Cafe Oliv trips

18/7 - I suggested Jia to have dinner at Cafe Oliv. Instead of the usual recommends (like pork ribs / lamb / beer battered fish), we settled for what we deemed as 'safe' i.e 1) Pink Sauce Linguine with Grilled Salmon 2) Thai cream sauce with Seafood. Oh yes, and Battered Softshell Crab with Salted egg.

The crab (one and only) was nicely presented in entirety, crispy, not oily and very well crusted. Quite the Yum. Then I thought, "what a good start, hope it stays this way".

Somhow or rather, it just didn't. The pasta dishes were a huge disappointment - one of the 'blah-est' ones ever tasted, worse than some western stalls found in neighbourhood coffeeshops.

The Three Trips for me (in order of importance)

1) The Basics of cooking pasta til "Al Dente" weren't met : Linguine noodles was really soggy/soft, a clear indication of it being overcooked.

2) Sauces (Pink Cream & Thai Cream) - Both types lacked flavour, no traces of herbs, black pepper, so we ended up dumping loads of clumpy parmesan cheese into our pastas for flavouring. Jia asked for blackpepper and was even tempted to ask for herbs! The unusually semi-translucent cream sauces weren't close to being called 'creamy'. Sigh.

3) Portions can almost be considered 'stingy' but should be just enough for females if there were other sides to accompany along . Value for money...NOT! For about the same price, I could get more 1.5 times the servings and way better tasting cream pastas @ New York New York.

Having low tolerance for crap food, Jia gave up on her pasta after a short while. She actually insisted I blog about this so everyone knows. Ok now you guys know - if you ever decide to go there, order something else. It was an unsatisfying meal but I do feel that this cafe has immense potential. Not too sure if I'll give this place ever a second chance..maybe one day when I feel forgiving enough.

*Cafe Oliv
220 East Coast Road
Singapore 428917
63443114

Happy Budday!

Attendees: Bud, Cheryl, Elvin, Joyce & myself

Had a pre-bday celebration for Bud last Saturday evening. Our initial plan to go Eng Seng's Very Pepper Crabs was changed to No Signboard Seafood Restaurant @ Geylang because they had more variety so to speak. Our orders - White Pepper Crab, Butter Crab, Cereal Prawns & Scallop with Seasonal Vegetables & la la (I think!?) Good thing about this place is you can order 1 crab per flavour unlike Eng Seng where you have to order 2 crabs per flavour at least. But somehow when we were eating the white pepper & butter crabs, there were no ooohhs no ahhhs and worst thing.. my mind was crying out loud for Eng Seng's crab! How I miss the crabbies there. Sob! Nevermind, I'm sure there'll be a next time. But I'm really thankful for those who managed to turn up, enjoyed the company v much! Thinking back, the last time at No Signboard Restaurant was also with Bud/Cheryl/Elvin - almost 1 year plus back.

May I just add that the bud's bday chocolate cake was super-moisty-chocolately-fudgey-sinfulicious-goodness?? Mama Mia!!! If I didn't have to watch that waist line of mine (which by the way is disappearing), I would have gone for seconds or even thirds! Arghhhh! This to die for choc cake is from famous Choc.A.Bloc which happens to be a stone's throw away from where I live (Yay!). Usually they require orders three days in advance, but lucky they baked extras that day phew! Di, listen up I am so gonna get this for you on your next bday! *slurps*

*Choc.A.Bloc
Blk 86 Bedok North St 4 #01-179
Singapore 460086
Tel : 64466096
Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays

Rain, I'm coming!

Jia recently worked up quite an appetite for Korean cuisine, thanks to the many Korean dramas she has been faithfully following. She insisted I try this truly authentic Korean restaurant with her and so I was like "Why not?". Anything that brings me closer to Rain's roots!

At the extremely well-lit and spacious Ju Shin Jung (west coast branch), we were warmly welcomed by the manager. 15 minutes of intensive menu reading and we finally decided on what they were famous for - Korean Charcoal BBQ! Mushroom, Bulgogi Boneless Chicken Leg & Sliced Sirloin! In addition, we ordered Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef & Vegetable Soup) and also Yidong Makguli (Rice wine @ 50% off) to share. I was pretty confident of finishing our meal (considering the experience I have had in Seoul Garden) until the waitress started to fill our table with close to 15 side dishes. Wau lau... siao liao how to finish!? It was all too late when we wanted to cancel our beef soup order, sigh. No choice, just eat lor.

I wouldn't go into each and every of the sides but those worth mentioning include 1) Big headed beansprout 2) Vinegared seaweed 3) Spicy Anchovies (Ikan Billis) 4) Kim Chi 5 & 6) ) Seasoned Tofu & Sweet Corn Kernels both which I had lotsa trouble picking with the metal chopsticks (stupid me did not realise they provided spoon until towards the end of the meal) Sigh.

The Yuk Gae Jang wasn't as spicy as I hoped for but the soup was still packed with sweetness of veggies and beef! Not forgetting the slurpifying Korean vermicelli in the soup! The mushrooms would have been a favourite among the mushroom fans. They were fresh and unseasoned, one could easily taste the original juices of the mushrooms, especially the white button mushroom. But I still like mine with butter. My top choice for the night would have to be Bulgogi Beef - Marinated to shiokness, it gets two thumbs up!! Bulgogi Chicken was actually quite tender & tasty but we were both too bloated to experience the goodness of my all time favourite meat. There was quite abit of left-over so being the typical cheapskate Singaporean, I asked for a plastic container to 'ta bao' (pack back) home! Don't waste mah, the food very expensive you know? The waiter also handed us a plastic bag to place the container, how thoughtful!

Other highlights of the meal include:

• Complimentary iced-cinnamon flavoured dessert drink & heart shaped watermelon slices - what a nice way to end the meal!
• Deceiving "white coins" sitting mysteriously on a plate - When added with water, it magically expands and transforms to a wet towel! Amazing!

*Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

27 West Coast Highway #01-18/19
YESS Centre 1F S117867
64640872

1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01
Rain Tree Cove S449877
64479279

Lunch 12pm-2:30pm / Dinner 6pm-11pm

Astonished? Read on

My mind was filled of Aston's Specialties since the day I chanced upon Leslie Tay's blog. The photos he took made every item at Astons look exceptionally tempting. You know me lar- glutton, garbage hound, greedy pig (triple Gs!) Hehe, so I went to ask every possible easterner friend/colleague of mind, including my dearest mum to go with Astons (with me of cos!). I failed TWICE because my dining 'partners' were put off by the looong queue.

Applying my common sense theory, it worked for the third attempt! Early Weekday Lunch = No queue! Yippie! Thanks to my equally excited colleagues who readily agreed to lunch at Astons. 4 out of 6 of 'em had chicken, it could have been 5 if not for neoneo's sore gum. Boring bunch? Maybe, maybe not. Two of them who initially thought of pepper fish were told that the supply of fish had run out. (Half an hour after its opening?? Hmm)

Anyway, first up was mushroom soup with garlic bread. Neoneo's had only one slice while mine had two slices, probably they liked me better haha. Delightful soup I say - It had finely chopped mushroom bits; definitely not the campbell soup and add water kind. Accompaniment was the lovely, crusty, garlic buttery infused.. garlic bread. A great deal at only $2.20!

Then came the mains - Four chicken mains with varied sauces & side dishes ($5.90 each with two sides). From baked beans, pasta salad, coleslaw, mashed potato, potato salad, fries and a whole load of others to choose from; the choices are way more interesting than the standards you often get at western food stalls @ kopitiam, hawkers or food court. Most of the sides were pretty appetizing, even the baked beans incorporated a barbeque-like taste in the sauce. The mashed potato was a slight letdown, just wasn't smooth enough for me. Unanimously, we couldn't help but compare it with Popeye's. Neo commented the gravy had a nice mushroomy taste to it tho. The chicken was good enough for the rest I think because all of them finished their share. I 'kopped' a little from Miss Lim (she had Hickory BBQ Chicken) and i thought the BBQ sauce was devine!! (smooooky, aromatic & tangy). Can't really comment on the pasta ($5.90 including soup) cos I didn't try it.. why not let neo review it herself? lol.

Presenting the much in demand ieatSuper Burger ($12.50)!! Named after Leslie Tay - the blogger who first instigated the owner, Aston to create this over-the-top burger. You can read more about the 'birth' of the burger here. This jumbo-wumbo burger also happens to be my order. What I liked - 1) Fresh, crisp veggies (romaine lettuce & tomato) 2) Streaky bacon grilled to perfection (salivating already!) 3) Out-of-this-world crispy-licious onion frost! 4) Cheese which melted nicely on the pattie. What I did not quite like - 1) A miniscule amount of onion frosts as compared to this!! Sigh 2) Not so soft and fresh tasting large sesame bun. 3) No sides 4) Almost non-existent BBQ sauce on the pattie. Verdict: A little disappointed and overrated but decent enough experience. That's what usually happens when you go there with extremely high expectations.

Nevermind about some imperfections, I'll still be be back again for more (Prob after it reopens on 1st May, hopefully the queue situation betters). Totally value for money, efficient service and a whole load of stuff still untried. Oh. Another thing to note, they do not accept NETs or credit cards, so remember to bring CASH!

*Astons Specialties
119 East Coast Road
(Opposite Katong Mall)

Relac one Bedok Corner~

My grandma's leg has been acting up lately, making it quite inconvenient for her to move around. So being the good grand child I am, I offered to send her home after her usual 'hobby'. Another of ah ma's friend also tagged along for the car ride so we thought why not we have dinner together?

Four of us, including my mum, arrived at Bedok Corner Food Centre; a place where my dad used to frequently bring my mum & me for dinner..long before it was renovated. The upgraded Malay Village influenced Food Centre now has 30 over stalls arranged around a central courtyard to reflect kampung-style community living.

While i ordered Or Luak , Satay & Jiu Hre Eng Cai, mum was in the queue for the famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee for more than half an hour. The wait for so long that the gramps couldn't tahan their hunger and started without us. When we came back with the noodles, we also saw popiahs and sugarcane 'juice' on our tables, courtesy of Ah ma & her friend. Overload of food yet again! Sigh. I decide to forgo the also famous Ye Lai Xiang's Cheng Tng because there're already sugarcane drinks. The sugarcane drink was overly sweet. Obviously the S21 owner had dliuted the original sugarcane juice and replaced a portion of it with sugar water yet still claim them to be "Sugarcane Juice" instead of "Sugarcane Water".

This crispy type Or Luak was just so-so for me. I personally favoured the gooey-more-potato-starch type rather the crispy type. Having to taste it only 20 minutes later, the crisp was already losing its 'power'. The mild chili dip also lacked the fire. My mum and the golden agers didn't think much of this as well. But the good thing is this stall is halal and the oysters' size are tad above average.

On the other hand, the chicken & mutton satays were very well marinated and barbequed. Unlike other stalls I've tasted, the chicken satays were tender and juicy. Peanut sauce dip was sedap and of the right consistency! Nicely done! Pity the stall helper wasn't helpful when my mum wanted to da bao (pack back) those satays we couldn't finish.

Despite this stall not using the traditional opeh leaves, the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee still delivers! This version is the wet and dark kind which uses thinner bee hoon (not like the usual laksa thick bee hoon). Noodles are not soggy and flavourful with prawn stock. Sambal chili was not overwhelming, just the way I like it and also prawns were fresh. It would have been perfect with some crunchy pork lard but too bad this stall is one of the vendors supporting healthier eating by Health Promotion Board (HPB). Good news for the health conscious! This stall actually is one of my dad's fave!! Fyi, the couple has been in this business for quite some time, way before the food centre was listed for the upgrading programme. Uncle looks paler now and also has slightly swollen legs (must be due to long hours of standing!) Business is so good that he hardly has any time for toilet and smoke breaks. Must take care of your health leh, Uncle!

Jiu Hre Eng Cai was a little disappointing; the wow factor had somewhat disappeared since I ate it years ago. This overpriced, not value for money dish pales in comparison to the one at 16 Bedok South. For $5 a plate, the servings of cuttlefish, tau pok, cucumber and pineapples were quite pathetic. The elderlies also had a tough time chewing the hard tau pok and cuttlefish. :x.

*Bedok (Corner) Food Centre
Opposite Bedok Camp
Junction of Upper East Coast Road & Bedok Road
Open from 12pm till late

Jiu Hre Eng Cai (Cuttlefish Kang Kong)
Ye Lai Xiang - Stall 31
Or Luak (Oyster Omelette)
Halal Green Signboard - Stall 02
Satay (Meat Kebabs)
Two stalls to the left of Or Luak Stall - Stall 04
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Big-Prawn-Pic-with-words'Prawn-Mee' Signboard - Stall 29

The one and only Hongkong Cafe.

Cha Chan Teng (Tea cafes) are Hong Kongers' version of kopitiams; serving simple cheap comfort food. They are also the latest food trend which has mushroomed lately, somewhat like what the bubble tea craze 6 years back. Singaporeans just don't seem to mind paying $8 or more for a bowl of instant noodles when they get it @ $1 or less @ home! Hmm, i really wonder why.

Over the year or so, I've visited a few Hong Kong Style tea cafes. This newest addition on my list - Hongkong Cafe has my vote! Why?? It is located in the EAST where I live. They have over 250 exciting dishes on the menu to choose from!!! This means I can still go back another 125 times without picking the same item! (if say I order 2 dishes per visit on average!) The food and desserts were pretty tasty in general, (though I haven't had one which totally wowed me). Very casual ambience, suitable for after night hangouts; i like! Move over Tong Shui, Central, Xin Wang and say hello to Hongkong Cafe! I believe this will be one of my fave hangout places after boxing classes with Jia.

Recommends: Anything with Spicy Salt & Pepper in it , Chicken Chop Baked with Pumpkin/Yam Sauce , Almond Cream with glutinous rice , Shanghai Hot & Spicy Soup , Iced Blended Mango Pomelo

Cons: slightly pricier than the rest & hard to find parking during weekends

*Hongkong Cafe
378/380 East Coast Road
Mon to Fri 6pm to 5am
Sat/Sun/P.Holidays 5pm to 5am

Overeating syndrome kicks in

Episode 1 - Black Pepper Crabs

Singapore Tourism Board listed it as one of the top 20 unique things to do in Singapore. Bloggers gave their thumbs up for it. Bud raved about it. What's with all these hype I wonder? Like what most will reply, "Go try it out yourself lor". So i did! Neo neo & myself rejected a somewhat tempting offer by one of our colleagues to go to the fragrance sale @ suntec for the VERY VERY PEPPERY CRABs at Joo Chiat! This has been on our "must-try" foodie list so it was only a matter of time before we embarked on yet another gourmet quest. Thanks to Neo's much to be improved navigating skills, we took a little longer than expected to reach our destination. Hehe. There was a 15 min queue wait and another 20 mins wait at the table before our orders arrived.

I'll just go straight to the point - Don't bother with the below average Bee Hoon & Kailan , head straight for the crabs! The Bee Hoon has got to be one of the blandest ones ever tasted, so blah! At least the black pepper crabbies did not disappoint! I loved the fact the claws were cracked so thoroughly for easy eating. The meaty crabs coupled with oodles of rich roe are tossed in this yummy thickened black pepper sauce which had a tinge of sweet buttery fragrance in it. OMG! I would recommend going in bigger groups so you wouldn't be so 'jur-lat" and can order more varieties. Other diners ordered you-tiao with sotong paste drizzled in sweet mayo and spicy chicken wings which looked pretty good. I'll probably give them a try on my next visit.

*Eng Seng Restaurant
241 Joo Chiat Place
Closed on Wednesdays

Episode 2- Beancurd & Toasted Buns

We decided to overstretch our tummies after dinner, dragged Jo outta her house and headed straight to Yonghe for beancurd. Parking in geylang is always such a pain in the a** but that did not deter me from getting my fave dou huay (beancurd). We ordered a bit more than we had planned to but only because we wanted to feed poor Jo who hasn't had her dinner! (Excuses!)

Nothing comes close to Yonghe Beancurd, NOT even Rochor Original Beancurd @ Short Street! Rochor Beancurd @ Geylang though smooth lacked the true soy bean flavour; the result of over-diluting the soy bean milk in order to achieve the silky texture. Yonghe dou hua is different; pretty smooth, soya oomph in existent, of the right sweetness and most importantly - not mashed up like Rochor Original's, totally my kinda Beancurd! Apart from the toasted bun with pork floss and egg , the rest of the items on the menu are second rate, maybe even third. The oversized you-tiao aka cripsy fried dough fritter is too oily for my taste ; guotie (fried dumpling) & xiao long bao are comparable to frozen siew mais found in NTUC.

But all in all, Yong He Eating House is a great supper haunt for the 'night owls'!

*Yong He Eating House
Geylang, Btn Lorong 9 and 11
Opens 24 Hours

Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut!!!

Woot! I had my very first Muay Thai boxing lesson just a few hours back! Having taken kickboxing classes at Amore before (err like donkey years ago), I wasn't expecting to die so soon.. at least not for the first few lessons. This is definitely more physically demanding than kickboxing I had previously. Think: Hitting the solid punching bag/opponent VS Hitting the air. Obvious rite!

Our class was an interesting mix: 3 caucasians and 5 (out of 8) were females! Woo hoo! We started off with 3 minutes of skipping (pant pant) then we tried basic punches and kicks with the punching bags. My feet started to turn red right after I kicked the solid bag...ouch..so lousy. The skinny instructor's dynamic punches were really quite impressive! Shit, where did all that energy come from? I'm seriously needing a extra lot more of OOMPHs!

The lesson is quite awesome! Looking forward to more kickass action in stinky sweaty gloves!