Where: Taste Paradise, 48-49 Mosque Street
Operating hours: Noon to 2.30pm, 5.30 to 10.30pm
Tel: 6226 2958

My section lunch!

The Taste Paradise is voted the top 50 restaurants in Singapore. The chinese restaurant is located in the heart of Chinatown with a posh 100 seats. It is fully designed with dark wood and glass set off by soothing indirect lighting. The look is contempory, creating a comfortable ambience that is aided by jazzy chinese music. 

Hong Kong–born chef, Fun Chi Keung, who was previously from Pine Court in Meritus Mandarin, has a rich experience of 26 years in the culinary landscape. Together with his dedicated team, they whip up sumptuous spreads of Cantonese-inspired cuisines to pamper the taste buds of all its customers.

The interior is all modern black and browns with soft flattering lighting. The service staff were obliging and flexible. The table setting is great.   The condiments. All the dishes were well executed and well varied in styles, modern chinese fusion would be the way to describe most of them.

First dish, double-boiled fish soup with apples, which initially, find it odd due to the apples. The soup was very light, yet full of flavour from both the apples and the fish. I loved it!

We had a Crisp-fried mango scallop rolls which boss ordered specially for me and Jac. Crystal Jade has such dish too but instead of scallop rolls, they put prawns in. GREAT!

This was the well-known XO fried carrot cake. The carrot cake was soft with bits Chinese sausage in it. The XO sauce was really the one that gave me the kick because it made this dish so fragrant and tasty. Thumbs up for me!

We had a fried tofu with scallops on it. Taste normal but the scallops were very fresh. Plus, the tofu was fried till very crispy.  

We had the vermicelli with crab meat and egg white. The egg white tastes good. Overall, thumbs up cos I had 2 servings.

My dessert was mango puree with sago, mango cubes and a scoop of really delicious and smooth coconut ice cream. White wispy tendrils of smoke creeped from the blu-ish bowl below, creating a lagoon-like effect. I was highly impressed with the presentation.

My boss had this Homemade Almond Cream with stewed Papaya.

  Jac had this. Avacado with walnut ice cream. Mine had the same setting as hers. 

Here, we ended our section lunch. The damage was $101 for 3 person. 

If you are looking for a cheaper version, try Seafood Paradise. 

Anyway, FYI, the bosses were pretty young. 30 years old only.  

Address: 91 Defu Lane 10, Swee Hin Building
Tel: 6487 2429
Open daily from 5 to 11.30pm 

Boss is in good mood today, almost everyday I think but ESPECIALLY today! She took us to Yan Palace for lunch and she absorb the 1st $50 excess. Luckily, our lunch came up to $45.50, which means it is FREE! THANKS BOSS! (I know you will read my blog!)

At Hong Lim Complex
Blk 531 Upper Cross Street
#01-49 Hong Lim Complex
Singapore 050531
Tel : 6222-2516
Fax : 6533-2013

OPENING HOURS :
Mondays to Saturdays : 11.00am – 2.15pm
Sundays and Public Holidays : 10.00am – 2.15pm
Dinner -Daily : 6.30pm – 10.00pm

We had the ala carte dim sum.   This is the Char Siew crispy thingy. Very cakey. I still prefer the Crystal Jade one though. 

  "Ku Cai Kueh"? Remind me of the one I had at Club Chinois but it tastes way much better. Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. Yummy!

Yam cake so soft that you wanna have another one. The other one, looks like prawn dumpling but inside, it contains "bang kuang". I forgot what's its name though boss told me while we were eating. The right dish is chicken wrapped in "tau kee". The chicken is so tender! 

We also had "chee chong fun", char siew bao & a mee suan fried. Pictures were not taken but the food is being processed in our stomach. LOLx……………….

Not bad if you don't mind the location. But again, I prefer the main dishes, cheaper than Crystal Jade.   

I have been having cravings for chicken rice since yesterday evening and till now, I HAD YET satisfied this craving of mine. 

Ya, I know, high fat and cholesterol content of this popular dish BUT it will not stop that stupid craving of mine. After all, you never know whether you will be human being your next life. 

Courtesy from Veron.

Looking at Veron's chicken rice picture makes me feel HUNGRY.

So so so…. Where should I head to for chicken rice?

1. Sing Ho Hainan Chicken Rice which is recommended by Veron?  

2. Sin Heng Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice at Bukit Merah vicinity? Veron said that this is CHEAP!

3. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Court?

4. Boon Tong Kee?

Anyway, I JUST WANT MY CHICKEN RICE! 

I suddenly had cravings for dim sum!

Hmph……..

Red Star, around since the 70s, is a perennial favourite with both the young and old. I first visited the restaurant a few years back and I always wish that I can re-visit it if I can wake up earlier during the weekends. Haiz…

Dim sum is still served off push-cart trolleys and goes for S$3-3.50 for a plate of 3 servings (there are larger servings available). The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, and is always packed during weekends and public holidays. Although the queue can get rather long, table turnover is generally quick. That said, I do recommend going early on the weekend if you do not like to wait.

The freshness and quality of the ingredients is Red Star’s biggest draw. The quality is best seen in the seafood-based dim sum dishes like har kau (shrimp dumpling) and the deep fried seafood roll. These folks don’t skim on their ingredients and you can tell the moment you take your first bite.

Other than the seafood dim sum, I recommend the steamed spare ribs. The ribs are cooked until tender and sit in a very umami sauce (my mum's favourite).

I love the egg tarts. The egg tarts have an amazingly light and crumbly crust and the egg custard is not too sweet. A great way to round up the meal.

On weekends and public holidays, the kitchen serves up “specials” which are usually interesting spins on the traditional dim sum dishes. As a personal preference, I find the atmosphere on the weekend better. Food seems tastier when the restaurant is packed on a Sunday morning and you’re surrounded with families, young and old, all enjoying their food together — scenes that warm the cockles of your heart.

Red Star Restaurant
Blk 54 Chin Swee Road
# 07-23
Singapore 160054
Tel: 6532-5266

Red Star is located in the same building as the HDB Chin Swee office.

Anyone interested to go this weekend???????? Yum Yum…. 

That's my lunch.  Clam Chowder, regular size of cos. A little detail on the clam chowder. Each scoop contains chunky clams mixed with the celery greens and potatoes that are so soft they simply melt in the mouth. In contrast, the chewiness of the clams and the crunchiness of the celery bring about a wholesome meal.

I paid $3.80 to upgrade the meal. It comes with a caesar salad (Romaine Lettuce, Parmesan Cheese, Egg Slice, Sundried Tomato, Multigrain Slice, Caesar Dressing) & a iced lemon tea.

In fact, I wanted to order Garlicky Herbed Foccacia  but guess I wasn't that hungry so I gave it a miss.

 This is the soupervalue meal I am referring to. It includes a soup (regular, medium or grande size), choice of either a salad or sandwich AND choice of either a pack of chips or apple AND a yummy chocolate.
Price range: S$8.70 – S$10.90.
Mine cost $9.70.  

Oh fark, I did not get my chocolate! Damn it!  Never mind, I am just plain lazy to walk back to ask for that stupid little bar of chocolate. Duh……..

Anyway, I am freaking full already!

1 Tanglin Road #02-18 Orchard Parade Hotel
Singapore 247905
Telephone: 68340660
Website: http://www.tunglok.com

I was at Club Chinois for lunch with boss, colleagues and my new client earlier this month.  

Since it's opening in 1997, that was the 1st time I had been to Club Chinois. As it is under Tung Lok group, my expectation of it will be pretty similar to the other Tuk Lok restaurants, ie Noble House, which I had been to.

The cuisine served are so called modern chinese. How do we actually define that? To make it simple, we call it fusion, which means mixture of western and eastern. 

List of our food (This is to my best memory): -

1. Crispy Beijing Duck Skin, Five-spiced Foie Gras, Salad of Roasted Duck Julienne, Fresh Mango and Apple

2. Braised Mee Sua with Freshly Peeled Crab Meatin Noble Tanfu Sauce

3. Double Boiled Chicken Consommé with Wolfberries, Yellow Fungus and Chinese Herbs

There were like 6 to 7 dishes to go, including dessert.

To be frank, I do not think that I will visit Club Chinois again. Not that the food is not nice but I still cannot accept modern chinese food though east meet with the west. Still, my taste buds tell me that the food taste kind of weird. =/

Anyway, guess how much is the bill?

$700 for 9 person! What a lunch!

I was thinking we should have been to Lei Garden but…………………. it was the client's choice.

1. 119 East Coast Road (Opposite Katong Mall) Tel: 91474627/62477857

2. 56 Serangoon Garden Road, Huat Hin Coffee Shop

I went to the one @ East Coast Road with boss and two other colleagues for lunch before meeting our clients.

  This is ieatsuper burger. Looks great cos a diner sitting behind me ordered this. 200gm chopped Sirloin Steak, 2 slices of cheese, 2 rashers of bacon, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, Astons Special Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce, Astons Special Sauce and crispy onion frost all piled up in a sesame seed bun. It cost $12.90.

Boss loves the Wagyu Ribeye. But I was told there is only limited stocks. Therefore, we will have to ring them before making our trip there. Oh yes, the price is $38.90. The cheaper version, NZ Ribeye extracut at $14.90. Looks cool as well.

I had chicken chop with coleslaw & whip potato & sausages. The sausages are fabulous! I love them!   Yum Yum……

Oh yes, they had just open a Astons Prime, the more expensive version.

Astons Prime
467 Joo Chiat Road
Open 11.30 to 11pm
Closed Tuesdays
Ring 63442447 for Reservations

Take a look at the new paper articles.

Trust my taste. It is really worth the trip down to try the food! Cheap & good!

P/S: By the way, I was told that this shop belongs to boss' ex broking assistant, NLL's brother in law. Therefore, any feedback thru boss is valid. ^_^" (FYI, boss is a complaint queen! Oops… She is gonna kill me! -_-") 

Visit their blog at http://astonsspecialties.blogspot.com/ to find out more! 

Oh yes, last but not least, do expect to queue.  

Ikoi Japanese Restaurant,

401 Havelock Road,

#01-01 Hotel Miramar, Singapore

Tel : 68873788 Fax : 68870079

I am a big fan of sashimi! Therefore, when boss suggested a "farewell" dinner for TYP, I thought of Ikoi (heard so much of it since long long time ago). There were several "real life" compliments. So I assume that it is a MUST TRY!

Oh yes, the reservation had to be made 1 month in advance for dinner cos it is always fully booked. Also, when making your order, please try to order a bigger portion cos they take orders individually, say, I ordered a pork cutlet & GUESS WHAT? I had 1 slice!?!?

They do serve complimentary dishes. First, it's salmon sashimi served in don't know sauce. Obviously, it tastes GREAT!

Next, it's the mixed veg salad.   Carrot, Japanese cucumber & celery (all raw) sticked into ice. Nothing special but the veg are fresh.

Dobin mush aka seafood soup, served in a tea pot & we were given tea cups. Kinda weird to have something savoury from a tea cup but nevertheless, it tastes good! There are like chicken, prawn etc inside the soup.

There is yet another complimentary dish, steamboat (if I am not wrong, it is called "Kaninabe – sounds like some vulgar languages in Hokkien)   It contains cooked salmon, veg & some tofu. I didn't have the cooked salmon cos it smells when cooked. I merely took the soup and tofu. 

As it is a buffet dinner, we are free to choose from their extensive menu of dishes ranging from sashimi to grilled meats, to tempuras. If you are the sort that can down plates after plates of fresh sashimi, den Ikoi is the place for you. At SGD$30+++ per pax, i reckon if you could finish up 2 plates of mixed fresh sashimi, it would have already been very worth it.

The best is the sashimi, espcially the sword fish & salmon.   This is yellow tail. & guess what? TYP and I shared a plate of mixed sashimi (for 4) & on our 2nd round, we ordered a sword fish sashimi (for 2). Which means we had eaten 30 bucks full of sashimi. LOLx…………

Mixed tempura is the next dish. There were sweet potatoes, mushroom, lotus etc…..  & the ebi tempura is not too bad. Crispy I should say. 

  The cold soba was good but the portion was way too small. 1 sip and the soba were gone! Great texture! 

The handroll were good. The sea weed wraps were very fresh! Worth trying! But obviously not too much of it cos you will be full from rice.

We had the chawamushi too.   But it is not as smooth as what I had expected.

Boss ordered the grilled saba. I only had half a piece cos I was told there were BONES in them. I HATE bones! I prefer boneless fish though. Guess this was the only dish that we did not manage to finish!

Overall, the food is not too bad just that do not expect too much from the staff. Apparently there are 2 groups of staffs there. One group are in charge of taking orders from the guests, the other group are in charge of clearing the table, getting you more tea etc etc so don't be unhappy when some of the staff says they cannot take your order. Which in any case, they will inform those who can and direct them to you. In additional, do place your order all in the 1st time round cos it is kind of hard get a 2nd order – the staff tends to go missing in action. Even asking for 2nd serving of tea was kinda difficult. 

Nevertheless, we had a hearty meal. Best of all, we had 50% "co-insurance" from TYP! LOLx……………..

Now, I am feeling hungry. -_-" 

I miss this place!

In fact, I miss the food there. Esp, the durian pengat , a sweet concoction of pure durian mousse. It is so damn good! Till the extent that you thought you had died in heaven!

Ellenbough Market Cafe was famed in 1997 with the durian pengat. It is famous for their large spread of Peranakan and Asian Cruisine.
As for the price, if I can still remember clearly, it is less than $30 after the GST, service charges etc. Worth it right?

Therefore, anyone interested in this high tea buffet next week?  

Been to PS cafe twice with a Secondary School mate, Darren. Nice place, peaceful but kinda secluded. After all, it is located at Demsey Road area.

To be frank, it is considered isolated, that kinda "deep deep in a forest" feeling. The surroundings were trees and greenery. It is hardly accessible unless you drive. The 1st time we patronise PS cafe, Darren drove. The 2nd time, we took a cab and fortunately, when we were strolling down hill "romantically", we managed to get a cab. How lucky we were!

How does the name, PS cafe arrives? According to Dareen, it has something to do with projectshop. In regards to the details, I am not too sure frankly but you may refer to Veron's blog for more & obviously, better details.  

I love the outdoor, . Maybe cos I can smoke and have my wonderful cuppy of tea there. The inside dining area was kinda noisy. 

In regards to the food, to be frank, I had not eaten there before. We merely went for a drink or desert. I do like their chocolaty cakes. YUM YUM!

Maybe one of these days, I should try the food there. 

Anyone? 

FYI, this is their operating hours for dinner,

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday :~ 6.30pm – Midnight
Last food order 10.30pm ~ Last bar order 11.00pm

Friday & Saturday :~ 6.30pm – 2.00am
Last food order 10.30pm ~ Last bar order 1.00am

For more information, please refer to PS cafe's website, www.pscafe.sg.