Singapore - Koi Bubble Tea

Koi Cafe has taken over Singapore's bubble tea scene recently. Even people who dont drink bubble tea start loving bubble tea after this!

I know that katong, toa payoh, ang mo kio, bishan, chinatown and bugis (iluma) have branches. 

The difference between koi cafe and other bubble tea:

lots of tiny bubble tea pearls

more expensive

more "fragrant" as the taste of the tea was stronger

milky!

crazy queue

This was definitely worth the money if there is no queue, i dont know why i lined up 30 minutes just to get a cup! Talk about peer pressure...haha 

It is nice though and I love the chewy small pearls, yummmyyy

Location: All over Singapore

Rating: 4/5

Best Chocolate Ever!

Bought 2 boxes of Royce Chocolate from Singapore. This "mousse" chocolate originates from Japan and there is a branch in Ion Orchard. 

When I first tried this chocolate years ago, i was amazed! These soft, rich chocolate cubes dusted with cocoa powder melts in your mouth. It is unlike any other chocolate I have tried before!

Before you buy you can even ask for samples and have a taste. I bought the champagne and original flavour.

Chocolate lovers must try this chocolate if they see Royce!

Location: Singapore, Ion Orchard

Rating: 4.5/5

Singapore - Hainanese Chicken Rice

Singapore is well-known for their local delicacies and Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of them. This store located on the fifth floor of Far East Plaza is one that i frequent back when I was in secondary school.

Actually the one i used to go was on the second floor, no one knows where they are now

This chicken rice is famous too, plus it is inexpensive!

Here we ordered a plate of veggies with oyster sauce, steamed chicken, roast chicken, with 2 plates of steamy fragrant chicken rice. On top of that, you get your usual dark sauce and garlic chilli sauce to go with the tender and juicy chicken. Total cost - $11 for 2 people

Must try if you are in singapore!

Far East Plaza is in the shopping district Orchard Road, and it is hard to find cheap eats around that area.

Rating: 4/5

Singapore - J Co vs Donut Factory

Once in a while, Missfattyfoodie will feel like eating donuts, and donut central would be at cityhall with two donut giants located there - J Co and Donut Factory (remember the crazy queues, which fortunately I've never joined before). So why not compare the two of them?

First up, we have J Co donuts which has its own sit down cafe and a wide array of assorted donuts from normal ones like strawberry filling to the more creative ones like banana chocolate filling. It's from indonesia and has since expanded to having a few more outlets around Singapore, eg. Bugis Junction.

Bought two donuts for tea time snacks! $1.30 for an assorted donut.

My favourites! Strawberry cream filling and oreo topping donuts.

The strawberry cream was fluffy and sweet but I did not really like the dough because it was quite bread like and abit tasteless.

Moving on to donut factory, a home grown donut outlet, which use to have queues with waiting time of minimum 1 hour. Thankfully for the customers, there isn't much of a queue these days, though not so lucky for the owners.

Bought the double chocolate kiddy donuts. Coated with white chocolate on the outside and milk chocolate filling on the inside, with curly or straight haired happy faces decor. $1.40 for one.

Chose the straight haired kiddy donut!

I like the filling for this because it because it wasn't chocolate cream but actual chocolate! But still the dough wasn't fantastic (honestly, the best donut dough is still Krispykremes). Normal and bread-like.

One-eyed face left.

Comparing these two, I'd say they are both about the same standard, just a matter of which flavor of donuts you feel like having and which store offers what you want, especially if you want to sit down and chill at Raffles City, J Co has a cafe which you can order coffee to go with your donuts!

Singapore - Popeye's

Was sending a friend off at the airport and we decided to have a last meal at the airport before checking in.

Settled on Popeye's yummy fried chicken where there was a queue even though it was already 9pm!

My friend had a $20 airport voucher due to flight delay compensation, hence we decided to splurge everything on two combo sets with just the two of us pigging out! The seafood combo and the chicken combo meals, so as to try out both versions of meat.

The seafood combo with calamari rings, fish bites and fries. The fish bites were ordinary compared to the chicken, I would not recommend this unless you don't eat chicken meat.

My favourites! The fried chicken and the biscuit! The chicken is fantastic because

I also love the Cajun fries, which have a slight chewy yet crispy texture to it and is peppered with spices. The mashed potato with Cajun-style gravy is also delicious, with tiny lumps in it, giving it an interesting flavor.

The biscuit is crumbly but dry and bland on it's own though when spread with strawberry jam, it tastes much better.

Had a delightful meal here though service can be improved as the staff took quite a long while to get the order, hence the queue. Other than that, I would definitely return here for my fast food fix.

Rating: 4/5

Location is at Changi Airport Terminal 1 & 3

Singapore - Sizzler

Went to Sizzler's for dinner one evening as it is located conveniently at Toa Payoh Central. I like Sizzler because they have a buffet style salad bar which lets you refill on your greens and fruits, as well as piping hot soup, and with the variety, you never get bored of the selection!

First up, choosing the main course. There is a variety of meat for you to choose, and the salad bar buffet comes along with the main course choice. Or if you are a small eater, you could just opt for the salad bar buffet and not have a main course.

Sizzler has daily specials which you have to look out for because we missed the 4 meals for the price of 3 by a day! Nevertheless, the prices are not expensive and the quality of the food is good.

mmmm....i love corn.

The salad bar selection. They have freshly made salad such as potato salad, egg salad, pasta salad etc, or the DIY salad where you have your choice of vegetables, dressing and toppings! At the two ends are fruits at one end, and the pots of soup at the other.

There's also ready made pasta and noodles at the side, and an ice-cream dispensing machine where you can choose to have it in a cup or corn and decorate the icecream with the toppings and sauces thereafter. Or if you want a healthier choice, you can top it off with fruits from the fruits bar as well!

The start of my foods-capde! Salad, some carbs, fruits and desserts!

Finally the main course came. Fish & chips, country styled fried chicken, and grilled chicken with diced tomato. All three were good and fresh.

The soup selection: clam chowder, minestrone and mushroom soup. I liked the minestrone soup the best!

I spent so much time dressing up my icecream that by the time I finally sat down to eat, it had melted quite abit already.

Overall, a delightful dining experience and give the chance to come back here again, I definitely would as it is value for money and the salad bar is definitely a great plus.

Location is at lk 190 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, #02-516 HDB Hub

Rating: 4.25/5

Singapore - Goodwood Park Taiwan Porridge Buffet

Had a family dinner at Goodwood Park Hotel and for a healthy change, opted for a healthy change from the usual heavy international buffet, and had the taiwan porridge buffet instead. Goodwood Park Hotel's Coffe Lounge long has a reputation in quality taiwan porridge and its accompanying dishes. In fact, I've been coming here for the porridge since i was a little girl! The setting is very cosy and I like the high ceilings.

They have quite a good selection for the buffet which is served ala-carte style. However, they also have a dessert spread at the counter which is ready for selection whenever you want something sweet!

The dessert selection! They included Chinese New Year tidbits for choice too!

My favourite dish was the chilled beancurd in sweet Japanese sauce and pork floss. The rest of the dishes were all good though - sauteed chicken with dried chili, fried baby squid, stir-fried broccoli, wok-fried beef with onions, fried omelette with eggs and prawns etc.

We ordered so much and still manage to finish all with our bowls of porridge because the quality of the food kept us going. And desserts were not forgotten either! The cakes, pastries and fruits were eaten after dinner to satisfy and neutralise the tastebuds.

There was a life classifical performance in the lobby as well!

Location is at Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Road Singapore 228221. Tel: 6737 7411

Rating: 4.75/5

Singapore - Cafe Iguana

Cafe Iguana is a nice place at clarke quay to chill and catch up with friends over good authentic mexican food and awesome margaritas for company. Happy hour ends at 8pm (for weekends, and ends at 9pm on weekdays. thanks to alert reader weix) and starts again at 12pm so either go early and order drinks with your meal or late, for pre-party drinks!

First up, we ordered 7 jugs of margaritas during happy hour, which is 40% off $52 and a giant glass of margarita, of various flavors and all served frozen. Delicious! Once the drinks were settled, we ordered the food.

Frank steak fajitas ($24.99) and grilled prawn fajitas ($25.99). The fajita meat is brought to the table sizzling on a metal platter, with the tortilla wraps and condiments served on the side. eat it with sautéed onions and peppers, sour cream and guacamole, wrapped in flour tortillas, yummy!

We also had the grilled chicken burrito ($19.99) and Ancho Dusted Fried Calamari ($13.99). The chicken burrito was wrapped too thickly in flour tortilla and the taste of the dough overpowered the savory taste of meat, as a result, the dish was left unfinished. However, the calamari was fried to golden perfection and the mole verde accompaniment went very well with the deep fried dish.

We were really lucky and happened to sit by the river when a fireworks display went off. Pretty sight while having dinner and hanging out with a bunch of good friends! Really adds to the laid back atmosphere and mood.

Location is at Riverside Point #01-03, 30 Merchant Road (S)058282. Telephone: 6236 1275

Rating: 4/5

Singapore - Singaporean Style Carrot Cake

Everyone (well, everyone I know) loves carrot cake and where to find good carrot cake that isn't too dry and taste overly like fried bits of flour or with hardly any taste? Here's a recommendation I have for everyone!

Carrot cake or Chai tao kway is made of rice flour and white daikon and is more cut into pieces and stir fried with soy sauce, eggs, garlic, spring onion and occasionally dried shrimp. There are two variants: the "white" version does not use sweet soy sauce, and the carrot cake is fried on top of a beaten egg to form a crust; the "black" version uses sweet soy sauce, and the egg is simply mixed in with the carrot cake.

Kim Kee Homemade Carrot Cake is smack in the middle of whampoa hawker centre and is perpetually crowded with people placing orders for both the white and black variants of carrot cake. It costs $2.50 per plate and $3 if you want prawns and top up accordingly if you want to upsize your orders. I had the white this time round though both versions are good.

The steaming hot plate of carrot cake was served within 5 minutes and is slightly crispy on the outside, while soft and has a melts-in-your-mouth texture on the inside. There was also a hint of savory delicious aftertaste which leaves you reaching out to the plate till every bit is gone. The portion was pretty generous as well.

Location is at #01-27 Whampoa Drive Makan Place S320090

Rating 4.5/5

Singapore - Katong Laksa

The hustle and bustle of the Chinese New Year is concentrated in an area other than Chinatown, and that is at Bencoolen Street, where there are stalls set up for sale of mandarin oranges, CNY goodies, abalones, dried scallops etc.

So while taking a break from the crowd and all the shopping, the craving for laksa kicked in and there's the usual stall that is often crowded just round the corner, hence, headed straight there for lunch in the sweltering heat (there is no air-con).

yes, no chopsticks is required and it comes in a light pale orange gravy with pale white noodles all cut up into short pieces. The prawns are abit small but are crunchy and fresh nevertheless. The gravy is light with slight taste of dried shrimp and coconut flavor, easy on the taste buds. The noodles was abit mashy for my liking but the convenience of not using chopsticks makes up for it. The portion could be slightly bigger for $2.50 but I am not complaining, as it satisfies my tummy sufficiently.

Location is at 180B Bencoolen Street #01-04 The Bencoolen

Rating: 3.25/5

written by mff sg

Singapore - Jumbo Seafood Restaurant

Family dinner at Jumbo Seafood restaurant at Serangoon Gardens Country Club since it's just a 3minutes drive from home and we had a $50 voucher to spend. It's the 'big name in seafood' and famous for chili crabs and mantou, as well as a few other dishes.

Love the decor in the club, so cosy and away from the hustle and bustle of the city crowds.

Ordered the usual favourite dishes, like the Supreme Seafood fried rice with XO sauce, Crispy Fried Chicken, Sambal Kang Kong and Mee Goreng.

I especially like the Supreme Seafood fried rice with XO sauce as the seafood condiments for the dish are very fresh and generous in servings, like the prawns, scallops, squids, fried together with egg and rice, which is lightly coated with a layer of onion oil, leaving a lightly burnt taste to the rice which is also slightly chewy. Simply delightful!

Moving on, Fried Prawn with Cereal (asked for it deshelled so that they became juicy little prawn balls coated richly with cereal bits), braised seaweed toufu coated in light brown sauce with shittake mushrooms and steamed broccolis, and not forgetting, the famous Jumbo chilli crabs.

Ordered the Sri Lankan chilli crabs which is steamed before being coated in a thick layer of savoury gravy which is a blend of chilly gravy cooked with eggs. Have it with the steamed mantou which is crispy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.

Last but not least, the crispy baby squid which is marinated with oyster sauce and served on a bed of crackers and sprinkled with sesame seeds; mantou for the chilli crab gravy; and for dessert, yam paste with pumkin paste and gingko nuts.

The dessert was served warm and it was thick paste, not-too-sweet but sweet enough and you could feel the slight lumps of yam, indicating the freshness of the paste. Stir in the pumpkin paste for a sweet but healthy blend of dessert. A nice sweet end to a lovely filling dinner.

Location: Used to be at Serangoon Gardens Country Club but has since moved out. They have a few other outlets around the island and for this reason, I will leave the website here instead. http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg

Rating: 4.75/5

written by mff sg

Singapore - Chai Chee Noodle Village

Was in the area and lazy to wander far from home so decided to head to Ang Mo Kio for a quick dinner before heading home. Decided to have something soupy and settled for the soup version of bak chor mee at the Chai Chee Noodle Village, which always has long queues, for my meal. Plastered along the stall corner is a list of celebrities photos taken with the owner who have visited this little stall.

Now bak chor mee is noodles (flat or thin) served with minced pork, pork liver slices, sliced mushrooms, meatballs, bits of lard and a slice of lettuce. Sometimes you can order it with fried wantons as well, which I did.

It came served with some dried seaweed as garnishing as well, adding to the flavor of the soup, which is a clear broth with minced meat flavouring. Tastes really good and is easy on the stomach. The noodles are thin and springy, just the right amount of cooking done to it ad the meat balls are flavorful and juicy.

The fried wanton was served warm with minced pork filling, though the skin was abit thick for my liking. If it was thinner it would be crispier.

This would be my dinner for the night and it was filling enough to keep me from having any supper cravings. I prefer the soup version to the dried one but most of the patrons seem to order it dry. Give both a try if you have the chance to frequent it more though!

Location is at #01-4236 Seafood Junction, Blk 727 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, Singapore 560727

Rating: 3.75/5

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hi everyone, here's wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year and to having a roaring good year ahead in the year of the Tiger! Here are some photos to inject the festive mood into you!

First up, the traditional goodies, one of my favorites being the pineapple tarts. And this year, I ordered a large tub of pineapple tarts from missfattyfoodie perth's mother! I can see where she gets her baking genes from now cos the tarts were really awesome. Crumbly butter crust with pineapple paste that were sweet enough and a handcrafted star pastry to top it off! I was gobbling the tarts down even before I reached home.

A close up of the handmade tarts, which is often a must in every household. Typically good pineapple tarts should have a crumbly buttery pastry, which is either topped off with or used to wrapped around slightly moist pineapple paste which is sweet, so the entire tart will just melt in your mouth. yummy!

Alright the photos below have no relation to the Chinese New Year, but missfattyfoodie perth bought them for me and had them shipped to Singapore cos they are my absolute favourite Easter egg snacks which they don't have in Singapore. How sweet! It's my Chinese New Year gift from her.

Moving on, the traditional chinese goodies, mandarin oranges, decor and tiny mandarin orange potted plants, which will be used to decorate the house during this festive season.

Chinatown lighted up at night and is especially crowded on Chinese New Year's Eve. Braved the crowds to watch some fireworks and get into the mood for the new year's, with the atmosphere getting more intense towards 12am.

After midnight, vendors start slashing their prices to get rid any leftover stock before embracing the new year, and the crowd getting their hands on the good deals.  

Hope you are having a great Chinese New Year with all the celebrations, red packets, visitings and most of all, the delicious food and yummy snacks! (:

written by mff singapore