Nyonya Food Affair At Buffet Town

For the month of September till 31st October 2012, Buffet Town is having "A Nyonya Food Affair" theme to provide diners with a different dining experience. So about two weeks go I have visited their outlet on a weekday dinner together with Celes and Shitting.

Although the Nyonya section is not very big but it does consists most of the Peranakan signature dishes such as Babi Pongteh, Itek Tim, Kueh Pie Tee, Chap Chye and etc.

Part of the Nyonya Food Section which is visible from the entrance and beside the pizza station.

For something refreshing, start off with these Nyonya Appetizers such as:- Sambal, Achar, Papaya Pickle, Chin Chalok and etc. Personally I love the Papaya Pickle and Achar.

After the appetizer, you could move on to their delicious home-cooked main dishes such as:- Otak Otak Pangang, Nyonya Fried Mee Siam, Babi Pongteh (braised pork) and Nyonya Chap Chye.

Most of us love the Fried Mee Siam which is fragrant with spices used and filled with old-school flavour.  The texture of the Babi Pongteh is soft and flavorsome which goes well with steamed rice together with the Chap Chye.

Other than dishes above, they also have others such as:- Shrimp Fritters, Ngoh Hiang, Kueh Pie Tee, Itek Tim (Salted Mustard Duck Soup) and Nyonya Curry Chicken.

Out of the above-mentioned, Curry Chicken is our less favourite because we find it a bit too saltish to our liking and it is not fragrant enough as compared to the usual local curry chicken that we had. But other than that, Kueh Pie Tee and Itek Tim are both "must try" which you don't want to miss out. Love the Itek Tim soup which reminds me of my grandma cooking.

Kueh Lapis is one of my favourite kueh especially during Chinese New Year and at the Nyonya Buffet  you could also find assorted nyonya kueh such as Kueh Salat,  Pulut Inti, Steamed Lapis and even Chendol as after meal dessert.

Apart from the Nyonya Food Affair, Buffet Town also has  20 over other categories of food which definitely would satisfy the taste bubs of the 450 seating capacity. No wonder it is always "super long" queue outside the restaurant during lunch or dinner.

So if you love seafood on ice, I would suggested you to go for their fresh sashimi and oyster which we all find it fresh and worth trying.

Above are some of the food from other various stations such as:- Rojak, Assorted Satay, Chilli And Black Pepper Crabs, Assorted Tempura, Roasted Beef and not forgetting their crispy and delicious assorted Pizza which is something not to be missed.

After a hearty meal, you could grab a cup of coffee/tea to pair with some miniature assorted mousse cups, cakes, self made Ice Kechang, ice cream, soy beancurd and etc. Their mango mousse cups are something that I love and it always run out pretty fast too.

Lastly, you won't want to miss out the best dessert at Buffet Town which is their freshly made Waffle. It is crispy on the outer layer and yet light and fluffy with each bites. I love to pair it with my favourite Green Tea Gelato (example from Kiseki post here) plus drizzle of chocolate sauce but too bad that night they have run out of green tea gelato.

A Nyonya Food Affair will be available from 10th September 2012 till 31st October 2012 at Buffet Town, Raffles City. So if you love Nyonya food, do call early to make reservation in order to avoid disappointment.


BUFFET TOWN
Raffles City
#B1-44E
252 North Bridge Road
Reservation: +65 6837 3793
Website: www.buffettown.com.sg

Opening Hours:
11.30am - 3.00pm daily (Last order at 2.30pm)
6.00pm - 10.30pm daily (Last order at 9.30pm)

Buffet Town Pricing:
Monday - Friday Lunch: S$24.80++ (adult); S$17.80++ (child)
Sat, Sun, Eve of and PH Lunch: S$29.80++ (adult); S$17.80++ (child)

Monday - Thursday Dinner: S$34.80++ (adult); S$20.80++ (child)
Friday - Sunday, Eve of and PH Dinner: S$39.80++ (adult); S$20.80++ (child)

* Child(6 - 12 years old)


Thank you Chantel and Buffet Town for the tasting invite. You could also read more HERE from my old post regarding my 1st visit to Buffet Town for their lunch buffet.

King Pot Steamboat @ Big Splash

King Pot Steamboat which is located at Big Splash (East Coast Park) offers an unique casual atmosphere with fine dining experience when you set foot into the restaurant that makes you feel like King and Queen. Overall I find their service is good with attentive serving staffs who are quick and skillful in placing and arranging the platters of food on our table and also they are very observant in taking care of each individual needs such as making sure my boy could enjoy his food and hotpot under safety precaution too.

The photo shows the setup of the steamboat table at KingPot where we each has our personal "hotpot" that cooks using modern gas stove. The cutlers and plates used are quiet similar to those for fine dining which makes you feel so different when compared to those traditional steamboat which we had at home or coffee shop where we used those metal net scoop to hold and cook the food.

King Pot has range of soup broth that cater for each individual preference from the lightest Clear Wild Mushroom broth to thick and spicy Laksa broth. Overall we have tried their Mushroom, Herbal, Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Minestrone and Szechuan Ma Lai broth.

Out of the broths that we tried, most of us agreed that Bak Kut Teh, Minestrone and Laksa are the "Must Try" whereas for lighter broth you could ask for Wild Mushroom or for strong and spicy taste, try the Ma Lai broth which a few of us find it too spicy.

My choice of Bak Kut Teh broth is very flavoursome and taste good with their complimentary rice. And to our surprised it is not normal steamed white rice but rather a bowl of very fragrant and delicious "chicken rice" to accompany the steamboat items.  Other than soup broth and rice, each set meal also comes with some vegetables (mushroom, black fungus, vegetables and etc), cellophane noodles (dong fen) and a dipping sauce of your choice.

Basically there are 4 types of dipping sauce available on their menu which are:- KingPot Signature Sauce, KingPot Specialty Sauce, Specialty Sauce and Satay Sauce. For chef recommendation, we tried their KingPot Signature Sauce (back) and KingPot Specialty Sauce (front, with sesame seeds topping).

Before using the KingPot Specialty Sauce, you have to use the chopstick or spoon to break up the ball (which resemble a ball of ice-cream) and mix it well with the sauce and overall it taste quiet like Japanese sesame dipping sauce but just with a hint of saltiness. And this goes well with meat, especially lamb.

There were also a few core set menus to choose from such as Meat lover Set (S$28.80++; UP S$39.90++), Seafood Lover Set (S$28.80++; UP S$36.80++), Vegetarian Pot (S$32.80++; UP S$42.80++), Combi Platter With Seafood And Meat (S$36.80++; UP S$46.80++) and Kids Meal (S$9.80++; UP S$12.80++) with the option to top up on individual items.

Above shows the Combi Platter With Seafood and Meat that range from Angus Beef Ribeye, Pork, Lamb, Fresh Black Prawn, Red Grouper, meat balls, Bitter Gourd Fish Paste Yong Tau Foo and etc.

The Seafood Lover Set comes with prawns, squid, fish, meatballs and accompany Yong Tau Foo items. The selections are fresh except they freeze the fresh fish slices and thaw before serving which I personally feel it would be even better if they used fresh daily supply instead of freeze and thaw.

{Ala Carte Order} This is one of the KINGPOT Special Roll which is known as Boneless Lamb Rack - French Cut (S$22.00/plate). If you look carefully from the photo above, you could see it is specially roll with two "cylinder hole" that enable chopsticks to pick up the cut and swirl in the steamboat  for quick cooking.

Accordingly to the chef, this lamb rack must go with their "Specialty Sauce" which covers 80% of the lamb odor. And the few of us did do a test on eating the lamb with and without the dipping sauce and it did proof on what their chef has recommended.

The set meal has a complimentary beverage of either Coffee/Tea together with cake (depend on what they have on that day) at the end of the meal. Although they might be be specialize on cake but their Tiramisu still taste quiet decent. 

Other than the complimentary coffee/tea that served from the set menu ordered, there are also some other beverages such as juices, sparking water, wine and etc on their beverage menu too.

King Pot Steamboat
902 East Coast Parkway Block B
#01-05 Big Splash
Singapore 449874
Reservation: (65) 6348 7997
Website: http://www.kingpot.com.sg

Opening Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 6.00pm – 10:30pm
Friday – Sunday: 11.00am – 2:30pm and 6.00pm – 10:30pm


Lastly I would like to thank Adrian from KingPot for arranging this tasting as well as all the friendly serving staffs who served and attended to us during the tasting.

Singapore Food Festival 2012 @ Waterfront Promenade, Marina Bay

This year's Singapore Food Festival 2012 kicked off last Friday, 13 July 2012 at the Waterfront Promenade, Marina Bay(map) instead of at the Clarke Quay Read Bridge like the previous years. With a larger space at the new venue, this is also the first time Singapore Food Festival (SFF) Village extended its' operation hours from 11.00am to 11.30pm daily from 13 - 22 July 2012, offering a total of 120 hours of glorious food.

During the ten days (13 July to 22 July) of glorious seafood, you will be able to sample delicious dishes from about 50 vendors under one roof at the SFF Food Village. And this year with more seating area up to 1,500 sitting capacity, I am sure everyone will gets the chance to try out their desire dishes.

Photo credited to Singapore Food Festival 2012

Since one of the mode of payment is using NETS FlashPay Card, you are encourage to purchase the limited edition SFF 2012 NETS FlashPay Cards available for sale at the SFF Village. It is priced at S$12.00 with a stored value of S$7.00 and the special NETS FlashPay card also entitles a 20% discount for all purchased at the SFF Food Village.

One of the highlight for this year SFF 2012 Official Opening of the SFF 2012 was a live cooking demonstration of Chilli Crab by SFF Food Consultant, Chef Eric Teo. GUEST OF HONOR (GOH), Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Trade And Industry also join in together with Chef Eric to complete the cooking of this authentic Singapore signature dish.

Chilli Crab cooked by Chef Eric during the demonstration cooking

GUEST OF HONOR (GOH), Mr Teo Ser Luck, dines at the Food Village together with the Launch party members, Chef Eric and etc.

Above are some of the participating food stalls of this year Singapore Food Festival 2012. And there are about 50 stalls featuring international and local favourite like Chilli Crab, Black Pepper Crab, Prawn Noodles, Italian Seafood Cuisines, Cze Char and etc.

Here, you can excite your palate with the launch of the first Singapore Food Festival Seafood Platter which is presented by Seafood Paradise (under Paradise Group). This seafood platter offers five varieties of seafood dishes, such as their popular Chilli Crab or Signature Creamy Butter Crab, Stir-fried Live Geoduck with Asparagus in XO Sauce, Crisp-fried Prawns tossed with Salted Egg Yolk, Deep-fried Coral Trout in Nyonya Style and Supreme Seafood Fried Rice.

This is how the Seafood Platter will be served upon purchased and you get to choose from either Chilli Crab or Signature Creamy Butter Crab to go with the rest of the 4 items. I love the taste and texture of the fried rice which is enhanced with the added fish roes. The salted egg yolk prawns are tasty too as well as the nyonya style sauce which used to coat the coral trout.

Price: S$36.90 per set
(*Note: only available at SFF Village from 13 - 22 July 2012, while stocks last)

In line with the Festival's seafood theme, Neo Garden has introduced Mussels to the well loved, thick Laksa gravy and coined the name "Signature Laksa's Mussel March" as the mussels are standing upright in marching stance. Apart from Laksa Mussel, their famous Curry Chicken,  Home-style Sin Chow Mee Hoo, Original and Buffalo-style Drumlets are also available at their stall in the SFF Food Village.

The Founder's Prawn Fritters from Neo Garden is a "must try" if you love this delicious homemade delicacy. Because of Mr Neo Kah Kiat's (founder and CEO of Neo Group Limited) love for this humble snacks, he had actually perfect this Prawn Fritters and make it into their signature dish which you cannot stop munching after one. The texture is so light and crispy plus the prawns are fresh juicy when bite.

To join in the waves of this year SFF 2012, Covelli Italian Bistro and Wine Bar also present their first ever Seafood Dessert which is known as "Squid Ink Meringue with Sea Urchin-Mango Cheese Mousse".  It is a very special dessert whereby you can taste two different distinctive flavour in one. I personally love the taste of the Sea Urchin Mango Cheese Mousse which gives it a light and refreshing after taste.

An interesting Baked Eggs snack from Ming Lang where they have other items such as Fish and Meatball Soup, Xiao Long Bao, Teppanyaki Squid, Takoyaki and etc.

Teppanyaki Squid

Singapore Food Festival Village will be held at its new venue (Waterfront Promenade @ Marina Bay) from:-

Date: 13 July - 22 July 2012
Time: 11.00am - 11.00pm (daily)
Admission: FREE
Payment Mode: CASH and NETS *FlashPay
(*Note: 20% discount for payment made using NETS FlashPay card)

To Get There:-

Nearest MRT Station:
Bayfront Station (Exit A), Raffles Place Station (Exit I)

Nearest Bus Stop:
Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands (B03511)
Buses: NR1, NR6, 97, 97E, 106, 133, 133M

Bayfront Avenue, Opp Marina Bay Sands (B03519)
Buses: 97, 97E, 106, 133, 133M, 502, 502A, 518

CULINARY ADVENTURES ON DEMAND

Photo credited to Singapore Food Festival 2012

Take some time off and for a leisure cruise ride and enjoy spectacular view of the Singapore skyline down the Singapore Rive together with a fresh seafood meal served in a classic tiffin carrier which you get to keep after the ride.

Date: On Demand
Duration: 1 hour
Embarkation: Marina Bay Jetty
Disembarkation: Marina Bay Jetty


Admission: S$68+ (subject to minimum booking of 20 pax per ride)
*Note: cruise ticket includes fresh seafood meal served in a complimentary tiffin carrier shown above)
Booking: visit www.singaporefoodfestival.com.sg; or call 6796 9331

Photo credited to Singapore Food Festival 2012

Learn how to choose the freshet catch in a wet market as a chef take you on a tour through the Jurong Fishery Port at the break of dawn! There you will fine0tune your skills in choosing superior seafood based on it's colour, texture and smell.

Date: On Demand
Time: 5.00am - 9.00am
Venue: Jurong Fishery Port (pick-up point at Boon Lay MRT Station)
Admission: S$150.00+ (subject to minimum booking of 20 pax per session)
Booking: visit www.singaporefoodfestival.com.sg; or call 6796 9331

Tom Yum Talay (Hot And Sour Seafood Soup)

Have being craving for Clear Tom Yum Soup ever since my cruise trip back from Phuket where we had an enjoyable authentic Thai dishes for lunch over at Surin Beach (will share more on my Phuket trip in upcoming post soon). Initially I bought a packet of tom yum "seasoning" from Phuket which I wanted to try but after seeking some advice from Amy (Mothering Corner), I decided to try out her recipe using fresh ingredients instead of instant tom yum paste or seasoning.

Homecook Dinner To Support Food Revolution Day, 19 May 2012

Today, 19 May 2012 marks Food Revolution Day where the main objective of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is to connect with as many people and businesses as possible around the world to educate them about food habits, sources and a healthier lifestyle. So as food lover and mother of one I hope to do my part to support this event by preparing some homecook dishes that are made with "real food" (which means no boxed or processed foods are allowed).

Although not everyone can be a chef but it is always possible to cook up something easy and yet healthy for the family as long as you are willing to spend some extra time in the kitchen. Below are two simple recipes of our homecook dishes shown above which you might be interested to try it out.

STEAMED RED GROUPER

We love steamed fish and it is always one of the repeated dishes in our weekly menu planning list. Fish contains protein with fewer calories than other meat sources and with different species of fish, you can either steam, bake, fry or poach fish accordingly to your preference.

(Serves: 2-3 |          Preparation: 5 minutes |     Cooking: 12 - 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Piece Fresh Red Grouper, tail portion(about 350 - 400g)
4 - 5 Slices of Ginger, julienned
2 Stall Spring Onion, cut into sections
1 Small Tomato, cut into wedges
2 - 3 Salted Plum(咸水梅粒)
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine(花雕酒)
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Shallot Oil, optional

Method:-

1. Rinse and pat dry the fish fillet, season it with 1 teaspoon of cooking wine and cornflour. Set aside.

2. Arrange half of the julienned ginger and spring onion on the base of the steaming plate, place the seasoned fish on top.

3. Arrange the rest of the rest of the ingredients around the fish, drizzle some sesame oil and place it in the steamer rack when the water boils.

4. Steam the fish for about 12 - 15 minutes depend on the thickness. Remove drizzle some shallot oil and served hot with steamed rice.

SAMBAL LALA

(Clams or Seashells)

Friendly speaking I am not a fan of shellfish but recently I have eaten some really good "Stir-fried Bamboo Clam and Lala" from the Seafood Galore buffet at Plaza Brasserie which makes crave for some. So today I decided to adapt a recipe from Wokkingmum website which is known as "Grilled Sambal Squid" and instead of using Squid I have recipe is with Lala(clams).

Recipe adapted from Wokkingmum's Grilled Sambal Squid.

(Serves: 2 |         Preparation: 30 minutes |              Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
300g Clams, cleaned
2 - 3 Tablespoons of Sambal Chilli
2 Stalks Lemon Grass, lightly pound
4 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 Small Brown Onion, sliced
1 Tablespoon Oil

Method:-

1. Soak clams in salted water for about 20 minutes to let it spit out the dirt/sands. Rinse, drain and set aside.

2. Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass, cut into about 8cm sections. Lightly pound it and set aside.

3. Heat oil in Happy Call Pan(HCP) or frying pan, saute garlic, onion and lemon grass for about 1 minute till fragrant.

4. Add in the sambal chilli according to your preference and give the mixture a quick stir to evenly coat it with the chilli.

5. Add in clams, cover pan for 30 seconds and give the pan a good shake pan.

6. Open the pan, check the clams and give it a stir before cover the pan and continue to cook till all the clams are opened.

7. Discard those that did not open. Dish up and served hot with steamed rice.

Lastly, hope you would like these dishes that I have shared with you and I hope you could also join us and support Food Revolution Day and eat healthy with food that is prepared using fresh ingredients. For more information on Food Revolution Day you can refer to the links below:-

1. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
~ Official Website
~ Facebook Page
~ Twitter - @FoodRev

2. Food Revolution Singapore
~ Facebook Page
~ Twitter - @FoodRevSg