51 Tauhuay

Yet another post on Tauhuay after my prior Ama Soy experience. This time round, it's 51 Tauhuay!

Pudding-like tauhuay isn't on my favourite list, as mentioned in the previous post. But hey, 51 Tuahuay is similar, yet so different.

The bean curd is so smooth, it glides down your throat without you having to sink your teeth in them. No powdery feeling stuck at the back of your throat after consuming this, just sweetness of the bean curd. And not to worry if you don't fancy sweet stuff, because the sweetness level is just right.

This might just change my view towards 51 Tuahuay.

Just look at my fridge.

51 Tauhuay

Blk 442, Clementi Avenue 3

Fried Rice - Best in our Opinion.

As mentioned in the previous Lao Beijing post regarding the best fried rice in town. Here it is!

This. Is. Really. Good. Stuff.

There are many fried rice on the menu, L's favourite is fried rice with salted fish and chicken (S$3.50). Mine is sambal chilli fried rice (S$3.50). Ask them for a small plate of sambal chilli as well. Their sambal chilli goes superbly well with the fried rice, it's totally awesome!

Fried rice is an asian dish which is common and easy to find. You can easily find it anywhere you go, any hawker centres, food courts, or even asian restaurants. But having the perfect fried rice, thats a different story.

The fried rice here is a classic Chinese dish. I wouldn't say unrealistic things like you can find a slice of abalone here and there in this plate of goodness, neither would I say you will float up to heaven after a spoonful of this. But I would go as far out to say that this is a simple yet delicious dish. Not too oily, yet not dry enough to make you want to run for water.

This will make you come back for more.

Wah Chee

Blk 5 Dover Crescent

#01-02 Singapore 130005

Tel: 6778 3567

Canton Paradise - Time for some Dim Sum in our Systems

As you all should know, there is a new mall next to Bouna Vista mrt station - Star Vista. And I happen to live just 5-10 mins walk away from it, so this is where we landed up during one of our impromtu dinner dates.

Our Destination for Dinner

Being a dimsum lover, I had my eyes set on this restaurant the very first time we set foot in this newly furnished mall. So there wasn't much hestitation. We marched straight up to the reception and asked for a number, since the dinner crowd had already been formed.

Very very busy restaurant

Dining Utensils for the night

Cripsy BBQ Pork Bun (3 for S$4.80)

 

Quite a disappointment to both of us. We initally choose the steamed version of this, but change our minds to the cripsy one right before we pass the order slip to the waiter. I guess we were expecting the bo luo bun's cripsiness but this turns out to be not cripsy at all. But the BBQ pork filling is delicious though!

Mini Egg Tarts (3 for S$4.20)

They are not kidding when they name these mini egg tarts.

Disappointment sinks in yet again. Serving portions weren't satisfying. The taste of these mini tarts weren't satisfying too. In fact, I regretted ordering it.

Custard Bun (3 for S$5.20)

If you have noticed, there are tons of foodie photo on custard buns lately, either on facebook or twitter or even instagram! So how can we not order this?

Oozing custard filling

Just look at the photo. Makes you drool and want to try it, isn't it? I know it's hard to find a place where custard buns are served in this state, the piping hot custard filling all in liquid state and flowing. We had our virgin custard buns at Old Hong Kong restaurant, and it was a huge disappointment as the custard were in simi-solid state.But I have to add on, looks isn't everything. Though the filling appears impressive, the skin of flour were moist and heavy, it doesn't feel flufy at all. Just thick, and makes swallowing them a chore. Not a bad dish, but definitely doesn't create a long lasting impression.

Fried Prawn and Mango Fritters (3 for S$5.20)

Yet another disappointment. Far too oily for our liking. It's really too oily. Other than 'oily', I cannot think of anything else. Well, it's oily.

Xiao Long Bao (4 for S$4.80)

We nearly skipped this dish while ordering, and boy, I am so glad we didn't! This is the ONLY dish in the whole dinner which we really felt was worth the money. In fact, it's comparable to the ones at Din Tai Fung, and in my humble opinion, much better than the ones at Crystal Jade.

Fried Rice with Salted Fish and Chicken (S$10.80)

Not impressive. It tastes much better with vinegar in my opinion.

Mango Puree with Sago & Pomelo (S$4.50)

Last dish of the day! Mango is L's favourite fruit. In fact, he loves it so much that I often tease him that if one day, his basket of mangoes and I are in danger, he will rush to save the mangoes first before thinking about me. ):

Okay, back to the mango sago. There are mango pieces, sago and pomelo inside this little container, as the name has obviously suggested. Since it isn't the pomelo season, the ones we had have a bitter aftertaste. But the mango were very  sweet though. I like how they chilled the whole dessert - together with the container. Basically, I like my desserts chilled.

Total bill for 2 of us came up to a total of S$49.55. Given that most of the dishes are rather 'minature', the price we paid was steep. If you are giving this place a thought, do order the xlb, you will definitely not be disappointed!

Canton Paradise Tea House

1 Vista Exchange Green #B1-45/46

Star Vista

Singapore 138617

Tel: 6694 2915

The Square Restaurant - Food Outside The Box

Being an extremely lucky girl, I'm blessed to secure a part time job after A Levels, which lasted me all the way til I graduate from University. That's a whole good 3 years of part time, with 1-2 months annual breaks which allowed for me to study for examinations, and a 3 months break for me to go for internship at ease. With such flexible schedules, and of course, understanding supervisors, I really couldn't ask for more.

So after 4 months, I finally found time to meet up with both my NUS supervisors! Not without food, of course.

So here we are, The Square Restaurant at Novotel, Clarke Quay. Situated very near to Liang Court, please make sure you find the right entrance to Novotel. Or else, you will end up walking around in circles in Liang Court.

Get into the right building. Take the right lift up to 7th storey. Start feasting.

Perhaps we were too early. I couldn't think of any other reasons why the restaurant was so empty. (Until much later)

Almost empty restaurant

But I can't complain. Less crowd can make dining a more comfortable experience.

The spacious dining area with such contemporary furniture and deco makes this modern restaurant an ideal place for large gatherings or family dinners.

To start off, here's the Fresh Seafood Selection.

Fresh Seafood Section

Well, being not a fan of seafood, I didn't try any.

Sushi Platter is next on the list.

Sushi Platter

Oh, how my heart jumps with joy when I spot my favourite Jellyfish Sushi sitting quietly on the tray, waiting for me to pick it up gingerly and pop it into my mouth. But the disappointment sets in as soon I threw the whole sushi into my mouth.

The rice was wrong, the seaweed were damp, even my favourite jellyfish doesn't taste fresh.

Conveniently next to the sushi was a variety of well, pretty looking sandwiches.

Sandwiches for your pick!

Let's just stop at pretty looking. I took a bite of the tune sandwich, and I left the rest uneaten. The bread was such a chore to chew, and the tuna mix was too raw and fishy. I understood why the tray of sandwich was almost left untouched at the end of the buffet.

The Square Restaurant offers quite a few live-cooking stations, namely Roasted Meat section, Singapore's all-time favourite Fried Carrot Cake, Satay/Otah/Chicken Wings, and Noodles section.

Roasted Meat Section (blurred)

The Roasted Pork were not bad. In fact, it was good! The meat was tender, juicy and very tasty. And of course, they provides a reasonable selection of condiment sauces right in front of the counter for your pick.

The Carrot Cake didn't score with me though. My favourite CC will be located in one of the most humid and stuffy hawker centre, where I will request for the cook to add it more cai-po and make it 'more black'. Never had a fancy for white carrot cake.

If you ever dine here and you can only eat one item on the list, please go for the chicken satays. They were so good, I can't help but to go back for three more servings! First of all, the station had already won me over with the familiar smell of smoke. Satay is always one of Singapore's famous dishes, but to make the meat tender, tasty and not overly dry after grilling, that needs alot of skills. The Satays served here absolutely scored full marks with me! Not kidding. The meat were very well-marinated, and it was grilled to almost perfection. I believe no words can do this dish justice, you have to try them yourself!

Next on list was the Noodles Station, which I was already too full to try.

Noodles section

You just let the friendly cooks behind the stations know what noodles you want, and they will whip up the dish for you right there, on the spot.

Aha, not at all unfamiliar with this dish, I am sure.

Chilli Crab

The meat was fresh, the sauce was tasty. What's more to ask? Oh. One of the waitress even serve our table a bowl of lemon water for us to wash our hands with, without us asking for it.

Now that I'm quite stuffed, time to head to the desserts section!
I love how many buffets now allow us to create our very own ice kachang!

Ice Kachang Machine

I meant, just look at the number of jars we can get our condiments from! You'll be lost for choices, really.

Danish pastry

Chocolate Fondue

A buffet isn't complete without a chocolate fondue fountain. Lke many others, the chocolate here is so rich yet not too sweet to turn people off. And it's warm chocolate! Okay, I'm won over.

Fruit Tart

This particular Fruit Tart got my hopes up high, and then dropped me from heaven. The sweetness of this fruit tart is artificial. The base was well, lousy. I can't even describe it in words.

Before

After

By the way, the rest of the desserts were disappointing too. Seems like most of them were leftovers, because majority of them tasted stale.

There were many other stations of course!
Salad sections -  Chicken Sausage salad was lousy. The sausage tasted well, expired. Pasta salad didn't impress as well.
Ala-carte sections - Roti Prata wasn't crispy, nor tasty. I felt like I was chewing onto dough which wasn't mix well. Char Kway Teow wasn't too bad though, just stay away from it if you don't fancy oily stuff.
Ice cream section - The normal sort of ice cream you could get from anywhere, but they tasted good here because I dripped loads of the chocolate syrup over my icecream. And of course, nata de coco (from the Ice Kachang Station which is just beside the icecream one.)
Drinks section - Many drinks to choose from. You've the cold drinks namely Guava juice, Orange juice, Milk (for cereal), etc. Then you have a whole tray selection of tea, packed into little individual packaging, for you to choose from. When I was there, both coffee machines broke down, so we can't try any.

Did not have a good experience with the food, since most of them didn't impress. But the waiters/waitresses were nice and thoughtful to attend to our needs, with initiative. Although they do get a little rushed to clear our plates when we are not even done. But still, the service is out to impress, at least way better than the food served.

The Sqaure Restaurant

Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore Hotel

177A River Valley Road

Singapore 179031

Tel: 6433 8790

Opening hours:Buffet Breakfast - 6:00am to 10:30 am

Buffet Lunch - 12:00noon to 2:30pm

Buffet Dinner - 6:00pm to 10:00pm

Ala Carte Menu - All Day

Strictly Pancakes

They said friends are your pillars in life, without them to share your joy and sorrow, you'll be living a wasted life. And i really couldn't agree more to that. So I always make it a point to organise/attend gatherings, just to do my part to keep the friendships going.

And boy, what are gatherings without food?

So off we go, to Strictly Pancakes! To indulge in uh well, pancakes, as the name of the restaurant suggests.

Sitting quietly along the Prinsep Street, Strictly Pancakes proves to be one of the hangout place where everyone can head to for brunch, anytime. An All Day Pancake concept dining place, where you can get pancakes at anytime of the day. Unlike Macdonalds, which you have to rush to wake up early for the pancakes, or else you have to settle for burgers once the time hits 11.01am.

After more than half an hour of waiting, we finally got a table for 6! I'm someone who hates waiting and queuing up for food, so whenever I want to dine somewhere, I always try to make reservations beforehand whenever possible. Which I failed for this gathering, because the clique meets at 1, and this restaurant only allows for reservations at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, ...

After a long wait, the waitress could only offer us the seats outdoors. But thank goodness, a crowd on the 2nd floor left so she offered us the seats indoors which we all gladly obliged. It was such a warm and stuffy day! On the second floor, there were two distinct seating areas. One is the sofa seats (which was directly under the glass ceiling), the other is the one with tables where the stronger air conditioning are. Luckily, we managed to get the latter! (:

And oh yes, here comes the pancakesssssssss! 

Strawberries & Co. (S$10)

Mine! Medium stack of original pancakes, accompanied by mixed berries, strawberries coulis and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. In my opinion, that scoop of icecream was the best on the plate.

Blackforest (S$11)

Tiramisu ($S12)

Apples and Cinnamon (S$10)

If you pay this place a visit, order the chocolate pancakes! They tasted so much better than the original ones. So much better that I switched one of my original one with my friend, for his chocolate piece. Both Tiramisu and Blackforest just prove that pancakes taste so much better with chocolate. Apples and Cinnamon just didn't score for me.

An advise for people with small appetites, please do order the short stack (which consists of 2 pancakes), or share your plate with another.  Because none of us managed to clear our plates, except for Benjamin who order the short stack of chocolate pancakes. Or maybe Aaron did, but he felt like puking pancakes out after that.

If you ask for my opinion, I would rather wake up early for Macdonalds' pancakes and the multiple packets of maple syrup and butter which I can get for free over the counter. SP's pancakes were too heavy for my liking, I found myself struggling after just 1 piece. The whole meal wasn't satisfying for me at all. Filling, yes. Satisfying, no. And that is a big taboo in the world of food, for someone to continue to feel as unsatisfied as he/she was before the meal. 

Or perhaps I should order the chocolate based one. Or perhaps pancakes only go well with maple syrup/butter for me. You should come with an open mind and taste them for yourself!

Strictly Pancakes

44A Prinsep Strret

Singapore 188674

Tel: 6333 4202

www.strictlypancakes.com.sg

/some photos courtesy of google.com