Chatterbox Singapore

Aloha! We are still alive after such a looonng hiatus. Y'know, cos travelling takes up too much time..... What?? You are not buying it?  Fine, no more excuses for us :( 

So here's one on Chatterbox that we tried recently! In all honesty, Chatterbox is basically an atas cafe serving Singaporean dishes with an inflated price tag, with a certain quality of course. Overall, I would say the meal was enjoyable but definitely not value for money.

First up we had the very expensive Rojak ($17):

It had fresh pineapple and soursop, which were refreshing against crunchy turnips and cucumbers. Drizzled generously with a peanut sauce,  it was one of my favourites that night.

Given the price tag, we also made sure everything was finished.

This was the delicious Honey Shrimp dumplings ($9):

Fried till a crisp, the dumplings reminded me of a fried wanton with a juicy stuffing of succulent prawns and meat. 

Good on its own!

Hokkien Mee ($22):

This dish was one that was wet, smooth and sweet, like a perfect... plate of noodles that is ;)

Gems of scallops, prawns and abalone dominated the dish and that made it very easy to finish!

The cousin, Beef Char Kway Teow ($24):

The wok hei taste was strong in this one, with a characteristic charred sweetness. I did not get to try the beef, but feedback was that it was not that tender. Tough luck I guess! :p

Another main we had was the Nasi Goreng Istimewa ($24):

Which turned out to be a very normal plate of fried rice with a sunny side up. Thank god the satay was delicious, with soft tender meat in a smooth peanut sauce.

Lastly, the Tahu Goreng ($9):

Deceitfully simply, this was one tofu evryone

loved. It was soft, lightly salted with a firm rough skin. This, coupled with a peanut gravy and fresh garnishing, was light and pleasant on thy palette!

Oh, I also had a lychee drink that cost $9. 

It was definitely canned lychees in my glass, with sugar syrup and ice.

No qualms about it.

Lao niang make at home also can leh.

Overall verdict: 

Chatterbox serves up decent food, but with an unjustifiable price tag. That coupled with average service? 

Also, the fact that the original chef of their famous chicken rice left to set up his own stall leaves no compelling reason to go back.

#realreasoniscositstooexpensive

Weelovefood's vote goes to Newton Circus or Satay by the Bay anytime! 

PORK SATAY FTW.

Chatterbox

Mandarin Orchard Hotel 

Level 5

Opening hours: 

Sunday- Thursday: 11am-1am

Friday, Saturday, Public Holidays: 11am -2am

Tel: 6831 6288/91

Adam Road Nasi Lemak - simply shiok!

We had this sometime back but I still remember how good it tasted!
This definitely is on par with the likes of Changi V or Boon Lay Power nasi lemak. 

There are two stalls, with the Muslim and Chinese side by side.

Each had their own queue and looked equally popular.... 

But since Nasi Lemak is a Malay dish, we decided to choose the Malay one. 

So Selera Rasa it was and boy, just look at the food:

A good spread for $5 each, damn shiok; partly because it was cheap too heheh.

We loved the crispiness of the chicken wings and each bite produced a satisfying crunch:

The sambal was definitely kickass and had a fragrant taste of ikan bilis.

I had to blow my nose a few times and we were perspiring in the middle of the meal; 

very tak-glam but for good food, we persevered on.

It paid off, as the spiciness went very well with the fried ikan bilis indeed!

Then came the egg in a gorgeously fried ball, in my favourite style:

Slightly crispy on the edges, with an oozing yolk:

It was so good, and gone fast and furious...

Leaving only the long grained Basmati rice behind:

Deceitfully plain, it was mighty fragrant mind you!

And simply perfect with the thick and spicy otah:

In one hashtag:  #Shiok!

We finished off the spicy meal with a simple ice kachang from the dessert stall right opposite Selera:

Also got queue and newspaper cuttings all. 

Damn power! 

See lah, type until miss this already. 

We will be back, maybe next weekend?

Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak 

#01-02

Adam Road Food Centre

2 Adam Road

Hp: 98434509

Open daily: 07:00 - 22:00 

(perfect to tapao for those late night Mahjong sessions!!)

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.

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.

Osia; delectable dining at RWS

Don't we all love weekends? :)

This lovely Saturday found us heading to RWS for some good food after catching the awesome Iron Man 3.
We were still undecided on where to go, and had Joel Robuchon on our list as well.

THEN, b saw Osia at the corner.
That's it. Go in already. Simply cause their Hokkaido scallop from Savour' 13 (will be blogging about that soon) left such a deep impression. Plus got celeb chef, got awards, cannot go wrong la.

Indeed, this choice .... was gooood. 

Upon stepping in, it felt fuss free and had an open kitchen concept where the we could just lean over the countertop to see the chefs working. Nice.

We were ushered to a window seat, with friendly and efficient service, where b commented: " Wah, I didn't notice him placing the water here at all!' Me neither. Stealth mode: Maximum.

Our orders for the day were:

1) Seafood ice experience:

These gems were served in test tubes, and totally reminded me of school lab lessons. Thank goodness they weren't experiments went wrong :p

Basically they were different raw seafood served on beds of ice eaten in the following order : 1) prawn sashimi with sweet crackling ice 2) tuna with tomato ice 3) prawn sashimi with mango/yoghurt ice 4) salmon sashimi with sweet ice 5) crabmeat with beetroot ice and finally 6) Asahkuya oyster with lychee ice, with the last one leaving a wonderful and lasting impression. Why you so fresh and good. THIS ONE DIE ALSO MUST TRY.

2) Flat bread in two flavours:

Black Mushroom Truffle & Macadamia Pesto. It was served with a most fragrant olive oil, soft butter and a stick of Osia macadamia pesto paste. Shiok.

3) Black Angus Tenderloin Steak: 

This was served with mushroom risotto and boy, what a wonderful pair they make! We like our meat medium rare, and Osia served up a piece that was juicy, rare and flavourful. I really enjoyed every bite, with the occasional sprinkle of sea salt present on their table.

4) Sea Perch with Shisomiso paste:

The fish reminded us of Ember, which has a similar dish and luckily, Osia also got standard. It was fat, juicy, fresh and flaked off beautifully... ma ma mia!

5) Kipfler potatoes with chorizo and scallion:

Normally not a potato fan, I liked it very much! The tuber was sweet and had a good bite to it, with the salty chorizo (a harder version of Lap cheong) and scallion further bringing out its natural flavours. What a good marriage and to think I initially scoffed at this seemingly simple dish. My foodie bad.

The overall experience was really good, as the restaurant manager even came over to make small talk, and gave us a copy of an atas cookbook.

Given that I'm such a sucker for good service, pair that with great food... I think we've found a new favourite fine dining place :) 

Osia restaurant
Level 2 Crockford Towers
Operating Hours:
Lunch: 12pm - 3pm (Thu - Tue)
Dinner: 6pm - 10.30pm (Thu - Tue)
Closed on Wed
Tel No: +65 6577 6688

Good tze char at Two Chefs!

It was a weekday when we were in the Commonwealth area, and since we were feeling peckish at about 530pm, the one driving, G, suggested Two Chefs.

I was game to try as I heard good reviews about the cold cockles dish & G said the place was good. Steady la.

G was in charge of ordering since he tried it before and we ordered:

1) Cold Cockles

I loved this dish, with its refreshing and spicy sauce, topped with lots of fresh chopped garlic and chili padi. The combination kept me going for one cold cockle after another. Hot stuff indeed. I feared having a tummy ache the next day, but thank goodness, the shells were fresh enough..  pass!

2) Sambal Kangkong

Everybody's all time fave, and the sambal belachan was pretty kickass. Good stuff.

3) Butter Pork Ribs

You know how some times, there is more flour than meat in these pork rib dishes? But boy, every piece was lightly coated with a fragrant batter, served with fried milk powder and packed with juicy, succulent meat. Supershiokkk. At first I thought the milk powder was abit weird but the sweetness of it was well juxtaposed with the delicious salty fragrance of good pork meat.... end up cannot stop. Sigh.

4) Steamed beancurd with golden mushrooms

This was my favourite dish of the day, with its savoury sauce drenching soft beancurd (that had a lightly fried skin) & long golden mushrooms with a q bite. I found this pairing heavenly, a little bit like black pearls with milk tea; where anything else seems wrong.

Glad to find a new place, with good comfort food, and be sure to go before the dinner crowd as I heard the queues can be quite crazy.

Location:
116 Commonwealth Crescent
#01-129

Tel no: 64725361

Opening hours:
Mon: 1700 - 2330
Tue - Sun: 1130-1430
Tue - Sun: 1700 - 2330
Closed on every last Mon of the month

Happy eating peeps!

Eating out today, WLF.

Sakae Sushi

Normally I wouldn't go to Sakae for sushi because it just can't compare to the better offerings out there ie. Hachi, Itacho or Sushi Tei etc.

Thus I did not expect much on my recent visit there with a client, and found myself rather satisfied with the food despite some misses. Plus points were that they revamped their menu and orders were done electronically. Maybe all these were this already in place and I'm just being sua ku HAHA.

We ordered mainly salmon dishes and the featured ones are:

1) Seared Salmon with Yuzu on Noodles (the noodle had a more fanciful name but I'm getting old...)
- very disappointing because it literally had no taste to it, and I could not detect a hint of yuzu. DWYM - Don't Waste Your Money.

2) Sakae Signature salad
- I enjoyed this the most, as there were 3 main flavours; sweet, spicy, umami (foodie fact: this is the newest human taste bud) which kept me going back for more for the crunchy bits of fish skin & fresh lettuce/beetroot that was nicely juxtaposed with fresh fatty slices of salmon sashimi. SHIOK.

3) Salmon Sakura Sushi & Salmon Cheese Sushi
- both were decently done, with thick salmon pieces atop neatly packed pearl rice grains. I was curious & worried about the cheese and salmon combination, as both textures were the soft and gooey type. It turned out to be a good one, where the umami of the cheese brought out the freshness of the fish and simply melted into the flesh.

4) Soft shell Crab Omelette Maki
- I guess you can't go wrong with this, but Sakae did it well, with a fragrant egg skin and nicely fried crustacean. Simple and good!

5) Azuki bean and Matcha Tai Yaki
- it was a joy to discover this new addition to the dessert menu but I found it too sweet though, and would prefer a lighter version. Those more sweet-toothed can give it a try in future! I think my sweet tooth is disappearing with age.. :p

Overall, I had an enjoyable meal that left me feeling satisfied and healthy. But it still doesn't make the cut to be on my favourite list..... yet?

And have a great CNY you all!

Restaurant Ember; affordable fine dining

This place at Keong Siak Road is very popular with the nearby lunch crowd, and we were the youngest there, if I dare make a quick judgment :p

Our second time here since a year ago, and the food was consistent. Best thing? Price still the same yay!

We ordered the Xmas set lunch, and it was all seafood, to make up for a sinful evening of steak at W hotel the night before. Boy, everything was so fresh and sweet.

1) Appetisers:
Fresh Hokkaido Scallops with ponzu and sesame vinaigrette, seasonal cress

It was served sashimi style, where the acidic dressing did the cooking, resulting in a really fresh and luscious dish. I think we ate it too fast for it to be even cooked!

Crab cakes with mustard with hazelnut tuile and crab bisque:

Gotta be one of the best crabcakes we've ever tasted, and my picky bf liked it too, even though he doesn't really eats crabs. The crab flesh was juicy, succulent and very sweet. A perfect tango with the salty bisque that wasn't too fishy and the very crispy tuile.

2) Mains:
The stars of the day have arrived.

Marinated cod with black miso, sweet peas and herbed potatoes:

Sweet mother of fish, how can you taste so fatty, firm and yet saccharine at the same time? 

Ember's chef really made a masterpiece out of this. 

The miso enhanced the sweetness of the cod, and its fatty skin was such a delight to bite into... 

We were fighting for every bite of this fish!

Pan seared Chilean seabass with mushroom and smoked bacon ragout, on a bed of truffle yuzu butter sauce:

I forgot that I ordered this previously, but thank goodness it was still good. Not as fatty as the cod, this was more firm to the bite and less sweet, which made perfect sense as the strong flavours of the ragout and truffle sauce made a great pairing with the fish.

And the cod wins.

3) Desserts:
Frozen nougat with seasonal berries & lychee sorbet:

Trying something different this time, and it was literally frozen nougat ( you know, the kind you can get in NTUC? With original, hazelnut and green tea flavours from Swiss? Yes that kind.) 

It was good and pleasant but I didn't fancy it, although the sorbet is really refreshing.

Warm Valrhona chocolate fondant with vanilla bean ice cream:

ALL TIME FAVE. And ember does it so well, with a light cake and rich velvety dark Valrhona chocolate. Fantastico with their fragrant and smooth vanilla bean ice cream. 

Still can find bits of the bean somemore! Can go off happy now.

Highly recommended place for an affordable lunch, and service is fuss-free, quick and friendly. This waitress came to clear my bf's fork and said: " He is stealing your food right? Let auntie help you!" Girl power... me likey! 

We will be back to try dinner anytime now :)

50 Keong Siak Rd
63471928

Operating hours:
Lunch: 11.30am to 2pm
Dinner: 6.30pm to 10pm

Closed for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Closed for dinner on Sundays