Brunch at Riders Cafe

Brilliant place to chill and catch up with an old friend. I am so in love with the cafes at Saddle club area.

And yes, they taste as breathtakingly good as they look. Slurp.

Mum's bday celebration at Khmer Delight

Brought my mum to Singapore only Cambodian restaurant, Khmer Delight, for her bday dinner yesterday. Brilliant choice since my mum is always keen for new food places.

Can't quite describe the style. Nope, it is not quite Vietnamese. Not quite Thai. Not quite Indonesian.

Top: Banana Flower Salad; Bottom: Fried Spring Roll

The Banana Flower Salad was the da-bomb dish for me. I love Thai mango salad to death and I finally found something even better than that. It has the same crunch as mango salad but is alot more delicate in taste. The mixture of lemony/limey, nutty, salty, sweet taste is just mindblowing. I never really liked crunchy fried stuff but these are some tasty spring rolls. Really crispy on the outside and soft but not mushy yam+minced meat paste thingy for the stuffing. Divine.

Clockwise from top left: Signature soup; Fish Amok; Lok Lak Beef; Fried kangkong

Main courses are hits and misses for me. More misses cos I like savory food more. The sweet pineapple-y signature soup and Lok Lak beef (stir fried beef with more sweet than sour sauce) just didn't work for me. But my mum and Yong on the other hand were digging heartily into these two dishes while I attacked the Fish Amok.

I was looking forward to this dish after reading all the Hungrygowhere raving reviews thus was kind of disappointed to see the size of it - small soup bowl. But oh.. what potent stuff it is. The top layer is made up of some soft otah-liked sauce that is bursting of coconut, lime leaves, etc flavours. Scoop deep into the bottom of the bowl to get through the layer of sauce to the soft tender fish at the bottom and hurl the wonderful mixture into the mouth. Squint slightly , purse lips and make some throaty appreciative sounds. Oh yeah, that is how I enjoy good food.

We ordered Durian sticky rice which is kind of so so only. But the Mont Blanc cake from Flor Patisserie was heavenly. Fluffy soft sponge cake with chestnut cream, stuffed generously with small pieces of Gao Lak (roasted chestnut), topped with fresh gorgeous fruits. It was a perfect ending to the wonderful night.

Absolutely love the smile on my mummy in this photo. ^o^

爱心晚餐

Recently we are hooked on 26 Hours《超省时生活》, a Japanese tv show on time-saving tips for daily chores. There is one segment which features cooking 5-10 courses meal within 20 minutes. From tips on how to wash, clean and cut red peppers in seconds to creating Mentaiko Pasta in minutes. The show got me, Yong and my mum jaw dropped through the one hour program.

My rock bottom confidence in cooking edged a notch up. Enough for us to trooped down to Parkway to get some grocery and cooked a meal together. For the first time.

Yong is not a cooking person. So it has always been me cook he washes partnership. And after several disastrous starts to my cooking career and the equally disastrous aftermath (I meant the washing lah), Yong is uncharacteristically but understandably eager to eat out whenever we are not over at his or my parents' place for dinner. Ha!

Anyway, thanks to 26 Hours recipe and my mum's advices, we are elated to able to cook a 3 course meal successfully without burning down the kitchen. (i am not exaggerating here!)

I definitely need to rope Yong for all future cooking attempts. Very good bonding session. :)

Vday @ Tao's Restaurant

Tao's restaurant holds special places in our hearts as it was where we had our very first date.

We never fail to have great food and services there so whenever we want to pamper ourselves abit we would go for Tao's. And if we want to pamper in a bigger way, we would go for Dozo, the more atas sister restaurant.

So as avid fan of the restaurant chain, we were quick to recognize Dozo's items from the Vday menu. Oh what a treat!

Unfortunately as the night darkened, the lighting went downhill at the al fresco venue so all the pictures looked liked they are sepia-ed. Oh well..

Top: Tasting platter of Foie Gras, scallop and smoke salmon wrap; Bottom: Platter of Alaskan King Crab salad and French Smoke Duck

Top: Sauteed escargots and wild mushroom sauce; Bottom: New style Japanese Foie gras Chawanmushi

Top: Refreshing mocktail of apple juice infused with pink rose bud; Bottom: Mushroom Soup with black truffle

Top: Beef Tenderloin on Hobart Leaf and granite hot stone Japanese Style; Bottom: Baked Atlantic Cod Fillet with Risotto and new style croquette

Top: Japanese style "mo-chi"; Bottom: Raspberry Verrines

Us trying our best "ooiiishiiiii" looks

Anniversary lunch at Wild Rock @ Mount Emily

Our do-you-want-to-be-my-steady anniversary falls on 1st Jan. And boy, we had a FABULOUS time at Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily.

Every single course was finger licking good. Who would thought dubious sounding salted caramel kaya banofee pie can taste so divine. And oh, the carpaccio.... melted in our mouths. Damn, I am getting hungry reliving the eating experience.

The portions were rather small. But we ended up feeling comfortably full which was a refreshing change from our bad habit of taking seam bursting meals.

Anyway, hope everyone had a great holiday. Hang in there with the back to work blues!

left: beef carpaccio with cilantro rocket thai dressing; right: roast-chick-rice-stuffed wing with brandy liver pate

left: giam hee chinese anchovy aglio olio pasta with thai basil; right: spicy dried scallop & pork bee tai bak local rice pasta

left: grilled sting ray thai sambal & lemon onion; right: duck confit with mom's yam cake & plum mustard

left: salted caramel kaya banofee pie; right: osmanthus, chrysanthemum, elder flower granita & jello

Gotta ransack my fridge now.

NoobCook.com - Not a noob at all!

*Drool*

*Lagi more Drool*

Check out the pictures from Noobcook and you will know the reason behind my overactive drool glands..

Photos from noobcook

Photos from noobcook

DE-LI-Cious photos that look straight out from some chi-chi cookbook.. lots of local recipe (e.g. abalone congee, stir-fried lala clam with belachan, etc) and a well organized blog, noobcook, you got another major fan here!

*wave*

What's more, she puts in step by step instructions by photos which often include the packaging. This is a total godsend to noobs liked me who can't even tell the difference of pork and chicken.

And judging from her crowded comments space, she is really generous and quick in responding to queries.

Seriously, I don't think noobcook is a noob at all! Not in her diverse culinary skill. As well as her clean sharp food-tography. And not least, her ability to create beautiful website that is such a pleasure to read!

Gosh, noobcook, can you come and perform some initiation on my hardly touched one year old kitchen that is complete with sparkling stove and oven that are crying out to be used?

You are really an inspiration and I hereby declare my awe and admiration for you!

Love!

An afternoon at Flor Patisserie

We zipped out for a quick afternoon tea at Flor Patisserie. Got to know about this darling cake shop from my colleague when asking around for good recommendation for b cake for Yong late Nov.

It was liked those exaggerated anime where flowers and leaves start appearing at the background when I first sink my teeth into their signature Strawberry Souffle cake.

I could not talk. Nor speak. The ecstasy I felt was beyond words. I wanted to sing but could only make throaty  "mmm..." sound as I savor every bite.

The cream. Luscious, milky yet delicate in taste.
The cheese sponge cake. Soft liked souffle.  It is liked a match made in heaven.
And the strawberry. Oh, the strawberry. Fragrant, sweet and a perfect finish to cheesy, creamy, milky orgy of taste.

The place was constantly packed. Japanese couples with babies. Group of girlfriends chatting. We even spotted some beefy army boys decked in their super ugly No. 4 uniforms huddling over their exquisite cakes. 

Totally enjoyed our short tea break there before we hurried home to prepare for a wedding dinner later.

Mum 60th birthday

时间过得真快。。

一转眼，妈咪已六十岁了。。中国传统纪年农历的干支纪年中一个循环已过。 又回到了甲子年。应该好好庆祝。

我想带妈咪和她的兄姐弟到莆田餐馆大吃大喝一顿， 热热闹闹地度过。妈咪却婉拒了我的提意，选择了低调地与我度过。唯一的要求是要吃到特别的菜色。

妈咪基本上是个挺保守的传统妈妈。但对美食要求却比较adventurous一定要不一样，对fusion food 特别感兴趣。

想到两年前和家永到过的Dozo 餐馆。不出我所料妈咪对Dozo 的 Japanese fusion food 赞不决口，一直说她终于吃到只有在电视机看到的菜色。 再加上Dozo服务员贴心招待，频频逗妈咪笑，让她度过了超开心的生日。

Interior of Dozo. Plush, rich, velvety decor. Low lighting. Very apt for romantic night out. 

Dozo belongs to the same group that opens Tao Restaurant. Dozo is the premium product line while Tao appeals to the mass crowd. But the menu concept is the same. No thick menu to choose from. Instead you choose from 5 choices of each course. We had the complimentary welcome drink, which suspiciously tasted the same as Tao. But with better decor la. 

Next up the default start dish, a plate of 3 small bites; salmon in cream, scallop with some foam up broth and lastly small piece of foie gras on bread. My mum got really excited with the arrangement of the food and lapped them all up.

Lobster or Crayfish (can't remember) salad. Mum loves the mango/fruit combi salad dressing.

Raw beef slices with Parmesan cheese. Lovely lovely dish. The condiments are done just right and complimented the thin slices of beef. Was abit apprehensive since it is raw but no regrets on ordering this one.. yum..

Mum does not liked Foie gras. Says it is very 腥. So had two serving of the foie gras in the earlier dish. On top of that,the pleasure to finish this one up myself. Foie Gras was blended into the chawanmushi and the result, creamy rich aroma of foie gras combined with the silky texture of chawanmushi. Heaven!

Escargots with cheese toasted to the right crispiness. Adequate and tasty. Nothing to shout about though.

We both LOVED the mushroom soup. I don't care what the critics in Hungrygowhere said about this one. This is DELICIOUS. Especially with the truffle oil. It is liked they have found a way to concentrate the taste of mushroom into a bowl of essence... *drool*

I am beginning to sound like a broken record.. exactly the same description as above. Just replace Mushroom soup with Seafood bisque. It was filled with seafood goodness. Those who love seafood liked me have to try this one.

Served rare on Pu Ye placed on hot stone. The aroma of Pu Ye fused into the meat. Meat lover will be shaking with ecstasy on this dish.

This one was a let down. Kurobuta Pork cheek. I heard rave review on Hungrygowhere and did not hesitate to order this one. Only to realize that pork cheek = 80% lard 20% actual pork. I tried my best to maximize my dollar on this dish but gave up after two bites. Thankfully my lard loving mum took a holiday from her watch-cholesterol-campaign and gobbled the rest up.

Desserts! Served together with pots of fruit/flower tea. We ordered Warm choco cake and custard. The latter forgettable and hence forgot to take photo of it. :P

But did a super close up on the warm chocolate oozing out. And even non-chocolate fans liked us can't help fighting over the last bit.

Dozo's surprise for my mum.

The friendly waiter asked my mum to 扮可爱 and she gamely obliged and went on to a giggling fit.

Sang her the b-day song

She made her bday wish

and we chatted abit more over our refreshing fruit/flower tea before we call it a night.