There were 13 different curries listed on the menu, including the familiar Butter Chicken and Mutton Rogan Josh. But there were also many that looked totally unfamiliar to us, with equally exotic (and long) names like Varutharaicha Kari Kuzhambu that I had never seen before. It was then that I realised that we were in for a treat.
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I finally made it back to Nylon Coffee after eight long years
Let me just say upfront that, sometimes, I’m a terrible customer. I was looking back at some old photos and realised that the last time I visited Nylon Coffee Roasters was eight years ago, all the way back in the September of 2013.
Continue readingAng ku kueh doesn’t always have to be red
It’s good that traditional shops like Ji Xiang Confectionery are experimenting with different flavours and colours, instead of simply sticking with the classic tried-and-tested ones.
While some might think that this dilutes the original symbolism of the beloved ang ku kueh, these innovations do make it more attractive and relatable to the younger generation, who may otherwise just give it a miss totally.
Continue readingSoft and chewy Japanese pan from Gokoku Bakery
I’ve always found it intriguing that the same word can have such similar pronunciations in different languages. Take, for example, the word “bread” in English. When you push it through Google Translate, you get パン (pan) in Japanese, pain in French and 빵 (ppang) in Korean.
Continue readingA trip down (coffee) memory lane
During the period of August 2013 to February 2014, we visited 11 cafés across Singapore to try out their flat whites, piccolo lattes, white double ristrettos, mochas, iced coffees, pour overs and one Prosecco. Guess how many are still in operation today?
Continue readingVegetables can be delicious too, you know
Like many people, I grew up not liking vegetables. They were always the least tasty part of any meal and something that I had to forcibly swallow to finish my meal. It took a while for me to get over my childhood dislike of vegetables, and over time, I found that I actually started to like them.
Not just as a necessary evil to be tolerated, but as a delicious dish to be enjoyed. So much so that I regularly seek out vegetarian restaurants to have an entire meal comprising *gasp* only of vegetables.
Continue readingNanyang Chinese fusion cuisine done right at Famous Treasure
There’s an abundance of Chinese restaurants in Singapore, many of which specialise in specific regional cuisine such as Cantonese, Teochew, Hokkien, Sichuan, Hakka etc. But even though Famous Treasure is also a Chinese restaurant, they don’t quite fit the mold.
Yes, they have Cantonese roast meats on their menu and serve traditional Teochew orh nee dessert, but what makes them special are their well-executed Nanyang (南洋) dishes, many of which you’d typically find at neighbourhood tze char stalls.
Continue readingThe plating at Brasserie Les Saveurs is just so pretty
Firstly, our waiter set down our bowl-shaped plates with the neatly assembled lobster, microgreens and croutons. Then, he proceeded to fill our plates with bisque from his large gravy boat, creating a viscous moat around the mini lobster island. I don’t know why, but this way of presenting soup always impresses the heck out of me. I just find it so elegant and bourgeois (an atas French word that means atas), and it tasted as good as it looked.
Continue readingThe semi-buffet at One-Ninety offers a great balance of choice and quality
The good thing about buffets is the large amount and variety of food on offer, ensuring that everyone gets to choose what they want to eat. The bad thing about buffets is that, for the very same reasons, the quality of food tends to be mediocre.
Continue readingWhen you can’t fly to Japan, head to Tanoke for good food and lots of sake
The six bottles of sake on display were only a small sample, because once you turn around, you’re greeted with a wall of chillers packed with sake from all over Japan. It’s not a terribly large collection, but it is impressive and not a common sight in Singapore.
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