We had travelled all the way to Old Airport Road for big prawn mee but the stall which we always patronize was closed that day. Tiong Bahru Lor Mee at Old Airport Road? Yeah this will probably confuse most foreigners but this is a relatively common phenomenon in Singapore. Sorry I didn’t bother to do any research but if I’m not wrong, there are other stalls in Tiong Bahru, Bukit Batok and Bukit Purmei. Not sure if there’s more. Heard that Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee is the best at Old Airport but the queue was ridiculously long! I really don’t mind queuing for good food but we had some errands to run so we settled for the what is possibly the second best over there 🙂

A normal bowl of Lor Mee costs a mere $2.50 and $3 if you want chunks of fish to go with it. We went for the Lor Mee with extra ingredients ($4). I think that the normal bowl already has some braised pork and egg. I found some slices of ngor hiang in mine as well. The gravy was gooey but a little watery. Some places serve really thick and sticky Lor Mee gravy. I like to eat my Lor Mee with vinegar and garlic for that slightly sharp, tangy taste. The yellow noodles had a very good bite and the fried fish flakes were actually quite moist. Thought that the slices of braised pork belly were really something different. Tender yet firm, the jellied texture of the layer of fat found in every slice made me feel a little sinful to be eating them but….eat now, worry later! 😛 Some people might not like the relatively strong porky smell though. All in all, it was a pretty satisfying bowl of Lor Mee 🙂

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee
Block 51 Old Airport Road
#01-129
Old Airport Road Food Centre

This stall at Block 40 Holland Drive, HD 40 Food Court might not serve the best Hokkien Mee that I have tasted all these years but in my own opinion, it’s good enough to be featured in my blog 🙂 I didn’t like Hokkien Mee in my childhood days. I vividly remember I had a really tough time eating that plate of Hokkien Mee my maid bought for me at a hawker centre near the place where I used to reside. Looking back, it’s kinda funny that a foreigner actually knew how to appreciate our local fare while I struggled and yet, barely managed a few mouthfuls. People change, taste buds change as well. Now, I’m a diehard fan of Hokkien Mee!

I ate this a few times and liked it so much that I had Chewy Charles to share a large plate of Hokkien Mee ($5) with me recently. $3 for a regular and $4 for a medium one. Apart from getting more carbo, there are more prawns and they are larger too. There are two types of Hokkien Mee – dry and wet. I prefer the latter and over here, the Hokkien Mee had just enough gravy so it was not too wet. The thickness of the beehoon was in between the very thin kind of beehoon and the thick one. It’s like a thick thin beehoon or a thin thick beehoon? I liked that the beehoon absorbed the flavors and goodness of the sweet-tasting gravy. I noticed that the bits of egg and yellow noodles had little charred brown bits and also a good hint of that wok hei texture and smell. Tiny black specks were spotted all over the noodles and I’m half sure that those are pepper. The only thing I didn’t like was the prawns. It’s the same thing each time I eat from this stall. The prawns were quite tasteless and I’m guessing that they were cooked separately. Nevertheless, the noodles on its own is good enough reason for me to keep going back whenever the craving beckons.

Oyster omelette can come with starch or without starch. Oh-Nerng is the one without starch but I prefer its starchy counterpart. I quite liked the Oh-Luak ($4) from the same stall because its quite well-executed with crispy bits around the sticky and starchy parts. The oysters are also very big and juicy and the chili sauce was just shiok. Not forgetting that the omelette was thick and fluffy! I only eat this once in a blue moon because it’s really sinful.

So where’s your favorite Hokkien Mee and Oyster Omelette at? 🙂

Block 40 Holland Drive
#01-39
HD 40 Food House

You don’t have to be crazy about garlic to step into this nice restaurant called Mad for Garlic. All you need is an open mind and a good appetite! I’m not particularly fond of garlic. All I can say is that I can take it or leave it. Really? Really! Usually, I would choose to skip the garlic because of my immense fear of garlic breath. Hahaha. However, the funky name strongly appeals to me. Another motivating factor is its much raved about pizza!

Described as an Italian Wine Bistro, you would be surprised that Mad for Garlic originated in Korea in 2001. There are currently eleven outlets in Korea and one in Singapore. Staying true to its name, tons of garlic adorn the walls of the restaurant located at Suntec City. With more than 40 kinds of garlic-specialized Italian dishes, surely, there is something for everyone.

Mad for Garlic exudes a sophisticated and classy atmosphere. The only thing I didn’t like was that the dining tables were placed quite close to one another. Spacious is the last word I would use to describe this place. There is a private dining room, as well as alfresco dining area.

We had two glasses of Mad for Garlic’s Signature Ade. Besides fruit flavors like lemon, apple and orange, we went for something unusual. Yujaade was refreshingly sweet and would probably appeal to people who like mandarin oranges. We do! For a fizzier alternative, the Wineade is highly recommended but it does not have much alcoholic content. I loved both, can’t decide which one I like better 😛

This is definitely the thinnest pizza I have ever seen, for it was almost paper thin. Hey, it rhymes! Haha. Anyway, we were expecting a dry and crispy pizza base but the Garlic Snowing Pizza ($18.90) took us completely by surprise. Apparently, the pizzas at Mad for Garlic are not wood-fired, i.e., not authentically Italian I suppose. Holding a slice of the pizza was like handling a piece of popiah. You have to use both hands to prevent the toppings from falling off. And speaking of toppings, the pizza is a mouthwatering blend of shrimps, diced pineapple and cloves of fried garlic. The white flakes that look like snow is optional. If you like your pizza with cheese, the people at Mad for Garlic will shave a block of fresh grana padano parmesan cheese at your table when your pizza is served. Unlike most pizzas that are savory, this was mildly honey sweet Very different from the usual pizza. We really liked this a lot and I’m already planning a revisit with Chewy Charles just for this! Hehe.

The waitress who took our order had asked if we would like a less spicy version of the Garlicpeno Pasta ($14.90). We say, the spicer the better. Bring it on la! Generous with garlic and Mexican pepper, this fiery pasta dish tossed in garlic oil is not for the faint-hearted. My dear friend was frantically reaching out for the glass of Yujaade. I got a temporary high from the spicy pasta afterburn!

Mad for Garlic’s ‘special’ fried rice was slightly on the oily side. The Garlicholic Rice ($15.90) fell short of our expectations of what a ‘special’ fried rice should be like. With garlic pickles, shrimp and asparagus, the rice was fragrant but I think it’s a little overcooked.

Full house on a Friday evening, business sure looks good at Mad for Garlic. This place is actually quite a romantic setting. The only hurdle that you would need to overcome is the fear of garlic breath. Haha but fear not because amazingly, we didnt step out with any!

Mad For Garlic
3 Temasek Boulevard
#01-039 Suntec City Mall
Tel: 6333 1507

Opening Hours:
Sun to Thur
11.30am – 10pm
Fri to Sat
11.30am – 11pm

I love my friends because they like to share their thoughts and opinions about the food that they have tried and tested, I mean tasted. Having passed by Modesto’s a few times but have not once stepped foot into it, I readily agreed when one of my dear friends wanted to revisit the place because she loves Modesto’s wood-fired pizzas.

Our complimentary basket of bread was served warm, fresh from the oven. As much as we would all like a second helping of the airy and fluffy bread, we declined the waiter’s offer because we wanted to save some room in our stomachs for the greater things to come.

I have never turned to other pizzas (sorry Pizza Hut) ever since my first encounter with traditional wood-fired pizza. It was love at first bite. Modesto’s Salsiccia E Scamorza ($21.50) was wonderfully simple with just tomato, mozzarella cheese, scamorza cheese and pork sausages. I liked how thin and crisp the pizza was. As far as I’m concerned, that’s how I like my wood-fired pizza to be. If you want something more, there are plenty of toppings for you to choose from for your 20 inch pizza!

Linguine is my favorite type of spaghetti and I was glad to learn that Modesto’s make their own pastas. The Linguine Alla Bolognese ($19) was heavily laden with minced beef and fresh tomato sauce. It is something I really appreciate because I know of a few places that can be pretty stingy with the sauce and all. Needless to say, this makes for a pretty filling meal for one. I’m not a huge fan of tomato-based pastas but this doesn’t really count as it’s essentially a meat-based sauce.

We decided to consult one of the servers after reading the description of the Casoncelli Alla Bergamasca ($24) from the menu and were cautioned that not many of Modesto’s customers knew how to appreciate this “dessert pasta”, according to him. Our eyes lit up (at least for me) upon hearing the word ‘dessert’ and before we knew it, we were happily tucking into our casoncelli. It is a type of ravioli, filled with minced beef, chicken, pork, which has been mixed with raisins, amaretti cookies and lemon zest, served in a butter and sage sauce, topped with pork bacon and parmesan cheese. Yes, the casoncelli is a little sweet, but with the combination of bacon and cheese, this is actually quite palatable.

More often than not, a meal is never complete without desserts. Or maybe it’s just me. We ended our dinner with a Tiramisu Modesto’s ($12) which claimed to be the original version of mascarpone cheese, espresso, savoiardi fingers and coffee liquer. It was lovely, better than the one I had at La Nonna actually.

Absolutely love the nice and cosy ambience at Modesto’s. Great place to catch up with your friends over some pizzas and pastas 😉 I’m craving for some really good pizza right now!

Modesto’s Restaurant
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-166/167 VivoCity
Tel: 6376 9808

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
12pm to 10pm

Have you ever wondered how did Eighteen Chefs come about? Are there really eighteen of them? Maybe, maybe not. But that’s not the point. Benny, the owner of Eighteen Chefs, was formerly a drug addict. As we all know, anything is possible if you have the determination and sure enough, Benny became the first Singaporean to train at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Fifteen. He then went on to open Eighteen Chefs at Eastpoint Mall, and it slowly expanded to include outlets at Yishun, Tiong Bahru Plaza and Fusionopolis! It is heartening to know that Benny is doing well after being freed from his shackles.

This is my primary school BFF. Believe it or not, SL and I have known each other since we were in Primary Two! Looking back on what we did together as kids never fails to make us laugh. We were silly but that’s because we were innocent. Actually, we still are! 😛

Eighteen Chefs has a pretty appealing concept whereby you can ‘be your own chef’! Not in terms of cooking the food of course! However, you get to choose between pasta or rice, then proceed to choose the sauce and ingredients of your preference! You can mix and match in whichever combination you want. Yes you call the shots! Hmmm.. None of us did, that night! I was kinda looking forward to the black pepper baked rice that Bella V had recommended but it wasn’t in the menu. SL had the Seafood Aglio ($12.90). A very simple and comforting pasta dish of prawns, mussels and calamari tossed in garlic and olive oil.

Us, ever ready to tuck into our food! 😛

Fish and Chips! Boring? Beer battered fish and chips! What’s new? How about… Root Beer Battered Fish and Chips ($13.80)?! That sure caught our attention, and I hope yours as well! I was amazed by the size of the fish and it really looked like it was deep fried perfectly! Chewy Charles commented that the the fish was normal dory fish and the batter was the only thing that stood out. He could taste root beer when he bit into the crust but it was just a faint aftertaste. He was quite satisfied with it!

This is not something I would usually order but I did so out of curiosity. I mean.. Salmon Fillet in Orange Sauce ($15.80)! Really, orange sauce? Firstly, the portion looked decent. I was expecting a thin slice of salmon fillet but what I got was a huge chunk. The orange sauce was creamy and buttery. Just like the root beer batter, the taste of orange was not distinct. Honestly, I was looking forward to a citrusy blast instead! The salmon fillet was fresh and I loved how tender and moist the chunks of meat were when I polished off the fish using my fork.

I might return to Eighteen Chefs for their baked pasta or rice! 🙂 Show some support for ‘Good People Great Food’!

Eighteen Chefs
302 Tiong Bahru Road
#02-K1/K6 Tiong Bahru Plaza
Tel: 6272 0961

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
12pm – 9.30pm

My secondary school friends wanted to have dinner together and since most of us stay in the West, we decided to meet around the area instead of venturing too far from our homes. For those of you who don’t already know, The Rail Mall is not exactly a mall but rather, a stretch of shops and eateries located in Bukit Timah. Chewy Charles suggested BLooiE’s Roadhouse because the place left him a good impression after he went to the one at West Coast.

BLooiE’s Roadhouse does look like a nice place to chill out with some finger food and a can of beer in hand, while watching a football match or tennis tournament at the same time 🙂 The highlight of a roadhouse is that it is a restaurant or bar situated on the side of the road. You can never find a roadhouse inside a shopping mall. I don’t have to spell it out for you right? 😛 Anyway, one of its main draws is its burgers!

Say hello! Haha. Well, if you are observant, you should be able to tell that it was taken right after our dinner 😛 Anyway I did not demand a bite or two out of everyone’s food because that would be just crazy. So I’ll let my photos do the talking ok? 🙂

Don’t be deceived by its name. The BLooiE’s Bacon Cheese Burger ($15.80) not only has bacon; beef lovers will be thrilled to know that there is grilled beef patty in it too! The patty is smothered in cheese then served on a fresh hot bun. It sounds sinful, doesn’t it? It does look pretty filling too! All burgers come with a side of thick cut fries.

Chewy Charles had the Portobello Mushroom Burger ($14.80) because I was kinda tempted by the special marinated portobello mushroom topped with tangy BBQ and chedder cheese and then grilled to perfection. I couldn’t make up my mind so he ordered that for himself 😛 I had a bite. The portobello mushroom was rubbery and juicy but I did not really like its ‘special marinated’ taste though. Chewy Charles made a good mention that even though it was just a mushroom burger, it filled him up like how eating a chicken burger would.

Yup, for those who really cannot survive without eating meat, there is the BLooiE’s Cajun Chicken Burger ($15.80). The boneless chicken thigh is marinated in cajun spices, topped with zesty BBQ sauce and chedder cheese.

Interestingly, the Blackened Dory ($18.80) is also marinated in cajun spices. The fish is pan-fried till its crisp on the outside. It is served with creamy garlic sauce together with broccoli and mashed potato. Please note that it really doesn’t look like much so it probably wouldn’t be able to fill your stomach, especially if you are a guy 😛

I swear I took a seriously long time looking through the menu over and over again because I was also kinda tempted by the portobella burger and blackened dory. Finally decided on the BLooiE’s Seafood Surprise ($18.80). It sounds really nice, the seafood surprise. We all love surprises, don’t we? 😉 There are always prawns, squids and mussels in your usual seafood spaghetti. However, BLooiE’s Seafood Surprise was indeed a surprise. There were chunks of dory fillet in the marinara sauce too. For those of you who like a thicker marinara sauce might fuss about this one which is a teeny bit watery and a little on the bland side.

If you prefer creamy pasta sauces, the Pasta Carbonara ($16.50) is probably one of the safer choices. Choose between spaghetti or penne pasta and have it cooked in saute bacon and garlic topped with cream and parmesan cheese.

BLooiE’s Roadhouse is a nice place to chill out with a group of friends given its laidback and relaxed atmosphere where you can unwind after a long and tiring day. It can also host large or small company or private parties, corporate functions or group gatherings. Be part of Singapore’s first North American roadhouse experience today! 🙂

BLooiE’s Roadhouse
426/428 Upper Bukit Timah Road
The Rail Mall
Tel: 6766 1588

Opening Hours:
Sun to Thu:
11am – 12 midnight
Fri & Sat:
11am – 1am

Would you pay $25 for a box of 9 chocolates? I believe I would, if I really wanted to pamper myself or my loved ones. During a recent meetup, our dear friend Chee bought a box of chocolates from Truffs for everyone to share.

The following is taken off Truff’s website:
The chocolate truffles from Truffs are presented in their most basic and purest form. Faithful to the traditional preparation techniques from France, each of these divine orbs is a thin cocoa powder coated chocolate crust enrobing a luscious chocolate ganache centre. Made with the finest ingredients from France, and delectably pure with no preservatives, this heavenly treat is a true delight for the senses.

The ones we tried were the 70% Honduras Dark Chocolate (9pcs at $25). Only die-hard dark chocolate lovers will be able to truly appreciate the intense bittersweet taste of this chocolate. There was also a faint and pleasant hint of flowery fragrance. I loved the cocoa powder coating as it provided a dry velvety texture. It was indeed a heavenly treat!

The two other Truffle varieties available are 55% équateur dark chocolate and 66% antilles dark chocolate.

Here’s a fun chocolate fact!
Did you know that Christopher Columbus traded chocolate in 1502? 🙂

Truffs
179a Telok Ayer Street
Singapore 068627
Tel: +65 9088 273

Opening Hours
Mon to Fri
12pm – 7pm
Sat
12pm – 4pm
Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

My tennis partner YP is back from Sydney for good (at least that’s what I think) so we arranged to catch up over dinner. Since all of us stay in the West, Holland Village was naturally our best choice all in the name of convenience 😛 YP suggested going for Italian. I have read pretty decent reviews about La Nonna and proceeded to make reservations the night before.

In case you haven’t already know, La Nonna is launched under Senso Holdings, together with Spizza. Antique lamps and old wine bottles deck the shelves and clay bricks form the traditional oven. La Nonna actually translates to mean “The Grandmother” in Italian. And it is indeed a very cosy and quiet place to chill out with your friends.

The happy three friends shared everything that night. First on the list was the mysterious Gnocchi ($16) which did not appear to be so mysterious after all. Both YP and PR suggested that the Gnocchi bears an uncanny resemblance to the Abacus Beads, a type of Hakka dish also known as Suan Pan Zi. Soft and slightly chewy, it felt as though we were eating baby food. Thank goodness we shared this dish because it actually filled us up after a few mouthfuls! It was not surprising considering that the homemade dumplings are made of potato with cheese sauce and sprinkled with parsley.

YP wanted the Prosciutto e Rucola pizza ($19) and the three of us were debating whether we the Rucola salad should stay or go. Lol. In the end, I managed to convince them that the greens would make the pizza look better in the photographs 😛 La Nonna’s wood-fired pizzas with crisp, browned crust are not to be missed! Our pizza had plenty of Parma ham and rocket leaves lavished on top. Every bite tasted oh-so-good!

We all agreed that the Tiramisu ($12) was a tad disappointing. There seemed to be too much of Mascarpone cream cheese and somehow it did not feel right.

On the overall, my impression of La Nonna is pretty good. I think I might drop by another time during lunch! 🙂

La Nonna
26 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Tel: +65 6468 1982

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
12pm – 2.30pm
6pm – 10.30pm

When asked, I told my parents that I would like them to celebrate my birthday with me over dinner at Zento Singapore and they very kindly obliged without giving it a second thought 🙂

Zento is a contemporary Japanese restaurant located at Dempsey Hill. It is helmed by Chef Gunawan Wibisono whose credentials, in my opinion, are pretty impressive. He began his culinary career in Philadelphia, USA, and proceeded to do a one-year stint under Iron Chef America – Masaharu Morimoto. Apparently, Zento has an reinvigorating take on Japanese food with Chef Gunawan Wibisono using unusual ingredients and cooking techniques that are not commonly used in dealing with Japanese cuisine.

My dad, brother and I had the Zento Degustation ($58). The Carpaccio was served as our appetizer. This is Zento’s new style sashimi – thinly sliced Kanpachi, topped with garlic, ginger, yuzu and simmered in hot grapeseed oil. The different ingredients went very well together and definitely awakened my taste buds.

Zento’s sushi certainly is something out of the ordinary. Instead of the typical seaweed wrap, a special soy paper is used for the Crunchy Spicy Tuna Soy Paper Handroll. I would say that I totally prefer this soy paper wrap to the seaweed wrap. It is much easier to bite through, and also melts in the mouth! Very awesome and who would have thought of using soy paper? The fried tempura batter was especially crunchy. We all loved the soy paper handroll 😀

The Spicy Seafood Soup was a letdown. It was not even spicy to begin with and there was absolutely no sign of contemporariness. I came here because I wanted to be surprised. I don’t think this should be in the degustation menu. Oh well.. 🙁

There were three choices for the Entree and I opted for the 5 Pieces Chef Selection of Nigri. Initially I was a little taken aback by the size of the nigri. The slab of rice for every piece of nigri was like half the standard amount of rice that is commonly used. The good thing about this was that it was easy to pop each piece into my mouth. The thick, juicy melt-in-the-mouth raw fish definitely compensated for the measly amount of rice! Every piece of nigri took me higher and higher and higher… and then it all ended on the final piece.

My brother had the Epice Pan Seared Norwegian Salmon for his entree. It was served with sauteed mushroom and vegetables.

As for my dad, he chose to have the US Certified Angus Beef. Truffle lovers, please note that the mashed potato was infused with truffle 😀

My mum is not a fan of sashimi so she had the Roasted Spring Chicken ($38) . It was served with garlic rice and my mum commented that the spring chicken was very good.

The dessert was a flop. There was no hint of caramel in the Zento Caramel Cheesecake. It tasted of normal cheese cake and did not manage to impress me. Quite disappointing..

Well, that’s the end of our Zento gastronomic adventure! To sum things up, there were some hits and misses but it could probably be better managed if the degustation menu were to showcase dishes that could really blow customers away. If I were to go there again, I would like to try the Volcano Roll and Mango Sashimi! 🙂

Next up, Ben & Jerry’s! :))

Hehe I had my birthday ice cream that night 😀

Zento Singapore
Blk 18b Dempsey Road
Singapore 249677
Tel: 6474 0378

Sun to Thur
6.00pm – 10.00pm (Dinner)
Fri & Sat
6.00pm – 11.00pm (Dinner)