Tim Ho Wan - A well-earned star

I just ended my classes of Hot Abs & Hot Shape when I walked past the infamous Tim Ho Wan queue at Plaza Singapura...  

Wait. What queue?

It was surprisingly short so I decided to pop in and quickly called A. 

"B, no queue at Tim Ho Wan leh. FASTER!!!"

We were in before 15mins, shiokness.

Since it was our first time here, we ordered many dishes to try and we were astounded that none failed us, despite the high volume of people, as there was a high quality control with consistent freshness & all our baskets arrived steaming hot. 

And when one hears so much about the Four Heavenly Kings (BBQ Pork Bun, Fried Carrot Cake, Steamed Malay Cake, Pig Liver Roll).... that's it. 

MUST ORDER ALL. 

1) BBQ Pork Bun ($4.50): 

It comes in a set of 3pieces, with each piping hot. My first bite into the crumbly puff revealed its sweet yet savoury steaming insides immediately, showing how packed with roast pork it was. The soft pork sang a pretty song with the fragrant biscuit, making every bite truly enjoyable. 

We think this is exactly what would happen if Roti Papa met Char siew bak.

So yes, this is definitely our favourite dish.

2) Steamed pork ribs ($4.20): 

This was a tender and juicy rendition that was tasty and fragrant. Simple and traditional. We liked it well enough! 

3) Fried Carrot Cake ($4.50):

Smooth, fragrant and not oily at all. This was such a hit with both of us, especially when bits of fresh radish bit were found! It is good on its own but I also liked it with the THW chili (slightly spicy and quite kickass).

Our glorious spread of food:

4) Steamed siew mai($5.00):

It was known by another name on the menu - steamed pork dumpling with prawn - which suited us fine because they were really stuffed with these juicy meat. Whew, didn't get cheated. And I loved the dish for the plump & fresh flavours where each morsel danced sweetly on the tastebuds.

5) Steamed Chicken Feet ($4.00):

I wasn't expecting much, but it was surprisingly good and tasty with a spicy after taste, making it quite a shiok dish. Ps. For chix feet lovers, Canton paradise also does a mean dish of this "phoenix claws".

6) Pig Liver Vermicelli ($5.50):

Calling all pig liver fans, this is a dish you have to try. Being judgmental, I found the pairing rather squeamish. Pig liver wrapped in chee cheong fan, really?? But mai siao siao not bad leh! I like my pork liver plump, juicy and slightly raw.. and it was the way I found it in this dish. And the skin of the chee cheong fan was moist and firm, making the unusual dish complete. 

7) Steamed Beancurd Skin ($4.00):

Aka "fu pi juan" in Chinese. Normally I will go for the fried version but because I was too kan cheong in ordering, I didn't see the option available on the other side of the menu. Haha what a foodie faux pax! Anyway, I'm glad for that as it was stuffed with meat, prawns and crunchy vegetable with a juicy skin. It was still slightly crispy which was the icing on the cake. (Ps: On my 2nd time back, I've tried the fried version and I prefer this!)

8) Osmanthus Cake ($3.50):

If you are following WLF on instagram (it's @weelovefood) , you should have seen how bouncy it was... really shake until shiok. We decided to try it as a few tables ordered and also, the glistening skin of the jelly was rather irresistable. Boy, what a joy it was to eat this refreshing "cake", as it was full of the natural sweetness of wolfberries & osmanthus. And it was gone under 2 minutes. That good.

Just look at that shining skin:

9) Steamed Egg cake ($3.80):

Such a sweet fluffy item in the Heavenly Kings. 

We were rather reluctant to order it as it just sounded bleak to eat steamed cake in a Michelin star restaurant. But boy, we regretted not ordering more for a take-away! (P.s. you also have to queue to take away) This item was really fragrant, soft with a light coconut aftertaste and you just can't stop eating it. Another "must order" item!!

10) Chinese Pu Erh Tea ($1.20):

No need pictures lah. They only have one type available and it was aromatic with free refills. 

 

Go on, head on down to Tim Ho Wan now if you haven't. 

You have to.

Xx, wlf. 

Casa Tartufo - House of Truffles: Suave Italian food that makes me wanna wax lyrical...

This was an impromptu dinner but what a nice gathering (for our delighted tastebuds) 

it turned out to be! 

Little did I know that this was a restaurant with several accolades to it, with a speciality in truffles found in many of their dishes mmm. They are served according to different periods of the year, namely the Winter Black Truffle (Jan - Mar) , Summer Black Truffle (Apr - Aug) and White Truffle (Sep -Dec).

Casa means home and Tartufo means Truffles, hence "House of Truffles". Nice name. Located in the quiet Forum mall, Casa is filled with soft lights and a welcoming ambience, making it perfect for a romantic date ;)

Upon stepping in, I was put at ease immediately by the friendly (& good looking as well. Sorry baby :p) man who greeted me with a wide smile. I suspect it was Alex, the Italian owner of the restaurant. Read more about their story here.

There were six of us, so it was a perfect excuse to splurge. I mean, order many dishes to share. 

We were served bread in thick squares, with a texture reminiscent of the chinese pancake aka mun chiang kueh. It was neither hot nor crispy but strangely enjoyable with the sour balsamic & olive oil dip on the side.

For starters, we shared the San Daniele - Proscuitto with cheese ($24):

My precious pieces of cold cuts:

Haha I'm not a huge fan of cold cuts, but this was some good aged ham with a nice marbling of fat all around. It was served with Ricotta cheese, providing a firm and tangy bite to the palette every now and then.. wonderfully paired!

Then arrived the Casa Risotto with Sea Urchin & Truffle ($36): 

Merciful lords.. this was so richly infused with truffle that every bite left a lingering scent on my tongue. Who knew sea urchin tasted so good with truffle and risotto? Maybe Casa has the midas touch. Or maybe it was the ambience.. but it was amazing how the soft and slightly firm paste of sandy urchin melted perfectly with each rice grain.. sending oohs of gastronomic joy each time there was urchin discovered. What a worthy dish of decadence indeed!

Next was the Tarjarin Black - Home made egg noodles cooked in Sage and Butter, topped with Shaved Truffle ($34):

Upon tasting these strands of supple noodles, what suddenly striked me was how deceivingly simple every dish looked at first... THEN the pungent flavours explode on your tongue, startling one out of a hazy stupor and into a joy so unbridled that it was almost estatic.

No kidding guys; this pasta was done so well as it seemed to have soaked up the very essence of the truffle, leaving a light earthy aroma in the mouth after each swallow.  

Did I also mention how the rich scent of truffle assailed our senses even before it reached the table? 

This dish is truly a star on its own.

Just imagine my sadness after I finished my portion.. even I am lost for words. :'(

And finally, the crazy Fiorentina - 1 kg T bone steak ($170), served with a side of truffle fries ($12):

This was the picture that sealed the deal for us when L asked for dinner and sent this pic. How lovely to see it in the flesh, then sink our teeth into the meat for real. There was silence as some medium raw carnivorous delight took over for a few moments. I would say the meat was done nicely, and it was juicy with a robust flavour but the other two mains simply outshone this meaty contender. 

After the last piece of steak was polished off, I suppose we all got high on good food and ordered 5 out of the 7 desserts available when the waitress asked us. No wonder my throat never got better.

Featured below is the Pistachio ice cream with Chocolate sauce ($12), where I asked the waitress to hold the pose for me and she gamely obliged to my Singaporean request haha! 

Next to it is ze lemon tart ($12):

The tangy lemon tart came with a thin soft base that crumbled easily, making it very easy to swallow mouthful after mouthful.

Close up of the Pistachio ice cream brownie:

Despite being coated with a thick, dense darkness for a sauce, the nutty dessert was surprisingly light and was well complemented by the chocolate. Afterall, you can't go wrong with nuts and choc!

This, my friends, is the chocolate tart ($12):

Again, Casa serves its food unprententious looking and tried to fool me once more. But this tart packs a punch with each bite of the dense chocolate that is just a tad bitter, making you yearn more.

And of course, one's gotta save the best for the last. See that simple scoop of ice cream in the background? That's Truffle Gelato ($8) for you, and it is simply mindblowing:

I kid you not, there was a collective exclamation by everyone (I'm guessing with the exception of V who commented it tasted like garlic haha!) at the overpowering taste of truffle in the ice cream. It was almost like there was the real thing inside our mouths... and the treasured scoop was gone in a few minutes. 

THIS ONE MUST TRY. 

And I do feel kind of bad for the Tiramisu ($12) that came after, because it was much milder so it seemed bland in comparison despite it being a famed Italian dessert. However, after the initial excitement of the truffle gelato wore off, I found the tiramisu to be of good quality, with a consistent marscarpone cream and crisp fingers. Might stand a fight with the gelato if it was more infused with coffee or alcohol though! 

Or... maybe not.

For truffle lover, I implore you to make a trip down to this place soon. 

The simple yet rich dishes will leave you very happy. 

Warning: Might get breathless occasionally as you get blown away though.

Casa Tartufo

Forum Shopping Mall 

583 Orchard Road #01-17

Tel: 68364647

Opening hours: 

Lunch: 1130am - 230pm

Dinner: 6pm - 10pm

Closed on Mondays

Hope you all get as high as we did.

WLF.

Orange Lantern - Good & decent Vietnamese food

We were in Viocity, wanting to go for a Kenko massage as we didn't manage to make it for our slot at LifeSpa - which offers very good massages btw, and we are members there, such easy suckers haha! But Kenko is also very popular so we ended up exploring the Harbourfront centre side for other options and stumbled upon Orange Lantern for dinner.

I've seen it in the CBD area with long Qs before but not tried it, so in we went. It turned out to be a good choice indeed! 

What's Vietnamese food without their signature Pho ($11.90)... right? This was a huge serving and I only managed to finish about half. The other half went to A haha! You can find lots of fresh ingredients floating in the tasty broth, along with a soft supple flat white noodle. I especially loved the beef that was slightly gamey... just my type of meat! My only gripe? The soup wasn't piping hot, more like a wee bit above lukewarm. HOW CAN. TSKK.  

2) Rice set with marinated chicken, Vietnamese steamed egg and sunny side up ($12.90):

What I like about this was that it looked exactly like the picture description... 

Us: "Heng ah, never get cheated!"

 I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about, where some places have food looking so glorious in their pictures but serve it a far cry from them. It's like those days of IRC: you think you are chatting with a pretty girl online but when you turn up for the date and see her face..... 

Haha! I better not get carried away. 

The meat was well marinated, juicy and with just enough salt to taste. Goes well with the fluffy rice. Dip it in the sweet chili accompaniment with some fried egg.. talk about easy comfort food!

3) Deep fried Imperial spring rolls in crispy nets ($7.90):

This atas version of Vietnamese spring rolls was Oh-sooo-good. Little wonder why this was an award winning one. The Singapore Top Signature dish to be exact. (Not sure what it means, but tasty can already haha!) The skins were airy-light and insides chock full of juicy meat & vegetables. Absolutely lovely. We also popped some chili padi into the dip to up the shiokness level, really shiok! I must say it was a little oily but that didn't make it less enjoyable :p

So yummy I had to take more pictures:

Just check out that wonderful crispy fluff surrounding the ingredients:

A close up on one of the many huge beef slices inside my award-winning Pho (same award):

Then the chunky and dense meatball; gives one mouthfuls of carnivorous joy:

Gotta love basil leaves... and I made a boo-boo. I said, "Can I get more lemongrass?" to which both waiter and A went "Huh???" 

Hahaha talk about over reacting :p but it was frankly, quite embarrassing :(

Pretty place, with nicely themed colours:

Do head down for some decent Vietnamese dishes if you are in the area!

The Orange Lantern:

Harbourfront Centre 

1 Maritime Square #01-98

Tel: 62741968

Opening hours :

Daily: 10am-11pm 

Cheers, WLF.

Oasis Taiwan Porridge - Superb shiok comfort food that leaves you wanting more!

It was a night when I felt like having porridge, where it also turned out that we were meeting L &  A for a dinner-turned-supper. And L, the suggestor of good food, recommended Oasis for its delicious sweet potato porridge. 

Me: "SWEET POTATO PORRIDGE?? ON."

Just check that beautiful piece of tuber out:

I love this kind of porridge, where the texture was soft and mashed yet still slightly grainy with a good amount of broth. A plus was the fact that the potato retained a tinge of sweetness, making it a perfect combination with the fermented beancurd ($1.50 per serving) available.

And did I mention the porridge only costs $1.50 for unlimited servings? Really eat until shiok.

Next up, one of the best Braised Pork Intestines I've had for only $8: 

Tender yet firm and very fragrant, with zilch "porky" aftertaste. You know how some intestines leave a bad taste in your mouth after you swallow it right? Be assured, this has none of that and oh dear lords, you just cannot popping them one after another. They were all gone halfway into the meal :'( haha and the pickled vegetables on the side also served as a nice palette cleanser after each bite.

But... the star of the day was definitely the Stewed Pork Belly ($10):

We've always been fans of fatty pork belly and it was truly an orgasmic moment to have this version in our mouths. The meat was wonderfully stewed, as the gelatinious fats complemented the soft pork. Every bite was delightful and we did not get gelat. 

Not even..... o.n.c.e.

Next dish up: Dou Miao ($12):

This was refreshing, crisp and a good change to our "sins" previously haha! But frankly, one does not need vegetables with Porridge though it was nicely done.

Chai poh egg ($8):

Fried to crisp perfection, with a juicy centre and fragrant chai poh. There are some things you just fall in Love with, and this dish was one of them. 

Cockles in sweet & sour sauce  ($9):

I was expecting a drier version with the shells still intact and did not really fancy this though the crustaceans were fresh and plump. I guess it probably goes better with rice!

And viola! 

Our five course supper of the night:

Oasis is definitely recommended and we've been back a 2nd time now! I bet you will enjoy stuffing your faces with the comfort food like we did.

Out, WLF.

Oasis Taiwan Porridge Restaurant:

Toa Payoh Town Park

303 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh

Opening hours:

Daily (yay!) 0700-1500, 1730-0600

Kraze Burger - Fresh ingredients on doughy goodness

It was a lazy weekend evening and we were in Plaza Singapura, scouring the area for a good dinner location when the name Kraze Burger came up. Since there were already plans to head to MBS for it, we thought, why not here instead? 

So we trooped there in a trio, and got ourselves promptly seated despite quite a crowd. Good job on the spacious seating area KB. The Korean brand specialises in hand made burgers and they were served fast and hot; I like. Luckily we were near the kitchen too, so the waiters got to us in under about ten steps :p

Items ordered to share were:

1) The  Semi Nude ($16)

It was basically a burger served without the top patty, with an egg sitting atop instead. At first I was skeptical, as it looked like any other normal burger but at an inflated price. 

Like...: "Take away one side of my bun and still charge limbeh sixteen dollars, seriously??" 

Ok.. That was the masculine side of me taking over. Anyway. My first bite into the patty got me a mouthful of fresh tasting meat that was easy on the palette. Couple that with the crisped edges of the sunny side up and the special Kraze sauce; it became a symphony on my lips. 

Pretty sauce swirls that cleverly fill up the half empty plate HAHA.

Side view of the semi nude: onions, bacon and egg layered over fresh beef.

2. Idaho Garlic Fries ($8):  

Was expecting thin fries but wuuu weet, in came fat sexy wedges drizzled with a kickass spicy and sweet sauce. The latter had a garlicky aftertaste which didn't overwhelm and   it went surprisingly well with the whipped cream that was served together. Shioknesssss. 

3. The Matiz ($13)

We were intrigued by the name of this as it sounded like "mati" (die) in Malay. Not very auspicious but we forgot about it after a while as we got too greedy eating heh. 

Also forgot to take more pics of it :/ but it was basically a semi- nude with a top bun without the egg. Not very creative here.... but I guess the name comes from the generous servings of sweet potato fries and salad. Full until "mati". Figuratively of course. My say? Go for this as it is definitely more value for money since they use the same patty. Got free fries somemore. WIN.

4. Chili Beef Dip ($5.80)

Sorry for the sore lack of pictures but this is a good dip to try, with it full of big meat chunks in an appetising hot sauce.

Ended off with some sweets from Nana's Green Tea as well: 

Imma sucker for all things green tea and Nana has never failed me thus far ♡

Kraze Burger

Plaza Singapura Atrium 

(aka New wing)

#04-63/67

Opening hours:

Not stated :/

Call for reservations:

656333538

Enjoy!

WLF signing out.