Chik's Crib: February 2016

28 February 2016

Wrap & Roll (NUH)

Vietnamese Food February 28, 2016 0

Because Miss XS is now working at NUH, I've been spending some time around the mall below the hospital. Naturally, I gravitated to the eatery section, and spent several lunches with Miss XS. (Her treat. The joy of working.)

Wrap & Roll is a casual Vietnamese eatery there, and their Rice Vermicelli ($11.90), is mighty impressive. Add the clear sweet chilli sauce to the noodles (pro tip: ask for two!), mix well and chow down. There's something about that sauce with the noodles that is strangely addictive and I couldn't get enough of the noodles together with the grilled pork. They are also generous with their deep fried spring rolls, and they're a treat to fish out and eat. There's also just enough greens to make me feel healthy, but who cares.

Just LOOK at the grilled pork, and all those crispy burnt ends.

Another dish we tried is the Beef Phở ($12.90). They were generous with their beef slices, but the soup wasn't as fragrant as I like.

The Verdict:
Delicious delicious Rice Vermicelli, and their spring rolls are amazing.

24 February 2016

Japanese desserts at Westgate: Châteraisé and Johan Paris

Review February 24, 2016 0

Châteraisé

I am in love with their Double Cream Puff ($1.90), with an extremely addictive cream puff filling that surpasses Beard Papa. Move over, old man. There's a new player in town.

Miss XS introduced this delight to me. The choux pastry isn't particularly remarkable on its own, a little flat and chewy, like of the supermarket variety. I hear that their pastries are flown from Japan into this store every couple of days. Maybe the pastry would have tasted fresher if I timed my purchases correctly? But it's a small matter. The true joy is found within the pastry, with the fresh milk cream layered over the sunshine-yellow egg custard cream.

Their no. 1 best-seller is the Legendary Fresh Cream Cake ($5.10), but the cake was pretty underwhelming. The sponge layers are too coarse.

A kudos goes out to Châteraisé's great and friendly service.

Johan Paris

Situated smack-dab next to Châteraisé, they sell tiny cream puffs ($3.70 for 100g - about 5 cream puffs). Kudos to their impressive service: they had samples lined up for most of their pastries, but not for the cream puffs. We asked jokingly whether they had any more for cream puffs, and the lady behind the counter promptly opened a new bag for us, and handled us one cream puff each. With generosity like this, how not to buy?

Unlike Châteraisé's choux pastry (which quality varies according to their shipping schedule from Japan), the choux pastry here seems fresher. The cream inside wasn't as spectacular as Châteraisé's, but it's a happy trade for me. Choose your dealbreaker.

Another pastry that has caught Miss XS's fancy is their cheesecakes ($3.70 for 100g). They come in bite-size, which allows each bite surprisingly rich. But because each portion is tiny, you can finish one without feeling they are overwhelmingly rich. So you can reach for another, and then another. Before we knew it, the bag was gone. Not my fault.

Address
3 Gateway Drive
B2 Basement Jurong East Store, Westgate

Singapore 608532

20 February 2016

Hong Lim Food Centre (Chinatown)

Singaporean food February 20, 2016 0

Ah, Hong Lim Food Centre. My favourite food haunt, and usually the first place I go to whenever I come back to Singapore for the holidays. I come every other day during my holidays, even though I have to travel half the country away to get here. With so many renowned hawkers all under one roof, how can I stay away?

Well, one (minute) reason is the queue, from all the commercial buildings surrounding this hawker centre. Lunch hour is 11-1.30, so be prepared to queue for at least 45 minutes if you come in this time frame. I like coming in the morning just before 10am, just so I avoid queuing.

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee
Located on the 2nd floor. Opens 6am to 4.30pm, Closed Sun and PH

Possibly my most frequented store in Hong Lim. It's the default stall I go to in Hong Lim, unless I have a craving for something else. I come in the morning, when there is no queue and I can get my order within a minute. Queue starts around 10.30, and only gets longer from this time onwards until 2pm. Best fried Kway Teow Mee I ever had, with an incomparable wok hei taste.

Paradise Dynasty (Vivocity)

Singaporean food February 17, 2016 0

Paradise Dynasty is famed for their colourful Xiao Long Baos and La Mians. We went to Paradise Dynasty a couple of weeks back to sooth our Chinese food cravings. We got what we wanted; a hot, hearty, filling dinner.

The Yang Zhou Fried Rice is just the best, Miss XS assured. She loved it so much, she's been to this branch at least a dozen times this year alone. It tasted pretty decent, with a hint of wok hei. I think I like the fried rice from my favourite store more, but Miss XS told me I'm crazy.

Another recommendation was Fried Rice with Preserved Vegetables and Prawns. Miss XS likes it with their chilli sauce mixed in for an extra kick. (4.2/5) Would definitely have it again the next time.

Pantler (Telok Ayer)

Review February 11, 2016 0

My Chinatown journey continues into the adjourning Telok Ayer area. Recently, we braved The Rotisserie during lunch hours, and had delicious Thai Milk Tea from Cha Thai.

My original plan to check out the brew at coffee roastery Sarnies was foiled when we stood in front of the darkened store and realised it was closed. My sister suggested Pantler, an cafe serving exquisite desserts and coffee further down the street. DanielFoodDiary mentioned that Owner-Baker Matthias Phua and Chef Tomoharu Morita churn out the pastries served here; the latter, formerly a member of the award-winning pastry team at Grand Hyatt Tokyo. That's some impressive pedigree.

Dahlia Bakery's Flourless Intense Chocolate Cake Recipe

Recipe February 07, 2016 0

Every holiday, one of the first things I do is to make a trip to a library and riff through their cookbook section. This usually ends with me lugging all sorts of cookbooks back home, where I peruse them at my own leisure, and pick out recipes that look interesting and do-able. (Sometimes, I leave Singapore in a hurry without returning the books. My dad was non-too-pleased about having to return them the last time around, especially since they weighed 4 kg.)

One handy little tool when browsing in the library is to use the Amazon app. Amazon Flow is magic; point your phone's camera at a book, and Amazon instantly recognises it and directs you to their customer reviews.

One cookbook I found this way is The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook: Sweetness in Seattle, written by Tom Douglas, a multi-award winning chef and restaurateur. Among other recipes, this Intense Chocolate Cake caught my eye. How often do you see a chocolate cake recipe that calls for milk chocolate? Me neither. Luckily, my amazing sister gifted me several slabs of Cailler milk chocolate from a year back, and I put them to good use.

The texture of this cake is surprisingly crumbly: each forkful disintegrates in the mouth to form crumbs bursting with a deep intense chocolate-ness. The cake is rich, and adding a ladle-full of crème anglaise provides a delightful contrast to the heady chocolate-ness of every bite.

Sherry Yard's Crème Anglaise Recipe

Recipe February 07, 2016 0

I used to use David Lebovitz's crème anglaise recipe, which has a high egg yolk-milk ratio. It was fine for a while, but the taste of egg yolks was too prominent for my taste, and had a yellow tinge.

This recipe uses less egg yolks, and makes up for the richness through cream instead. The original crème anglaise recipe uses milk only, but many chefs substitute part of the milk with cream. The more cream that is used, the richer and thicker the final sauce would be. Because I don't usually keep cream at hand, I made this recipe with milk only. I'm happy with the taste, so it seems that there is a lot of leeway.

The Rotisserie (Telok Ayer)

Western Food February 03, 2016 2

The Rotisserie is highly popular with the office crowd, and not just with Singaporeans. I see expats virtually on every other chair, and I feel like I'm back in Melbourne all over again. I'm really excited to eat here, because my sister hyped it up so much. We got a table with some difficulty and got two orders of Half a Chicken ($19), which came with a side.

Top: A combination of potato salad/coleslaw. Bottom: Fries.

Cha Thai (Telok Ayer)

Thai food February 01, 2016 0

Thai Iced Tea is an acquired taste; I never understood the obsession that my sister had for them until I had a really nice one in Phuket next to our apartment. Now, I get the munchies for them every so often. A place which my sister highly recommended was Cha Thai, and we'll frequently drop by the store every time I'm in the area just to get my fix. The Thai Iced Milk Tea (above - $3.90) is the reason why we come. It's a tad expensive at $3.90, but luckily, they're currently running a two-for-one promotion for takeaways. Yay.

28 February 2016

Wrap & Roll (NUH)

24 February 2016

Japanese desserts at Westgate: Châteraisé and Johan Paris

20 February 2016

Hong Lim Food Centre (Chinatown)

17 February 2016

Paradise Dynasty (Vivocity)

11 February 2016

Pantler (Telok Ayer)

07 February 2016

Dahlia Bakery's Flourless Intense Chocolate Cake Recipe

Sherry Yard's Crème Anglaise Recipe

03 February 2016

The Rotisserie (Telok Ayer)

01 February 2016

Cha Thai (Telok Ayer)

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