Follow Your Heart

Toothsome haato gelatos & a priceless friendship. Luv you di! Remember: "Present fears are less than horrible imaginings" Don't worry so much!

Welcome to Elmo's World!

I declare 24/7 Elmo baking day! One potential client requested a sample on Frostie - so i ended up practicing lotsa and lotsa elmos.. big and mini elmos! Elmos are so cuteee. Some were alright while some didn't make the cut.. what do you think?

Island Cafe : Spread The Word

It's a real pity not many shoppers know about Island Cafe; which is tucked away on the top of Tangs Shopping Centre. Honestly, it is comparable if not better than some eateries are over-hyped by print/visual media or food blogs.

On Monday, Neo, Jo & myself 'pontang-ed' a talk half-way and headed straight to Orchard for shopping! Three of us had the same objective - get birthday presents for our friends. Already then, I knew where to bring them for dinner. Knowing neoneo's love for spicy food and variety - Island Cafe seemed like the perfect choice. The place was filled with mainly rattens, bamboos and plenty of wood - very resorty and relaxed feel... can get a lil too comfy (neo neo was feeling kinda sleepy! haha)

As expected, the gluttons i.e us ordered a shit load of food. Black Pepper Crab Tung Hoon for me, Indo Fried Rice (which comes with Satay, Chili Chicken, Achar & Keropok) for Neo, Chicken Bryani for Jo and one Asian Platter (Fried Chicken Wing, Spring Rolls, Wantons, Satays) & one bowl of Tom Yum Soup to share. I loved my Crab Tung Hoon lar! It had the wok-fried taste..and everything in there just tasted so right *slurps* I am salivating as I am typing!! Neo's main was pretty incredible as well - sambal fried rice was oohh lala and chili chicken was tender and sauce shiok~ Jo's one was not too bad either.. but I still liked mine n neo's better. Hee. Tom yum soup lacked the fiery oomph and was slightly diluted..but passable.

Although the dishes are not authentic, the food tastes good! To me, that's good enough. Plus it doesn't hurt that Island Cafe is generous with their portions...truly a cafe that delivers; this place gets my thumbs up!

*Island Cafe
Level 4, Tangs Shopping Centre,
Orchard Road
Tel: 6737 5500

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

The 2 day Getaway

Blown out sun, sugar fine beigey sand, gently swaying palm trees, 340m of "alleviation" - gunung-bintan style, tranquilizing french massage, thirst-quenching fruit smoothies & sedap indonesian cuisine; soto, curry, durian, indomie :)

Oh and a warped, tanless me.

Ciao, Al Forno Trattoria

Our initial plan to bowl somehow turned to yet another food hunt; this time - to satisfy our pasta craving. Jia found this one place, Al Forno Trattoria, recommended by a blog so we decided to go with that instead of the usual. Lucky I made reservations in advance; the restaurant was easily filled up because of its size. Ambience wasn't cosy or homely as it claimed to be and nothing like what one website described it to be - quaint / rustic. Instead it was bright with a tinge of modernism.

Allow me to walk through the dishes we had last night.

A complimentary appetiser which is common among many Italian restaurants - Bread. Not bad, tasted like sour dough bread which is denser than the usual.

Insalate Tricolore
Green Lettuce, cheese, avacado, tomato and mamma's dressing - $12
Some of the lettuce leaves had holes and didn't look fresh. The avocado was unriped. "The cheese tasted cowy", quoted Jia. Indeed. The cheese had a strong beefy after-taste to it. Weird. Mamma's dressing - nothing more than olive oil with a pinch of salt & black pepper. I don't like my salad salty so this is a no no for me. Yeeks.

Penne Polpa Di Granchio
Pasta with cherry tomato, garlic, olive oil and crabmeat - $18.50

The description "CRABMEAT" was calling out for me aloud. Ever since I've tasted the delectable Tornarelli all granchio (Squid Ink Spaghetti tossed with Crabmeat Sauce) @ Ristorante Da Valentino, I fell in love with the heavenly combi. I requested the waitress to do a tomato cream base and would have asked her to change the pasta too if I hadn't been so blind! How could I have missed the huge bold word "penne" on the menu? ^$#!@ Gimme linguine anytime! The penne in my opinion was undercooked, Jia thought it was okay though. Tomato cream sauce was tasty but Valentino's still better.

Pappardelle alla Venexiana
Home-made pasta in saffron sauce, prawns & scallops - $22
Looks yummy! Taste wise - Its was okay but not fantastic. The cream based saffron sauce was delicious on its own and the homemade pasta though thick, had an interesting texture and extremely filling. But when combined, the pasta dish was unable to produce the wow factor and we got 'jur-lat' in no time. The prawns were also super tiny, not worth a hefty $22.

I would have been extremely delighted if these dishes were served @ pastamania or a cafe. But this being an authentic italian restaurant, I had really high hopes for it. For such prices, I rather visit Ristorante Da Valentino - the restaurant with the whole package: Fantastic food, ambience & service! Sorry but its unlikely I will ever revisit this place.

*Al Forno Trattoria
203 Thomson Road
Goldhill Centre
Singapore 307638
62562838

Happy Stepday!

Attendees: Step, Neo, TX, Jo, Serene & myself

Second birthday celebration this month, this time is for the sweet and lovely step! TX suggested Sushi Tei (Serangoon Garden Branch) which was a change from the usual. Very zen looking place with moderate food. The best dish for me that night (wed) gotta be the Phoenix Roll (above pic) because it had two of my fave ingredients i.e Unagi & Avacado. Chicken cutlet with Cha soba (my main) was erm, blah. Chicken cutlet was tough and the noodles/sauce seemed to be lacking texture and flavour. Nonetheless the celebration was still a success! This time round, our gang decided to play smart and get small pieces of cakes instead so we dun end up over eating!

Not to overeat? Like real!! Right after dinner, we headed to this COOL place (pun intended) called Ice3cafe (pronounced as Ice Cube). Rejoice all sweet tooth alcoholics! This COOL place serves Magic Potion aka ice cream with liquor, their specialty! The liquors (over 10 kinds) come in test tube supported by a wooden stand which comes in three shapes. The ice cream on the other hand are 100% home-made! Isn't that COOL or what? hee. One complain tho.. the sofa is a little too soft making it slightly uncomfortable for the big butt me.

Credits: David Goh

*Ice3Cafe
11 Kensington Park Road,
Serangoon Garden Estate
Singapore 557263
67452708

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

New York New York

This is an overdue post and because I am lazy, I'm gg cut short it and let the pictures do the talking instead, yak yak yak. All received stamps of approval from me except the cheeseballs which tasted rather potatoish rather than cheesy. (bottom left)

Special thanks to Mr Conan Foo, the manager of New York New York, for hand picking the three of us to sample pure hot chocolate on the house! Instant sugar rush I tell ya! This is exclusive to only us and no other customers! *Proud look* Mr Thoughtful Foo does the hot chocolate personally and makes sure each of us get our drinks piping hot! I'm pleased I chose this over queuing for donuts last Friday. Above average food, more-than-I-can-ask-for service plus CLEAN sofa seats, trust me I will be back again.

*New York New York
1 Raffles Link Citylink Mall
#B1-47A
11.30am – 11pm

Also available at AMK Hub now

Not nuts about donuts

Man, this is crazy! Singaporeans love to queue, sometimes I think they queue for the fun of it. A long line forms at the basement of Raffles City everyday and waits could go up to 4 hours. I'm no donut fan but I was ever so curious to find out what's so special about this donut factory craze. Jo, Neoneo & me took half day intending to queue for the donuts. For the fun of it of cos. But we didn't in the end. Filling our stomachs were top priority at that moment in time so we dumped the donut idea altogether.

Then this afternoon, I received a call from Jo. She got her hands on the doughnuts after 2 hours of queuing! Woot! And she got us some..how nice of her!! I drove down to her place at night especially to view the entire collection of doughnuts and of cos to claim my share. Within one night, I sampled 7 flavours. What an accomplishment!

My thoughts? I am still not crazy about donuts. Flavours like Apple Cinnamon, Double Chocolate, White Strawberry Heart & Cheese Tartar were not bad but some erm were just weird and disappointing- Lotus Mocha. Think red bean paste in a tau sar pau but coffee flavoured *shakes head*, Peanut Butter - Pathetic solidified peanut butter filling (where's the creamy peanut butter which should ooze out fm every bite? Sigh!) Texture wise - it felt like I was eating semi-soft white bread with varied toppings all these while. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it. But they don't come close to my version of my dream donuts - melt in your mouth kind - light, fluffy, creamy in the inside with a slight crunch to it! The last time I had decent tasting (and pretty!) ones were from Mister Donuts from Taiwan.

Donut Factory gets credit for creativity i.e injecting asian flavour into their doughnuts e.g. Spicy/Wasabi cheese & Kaya White Chocolate. (Jia thinks otherwise). Also for $11/dozen of assorted donuts, they are definitely cheaper and better than those you would find in 7-11 stores. But all factors combined, I don't think they are worth queuing long hours for. In fact, the management should rethink about speeding up donut making process which clearly is the root of the problem.

Ok. Enough of doughnuts and I will stay off 'em for the time being. To know how Donut Factory's doughnuts compare to US's Krispy Kreme, visit Jia's blog.

*Donut Factory
B1-61, Raffles City Shopping Centre
250 North Bridge Rd
Singapore 179101
Opens from 12.30pm

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

Sawadee-ka!!!

It was mum's day off so we decided to hang out and spend some quality time together. After two hours of furniture viewing @ Furniture Mall, mum was needing some H20 to quench her thirst. I craftily suggested we get it from Golden Mile Complex because I needed to stock up my fave fried crispy soy bean from the Thai Supermarket! Of cos I got my way, mum and myself cannot resist any supermarkets! (ok..maybe except Giant) So there I was all excited and ready to show mum one of my fave supermarkets!

I immediately headed for the basket once we reached the entrance of the supermarket and my mum stared at me. Haha, bet she was expecting nothing more than a bottle of water and fried crispy soy bean. Surely I wasn't. In here, you can get all sorts of intriguing thai products which you can't find elsewhere in sg. An entire shelf dedicated to all types of curry pastes (green/red/yellow) and another just for Tom Yum instant noodles...Woo hoo..totally awesome!! Here are some pictures which I snapped while shopping!

My fave Tom Yum instant noodles so far

Overdose of Curry Pastes


Fishies in yakult like bottles


Power Crispy Shrimp Chili Paste; I add it to almost everything!


Mischief Powder for the mischevious

After paying for our purchases, it was almost time for dinner. I knew exactly where to go, so I led my mum to level 1, Diandin Leluk for dinner. There's no better place to get authentic thai food in sg other than here! Mouth watering food at affordable prices! Forget about Thai Express or Asian Kitchen! Thinking about it makes me drool already. Both of us shared a plate of Pad Thai , Prawn Cake & Seafood Tom Yum Soup. They were all VERY VERY yummilicious! Prawn Cake's da best I've ever tasted; Seafood Tom Yum Soup - potent and absolutely SHIOK! Pad Thai lived up to its standard - my mum loved it so much that she wants to learn how to cook it!

I swear I could eat thai food everyday... I really really wanna come here again and again and again and again....

*Diandin Leluk
Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Rd #01-67/68

A shop @ Golden Mile Complex was selling boxing gloves for $45. Sounds like a real bargain and I admit I was so very tempted. Should I or should I not? I don't think I can take the stinky sweaty gloves any longer.. help!

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