Cuisine Paradise @ Radio 100.3

Today is a very special day for both me and Rey as we are very excited in having a chance to visit the Singapore Press Holdings(SPH) for the FM 100.3 radio interview.

At about 2 weeks ago, I received a message from Dainel Ang, a part-time DJ from FM 100.3 who hosts a food programme called "Food Dairy" on FM 100.3 everyday Saturday afternoon between 3:00 - 4:00 pm. If you are keen, you can read more about him and his "Food Dairy" blog at this link.

I was very shock and excited when I received Daniel's message on asking me to do a Radio Interview for my food blog. So after fixing a suitable timing with him, today we finally meet up at SPH to do the interview. And as there is no one around to look after Rey today, I decided to bring him along to the Radio station. And our little friend is even more excited than me when we were in the recording room. Guess this incident will be rooted as one of the memorable day for both of us who gets a chance to see what is it like to be in the recording room.

When the interview starts, I knew that I was very nervous and I couldn't speak well as what I have prepared before hand. But Daniel on the other hand was very friendly and kind enough to help me with the questions so that the atmosphere became a very friend like conversation rather than official interview. And I must thank God and praise Him that Rey didn't make any noise during the whole recording process. As for the bonus you can even catch Rey's cute voice on air too :)

This interview will actually be broadcast in two different Saturday, which Part I had already being broadcast on 17 Oct 09. So if you are interest to catch Part II of Cuisine Paradise on Air at FM 100.3. Stay tune on next coming Saturday 24 October 2009 from 3:00pm -4:00pm at station FM 100.3 with Daniel Ang's Food Dairy & Ellena's Cuisine Paradise.

Lunch @ Bakerzin

What is your best way of relaxing your body and soul after facing a hectic work week. For me, the best way to relax my mind is to have a fulfilling meal that satisfy my tastebuds as well as a great dinning environment that can calm soul and takes my mind off those workload. Most important there must be a "great" dessert after meal.............

Upon reading this Bakerzin, 1 For 1 Main Course advertisement(according to the leaflet, the promotion is only available at "Jurong Point" and "North Point" branch) from TODAY newspaper, I knew I must go during my off-day. They have a new branch which had being in my area for about 6 months or so. I have not dine-in every since it open, but I love their layout and design. So with this great deal offer, I must go and try out their set lunch with the opportunity to take a break off my hectic week.

The atmosphere is great with tall glass window all around the cafe that enables the late morning bright light to shine in. We arrived around 11am and the area is still quite empty with only two or three tables occupied. Rey prefer the cushion sofa seats which are more cosy and we start glancing through the menu. The waitress who serves us is very friendly and she is keen in introducing to us the what are the dishes that suits our preference. She also invite us to try on their Free flow of homemade bread that you can either dip with extra virgin olive oil or balsamic vinegar.


This is the MAIN reason that bought me into Bakerzin this morning........ I was attracted by this "Braised Pork Belly With Japanese Rice" because I love Braised Pork Belly and from the menu, this dish give me the feeling of a "Comfort Dish" which that luxury, soft and fragrance braised pork belly lingering in my tongue. Indeed when this dish is served, it didn't disappoint me and my mum. We are both impressed by the taste and the texture of the pork belly which is so soft and juicy. The gravy is not salty compare to the usual Braised Pork Belly and it goes just nice with the steam Japanese short gain rice.

As mum wanted to have something light, she ordered this Seafood Pasta which serves with generous amount of seafood like Prawn, squid and green mussels. The tomato pasta sauce is great, the taste is not over-power with extra herbs added and the sauce is light and tasty which suits mum's tastebuds.

After a hearty meal, here comes the "Profiteroles" which we are all waiting for. This Dessert serves in a plate of 3 medium size Profiteroles, each sandwich with vanilla ice-cream, coated with a layer of chocolate sauce on top and drizzle generous amount of toasted almond flakes which add extra crunches and fragrance to the dessert. Everyone of us who tried, agreed that their vanilla ice-cream taste great. It has a very light and aroma scent of vanilla fragrant and it won't leave you with that creamy taste of ice-cream that is fattening. But there is a little setback on this dessert, we find that the puffs are a little bit too dry and hard when bite but after all it do soften a bit when soaked with the melt ice-cream :)

When we are looking at the menu, the waitress did pass us a piece of this kid's menu for Rey. I didn't know that they have such a wide range of Kid's menu. So my mum was telling me that, nowadays the young kids are very fortunate. They even have their own choice of "Kid's Menu" to select from when dinning out.

Note:
~ OFFER ONLY APPLY TO
* Jurong Point Branch #03-58
* North Point (new wing) #01-44

~ TERMS & CONDITIONS
* Second main course is of lower or equal value, offer strictly for dine-in only.
* Valid from Monday to Friday, 10.30am - 5pm (Not including eve and day of public holidays)

Moriya Japanese Cuisine

Saw a food review on this Japanese Bento stall known as "Moriya" in this week "U Weekly(优1周) - 201". This stall is located in a coffee shop at Block 417, Yishun Ave 11. They offer a wide range of Japanese Cuisine from Bento set, Ramen to Omelette Rice which you will sure to find something that suits your taste-buds for the day. Since our family loves Japanese Cuisine, we decided to give this stall a try.

Moriya, occupied a corner at one end of the coffee shop. The stall is nicely decorated with a Japanese-style outlook and they even has a glass-panel that allow customers to have a clear view of what is going on in their kitchen. We reached the area around 7pm and upon looking at the stall from far, I am already attracted by it's layout and food menu. So without much delay, we decided to settle for these two items on their menu list.

We order a set of "Yakiniku Beef Set" which is worth for it's cost at S$5.70. It consists generous amount of Yakiniku Beef which is very soft and tender and it also gives a very fragrance aroma which I believed is sesame oil and spring onion. This Yakiniku Beef Set served with a good portion of seasoned Green Soy Bean(Edamame), Japanese short-grain rice, Chuka Wakame (seaweed salad) and a bowl of hearty Miso soup.

Other than bento set, we also order a bowl of "Mixed Seafood Ramen" which cost S$7.90 and you can have 3 Half-shell Scallop, 2 medium size Prawn, a decent piece of grill salmon and half a portion of Japanese-style soft-boiled egg. So far, this is can be consider as a decent bowl of good Ramen for a non Japanese restaurant standard. We love the soup base which is very light, fresh sweet in taste. Although the soup do taste sweet but I think it's not from the added MSG as we don't feel any thirsty after taking the food.

They about more than 10 different varieties of Ramen in the stall that you will sure to find something you prefer. As for the Ramen, they also provide a very special Chilli Paste which we love it. Their Chilli paste taste sort of like our "Belacan Chilli" but with extra ingredients that is great to add into the Ramen soup base.

Curry On @ Toh Yi Drive

There are so many different stalls and restaurants selling their own version of "Indian Curry" around Singapore range from Hawker Center, CoffeeShop, Food Mall to well-known Restaurants at "Little Indian" near Serangoon area. But no matter which place you like to patronize, there must be something interesting that caught your attention. Today, we are going to try this newly open stall called "CURRY ON!" which is located in a Coffee Shop at Toh Yi Drive. (about 5 - 8 minutes walks from Bukit Timah Community Club)

This is a very special food sampling outing that I have done so far. It starts about two weeks ago when I received an email from the stall owner, Mr Anil who personally invite me to go for a food sampling at his newly set up stall. I was overwhelming by his invitation and at the same time very excited in doing my very first food sampling through an invitation. Furthermore, I have being in love with Mutton Curry since young under my dad influences. So this invitation is indeed a "Bonus Treat" for me to eat my favourite food and do a write up to share our view on the food sampling.

"CURRY ON!" is located in one of the stall in 7th Miles Coffeeshop at Block 18, Toh Yi Drive. Kiren(Anil's sister) together with her mum(the chef of the stall) and her aunty will usually get all the dishes ready by 10.30 am. Anil starts this stall with the intention to feature his mum's SPECIAL RECIPES in making her very own 3 unique curry dishes which are prepared traditionally from scratch. So come, let me share with you what are the dishes that they have in their menu ..........

After having a short conversation with Kiren, she asked us to take a seat while she get ready the food for us. The first dish that is being serve on the table is their special "Briyani"that comes with a portion of their homemade salad and papadum. Kiren share with us that the Briyani are made using host of spices, Pandan leaves, Rose water and Ghee . The moment I saw the Briyani, I knew that I would love it because of it's vibrant colour combination. The rice itself is very fragrant, my mum and I both agreed that it taste sort of like the Hainanese chicken rice due to the ingredients like Pandan Leave, Ginger and Garlic. This Briyani is very different from the usual type that we had from other stalls, which you usually will find some trace of nuts, raisin, cloves and etc. But the one here that serves at Curry On! is definitely something worth to try and you will be surprised by it. The small setback that my mum feels is that if the rice can be a bit less greasy it will be Great to go along with the curry sauce.........

After the rice, let's proceed to the STARS of the menu. First to be on the list will be their Chicken Curry, you might be shock or backoff by the colour of the gravy which is very "RED" at first sight. Upon seeing this I check with Kiren will the taste of the curry be "VERY SPICY" because I am afraid that we might not be able to take the SPICY level :) She explained to us that it all depend on individual, some of her customers feel that the spicy level is just to their liking while others might have range it as too hot. So we take our courage to try and to our surprised, even though the colour might look "fiery" the taste was great, the spicy level is just nice for us, overall the chicken and gravy are very fragrant due to the "Spring Onion Paste".

We were all so curious to learn more from Kiren on using Spring Onion paste to whip up this special Chicken Curry. As you can see from the photo, there is still traces of chopped Spring Onion in the curry sauce. So if you like chicken + spicy curry, then don't hesitate, come and try this Chicken Curry which goes well with the Briyani rice or some French Baguette.

Next is my favourite Mutton Chop Curry which is the "Signature Dish"of the stall. According to Kiren, the mutton chops are marinated with spices before cooking. The curry is infuse with great aroma that serves with generous pieces of Mutton Chops and potato chunks. I love the consistency of the gravy which is just nice to act as a dipping sauce for bread such as French Baguette or even Roti Prata. This dish is very well mask-up with the use of spices that even my mum who don't take Mutton because of it "smells" takes her courage to try and give thumb up for this dish.

Lastly comes the Mutton Rib Dalcha (Lamb in Lentil Sauce) which is more diluted for its' gravy. This curry is cooked using very little of coconut milk, assam and lentils. To me, this curry is taste sort of like spicy, tangy and you can even drink it like one of those "Tom Yam Soup". Although Mum and D comments that the ribs are rather a bit tough for their liking compare to the Mutton Chop and Chicken. I was not in line with them, I find that the ribs is great because of the chewing texture maybe it is due to my liking for ribs.

Afterall, this is really a very great experience of food sampling for curry lover like us. So if you are staying around Bukit Timah or Toh Yi Drive area, maybe you would like to pop by one of these day any try out their very own Homemade Curry Delights that will spice up your tastebuds. We really thanks and appreciate Anil for his compliment of the above dishes and Kiren for her warm serving and sharing with us on the preparation of kitchen tales.

Note:
~ The operating hours are:-
Monday to Sunday from 10.30am - 8.30pm
(Rest on Alternate Monday)

~ Recommending Dish:-
According to Anil, their Chicken Curry is very popular with customers who don't take mutton. And I must comment that their Chicken Curry gravy is very special with the refreshing aroma from the Spring Onion Paste.