Just last night, my uni friends and I had dinner at The Queen and Mangosteen. Funny how there is a King Louis Bar & Grill in Vivocity too. Just don’t be too quick to let their names fool you.

It’s my second time at The Queen & Mangosteen but you won’t be able to find a review in my blog because I went there on Christmas Eve last year, before the birth of this humble blog of mine 😛

During that first visit, my dining companion and I shared the Fresh Mixed Seafood Board because we weren’t exactly feeling very hungry. Didn’t have much of an impression but the jug of Pimms and Lemonade was awesomeness.

After that first visit, I kinda doubted that I would be back for a return visit until JY said that there’s a DBS 1 for 1 promotion. The place looked pretty much the same with its dim lightings and all, except that they have placed more tables outside so that you can get distracted and people-watch while eating.

Sweet dining companions for the night, J and JY 🙂 There’s a crown on JY’s head. Haha I just realized that.

S (in white) and I had the cushion seat. Wheee! 😛 R popped by to say hi after her dinner with her friends.

Heehee I think J really loves fries. I remember her nibbling away on them during our Paediatric lectures 😛 Of course she would always share her food with all the cold and hungry people sitting around her! If you prefer chips to the usual type of fries, the Large Chips with Chilli Crab Dip ($14) probably won’t disappoint. These chunky chips have a light crisp texture and biting into them reveals steaming, mashy goodness inside. I found the chilli crab dip a little disappointing though. Its consistency was just right but something seemed to be lacking. It was a bit on the bland side and I just didn’t get a kick out of it. In the end I just went straight for the chips.

My order for that night was Wild Mushroom Risotto with Asparagus and Oven-dried Tomatoes ($22). I love veggies and I’m glad that the asparagus were soft and they were not overdone. I liked that the risotto had just the right amount of parmesan but I didn’t quite take to its texture, which I found a little too dry and lumpy.

There is a separate menu for the DBS 1 for 1 promo. Just be sure to ask for it before you place your order because only certain mains are available. S had the Chicken Tikka Massala ($22). This is supposed to be Indian food right? I wonder what is it doing here. Anyway I think you are supposed to put the chicken into the sliced pita bread and dip it into the cucumber mint yoghurt. I can never figure out the correct way of eating Indian food anyway! Better still, just eat with your hands.

Both J and JY had the Fish & Chips with Curry Tartare Sauce ($24). Read some reviews online and the fish & chips here seem to be their speciality. JY exclaimed out loud that it’s delicious right after her first mouthful of her food. I was actually quite taken aback by her sudden outburst. Haha. Tried a bit of the curry tartare sauce. Not bad not bad.. Reminded me of the sauce from MacDonald’s and J said.. Yeah maybe they combined MacDonald’s curry sauce and tartare sauce. -_____- Nice one, J.

The Queen and Mangosteen would probably appeal to you if you are someone who often grumbles that the night is still young and proceed on to drag your friend along for a nightcap. Their drinks menu is really impressive. There’s beer, wine, cocktails, spirit, mocktails, liquers, juices, etc.

Ok now this is where the rest of this review comes in. My friends are so thoughtful and wanted to give me an early birthday surprise with cakes from Bakerzin. J arrived before our meeting time and checked with the staff at Queen’s and was told, to her horror and subsequently our horror, that there is a so-called ‘cakeage’ charge of $20. Oh wow. So obviously, she had to go back to Bakerzin and leave the cakes there. So inconvenient right? And it’s not as if Queen’s have their own cakes. Sigh.

*The remaining photos are from JY’s camera*

Anyway S and JY were trying to distract me while J excused herself claiming that she needed to visit the washroom. So we took a couple of photos while waiting..

Shortly after this photo was taken..

J appeared with the cakes! I really didn’t expect this from the girls since it was still at least one week away from my birthday 🙂

Shall keep my birthday wishesss a secret 😛

I’m a very serious girl by nature so I’ve decided to show the other side of me in my blog. LOL.

Thank you girls! Don’t forget our next date! 🙂

The Queen & Mangosteen
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-106/107 VivoCity
Tel: +65 6376 9380

Opening Hours
Sun to Thu
11am – 12am
Fri and Sat and PH Eve
11am – 1am

Yay! I have officially graduated! As the saying goes.. 台上一分钟，台下十年功! Some people interpret this differently. I guess in my case, or for most of the gradutes, it means that in order to earn that one minute on stage, it requires 10 years of effort and hard work off the stage. There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. But of course, we slogged for 16 to 17 years instead! I’m sure it was a moment of pride and glory for everyone.

My girl friends and I had made solid plans way before the commencement to meet up for dinner on commencement day itself. There were some last minute changes and we finally settled for somewhere nearer because we, or rather yours truly was simply too tired from all the running around and taking photos with everyone else after the ceremony. Even the one hour nap didn’t help.. Zzz. Oh wait. Before you think I’m complaining, I’m not. I was actually more than happy to meet the girls! 😀

We decided to check out Chip Bee Gardens which is located opposite Holland Village. Thanks to one of the girls, R, who wanted to eat vegetarian, Original Sin seemed like the best, if not only choice! The place is very dimly lit and brrr-ingly cold. Even after switching to another table so that we did not have to be seated directly underneath the air conditioner, the waiter offered to adjust the temperature for us after seeing how badly we were shivering. Sorry but we were just too cold to notice whether he’s cute or not. Teehee! *shy*

For starters, the four of us shared the Magic Mushrooms ($18). Not to be mistaken for the hallucinogenic mushrooms, the ones we had are my favorite juicy Portobello mushrooms stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, pesto and pine nuts, baked in tomato basil sauce and mozzarella. On the overall, it wasn’t too cheesy and heavy, which makes it appropriate as a starter. But I can’t guarantee that if you attempt to polish everything off all by yourself.

I kinda like pasta but penne is not exactly my favorite. That’s when I thought that the vodka would be able justify our order of the Absolut Pasta ($26). There were a whole lot of ingredients such as asparagus, button mushrooms, spinach, capsicum & onion. Ya all vegetables because this is supposed to be vegetarian. I had to keep reminding myself too. Haha I found this pretty mediocre. Anyway it’s still worth trying if you have a Citibank credit card because you can get this for just $10.

Girls just love to share things, especially food. We like to shove food onto one another’s plates when we have trouble finishing it. Lol. The last thing that we shared was the Supremo Pizza ($22). It was supposed to consist of mozzarella, parmesan, artichoke hearts, olives, capsicum, button mushroom and Australian asparagus. The downside of sharing is that when one of us requests to take away the asparagus, another happily chips in that she doesn’t want capsicum, and then another shouts out no olives.. I think we can just settle for a piece of plain dough. I liked the pizza for its crisp base and thin crust.

If not for Kaelyn from myfoodsirens for recommending Original Sin a while back, I wouldn’t have come to know of the existence of such a cool vegetarian restaurant. And thanks to R for going veg that day! Hehe 😛

Original Sin
Block 43
Jalan Merah Saga #01-62
Chip Bee Gardens
Tel: +65 6475 5605

Opening Hours:
Mon
6pm – 10.30pm
Tue to Sun
11.30am – 2.30pm (Lunch)
6pm – 10.30pm (Dinner)

Met up with Bee for lunch recently. We have been BFFs since secondary school, about a good 10 years now! O_O Haha old already lah. But we are still very young at heart! 🙂 Bee is also very much into photography lately. It’s really nice to hang out with friends who share the same interests as you. 😀

For a blur sotong like me, it’s great when your friend is like a walking GPS. You know you can count on him or her to not get lost! Haha. Vanilla Bar & Cafe is located along Boon Tat Street. After consulting google maps and gothere.sg, I still have not the slightest idea as to how to get there. Ok lah maybe I should just admit that I’m lousy. Lol. Luckily it wasn’t a case of the blind leading the blind. *Gives Bee a pat on the back* Anyway when we opened the door and stepped into the quaint, cosy cafe, we were greeted by a very pleasant whiff of vanilla.

I think we had come under the impression that we better order all things vanilla and decided to go ahead with the Vanilla Popcorn Chicken ($5.90). Took a small bite but there was no hint of vanilla. Haha felt cheated. But then again, maybe what was meant here is that Vanilla cafe has its own popcorn chicken, just like how KFC has its very own KFC popcorn chicken. These tender morsels of chicken are thinly breaded and make a great snack!

Good friends share everything right? Even food! We decided on having the Norwegian Smoked Salmon & Egg Mayo Sandwich ($8.90) since it’s easier to share as compared to rice or noodles. Each of us just have to take half. *Sings Jit lang jit pua, kam zheng beh sua..* I like the dry toasty texture of the panini. Goes very well with the mashy ingredients!

Believe it or not. This is our dessert.

The Vanilla Dirt Cake ($8.50) looks exactly like a real potted flower! We were so amazed that we took photos of it from all different angles until we decided that enough was enough. Haha 😛

Look! The dirt cake is topped with crushed Oreo bits to replicate the appearance of soil. Is that yucks or what? While the gummy worms failed to pass off as real worms (we didn’t scream), the Oreo bits were enough to make us think twice about digging in, whichever way you wanna interpret this.

Yup dig in and dig in! 🙂 The Vanilla Dirt Cake is highly recommended for the incredible experience that is associated with eating it. It is easily mistaken for vanilla and cream cheese ice cream, given its icy cold texture. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to make you feel as though you are really digging through soil! We certainly didn’t regret ordering this 🙂

Vanilla Bar & Cafe
3 Boon Tat Street
#01-01 Singapore
Tel: +65 6423 0366

Opening Hours
Mon to Thu
10.30am – 11pm
Fri and Sat
11am – 12am
(Closed on Sun & PH)

Yay this is my other long delayed post! So instead of putting up my photo, here’s a photo of the two kiddos that happened to be with me on that day. Hehe. 🙂

I quite like Thai cuisine because on the whole, it is spicy. Based on my experience there, I’d say that Sawadee Thai Cuisine is seriously underrated. For a place which serves awesome traditional Thai food, it was fairly quiet and empty on a Sunday evening. Another commendable point worth mentioning is that the Thai service staff are very patient and always smiling. I don’t usually bother much about service matters but the one at Sawadee really shines.

For starters, we had the Fried Spring Rolls ($6 nett). These crispy, piping hot spring rolls were wrapped with crab meat, minced prawns and steamed bamboo shoots. Dip them into the accompanying sweet chilli sauce and they are bound to whet your appetite!

I was so ecstatic that I was finally able to satisfy my craving for Kuay Teow Phad Thai ($10 nett)! It’s like our Singaporean version of seafood kuay teow, except that the thai rendition is drier and less oily, sprinkled with fragrant peanut bits. Flavors are also more distinct, sour and spicy at the same time. Other than prawns, there were diced tuakwa, egg and bean sprouts. Thinking about it now makes my mouth water.

The Deboned & Stuffed Chicken Wings ($3 each, min order of 2 pc) are a house speciality. I was on the verge of exclaiming, “WOW!” These chicken wings are certainly not your ordinary chicken wings. They taste even better than my favorite prawn paste chicken or better known as Har Cheong Kai. I believe that the process of making these wings is a fairly complicated one because they are stuffed with minced chicken, asparagus and shiitake mushrooms. So it’s like chicken and other stuff inside a chicken wing. Complicated? Don’t care. Just eat and go to heaven.

I love fish but I prefer them steamed rather than deep fried. The Deep Fried Pomfret (market price) was served with mango sauce. Pretty normal to me.

A must order, the Tom Yum Seafood Soup ($8 nett) is clearly a clear version. Pun unintended. I often come across debate about the chilli red version and the clear one, which is authentic and which is not. Seriously, I don’t know and I don’t care. As long as it’s spicy, it’s gonna get two thumbs up from me.

I think this serves as a cheap thrill visual feast for some guys. Please don’t ask me what are those pointy things doing there. For aesthetic purposes I think. My father speculated that they are used to keep each individual Thai Style Otah ($10 nett for 7 pc) warm. You know, like to prevent the heat from escaping or something. Nice try, dad. But why are there only 3 of those pointy things? Anyway the otah is a must try dish, not for you to look at, but to eat. It’s really one very awesome otah, with minced seafood in it.

The Thai green curry ($10 nett) is very fragrant because of the basil leaves and also quite creamy. You can have the best of both worlds with chicken and prawns! Just don’t start a debate on the colors of curry ok..

If you have been following me closely, photos of sambal kang kong (both vegetarian and non vegetarian versions) seem to appear every now and then right? Haha. The Fried Spicy Kang Kong ($6 nett) is obviously nothing new to us.

I think we must be crazy dessert lovers. We ordered each of all the desserts that Sawadee has to offer! The Water Chestnut with Coconut Milk ($2.50 nett) is a cool Thai dessert! I love munching on the crunchy red rubies and diced palm jelly.

The Tapioca with Coconut Cream ($2.50 nett) had just the right amount of sweetness that did not taste artificially sweet. I would have preferred to pour the coconut cream over the tapioca pieces, rather than being ‘rationed’ a dollop of it on each of the tapioca!

Please don’t attempt to leave without eating the Mango with Glutinous Rice ($3.50 nett). This is just one incredible dessert! Since there’s rice, I think I can even have it as a meal on its own.

Definitely an all-time favorite for durian lovers, we ended our meal with a bang. The Durian with Glutinous Rice ($3 nett) was everything a durian lover like me could ever ask for.

I urge you to pay Sawadee Thai Cuisine a visit! Prices are very affordable and if you are going with a big group of friends and family members, there are larger portions of food available too! Feel free to ask the waiters for recommendations and they are more than happy to help.

Sawadee Thai Cuisine
5 Jalan Legundi
(Opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Tel: +65 6756 2369

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
11.30am – 2.30pm (Lunch)
5.30pm – 10pm (Dinner)

Oh sharks. This is depressing. The first to be on my blacklist is neither a cafe nor a restaurant but an online dining guide which prides itself as “Asia’s No.1 Dining Guide (is) in Singapore!“.

You may click on the following for a clearer view.

Generally speaking, I’m okay with people eating shark’s fins. It is their personal choice. But I dont see a need to promote this consumption. You wanna cook it in your own kitchen, that’s your business.

This is an extremely long over due post. So I will just do my best with one-liners. I had intended to scrape this altogether but I strongly believe that there are substantial health benefits if you go on a vegetarian diet, say once a week or once every two weeks. It doesn’t have to be for any religious reasons.

I think there is this widespread misconception that mainly Buddhists and Hindus do not eat meat. People associate eating vegetarian to religious beliefs but that is not always the case. I say, start today! Do check out Forest Dew Vegetarian Restaurant if you cannot cook to save your own life. I can’t 🙁

Olive Fried Rice ($3.80) — Very fragrant and flavorful. Not too oily.

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice ($6) — This is definitely something different from the usual plate of white rice. If i didn’t remember wrongly, there was some vegan floss sprinkled on top.

Lettuce with Nameko Mushroom ($8) — My first brush with these mushrooms from Japan. Love them!

Vegetarian Satay ($6) — Dip these satay pieces into the satay sauce and they taste almost like the real thing, but of course much easier to chew.

Fried Kang Kong ($6) — Not very spicy but then again, my tolerance for spicy food is quite high. Anybody wanna challenge me? 😛

Nonya Petai Squid ($8) — I don’t know how they do it, but it really tastes like squid! I first ate petai when a divemaster at Krabi offered it to me when we were having lunch on the dive boat. Tastes really bitter.

Eggless Cake ($3.80) — Yup it is eggless but I didn’t really think much of it. A little too creamy for me.

Orange Agar Agar ($1) — A little plain. Good for those who don’t like sweet stuff!

Coconut Agar Agar ($1) — This is a huge contrast to the orange flavored one! Very good!

Tapioca ($2) — These were served cold. Actually I still cannot decide whether they will taste better eaten hot or cold! I guess anything goes since I have a sweet tooth 😛

P.S: I have another over due post coming up..

Forest Dew Vegetarian Restaurant
Blk 23 #01-523
Bendemeer Road
Tel: 6293 9579

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
11am – 10.30pm

Are you a hawker food fanatic? Can you tell the difference between Boon Tong Kee, Loy Kee and Wee Nam Kee chicken rice with your eyes closed? Do you know the top hawker stalls like the back of your hand?

inSing is looking for a resident hawker food reviewer! Apply now and you could become the official Hawker Food Lover! You will get to review the top makan spots in Singapore.

One lucky winner will walk away with $1,000 cash monthly for six months as well as a DSLR camera to snap pictures of the delicious dishes they try.

Click the icon on your right and start posting your reviews now! Closing date: 9th July 2010 (Friday).

Believe it or not, I like to travel but dislike having to pack my luggage. I’m still left with a bit of packing to do. Hopefully I don’t forget anything important! I take quite long to warm up to things actually so I’m not excited about my trip to Australia…yet 😛

My first visit to Australia was about 10 years ago! Here’s what I found when I googled Australia.

Is Australia really so boring? 🙁

I will be very happy if I get to see Kangaroo Jack. Haha just kidding! Anyway I’ll be away from 10th to 18th of June. Don’t miss me too much!

Whenever I take a bus to town, I can’t help but keep my eyes peeled on the big banner that is hanging outside Goodwood Park Hotel, just to make sure that the Durian Fiesta is still ongoing 😛

The Durian Fiesta is held annually and this year, among the 10 different pastries and cakes available, two new creations are being featured. A certain level of quality is ensured as pure D24 durian pulp is used.

I’m lucky to have the company of JY, who is also a fellow foodie and enjoys food photography as much as I do 😀 It’s a bonus that she likes durians too! Yeah I think you either love them or hate them. So far, I have not met anyone who’s just neutral towards durians. How about yourself? 🙂

I would recommend alfresco dining at the Deli as the tables are higher and the lighting is good. The view is much better too! If you are lucky, you get to see cute little kids frolicking by the poolside. Or perhaps a pool hunk roasting into a nice shade of golden brown 😛

We selected a few pastries to be shared between the both of us. That’s the good thing about having a dining companion! You get to sample a bit of (almost) everything 😀 Said to be legendary, the Durian Mousse Cake ($8.50) is voted Singapore’s “50 Yummiest Cakes” in 2008 by The Sunday Times. Haha that was two years ago. The durian mousse is smooth and creamy while the cake is airy and light on its own. However, JY and I think that it’s a bit overrated.

I love Oreo cookies and can’t resist the Durian Oreo Cake ($8.80) which happens to be back by popular demand. It’s quite similar to the mousse cake with the exception of the added “Oreo” crumbs on top. We both agree that the crushed “Oreo” bits could have been ‘homemade’ because they certainly taste different from the original one! They are softer and the texture is somewhat powdery. Given a choice, I still prefer this to the plain mousse cake!

The Durianmisu ($8.80, Mini Durianmisu $4.80) is one of the new creations. Apart from pure D24 durian pulp, lady’s fingers, espresso and mascarpone are singled out to concoct this unique version of tiramisu which does not contain alcohol (much to my dismay). Without the alcohol, I felt that something was amiss. Other than that, the durianmisu was creamy and milky. I love the presentation of sprinkled cocoa powder on top.

Don’t be fooled by this piece of Durian Wafer ($6.80) which kinda looks like durian icecream being sandwiched between two pieces of wafer. This is pretty mediocre. Wafer isn’t very crispy, a little lao (4) hong (1). Haha.

The winner this year, most voted “Heavenly King” by omy, Rednano, and Lianhe Wanbao, the Durian Puff ($2.20 a pc) certainly lived up to its title. It’s much creamier and thicker, compared to the mousse. Presentation wise, they are different from what is being displayed.

There is a 15% discount for Citibank and UOB card holders that is only applicable for takeaway pastries. Out of the few that I chose for takeaway, the Durian Strudel ($8.80) is another item on the menu that is back by popular demand. My dad, brother and I reckon that this is really good and prefer this to the durianmisu and durian puff. I guess we like all things sweet 🙂

The Durian Fiesta ends on 25th July 2010. Let’s see what they have to offer next year!

Deli @ Goodwood Park Hotel
22 Scotts Road
Goodwood Park Hotel
Tel: +65 6730 1786

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
9am – 9pm

I really like Robertson Quay because somehow, it gives me this feeling that I’m not walking on Singapore grounds. It’s as though I’m in another country altogether. I guess it’s because expats are a common sight there 🙂 The special guest star and I were tired and famished by the time we walked to Robertson Quay. Trust me, it’s a long walk from Clarke Quay and we had been on our feet since morning.

We finally arrived at Boomarang Bistro & Bar and decided not to walk any further. Prior to my first visit, I’ve heard great things about their sticky date pudding but that’s just about it. I took a quick glance at the menu and boy, the prices are kinda steep, by my standards at least. Well but the awesome thing is that they have over 50 Australian dishes! Remember I have an interest in all things Australian? 😉

When someone insists on giving you a treat, the only thing you can do is graciously accept his or her kind offer and suggest something to share. There is a ‘Things to Share’ selection but I thought that having pizza would be a better idea. And since we are here at an Australian restaurant, we figured that the only way to go is to order the Peppered Kangaroo Pizza ($21 Large – 14 inch). I took my first slice of pizza and it was a combination of savoury, sour and sweet. Little had I expected kangaroo meat to taste like beef. The addition of sliced pumpkins helped to balance the overall flavor of the pizza.

The pizza was really huge. On hindsight, we should have just ordered the small 10 inch one 😛 I wanna go there again! Sticky date pudding! 😀

Boomarang Bistro & Bar
60 Robertson Quay
#01-15 The Quayside
Tel: +65 6738 1077

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun
8am – 3am