Cafe Indulge

Talking about Café Indulge that is located at the basement of The Cathay, perhaps you would be more familiar with it’s former name known as “The Indulge”. This three years old bistro has a wide fusion-style of European cuisine with an Asian twist that makes every dining experience filled with excitements.

Last Saturday, we have an early Birthday Celebration for one of the friend in our usual outing group. And we have an enjoyable lunch with great companies at Café Indulge with all these dishes shown below that are recommended by Alvin who is in our group too.

Alice who loves Sashimi was very curious about this dish when she saw its name in the starter column. Since we cannot figure out the taste of this “Chinese-style Salmon Sashimi”, we decided to give it try while waiting for the rest to arrive. When the dish is served, we are amaze by its styling with the combination of salmon slices resting on top of the avocado wedges. The salmon is lightly infused their special Chinese-style sauce that pairs pretty well with the avocado. And the extra dose of black and white sesame seeds also gives this dish a great finishing touch.
Price: S$7.90 per plate

Having Crispy Prawn with Wasabi Mayo is definitely a great starter before the meal. These lovely golden brown prawns are drizzled with a layer of wasabi mayonnaise sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds. Each bites on the prawn is so crunchy and it goes well with the mild wasabi mayo sauce and a bit of nutty taste from the pumpkin seeds.
Price: S$7.90 (4 pieces); S$12.90 (8 pieces)

This "Spicy Sausage Pizza" has a perfect crispy thin crust base that comes in 6 slices serving. We recommend this to be one of the quick lunch fix or afternoon tea snack with 2 - 3 friends together with some other small bits from their menu. The thin crust and generous amount of ingredients make you feel lighter rather than stuffing yourself with the usual thick pan crust that is full of carbs.
Price: S$8.90 per plate

How would you like your steak to be done? Medium Rare or? I guess most of us who loves steak would usually order Rib Eye with either black pepper or mushroom sauce served in Medium Rare preference. The portion of Rib Eye Steak served in Café Indulge was quite reasonable with its thickness and texture. And you will be surprise by their self-made mushroom sauce, which is so different from other cafés or restaurants.

Their mushroom sauce taste some how or rather similar to our Asian braised Chinese mushroom sauce which used dark soya sauce and some other Chinese spices such as cinnamon stick, star anise and etc. This is sure to be one of their distinctive sauces to go with their dishes. If you like a strong Asian taste, perhaps you can consider taking this Braised Mushroom Sauce to go with your choice of dishes when ordering.
Price: S$15.90 per set (comes with 2 choices of sides)

I love both lamb and mutton dishes so when this “Red Wine Braised Lamb Shank” was served, I am very excited to try its taste and texture. Although the meat is very tender while cutting but it seems a bit dry and required more chewing. The sauce was quiet ok and it infused the meat with a slight fragrant of spice taste and you can also serve it with their mint butter.
Price: S$14.90 per set (comes with 2 choices of sides)

Panseared Salmon with Kung Pao Sauce is something that a few of us quiet interested in because of its pairing of such exotic Asian combination of Kung Pao Sauce with Salmon. But when the dish is served we are kind of disappointed with its taste. Although the salmon is fresh and juicy but we can’t really pick up that distinctive “Kung Pao Sauce” taste which should be slightly spicy and fragrant that come from the dried chilli and etc. Perhaps they can improvise a slightly stronger flavour for this Kung Pao Sauce to perfect this dish.
Price: S$17.90 per set (comes with 2 choices of sides)

Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce comes with 2 side dishes such as Fresh Salad and Coleslaw. Although the chicken is slightly salty but it still blends well with those refreshing salad and “Special” Chinese Braised Mushroom Sauce.
Price: S$12.90 per set (comes with 2 choices of sides)

Finally comes the highly recommended dish by Alvin, which is the “Whole Lobster Pasta” that is cooked in his favourite Pesto Cream. This is indeed a MUST try dish in the ordering list, the texture of the spaghetti is great which is neither over nor under cooked. The Pesto Cream sauce goes very well with the lobster and noodles which makes them a prefer paring. Almost all the 7 of us gives thump up for this dish and we all agreed that the price for this 250g of lobster pasta is definitely a great Catch.
Price: S$15.80 per plate (promotion price)

This is a behind scene of how food bloggers are at work before we gets to enjoy our food. And with the modern technology now, you can see that everyone is busy uploading the photos with the hand phone to either their facebook or twitter account even before the blogpost is up in the website.

Tucking at a comfortable corner in the basement of The Cathay, Café Indulge is indeed a “hidden gem” in this building. With another two similar western restaurants available in the same buildings such as “Billy Bombers American Diner” and “Astons Specialities”, Café Indulge sure has its charm with it's unique dishes and reasonable pricing to stand an equal shares with the two restaurant mentioned.

For more reviews on this cafe or outings, you can read it from "miss tam chiak" and "lobsterpaint" website or more food photos on Cuisine Paradise Page HERE.

Cafe Indulge
2 Handy Road
B1-25/26 The Cathay
Singapore 229233
Telephone: (65)6732 3952
Website: http://cafe-indulge.com

Operating Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 12.00pm - 10.30pm (last order by 9.30pm)
Friday, Saturday, PH & Eve of PH: 12.00pm - 11.30pm (last order by 10.30pm)

Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken

Steam Herbal Chicken either with steam rice or blanched noodles where we could drizzle those delicious sauce over it. Whenever we unwrapped the chicken parcel, the dining room will be filled with wonder aroma of the herbs. And with the usual tight working schedule, preparing a simple and yet delicious meal is always something challenging for me. So often I would need to settle some of our meals with those quick and easy ingredients or products which can be easily purchase off shelf from the supermarket.

Since most of us are craving for herbal chicken, I decided to fix one over the weekend using one of my favourite Seah’s Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices. This is definitely a quick and easy meal and the main ingredients that you required would be either some chicken parts or the whole chicken plus a packet of ready spices. This recipe I only used half of the chicken for steaming while the other half for making “Chicken, Longan and Burdock Soup” (recipe HERE).

Ingredients:
1/2 packet of Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices
1/2 Whole Chicken, around 500g
Aluminum Foil and Wrapper(included in packet)
3 Red Dates, cut into thick strips
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Drinking Water

Method:
1. Trim, rinse and use some kitchen paper towel to pat dry the chicken.
2. Rub the spices on the external skin and internal of the chicken.
3. Top with red dates and wolfberries then drizzle the water over the top.
4. Wrap the chicken with the wrapper(tie a knot) then follow by aluminum foil.
5. Steam for about 1.5 - 2 hours depending on your preference of the meat texture.

Tips:

~ The purpose of adding water is to have more gravy for the end product.

~ Red dates and wolfberries will further enhance the taste and fragrant.

~ For stronger taste, you can also drizzle a spoonful of D.O.M Benedictine Liquor over the pipping hot chicken before serving.

 

You can get this Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices at any leading supermarket or provision stalls near your area. And if you would like to try something different, perhaps you can try this less than 30 minutes oven baked "Salt-Roasted chicken Spices" too.

Sugar Fix @ Ah Chew Desserts

Look at these!!! I am sure there is something that you can pick up to quench your thirst during these hot days. From the icy cool “Mango Sago And Pomelo” to the all time favourite such as “Gingko, Barley with Beancurd Skin” or the smooth and silky “Ginger Fresh Milk Steam Egg”. Either one of these or other choices from their menu will definitely attract you into their shop.

Last Saturday after our lunch gathering at Porn’s (click HERE), we decided to drop-by “Ah Chew Desserts” to get our sugar fix from their wide varieties of home cook desserts. Below are the items that we have ordered and tried:-

They have a very special ordering menu placed beneath the glass top table in order for customers to have a clear view of their items before making orders at the counter.

My Choice of "Black Glutinous Rice with Vanilla Ice Cream(黑糯米湖加香草雪糕)". Ever since I read up the good review on I-weekly about this special dessert I have always wanted to try it. And finally today I get to eat what I have being craving for. The combination of cold and creamy vanilla ice-cream with traditional Black Glutinous Rice and a bit of toasted almond flakes was really a good hit. At least the ice-cream is not as greasy as the coconut milk/cream. and the crunchy almond flakes add extra flavour to the taste too. Worth trying like what is recommended or you can even make this dessert at home by adding a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to your homemade Black Glutinous Rice(Pulot Hitam).
Price: SS$3.00 per bowl

Susan (blog link) choice was her favourite "Mango Sago And Pomelo(杨枝甘露)" but while making order at the counter she was tempted by the toppings menu showing "Durian". Without hesitate she immediately ask for the extra durian topping into her Mango Sago and Pomelo. But while tasting the yummy combination, we find that the durian paste was rather a bit sour which caused some stir among us. Overall we find it is not really worth to pay S$5.10 for this combination as the taste was rather odd compare to the usual Mango Sago with Pomelo.
Price: S$4 per bowl + S$1.10 for durian topping

Audrey (Lobster) and Alvin shared this amazing "Black Glutinous Rice(黑糯米湖)" which we are all fascinated with it's "spider web" like design. This is definitely something unusual compared to the normal black glutinous rice that we used to eat at the food centre where the stall owner just drizzle a spoonful of coconut milk/cream on it. Audrey finds the texture of their black glutinous rice was rather grainy to her liking compared to those sticky and creamy type. For a chance, they also ordered extra glutinous rice balls to go with the black glutinous rice paste.
Price: S$2.10 per bowl + S$1.00 for extra 3 rice balls topping

Rae is the only person who prefers this slightly bitter and spicy "Ginger Fresh Milk Steam Egg(姜汁鲜奶炖蛋)". According to her, the texture is very smooth and silky that can just wobble down your throat. But for me I would rather go for something light which is their "Fresh Milk Steam Egg White(鲜奶炖蛋白) as I don't really prefer the ginger taste.
Price: S$3.20 per pot

Maureen (Miss Tam Chiak) settles for a bowl of her favourite "Red Bean Paste with Lily Bulb(百合红豆沙)" which she prefer the lightly infuse tangerine taste. But if for me, I would prefer this to be slightly sweeter and perhaps with more tangerine taste in it.
Price: S$2.10 per bowl

Yan Cai pick this "Water Chestnut with Egg(蛋花妈蹄露)" which comes with crunchy slices of fresh water chestnut that enhance the dessert with a extra refreshing fragrant. This is a simple and yet delicious sweet treat for hot weathers.
Price: S$2.10 per bowl

Kai's choice of "Gingko Barley & Bean Curd Skin(白果薏米腐竹)" which consists of generous amount of Gingko nuts. Taste wise was quiet alright which is not very sweet too. Friendly speaking I won't order this dessert from any stalls outside as I find they can't produce the taste that my mum's always prepared for us. I preferred those texture and taste that is similar to soya bean milk type.
Price: S$2.10 per bowl

Ah Chew Dessert is located in the middle stretch of Liang Seah Street where you can find all kind of yummy food along that street such as the famous Yu Kee Braised Duck Rice, Madam Saigon Vietnamese Cuisine, Around De World Café, Porn’s Thai Food, Crystal Jade and etc. With Ah Chew’s unique traditional furnishing of using brick and pairs of eye catching red couplet(春联) outside their shop. When you get into the shop you will be amaze by the Chinese traditional wooden chairs and tables that we can hardly seen in the modern household these days.

Ah Chew Desserts Pte Ltd
1 Liang Seah Street
#01-10/11
Liang Seah Place
Singapore 189022
Telephone: 6339 8198

Operating Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 12.30pm - 11.30pm
Friday: 12.30pm - 12.30am
Saturday: 1.30pm - 12.30am
Sunday: 1.30pm - 11.30pm

Stir-fried Shiitake with Lean Pork

We love to have some mushroom in corporate into our weekly menu. Usually I would just stir-fry it with some olive oil and garlic cloves to retain its nature flavour. But for today’s mushroom menu, I decided to add in some pork fillet and chili to spice up its taste and flavour.

Shiitake mushrooms are originate from China where it has been successfully cultivated for more than a thousand years. With a long history of medicinal use, Shiitake mushrooms are rich in vitamins and minerals. This mushroom is also known to enhance the immune system whereby it aids the body to fight infection and disease.

Shiitake mushroom has a rich and “woody” flavour, with a meaty texture and a distinctive aroma. This versatile mushroom is best used for braises, stir fries, soups and etc.

Here are some of the ingredients used for this dish. You can omit or change the pork fillet to chicken fillet according to your own preference.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
150g Pork Fillet, cut into strips
250g Shiitake Mushroom, cut into thick slices
3 Cloves of garlic, skin removed
1 Red Onion, cut into wedges
2 Stall of Spring Onion, cut into sections
2 Small Chili, optional
3/4 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce

Method:
1. Rinse and cut the pork fillet into long strips and marinate it with 1/2 teaspoon each of light soya sauce, sesame oil, corn flour and a dash of white pepper for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat up the wok with 1/2 tablespoon of oil and sauté HALF of the onion wedges and, spring onion together with the garlic and chili (cut into diagonal section) till fragrant.
3. Add in the pork fillet and give it a quick stir for about 1 minute until the meat is almost cooked through, dish up and set aside.
4. Using the same wok, add in another 1/2 tablespoon of oil, add in the remaining onion and spring onion and sauté for 20 seconds then add in the mushroom and continue to stir-fry for another 1 minute till it soften.
5. Transfer the pork fillet back into wok with the mushroom, add in oyster sauce and cooked for another 30 seconds or so.
6. Remove and serve with steam rice.


Adding extra chili bring up the flavour of this dish which gives it a spicy taste. But if this is a family dish for kids, perhaps you would like to omit chili and add in dash of black pepper before remove it from the wok.