Grub

Pat says

Key and me attended a cooking workshop at Cookyn Inc. before and I had enjoyed the whole process plus loved the food we cooked! Hence, when I found out that Cookyn Inc. had opened a restaurant I was very tempted to try it out!

The place is very relaxing and causal as it is situated in the middle of Bishan Park.

Grub cheeseburger ($13) - The cheeseburger was awesome! Made me rethink of ordering a cheeseburger from fast food places now. In fact, I haven't had any cheeseburger from any fast food places since I have eaten this. It was nicely seasoned and the patty was juicy. A sufficient serving for a me. 

Slow roasted pork belly ($15) - I'm not a fan of pork belly as it would be a waste for me cause I don't eat fats. I did try the meat and the mash potato though. The meat was a bit tough for my liking and the mash potato was decent. Nevertheless, Key thought it was done perfectly.

[Key] - I would not exactly say that it's perfect but they are able to retain the softness/tenderness of the meat inside while having a crispy outside. The sauce that goes with it is quite interesting. Overall it's not too bad.

Roasted Portobello ($10) - We wanted to order an appetiser to go with our mains. But looking at their list of appetisers, it doesn't seem to interest us much. So we order another main instead, but a light one. Anyway the price is somewhat similar. It came with two big portobello topped with rockets and cherry tomatoes salsa. It was good! I'm glad I ordered this instead of an appetiser. =)

[Key] - the rockets and cherry tomatoes salsa is great. This is actually a main but it definitely is much better served as an appetiser.

Churros ($8.5) - Their waffle machine was not working so we could not try their Belgium waffles!! Nevertheless, we need to fill our desert tummies. So we order Churros instead. I was quite apprehensive at first. Cause I'm quite particular with my Churros and I have eaten many that were not satisfactory. When the Churros came out, it seems passable. Overall, a very decent version and goes surprisingly well with the tangy creme anglaise instead of the dark chocolate. 

[Key] - Yes the Churros indeed goes much better with the creme anglaise. Not too sure if it's possible but perhaps try asking for just the creme anglaise.

Thatchers Pear Cider ($13) - We never had pear cider before so we thought of trying this out. It was surprisingly nice! A good pairing to wash the mains with, plus it had a slightly sweet touch to it. 

Website: http://grub.com.sg

Address: 510, Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (Bishan Park 1) Singapore 569983

Opening Hours:

Tues - Fri: 5.30pm to 10.30pm

Sat, Sun and PH: 9am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm

Tsukada Nojo (collagen hotpot)

Pat says

This is the second time that I been to Tsukada Nojo at Plaza Singapura. The first time they opened at PS, I was fascinated at the woody and Japanese style decoration of the place and also what it had to offer i.e Bijin Nabe (collagen hotpot). It is something that I have never tasted before and seems good for face! Note: this hotpot was only offered for dinner. I learnt it the hard way by going there for lunch to ask for it.

They don't take reservations so you have to go down to put your name in a book and they will call you when there is a table available. It is best to try queuing for it during the weekday due to the smaller crowd.

The Bijin Nabe comes with a pot of jelly collagen chicken broth with pieces of chicken in it and a separate plate with prawns, associated vegetables, mushrooms and chicken plus a plate of noodles.

The collagen broth takes awhile to get heated up before the staff will take a bit of the soup and one piece of chicken out to let you try. The soup was very rich with thick sweet chicken broth taste. It is good to have it warm as if it is cold there will be a layer of sticky stuff on top.

Subsequently, the staff will neatly place all the food stuff except the prawns into the pot. For the chicken in the bamboo tube, the staff will proportion several meat balls out of it straight into the pot. All you have to do is wait for the food to be cooked! A simple yet nutritious dish.

I find that it will be good to not to eat the soup for too long as it might get a bit salty after it has been boiled for very long.

The noodles is a good addition but it is good to order it earlier (usually they will serve it after you are done with the food stuff) so that there is time for it to soak up the soup. Especially if you want to eat the noodles together with the other ingredients.

Lastly, we tried their sweet potato with ice cream. There is a very generous portion of sweet potatoes and I love the combination taste of both. It would be awesome when the sweet potato is super hot together with the cold ice cream to top it off!

My second visit was better then the first visit so I'm definitely going back here to enjoy it again! =)

Address: 68 Orchard Road, Plaza Singapura #03-81

Batter Fluffy Flaps

Pat says

Hidden somewhere in Katong area, I chance upon this small cozy cafe which serve pancakes! I have a soft spot for pancakes so I was glad that I could find something like this in Singapore. Tried their sweet pancakes before with my friends and I enjoyed it very much. As I had my pancake craving again today so I brought Key here!

I loved their cute sheep logo for the cafe! The cafe is brightly decorated with cute decorations. We order their BFF special for $42.80 as it seems to be a cheaper deal compared to ordering ala carte. We could chose 2 mains, 1 side and 2 drinks.

 

Arizona peach tea ($3.90)

Chocolate & Banana Milkshake ($5.80) - loved it! super thick milkshake. Full of chocolate and banana goodness!

Create your own ($14.90) - Blueberries pancake, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana, walnut, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

I loved their blueberries pancakes and it comes generous amount of toppings!

Honey Baked Wings ($8.50)

I felt that this was more of baked wings and topped with honey. It would have been better if they had marinated the wings with honey.

Sunset Grill ($14.90)

The fish appears to be not very cooked at first but it was still edible. I find that the pairing of fish and pancakes was a bit weird though. Perhaps pancakes should still be prepared as a sweet food than a savory food.

Overall, I would still come back here to eat their "Create your own" pancake for deserts! =)

Website: http://www.bffpancakes.com/
Address: 89 East Coast Road S(428790)
Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 11am to 10pm
Friday: 11am to 11pm
Saturday: 9am to 11pm
Sunday: 9am to 10pm

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

Key says

Had arranged for a quick dim sum lunch with Tai, Cherlyn, Wilson and Amy after our honeymoon - to take back some of our stuff and just to have good food. Eventually we settled for Wah Lok @ Carlton and afraid that there might be a queue, I went there to get us a seat. Overall the dim sum over there is not too bad and definitely enjoy the lunch and company.

Pat says

I have always heard of Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant and I finally had a chance to eat here during the Hari Raya Haji public holiday. Lunch was served from 11am to 2.30pm. Key reached the place at 1pm and got a seat 5 minutes later even though there was a queue! =)

Overall, I had a great dim sum experience. Service was good and the food usually arrive hot. After going to a few dim sum outlets like Tim Ho Wan, Red Star and 126. I believe that I would still want to come back here to try the rest of the dim sum that I have not tried.

Some pictures and short personal reviews of the food we ate that day:

Steam Carrot Cake
Pat: Tasted weird and not appetizing. Not recommended to try.

Xiao Long Pau
Pat: Decent. The skin was not very thick and the soup was nice. We had second servings!

Century Egg Porridge
Pat: Nothing very fantastic. 

Custard and Egg Yolk Pau
Pat: A very nice version of it. There were sufficient filling to finish the whole thing up! Be careful to try it when they just serve the pau. The fillings was still very hot and I burnt my tongue when I took a big bite into it.

Char Siew Pastry
Pat: I felt that this was abit dry and tasted below normal. 

Deep fried yam rolls
Pat: Awesome! Being a person that does not fancy deep fried stuff, I was worried that it will be too oily. This yam rolls were not oily and I love the yam mixture inside. I had second servings of this! 

Har Gow
Pat: Just normal. Can try once to satisfy your Har Gow craving during your dim sum meal.

Po Lo Bao
Pat: Super disappointed. It had a weird texture to it as it was soft inside and tasted like bread to me. Don't think I will order this again.

Prawn Chee Cheong Fun
Pat: Decent! I love the texture of the chee cheong fun and the prawns was juicy and succulent.

Siew Mai
Pat: Similar to the Har Gow, I find it to be just normal. Again, can try once to satisfy your Siew Mai craving.






Website: http://www.carltonhotel.sg/wahlok.html
Address: Level 2, Carlton Hotel, 76 Bras Basah Road
Opening Hours:
Monday to Saturday
Lunch - 11.30am to 2.30pm
Dinner - 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Sundays and Public Holidays
Lunch - 11am to 2.30pm
Dinner - 6.30pm to 10.30pm

F.M.B.P 2013

Key says

The abbreviation of the title stands for Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Paris. Basically these are the places that Pat and I went for our "honeymoon" trip. Reason for the "quotes" is because for Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, it was a trip with a BIG group of people while Paris is really our personal trip. Nevertheless, I would still consider the whole trip as our "honeymoon" trip since we spent almost 3 weeks in Europe.

The advantages of traveling in a big group is the company that you have, the jokes or bloopers that happened and all these form part of your memories. However the disadvantage is the time it take for consensus to be reached. Lucky for us, we have assigned an in-charge for each day and forming of meal groups have been fast so overall, there isn't much of an inconvenience.

Our first stop is at Frankfurt, where we visited the Schloss Johannisberg riesling vineyards and the Residenz. At Munich, we visited the BMW museum, Olympic Stadium, Dachau Concentration Camp, Oktoberfest, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg. At Berlin, we went for the free Berlin Walking Tour; shopping and spend the rest of the time at Berlin Salsa Congress (for those who guessed it, yes this is the main reason why we had our trip).

After the congress, Pat and I immediately flew to Paris. The stupid thing over here is the wrong information provided by the hotel receptionist, resulting in us reaching the (Berlin) airport SUPER EARLY! We had to rest at the airport and wait for the counter to open, but it's quite an experience. At Paris, we visited the Lourve, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel Tower, Paris Walking Tour, Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe, Musee d'Orsay, Seine River, Basilique du Sacre-Cowe and Musee de l'Orangerie! Food wise, it had been fabulous and for anyone going to Paris, you might want to consider Train Bleu (Le), L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Le Petit Chatelet and Eurl Bistrot Au Bougnat for meals!

Seriously there are some much to write, photos to post that I really do not know how to express it in one blog post. One thing however is certain and that is I really enjoyed the trip and it is truly an unforgettable experience. The only downside is the big hole in the pocket...

Pat says

Finally as our wedding ended, it comes to our "honeymoon". We had a three weeks holiday to Germany and France with our friends. It was an awesome experience with lots of fun, laughter, joy, culture and great food! There were some who asked me why my "honeymoon" got so many people also, however I never regretted going on a "honeymoon" trip with a big group of friends. We could experience new stuff that we never thought of, try more food in one meal and would never really run out of topic to talk about! It is safer to travel in a group too! =D

My unforgettable experience was understanding the history of Germany and looking at real life memorials and palaces. I would never have thought about going to Germany before as I was never really interested in it or I thought there were never much to it. However, this trip was an eye opener with trips to Dachau Concentration Camp, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg, plus the free Berlin Walking Tour where historical memorials appears before my eyes with illustration. The Germans were friendly and I felt comfortable travelling around. I would love to go back Germany and learn more about the rich history of the place.

Paris has been a "must go" place for honeymoons. Since we loved European Art so much, we had to include it in our trip! We allocated 5 days for Paris as we wanted to complete as much museums as we could and made sure we had enough time to at least visit some iconic places and of course to enjoy The Louvre. I love Paris for its lovely classical buildings and the rich culture and art behind it. The paintings in the museums showed objects and people that looked very realistic.

There is also a free Paris Walking Tour and I realized how connected Paris and Germany can be! I'm in love with walking tours now. I have never liked to read history but to hear stories and looking at real life architectures is my style of learning history! Food wise, it can be costly due to the high standards of living. I would recommend a trip to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at least once to try their awesome menu. 

It had been an amazing, awesome and unforgettable trip to celebrate our marriage.