meals with curries, bento sets and Japanese green tea.

I ordered a Cheese Fish Curry set, which consists of rice, chopped red chilli, and fish fillet fingers stuffed with cheese. The curry comes in a small jug which we pour over the dish. I ordered the regular curry, but later on I realise that I should have ordered the spicy one, since the regular curry is not spicy at all! It tastes more like the mashed potato sauce instead!

The food is good though, although the service is a little slow. I was so hungry that I ate everything on my plate! Then I felt so full that I need not eat anything else for the rest of the day!

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 2.5 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

The Different Chocolate Cakes

I had another chocolate day today, baking specialised chocolate cakes! First up was the Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake. It is a normal sponge cake filled with mixed nuts and rich chocolate paste, topped with sticky gooey chocolate! A heavenly treat for me!

The cake has to be kept in the freezer for about six hours before it can harden and be ready to served. At the time I took the photo, the cake was only frozen for two hours, which explains why it was still messy and wet. But the chocolate is really delicious indeed! :-)

Completed Rich Chocolate Truffle Cake

The next cake we made was the Chocolate Cheesecake. We had to make a sponge cake from scratch, fill it with cream cheese batter, then cover it with the remaining cream cheese batter. Splatter almond bits at the side, whipped cream on top, chocolate decorations and mixed nuts, and it is ready to serve.

Chocolate Cheesecake with Decorations

I am going to try to create this for my friend's housewarming this week. Hopefully she and her husband will like it!

Christmas Cupcakes

I had a real fun baking session today. After the stuffed turkey session, there was a series of cupcakes session. We made three types of Christmas cupcakes, namely the Red Velvet Cupcakes, Christmas Fruit Cupcakes and Hummingbird Cupcakes.

The Red Velvet Cupcakes were made using red food colouring. It is not just normal red, but real crimson dark red, so when the cupcakes came out of the oven, they looked really red. However, after they were covered with frosting and marzipan snowmen, they looked just perfect!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Completed Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marzipan Snowmen, Mint Leaves and small Cherries

The next cupcake, Christmas Fruit Cupcake, was made using crushed nuts and mixed fruit, decorated with frosting and Christmas mint leaves and small cherries.

Christmas Fruit Cupcake

Completed Christmas Fruit Cupcake with Mint Leaves and Cherries

The last cupcake we made were Hummingbird Cupcakes, so called because the ingredients used were pineapple and banana, which are the two fruit which hummingbirds like. The cupcake turned out looking yellowish as well. Unfortunately, we forgot to put in baking powder, so the cupcake turned out looking flatter than others.

Hummingbird Cupcake

We decorated the cupcake with Royal Icing, then put in food colouring into gelatine to make a Santa Claus decoration, using chocolate bits for eyes and whipped cream for the beard. The final product turns out looking like Santa Claus!

Completed Hummingbird Cupcake

A Turkey, Truffles And A Cinnamon Roll

I have always been interested in how some people celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving with a turkey. We never have that tradition in my family, and besides, turkeys are expensive during the festive season, so my parents never really let us have a chance of tasting that. The only times I actually ate turkey was when I attended Christmas parties at my friends' or relatives' places.

Since there is never a tradition of Thanksgiving here, the only times turkey will be sold wholesale is during Christmas. The turkeys that are being sold have already been pre-stuffed and pre-processed and mass produced, so the taste may not be that appealing to some.

Which is why when I came across the Special Christmas Turkey workshop, I grabbed the chance to sign up for it, as I have always wanted to know how to stuff a turkey. Besides, the recipe can be used on a chicken too, although lesser since the chicken is a smaller bird.

Apparently, in order to have a real juicy turkey, the turkey has to be bought six days in advance. It has to be thawed in the fridge for three days, before marinating. Once the turkey has been marinated, keep it in the fridge to thaw for another three more days. Only when the turkey is ready to be roasted / baked, then the stuffing will be prepared. The turkey will then be stuffed until it is full.

Pre-roasted Marinated Stuffed Turkey

Once the turkey has been stuffed, cover it with aluminium foil and put it in the oven to bake / roast for about three hours. Once the turkey has been roasted for an hour, take it out and glace it with butter before putting it back into the oven.

Fifteen minutes later, take it out again and glace it with honey before putting it back. After which, every fifteen minutes, repeat the process, alternating the butter and honey until the turkey has been roasted for three hours. Cover it back with aluminium foil each time to prevent burning.

Three hours later, take it out and glace it a final time, then put carrots all over as decorations. This time, remove the aluminium foil from the body of the turkey, leaving only the wings and thighs covered, then put it back into the oven to roast / bake for another forty-five minutes before removing it. Garnish the completed turkey with English parsley and cherry tomatoes.

The completed turkey with all garnishings

Since there was only one turkey, we had to carve it up and share it amongst everyone. So I only managed to get one part. I ate it there and then and I must say, it tasted really good! Exactly like black pepper honey chicken, considering those were some of the ingredients used. I cannot wait to try it out myself, except my house does not have an oven so I must figure out how to make it using the microwave.

As a bonus, we got to make desserts too - the Chocolate Truffle with Brandy and Cinnamon Roll. The chocolate truffle was made using dark chocolate and almond bits, sprinkled with cocoa powder and crushed nuts. The final product turns out looking like Ferrero Rochor, but of course the latter is still much better tasting!

Chocolate Truffle with Brandy

The Cinnamon Roll was the last to be made. We used bread flour, with bread optimizer, so the dough could be rolled and kneaded into a round shape, which would rise on its own after about ten minutes or so. Just imagine a small kneaded dough could rise to about twice its size!

The kneaded dough (before rising)

The size of the dough after rising

Once the dough has risen, we had to punch it using our knuckles to flatten it and even out the air inside. Then roll it with a rolling pin, flattening the dough at all sides. Cut butter into small pieces and place it onto the flattened dough. Then sprinkle cinnamon powder on top. Roll up the dough and cut it into small round pieces. Place it into the oven and bake it.

The completed Cinnamon Roll

Each of us took back three pieces (rolls) each. I have eaten one and it tastes good, with a buttery strong cinnamon taste. This should be easier to make since I have a bread maker at home, so maybe I can start on that soon!

Christmas Baking

I went for a special Christmas baking workshop earlier on. We made Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake and a Christmas Log Cake. Finally, I got to find out how a log cake is being made, although of course mine does not really look like a log cake, as can be seen from the picture. :-p

At least the Tiramisu cake turned out looking like one, but since it is in the fridge as at the time of this entry, I have no idea how it tastes like. I hope it tastes good though!

The Tiramisu cake was made using the original recipe of rum, tiramisu fingers and freezing of the batter, instead of baking. Once the cake has hardened, remove it from the freezer then sprinkle cocoa powder on top of it. Splatter with chocolate bits at the side. No wonder Tramisu cakes all taste of bitter chocolate, because of the cocoa powder!

Christmas Tiramisu Wonderland Cake

The next cake we made was the Christmas Log Cake. The log cake was originally made using a square sponge cake. The batter consists of melted chocolate and cream cheese. Once the sponge cake has been baked, splatter the batter on half of the cake, then roll it into a Swiss roll.

Cut off a bit of the cake at the end, then attach the bit to the middle to make it look like a log. Splatter with icing all over to attach the two parts together, then draw lines using a fork. Decorate with Christmas decorative bits and it is ready to be served.

Christmas Log Cake

Variety Of Cake Baking

I had a very enjoyable time at a chocolate cake making workshop yesterday. The recipes ranged from simple cake making to more advanced cake decoration. All in all, we made three cakes (two required baking, one did not) and some muffins. This time I managed to take some photos of my "creation"!

We started off with muffin making. Besides the normal ingredients for muffins, the recipe also include melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder to give a chocolatey feel and taste. Once the muffins are ready, cut a hollow bit off the centre and fill it with melted chocolate paste. Cover up the hollow and leave to cool. Decorate with whipped cream and top it with cherries, Chocolate decorations or sprinkle with hundreds and thousands as desired.

Muffins with cherry, hundreds and thousands and Malteser.

The next recipe was on American Chocolate Carrot Cake. It is a normal carrot cake with chocolate filling, covered with the layer of frosting on top, and sprinkled with white chocolate cut into little bits. I must say I am rather proud the cake turned out looking almost perfect!

American Chocolate Carrot Cake (Side View)

Completed American Chocolate Carrot Cake
(topped with chopped white chocolate)

Next recipe was on non-baked cheesecake - the Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake. It is non-baked as it requires freezing to harden the cake. There are two kinds of fillings - one cheese feeling and the other chocolate filling. The cheese filling is made of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and the chocolate filling is made of cocoa powder and chopped Mars bars.

There are two layers to this cake. The first layer is made of crushed Digestive biscuits as the base, added with cocoa powder and melted butter. Then the cheese filling is poured over it until the pan is about two-thirds full. After that, the cake is put into the freezer to harden. Top it off with a layer of melted chocolate before putting it back into the freezer. Freeze for twenty-four hours or so before serving.

Rich Chocolate Mars Cheesecake

The last cake was the Chocolate Celebration Cake, consisting of a layered sponge cake with decorations and garnishings. The sponge cake consists of four layers, like a marble cake. The first layer is also a cheese filling (filled with crushed nuts and mixed fruit), second layer cocoa filling, and so on until the round tin is two-thirds full. The top layer is the cocoa filling.

Next, we made whipped cream filled with chocolate paste as icing to put on top of the cake. Spread the icing evenly on top and at the sides. Decorate the sides with chocolate rice or chopped milk chocolate.

After that, melt some chocolate, put on top of a plastic bag on a tray, smooth the chocolate over the bag, leave it to cool for a while before putting it in the freezer to harden the melted chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened, cut it into triangles or any other decorative shapes as desired.

Chocolate Decorations
(made from hardened melted chocolate)

Place the chocolate decorations on top of the sponge cake. Garnish with whipped cream, hundreds and thousands, chocolate rice, chocolate bits and cherries if desired. Ready to serve.

Completed Chocolate Celebration Cake

The Charcoal Restaurant @ Treasury

The Charcoal Restaurant is situated at the ground floor of The Treasury, opposite the new Supreme Court. It has two entrances (exits). I went in from the side entrance facing the courts, whereas the main entrance is the one facing the side road. For those familiar with the area, you can more or less understand the orientation. For those unfamiliar with the place, well, dig up a map and take a look for yourselves. ;-p

The restaurant reminds me of an European bistro of sorts, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner was four course, consisting of soup (we both ordered mushroom soup), main course (I ordered Bangers and Mash whereas he ordered seafood), cake of the day (I had chocolate while he had truffle) and then coffee / tea (where we both had tea).

The food is okay, although the tea is good, fruity with a strong aroma. Most likely the waiter served us Darjeeling tea instead of English Breakfast or Earl Grey. Not that I am complaining, because I am more a tea person than a coffee person (although between cappuccino and coffee, I much prefer the former).

What I like about the restaurant is the interior setting. It has a very zen-like feeling, chic and up-market type of look. No wonder most of the patrons are youngsters, as the design reflects the sophisticated and elegant taste of the young, not the classic taste of the old(er). It is a place I will not mind going again, just for a cuppa or to hang out with friends!

Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Da Vinci Italian Restaurant @ Cuppage

Da Vinci Italian Restaurant is in Cuppage Terrace. That restaurant is shared by a Mexican Restaurant, so it serves both Italian and Mexican food. The place is owned by Indians, with Indian waiters and chefs, but the food is not too bad, although the servings are a bit too large for me. Ever since I lost some weight, my food intake has decreased.

The restaurant is a small cosy place with just a few tables. Honestly, if I was not asked to go there, I would never have known this place exists, because it is such a small place that people tend to miss it even if they pass by it.

The interior of the restaurant is dim and cosy, with a romantic aura around. There is hardly any lights, and the table is lit up by candlelight. Really a perfect place to go for a candlelight dinner with a special someone!

There is a huge portrait of the Mona Lisa hanging on the wall inside the restaurant. There are also framed pictures of Da Vinci's other works, like The Virgin and Child with St Anne, Leda and the Swan, Virgin of the Rocks and the infamous Vitruvian Man of course.

The service is good too. Prompt, efficient and polite. At least I get to know a new dining place which I would otherwise not have discovered. I will not mind going there again, hopefully with someone special, then we can get to enjoy the ambience to the fullest.

Cuisine : Italian / Mexican
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Service : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

The Riverboat @ Marina South Pier

Just next to Marina South Pier, right on the sea, is the Riverboat restaurant. I was there for dinner last week. It is in the design of a nineteenth century showboat of the Southern United States. The restaurant is funded by a church mission, so they serve dinners on all days and lunch only on weekends due to the church service held on the upper deck.

The restaurant is on the lower deck. The interior decoration reminds me of the Titanic dining room, but not that grand of course. Since it serves Mexican food, there are ponchos and Panama hats, as well as banjos and drums as part of the decor. There is even an old grand piano!

The food is good too! We ate tacos, baby ribs, chicken and salmon. Dessert was brownies. The brownies are really delicious! My mum had them specially ordered after that, but just a pity I was down with stomach flu the whole week and was in the end not able to eat any of the delicious brownies. :-(

This is a place for a unique dining experience!

Cuisine : American Southern
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Price : No comment since I was not the one who paid

Pier Eleven @ Marina South Pier

I went to the Pier Eleven restaurant on the second floor of Marina South Pier for dinner earlier on. The ambience is good and cosy. The interior of the restaurant is dim and romantic, but we chose to sit outside on the balcony, where we can see the sea and the ships passing by.

It is a very nice place, dining by the sea. The only gripe is that the restaurant is facing the wrong angle, so we were not able to see the sunset, although we could see the moon in full view later on (albeit just half the moon).

The food is nice and not too costly, especially with a ten percent discount for any Platinum Mastercard. The servings are just right, not too big, not too small, and the service is pretty good too. I am pretty satisfied with the overall dining experience, except the Long Island Tea I ordered is a bit too bland.

This is one place which I will not mind going again!

Cuisine : Western
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5 (the ambience inside the restaurant is better)
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Abof Cafe and Restaurant @ Millenia Walk

We had North European food earlier on. Actually Western food is about the same everywhere, thus the Scandinavian restaurant we were in serves pretty normal Western food. The place itself looks rather classy, but quiet. We seem to be the only four customers there!

We ordered a set meal each. There are two sets, a cheaper one and a more expensive one. The cheaper set consists of a soup, sorbet, choice of main course, dessert and coffee or tea. The more expensive set consists of all the above, with the addition of foie gras, and caviar garnishing for one of the main courses.

All of us ordered the cheaper set. The servings are just right, not too big, as compared to other Western restaurants. Two of us (including me) had Norwegian Salmon, Onion Soup, Tea and Carrot Cake. All my favourite dishes! The salmon is good!

The other two had Ribeye Steak, Onion Soup, Coffee and their own choice of desserts. His steak is just right, medium rare, unlike the medium-but-turned-out-rare steak we had in Hooters the night before.

It is a good place to recommend for anyone looking for a cosy dining experience. The place is called Abof Cafe and Restaurant at Millenia Walk, somewhere near Outback Steakhouse. The food and ambience is good, be it for two people, or a small group.

Cuisine : Scandinavian
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5