Ikea - Tampines Branch

IKEA has two branches in Singapore that is located @ 317 Alexandra Road and 60 Tampines North Drive 2. Both offer a wide range of well designed, functional Home Furnishing products at reasonable prices that many people will be able to afford them.

And other than the wide range of imported furnitures and home accessories. They also have their own IKEA Restaurant which offers "Traditional Swedish Dishes" like Swedish Meatballs and Poached Salmon at less than S$7.00 a set for adults. Little kids also have special kid's meal which is less than $3.00 and there are microwave available to warm up baby and toddlers food in order to cater for everyone needs in the family.

I love their Poached Salmon served with potatoes and broccoli and topped with a buttery cream sauce that does not taste or feel greasy and it really blend well with the salmon. Other than the poached salmon, we also try their famous Swedish meatballs. Em... the overall taste is great, but then we don't really like the fragrant of the meatball which taste a bit odd for us :)

Other than the above, I also get a bowl of their soup for the day which is - Cream of Mushroom but I am kind of disappointed with it as it taste kind of salty and I can't really get that touch of mushroom taste in it. But as usual, their fried chicken wings are still as good as before. The taste is great and it's best to eat while hot so that it is more crispy and tastier.

Savory Oatmeal Porridge - 麥片粥

Oatmeal is usually used to make porridge or act as an one of the ingredient in oatmeal cookies or oat cakes. Sometime it is use as a topping on many oat bran breads. Research shows that Daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol, due to its soluble fiber content.

This is my very 1st attempt in cooking Savoury Oatmeal which really worried me before the final end product being served. But to my surprised these really turn out well and it taste just as similar as to those "Cantonese Porridge - 广东粥" texture. To further enhance the fragrant of the porridge, I even prepared some pan-fried shredded ginger to use as garnish.

As for this recipe, I use this "Quaker - Quick Cook Oatmeal" which you can purchase in most supermarket. You can add your preference amount of Oatmeal to the thicken the porridge to the consistency that you want the it to be.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
5 - 6 Tablespoons of Quick Cook Oatmeal
3 Imitation Crab Meat, diced
100g Of Mince Pork
1 Egg, lightly beaten
600ml of Water/Stock
Chopped Spring Onion & Coriander
Pan-fried Shredded Ginger, optional

Methods:
1. Marinate the mince meat with some light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil and set aside.
2. Preheat a saucepan with some oil, lightly fry the diced crab meat until done, then add in the marinated mince meat.
3. Give it a quick stir until the meat are well separated and cook through.
4. Add in the water and bring it to almost boiling point then add in the quick cook oatmeal.
5. When the mixture come to boil again, low the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes then season to taste.
6. Switch off the heat, remove the pot from the stove, then drizzle in the beaten egg and give it a quick stir.
7. Serve in the bowl with extra topping of chopped coriander, spring onion and shredded ginger.

Notes:
a) To make the pan-fried shredded ginger:-
~ Preheat a small pan with about 1 tablespoon or more of oil, then add in 1 tablespoon of shredded ginger, saute it over medium low heat.
~ Stir consistency until the ginger turns almost golden in colour, switch off the heat, remove the shredded ginger and set aside in a small saucer.
~ Pour some of the oil over it so as to drizzle on the porridge or noodle.

At a glance of it, you will definitely mistaken it as the usual "Mince Pork Porridge" that we used to have in the Asian way of cooking. So do give this a try to serve Oatmeal in a new taste compare to the sweet flavour varieties that we used to have for breakfast.

Sakae Sushi - Parkway Parade

There are about 40 Sakae Sushi branches all around Singapore which offer a wide varieties of affordable Japanese cuisine delights which range from Sushi, Ramen to Teppanyaki. Since we are in the East Coast area today, we decided to have our lunch at one of the Sakae branch located in Parkway Parade.

There was quiet a long queue due to the weekend lunch crowd but we still managed to get a seat in less than 20 minutes. Upon seated we were quiet impressed and amused by the different varieties of sushi plates available on their conveyor belt. The first item that caught our eyes it something similar to the California Maki that is top with fresh mango slices, cream cheese and black fish roe. The taste really blend well and the fresh mango slices do give it a refreshing fragrant and taste.

Second items that we grab is the Nigiri sushi that top with a thick gorgeous slice of smoke salmon which is coated with some ground black pepper.

Third items that we pick is a sushi roll wrapped with cream cheese and Japanese cucumber and also top with extra cucumber slices, prawn mayonnaise and fish roe.

Rey is a Sakae fan who loves their Nigiri Sushi, especially Tamago. He will have at least 3 plates of that whenever he dine in at any of the outlet. And today he is very surprise to find this new outlook of Tamago that they served in this Parkway branch. Look at the slice of Tamago on to of the rice, it is such a big serving that we have ever seen in other outlets before.

Next comes our main course other than the sushi plates that we had. I order this Seafood Set Lunch @ S$12.90 which consists of Half Shell Scallop, 2 Large Prawns, A slice of Pan-fry Salmon, Stir-fry Assorted Vegetable(beansprouts with onion and lot of garilc), Miso Soup, Crab meat Vegetable Salad and with a top-up of another S$2.50 more you can also enjoy their Garlic Rice.

Em... personally, I felt that they have added too much garlic and sauce in preparing the half shell scallop and the assorted vegetables which makes them pretty salty. But overall the salmon and prawn is great, especially the prawn that taste so fresh and "Q".

Although this is the very first time I tried their garlic rice, I was kind of impress by the taste and the extra topping of dried krill. Overall we give this set 75% for the taste and presentation :)

Lastly, if you are a Sushi fan, and happen to be around that area, you might also want to consider their Sushi Buffet at a reasonable price during the specific hours indicated in the pamphlet.

Mayim Chinese Cuisine

This is a very special Chinese Cuisine restaurant called "MAYIM - 天乐里" which is going to open soon in Northpoint (义顺纳福坊) at the 2nd story. They have a nice window view which is directly facing the Yishun MRT track and I also love their interior decoration and food varieties which consists a mixture food fusion.

Here is a preview of their menu outside the restaurant. From the look of it you will be looking forward to give a try on their actual dish in no time. The price range of the dishes are reasonable and affordable too. If you can't wait for the branch at Northpoint to open, you can also visit their main branch at 1 Bukit Batok Central Link,#02-04, West Mall, Singapore 658713 Tel: 6794 1590

I will update more on their cuisine after I get to try out their cuisine in the Northpoint branch which is going to open soon.