Ippudo Singapore

Ippudo, the renowned Japanese ramen noodles chain from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, has opened its 2nd store outside Japan right here in Singapore (first was New York City). They specialise in Hakata ramen, a thin 'mee kia' type noodles which was cooked with the right springiness! We heard abt the dreadful queue but thkfully we only had to wait 10mins for it. They have 2 signature flavours, the shiromaru (white) and akamaru (red), which is the color of the bowl soup. It was abit pricey but well worth it for such a satisfying meal. The gyozas and pork buns were notable too, despite their tiny portions. Yoshimaru has found its match!



333A Orchard Road
#04-02/03/04 Mandarin Gallery

Shiraishi

Gave my sis a belated birthday lunch treat at Shiraishi @ Ritz Carlton. The mixed sashimi were very fresh and the bento set came in a Gourd-shaped box which 'transformed' into several smaller dishes... novel and kawaii!



Ootoro sashimi (the highest grade of tuna that melts in the mouth!)


After lunch, we joined our neighbour to help deliver some food items from Boys' Brigade to under-privileged homes. It was tiring lugging all the heavy bags but it was worth it since it was for a good cause. It's sad to see so many old folks living alone in spartan houses.. so we shld never take our comfy life for granted.

White Bee Hoon

Sev introduced us to this stall opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre that serves 'White Bee Hoon'. Looks are deceiving.. cos this plain looking dish actually tastes yummelicious! One of the best bee hoons l've ever tried...kinda like a delectable hybrid between hokkien mee & hor fun.

Taiwan Trip

Just back from a round island Taiwan trip (28 Nov to 5 Dec 09) and it seems a vacation is even more exhausting than work! Managed to visit many scenic places and try their famous night market snacks like mee suah, fried oysters, pepper buns, chicken cutlet, etc... ate so much l think l easily gained 2kg! haha...

Keelung (Miao Kou Night Market)


Chuifen & Yilan


Hualien (Impressive Taroko Marble Gorge)


Taitung & Kenting


Gaoshiong (Fo Guang Shan & Liu He Night Market)


Nantou & Taichung (Feng Jia Night Market)


Taipei (Simenting - Shilin Market)


Taipei (101)

Birthday @ Oriole Cafe

Age is just a number, so just stay happy and young at heart! Some ppl have said I look very young, so thats a little consolation.. hehe...

This year, my friends celebrated for me at Pan Pacific Hotel Serviced Suites, at a cosy little cafe called 'Oriole'. Just like the biscuits with the same sounding name, this place is dark in appearance, rich in taste and has a smooth classy creamy interior.



The starters... the fish & chips and Calamari


The mains...(left clockwise, Capellini Crabmeat, the signature Beef Cheek Tagliatelle, Bangers & Mash and grilled Spring Chicken)


My fav mango cake!


'The Famous Five'





Oriole Cafe & Bar
96 Somerset Road
#01-01 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

PS Cafe

We decided to have brunch in town but nothing seems to come to mind. After making a quick search on the iphone, we decided on PS Cafe at Palais. On stepping in, we felt like we'll entered some quaint old American cafe in the States, with its classy interior and high ceiling fans. It was very laidback and definitely a great place to eat and relax.



Chicken Soup with big chunks of meat and tiny alphabets


Brunch Burger.. nice juicy beef patty with a tangy citrus sauce


BBQ Special... the sausages were nothing 'special' but the hash brown & eggs were yumz


390 Orchard Road
#02-09A
Palais Renaissance


PS : Do watch the movie 'My Sister's Keeper' if you're beginning to take life for granted cos there are always less fortunate people around us. Strangely, the cinema was only half-filled on a Sat evening, my guess is that Singaporeans rather spend $$ on comedies, action thrillers, RA flicks, rather than such poignant stuff.

After the movie, we had a sinful oil-laden dinner at Spize.. the chicken masala murtabak was damn shiok!

Peach Garden

There was a 1-for-1 set dinner promotion at Peach Garden for UOB cardholders and we decided to give it a try. All the dishes came in 'appetisers' portions but the quality was not compromised. The coconut prawns and baked black pepper sea perch creations were unique and the ingredients blended well. Their signature custard buns were soft and were oozing with sweet custard paste.....life should be such.. all sweet and Peachy!





Peach Garden 桃苑
273 Thomson Road
#01-06 Novena Garden


Yesterday, caught the movie '(500) Days of Summer' at Vivo which took a refreshing look at Boy-Girl relationships. It wasnt your typical happy ending and sets one thinking of the fine balance between reality & expectations of love. Also had din at Sushi Tei which somehow felt inferior to the Paragon branch.

Ootoya

Walking along Orchard Rd is no mean feat, cos you need to maneuver your way to avoid the bird droppings! The birds are more deafening than the F1 cars racing here this weekend. One wonders whether we are in a famous shopping district or Jurong Bird Park!

Orchard Central was another snag... nice modern design but the space was so narrow & non-shopper friendly. We had to traverse up & down escalators several times jz to comb the whole place.

We came across 'Ootoya' on Level 8 and decided to try out the dishes. They seem to be famous for their grill fishes so we ordered their mackerel and red snapper. The former tasted abit like salted fish and was so bony. The tuna sashimi also looked eerily bloodied. l guess the side dishes like sweet potatoes and radish tasted better than the mains.



But the star of the night was undoubtedly the dessert... whoever thought of mixing green tea ice cream with red beans was a genius!



Ootoya (Orchard Central)
181 Orchard Road
#08-12 Orchard Central

Itacho Sushi

l was quite fascinated with the Ion and decided to revisit it today. We came across this sushi restaurant which seemed familiar at first sight. I finally remember it was the same restaurant found in Hong Kong (Causeway Bay), which was always packed to the brim. No wonder the servers here seem to speak with a HK accent. Luckily it was past dinner time so we got a seat almost immediately.

This is one of those rare places where the actual servings look much bigger and better than the menu pictures. Their sushi and sashimi were indeed fresh and appetising. The chawanmushi was also one of the better ones l tried so far. This place is definitely value for money.



Itacho Sushi
2 Orchard Turn
#B2-18 ION Orchard

Yhingthai Palace

This place is a must-try for authentic Thai food. The decor and the servers' thai costumes made us feel like we had teleported to Thailand.

The fish maw and tom-yam soups were damn power! The latter was so spicy l almost cried! haha..


The olive rice was very fragrant, with bits of shrimps, chicken and even grapefruit. The fish was slightly tough though.


The crab patties were chewy and the spicy otah came in a nice earthern pot... very traditional.


Yhingthai Palace
36 Purvis Street
#01-04 Talib Centre

After din, we went to 'Barstop' to chill and relax...

3rd Anniversary @ The Marmalade Pantry

My blog is 3 yrs old!

Wanted to celebrate it with a bit of style and finally decided to explore the newly opened ION Orchard. Well, l refused to jostle with the crowd when it first opened but l guess the hype must have cooled down by now. Strangely, the interior looks much smaller than it appears outside but the new labels were definitely a refreshing change. And yup, l did visit the famed posh toilets!



The number 3 juz keeps popping up today...
3th Sep 09 is the 3rd Anniversary where we visited Ion, came across ThreeSixty Marketplace and had dinner @ The Marmalade Pan'Three' on level 3! haha..

This classy place just relocated from Palais Renaissance and made this their flagship store. The crab caesar's salad was light and tasty. Main courses salmon soba and ebi aglio olio were equally delightful too. oh ya, you must try their wide range of juice concoctions too!





The Marmalade Pantry
Orchard Ion, #03-22
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801


btw, we tried the R burger too.. apparently it contains marine collagen which is supposed to be much better than botox!



The letter R makes alot of difference in words and 'The Marmalade Pantry' reminded me of one such word. My ex-colleague came back from a trip and brought some goodies for us. She sent out an email to everyone saying : "Pls help yourselves to the chocolates in the Panty"! It was hilarious and we thought she was feeling kinky.

Fifteen Minutes

"Dedicated to Food, Friends & Fame."



LaSalle College of the Arts,
Blk D #01-01, 1 McNally Street.


Yesterday, had my fav lotus root soup again!

Riders Cafe

Since we already had brunch here before, we decided to revisit this cosy place and try the lunch items instead. The must trys are the buffalo wings, carbonara pasta and Rider's House Burger. The fish & chips was disappointing though... very fishy and oily. Thankfully, the quaint surroundings and graceful horses made up for it.





Pet Horse anyone?


51 Fairways Drive
Bukit Timah Saddle Club
Tel: 6466 9819

Lai Wah Restaurant

This place brings back childhood memories cos we used to have many family celebrations here when it was located at Jln Besar. l miss using those retro metal-grilled lifts. l think its been almost a decade since we last came here, so we're glad my aunt decided to celebrate her birthday here today (albeit in a new location).

They serve home-styled cantonese fare and is famous for their 'Yoke Lan Chicken'. Did u know the 1st 'Yusheng'(raw fish) originated from this restaurant? Anyway, l think the original chefs must have retired by now, cos today's items were somewhat lacking in presentation and taste.



Their cold dish...another signature item


Happy Birthday 6th aunt!


Blk 44 Bendemeer Road
#01-1436


After lunch, we had coffee with our 1st cousins at Siglap and had a good time catching up on each others' lives. It was a nice gathering, esp since 2 of my cousins just came back from HK and UK.

At night, l watched Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince. Kinda disappointed cos for 2.5 hrs, nothing eventful happened... except perhaps the death of Dumbledore in the last few minutes.


On Tue (21 Jul), we continued my aunt's birthday celebration cos its her actual birthday. We had din at Imperial Treasure Great World and had some of our fav cantonese dishes.

All of us share a common love since young... roast pork with crispy skin ('siew yoke')!

Pasta Brava

We celebrated Kel's birthday at this restaurant at 11, Craig Rd (Tanjong Pagar). We waited quite long for seats despite making reservations, but like the captain said... 'it would be well worth the wait'. The ingredients used for the starters, pasta items and main courses were very fresh and we felt like we were really in Italy!

Must trys are the calamari, portobello mushrooms and seafood dishes.