贡茶 (Gong Cha)

Yes, i know that its has been a trend in SG for long time. I first tried Gong Cha when it opened its outlet in Novena Sq. Pictures taken but have not done any upload :P

贡茶 - 献给宫廷的茶，tea fit for royalty.

This craze has been going around and drinking Gong Cha is like a must beverage after the hush hush 1-hr lunch for each office lady.




Outlet at Novena SQ 

 

Menu for all the teas varieties as well as others such as juice and coffee

  

Each signature Gong Cha is labelled with the preferred way to savour the drink



You may placed your customised drink in accordance to the level of sweetness and any add-ons.
To prevent any mix up of the drinks, each cup will be labelled with the type of tea and the level of sweetness selected.
Isn't that friendly :)

I have tried KOI some times back, but i personally felt that Gong Cha offers more varieties and good quality on the add-ons such as jelly and pearl. I particularly love their Ai-Yu jelly, 爱玉冻 and Herbal jelly, 仙草冻.

Recommendation:

Must try their signature Gong Cha (A1-A4) with add-ons of your choice.

Another special one would be (D11) Fresh milk with Herbal jelly, 鲜奶仙草冻. I have attempted to modify my order to mix it with Ai-Yu jelly which creates a very unique taste.

And, yes, it tasted good. Even the crew also praise me for that, heeeeee.

Word of advice:

Really need to try from Novena outlet becos i feel that the quality is not consistent for the other outlets.

Gong Cha Novena Square

Novena Square 2
10 Sinaran Drive #01-172
Tel: 65 6397 6816

Food from Muar.

Oops... Din realise my last post was 3 months ago!!  

Have a number of backlog reviews and pics waiting for me to sort.

Went for a 1 day trip to Muar to have durians at the farm and ate some of the famous local delicacies.

Therefore decided to share some of the pics here :) 

P/s: The durian is still constantly on my mind...

Uncle choosing the good ones and going into action.

The best.... slurp!

If customers wanted to buy the durians back to Singapore, the farm provides the option of transferring the durian to tupperware, for good convenience.

The famous Kee Mei Siew Pow (烧包) in Seremban.

Looks like a normal and plain store but taste really good.

In closer look.

There are 2 types of filling; chicken or pork meat.

The filling is not dry and most importantly you can still savour the sauce of the meat even when u heat it up after 1 or 2 days.

Kuih Bahulu, chocolate chip flavour (Johor Bahru)

No matter which store you bought it, it always taste better than the one sold in Singapore.

Seremban Kee Mei Siew Pow

No. 1849 Taman Ujong

Jalan Tok Ungku

70100 Seremban

Tel: 06 631 6348

Rice Dumpling

Its time of the year again.

Rice dumpling can be seen anywhere nowadays.

This year i did not take part in the rice dumpling making session, but still i want to share my mum's product :)

With all my favourite ingredient; salted egg yolk, mushroom, chestnut and pork, a Hokkien rice dumpling is completed.

I find that the most important step in making rice dumpling lies on the pre-frying of the rice and meat. The marinating of the meat must be just nice and it could be just abit more salty to complement the tasteless rice.

After eating a certain amount of rice dumplings, the best way to cleanse your stomach abit is to eat with plain porridge. For those who still cant resist eating can try this!

Amazing Thailand 2010 - Food version Two

It has been quite a while, busy with work. Been wanted to post some photos for this restaurant that i have been to, during my Bangkok trip early this year. Well, hope this place is not badly affected by the political issue lately.

Joe Louis, traditional Thai puppet theatre located at Suan Lam night market at Lumpini. If you love puppet shows and want to capture the intricate movements and fascinating storyline which was once awarded best traditional puppet show at the International Puppet Festival, be sure to check out the timing of the show at the theatre.

The restaurant is just beside the theatre, which serves traditional Thai food. It is packed with different groups of diners, and of course mainly tourists.

I will always order Phai Thai in any Thai restaurant.  

Much, much better than any of the Phai Thai i had in Singapore. Fried with simple ingredients like bean sprout, egg and chicken meat. The wetness of the Kway Teow and the garlic taste just nice.

(Big Head) Prawn Tom Yam Gong

Prawns are very fresh and most importantly, the broth is very tasty. It is not just the usual plain tom yam soup base, it probably have been simmered with the prawn and fish bone.

Glass noodle seafood salad

I like the sharp taste of the sour and spicy of it. The chef has grasped the extent of both flavors to the right level.

Joe Louis Puppet
Suan Lum Night Bazaar
Bangkok

Tea Loft (Food Opera)

Tea Loft, which locates at basement 4, ION Orchard form part of the food court (Food Opera). Another subsidary of Bread Talk re-packaged with more prestige furnishing of the english tea room concept. It serves similar type of local food like Toast Box except the expansion of the drinks variety such as Coffee Melaka and Yuan Yang Jelly-O.

English tea room deco with the back connected with Food Opera.

Return to the basic, coffee of the day.

Personally, i think Bread Talk have better quality, coffee bean could have been burnt.

Peanut butter thick toast; melts perfectly with the right temperature of the toast.

Also have a soft spot for apple pie.

Caught my eye as it is presented in square shape and green apple is used instead.

Fruits are often naturally tart and it gives the freshness in flavour to a dish. Sadly, the sponge cake beneath is awful and does not contain any flavour of apple. The whole apple pie is excessively baked and the apple slices on top has desiccated.

Would not go back for the food undeniably, but maybe for the drinks instead.

Tea Loft @ Food Opera

ION Orchard

#B4-23

Tel: 6509 9278

Ambush

I know Ambush have been around for quite some time, but did not get a chance to try the food. It is a casual european dining place which first outlet opened at Takashimaya B2. Spoted the second outlet at Jurong Point which opens about early this year when i was lazing around in the west side of Singapore :)

A simple layout.

 

Loves the cartoon drawn on the napkin, adds on an informal feel.

Peach soda as recommended by the staff, refreshing for the hot afternoon.

Bruschetta; the taste of the fresh tomatoes makes you wanted to eat more. With the hearty serving of the tomatoes on top, it is definately worth ordering.

Trio Paella

Instead of the common seafood paella that you could find on any spanish menu, i saw this special Trio paella that comprise of mainly meat; chicken, salmon belly and Bratwurst sausages. Too bad, i found the stench of the salmon belly still exists and could not really blend well with the other 2 mains.

From the new entrée special; Oktoberfest Platter

(Bockwurst, Bratwurst and chopped pork knuckle, served with mash potato and sauerkraut)

A nice combination except the pork knuckle, which i know that it could be much tastier and tender if it had not been heated to serve.

Jurong Point Shopping Centre

#02-24

Sun–Thu 11am – 9.30pm

Fri–Sat 11am – 10pm

Tel: 67959606

Amazing Thailand 2010 - Food version One

My only western breakfast for this trip... hmmm... disappointment :(

Cold sandwiches and coffee...

Although not local food, Thailand is famous for nice Japanese food. In particular to the economical pricing, many people who have been to Thailand will definately includes a meal of Jap food. Under recommendation, i went to this restuarant for the first time; Mt. Fuji. Famous for its Teppanyaki, i ordered a portion of grilled Beef and Kurobuta.

Well, decent looking but texture of the noodle is too soggy.

Not comparable with the Kurobuta, beef is too tough and not juicy at all. I even requested to change the first portion that was being served to me.

  Nicely grilled and tender. Yummy!

Overall, i find that the grilled Kurobuta is still the best, perhaps becos of the nature of the meat itself. I did not order any sushi or sashimi as i feel that it is overpriced. And from the look of the guy sitting at the next table, i think i might be right to choose Teppanyaki over sushi :)

Mt. Fuji

MakBoonKong, Bangkok

Level 7

Ippudo (Singapore) ー風堂

As per my earlier post, a friend introduced me to this new and renowned restaurant in town, Ippudo (Singapore). I went on a weekday at around 7pm and a long queue has already been formed in front of the restaurant.

Ippudo serves 2 types of broth, the Shiromaru and the Akamaru; which is added with Ippudo special made Miso paste. I ordered the Shiromaru classic as I want to try the original tonkotsu soup base which is supposing to be more refreshing and light.

Shiromaru classic with Chashu, $15The Shiromaru is the original version of their tonkotsu broth with slices of simmered pork loin charshu, cabbage and spring onions. The broth tasted flavorful but I find it a bit to the salty side. Nevertheless I must comment that the noodle is well cooked as the springy texture remains.

Goma Q, Japanese cucumber with sesame seeds
Japanese cucumber served with mixture of sesame oil, shoyu sauce, chilli flakes and sesame seeds. Freshly cut cucumber which is refreshing, serves in bite size which leads you to pop it into your mouth one by one without realizing how many you have ate.

GyozaI always love Japanese Gyoza. No matter where I go to, I will order a portion.
I love the skin, which is so thin that you can see the filling in it. However, I feel that it could be presented in a nicer way and each Gyoza is way too scantily filled.

During my 1 hour visit in the restaurant, the crowd has been constant. There is a mix of mainly curious eaters; the white collar like me or tertiary students.
And of course, not to mention Japanese in Singapore whom have been swept away by the reputation of Ippudo (Tokyo).

The founder of the company, Shigemi Kawahara who is known as “Ramen King” as he won nationwide ramen-making competition three years in a row. Despite its firm standing in the ramen industry, Ippudo only set up branches in 2 overseas countries, one in New York (Manhattan), 2008 and in Singapore last December.

Overall I think it is worth a try as how many people can be named as the “Ramen King”? And of course the reputation of Ippudo is way too hard to resist and endure.

Ippudo (Singapore)

#04-02/03/04

Mandarin Gallery

Orchard Road

Tel: 6235 2797