Author: Beatrice

Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 @ Liang Seah Street

Published by Beatrice

After a very hearty French meal at La Cuisson, we decided to take a stroll to Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 at Liang Seah for local desserts. Ah Chew has been one of my favourite local desserts place for years! Always a back up option after dinners because they close relatively late past mid night especially on Friday and Saturday nights. The Mango Sago with Pomelo is very usual favourite, with huge real mango chunks! Next is the Hot Steamed Milk (curd texture). No matter what your usual favourite local dessert is, I am pretty sure you will find the Ah Chew version satisfying. Tip: Always long queue so if you are driving, get one person to alight to find parking (also takes a long time) and another to queue! And you can only order after you got a seat unless you are taking away! — Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 Address: 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-10/11, Liang Seah Place, Singapore 189022 Operating Hours: Mon – Thu: 12:30 pm – 11:30 pm, Fri: 12:30 pm – 12:30 am, Sat: …

Taiwan: Taipei – Shi Lin Night Market 士林夜市 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Shi Lin Night Market (士林夜市) is the ultimate Taiwan night market experience with overload of our senses: smells, noises, huge selection yummylicious food – oyster egg, steak, innards, teppanyaki. Shi Lin was very enjoyable for us in December as we could enjoy the walk and food without the rain or humidity. For this post, we must apologize for some poor res photos as we focused only on eating so all shots are shot on camera! On Level 1, we tried: Chicken Chop – loads of MSG, Pepper and Oil. Much better than any I have tried in Singapore though it is the same “Hao Da Da” brand. Big Intestine Wrap Small Intestine (大腸包小腸) with garlic – very strong meaty flavor. This is Taiwanese version of hot dog, which is a pork sausage wrapped in a glutinous rice sausage. Must have for all who love sausages but be prepared to queue! Right outside the Ci Qian temple in the heart of Shilin Night Market. Ah Liang Mian Xian (阿亮麵線),  also near Ci Qian Temple. Strong seafood …

Taiwan: Taipei – Xi Men Ding 西門町 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Xi Men Ding (西門町) is hailed as Taiwan’s version of Harajuku/Shibuya and it does not disappoint in delivering the same city energy, glitzy lights and ads, and crowds in the shops and restaurants. I believe the shopping will be great in summer, but most of the shops were selling winter wear, which I will hardly wear in Singapore. Even the name Xi Men Ding (西門町) has Japanese roots – the character 町 means cho in Japanese, which means a part of a municipal ward, a term commonly used in Japanese addresses. We tried a random stop for breakfast, Tian Tian Li, which turned out really good! We tried a few famous food places in Xi Men Ding. First up, famous Ya Rou Bian (鸭肉扁) coffee shop, which has been opened for 63 years now. The shop name is called duck, but they actually sell goose meat! We shared a quarter of a goose and liver. Goose are usually tough but this meat was soft and tender. N enjoyed the flavourful liver very much and managed to finish it despite …

Taiwan: Taipei – L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Restaurant 侯布雄法式餐廳 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (侯布雄法式餐廳) is one of the best meal experiences I ever had, joining the ranks of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay @ Hospital Road in London, and Saito Sushi in Tokyo. Taiwan does not have Michelin Star ratings, but Robuchon is acclaimed by many local Taiwan reviews as one of the best French food in Taiwan and it is not hard to see why after this experience! Joël Robuchon is a French chef who operates a dozen restaurants in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Monaco, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo, with a total of 28 Michelin Guide stars among them – the most of any chef in the world, so L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon is one of his restaurants in Taipei. L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon’s décor is dark, red, modern with dim lighting. As we made a reservation pretty early on, they put us at the counter seats right in front of the open kitchen so we could see all the action. Highly recommend to ask for these counter seats if you reserve early! We tried …

Taiwan: Taipei – Wu Fen Pu 五分埔 Shopping and Rao He Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Taiwan has joined Japan in our most loved Asian countries. We love Taiwan for the incredibly friendly local folks. We love that the Taiwanese respect queues, that our random masseur recommends the best location to view the 2014 countdown fireworks while avoiding the crowds, that our public bus driver helps us with our luggages without being asked, that random Taipei folks we meet in wintry He Huan Mountain takes a polaroid of us with their camera to give us as a souvenir without asking anything in return, that food vendors offer to throw the rubbish in our hands for us from previous stores because we look like we are carrying so many items, that their service is warm and sincere. The kind acts of many Taiwanese we met really warm our hearts and make us want to return to Taiwan more often! We spent ~7 days in Taiwan including travel time: Day 1-2: Taipei Day 3-4: Alishan Day 5: Sun Moon Lake, Cing Jing, He Huan Mountain, Taroko National Park Day 6: Taroko National Park …

Yakitori Enmaru @ Ion, Orchard

Published by Beatrice

Wanted a central, quiet restaurant to catch up with a secondary school friend so my friend obliged me to try Yakitori Enmaru at Level 4, Ion orchard. Yakitori Enmaru is know for robatayaki (炉端焼き) which is similar to barbeque but the food is slow grilled over hot charcoal rather than raw fire. I arrived slightly early and it was nice to be received by a customized reserved seat sign. This really gives the detailed Japanese touch. I was also promptly provided a hot towel, which I later realized is part of the cover charge of $5, which includes towel and appetizers. But the hot towel did help to make me feel welcomed! We decided to share all our dishes. So we shared the main – Kaisen Chirashi-don ($29.80). The fish was fresh, but still doesn’t match my favourite Chirashi-don at Chikuwatei. Because Yakitori Enmaru is known for its Robatayaki, we tried the chicken (Ibushi Yaki, $18.90). The smoking technique is supposed to infuse the chicken with a tender texture while having a charred flavour. While it …

Grouper King Seafood Restaurant (大洋城) @ Shaw Towers

Published by Beatrice

My cousins celebrated 2 of our birthdays at Grouper King Seafood Restaurant. They bought a deal online so we had free flow of Chinese dishes, including all sorts of fish at ~$35.90/pax. I checked online and they are running a similar deal now on Qoo10. The usual price is $59/pax. As the name of the restaurant suggests, they are known for GIANT Grouper fish!! There are a few mains like main Soups, Peking Duck that can only be ordered once, but otherwise, there are at least 40 ala carte items you can re-order.   Feasting… As you can see, we had a lot of dishes including many dishes of fresh fish (I assume is grouper!) cooked in many ways. Very good value for free flow seafood dishes with the deals for $35+ for dinner, and great for family gatherings for a big group. Do note that you have pay $3-$5 more per pax depending on the drinks package picked as well; they have ala carte and free flow drinks as well. — Grouper King Seafood Restaurant (大洋城) …

Crystal Jade Steamboat Restaurant @ Zhongshan Park

Published by Beatrice

Firstly, for all who have not been to Zhongshan Park along Balestier, I highly recommend it for grocery shopping (Fairprice Finest) for those who live in the area. Zhongshan Park, though it has a very Chinese sounding name, is a modern hotel cluster comprising Ramada Hotel and Days Hotel. The Fairprice Finest is spacious and eco-friendly, with wide aisles and great selection. They also have a dog-friendly pub – Starker Fresh Beer (Stärker Frisches Bier) with a great nice lawn to chillout. Just below Fairprice Finest, there is a Crystal Jade Steamboat Restaurant, so we went for the Kurobuta Pork Set for 2 at $39.80. It comes with 2 types of soup base you can choose from, so we chose Pork Broth and Sweet and Sour. There are also many different sauces to pick from. I enjoy the spacious restaurant, fresh meats and pretty good value meal especially after 20% discount promotion! For their opening promotion, they have the below promotion but not sure when it will be taken off. Good for families! — Crystal …

Banh Mi 888 @ United Square

Published by Beatrice

I was introduced to Banh Mi 888 by a Vietnamese friend from work, and Banh Mi 888 is truly authentic Vietnamese and affordable.  Some of their mains are under $6! “Banh Mi” means bread in Vietnamese but this dedicated team of Vietnamese serve more than just bread! They also serve all the Vietnamese specialties – Pho and Spring Rolls with all the authentic sauces that I have tasted in Ho Chi Minh! One of us also tried the Beef Pho ($8.50) which had very sweet, peppery soup. I am amazed at how they created the tasty flavour without MSG. They also provide a loyalty card where you get a free main with 10 chops (essentially 10% off) so I find this healthy meal has great value. Great lunch spot for those we work around the area as well! — Banh Mi 888 Address: #B1-06, United Square Shopping Mall, 101 Thomson Road Phone: 63543858 Hours: Daily, 10:00 – 21:00

The Living Cafe & Deli @ Bukit Timah

Published by Beatrice

After a hard gym workout, we went to check out the The Living Cafe & Deli, along Bukit Timah Road, just before the turn into 6th Avenue.  The Living Cafe & Deli prides themselves in offering healthy and raw delicious organic food that’s healthy and nutritious. They do not serve red meat, no cow dairy  (good news for all lactose intolerant folks), no white sugar, no preservatives, no additives, no artificial colorings and include gluten free alternatives on our menu. The Living Cafe & Deli is big on “RAW food”, which I learnt from their site is defined as – “Raw food generally refers to a vegan diet that goes beyond just steering clear of animal products. There’s no cooking in the traditional sense (in that nothing is heated above approximately 118 degrees Fahrenheit), and ingredients are not chemically processed, pasteurized, homogenized, genetically modified, hybridized, or otherwise compromised. The basic premise behind a raw food diet is that cooking and processing foods generally decreases their digestibility and vitamin and mineral density, as well as their overall …