Marmite Chicken Waffle at Dandelion (Bukit Merah Central)

Cafes have been popping up at Bukit Merah Central.

Tonight, we went back to the ice-cream shack which has changed its name to Dandelion. Still selling the waffles and ice cream and i guess, it adds to its menu some staple food. 

Ordered the Marmite Chicken waffle that comes with salad and potato wedges after 'consulting' the lady at the counter. 

I have read about people eating fried chicken and waffle at other places and this is the first time I am trying out this combination. Waffle to me is always best with ice cream but savory taste, it's the first.

Nice, if you like the taste of Marmite! top it up with the maple syrup! A combination of savory and sweetness, with the cripsy chicken and the softness of the waffles. A mixture of texture and tastes in the mouth at a time! 

Even the kids kept stealing my marmite chicken to top with their waffle!

Marmite Chicken Waffle

Address: 

#02-3605, 163 Bukit Merah Central, 150163

And Why cafe @ Bali Lane

Dessert Time @ And Why Cafe at Bali Lane. 

It's been long since we popped by the area and it is great to see so many cafe popping up in the years. Hop into Any Why cafe and there we come, calories!

This cafe is small and cozy but the ambiance was nice. The cakes were all on display and we can simply choose and pick from there. Ask if you need any recommendation for the cakes. We had the banana cake which was really yummy and the Neapolitan Cheesecake does not taste like cheesecake at all.

Okay, we did not try the mains here but well, maybe we will be back soon to try them out!

Full Passion, Wildberries, Neapolitan cheesecake, Banana Cake

Address:
31 Bali Lane #01-01, S 189867, tel: 6291 0993

Fosters English Rose Cafe @ Holland Village

Time to meet up with the princesses... been long since we last met, well, I guess that was last year. So as Princess C's office has shifted to the west area, we decided to meet up at Holland Village for dinner and to chill out. 

Fosters English Rose Cafe was suggested by her and there we went. We reached at around 7pm and the place was already quite packed. Lucky for us, we were brought to a table within minutes. While we waited for Princess Q, we ordered soup and calamari to ease the hunger feel. 

The soup was Lobster Bisque and well, please try it if you are at Fosters! It was simply delicious and nice and I did not have to add pepper to it (well, normally I added pepper to add more flavour to creamy soup). It was already flavourful! Yummy!

After the soup, we had the happy hour where any 2 drinks at the price of $15+. I had the Frozen Lime Margarita. It was the first time I tried the drink and phew, I did not regret it. The first taste with the salt did give me a shock but it combined with the flavor of the margarita. Good!

The main course that I ordered was Roast Herb Half Chicken. It was not that fantastic though the waiting time for it stretched up to 25 minutes. The quantity of potato given was quite pathetic and so was the gravy. But the chicken was tender and not tough. But overall, the experience at Fosters quite good. 

Will I revisit the place again? Yes, I will... and the next round, I would like to pop by for the tea after seeing the tea menu!

Margarita, Lobster Bisque, & Roast Herb Half Chicken

Address:
277 Holland Ave
Holland Village
Singapore 278994

Poulet - Raffles City

Meeting up with Random Friends to celebrate the youngest's birthday. Should be done in December but two of us will be away in Vancouver. Thus, we brought forward the celebration, especially when we last met up in September. 

Decided to patronize Poulet, a casual French restaurant, by the Thai Express group, at Raffles City. Been wanting to visit it since I heard quite good comments about the place. We had to queue for half an hour or so in order to get a seat and while eating, the queue never stopped till after nine plus. Good food but though not really that fantastic that I will be queuing half hour for it. 

Poulet

As a potato lover, french fries is the best starter for me. I would also try to order a share of french fries whenever possible. Huge chunky fries was great at Poulet. Complementary it was the chili sauce. Normal chili sauce which we can buy it off shelf . We could not understand why the service crew gave us such a small portion which we eventually asked for the 5th serving. Come on, looking at the serving of the fries, would really recommend them to fill it up to the brim instead of 1/5 of the saucer. This does not make sense! 

French Fries

Next up the table is the restaurant’s star dish - Poulet Rôti (roast chicken). The both of us shared the whole chicken. The portion was just nice and my friend was looking for the wing. She couldn't find it and I did not take note of the wings when eating. Seems weird, where are the wings? Anyway, the Mushroom Sauce complimented the tender meat. But towards the end, I got a bit sick of the sauce and dipped the chili sauce instead. Not sure if we did not enjoy the sauce or they really served the chicken with a lot of sauce - when we finished the chicken, there was still a lot of sauce leftover. But for around 30 dollars, personally I do not find this dish worth. Still, go ahead and order as this is, after all, my personal preference. 

Poulet Rôti (roast chicken)

Off to Mr Punch rooftop pub at Seah Street. Nice place to chillax as there was not many people there. Recommend to go!

Brunch @ W39 Bistro & Bakery

Read about W39 Bistro & Bakery over the internet but find it too far to visit just to have brunch. Not sure if it was a blessing or bad luck that I need to work on Sunday at Clementi area. I just have to say that fate brought me to this cozy home-style bistro.

The place is not very big and was pretty crowded when I reached. Luckily I got a table quick enough. Here's the breakfast menu that is available only on weekends and public holidays, from opening till 3pm. The hearty breakfast grabbed my attention. 

Breakfast menu

While waiting for my food, I took a photo of this cakes & pastries corner of the shop. Cakes, my favourite but as I was alone, my stomach could not afford extra space to have one. I shall be back to try out their cakes, they look good!

Cakes & Pastries Corner

Here's my Hearty Breakfast which consists of Eggs, Mushrooms, Tomatos, Bacon, Sausage, Greens and Toast. A big portion, totally worth the price. Let me start off with the Toast. It is evenly toasted - soft and easy to chew. The butter and jam complemented it well though it tasted great alone or with the egg yolk. As for the tomato, it was well grilled but a pity, there was only one tomato on the plate. The sauteed mushrooms was great. I loved the bacon the most. They tasted great. Unfortunately, the egg yolks were a bit well done but overall, this breakfast was fantastic. Oh, I think you can decide on the type of eggs you like - I saw someone ordering scrambled eggs.  

Hearty Breakfast

If you are thinking of going in a group, I reckon that you call to make reservation before popping by. This is to avoid disappointment. Will be back to try out their mains and especially the CAKES!

39 Jalan Mas Puteh, (Off West Coast Road)
Singapore 12863

Cafe Siem Reap by IndoChine @ Holland Village

Another Birthday, another gathering. This round, we headed to Holland Village as per the Birthday girl's instruction. As she IS always the earliest, she decided to just chillax at Cafe Siem Reap by IndoChine. They have this 1-for-1 beer promotion and I guess this really attracts her. 

Besides the beer, we had a fair share of Vietnamese food at this cafe. As weird as it seems, Cafe Siem Reap selling Vietnamese food. And with the food, I missed my days in Ho Chi Minh. The days without my phone, the days where I could rest and relax, eat and drink. Those days are coming, I can see the lights at the end of the year-long journey.

As Random A is a vegetarian, we order the Goi Cuon Chay - Vegetarian Fresh Rice Paper Rolls as the starters while waiting for the rest of the people to join us. Rice Paper Rolls with beer, great combination. The food was served promptly and I think I took more time trying to get the attention of the service crews to take order. How irony was that.  Anyway, the fresh rice paper rolls was nice. I seldom see this dish in Singapore and the last time I ate it was in HCM itself. This roll was filled with with lettuce, bean sprouts, chives, mint leaves and rice vermicelli accompanied with a traditional Siêm Rêap sauce. Refreshing taste with the mint lingering around the mouth. DO remember to dip the sauce as it will bring out the flavour - a little spicy but nice. Otherwise, the roll is quite bland. For those who do not just want vegetables, there is also the rice paper roll with prawns. 

Goi Cuon Chay - Vegetarian Fresh Rice

I need meat and thus, I went on to order the Com Suon - Vietnamese Pork Chop with Rice Steamed jasmine rice served with special marinated pork chop and a sunny side up egg, accompanied with a sweet Siêm Rêap fish sauce. 

The jasmine rice is really great and it went well with the pork chop. The pork chop was well marinated. The fish sauce was a great creation and it brought back memories. The portion was just nice and I enjoyed this dish alot. 

Com Suon - Vietnamese Pork Chop with Rice

Next up was the Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Pancakes - bean sprouts, onion, carrot, black mushroom and yellow beans, stuffed in a crispy Vietnamese pancake served with fresh lettuce, full - flavoured mint and coriander leaves coated in a traditional tangy sauce. That's the description in the menu with no mention of meat but hey there, there was minced meat. If you like vegetables, do try this. While the vegetables was fresh, the pancake neturalised the taste. 

Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Pancakes

Last dish of the day is definitely dessert - Sticky Rice with Mango. It is actually Sticky rice with coconut milk and fresh mango.

The sticky rice is just nice, not too dry and the coconut milk complements it. The fresh mango is really fresh and sweet. Loved it.

Sticky Rice with Mango

Not a crowded place but I reckoned could be that it was a Monday night. The service crew should improve on their service and be more attentive. Otherwise, this is a great place to hang out.

Holland Village,
44 Lorong Mambong

S(he)Brews Cafe @ Queenstown Community Centre

Around the old town in Queenstown for work and decided to head to s(he)Brews cafe at Queenstown Community Centre for lunch. I got to know about this cafe through a friend's Facebook. 

A small cafe I have to say, sitting at the corner of the Community Centre - Seats are limited. I arrived at around one plus on Tuesday and the place wasn't packed. I think the words 'Savour LIFE' painted on the words. 

S(he)Brews

We got to order our food from the counter and when the food is ready, they will shout out the order and a number from the receipt. You really need to listen hard if you are seated far from the corner or if the place is crowded or noisy. I wondered if they will soon issue a buzzer for the collection of food. 

I looked at the set menu and I chose the Nonya Laksa with a cup of Long Black. At the price of $8.90, I got the main course, a hot drink and a dessert of the day. If you choose to have the cold drink, the price is at $7.90. The ala carte for the main course is set at $5.60. So I guess it is more worth to get the set. 

This is the first time I ordered Long Black and I like the after-taste bitterness. A nice cup of hot coffee on a rainy day. 

Long Black

The Nonya Laksa is awesome too. The cafe is generous in their portion. In a bowl of Laksa, there are mussels, prawns, half of half-boiled egg, tau pok, fishcakes and fishballs. Totally worth the price we paid for it. The gravy was not very spicy and the ingredients are fresh. And though I mentioned it is a self service cafe, I guess there wasn't a big crowd that a service crew 'served' the laksa to my table. Totally love his ''extra-mile'' service. 

Nonya Laksa

I collected the dessert - Lemon Square - from the counter after my food. Half the size of what they sell  off the shelf but the size is just nice as a after lunch dessert. The crust at the bottom was a bit hard but overall, this Lemon Square is nice. Lingering lemon taste after the Laksa gave me a refreshing feeling.

Lemon Square

I have to say, everything is self service in this cafe. From the ordering of food, to collection to taking the utensils and finally the return of the utensils. That's the reason why we do not need to pay service charge. I don't mind, do you?

365 Commonwealth Avenue
Queenstown Community Centre

ME time @ Forty Hands

Just want to spend the day by myself, just to relax and do nothing. Decided to head to Tiong Bahru Estate where there are a couple of coffee houses 'hidden' there. It is just a a 10 – 15 minutes walk away from Tiong Bahru MRT. Initially, I wanted to visit Flock Cafe at Moh Guan Terrance but unfortunately, they are closed for spring cleaning today. Headed down to the next street at Yong Siak Street for more choices. 

In the end, I ended up at Forty Hands again. It wasn't my first time visiting the place. The cafe is considerably small, probably sit up to 40 people. It's often crowded during the weekend. Though today is a weekday, there is still a small crowd. 

As usual, I ordered a cup of Flat White. It was introduced to me during my Melbourne trip by my sister and I fall in love with this coffee. In Forty Hands, we need to order our item(s) from the counter and they will serve you at your table. So grab a seat before you order. 

Flat White

With no friends with me, I have more time to appreciate the surroundings. Forty Hands is actually quite noisy and the the ambience wasn’t quite there for ME time. I took time to drink my Flat White and this time, I noticed the nice prints that was left behind by the coffee inside the cup. Nice piece of art. It is really nice to appreciate a cup of coffee by myself. 

Prints left behind

I noticed the Brunch menu that is placed on the table and 'Salmon Hash' captured my attention. I guess I will be back soon to try out their Brunch. And I guess, that will be braving and beating the crowds to grab a seat. Maybe I will revisit on a Friday (hopefully with less crowd) before my project ends.

Brunch Menu

Forty Hands
78 Yong Siak Street
#01-12

Shokudo Japanese Coffee House

Sister's treat to Shokudo Japanese Coffee House last week. A fusion concept cafe and I like their motto on the menu "For Foodies and Fun Times". Situated at the ground floor at Bugis Parco, it is quite a convenient place for meetups. Their menu is quite extensive ranging from starters to main course, pasta to desserts. The drinks selection is not bad too. Since there were only the two of us, we each ordered a main dish. Did not try any of the starters which I guess I will be back soon to try it out with my friends. 

Shokudo Japanese Coffee House 

Sis ordered the Hotate Mentaiko Wafu Aglio Olio Pasta. According to the menu, it is tossed in wafu sauce. Shokudo is very generous in their ingredients and there are really quite a handful of scallops. Unlike some other cafes/restaurants, they are really not stingy in giving their best to the customers. The spicy cod roe gave the pasta a crunchy feeling. Nice dish but I found it a bit salty. Sis loves it though.

Hotate Mentaiko Wafu Aglio Olio Pasta

I ordered the Shiromi Fish Steak and I chose it because of the yuzu butter sauce. Yuzu butter sauce sounds interesting to me and I have not tried any food cooked with yuzu before. The fish fillet is tender but I am quite puzzled that since it was served on a hot plate, the fish fillet was not hot at all. Not that it was served cold but it was slightly lukewarm. The yuzu sauce was special but I wished they could have given more of the sauce. The butter rice was just a small scoop. So for people who want to eat rice, you will be disappointed. This set came with the Japanese seafood soup and a bowl of french fries. The soup is simply seafood miso soup. The big chunky fries was served hot and ok, for the matter of fact, I love potato. And I am glad that they served the side salad too. Simply cannot go without vegetables for western food!

Shiromi Fish Steak

Not a bad eating experience and I think I will be back for more!

Shokudo Japanese Coffee House
Bugis Junction #01-53

Grub @ Bishan Park

When you asked me to dine at the park, the first thing that comes to my mind is PICNIC. But I was wrong. There is a café, GRUB, situation at Bishan Park which is recently opened on 1 May 2013. I have not heard of this place at all but a cafe in the park sounds great. Basically, it is not a very big café and they do not take reservations. Thus, do make your way earlier to avoid disappointment. And, do bear in the mind while waiting for a table to feast, the mosquito might be feasting on you first. I guess that is the only downside of having a café close to nature. 

The menu is not very extensive and they do offer breakfast. Not a bad choice for brunch on weekends. For dinner, there are either burgers (which comes with French fries and there are a couple of optional add-ons to the burger) or main course. As we are going for handcraft beer (which costs S$10 each and the variety is quite good and the waitress might be introducing you some that are off the list. So do ask whether they have any special beer in store), I decided to order the Slow Roasted Pork Belly with mango sauce, mash, cherry tomato salsa. I assumed that the pork belly will be oily and the beer could just help me wash off the oiliness. 

Slow Pork Belly

I was not disappointed with this dish – it is not oily at all. Soft and tender could be used to describe the pork belly. It practically ‘melted’ in my mouth. The refreshing mango sauce gave the dish a sweetness element. Sitting on a bed of mash potato, this dish is awesome. The portion, however, is rather small but aren’t we glad that it leaves some space in the stomach for their desserts! 

Churros

Churros with dark chocolate and tangy creme anglaise There aren’t many cafes in Singapore selling Churros (Spanish doungnut). I remembered the last time I had churros was at Universal Studio Singapore last year. It took quite a while to serve this dish but it was pipping hot when it was served. Wonder if they missed out on the order or they actually fried it only upon order. They were crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside. It came with 2 dips, the dark chocolate and tangy creme anglaise. Personally, I prefer the tangy creme anglaise sauce. It brings out a refreshing taste but I guess maybe it is due to the fact that I love dishes that have fruits elements in it. 

Waffle

The Belgium waffle is served with grilled banana and salty caramel and dark chocolate sauce Similar to churros, the waffle was soft yet crispy on the outside. The combination of chocolate sauce and salty caramel gives the dish a sweet yet savoury taste. Really went well with the waffle. The banana was grilled (yes, grilled, not just plain fresh banana for display) and it was fantastic. 

This is not a bad place to chill but it is a bit out of the way and they allow pets in their outdoor sitting area. So it could be a good place for dog-lovers to bring their pets to join in the gathering with friends and family! 

Grub
510 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (Bishan Park 1)
Singapore 569983