Yan Ting @ St Regis Singapore

Yesterday was 元宵节, the 15th day of Chinese New Year. I spent the entire week eating to be honest and at the rate I go, I'm going to put on 5kg at the end of this year. Vain Pot is going overseas for a work trip so we spent the weekends shopping in town. I also discovered that if I think about ice cream in the Orchard side of Orchard Road, there's no special ice cream I can come up with besides Llao Llao. All the nice sweet desserts are congregating at Orchard Central, Orchard Gateway and 313 Somerset.

We finally tried Yan Ting at St Regis after shortlisting it 2 years ago. There was a time we were dim sum crazy and tried the really good dim sum at Royal China. Ladyironchef rated Yan Ting his top two dim sum alongside Royal China, so we really wanted to try the premium version of quality dim sum. The article was written 2-3 years ago. In any case, I promised Vain Pot I'll bring her to try however, given the myriad of food selection in Singapore along with our individual weekly cravings, we kept putting this visit off. So it's with great excitement that I'm finally fulfilling a promise and trying a much anticipated dim sum.

We kick started our meal with Shrimp Dumpling with Ginseng Soup ($14/pax). The soup was rich in flavour and the shrimp dumpling definitely met expectations that it was well prepared. Shrimp was fresh and crunchy and the entire dish was an exquisite experience.

We also tried the Char Siew Bao ($7 for 3), Steamed Scallop Dumplings with Spinach ($9 for 3), Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings ($9 for 3), Dumplings filled with Celery, Lotus Root and Mushroom ($7 for 3) and Mini Egg Tarts ($7 for 3). The Char Siew Bao met expectations, it was soft and fluffy, char siew was marinated with slight sweetness making the dish just right for the palette.

The rest of the dishes on the other hand while well executed really lacked the 'wow' factor. It probably matches every competently done dim sum at many known establishments but it didn't give me the satisfaction of having eaten dim sum. In fact, this experience kind of made me swore off premium dim sum in the future. It's too overrated and the price premium has nothing to do with the quality of the chef but rather the service and premium ingredients used. I'm not sure if this has to do with a drop in quality standards since it's rated a top dim sum 2-3 years ago.

Will I be back again? Not for the dim sum. I noticed that my surroundings were eating the other mains so if I'm feeling rich and indulgent I might come back to try the mains. As for dim sum, I'm sticking with my all time favourite at Royal China.

Yan Ting 
The St Regis Singapore, Level 1U, 29 Tanglin Road
(Please note that complimentary parking is offered for spending of a minimum $100)

Fish Mart Sakuraya

This is the first weekend after the Chinese New Year break and everyone is adjusting to life back to work. To tell you the truth, I was pretty excited about my weekend because I was looking forward to my Foot Reflexology and Shoulder Massage. In a year where I'm pretty obsessed with Singapore's best, I found Feet Haven to be the winner of Harpers Bazaar's Best Quick Fix Massage. The massage which won was the one I tried, 30 mins Foot Reflexology and 30 mins Neck and Shoulder Massage for $55. I'm pleased to share that it's really awesome! Been getting shoulder and muscle cramps on my legs but the masseuse got all the right pressure points which was a first kind of experience so good job to them!

Prior to massage, I went to Fish Mart Sakuraya for lunch. This is a rather impromptu visit. Contrary to my usual practice where I usually don't let those I dine with choose the dining venue, I let Vain Pot pick whatever she wanted to eat at Parkway Parade. So Sakuraya it is. Fish Mart Sakuraya as the name suggest is a Japanese supermarket with a section specialising in fresh fishes. They also have a dine-in section serving Japanese food.

One of the key highlights of the fish mart, especially for dine-in customers is that you get to choose your own fresh fish for the chef to slice up. The fishes are so in-demand that when Vain Pot went to choose, there's only one slab of salmon left. Oh well, the salmon taste really fresh so there's nothing to complain about! Prices are by weight, and the one you saw cost us $15.50.

Aside from sashimi, we decided to share our food to get more variety. I picked the Kaiso Futo Maki ($10) which was made up of tuna, salmon, prawn roe, seafood salad and cucumber. I found the Maki to be well-prepared and definitely met my expectations. I need to stress I don't usually order makis so I don't carry unusually high expectations on this dish.

Vain Pot selected the Una Don ($15) which is basically an Unagi rice bowl. I found the Unagi to be prepared flavourfully and the bowl is pretty satisfying on its own. The slices of unagi are cut to avoid the tiny bones and the flesh thickness was just right.

We kinda over ordered when we greedily decided we wanted to try the Kani Creamy Croquette ($6). It was fried till crispy without it being excessively oily which is something I place strong emphasis on because I hate oily food. The creamy crab meat inside the croquette was also seasoned flavourfully and made the croquette very addictive. I'll strongly recommend you to try!

The discovery of Fish Mart Sakuraya is a hidden gem to me. The prices are decent and food is fresh. It offers a good fix to Japanese cravings and the crowd is just right. I'll definitely be back again! This place is perfect for Japanese food lovers who do not want to blow a big hole in your pocket.

Fish Mart Sakuraya
#B1-83D Parkway Parade, 80 Marine Parade Road  

Guksu Restaurant

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Today is 初一. What am I doing in front of the computer?! I've done my rounds earlier today feasting on everyone's pineapple tarts and trying to convince myself that the $23.20 I paid for my "Best Pineapple Tarts in Singapore" is worth it. Mentioned I bought Kele Pineapple Tarts last week. After my first round of tasting, it appears to be! Kele is less overwhemling in taste and the pastry and pineapple strike a better balance.

I paid Guksu Restaurant a visit sometime last week to satisfying my craving for Korean Jeongol. Met Fat Fat who works nearby and she very kindly gave me a treat. Aptly for her name, we agreed next round of meet up we should exercise instead of eat.

The Budae Jjigae ($39.90) which we settled for is suitable for 2-3 pax. The set comes with instant noodles, luncheon meat, pork ham, chicken sausage, kimchi, bean curd, and golden mushrooms soaked in chicken broth. The original menu is beef broth but we managed to get it changed. Generally, in this weather where it rains almost everyday, it's a very suitable hot stew to warm you up. If you are going to ask me how much more special is Guksu's processed food compared with other places, I honestly will tell you it's pretty much the same. I find this more in terms of comfort food rather than because it's prepared in a far superior way to others.

One highlight of the set is the complimentary 2 piece chicken the set comes with. Guksu Restaurant is known for pretty awesome Korean Chicken according to research. Do note that the chicken doesn't come cheap. Fat Fat (who can't take spicy food) very cleverly chose the spicy flavoured chicken which taste awesome. The chicken is fried till crispy and the sauce is fiery spicy which can make the chicken very addictive if you like spicy food. I didn't list any prices this time round because Fat Fat gave me a treat and I forgot what was listed on the menu.

Will I be back? Yes! I will be back next round to try the other version of korean chicken which I have a very good impression of. There's original and soy sauce left to be tried. I can probably find comparable stews elsewhere but it's not so easy to find equally awesome korean chicken. Most places are over-hyped.  This is a perfect place for your korean fix when you are in the heart of town and want easy access to mrt and parking (love the parking at Suntec).

Guksu Restaurant
#02-385, Suntec City Convention Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard 

Atlas Coffeehouse

It's weekends again and this week is all about the mad rush for Chinese New Year preparations. Quite frankly, I'm blogging and eating in between work. Trying to maximize my time without spending too much time on unproductive technology (my new year resolution this year). I spent weekends hunting for Chinese New Year food and just bought the Kele Pineapple Tarts for my friends and folks at home. Kele Pineapple Tarts was the winner of last year's Jurong Point's Search for the Best Pineapple Tart Contest.

Atlas Coffeehouse has been a craving since I visited Paddy Hills. Back then, I was searching for the best hotcakes and both Atlas Coffeehouse and Paddy Hills were shortlisted. Given the busy schedule of Vain Pot and myself, we finally managed to squeeze in a trip to Bukit Timah to try out the much raved about Butterscotch Banana Pancake.

To kick start our meal, we shared the Creamy Mushrooms on Sourdough with Sunny Egg ($14+$2 for sunny egg). The food was cooked well but without any stand-out factor. It's definitely a pleasurable breakfast dish but I felt that the creamy mushrooms could have been more flavourful. Egg was runny and bread was well toasted. A decent meal if you aren't asking for much.

The Atlas Butterscotch Banana Pancake ($18.50) was what I specially made this trip for. The pancakes are served with homemade butterscotch and honey comb ice cream topped with lots of honey gold flakes. On the side, there's also maple syrup to be added. I'm a sweet tooth person and I kinda poured too much maple syrup for Vain Pot's liking. Whoops. Apart from that, I found the pancakes done perfectly, it's crispy on the outer layer and fluffy on the inside. The ice cream, bananas and maple syrup provided a perfect match to the fluffy pancakes. I would want to eat this again. It should be mentioned that eating this with 2 people or alone is not advisable because it gets 'jelat' after the ice cream gets finished. It's better to try this in a bigger group.

Will I come back here again? I think there's potential in the menu. To only try one main and conclude isn't very fair to the cafe. If all else fails, I'll be back just to have Butterscotch Banana Pancake as my dessert. It's worth trying!

Atlas Coffeehouse
6 Duke's Road
(Just take MRT or Uber, parking is a hassle)

Dallas Restaurant and Bar

This post is slightly delayed because I ate it today on my Birthday. I've a soft spot for meat and I've been craving for baby back ribs. It's birthday week and basically I spent my weekends having a staycation at Quincy Hotel. I must say that the service has been awesome and it's just a little away from Orchard road but definitely within walking distance. The ambiance, coffee machines, and breakfast were all fantastic and I'd like to stay there again.

As the story goes, I had a craving for baby back ribs so I googled "Best Baby Back Ribs in Singapore 2016". A couple of places turned up like Morgansfield and in the end I settled for Dallas Restaurant and Bar because it didn't felt as tedious to drive there. Yes, got own transport but still lazy. Honestly, I'm very excited to dine there because ALL the blogger reviews have been nothing short of awesome.

I had brunch at Refuel Cafe for lunch and had a bad stomach thereafter. So was a little more careful for dinner. Vain Pot and I settled for the Meat Platter ($70 for 2) which consist of braised pork ribs, ribeye, lamb cutlets and rotisserie chicken and sides. It's really fantastic and we both agreed this is totally worth even dollar we spent. It comes with 3 sauces, mushroom, black pepper and mint.

The Pork Ribs totally didn't disappoint which meat that falls off the ribs easily. The meat was cooked till tender and well seasoned. I have a soft spot for ribs and I basically cleared them all. Whoops! The Rotisserie Chicken is another winner dish with very tender meat and goes exceedingly well with both the black pepper and mushroom sauce. Again I polished off most of it.

I found the Lamb Cutlets to be on the tougher side. But I kinda appreciated the chewiness of it and the fact that its flavour comes out of every bite. Vain Pot seems to appreciate them better than me but she did mention she felt the Ribs were ordinary.

I don't take beef so I didn't try the Ribeye. Vain pot who polished them off found they met her expectations and were tender and tasty. The beef apparently was the one which made her felt the platter was money well spent (her treat so whatever she says goes).

I'll definitely be back again because I am totally a meat lover and this platter sure gave my tummy a memorable birthday celebration in its own right. I must add that the dining ambiance is fantastic and is perfect for special occasions. Valentines Day is coming and from their website I noticed a V Day menu. Do check it out!

Dallas Restaurant and Bar
Suntec City Sky Garden
3 Temasek Boulevard #03-302/303

Nanjing Impressions

This is a weekend spent with the family. Apparently, its the start of my birthday week so eat and eat as much as possible without guilt. January has always been my favourite month of the year for various reasons. It's the start of a brand new year and I'm a proud Capricorn. This year, it's a little sad I found out today I'll am sharing my birth month with people less desirable to me and that kinda tainted my happy month. Crap, it feels like it's gonna be forever since birthdays don't change. ><

My family brought me to try this latest craze located at Plaza Singapura called Nanjing Impressions. I've seen a lot of photos on instagram thanks to the bloggers I'm following. Mixed feelings about the place before I visit. Nanjing food doesn't really quite appeal to me but that said given the hype, I want to try!

We picked a list of dishes at my brother's recommendation (he did the research) and some based on photos. One of the best dishes for the night, Poach Lion's Head Meatball ($13.80/portion), really makes me crave for the soup. It's flavourful and very rich in taste, something rare in Singapore and a stark reminder of cantonese soups in Hong Kong. The meatball was big and fat with a good mix of meat and fats which were all tender and easy to eat.

Another of their key highlights that looks very different from the photos showcased by the popular bloggers is Sesame Scented Beancurd Julienne ($11.80/portion). That's the white noodle soup looking photo you see. You know I kinda have the feeling they gave us some other dish but because my chinese is bad, I can't tell. In any case, the noodle looking beancurd is famed because of the chef's workmanship and how my mom mistook them for noodles. Taste wise, it's pretty interesting but I'm quite certain its the wrong dish.

One dish I picked for myself was Sliced Fish in Spicy Pickled Cabbage Broth ($18.80/portion). It's awesome and my favourite of the night! My mom however doesn't like the Mala taste that accompanies the slice fish. She kept insisting it taste like Indian Curry. I like the authenticity of the Mala chilli oil mixed with pickled cabbage. The fish which was cooked till soft and tender went just right with it.

Because it's supposedly my birthday celebration, my mom insisted on ordering noodles. We picked Nanjing Special Shredded Duck Fried Noodles ($14.80/portion), It tastes pretty good! I enjoyed the mix of tender shredded duck meat and the fried noodles which was excellently cooked. That said, it's typical of China dishes that they are very oily.

Another dish which my brother insisted upon was the Jinling Signature Salted Duck ($16.80 for small). He said it's one of the key highlights of Nanjing Impressions. The duck wise was a mixture of hits and misses. The meaty parts tasted really great with the saltiness and tenderness coming together just right. On the other hand, the gripe was the boney parts of the duck which were difficult to eat and tasted quite hard. You decide if you want to play roulette with this dish.

Dessert was Osmanthus-Scented Steamed Sponge ($4.80). I quite enjoyed this chewy dessert and its rich flavouring of osmanthus. For a more local description it tasted like the 9 layered colourful nonya kuey. Worth a try!

Wrapping up the post is always the question if I'll return again. I would IF I'm hosting my China friends. I have a feeling they will like the food here especially the spicy fish. There're hits and misses on the table but my biggest issue was the thirsty feeling I had after the meal. Too much MSG?

Nanjing Impressions
#04-46, Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road

La Nonna (Holland Village)

...and it's the first post of 2017! Kick started the year and enjoyed my public holiday with some shopping and well Italian food which I developed second thoughts on 30mins before my journey there. Felt bad if I cancelled the reservation and decided to head over anyway.

I was first drawn to La Nonna because of Vain Pot's love for Italian food, my own love for pasta and well the fact it offers weekend brunch at affordable prices. One of the biggest drawbacks about being amply updated about food is that you amass so much food you wish to try but not enough time to try them. The researched done on La Nonna was thus done in early 2016, which relied on information provided in 2015. For some strange reasons which seems consistent among a lot of cafes and restaurants in Singapore, the food standards drop over time. Please don't be mistaken, the food at La Nonna is definitely edible and within acceptable standards. It's just that I may not have short-listed them as my New Year venue if it's based on updated research.

The Crab Linguine ($26) does taste decent. Pasta was cooked al dente, sauce was creamy and flavourful and there was generous chunks of crab meat. So what's the problem? It's good pasta which I wouldn't mind eating again but it's not fantastic. The food didn't leave an after-taste in my mouth and well I forgotten how it tasted already except that I had good feelings about the dish when I ate it.

The Risotto Allo Zafferano is risotto with butternut pumpkins and king scallops ($27). It's far too creamy and the rice was too hard in my opinion. The scallops which came with the dish had a strange bacon taste to it. I kinda enjoyed it but not Vain Pot. Vain Pot was telling me that she likes to order Risotto because she uses it as a measure of good Italian food. Apparently too few establishments can get this dish right. She also rightfully pointed out that many places can get a pasta done well but not a Risotto. Since I'm a pasta lover, I didn't noticed this but it's good to take note in future!

We ordered two small soups Funghi and Zuppa De La Nonna ($11 each) to share. Basically they are mushroom and pumpkin soup and I enjoyed both soups. Both soups are prepared with natural ingredients and are rich in taste. Thumbs up to the soup.

I'm really torn and undecided whether I want to return to try their weekend brunch menu. It's a tough call because I'm mentally prepared that I won't get fantastic food but it's really decent Italian fare which I would like my family to try. Their oven was down so no pizza for 2 weeks starting from this date. I do want to try their pizzas too. Perhaps one more chance?

La Nonna
26/26B Lorong Mambong