The Westin - Lobby Lounge

My weekends this week was great because of the company. Unfortunately I found the food at Populus Cafe not worth blogging about so I'll share with everyone somewhere else I dined at sometime this month which was another pampering experience.

I picked the Westin Lobby Lounge Seafood High Tea ($85++ for two) as a way to thank my Tai Tai friend for recommending me my latest job which I'm extremely happy with. Believe me, it's a very pampering experience with 2 champagne flutes, seafood platter, fresh lobster and oyster and desserts.

I just want to add that I thought this high tea set is extremely value for money because how often you get seafood and champagne for 2 at less than a hundred? 

I'd like to add that we met up for this high tea on a weekday afternoon. Believe me when I say that the feeling is awesome. Everyone else present from the business associates discussing their grand plans over food or the rich Tai-tais enjoying their regular afternoon teas to the young girls enjoying their girlfriend time while the rest of the world is working helps you enjoy your afternoon better. At least I did. Tai Tai friend was very satisfied with the entire experience too.

I strongly recommend giving the Westin Lobby Lounge Seafood High Tea a shot when you are on leave and want to have a pampering afternoon on a weekday. You'll appreciate the experience better.

Westin Singapore - Lobby Lounge 
12 Marina View, Asia Square Tower 2

Hakumai Sushi & Omakase

This week I pretty much didn't do much besides work and squeezing in brunches in between which feels really good on weekdays. I thought I'll do a double post this month because I have been quiet for too long.

Hakumai Sushi and Omakase is my first ever Omakase ($170/pax) meal in my life. Another milestone reached. Be warned that this post would be picture heavy because it's pretty much what it really is. This occasional extravagance is mainly a treat for Vain Pot's birthday. 

Due to the photo heavy nature, I won't be doing much food introduction. Photos are pretty much self explanatory. Instead, I'll give an overall summary of the experience after you see the food. 

Appetizers:

Cooked Food:

Sushi:

Basically the sushi doesn't end till you say you are full. Vain Pot and I were really stuffed till she had to escape outside for walks on multiple occasions. 

For dessert:

The overall experience at Hakumai is summarized as satisfying and value for money. No doubt the experience is on the pricier end but I'd gladly pay to do it again. The ingredients used were very fresh, I like it that the chef bothered to introduce each dish to us. I also like it that many of the dishes I wouldn't have ordered if it's on the ala carte menu because I am not adventurous enough. It's an eye-opening experience and I feel very grateful and fortunate to be able to have such meals from time to time. 

Hakumai Sushi and Omakase

#01-50A, 10 Anson Road, International Plaza

Henri Charpentier

I have decided to resume writing after a short hiatus. I realised blogging is a way to showcase the food I eat, enjoy and share with people who have no time to hunt for good food. The past few weeks have been a rollar coaster but I did bring Vain Pot to a nice manicure and massage for her birthday. I've also come to appreciate the merits of the hard work I've put in such that it allows me to enjoy good food and activities week in and out. Looking back at my student days where I've to limit my food hunts to groupons and one-for-ones, it feels wonderful to eat and play whatever I like now. Really grateful for the opportunities that I'm exposed to so far :)

We went to Henri Charpentier some time back on National Day. It's my very first visit to Dempsey Hill so I was pretty excited to go. With the craze over Pokemons rampant at that point of time, it felt like a fun social activity we can mix with food. 

To kick off our dessert indulgences, I ordered the Dome ($29), It's basically a chocolate ball which encloses a chocolate parfait biscuit of fraise d'amande. It's one of the key highlights of Henri Charpentier, a must try in my opinion. There's even a live performance right next to your table on how they set the chocolate ball alight with flame to prepare the dish for you. Quite a wonderful treat to the eyes. The dessert itself was rich in taste, chocolate not overtly sweet to the point you can't finish and the melted strawberry and almond within the dome was just right. 

Aside from the elaborate display of the Dome, we also tried one Financier ($2.90/piece) apiece and a Mont Blanc ($9). Both were a pleasure to eat. The Financier was buttery, light and fluffy. It's delicious and I felt I could eat more for a meal. The Mont Blanc was perfectly executed, you can see that the dessert was prepared well and the rum chestnut cream was distinct in taste yet not too overwhelming till you feel 'jelat'. 

Henri Charpentier is indeed a pampering experience perfect for a girls day out. The ambiance was one of the contributing reasons I decided to bring Vain Pot here for a pampering afternoon. We both deserved a treat after working hard all week. My only gripe was the service which when you finally get the waiters, it was great. Otherwise it seemed like they were a little under-staffed. I do recommend Henri Charpentier for anyone who wants a pampering afternoon with live dessert performances and to satisfy a sweet tooth. 

Henri Charpentier

9A Dempsey Road

(I like this place even more after I discovered that Dempsey has free parking)

Li Bai

I'm late on my first August post yikes! Oh by the way, Happy 51st Birthday Singapore! I spent the weekend doing forgettable stuff, literally. (I forgot what I did!) This week is the nation's birthday and I spent the day eating and catching Pokemons! The craze has taken the country by storm. My friend spends her nights on Pokehunts and even my not electronic savvy mom plays the game!

I treated the family to Li Bai this National Day as a form of celebration for a good start to the new job. Li Bai has always been one of those classic dim sum restaurants which I wanted to try but never found the opportunity. 

Given that the menu was extensive and there were hits and misses, I'll separate this post into two parts. I'll begin with the hits. 

One of the unique dishes I tried was the fried scallop rolls ($7.20). It's crunchy and flavorful. Highly recommended! 

Another of the highlights is the egg tarts ($4.80). It's my personal favorite for the day. The crust is flaky and egg custard in the center was so creamy and sweet, I can eat a few more plates! 

The siew mai ($8) at Li Bai is made of chicken not pork. It's voted my mom's favorite dish for the day. My mom isn't much of a fan of dim sum, and was even critical of the 2 star michelin Tin Lung Heen's siew mai with abalone when she was in Hong Kong. I was pleasantly surprised she said its one of the best siew mai she has eaten. 

Another of my must have at the dim sum table is Mango Prawn Roll ($7.20). Ever since my days eating at Yum Cha, the mango prawn roll has earned a soft spot in my dim sum palatte. This version was a decent rendition of the dish and I'll be happy to order it again. 

Of course, Har Gau or Shrimp Dumplings is another must have for traditional dim sums. This one is crunchy and juicy with the skin done just right. I like to gauge the quality of a dim sum restaurant through these traditional dishes because they are so simple yet easy to fluff in quality. 

With this I conclude the hits for the day. Now on to the misses. 

This fish congee ($6.50) is ordinary till I can't stress enough ordinary. It's so plain and dull I didn't bother to finish it. 

The pork ribs ($4.80) came last after we finished eating and have our tables cleared. A major screw up on Li Bai's part. It came at such an odd timing, I felt it's better if they simply gave me the option to cancel the order because I totally forgotten about it. I ended up joking that it was perhaps Li Bai's idea of a dessert. Due to the screw up, I didn't have the mood to try the dish but my mom commented that it's not very fantastic.

The attempt to meet modern day crowd with sexier dishes like pork and crab meat ($7.20) dumpling didn't really make the grade. Considering I'll pay less for 5 pieces of Xiao Long Bao at Ding Tai Fung that tastes much better... It's better if you give the dish a miss. 

The Shrimp Vermicelli Rolls ($7.20) was a big miss. The sauce was pathetically stingy and the rolls were dry and hard to eat on its own. I took a bite and didn't touch the dish again. 

Concluding on my very first Li Bai experience, it's still highly recommended! For a start, I wish to applaud the service which was impeccable. I felt so welcomed when I stepped in and this is the first place I was offered a complimentary parking coupon without having to ask for it. I felt the food has its hits and misses but those that hit really can give other dim sum establishments a run for their money. I'll want to be back to try other dim sum dishes on their menu. It's definitely a good venue to treat your family and friends. 

Li Bai

Thirty Nine Scotts Road, Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel

(The yam chips which tastes really awesome isn't free. It costs you $5)

Pacamara Boutique Coffee Roasters

It's the final post for July and with a bit of guilt given that I took a week off last week. Wanted to feature Tanuki Raw last week but failed due to the long queues. I spent my last weekend of July visiting the Garden Festival at Gardens by the Bay. It's the final week of the festival and my gosh, the queue is crazy! It is nevertheless a pleasant walk around the garden. I was rewarded with a new display picture taken for my Facebook and a healthy afternoon after a hearty brunch.

This week we journey to Thomson. It's a very rare visit because it's extremely out of the way from where Vain Pot lives and I usually pick her up from her home before we proceed to food hunting. Also, parking in the Thomson area is always a hassle. Pacamara Boutique Coffee Roasters was shortlisted some way back after it caught the attention of a number of bloggers I was following on Instagram. No doubt, its popularity rehashed itself rather than a new discovery because a quick google showed that it first gained popularity in 2014. Online reviews then and now remains highly favourable and it helps that their food looks extremely camera friendly. I am so looking forward to this visit today as a result! 

One of the highlights of this place is its coffee. We shared an ice mocha ($6.50) because Vain Pot wanted to try but she can't take much caffeine and I have too much coffee ever since a Nespresso machine entered my life. 

I wanted to try their red velvet pancakes with mascarpone cheese initially but too bad they removed it from their menu. Sulks! Was really disappointed. I settled for BBQ Pork with Mac and Cheese ($18.50) instead. Vain Pot wanted clean food so she picked Avocado and Eggs ($15.90). 

The BBQ Pork with Mac and Cheese made my long journey to Thomson worthwhile. The dish is made up of 4 different cheese (parmesan, feta cheese, mozerella and mild cheddar) which made the Mac and cheese sufficiently cheesy without being overly 'jelat'. It helps that the portion wasn't too big so it's easy to eat and finish but people with bigger appetites might find the dish a little pricey. I also like it that the BBQ pork was honey coated and tasted like Bak Kwa. The mixture of pork sweetness with the cheesiness of the cheese provided a good balance to the overall meal. I'll definitely order this again when I want a Mac and cheese fix. 

Vain Pot's Avocado with Eggs was also perfectly executed. The poached eggs were runny and the avocado was richly flavored with cherry tomatoes and lemon making the entire taste refreshing. My first worry when I saw the sourdough bread was if it was toasted too hard. It passed the test as it was well toasted and the avocado was well spread across the bread. As a meal, this is a healthy delicious choice! Vain Pot was rather let down by the portion though. We both kinda expected two slices of bread with generous avocado serving like what they offer at Boufe. One slice does appear rather miserly for a $15.90 meal. 

How would I rate the overall experience having travelled a long way to dine here? I really love the food and would be back to try other dishes on the menu. However, it's a really bad place to dine if you come with someone you can't stop talking to. It's way way too noisy and many times Vain Pot and I had to repeat ourselves. It's however a wonderful place to dine if your companion and you loves food, loves taking pretty food photos and just want to share everything on the menu. The food and photos are awesome! No wonder food aficionados love this place! 

Pacamara Boutique Coffee Roasters

185 Upper Thomson Road

Dutch Baby Cafe

Lately I've been rather busy and haven't really had the time to be adventurous with my food hunts. The horrible heat is causing a spree of coughs amongst people and my throat is showing signs of a cough festering also. Drink more water people. This week's outing is with the brother. He suggested a number of cafes and I just picked one because I simply have no time to hunt for any.

The hunt of the week is thus Dutch Baby Cafe! This is an establishment opened by Japan Food Company and the signature is their Dutch baby pancakes. The pancakes look really friendly to the cameras and even though I encountered online reviews which were generally mixed, I am sufficiently curious to want to try. 

Apparently their udon is popular as well and we happened to visit the store at a time where they just changed their menu! This Lemon Chicken Udon ($13.80) is one of their new additions and I must say I give it the thumbs up. I'm not a fan of udon because they are typically fat and not shiok to slurp in my opinion. This version however comes with thin udon noodles which makes it a pleasure to slurp. The noodles are Q and easy to eat. I also found that the taste of the lemon chicken very unique from other chicken noodles I have eaten and that's in a good way. I need to point out though that the soup is MSG laden. But for $13.80 I'm not complaining. 

The highlight of the day is of course the Dutch baby pancakes served in a hot pan. We picked Caramel Apple ($12.80) which comes with caramelized Apple with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a Dutch pancake. My brother especially liked the pancake texture which was soft and aromatic. I felt that the caramelized apple went well with the pancakes. Unfortunately, I feel that the ice cream can't handle the heat and melted before we were even half way through leaving us with liquid ice cream.

Would I come back again? Honestly with the ever expansive number of new cafes opening and old popular cafes I haven't tried, Dutch Baby Cafe isn't high up my list. I will however pop by if I am catching up with a friend in Orchard Road and would like to introduce them to something new at the heart of town. I suspect I might come back to eat the udon again if I'm alone and want a noodle fix. 

Dutch Baby Cafe

290 Orchard Road, The Paragon, #B1-13

Hello Kitty Orchid Garden

It's weekends again! This week is pretty much holiday filled with Hari Raya Puasa smacked in the middle of the week. It's a rather lazy weekend for me not doing much besides reading up on some topics of interest and renewing some good luck at Full of Luck Club. I might write more about it another day.

The feature this week is my long anticipated visit to Hello Kitty Orchid Garden! I kinda waited over 2 months to visit this place but the queue still hasn't died down. I went there during Hari Raya Puasa so perhaps it's the public holiday effect. An interesting observation was that there were lots of families in the queue unlike most of the other long queue places I dined at. Waiting time was around 1.5hrs.

Given that we queued so long, Vain Pot and I endeavor to try as much food and drinks as our stomachs can take. We kicked off our visit trying their Cumbernade ($7.90) and Apple Cinnamon Tea ($7.80). The Cumbernade is a mock tail combination of cucumber syrup with lemonade and soda. It tastes refreshing if you like frizzy drinks. I quite like the Apple Cinnamon Tea which was light with distinct apple and cinnamon taste. I find the cookie at the side really weird though with its edges wet. 

One of the biggest plus points I give the Hello Kitty cafe was how the Hello Kitty Orchid Garden theme was incorporated into the food. The other theme cafes like DC Superheroes cafe at MBS didn't successfully achieve this to a large extent of their menu. I picked the Big Breakfast ($18.50) for its Instagramable presentation and a soft spot for waffles. It's a rather interesting dish. The maple syrup had a bit of fruity taste attached to it and the two waffles that came with the meal had different texture. 

One was crispy, the other fluffy cake like texture. One the whole, the meal was definitely decent but nothing fantastic taste-wise so don't expect too much.

Vain Pot's choice of Enchanted Forest ($17.90) was highly satisfactory. In her own words, "I don't know what I'm eating but this is really good." Haha! Basically it's quesadillas with prawns, avocado slices mashed with Hello Kitty cafe's very own wasabi sesame mayonnaise sauce. I tried it, it's really good. I especially like how the tangy wasabi taste was brought out. 

For desserts, we picked the overhyped cat in paradise. It's a combination of mango mousse with almond crumble and a hazelnut sorbet. It doesn't taste horrible but nothing fantastic. The biggest plus point for this dish is how the colors are pleasing to the cameras.

Summing up our visit, I would like to come back again to try the other parts of the menu. I felt the queue didn't felt as long as I waited perhaps because of my wonderful companion. The food exceeded my expectations for a thematic cafe and can definitely hold its own as a tourist attraction and even against other cafes. The aesthetics of the food and venue makes it a wonderful place for families and couples alike. 

Hello Kitty Orchid Garden

Singapore Changi Airport, Terminal 3, Arrival Meeting Hall Central, #01-22

(The fastest way to get a seat during peak hours is to visit the place in pairs)