The French Stall

Chivalry isn't dead. At least it is still alive in D.

He treats me like a princess.

We had dinner at The French Stall, and he let me order Foie Gras (+$16) for starters because the Duck Confit I wanted was sold out.

We had the Formule for 3 set.

For starters we had Escargot in butter garlic sauce and Foie Gras with Spinach.

Main was Lamb Shank and Oxtail Stew.

Dessert was Tiramisu and Thin Apple Tart in Caramel.

I had a glass of Riesling that was tart. Not very nice.

Half way through the dinner, LTA came by to complete their monthly quotas. Most men stood up to shift their cars almost in unison. For that moment, I though chivalry was present. Until the reality of escaping the LTA to avoid a fine as the cause hit me.

Daryl was pretty angry. For he had to drive in circles in search of a parking lot and he was really hungry by then.

As they say, a hungry man is an angry man. But the delicious lamb shank I had ordered for him, calmed him down soon enough.

The Thin Apple Tart vanquished the last bit of anger and a kiss sealed it away. :)

He surprised me by bringing me out to Sunset Bay, a beach bar at East Coast.

I had a lychee martini and him, a long island tea. The lychee martini was strong enough, and he liked the long island tea. Though I felt the long island was too Limey for my liking.

The drive home was soothing, and I guess his ploy to make me stop thinking too much worked.

I wish my life was simpler. With enough money and less stress for me to build a family with him.

La Fondue

Was craving for cheese fondue the other day, and did a quick search online for Cheese Fondue places. Chanced upon La Fondue located at Dempsey Hill.

Upon entering the premise, the smell of fermentation and cheese hit us. A really strong pong of odorous cheese. The Pinoy wait staff allocated us to a seat at a corner behind a bunch of very loud and obnoxious Chinese ladies that screamed a potential destruction of a quiet night out with Daryl.

I asked for a seat change to the other corner near the bar counter, but was denied the choice of seats. Instead, the waitress insisted that we sit diagonally across from the bunch of cackling females with little space to shift our seats.

We were hungry, so decided not to push too much of a fuss since we've already travelled so far just for cheese fondue.

But our disappointment wasn't ending just there.

The seat, which we sat on, was very, very old. The leather and upholstery was cracked and our butt sunk right in the middle, made seating really really uncomfortable. I wanted a change of seat, but the chairs were all the same.

I wondered if it was just me or are the other diners feeling the same way, because there were other fatter diners around me shifting in their seats.

So it couldn't just be me.

The ambiance was designed cosily. It reminded me of visits to an auntie's house for tea. I liked that. 

But the ventilation was really poor. The air was choking.

I looked up at the ceiling and there was an air con vent but no smoke vent or hood. And when you're doing odorous fondue and grills, you can't operate without a vent or hood over the grill stove to facilitate ventilation!

We were choking to death by then. Even before ordering food.

BUT! I HAD TO HAVE CHEESE.

And the food was the last redeeming factor to save this place.

Given the experience thus far, I would never want to step back in again.

I ordered for us, an Indulge set for 2, at $40 per head.

The menu was misleading. At the bottom of the menu, it wrote. 

(Served with Corn on cob, Mashed Potatoes & Coleslaw.)

I couldn't get a proper picture of the menu. The lighting in the restaurant was too cosy for my iPhone Camera.

SO anyone would have thought that the food came with all three items served with. BUT NO!

The Pinoy waitress, whom I suspect was NEW, told us that they had run out of corn on cob, and we were to choose between Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw, EACH.

WTFBBQ.

Did I fail English or is Pinoy English different from Singaporean English?!

I thought if we had to choose, it should be worded, "(Served with EITHER Corn on Cob, Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw.)"

I chided the waitress and suggested that she get the management to change the wordings on their menu before deluding more customers since she had insisted that we had to choose from either three and not all.

I was quite fed up.

BUT I STILL WANT CHEESE.

I tolerated.

Picked the Caesar Salad and Potato Salad for us as starters for the Indulge Set.

We had a choice of cheeses and she recommended Swiss Cheese.

Although I suspect it's because she doesn't know what the other cheese is. LOL.

We waited for half an hour before we were served any food.

The only thing that came quickly was two $5 bottle of Evians that eventually came free.

 ( I think because I made a lot of noise.)

The food finally came after about 45 minutes or so.

The food was really NOT OMFGBBQFONDUE FANTASTIC. And the portions were really really tiny for even Daryl, who has a tiny stomach.

And when we eventually started grilling and dipping, the bad ventilation got so bad, even the waitresses were choking and had to open the windows for more air flow.

$80 for two. 

Not going back ever again.

(Pictures, if you're still interested, below.)

Mehs.

Potato Salad

Swiss Cheese Fondue

Platter for Swiss Cheese Fondue

Pork Liver, Loin and Beef Striploin for 2.

Dearest Grand,

It has been 5 years since you left us, but it feels like yesterday that you were still around.

5 years, and not a single day passes by without me missing you. I wonder how would you feel about my achievements thus far. You were always the only one who believed in me and my potential to excel and achieve.

I wonder if you would be proud of me. Life has been tough without your encouragement. You were my only cheerleader. Your belief in my potential is the only push to keep me going.

I've made mistakes along the way, but I've learnt from them.

I miss talking to you. I've dreamt of you but you didn't speak to me in my dreams. I wish I knew what you were thinking.

Grandma hasn't been feeling well. I hope she stays alive for as long as she can. At least till she gets to carry her great grand child and see me get married. I couldn't grow up fast enough for you to carry one.

I miss you dearly.

Menya Musashi

Went to Menya after work on Monday for dinner and arrived an hour earlier to get a seat as they don't allow reservations.

Ordered Fried Gyoza, Salad and Ramen. Food was really good, and I loved the salad.

Service was lacking, but overall the food was good. Just that I got really thirsty after that cuz the food was saltier and I suspect had more MSG than usual.

Heng Long Teochew Porridge 2.0!

Went back to Heng Long again the other day, and the food was off standard.

UGH.

Wanted to order the same food, but Daryl wanted me to mix it up. SO I anyhow ordered and the Cai Xin was VERY SALTY. I could feel my tongue shrivel.

The Braised Pig Tail (猪尾) was incredibly salty. The sweet and sour pork was too hard and over cooked, leaving the Tofu and steamed egg to save my taste buds.

I'm sticking to my traditional orders next time.

King Louis @ Vivocity

Was feeling really hungry and wanted meat.

Saw some skinny model's review of the restaurant and thought to myself, "the food probably might not be as good as claimed." but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and decided to risk it for we were too hungry to search for another place. (We wanted Ishiki, but it was full.)

Bumped into my Auntie and Uncle there and shared a table.

They were just about to leave so we took over their table. I saw that their plate was clean, so I had assumed that the food must be good.

They warned me that the portions are huge and to share a meal if possible.

As you know, old people eat less. So we each ordered a main course and opted for an $8 Top Up each that came with a drink, soup of the day, and dessert.

We waited for 10 minutes for the soup to be served.

The Soup was Mushroom Chowder. Served hot and yummy with a big piece of bread. I liked it but the portion was tiny. Served in a silver stainless steel teacup.

For main course, we ordered Red Wine Steak and Pork loin. The servers did not ask for the done-ness of the steak and both sets came to my table slightly warm after another 30 minute wait.

The roasted potatoes were COLD. The Pork just slightly warmer. As if it had been reheated for 10 seconds in the microwave before serving.

Red wine steak was COLD. The only thing that was warm on the plate was the bread pudding.

It was very obvious that the dishes were either rejected or made wrongly and left in the kitchen awaiting an innocent victim to order. OR the meats were cooked too soon while they prepared the bread pudding.

Disappointing.

Our drinks came separately because the server got the order wrong.

We did not get to choose our dessert and it was a scoop of pre scooped, melted and refrozen scoop of oatmeal raspberry ice cream.

Salty. I had to dunk it into my root beer to make it somewhat more palatable.

The total bill came to $65ish and I have to say one of the few regrettable meals I've had in ages. For $65, I could have had a nice meal in Sushi Tei or Shin Kushinya served APPROPRIATELY COLD.

Pfft.

Even after giving a feedback to the server about the cold dishes, NOTHING WAS DONE.

Just a torn pathetic piece of feedback form.

Doubt I would return for cold meals anytime soon.

Istanbul Gourmet

Had dinner at Istanbul Gourmet located at Eastpoint Mall, level 1, beside Umi Sushi, 2 stalks away from 18 Chefs!

Daryl has been craving Turkish since forever. And I had found this place on HungryGoWhere. They had fairly good reviews, so I thought to give it a try.

We ordered a Donna Kebab, Beef Bomb, and 2 drinks for $20.

Beef Bomb

The Donna Kebab was pretty disappointing, cuz the mutton was minced and instead of an artisan roll, as Daryl calls it, it was served with bread buns instead.

Donna Kebab

It was not up to his expectation. I bit into croutons while taking a few bite out of his 'mutton burger' and found it an interesting addition to kebabs. The croutons gave it extra crunch.

Beef bomb was really fun to eat! It's an egg wrapped in a beef patty! It tasted of just hamburger beef wrapped around a big hard boiled egg. The texture was interesting. But I found the vegetables for the side salad too bitter. But the cucumber in the salad was pretty generous. (I like cucumber!)

I had a wolf berry with pear drink. It wasn't too sweet and it quenches my thirst perfectly. Plus the pear and wolf berry bits in the drink gave it something extra to bite and play with while drinking. Much like bubble tea. But way healthier.

With bits of Wolfberry in it!

I saw that they serve Istanbul Laksa too! I suppose it is fusion. Perhaps one day I'll get Daryl to try.

It's a tiny shop. So either take away or be ready to queue for Bar Stool seats.

HENG LONG Teochew Porridge

If you love Teochew Porridge, I would recommend HENG LONG TEOCHEW PORRIDGE.

It's located at Upper Serangoon, between Jalan Rengkam and Upper Serangoon Road.

We chanced upon it while randomly driving around, wondering what to eat.

Their dishes are very authentic and it tastes as good as those cooked by my Grandma.

I usually do the ordering while Daryl does the eating and paying.

As he always says, I have a natural affinity with food! <3

5 dishes + 2 bowls of porridge for 2 adults only cost us $14, including home made barley which I loooove!

Dishes ordered were:

•Pumpkin (金瓜）
•Taupok （卤豆干）
•Buay Cai (梅菜）
•Minced Meat with Salted Egg （肉撮咸蛋）
•Kong Bak (扣肉）

I absolutely love their braised meat. The flavour is just right. Not too salty, and not too sweet.

Ugh, I'm hungry again! （￣+ー￣）

Waraku @ Changi Airport Terminal 1.

I've been hanging out at Changi Airport a lot these past few months as Daryl and I need a 24 hour joint to mug for our exam.

It's over for him, but not yet for me. Cuz I've another exam on the 14th to study for.

Anyway, one of those days we decided to eat at Waraku again, after our previous bad experience.

(I tried searching for the old picture to show you how gross the Set Half and Half Meal was but apparently I had deleted the gross food pictures.)

The Salmon was a pathetically thin slice, charred on one side. Only the Pasta was edible.

This time round, we ordered Ala Carte Pastas. And a side of Cheese Potatoes. The picture speaks for itself. If you love cheese, you'll love the Cheesy Wedges!

Potato Wedges with Cheese

The Spicy Prawn and Mentaiko Set that I had was delicious was generous servings of Prawn, Mentaiko and Mushrooms!

The prawns tasted like those bought from the Frozen Section. Peeled, Cooked, Formaldehyde Preserved, and promptly frozen. Chewy to the taste. But still Prawns. The mushrooms were good. And the carbonara sauce serving was generous. I loved it.

Spicy Prawn and Mentaiko

Daryl had the carbonara with Oyster. I had a bite and it tasted of the sea.

He didn't get the runs from it, so it must have been fresh. The pasta was Al Dante, and carbonara sauce serving was generous too!

A good combination. And the price of $47 was a worth it for the huge and generous portions served.

But go for the other branches if you can help it. They have better QC.

Different Taste.

We were supposed to study at the McDonald's at the new Sports Centre in Pasir Ris but the Boyfriend had a bad day in the office and Fast Food would only make it worse.

So I brought him to Different Taste for a treat, since HungryGoWhere had some positive reviews and my previous experience there was good.

It wasn't too busy, and there were only about 6 families eating there.

I had ordered 3 dishes and 2 rice for the two of us, for SGD$35, with no GST or Service Charge. At about SGD$10 per dish, it was pretty standard.

They charge for wet tissues at 30 cents each. So if you want to save on wet towels, then best to return to the staff. =P

Our Drinks!

"Home-made" Barley

It was so bland, it tasted like cloudy lemon water. =/ Not a trace of Barley other than the Barley Pulp at the bottom of the glass.

First dish served!

Sweet & Sour Pork

More sour than sweet. But pork was crunchy. So were the tomato, cucumber, capsicum and pineapple slices.

Second Dish!

Cereal Chicken

 A cross between popcorn chicken and cereal prawn. Crunchy chicken bites with sweet and crunchy cereal. But the cereal was too oily.

Baby Kailan with Beef

Beef was tender and juicy. But seasoned with too much salt or soy sauce. It was too salty and my taste buds shrivelled upon the second bite.

The Bland Barley saved our taste buds in this instance. 

Perhaps they've changed their staff to PRC cooks, famous for cooking food too oily and salty, or they were too busy that they failed to keep their quality in check.

Was a little disappointed with this dinner. But the food was not bad. Just DIFFERENT TASTE.

It really lives up to it's name sake. =.=!

Anyway, I was not satisfied, so I made the Boyfriend walk with me to Emicakes to buy dessert.

Buy 3 get 1 Free Promotion!

I wanted to mix between Mousse and Cake. But the very anal aunty refused to let me mix even though all cost SGD$2 each.

I would've understood the rationale behind not buy across different price ranges although other shops would just give the lower priced item free. But this Emicakes aunty was just ANAL.

No one was walking in to buy the cakes and usually yummy cake shops would've sold out on some cakes by now. Sadly, I think the lousy attitude of that aunty put customers off cuz the shop was FULL of cakes. And it looked as if the cakes had been sitting in there for a looong time.

Anyway, I was craving Durian Cake and Chocolate Mousse. But since she refused to let me mix mousse and cake, I got the Boyfriend to choose for me and settled on Cakes.

We chose Durian, Chocolate, Chocolate Oreo and Tiramisu.

We ate the Durian and Chocolate Cake. The Durian Cake lacked punch. The cake was REALLY stale. I could only taste a faint flavour of Durian.

The Chocolate Cake didn't fail. Simply because Chocolate Cakes smothered in good chocolate can be kept longer and will not taste stale as the chocolate overpowers the stale cake.

=/

Then we were too full to eat the other two. It's still sitting in my fridge.

Bleh.

Susan Chan's Restaurant

Susan Chan's Restaurant, (CLICK FOR PICTURES) located in Far East Plaza, Level 5. With it's yellow signboard, it's pretty hard to miss.

Found it while walking around Far East Plaza, waiting for the boyfriend. ^_^

It's air conditioned, and it doesn't reek of oil and bad ventilation unlike the other food stalls around Level 5.

We ordered 4 dishes, ( I was too busy eating and left out the Cereal Prawns!) and two rice. The total bill was around SGD$45.

Each dish cost about SGD$10.

The Portions were just nice for the two of us, and it was pretty generous with sauce and ingredients. For once, I actually wanted to lick the plate clean!

Salted egg with milk sauce ribs!

Delicious ribs coated with salted egg and milk sauce! The taste of salted egg yolk was heavenly and even after finishing the ribs, I couldn't help but lick the sauce off the plate.

But beware of the chili padi added. I feel there was no need to add chilli to enhance the taste, but I guess a little zing doesn't hurt. =D~

Yummy beancurd with spinach & golden needle mushrooms!!

Bean curd was fried with that green stuff on top. (I forgot what it was.) 

Fried till golden brown on the outside and soft and delectable inside!

Daryl preferred the bean curd & spinach to the Triple Egg Soup! 

Soup with Salted egg, Chicken egg and century egg with Eng Chye

(I don't know what's the English name for it.), and cloves of garlic!

I don't fancy the garlic. Tried so hard to avoid the garlic while drinking the soup!

And yes, I drank the whole pot! Biting into the bits of salted egg and century egg added extra pops of flavour in my mouth! And the soup wasn't too salty nor bland! Perfect for a hot day! <3

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Why start a food blog?

Because I love food.

I've had the habit of posting food pictures almost everyday about the food I eat on my Facebook for sometime. But I could never properly go a write up on it, simply because it's hard to type on the damned iPhone with it's tiny screen and the limited space to write and edit my writings.

I tried using Tumblr. But I failed miserably in keeping it up, simply because Tumblr. on mobile only allows ONE BY ONE picture uploads.

I haven't the patience for that, because I'd much rather spend my time savouring my food than waiting for the pictures to load.

That's an appetite killer.

Blogger isn't much better. But at least it has a proper platform for editing my write up.

So I shall try.

To write this food blog.

Or at least link it to my Facebook Album. XD

Bon Appétit!