Dazzling Cafe

This weekend is pretty much a lazy and sinful weekend. No exercising unless shopping count and lots of fattening food. The original plan was to go cycling before eating, however I got a big fat blister after my maiden ice skating attempt. So injury has put me on the sidelines for a few days. What I love about my hobby is rain or shine, injury or not, I still can enjoy what I do. Injured still must eat right?

Dazzling cafe is a place I wanted to go since last month. I kept putting it off because Vain Pot insist that Shibuya Toast (the signature dessert of Dazzling Cafe) is fattening and doesn't look appetizing enough. Even today, I had to drag her to accompany me to try. Ironically, she is the dessert person and I am not. 

As usual, I typically do not have high hopes for pastas in Singapore cafes. To me, the popular brunch type of cafes typically serve average pastas and you know how bad it is if I usually go to O'Coffee Club to feast on the Slipper Lobster Linguine if I wish to have pasta and coffee. So imagine my pleasant surprise when the pastas today made the grade. I chose Mentaiko Spaghetti in Cream Sauce ($18.90) largely because of the positive reviews online. The cod roe white wine cream sauce was really rich in flavour and even though the dish is pretty much naked of ingredients you won't feel tired slurping on the pasta. I felt the seaweed flakes that comes with the dish gives a well balanced variety. 

Vain Pot selected Scallop and Crabmeat Spaghetti Aglio Olio ($18.90) which when it came made me regretful of my choice immediately. I have a soft spot for pastas and this one carried an aroma that made me crave to eat it even before taking pictures. The pasta was cooked al dente and richly infused with olive oil. The spiciness was just right and the scallop and crabmeat added to the wonderful mix. In fact, I feel so regretful it's almost certain I'm coming back just to eat it. 

Last but not least, it's the main event. We chose Hazelnut Chocolate Toast ($19.60) based on the recommendation of the attending waitress. This is basically a type of Shibuya Toast which is made up of small toasted bread cubes and topped with a layer of cream and ice cream. Take it as another version of waffle with ice cream. Service was good at Dazzling Cafe, where the waitress politely informed us that she will help us cut the toast after we are done photo-taking. I felt that the dessert was very refreshing but is missing the wow factor. After eating it, my first reaction was 'I don't get the fuss over this'. The toast was crispy yet not burnt and generous in portion. The gigantic layer of white you see in the photo is cream and the ice cream was but a small little scoop at the tip of the toast. While I felt that the dessert is really so-so, I'm drawn to the colorful and Instagram worthy pictures I can take of this place. 

Will I come back here? Yes, I wish to try more of their pastas. As for the toast, I'll only be back when I'm short of pictures on Instagram. 

Dazzling Cafe

#01-85, 15 Stamford Road, Capitol Piazza 

(There's another outlet at Orchard Gateway but this feels like the less crowded one)

Paradise Teochew Restaurant

This week is pretty much themed the week of slacking. I have been busy settling into my new job and I'm finally more settled now that I've cleared more of the miscellaneous stuff. Also, the weather has been very much a pain. This makes stepping out of the house a dread and pretty much all I did was hide at home and plan my next holiday. The highlight of the week is my mother's birthday! She being a Teochew Nang, will spur me to specially eat Teochew restaurant once a year.

I'm not a fan of Teochew restaurants most of the time. It's really not because of a lack of trying to give Teochew restaurants a chance. For some reason, I always have an issue with their service and I'll end up staring at the menu for ages and have trouble deciding what to eat. In a way, my fussy tongue may not be the best to ask for Teochew food recommendations (because I don't know how to appreciate it) but I've eaten at a fair share of such places to give my fussy assessment. 

Like I said, I always have an issue with the service. First, the cold dish isn't served first and the fish maw or sharks fin isn't served second... The sautéed scallops with asparagus in XO sauce ($26) is by the way my favorite dish of the night. It's flavorful and well cooked. Asparagus was crunchy yet not hard, scallops soft yet chewy. I take issue with the presentation though. It doesn't look like the photo in the menu at all... 

The second dish of the night is the Teochew pork roll, prawn ball and braised sliced duck ($29). All three dishes were traditionally prepared Teochew food. I quite like the authencity of its presentation even though there's no particular wow factor to bring me specially back to eat it. 

We settled for two soups for the night. Sautéed promfret fillet with tomato and salted vegetables ($28) and crab meat with fish maw broth ($40). Both dishes were forgettable. I felt the fish maw broth was overly starchy and the sautéed promfret fillet was a little stingy with the ingredients. 

Since it's my mom's birthday, it's Chinese tradition to order noodles. We selected this unique crispy sweet and sour noodle in teochew style ($14) as our finale. It's a refreshing way to eat noodles. The server told us to eat it like roti prata. True to his description, this noodles comes with sugar and vinegar dips. I would say it's my second favorite dish of the night and if I bring friends here to dine, I'd be sure to have them try this too. 

The Paradise Group has hits and misses among their restaurants. The group boast a number of home runs and a number of plain passable restaurants. In my view, Paradise Teochew Restaurant falls in the plain and ordinary category. It's not bad food just not spectacular food. Among the Teochew food I've tried, this is above average. If you have a mom like mine who loves Teochew food, you might want to give this restaurant a chance. Who knows, a Teochew Nang might appreciate them better than I do. 

Paradise Teochew Restaurant 

21 Amber Road, #03-01, Chinese Swimming Club

Ga Ya Geum Korean Family Restaurant

Finally managed to settle into the routines of post holiday life. Perhaps still in a little bit of holiday mood, I planned my weekend with a bit too much traveling. For a start, I kick started the day with a very fulfilling badminton session at Kampong Kembangan CC. Thereafter, put back all the calories with lunch at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre before ending the day with desserts at Kovan. Travel packed end to end Saturday.

One of my biggest problems post holiday has always been to plan for the next holiday. The good problem here is go where? Prior to Taiwan, Korea was high up on the to go list except I can't get past the food. So all the way we went to Bukit Timah from Kembangan to try authentic home-cooked cuisine at Ga Ya Geum Korean Family Restaurant. 

The menu had a lot of items I wanted to try. Being on a diet and straight after badminton, we settled on sharing a stone bowl Bibimbap ($14) and two dishes to complement the carbo. Personally, I'm still not a Korean food person but I felt that the Bibimbap was fragrant and traditional. I also like it that they give you control over the sauce unlike the more commercialized restaurants which have everything in the bowl pre-set to be served. 

To both Vain Pot and myself, this seafood with kimchi pancake ($17) was the winner. The edges were fried till crispy with a very distinct kimchi taste. What I like about it is that neither the seafood nor the kimchi overpowers the other yet both managed to hold its own making the pancake flavorful and easy to eat. 

We ordered the original Korean Fried Chicken ($17), following the craze over Korean Chickens. I really do not know what's so special about Korean Fried Chicken. I do not find it particularly nicer than Fried Chicken prepared by other nationalities. To be fair, this fried chicken was well prepared, very crispy, insides properly cooked but will I order it again? No, I don't feel it's worth the calories. Vain pot felt she tasted better fried chicken elsewhere. Nevertheless, fret not, there's the boneless version with different sauces which we almost tried. I think it might be better.

Summing the visit up, the visit to Ga Ya Geum gives me some hope in Korean food and a potential holiday in Korea. Granted that it's not going to make me Korean food crazy overnight, it minimally enabled me to appreciate Korean cuisines better. You might want to visit Ga Ya Geum if you are looking for some homely Korean food with pretty pleasant service. 

Ga Ya Geum Korean Family Restaurant

170 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #B2-14, Bukit Timah Shoppin Centre

We visited Hatter Street after lunch for what I thought would be a good waffle experience for Vain Pot. So all the way we travelled from Bukit Timah to Kovan with me convincing her that it's worth the calories. If you recalled, I even featured Hatter Street as my top 5 favorite waffles in my post previously. 

We ordered their signature pandan ice cream with whoaffles and gula melaka sauce. Since its Vain Pot's first time, we added an additional scoop of coconut ice cream ($12.50). So far so good, till we start eating... I think this visit might be Vain Pot's last time, and I don't know when I'll find the desire to come back again. 

The ice cream was like always awesome. The waffles on the other hand was hard like a rock. Really, I almost wanted to dig a hole and hide given that I kept telling Vain Pot how nice the waffles are and how I can eat it without the ice cream. This is my fourth visit to Hatter Street and it's really a rude shock to be served such waffles. I can only surmise that after the owners opened Oh My Tian! the division of attention has affected the quality control. I was upset enough to try to reach out to Hatter Street on Facebook or their website privately but either it's not consumer friendly or I am not tech savvy. Either way, I didn't managed to contact them. Until I find the courage to eat their waffles again...

Hatter Street Bakehouse and Cafe

212 Hougang Street 21 #01-333

Eating in Taipei

One of the stuff that people always tell me is that Taiwan got lots of good food and shopping. So I was kinda excited to go. As its my first visit to Taiwan, the food experience has been the most to try all the commonly recommended food. See if the hype is real. Next visit, maybe we will have more interesting stuff.

Kicking off the feasting was Wu Lao Guo which was just opposite my hotel. It's by far the best steamboat I've ever eaten. They call it elixir hotpot. True to their name, the broth is rich with pig's blood, ginseng and other sorts of Chinese herbs. Food was freshly prepared, the broth came with this unique tofu ice cream that is really different and to top everything off, they provide this complimentary smoothie that helps to soothe the palate after a very rich meal. It's one of the best parts of the meal. Vain Pot and I were really over the moon when we found out we could refill the very nice smoothie once! I would say this is a must try if you go Taiwan. the damage was around 1400-1700 TWD which is really a steal for hot pot of this quality back home. We liked it so much we dine here twice! 

Wu Lao Guo

100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Section 1, Xinsheng South Road, 124號

(They have a couple of outlets, you can choose the one most convenient to you)

Another place I was raring to go many months before even my Hong Kong trip is Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang. Here in Singapore, I typically go for my dou jiang you tiao fix at Yong He Eating House which I believe is a copy version of the original one in Taiwan. I like the Taiwan version! It's really good! For a start, the sweetened soy bean was just right and coupled with youtiao or fried fritters it's heavenly. The xiaolongbao here is kinda one of my favorite variation of the xiaolongbao. It's very rich in flavour, broth was generous as well as the meat. What's more, it doesn't taste bad at all! If you are in Taiwan, at least try it once! 

Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang

No. 102, Section 2, Fuxing South Road Taipei 106

(They have multiple outlets so you can google the one most convenient to you)

The shopping and the sight seeing in my opinion isn't that exciting. My own take of the visit was that shopping in Taiwan isn't worth the fuss people go crazy for unless you are on a strict budget. In fact, the experience was so bad for me I only came away with a cap. That said, I went to Jiufen since it was along the way as I wanted to go Shifen to release lantern. Jiufen is like a Chinatown with lots of street food and chapalang shopping. There we bought ginger tea, owl key chains as souvenirs and even lanterns with well wishes. Food wise, I would recommend that you try their famous ice cream roll, tofu dessert with yam, sweet potato balls, fish, siting and meat balls soup and sesame noodles. There's a wide variety of stalls and I really only identified the good ones from the popularity of the queues so that will be your cue. I'm personally not a fan of street food, and I won't say the food will wow you. The wow factor comes from the fact it's different and you can't find something similar at home easily. 

The dou jiang you tiao craze doesn't end at Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang. Another highly popular stop is Fu Hang Dou Jiang. This is the one with the queue! It's really easy to find the place from the train station because the queue extends all the way to the station. So exit and bam! Queue! Over here, I tried the thing I have been craving for, Shao Bing with egg and you tiao. It's really really awesome. I swear I'll eat it again and again whenever I visit Taipei. Another thing I tried was the Dan Bing, which is some kind of roti prata. In fact, I thought it's nicer than roti prata back home. In Taiwan, besides the sweetened dou jiang which we are very used to, there's also the salty version which taste closer to chawamushi. I prefer the sweetened version but locals choose the salty one. I'll say try both! This is another place I feel you should at least visit once if you happen to be in Taipei. 

Fu Hang Dou Jiang

Hua Shan Market 2F, No 108 Zhongxiao East Road, Section 1, Zhong Zheng District

(Go early even on a weekday. The crowds in the late morning are mainly from tourist)

Night markets are another highlight of Taiwan's night life. I need to disclaim it's really not my thing. It was a wet and rainy holiday so photo taking was difficult. The black pepper bun I tried is really tasty and feels good to eat it on a very cold and wet day. The same applies for the bbq mushrooms seasoned with different flavours. Despite the cold weather, I had to try the ice cream roll wrapped in popiah skin and peanut shavings. My favorite one was found in shifen. I had a couple of likes such as peanut muah chee with black sesame fillings and the black pepper pork bun. But it's really not something I'll brave the rain just to eat again. 

Raohe Night Market

Songshan Station 

(There are many night markets, I was told Raohe is the one where locals frequent)

There's also the famous ah zong mian xian which everyone says must try. So try I did. It's very nice. Typically, I avoid eating this sort of mee sua in Singapore because they are topped with oysters and I don't like oysters. At Ah Zong Mian Xian, it's topped with pig intestines. The noodles are flavorful, and it's piping hot so it taste especially nice when the night is cold and wet. 

Ah Zong Mian Xian

No. 8~1 Emei St., Taipei 

One of my favorite Chinese restaurants back home is Ding Tai Fung. I decided to try the one in Taiwan where it originates. Some of the stuff is found in the menu there but not in Singapore like the glutinous rice with pork fillings and the spicy wonton with shrimp. I would say that the food was good but Singapore better! One complain was the xiaolongbao in this outlet didn't have sufficient broth compared to the xiaolongbao back home. Apart from that, it's not a bad place to dine but really Singapore better...

Ding Tai Fung

Taipei 101

One of the most unexpected discoveries was the really nice pasta in one of the cafes near my hotel. Given that this is the first trip in Taiwan, I didn't have the opportunity to dine at the less touristy places. Moreover, most pastas in our local cafes are mediocre. So it's a pleasant surprise to find a really good tasty pasta at a random cafe. I liked it enough to eat it once more before I flew home. 

Second Floor Cafe

台北市仁愛路二段108號

(Sorry, could only find the address in Chinese, they got multiple venues do check their website for the addresses)

Keeping it short, I felt the overall food experience in Taiwan still needs discovering. As of now, it's more of experiencing food not found in Singapore rather than eating fantastic food. I felt the fuss that food in Taiwan is so good so good requires further convincing. Nevertheless, I felt the rain played a part in me not fully enjoying the food so I'll be going back again.