I did the
April Food Round-Up but haven't done for any other months since then even though I've been doing regular food blog entries. I have since then collected even more food pictures to do yet another food round-up. Sadly to say one motivating factor was because I've inserted back a 1GB memory card into my handphone so I've been using the handphone to take pictures rather than a proper camera. Pictures aren't of the best quality, but they are so tiny that I don't think it matters that much anyway. haha~
Have fun watching these food I had in July, and salivate with me. I actually got hungry when doing up these pictures for this round-up entry.
Warning: extremely long entry ahead. Good luck, have fun!
2.7.2007
Sausages from the stall selling sausages at Tangs Basement where all the other yummy food are.
I love sausages. Okay, that's an understatement, I absolutely adore sausages and can munch of sausages for the rest of my life even though I might die earlier from all the sodium nitrate intake, but I don't care. I like to locate good sausages and compare them with other good sausages I've eaten before. This stall here is one of the better ones I've tasted in Singapore. It's juicy, well charred, authentic enough, serves by itself or top up a bit more for a bun.
Prices range from $2+ to $3+, but a little tip here, just before the stall closes at about 8+pm when it is needed to clear stock, the sausages go for any two at $4 only. It's a really good deal if you choose the $3+ sausages.
8.7.2007
Some promo mushroom pizza with an add on garlic bread from Pizza Hut, the Siglap branch.
I at first wanted pizza and lasagna, but the lasagna Pizza Hut had was only the beef one which I don't consume, somehow the seafood one has been retracted and I am not very updated about it. Anyway, I ordered a baked pasta instead of the lasagna but the baked pasta never came. Instead of waiting for the pasta, I decided that forget it, we shall hop over to another restaurant down Siglap Road for lasagna instead. (Look at image below.)
The mushroom pizza was a tad disappointing, I think I really can't live without meat. Nope, I won't be ordering this again, time to try out other stuff next time or just stick to my usual order, that never fails me. The service was terrible too, okay la, to give credit to the staff there, they were doing their duty, just that the screw up in my order made me feel a bit negatively about their service. I think I should just stick to 6235-3535, that never goes wrong, and if it does, there's always free food on the house to make up for the mistakes.
8.7.2007
Chicken lasagna and Death by Chocolate milkshake from Cafe Cartel Siglap branch.
Because of the screwed up service in Pizza Hut, and my continued cravings for lasagna, we hopped down the street and popped over to Cartel and ordered this wonderful lasagna, and a milkshake as dessert. Very satisfying.
Cartel's lasagna is among one of the best chicken lasagna I've eaten, only the one at Delifrance Bistro is comparable, actually, there isn't much to compare with since there aren't many places selling chicken lasagna, most places only sell beef ones, quite sad. The Death by Chocolate from Cartel is one of my favourites in Cartel, rich foamy chocolate milkshake which has enough chocolate ice cream rather than a premixed chocolate powder packet served with ice and milk.
13.7.2007
Smoked Salmon Sandwich from the TCC near Robertson Quay, just down the street from DblO.
Because of a screw up regarding the dinner prepared for us during Union Camp, some of us who ate later were left without food left and very hungry, so instead of heading straight to the queue to enter DblO, we popped over to TCC and had a proper dinner. Wow... Real food since camp started.
The Smoked Salmon Sandwich was served with chips and a salad which I didn't touch. I liked the sandwich, the salmon was generous and the bread was crispy yet soft. I wanted to eat it with my bare hands because I was hungry and the sandwich was thick, but the mates around me gave me a weird stare, hence I went sophisticated and ate with knife and fork.
15.7.2007
Chicken wings, chicken blanket, french fries, bratwurst pizza, salmon and mushroom baked pasta, and an irish cream mudpie from NYDC at Suntec City.
A family dinner which the sister got to choose the place, like always, and she wanted to eat Western, like always. She had the baked pasta which I took a few mouthfuls of, and I had the pizza which my daddie took a quarter of and the mother had the wings which I took one from and we shared all the rest, but I didn't try the blankets because I had enough. The wings were decent but not spectacular, same with the fries, I mean how can one go wrong with fries? The baked pasta was not bad but I generally prefer my salmon to be raw or smoked, I also generally prefer my pasta to be spaghetti rather than penne. The bratwurst pizza was almost great. The garlic cream base was the only thing that didn't make it a perfect pizza. I prefer tomato bases. Nonetheless, the sausage was marvellous, and the cheese was so abundant. The mudpie was another things that rendered me floating in heaven. The use of Bailey's Irish Cream made the mudpie not too sweet but with a nice distinctive taste of bitter cream but with the chocolate and vanilla icecream in the pie, the bitterness was countered with sweetness making it a nice mix of taste.
While I was generally satisfied, the food didn't suit the taste of the older generation. When my dad paid, he asked if there were any offers by credit cards, he was told that there's a voucher for the next visit if he paid by UOB cards. He said, it's okay and he paid with his DBS card instead because "don't think there'll be a next visit". That's my dad.
16.7.2007
Lots and lots of xiaolongbao from Nanxiang Xiaolongbao at Bugis Junction.
Being a big big fan of xiaolongbaos, there's no reason that I can pass a chance in paying homage to the reverend Nanxiang xiaolongbaos from Shanghai, but well, the next best thing without having to pay for an air ticket is this little restaurant in Bugis Junction. Wanting to try the various different flavours and with a budget to work around with, we ended up ordering three baskets of xiaolongbao in crabmeat, prawn and original flavour. Altogether I ate 9 xiaolongbaos in that one sitting, absolutely amazing.
My first gripe was the extremely thick skin. Although thicker skin is less likely to have spillages, but this skin was really too thick and I could taste the doughy texture, but other than that, it was okay. At least there wasn't any leakages. The soup was not bad, with a strong gingery taste but wasn't that overpowering, so it was acceptable. There were significant pieces of crabmeat and prawns in the ones of those flavours but that didn't add much to the taste, only to the texture. I still prefer the ones at Yum Cha and Crystal Jade, but these were not too bad la. Can eat and can return to try other different flavours ones.
Another little tip, there's student discounts in weekday afternoons, so remember to flash your EZLink card for 20%(or is it 25%) off.
16.7.2007
Various food items from Takashimaya's Foodfest exhibition. There's the Crispy Chicken Thigh from
Dong Dae Mun, sausage from another participating outlet, and Yakisoba in an omelette from Modanyaki in Taka Food Court.
I had the sausage first. I can never resist sausages, especially those overpriced ones labelled as bratwursts, hence I picked one up from there. It was not bad. I think the ones from this stall and the ones from the stall at Tangs are from the same butchery.
I then had the chicken thigh because my friend wanted that. My favourite's still the sausages from Dong Dae Mun, but I had my fill of sausage already so I decided to give it a miss. Besides, I can always go back to Vivocity for more Dong Dae Mun when I want to.
The yakisoba was great. I have been craving for yakisoba ever since watching too many animes, there's always a yakisoba stall whenever there's a festival. Actually this is my first time having that, I had that before and I loved it, hence I wanted to eat it again the next time going to Taka, hence I just had to get it despite there being a foodfest with other food. I tried this flavour for the first time, and it's great. I love eggs~
16.7.2007
Dessert that night was waffles with my two favourite flavours of icecream, chocolate overload and tropical mango from Gelare at Far East branch.
I usually prefer my waffles when eaten with icecream to be eaten plain. I hate whipped cream, but I love maple syrup, real maple syrup, but maple syrup when eaten with icecream, especially chocolate icecream, it tastes weird. But maple syrup with mango icecream is not bad, but because I had the chocolate overload, I decided to give the syrup a miss. I love the chocolate overload. There's another chocolate icecream with soy milk instead of milk which isn't as nice as the chocolate overload. Nice dessert to end the night of gorging on too much food.
17.7.2007
Fulin Doufu Yuan at Siglap with lots of yummy fried taupok and other fried yong tau fus, this time I had it with their thick beehoon and minced meat.
This was tapau-ed back for me, hence it's my own bowl, and the fried stuff's in a plastic container. I really really love fried taupok, I can eat like seven of them in one go, but of course, there isn't seven there. I had just told my mother to get stuff I usually eat and then she just picked up some stuff for me. And because I severely lack vegetables in my diet, she picked out one strand for me. It's hidden right at the bottom, but I ate it up still.
I like the bits of minced meat they have in the beehoon. I think it's chicken because I once went to the shop itself and there were signs saying that they don't use pork or lard in their dishes. It would have been better if minced pork was used but minced chicken tastes not bad too.
20.7.2007
Wings, guotie, beancurd skin, noodles, fried rice and two baskets of xiaolongbaos from Koo Kee just behind Treats, the basement food court in Parkway Parade.
My dad has been wanting to try out Koo Kee's since he fell in love with xiaolongbaos, but because I heard that they weren't that good, and because of other reasons we haven't been there, but finally, my dad wanted to try that place so badly and since he was the one paying the bill, we went to whereever he wanted to go for dinner, and Koo Kee's was it.
The fried rice came first, and we were instantly blown off by the standard of the fried rice. Each rice was well covered with the yellows of the egg and the eggy taste was in each and every rye. I didn't try the wings, but tried everything else. The beancurd skin was a let down but the rest were decent. The noodles were very mushroom-y which was a bit overbearing for me even though I ate no more than three spoonsful. The guotie would be great if not for the many holes which leaked out juice, but it was still yummy though not as nice as Crystal Jade's. The xiaolongbaos were decent, nothing to fault it but nothing to praise it, which isn't that bad a thing really.
After that meal, we concurred that this could become a usual eating place of us if we want xiaolongbaos but don't want to venture to far away.
21.7.2007
Assorted dimsum, too many to describe but you can read them from the photo, from Tian Wang, a dimsum place at Thompson Plaza.
My maternal grandmother wanted to give a dimsum treat and wanted to go to Kelong 88 at Thompson Plaza but they closed down already, so we went to this other dimsum place in Thompson Plaza instead. I didn't eat anything other than the hargaus and siewmais and I can tell you, they aren't good. Yes, they are edible if not I wouldn't have eaten seven pieces of each, but well, they pale in comparison with the other dimsum places' I usually eat at. I still took pictures of one each of everything we ate but well...
The funny thing was that we ordered altogether five baskets each of hargau and siewmai because they were the things that disappeared the quickest. I alone ate seven pieces of each, and the various other kids and my mother sisters were snooping on the hargaus and siewmais whenever a new basket arrives.
21.7.2007
Chocolate Overload icecream cake from Gelare at the Citylink Mall.
I usually don't eat cakes, but I couldn't resist trying this one because it's an icecream cake. Icecream cakes don't count as cakes, right? I had to try this one because it's Chocolate Overload! There's another Jamaican Chocolate cake but it was sold out but it didn't matter because I'd still choose the Chocolate Overload one. Look at the thick slice of cake and icecream~
I was so indulgent in that cake that I just had to get an extra scoop of Chocolate Overload icecream after finishing that cake. But the cake and the icecream was shared la, I'm not that pig to finish up the cake and the icecream by myself.
23.7.2007
Soy Chicken Noodles with an extra egg from Jiale at Marina Square Food Loft the food court.
The soup was not bad, the noodles were nice and springy, the chicken was breast meat which I requested for was decent, not too hard, but not too soft, about just right, the taste of the sauce was flavourful, nothing to gripe about but nothing to praise it too, the eggs was bland and gone in two mouths, the vegetables were forced down my throat because I needed the greens hence I can't comment much about it other than it's vegetables. In all a decent meal bought at a food court though this food court have sort of overpriced their food items.
24.7.2007
A cheesy pork bratwurst with bun and mustard from the Bratwurst stall at the basement of Plaza Singapura.
I think I've found the right flavour of bratwurst to consume at this bratwurst stall, previously those I ate weren't striking enough for me to remember but this flavour's was good, pity it's not as long as I'd liked it to be.
It's usually served with sauerkraut, but I wanted mine without sauerkrauts, so it's just plain mustard. Although sauerkraut is a very German thing, I think it's the only thing German that I don't like it. With a chi chi name as sauerkraut, it isn't really that an impressive thing because right down to basics, it's only giam chye, and I don't like giam chye. It's not use trying to convince me that it's better than giam chye because I know it is, after staying in Germany for a semester and seeing my German housemate cook it. There was once I was lying around in my room when I smelt the distinctive smell of giam chye soup. Excited, I got to the kitchen to see if there were any enlightened folks or Chinese doing something up, but it was just my German housemate doing a pot of sauerkraut. There there, QED.
I also usually don't like cheese sausages to go with mustard, but this tasted quite beautifully. Think I should try more other kinds of cheese sausages with mustard from now on.
26.7.2007
Seafood pizza, tuna and bacon spaghetti and garlic bread from Pastamania Parkway Parade branch.
I had the seafood pizza because I was craving for seafood pizza, but I had a couple of mouthsful of the tuna and bacon spaghetti because my pizza came late. First talk about the basics, garlic bread. I prefer the Pizza Hut kinf of garlic bread but this wasn't really too bad la, normal lor. The tuna and bacon spaghetti was okay only, because I don't like tuna. The only kind of tuna I like and I eat is raw tuna. haha~ I hate canned tuna with onions and other whatnots, and this was one of those tuna from the can types, I could taste it as soon as it went into my mouth. But surprisingly, the bacon used was real pork bacon and not those fake turkey bacon kinds served at halal establishments. The tuna and bacon is a weird mix but if you like tuna, this should be fine. I quite enjoyed the seafood pizza, with my only gripe being that the cheese and toppings were too centred in the middle of the pizza and not evened out.
Don't mind having the pizza again instead of always sticking to my usual order of Marinara spaghetti, there's still the tomato, prawns, and clams, only difference is mussels for squids.
26.7.2007
Kaya toast from Yakun's at Parkway Parade branch.
It's weird right, having kaya toast for desserts. haha~ Yakun's kaya toasts are great, only that the kaya and the butter are not evenly spread out, they tend to congregate in the middle of the toast, and that the toast chills very quickly, and when it cools, the toast isn't crunchy already, and it becomes lau hong kind of toast. I still like it la, just that need to gobble it up quickly when it's still fresh and nice, but this is something I always forget to do.
I'm not really a kaya person, or even a bread person, but I just enjoy a Yakun now and then. This dessert is unique that it is the only time I walk into Yakun without ordering eggs, well, had enough food from dinner already. haha~
27.7.2007
Chippy's calamari and cheese sausage with mash potato from the Raffles City branch.
This is the first time trying calamari even though I'm a long time fan of Chippy, and I was not disappointed, 18 rings of calamari for just a small price is a pretty good deal, there were really so much calamari I had to share them. Then I also had my usual cheese sausage. I love Chippy's cheese sausage because it's dipped into a potful of oil in a deep fryer rather than grilled or other means of cooking. Really sinful but really good.
The thing is that even though I'm in love with the sausage, I do not want to eat the mash potato most of the time. I don't need the extra carbo, so I always get my friend to finish up the mash potato for me so much so that whenever I ask him if he wants to eat mash potato he takes it as a hint that I want to have a Chippy cheese sausage. Another thing disappointing about Chippy's mash potato is that it's from instant. It's the Maggi mash potato instant making machine you can see in 7-11, so there isn't really a need to eat that kind of stuff when you can free up the stomach space for something better. The sausage itself and more calamaris!
27.7.2007
Assorted donuts from the Donut Factory at the Suntec City branch where there's a sit in cafe.
I'm a donut convert. But because I haven't had the time nor the energy to do another of those four hour queues thingie, we popped by the Suntec City outlet to see if there's a queue for an eat in. There wasn't a long queue, only about 15-20min of waiting. But the catch is that each person can only purchase two donuts. Me and my friend bought four altogether, but I was the only one eating, I had the three pictured above and took away back home the fourth one for my sister.
I had the glazed, glazed is always the benchmark for a good donut. Then I had the peanut dark chocolate even though I dislike peanuts and peanut butter, but that flavour was not bad and is ranked as my third favourite Donut Factory donut flavour. Then I waited for another 10min for my double chocolate donut to arrive and it came in wet, as in the chocolate was still wet, and the donut was warm, and my whole mouth was covered with gooey chocolate, but it was heavenly. As you can see, the dark chocolate filled inside the donut was oozing out with each bite I took.
I so want to do another four hour queuing for more donuts.
28.7.2007
Wanton noodles, sliced fish thick beehoon, and assorted dimsum from various stalls at the Marine Parade Central Food Centre.
Mine was the wanton noodles, it was some Pontian noodles which was supposed to be nice and famous, but well, the noodles were indeed nice, but it was too little, and there wasn't enough dark sauce so it was rather unsatisfying enough for the pig in me. The fried wanton was more fried wanton skin than wanton filling and the soup wanton was cold. The char siew was decent though. In all, it was okay only that the portions was too little, maybe I should have ordered the more expensive one instead.
I only had a piece of hargau and a piece of siewmai and a piece of harkok. Last time I used to like the dimsum from that stall, but as I aged and I ventured into savouring other eateries and discovering good food, homecoming a couple of years later only found me a disappointed woman. Maybe I used to find it good because there wasn't the good stuff for me to compare it with, now that I know what is good, by comparison, this isn't really that good after all.
31.7.2007
Nasi briyani from the Nasi Padang stall at Treats in the basement food court of Parkway Parade.
I love nasi briyani for the fragrant rice and despite me not taking spicy stuff too well, I can still succumb to nasi briyani. My love for nasi briyani goes back to the Dunman High days when the very famous and very yummy nasi briyani is sold, only on Wednesdays, and without fail, every Wednesday there'd be a snaking long queue at that stall. Pity they don't sell it every day, they should really.
I had the chicken nasi briyani out of a choice of chicken and mutton, and I had the drumstick rather than the wing. It's not bad, the rice was fragrant enough and the chicken was quite a large piece. But because I don't take the spice vegetables, nor the spicy chicken skin, nor the parts of the rice that was soaked with spicy curry, I didn't eat much, the vegetables and rice was wasted, but I ate almost all the chicken. In all, it's not bad. Good enough for me to be so wasteful but don't feel myself wasting money on it.
31.7.2007
Desserts from Venezia, Parkway Parade branch, a dark chocolate gelato in cone and a warm chocolate cake.
Should I slam first or praise first? Think I shall get over the bad stuff first. The warm chocolate cake was more than a huge disappointment. The chocolate cake was microwaved warm, but it wasn't in the microwae long enough so it was warm inside and cold outside, and the scoop of icecream was a separate lump beside it rather than on top of it so the whole packaging of the dessert was ugly. And because the gelato was on the plate, I couldn't bring it back to complain about the not so warm cake. Worse was after a short period of time, the plate had water droplet condensed all over it. The only thing good about it was the vanilla icecream and the melted gooey chocolate inside the cake.
In a high praise of Venezia, the gelatos are really good. The dark chocolate icecream is really a masterpiece. Good for all those who enjoy good rich dark chocolate. It is not sweet yet not bitter, filled with the delightful taste of dark chocolate. This is even better than any Belgian chocolate or any other kind of chocolates.
With this, I come to the end of this extremely long post, even longer than
my previous food round-up. Watch this space to see if there are any more round-ups next month or some other months!
