{Hawker Food Trail} Tiong Bahru Market & Hawker Centre

Once again we are back to our favourite "Hawker Food Trail" whereby Maureen (miss tam chiak) and Derrick (sgfoodonfoot) will organized a day where we get to feast all the yummy local hawker food at a specify Food Centre.

If you still remember this is our 3rd Hawker Trail, after the 1st at Old Airport Road and 2nd at Ghim Moh Food Centre. As usual we set up a budget of S$10.00 per person to conquer at least 10 different dishes. And for this round, we spent about S$9.00 on average with 10 dishes plus 2 desserts sharing among 6 persons per table.

178 LOR MEE
Stall Unit: #02-58
Price: S$3.00 per bowl (Green bowl)

178 Lor Mee is one of the well-known stores in Tiong Bahru Food Centre. With their signature deep-fried "Shark Meat" in crispy batter that goes well with flat yellow noodles and thick gravy sauce has makes it something different from the usual Lor Mee with hard-boiled egg and ngoh hiang.

TIONG BAHRU LOR MEE
Stall Unit: #02-80
Price: S$3.00 per bowl (Yellow bowl)

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee has it's own group of regular customers who prefer its traditional lor mee than the new one with "shark meat" from 178 Lor Mee. If to compare both, most of those seated on our table prefer this traditional Lor Mee with ngoh hiang, fish cake, braised meat, braised egg, fried dumpling and etc which makes it a hearty bowl of noodles.

TIONG BAHRU PAU
Stall Unit: #02-18/19
Price: S$7.60 (2 Big Bao, 2 Char Siew Bao, 4 Siew Mai)

Previously whenever we comes to Tiong Bahru Food Center, we always bought back some steamed buns and egg tarts from "Tiong Bahru Pau" for supper or breakfast. Despite the fact that their "dao bao" does not come with slice of "hard-boiled" egg like others but the flavour of the meat and texture of the bun skin are good enough to cover the missing "egg". But recently the texture of their bun is not as good as it used to be.

HARRIANN's DELIGHTS
Stall Unit: #02-25
Price: S$2.00 per plate (Vegetarian Glutinous Rice)

Surprisingly the this plain looking vegetarian glutinous rice taste good from HarriAnn's Delights. This is recommended by one of the group member, Yan Cai who love their glutinous rice. But since it is vegetarian I guess we can't expect much on their chilli sauce which seems to lack of certain ingredients and flavour when compared to those non-vegetarian.

TIONG BAHRU CHAR KWAY TEOW
Stall Unit: #02-11
Price: S$4.00 per plate

Tiong Bahru Char Kway Teow here seems to be drier and did not feel and taste as oily as it looked. The S$4.00 portion that we ordered included things like Lup Cheong, Sliced Fishcakes, Bean Sprouts and Cockles as well as "pork lard". If you like Char Kway Teow perhaps you would also like to try the famous stall, Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow which located at Old Airport Road too!

JIAN BO SHUI KUEH
Stall Unit: #02-05
Price: S$2.40 for 8 pieces

When compared to the well-known Bedok Chwee Kueh, this old time favourite, Jian Bo Shui Kueh which located at Tiong Bahru has it's own unique taste too. I love taste and fragrant of their chye poh which might be slightly salty but it did blend well with the plain chwee kueh which brings up it's flavour. Overall this is still quiet a good choice for either breakfast or tea-break despite of those "oil" flooding around.

ZHONG YU YUAN WEI WANTON NOODLES
Stall Unit: #02-30
Price: S$5.00 per plate (Wanton noodles with pig's armpit char siew)

Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles is one of the famous wanton noodles stall out of two in Tiong Bahru food center. Their Char Siew noodles is famous on using the the 不见天 (never see sky) or aka armpit meat of pigs to make their char siew. And each plate of wanton noodle comes with springy yellow noodles, top with slices of incredibly tender, well marbled and glazed char siew. No wonder customers are willing to queue for at least 20 minutes for a plate of delicious wanton noodle like this.

MIN NAN PRAWN NOODLES
Stall Unit: #02-31
Price: S$4.00 per bowl

When the prawn noodles arrive on the table, I was quiet shock to see something usual such as meatballs appeared in it. Mum said she always request the stall owner to do away the meatballs as she is not a fan of it. Overall I find the taste of the prawn broth is on the lighter side which could be improved with a strong prawn flavour will be better.

LEE HONG KEE ROAST MEAT
Stall Unit: #02-60
Price: S$10.00 per plate (assorted roast meat)

Lee Hong Kee Roast Meat has being around at Tiong Bahru for many forty years or more and their price is quiet reasonable with the amount of meat you paid for. Their char siew is cut thickly which offers a very satisfying bite which most of us love. The plate that we had above consists of roasted pork, char siew and lup cheong (Chinese Sausage). Personally I love the taste and fragrant of their lup cheong which i think it would goes well with a plate of plain steamed rice or even best to be added into claypot rice.

TIONG BAHRU FISHBALLS
Stall Unit: #02-60
Price: Approx S$5.60 per plate

Although I don't really like fishballs with soup or  noodles but I love those deep-fried fishballs; or fishcakes that are dipped with chilli sauce. Here at Tiong Bahru Fishballs, they have a few types of fishball and fishcake which taste quiet good with springy texture that is worth trying. But there is a little set back on their chilli sauce which can be improved as it is quiet dilute and the taste is slightly blend.

LIANG LIANG GARDEN
Stall Unit: #02-75
Price: S$2.00 per bowl

After meal we have some cooling dessert to clench our thirst from the afternoon heat. We tried two dessert from Liang Liang Garden which are the Milo Dinosaur Ice Kachang and Shark Fin Cheng Tng.

I love this Shark Fin Cheng Tng more than the other. It is so cooling and refreshing with bits of pieces ingredients such as red beans, water chestnuts, sago, dried longan and etc plus the shredded "shark fin" alike jelly toppings. Indeed this dessert is a good way to end a hearty meal.

Once again thanks Maureen and Derrick for organist this wonderful food outing. Look forward for the next one soon.

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes - 北海道蛋糕

Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes (北海道蛋糕) is one of the popular cupcakes that many home bakers had made. In Singapore you can find this soft and fluffy cupcakes selling at some of the housing estate bakeries or brands such as Polar and Puff.

This recipe has being in my "keep in view (KIV)" list for quiet sometime and is only until about 2 weeks ago when Joyce bought a box of this similar Hokkaido Cake (read more here), it actually triggers our baking bug to try making it on our own.

Deep-fried Banana with Popiah Skin

This is a yummy finger food that mum taught me while we are having a conversation about how to use those banana that I always stock up for our weekly fruit supply. She mentioned that she saw a Taiwan cooking clip from youtube which use fresh "popiah skin" to wrap banana with some Japanese mayonnaise and deep-fried till golden brown.

So without hesitate, I bought some fresh popiah skin and start making some for our morning tea.  After which when I posted this photo on my "Instagram", someone comment that it looks similar to one of their Philippines dessert which is known as Turon or Banana Lumpia.  And when I did a Google, it shows that Turon is a Philippine snack made of thinly sliced bananas and a slice of jackfruit which dusted with brown sugar and rolled in spring roll wrapper and deep-fried.

Food Fest @ 313 plus Giveaway of Dining Wallets

Photo credited to 313@Somerset

Did you know that in conjunction with the Singapore Food Festival, 313@somerset has prepared a series of Food Fest, entertainment and promotions from 27th July till 31st August 2012 exclusively for their shoppers?

And on top of that, shoppers who spend $150.00 on weekdays (max 3 receipts with one receipt from Food and Beverage outlets) will be entitled to 313’s Spend-and-Win and stand to walk away with the grand prize of the new iPad worth $958.

Photo credited to 313@Somerset

And for food lovers, you can purchase the “313 Dining Wallet” at $19.00 (includes dining vouchers worth over S$40 from selected Food and Beverage merchants from 27th 27 to 31st August) to fest on your favourite restaurants or eateries at 313.

How To Use:-
Just present the appropriate coupon  at the participating Food and Beverage outlets and enjoy exclusive deals for lunch, dinner, drinks and dessert. Theses coupons are also coloured coded into different dining option for your easy reference.  (Each coupon can ONLY be used ONCE)

Below is the list of participated Food and Beverage merchants:-

Bee Cheng Hiang, Blue Mountain Café, Charlie Brown Café, F.I.S.H. by Fish and Co., Food Republic, Honeymoon Dessert, JiBiru Japanese Craft Beer Bar, Jollibean, Kenny Rogers Roasters, MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream and Treatery, Malones Irish Restaurant & Bar, Oriental Herbal Tea, Paradise Inn, Prima Déli, Smoosh Juice Bar, The Flyin’ Bread, The Handburger, Trattoria Italian Kitchen, Umi Sushi, Wang Café and Yoshinoya.

GIVEAWAY

Dining Wallet with S$40 worth of food and beverage coupons

Photo credited to 313@Somerset

Thanks to 313@somerset, I am giving away ONE “313 Dining Wallet” each to 2 lucky readers.

To win:

1. Like the 313 Dining Wallet photo on Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page, AND
2. Leave a comment on facebook photo to name the purchase price of this “313 Dining Wallet” and 1 food/beverage outlet that can be found along the Discovery Walk in 313@somerset. (clue:- answer can be found in this post).


Closing Date: 31st July 2012 (Tuesday), 12 NOON.

*only for readers living in Singapore*

Mid Autumn At Swensen's plus Giveaway

Photo credited to Swensen's

Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with cool Swensen’s ice cream mooncakes that comes in six authentic flavors.  This year, let these sweet affair at both Swensen's and Earle Swensen's filled you with mouth-watering Swensen’s signature smooth and full dairy ice creams which encased in a unique pastry skin.

In addition, their special Disney ice cream mooncakes are back again this year which I am sure it will bound to be a winner especially for the little ones.

Photo credited to Swensen's

These cool ice cream mooncakes are presented in an elegant keepsake box that featured the unique Swensen’s Tiffany lamp designs which we all familiar with. And these delightful ice cream mooncakes also come in a box of four (S$29.80 per box / S$8.60 per piece), with a choice of six delicious flavours shown below which you can mix-and-match:-

~ Strawberry Fields Forever
~ Durian Royale
~ Yummy Yam
~ Sticky Chewy Chocolate
~ Cookies 'N' Cream Dreams
~ Mocha Almond Delight

Photo credited to Swensen's

As for Disney fans or parents with kiddo, you can consider to get a box of this adorable Mickey Ice Cream Mooncakes (S$16.90 per box) which is available exclusively at Swensen’s. These mooncakes come in a box of two, with a choice of  either Strawberry Fields Forever and Sticky Chewy Chocolate (or you can also request for one flavour each).

And furthermore, these Disney ice cream mooncakes are thoughtfully packaged in a unique and colourful Mickey die-cut box that features attractive printouts which is perfect for the young ones to keep as a memento.

GIVEAWAY

Swensen's Ice Cream Mooncakes

Photo credited to Swensen's

So if you are a Swensen's ice cream fans who love to try their signature smooth full dairy ice creams which encased in a unique pastry skin. Here is your chance, I would be giving away a box (4 regular ice cream mooncakes) of Swensen's Ice Cream Mooncakes to ONE lucky reader;

To win:

1. Like the Swensen's Ice Cream Mooncakes photo on Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page, AND
2. Leave a comment on the Facebook photo, name TWO flavours of  Swensen's Ice Cream Mooncakes (clue:- answer can be found in this post).

Closing Date: 29 July 2012 (Sunday), 9pm.

*only for readers living in Singapore*

Free Scoop Day at Marble Slab Creamery!‏

On 13 July 2012, Marble Slab Creamery marks its third anniversary with birthday celebration promotions throughout the month of July. And as part of its birthday celebration which will be held on this Saturday 28 July 2012, 12.00pm at it's flagship outlet Bugis+.

Photo credited to Marble Slab Creamery

On that day, Marble Slab Creamery will be offering its popular free scoop day promotion from 12pm - 5pm where customers can redeem ONE COMPLIMENTARY scoop of ice cream of their choice. So if you are in Bugis or planning to go there this Saturday, remember to drop by their outlet and claim your FREE scoop of ice-cream!

Photo credited to Marble Slab Creamery

And apart "free scoop day promotion" on Saturday, you can also drop by their largest outlet at JCube on Sunday, 29 July from 2pm - 5pm to enjoy "a scoop" of your favourite flavour ice cream at an irresistible "$1.00" price (ONLY @ JCube outlet).

On top of the above-mentioned, Fans of Marble Slab Creamery can participate in the “Dip and Win” contest for a chance to win limited edition Marble Slab merchandise, vouchers and join in other games or activities on the same day from 12pm - 6pm too!

Durian Butter Cake

Every year during the period between June and September, this "spiky" green thorns fruit known as "Durian (榴莲)" can be found everywhere in the HDB market area or some local supermarkets fruit section (fruits remove from shells and tightly sealed). So is either you love or hate this fruit due to it's strong odour where some said it is fragrant while others might find it distinguishing.

Antoinette at Palais Renaissance

I am sure the brand name "Antoinette" sound familiar to those who love cakes, pastries or French food. Following the success of Antoinette’s first three outlets (Penhas Road, Mandarin Galley and Scarlet Hotel), Owner-Chef Pang Kok Keong unveils Le Jardin d’Antoinette which is also one of their largest outlet at Palais Renaissance.

Last Saturday I was invited to a lunch tasting at their new outlet, located at Palais Renaissance together with Celes (Celestial Delish), Derrick (SG Food on Foot) and ShiTing (Lobsterpaints).

After some self introductions between Chef Pang and us, we started to look around at their cake and pastry counters while taking some photos. Below are some of the pastries and cakes which are available at Antoinette.

Array of Cakes available

Array of Assorted Macarons on display

Pastry Section: with Danish Puffs, Brownies, Muffins and etc

The Main Dining Area designed after Versaille’s expansive outdoor garden which is a unique round shaped dining space decorated with vintage furniture featuring floral accents such as flower print upholstered seats. The outskirt of the dining area is also surrounded with hanging vines as well as floral arrangements. Furthermore there is also a special elevated gazebo sits at the centre of the dining area too.

{Soup} We started with their new Classic French Onion Soup (S$16.50) which is prepared using caramelised onions in a rich chicken and veal broth accompanied by cheese toasts made from Antoinette’s signature 24-hour baguette. To perfect it, the soup is topped with a cheesy crust which resemble "cover" and it is made using parmesan and gruyère cheese.

On the 1st try, the soup taste a bit sour but when you dig in more, it actually release a hit of sweetness from the caramelised onions and it goes well with that crispy cheese crust.

{Entrées} Next we had the Tartine de Nicoise (S$26.00) which is an open face levain sandwich hide beneath some butter lettuce, French beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovy, a three-minute egg and some seared tuna.

According to Chef Pang, these Levain Bread (sourdough) are made from their own kitchen in Antonietta and the process for making this bread is quite tedious and it takes up to 16 days to cultivate the yeast from scratch plus another 2 more days to proof the bread before baking. So when having this dish, we must really appreciate each and every bits of its ingredients especially the Levain Bread which has a unique flavour and texture.

{Main Course} During the tasting, we tried 3 main courses and first to serve was Confit de Poitrine de Porc (S$36.00) is a traditional French confit of pork belly that is first cured in a mixture of sea salt, brown sugar and aromatics before it is cooked and covered in duck fat at 90 degrees Celsius for 12 hours.

The dish was plated with 5 pieces (about 2 cm each) of thick, tender and fragrant pork belly together with decent amount of garlic mash (which you might thought is mashed potato), seasonal vegetables and mustard sauce. Although I am a "pork belly" lover but I find this dish a bit on the salty side unless you are having it with some water or wine to balance the taste.

{Main Course} Next we had Bouchées aux fruits de mer (S$30.00) which is a luxurious seafood medley that consists of scallops, prawns, squid and mussels sautéed with white wine and cream. It is then served in a puff pastry case which resemble "vol au vents" but it is made with a unique reverse folding method which results in a flakier and crispier crust.

I love their fresh and seafood and taste of the sauce is is not overpowering to the whole dish but on the down side, me and ShiTing find that our scallop is kind of overcooked which makes it chewy and difficult to bite.

{Main Course} For the last main course Chef Pang brought in Prawn crumble pasta (S$26.00) which is an aglio olio-style pasta dish featuring spaghettini tossed with parsley pesto instead of basil and sprinkled with their homemade anchovy crumble.

During the introduction, Chef Pang mentioned to us that those crumble was made using Antoinette’s pain de mie loaf as well as a kalamata olives and Spanish anchovies tapenade. No wonder when all mixed together it has such a unique taste which you might mistook the breadcrumb with grated cheese.

{Dessert} For the dessert, Chef Pang shared with us 4 of his new 2012 collection which you could read more on the post below. Above we shows  Chloe (S$9.00 per slice) which is a combination of refreshing and fragrant yuzu cremeux with white chocolate vanilla mousse on a light sponge cake and almond sable.

This is one of the lighter taste cake which we concluded out of the 4 that we had tired so if you prefer something light and refreshing perhaps this would be great hit for you.

{Dessert} Forbidden Fruit (S$9.00 per slice) has a delicate layered creation that features granny smith apples in various incarnations including green apple mousse, vanilla caramel apple and green apple jelly, complemented with maple cremeux on a financier cake.

On 1st bite you will feel hint of sourish taste perhaps from the apple jelly but when you slowly savory it with a cup of tea, you will fell in love with it because of it sweet, fragrant and sour combination. I guess this is similar to feeling of "falling in love" taste.

{Dessert} Kyoto (S$9.00 per slice) is a Japanese matcha crowd-pleaser with green tea mascarpone mousse, chestnut cremeux, almond crumble and a green tea finger sponge. It has a very fragrant matcha aroma and after taste which we all loved. A "must try" for matcha lover.

{Dessert} I personally love this Tarte Exotique (S$8.50 per slice) which I think I can conquered two at one time. It has an almond base with a luscious gula melaka cremeux, finger sponge and light coconut mousse crowned with a delicate fruit coulis sphere. Because I love almond base tarts and as well as the unique aroma from the Gula Melaka, I highly recommend this dessert which I am sure you will love it as much as we do.  

Just to share there is a private dining room which is perfect for groups of 8 - 10 pax to hold function such as Formal Dining, Gathering, Birthday or etc.

Antoinette at Palais Renaissance

390 Orchard Road, Palais Renaissance,
B1-08/09/10C,
Reservations No.: +65 6735 6392

Operating Hours:
11.00am to 10.00pm daily (last order 9.30pm)


Lastly I would like to thank Hsian Ming (from Sixth Sense Communications and PR Consultancy Pte Ltd) and Chef Pang (Antoinette at Palais Renaissance) for this tasting invitation. For more photos of this tasting, you can click on Cuisine Paradise Facebook page HERE.

PrimaDéli's Celebrates Their 20th Anniversary With Monthly Promotions

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

From now till 20th October 2012, PrimaDéli has lined up a series of monthly mouth‐watering promotions, such as “Scratch And Win” lucky draws, $20 Cakes, 1‐for‐1 deals and 20¢ Waffles to show appreciation and reward for their loyal customers.

So if you have missed out their July's 20 cents Waffle deal and S$20 Cakes, here is another upcoming promotion tomorrow Friday, 20 July 2012 on their 1-For-1 Egg Tarts @ S$1.30. And for your information on the 20th of every month (till October 2012), PrimaDéli’s 1‐For‐1 deal will enable you to enjoy their signature classics to the fuller.

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

PrimaDeli Waffle Day: If you are a Waffle lover, don't forget on every 2nd Friday of each month (13 July, 10 August, 14 September, and 12 October), PrimaDeli's waffle will be selling at 20 cents each (usual price: S$1.30)! And it is limited to 100 plain waffles per outlet. (one plain waffle purchase per customer and the promotion starts at 2.00pm).

Photo credited to "Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd"

On top of the cake and pastry promotions, their Hunt for the Golden Bun will be held from 15 Jun till 30 September 2012, to encourage customers to try out their new and improved recipe. And for every two golden buns purchased during this period, customers will receive one Scratch And Win card, which gives them one chance to win and redeem delectable PrimaDéli products instantly!

Moreover, customers who received the special “Golden Bun” ticket will receive a S$20.00 PrimaDéli voucher AND be eligible for the Golden Bun Grand Draw on 20 October 2012 at Causeway Point to win the following prizes:

~ 1st Prize: Osim uDivine (worth $5,488) + $100 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 2nd Prize: An iPad (worth $658) + $50 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 3rd Prize: Digital camera (worth $350) + $50 PrimaDéli voucher

~ 4th ‐ 20th Prizes: $100 PrimaDéli voucher