8 May 2014
Lady M - Deeply in love with the green tea mille crepe!
Having high tea is always such a blissful affair, especially when something 'green tea' is on the menu. Yes! I finally tried the signature green tea mille crepe after eyeing it for quite a long time. It was love at first taste and my friend couldn't agree more. Layers of thin crepe spread with green tea flavored cream, stacked vertically upwards and forming the lovely structure of the 'cake'. Soft, creamy and yet not overpowered by the bitterness of the green tea, many people would easily be seduced by a single slice. I would go crazy with joy if I had the whole cake by myself!
The red velvet cake took me by surprise and I did not expect it to taste so yummy! The chocolate sponge was coarse, not exactly dense but not dry while the sour cream cheese frosting was extremely rich! The sourness balanced the sweetness and the combination was simple yet super filling.
Last but not least, we tried the strawberry shortcake. The overwhelming amount of cream and its collapsing state did not impress us at all. The plain sponge was not exactly fluffy and the cream kept forcing itself out every time our fork poked into the cake. It still tasted decent but just too messy.
I seriously don't get one point - Why other people can place their cake in front of them for over half an hour while ours disappeared into our stomach within minutes? #gluttons
7 May 2014
Hatter Street Bakehouse & Cafe - Might be back next time...
Once again my pictures have been piling up due to my frequent cafe visits for the past 2 weeks. I have been
deprived of desserts ever since I started working in the culinary field and I turned to buying bubble milk tea to satisfy my sugar cravings. #Backtoarmydays when I had a large size cup of bubble milk tea every weekend when I booked out! Sugar addiction really drains my money. Anyway, I had some desserts with my friend along Hougang, a neighborhood cafe!
I sort of randomly picked 3 different cakes to share with my friend and his little daughter since the all the cakes looked rather mundane to me. The white chocolate brownie arrived with a scope of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with butterscotch sauce. Somehow the texture of the brownie was rather dense and similar to kueh bingka ubi (a Malay kueh made from tapioca), only without the chewy element. The white chocolate sweetness could be felt and thankfully the ice cream neutralized it from being overly sweet.
My friend's daughter wanted the oreo chocolate cheesecake which I guessed was a standard choice for kids (because of the oreo). A double layer cake with a straightforward taste which I interpreted as being flat.
Last but not least, I tried the chocolate cake which I felt rather ordinary too. The chocolate was not as rich and sinful as I hoped it would be. Despite not enjoying myself, I must applaud that their cakes were heading towards the inventive direction and the staffs were really friendly and willing to describe their cakes to me.
I heard from a friend that their smoked saw dust (panna cotta) and waffle with ice cream were their signatures. Maybe I had made a wrong choice of desserts...
6 May 2014
Manning The Egg Station - Eggs Eggs Eggs
Have you stayed at any hotel which serve breakfast buffets before? Be it complimentary or not?
If yes, there would be a high chance that the hotel would have a station where you could 'order' your eggs anyway you like. Of course I meant the standard ones and not the sous vide to whatever degrees celsius kind or eggs benedict. Those half boiled, soft boiled and hard boiled eggs can be requested and were done in the kitchen of course.
Anyway, I got the chance to mend the egg station for breakfast before and it was my virgin experience preparing those eggs ala minute for people. At first, it was really nerve wrecking for a newbie like me. But then, practice makes perfect and I focused on whipping up perfect omelettes and fried eggs for costumers instead of rushing through the cooking process. Speed of course was another issue depending on the crowd.
There are many ways to cook an egg but I shall just list down the common types of specification in which people would want their eggs to be cooked.
'Fried' — eggs are fried on both sides with the yolks broken until set or hard.
'Over well', also called 'over hard' or 'hard' — cooked on both sides until the yolk has solidified.
'Over medium' — cooked on both sides; the yolk is of medium consistency and the egg white is thoroughly cooked.
'Over easy', also called 'runny' — cooked on both sides; the yolk is a thin liquid, while the egg white is partially cooked.
'Sunny side up' — cooked only on one side; yolk is liquid. The egg white is often still rather runny as well.
Omelet — very lightly scrambled in the fry pan, but cooked flat and rolled up.
Not to forget, Chinese people would normally say 荷包蛋 (he bao dan) which means 'pocket eggs' in translation. It is just fried eggs that are folded and fried to a desired consistency.
There are strange people with unique requests, even when 'ordering' eggs.
I came across a person who requested an omelet with 5 big spoonful of diced onions, capsicums and tomatoes each. He mentioned that he loved vegetables and he requested the same serving for the following 3 days. I felt like I was making a vegetable roll instead of an omelet for him.
There are also health conscious people who requested no oil on the pan. The moment I heard the word no oil, I was like 'O shit'....high chance the egg (especially the omelet) would stick to the pan!
Some would request only egg white omelet. An evil though just came in mind - I should request that in future to bring inconvenience to the cook who prepares it for me! (Nah!)
Since I am still a newbie, I have experienced a few embarrassing moments before. Care to know what?
Firstly, I busted yolks while flipping the egg over. People may wonder why this chef can't flip an egg properly.
A couple of times, annoying people would just request their orders and walk away. This really can confuse the order especially when a few people does that at once. People! Please queue up... because some people
actually took others' order and left the explanation part to me.
Once, the kitchen serviette tissue that was used to wrap around the handle of my pan caught fire from the stove's flames. (The kitchen serviette tissue is to prevent the heat that transmitted upwards from burning my hand.) I quickly removed it and put out the flames by hand within a few seconds and threw it into the bin beneath me.
Beside that, I really love it when people gave me compliments about my nicely done omelet or fried eggs!
No harm praising the chef who did your eggs in future right? It will make his day happier too!
3 May 2014
Domino's Pizza Kicks Off Footy Online Contest!
Hey! All the Football and Domino's Pizza Fans out there! Domino's Pizza once again launched something new and exciting for everybody! I was quite eager to attend since I had a great experience from the
previous Domino's Pizza event.
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| See the staffs were all so enthusiastic and eager to share about Domino's Pizza Kicks Off Footy Online Contest! (Picture taken from William) |
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| Check this poster out! The football season is here! More pizza, more football! The staff sure could pose better than me as I am a seriously bad poser... Check out the poster below! |
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| Decided to take a selfie with the soccer ball above my head! I am no fan of soccer, but a fan of yummy pizzas! Duh! Before the food arrived, lecture first....we viewed a demonstration on the newly launched football game that you could win great prizes from, such as an Ipad and a 60'' LED HDTV! More details can be found at http://www.dominos.com.sg/ ! |
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| As for the game, log on to dominos.com.sg/kickoff to start. Remember to like the page first and it will direct you to this screen. |
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| Click to start playing this Flash game! |
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| Any pro flappy bird fans out there? This could be your thing! Just click your mouse to control your ball instead of a retarded birdie. Sounds easy? Not! I am a noob because I tried 3 times and my highest score still remained at 2! WTH? Tell me there is a glitch.....Sadly no. |
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| Time for my favorite part! I got to try one of the newer pizza addition which was the Ramano Margherita. It felt so vegetarian since it was sprinkled generously with cherry tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese on Napolitian Sauce. Just loved the cheesiness! |
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| Savored the other baked snacks that would be worthy to munch on while watching soccer! Spotted something new?? |
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| Yes! The NEW Napolitana Baked Meatballs! The compact beef ball was firm and had a slight chewy texture that made me craved for more! Although the cheese had clumped together, the tangy tomato based sauce prevented the balls from being too dry. Really addictive! (Picture taken from William because I was too busy enjoying, and neglecting to take a nice shot of it. ) |
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| See all the bloggers (including myself) enjoying ourselves at Domino's Pizza? (Picture taken from William) |
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| Ending the night with a group shot! #typicalbloggers (Picture taken from William) Thank you The Influencer Network and Domino's Pizza for the invite! |
29 Apr 2014
The Public Izakaya by Hachi - Over Fusion??
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| The interior was furnished so beautifully that it felt so surreal! Am I still in Singapore? The streets along Tanjong Pagar where offices are located in almost every building? The dim lanterns hanging across the ceilings emitted an orangey glow that made the entire restaurant felt so homely. Too bad my friends and I had to dine outdoors due to the peak lunch period and the clash with the office crowd. (Picture taken after the meal.) |
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| There were free flow of appetizers, mainly salad that were not worth the mention since they were either soggy or badly marinated. It could be a wise move since office people are getting rather health conscious nowadays. Health is wealth! |
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| Certain food like this serving of deep fried chicken cutlets with wedges found in the lunch menu totally contradicts the Japanese style. Could it be a fusion that was overtaken by the western part? With the ketchup bottles as a backdrop, no one could tell this dish was from a Japanese restaurant. Tender juicy chicken but the ratio to the crispy batter was imbalance. Let's not talk about the processed wedges since I decided to skip them. |
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| My friend received a wrong order but he decided to take it anyway. I think due to the really huge pieces of ribs that were too eye-catching and difficult to resist. My stares could not be turned away due to the tantalizing gravy that drenched the rice. Gosh, I want to eat from that yummy bowl right now! |
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| I had the pork belly set which looked less appealing as compared to my friend's ribs. It was simple, tender and mildly salty, perfect combination with plain rice. Thankfully I had other dishes to whet up my appetite. |
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| ARH....Finally the most Japanese-like food that arrived at our table! A light bodied clear soup with certain unknown Japanese ingredients in it! Hard boiled egg, taro, fishcake filled with sticky flour and another spongy fishcake. Such enjoyable and real comfort food I would say. By the end of our catching up meal, the entire place was empty as people went back to their monotonous work life. How I wished I had more freedom and be stress-free! |
28 Apr 2014
The Corner Place Korean BBQ Buffet - In general, I would want to avoid in future
I don't usually fancy going for a BBQ or a Steamboat buffet meal since I knew that the quality of those frozen/raw food usually sucks. I am referring to those standard $20 - $30 range of buffets which I had tried that has been listed on the side column of this blog.
You may question why I go for yet another BBQ buffet then?
You may question why I go for yet another BBQ buffet then?
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| Such buffets are mainly for gathering purposes, be it for a huge group of friends or with a bff/buddy who got lots of catching up to do over a meal. Since my friend wanted to indulge a bit on those scary quantity of over marinated meat, I just have to agree. Partly because I was too lazy to decide where else to dine around Marina Square. |
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| These were the cooked food available while waiting for our meat to sizzle till cooked. Glass noodles were thick and tasted decent, egg custard had that turn-me-off eggy stench and we did not touch the korean rice cakes. I loved the Korean spicy-sweet marinated drumlets so much that I gobbled down 10 pieces of them. Being in a buffet also means that you need to learn to be selective of the food you consume! Just pick your favorite + what you think is worthwhile! |
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| Our 'BBQ pit' was constantly filled with various types of meat, especially those tender slices of beef! We kept complaining about using those Korean flat metal chopsticks that were kind of a nuisance since they were made without considering the ergonomics factor. The service was also prompt as the staffs would change the foil once it turned semi black. |
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| Not meaning to turn you off but looking at the amount of excess oil/waste dripping out through the internal sewage system, we can't help but to imagine those waste being deposited into our stomachs. Gosh, what did we just fed ourselves with? |