Madam Kwan's @ Vivo, Malaysia famous nasi lemak

We were looking for a good place for dinner last weekend, and walked past Madam Kwan's. 

Boy, what a blessing! 

The restaurant hails from Malaysia (heard the queues can get very crazy, not sure if they can fight with the Hello Kitty ones though ..) 

Spritly Madam Kwan helms the kitchen, but we didn't get to meet her that day.

In we went, and I daresay every item we ordered was delicious.

Must tries are: Otak otak, Fried Chicken, Ikan Bilis Sambal

1. Otak otak ( $15.90)

The serving looked deceivingly small, but we realised each bite was packed densely with fish, spices and juice, so we were very satisfied.

2. Sambal Belachan Kangkong ($10.90)

Fresh, tasty, sweet but there was a tad too much belachan. In fact, the vegetable was almost drowning in it, making it too salty and wet. Alas, this dish would have been perfect if not for belachan overload.

3. Crispy fried chicken drumstick ($7.90)

This was a favourite at the table, with a juicy meat underneath well marinated crispy skin, each bite savoury and deliciously crunchy. It is a tad salty though, so be sure to eat it with lots of rice.

4. Curry chicken ($8.00)

A thick looking sauce covered two fat pieces of breast meat, and I was fooled into thinking that this might be a gelat dish. Upon spooning the gravy into my mouth, I realised it was a rather thin but very tasty sauce, with a fragrant coconut aftertaste that was not overpowering. Good for those who like subtle flavours, I'd say.

5. Curry Laksa ($11.90)

A bit too much curry on the table eh? Greedy us decided to have this soupy dish that was already decadent on its own, as it was filled with chicken meat, taupok and beansprouts. It was a good laksa, with a flavourful milky soup, but best to order it as a main dish though!

6. Sambal ikan bilis ($3.90)

Spicy, tangy, savoury and simply... good on its own. A great accompaniment to the coconut rice! 

7. Coconut rice ($1.00)

It looked plain, but I could smell its fragrance when it was nearing the table, and the rice was grainy and fluffy. Won me over with its lightness as I thought it might overpower the dishes, but it complemented them instead. 

8. Chendol with gula melaka ($4.90)

This was the final act of greed. We were very stuffed by the end of the meal, but when the next table finished this chendol and the WHOLE pot of gula melaka, we had to try it for ourselves. But it turned out so-so, with a pretty normal combination of shaved ice, red beans and green jelly noodles. The gula melaka was very aromatic I must say, and that was the saving grace for the dessert. 

How ouir meal looked like:

Overall, we all left belly happy, although wallet empty. 

Head down soon if you like nasi lemak and want to stuff your face :p

Madam Kwan's

Vivocity

#01-152/154

Tel: 62719989

Opening hours: Daily 1000hrs - 2200hrs

World Street Food Congress

So we headed down to the F1 Pit again, several Sundays ago, this time for the WSFC. (Previously Savour, which we much prefer!)

Food was pretty decent with stalls mainly frm Mexico, Vietnam, Europe, USA, Bangkok and we spent about $60 on everything in total (",)"

This was a more chill type of food festival organised by KC Seetoh, aka the guy behind Makansutra. Sadly, ambience was lacking and there was not much crowd nor activities to do.

No choice.

J.u.s.t.f.o.c.u.s.o.n.fo.o.d.

We had:

1) A Vietnamese dessert of banana wrapped in grilled glutinious rice, coated with a milky sauce. I thought it might be too gelat.. it turned out to be one of my fave dish! The grilled texture of the rice formed a great juxtaposition with the softness of banana, with a very fragrant milky coconut sauce.

2) A Mexican seafood appetiser which cost a bomb... imagine a $10 pile of mushy looking things piled on top of a tortilla chip, but it turned out pretty awesome as the ingredients were superbly fresh and flavourful with food like squid, prawns and avocado.

3) Bangkok orh jian. A must have for both of us, and it did not disappoint! (We stuffed our face with 2 servings as we wanted to try the seafood version as well, no self control at all. Sigh.)

4) Bangkok mixed grill of sticky rice, pork & chix, with spicy salted egg salad. The meat were nicely marinated and frankly, oh so yum. This was most value for money, as it was more than enough for 2 persons, and the tantalising salad sure made me very happy. 

5) Tandoori Chicken from India, well marinated with fragrant spices.. but it didn't impress me much. $8 for 3 pieces somemore. A was happy so ok la, I close one eye.

6) Malacca Assam Laksa and chendol, and I preferred the former as it was refreshing with bits of sardine fish and mango strips, combined with a tangy sauce. Chendol was pretty meh, and I thought the calories were used in vain :'( 

But we had a good time at the event, despite leaving with bursting bellies and empty wallets, so no regrets!

Kimly Seafood at Tradehub 21

This place's been a favourite for a while now, given its consistency, efficient service and awesome signature dishes.
It was Mothers' Day so we splurged and there were no regrets.

1) Salted Egg Crab with Yam:

This dish.... m.u.s.t. o.r.d.e.r. I am a huge crab lover and this offers a mean dish by far (but I just found a new place that serves better crab - next post!) so my tummy is happy. Imagine fragrant, savoury and fluffy salted egg yolk covered crab stir-fried with chili padi and curry leaves, and served up with crispy yam sticks...  the explosion of flavours and textures is simply amazing. You gotta try it to believe me. My only gripe was that the crab wasn't the sweetest that day. Otherwise it would be perfect-o.

2) Black Pepper Butter Prawns

This was my first time trying the dish and mm hmmm.. who knew prawns could be so sweet? The aromatic and spicy pepper heightened our taste buds;  the savoury butter brought out the prawns' natural sweetness ; we were contented.

3) XO Scallops, Asparagus and Broccoli platter

What a wonderful plate of colours, wok-hei and sweetness this was! I noticed that the ingredients were slightly charred and thought it was chao ta (and thought of complaining but decided to hold my horses first.) Thank goodness I did because the dish had a fragrant aftertaste, with the ingredients cooked perfectly. Chef, you got skill.

4) Crispy Fish skin with Brinjal

Another favourite dish that is well loved. You simply cannot go wrong with marinated crispy fish skin, drenched in a sweet sauce, and lightly battered brinjal.. so this was snapped up within minutes of it being served. That shiokkkk.

5) Crispy Thai style Sweet & Sour Chicken 

Simple and delicious, and the magic was in the sauce. It was sweet, tantalising and mildly spicy all at once. Pour that on top of a chicken fried well and slightly green mango strips... life's goooood.

Kimly has not disappointed so far, and has done a great job of keeping standards up so check it out if you are in the Jurong area!

18 Boon Lay Way
#01- 98 Tradehub 21
Tel: 66864665

Mon - Sun: 4pm - 1130pm

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.

Bangkok Jam - simple & shiok!

Sorry for the loooonnng hiatus peeps; such a dedicated blogger I am... not.

Haha anyway, t'was my 2nd trip back to this spanking bright and loud place in Plaza Singapura, with my loverboy. WHOM WENT TO CHECK HUNGRYGOWHERE TO SEE IF MY RECOMMENDATION WAS CORRECT.

Which, by the way, was the worst insult one can ever give to a Foodie.
I know taste buds are subjective but if a Foodie says it's good, it's good. It did not help that all five reviews were bad, mainly due to lousy service. And they were around the Dec '12 -Feb '13 period. I call them teething issues, which are common for a new place, right or not.

Okay enough ranting. For me, I seem to have an affinity with the place, as I had a pleasant experience on both times. Or maybe cause I am more easygoing.... HAHA.

(Oops sorry, here comes rant part 2) 

But really, some Singaporeans can be so ugly. There was this young couple sitting next to us, (the seats were about an arm's length away) and the guy was bitching about how the waitress walked away while he was paying the bill. Yeah for 1 minute to attend to the next table. During that 1 minute, he went on about how she had hearing problems because he had to ask for the bill twice. Mind you, it was pretty noisy and I had problems hearing my own bf, not to mention the waitress who was standing about 1 metre away. 

And she was still very polite despite his offensive kiam pa face. Seriously, dude, grow up and try working.

Too bad I didn't have a tiara to crown you princess then. Thank goodness they left before our food arrived, if not I might have puked on him.

WHEW. FINALLY.

We ordered:

1) Olive fried rice - must try!

This was fragrant, fluffy and layered with aromatic spices x cashew nuts, making each bite rather delightful. After this dish, le bf said: "Good recommendation". Synne - 1, Augs - 0.

2) Fried chix wings, marinated in fish sauce - good comfort food

I didn't expect the wings to be so small, but the taste overcompensated for their size. Each mini wing was juicy and well marinated, and I love the fact that it was fried with garlic flakes. YUM.

3) Soft shell crab in mellow yellow curry (goes the name, cute right?) - must try?

A question mark because you cannot go wrong with soft shell crabs and good spicy, yet sweet curry but I found the dish a tad too salty, which made me think about the MSG content. Me: "No wonder so nice...." I'd say, go for it, but limit your servings.

4) Tom Yum soup - must try!
Their soup is the clear type, and I find it quite authentic, with fresh and plump seafood. Sorry, the soup was finished before I could snap a picture :p

5) Tom Yum fried rice - mixed feelings

If you like risotto, you might like this. Moist (almost reaching wet), spicy and tasty would be the best way to describe this dish. It almost felt like the chef poured tom yum soup onto the rice and fried it together, with the same fat prawns and spiciness. But I still prefer my rice fluffy so this was a no-go.

I would definitely come back again for my must-tries as I also like the vibe of the place; vibrant, fast paced, noisy, fuss free with efficient service.

Gotta go educate the hungrygowhere site now.

Happy eating peeps!

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!