Chocolate Banana Muffins

Last month I have made some “Banana & Oreo Muffin” where you can make use of those oreo cookies in a new way rather than dipping them in fresh milk for snack. With the same concept, I replace the oreo cookies with some cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips to create another lovely flavour for chocolate lovers.

As you can notice from most of my posts, I love to make muffins especially those mini or mouthful size type. I find making these makes it easier for my kid to have it as tea snack or sometime it can be also act as a lovely gift for friends too.

The Charm of Chatterbox

Recently my mum has seen an advertisement on MyPaper regarding the “Late Lunch” promotion on Chatterbox, Mandarin Hotel. This promotion was quite a good bargain for patrons to enjoy their signature Mandarin Chicken Rice and other local delights at S$15++ from 3pm to 6pm on weekdays only (excluding eve and day of public holidays).

Since mum had a good impression after trying their Chicken Rice during one of the dinner menu, she decided to ask us along to try this “late lunch” treat. So here is the review of our local most expensive Mandarin Chicken Rice that cost around S$22.00 if not during any promotion.

Chatterbox is located at level 5, Orchard Wing of Mandarin Orchard Singapore. Its menu featured a spread of local hawker food, including it’s award-winning Mandarin Chicken Rice and some other favourites such as Mandarin Lobster Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Herbal Bak Kut Teh and etc.

From my opinion, the “rice” could have been better as it is not as fragrant or fantastic as I thought it would be. But rather the chicken was tender and juicy, and it goes very well with their chilli and ginger sauce. The waitress will also give you an option on choosing either thigh or breast meat. But if you ask me whether is it worth trying, I think for this promotion you can give it a try but I don’t think I will spent the full price of S$22.00 on this.

I don’t know why I ordered this “Seafood Laksa” as they are still quite a number of choices to pick from the promotion menu such as Beef Hor Fun, Char Kway Toew, Herbal Bak Kut Teh, Nasi Lemak, Wonton Noodles and etc. But surprisingly the broth taste great with a hint of heat that isn’t too spicy and it will leave you to crave for more scooping of it. For a bowl of S$15.00 Seafood Laksa, I guess what we are paying are those “big prawn” and hearty broth. For those who don’t take cockles, don't worry Mandarin Seafood Laksa don’t comes with any of those as ingredients too.

For an additional top up of S$3.00 you can enjoy a jar of either one of these homemade Soya Bean Milk, Barley Water or Grass Jelly drink to along with your meal. At first we still thought these drink might just be a glass for its' S$3.00 value as most of the drinks on the menu are at least S$8.00 and we are so surprised to see they actually serving a jar each of what we have ordered.

We prefer their Homemade Soya Bean Milk compared to the Barley Water, as it is more fragrant ad thick in taste. As you can reference from the photo, the Barley Water is more towards milky grey in colour and I find that it taste more of like those barley beancurd dessert than drinks.

Recently, Chatterbox opened its new premises on Level 5 of the hotel with a refreshing look that is furnishing in earthy hues of green and beige.


Chatterbox
333 Orchard Road
Level 5 Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Enquiries: 6831 6288/91
Website: Chatterbox

Operating Hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 11am - 1am
Friday, Saturday & Eve of Public Holiday: 11am - 2am

Late Lunch Promotion:

~ Monday - Friday
3.00pm - 6.00pm (excluding eve and day of public holidays)

Magical Night @ Universal Studios Singapore

Universal Studios Singapore is having an “After Hours” event where they features the Lake Hollywood Spectacular show as well as Dine and Shop at the Hollywood zone from 7:00pm to 10:00pm on every Friday and Saturday. Guess what, the entrance fee is only S$5.00 per person and this will be a great bargain for those who just wanted to go in and have a feel of the atmosphere but not rather on those exciting rides.

With this valuable offer, last Saturday our usual group decided to organize a trip to USS to explore what they have in the theme park. I am shared that every one of us has an enjoyable night moving around the park and the kids are so overwhelming with the fireworks performance that they yield for more.

You can purchase the limited same day entry ticket from the ticket booths located outside the Universal Studios Singapore (USS) entrance where they starting selling it at 6.30pm onwards. So do go earlier to avoid disappointment if you are going to catch the Fireworks performance that is available only on every Saturday night.

As this is the “After Hour” ticket, we can’t proceed far in to the other area of the park, except around some parts of the Madagascar and area, Hollywood and New York where you can take photos and visit some of the gift stores and restaurants.

This is an amazing HUGE pizza from “Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor” that is a must-stop eatery for those who loves traditional Italian pizzas and pastas. Too bad, we give this a missed because we had already tried “Mel’s Drive-In” burgers before spotting the pizza. Perhaps next round…..

Are you tired after the walk? Want to take a cab?

Beautiful view from the Lake Hollywood before the Fireworks.

Every Saturday night at 9:30pm you’ll get to watch the Lake Hollywood Spectacular which is an incredible new show where you will see beautiful fireworks burst across the night sky right in front of you!

Fireworks!!!

If you want a good spot to catch the fantastic view of the fireworks or take photographs during the performance, remember to secure a seat at the viewing area just outside “Mel’s Drive-In” restaurant at least 30 – 45 minutes before the show starts at 9.30pm.

Note:

For more photographs on the above mentioned post, please click HERE.

Baked Salmon With Lime ~ 香烤鲑鱼

Everyone in our family loves fish especially Cod and Salmon, so eventually these two choices are always in my purchase list. Today I would like to share a quick and easy “Baked Salmon with Lime” dish that are ready to be served in less than 30 minutes. This will be a great weekday healthy dish for working mothers whom need to prepare dinner after a hectic day at work.

You can choose any parts of the salmon from cutlet to fillet depending on your preference or what you can snap from the supermarket. As for the Lime, try to get those huge one from supermarket rather than those common small type that used our juice or garnishing.

Ingredients:
1 Salmon Cutlet, about 350g
1 Stalk of Spring Onion, cut into sections
5g Of Shredded Ginger
1 Chili, deseed and cut into strips (optional)

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
Rind of 1 Lime
1 Tablespoon of Lime Juice
1/2 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns, lightly crashed
5g of Butter, cubes

Method:
1. Clean, remove all the scales and pad dry the cutlet with paper towel and place it on baking tray or foil.
2. Season the fish all around with cooking wine, lime rind and lime juice then top it evenly with crashed peppercorns, shredded ginger, chili, spring onion and butter cubes.
3. You can either baked it in a pre-heated oven at 200 degree for 12 minutes or you can toast it in the oven toaster for 15 - 18 minutes depend on the thickness and how well you want it to be cooked.

Note:

~ You can omit the chili if it is too spicy for the kids.

~ You can prepared all the ingredients ahead and store in the fridge, just assemble them and bake when you reach home.

~ If you prefer something light for mid-week, perhaps you can consider this dish with some blanched broccoli or mashed potato instead of rice.

This will definitely be a refreshing dish due to the use of fresh Lime rind and juice together with freshly crashed black peppercorns to give that extra hint of aroma when baked. If you don’t like salmon, you can always replaced it with any firm fish fillet that are suitable for baking such as Dory Fillet, Cream Snapper, Barramundi fillet and etc. (you can also refer to this LINK for my past recipes on Salmon)