Angkor Beer

We were in Siem Reap for a long weekend to visit the fabulous temples of Angkor.

All that temple trekking can be thirsty work I can tell you... well thank goodness for Angkor Beer.

It's not my favourite beer in Asia, but damn it tastes good when your feet are weary and legs aching from tramping up and down those steep Khmer stairs... cheers...

Healthy Lunch

I had a lunch date with the girls, so we headed to Club Street where we could combine lunch with some funky boutique shopping. We ended up at the Eden Café – a small restaurant with a big heart. The focus of the Eden Café is on simple, healthy, fresh, well-cooked food and we certainly weren’t disappointed with the results.

The lunch menu included a select few main course specials – in addition to the standard sandwiches and salads. Although the menu isn’t particularly explanatory, Clement, the owner was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about all the dishes and ingredients.
We managed to sample a wide variety between us – the Roast Pork with Caramelised Onions and Apple,

the Pasta with Bacon and a Poached Egg,

and I went for the Chicken Salad which came with a zesty dressing and orange segments, making a tasty, light lunch.

Even the drinks made for an interesting adventure – none of your standard Pepsi-Cola-style drinks here, the Cola is organic

and the Soda with Lingo Berries made an interesting (and quite delicious) accompaniment to my salad.

The coffees and hot chocolates were served in funky glass mugs and the herbal tea list was the most extensive I have ever seen.

The desserts were another cause for delight – I opted for the Hibiscus Cheesecake

and the others went for the Crème Brulee which was torched at the table,

and the Chocolate Fudge Brownie which was deliciously and wickedly rich and came served with vanilla ice-cream and scattered with rose petals. (yes we were all a little jealous of this one…)

All in all a fantastic little spot for lunch… and soon there will be a sister restaurant at Rochester Park… so soon to be another lunch spot for lunch with the girls… fantastic…

Eden Café – www.edencafe.com.sg

Indonesian Japanese

We were in Bintan with friends on a golfing weekend, staying at the Bintan Lagoon resort. We were on the late ferry back on the Sunday night so decided to check out the resort’s Japanese restaurant, Miyako, before making our way to the ferry terminal. It’s an attractive space with a minimalist, zen-like feel to it and they also have a Teppanyaki counter, although we were a bit too early to be entertained by knife-wielding chefs on this occasion.

The meal started off quite promisingly with some lovely sushi – Tuna Maki and Tempura Maki.

We weren’t all that hungry following a late post-golf lunch so we continued with some nibbles but unfortunately these were all somewhat disappointing – a very greasy Mixed Tempura left the taste of the oil in your mouth rather than what was within the batter.

And a fairly bland Chicken Yakitori…

Never mind… we were there for the golf, not the food.... and there are several other restaurants to choose from at this resort on our next golf outing…

Miyako, Bintan Lagoon Resort - http://web.bintanlagoon.com/winedine.shtml

Mexican and Margaritas

We tried coming to Margaritas at Demspey a couple of months back, but it was closed for refurbishment. My friend has been raving about the food here for so long, that we finally booked a table (we had to practically beg to be squeezed in as they were fully booked) and headed up here on Friday night.

We obviously went straight for a round of margaritas – strawberry and frozen, of course – which were tasty, although the tequila wasn’t very evident (although some would say that’s a good thing!) and the glasses came rimmed with salt which led to a heated discussion about whether fruit margaritas should have salt round the rim or not… I noticed that everyone without exception wiped it off, regardless of their opinion…

We also later sampled the Mango version, but it rather paled in comparison to its Strawberry cousin.

We were all so hungry we ordered up some nibbles while we looked at the menu – some fantastic Nachos which disappeared in about three seconds flat (hence the half empty plate in the picture, I barely got in there in time!)

and some Jalapeno Poppers - not on the menu, you have to be in the know! These were tasty but we all agreed were disappointingly lacking in heat (of the spicy variety)

We then ordered up our own choice of main courses – the Kitchen Sink Burrito for myself and Mr Greedy Glutton, which as its name suggests, has a little bit of everything – chicken, beef, vegetables and rice all wrapped up and topped with Salsa, Sour Cream, Jalapenos and Guacamole.

I was however a little envious of the rice side order that came served with others’ Beef Burritos and Vegetable Enchiladas, which was buttery and scrumptious.

All in all we had a great meal, the food (and obviously the company) was great – I do think they could perhaps crank up the salsa tunes a tad… get a party atmosphere going… and perhaps encourage a few more margaritas and tequilas to flow in the process… now that’s my kind of Mexican meal…

Margaritas - http://www.dempseyhill.com/tenants_Margarita.htm

Girly Lunch

I was meeting the girls for lunch and a pedicure – and where better to kick off a good girly afternoon like that, than tai tai favourite, Marmalade Pantry? This was my first time here, although I did try the Holland Village branch not long after we moved to Singapore, and I remember their fabulous fresh juices, which is what we kicked off with:
Pert – Orange, Apple and Ginger



And Delight – Honeydew, Orange and Carrot



They have a nicely varied menu, with dishes to suit every appetite, from soups, salads and wraps, through to pastas, tagines and roasts. My friends opted for two of the lighter options: The Grilled Pesto Chicken Wholemeal Wrap with Oven Roasted Butternut, which was given the thumbs up for being tender and juicy, and not at all dried out as can be the danger with such dishes.



And the Goats Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart, which was also declared to be tasty, although the base crust was so hard it couldn’t be cut through properly, leading to goose-pimple inducing scraping noises on the plate.



I, being the Greedy Glutton, opted for one of the pasta dishes – the Spaghetti Alio Olio with Crispy Korobuta Belly Pork and Chilli. This I thoroughly enjoyed – the pasta was spot-on al dente and beautifully dressed, and the Pork was perfectly delicious.



But we didn’t stop there… oh no, there were desserts to be had, and we were definitely up for having them…

This time my friends were slightly more sinful in their choices, opting for the Basil Crepes with Caramelized Bananas, which looked sensational and were declared to be good enough to come back for alone;





and a Cherry Crumble Tart, from the Pantry Menu:



I, although completely full from my large serving of pasta, treated myself to the Homemade Lemon Tart with Wild Berries and Raspberry Coulis. And wasn’t I glad I did? Gooey, sticky lemon with a fresh, crisp crust and zesty coulis to finish it off… to-die-for…



So now I know why this place is so popular with all those ‘Ladies who Lunch’… and now I also know why they go for pedicures so often… after eating here we needed to sit still with our feet up for at least an hour before we were able to walk again…

The Marmalade Pantry, Palais Renaissance - http://www.themarmaladepantry.com/

Shopping and Lunch

We had some important business to attend to at Takashimaya… ie. Shopping, but beforehand we ad some equally important business to attend to… ie. Lunch. We didn’t want to go far, so popped into Crystal Jade Kitchen in the basement. This is a much more casual venue than the other Crystal Jade restaurants I have been to, although no cheaper… but the smells were appetizing and the tables were all full, so we didn’t think we could go too far wrong.

We started off with the Barbecued Pork in Honey Sauce, as it’s our absolute favourite from our regular Crystal Jade, Dining In at Vivocity. This wasn’t quite up there with our fave, definitely missing the hot plate, but it was still very moreish and worthy of the empty plate that went back to the kitchen.

We also ordered up some Noodles with Prawn Dumplings, which thankfully tasted better than it looked, although the noodles were somewhat congealed, and the dumplings slightly dried out…

Next up were some Chicken and Mushroom Dumplings, which were pretty tasty albeit a little stodgy,

and some (supposedly) Pork and Shrimp wantons.

I say ‘supposedly’ because I couldn’t actually find any evidence of any pork or shrimp within the crispy wanton wrapping, although if you look at the photo below, I believe the little circle at the top is perhaps holding a small amount of filling… it certainly wasn’t distinguishable as pork and prawn, anyhow.

It did come with a rather nice sweet and sour dipping sauce though, which held many surprise ingredients, like pieces of squid and char sui, so I guess that kind of makes up for the lack of filling in the wantons.

Did I enjoy my lunch? Yes, I did actually… Will I be returning? Mmm, probably not... there are far too many places out there serving up superior food to this to make it worth my while…

Crystal Jade Kitchen, Ngee Ann City - http://www.crystaljade.com/

Balinese Feast

Saturday night and we had more friends staying with us to entertain. We had spent the day sightseeing with them, and had worked up a healthy appetite, so we donned our glad rags and jumped in a cab to see what culinary pleasures we could seek in the fun and festive atmosphere of Clarke Quay.

We ended up at Bayang, the Balinese restaurant. We had been here once before, on our first week in Singapore (pre-blog days!) and remembered it being exceptionally good, but for one reason or another have never returned – mainly because their outside tables are invariably full. Tonight, as we were fairly late, we got lucky and an outside table was ours.

There were five of us, so an ideal opportunity to sample a range of their dishes, which of course we did, with great glee, starting off with some awesome Lamb & Chicken Satays,

Chicken in Pandanus Leaves,

and Deep Fried Squid – all of which were fantastic.

We followed these up with Black Pepper Beef on a hot plate,

Lamb Chops with Spices and Sweet Chilli Sauce,

Garlic Prawns,

and Charcoal Grilled Fish.

These were all equally as great as the starters, particularly the Fish, which got completely destroyed… and I think I’ve just found myself another favourite restaurant… (the list is getting quite long now!)

So a delicious, and massive, feed… the perfect energy fuelling required for our next stop, China One… where we managed to pull out some particularly embarrassing moves on the dancefloor, thanks to their resident band… definitely getting too old for that malarkey...


Bayang - #01-05 Blk A Clarke Quay, River Valley Rd

Teppanyaki Fun

It was raining but we didn’t really want to be indoors, so we made our way up to Chijmes, where we could have a bite to eat then have the option of moving outside once the rain cleared up. I’m never that impressed with the range of options at Chijmes – there seems to be too many places offering second-rate Burgers and Ribs for my liking, but today we came up with a winner…Tatsu.

As I’ve said before, we’re pretty much novices when it comes to Japanese food and have never quite ‘got’ all the fuss surrounding it… well, I think this could be the restaurant to convert us. Tatsu is divided into three – the Sakae Bar, the Sushi Restaurant, and the Teppanyaki Restaurant, and we chose the Teppanyaki section for its comfy chairs and in-situ chefs.

The waitress was really helpful and patient with our incessant indecisiveness and with a little help, we finally settled on the following starters:

Tuna Sushi

Tempura Maki

Both of which were fantastic, really fresh and tasty and I particularly fell for the Tempura Maki. But we had to ensure we saved some room for the rest of the feast we had coming our way – all from the Teppanyaki section: Beef,

Salmon

And Vegetables, served up with some Garlic Rice. Again, each dish was awesome and each cooked up on the hot plate in front of us by our charismatic chef:

Who kept us entertained with his banter, fire-raising and knife-juggling skills.

So a big-up to the Tatsu team for not only providing a really amazing meal, but also giving us an extremely entertaining and enjoyable evening… and converting us to the wonders of Japanese cuisine….

Tatsu Teppanyaki - #01-15/15a Chijmes, 30 Victoria St

Cantonese With Friends

Friday night in Hong Kong and we were all gathered in preparation for the Hong Kong 7s. It was decided that it would be a sensible idea to line our stomachs and have ourselves a large healthy meal before the nonsense began and we were too busy having fun to think about things like meals (and no, KFC and McDonalds don’t count).

So, one of the gang canvassed her local Hong Kong colleagues and booked us a table at Jasmine Place. Well, what a bonus having some local knowledge on your side – this place was awesome, and we ordered up a feast. I can’t really remember what everything was (sorry – that’s what happens when you have a boozy weekend away with friends!) but here are the pictures with a rough idea of what it was:

Roast Duck/Roast Pork (so good we ordered another immeditately)

Honey Chilli Chicken (just look at the sticky, gooey goodness there)

Garlic Beef with Mushrooms & Cucumber

Fried Fish with a ? Sweet & Sticky Sauce

Another Fish Dish

Eggplant with Minced Pork (inspired by the extremely tasty dish we had at lunch yesterday – this was completely different, but equally as delicious)

And yes I know I need to do better at remembering what we had to eat.. but suffice to say, it was a really fantastic meal, and definitely recommended… great food, great location, great price… (and of course, for us, great company!)… what more could you want…

Jasmine Place, Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong