Buckaroo BBQ & Grill (Onion Rings, Cock & Bull Combo, Fish and Chips, Buckaroo's Texan Pizza)

In relation to my last memorable visit HERE, another visit is necessary for a more extensive sampling, with more people.

The last round was a disappointing two dishes.

This time, we brought to you a total of four!!

Without further ado, here goes.

Onion Rings

A very simple dish.. presented in a very unique form.

I have always loved onions (fried and even raw) for its distinctive flavour and the fact that it can complement a lot of food; like porridge, pizzas etc etc.

And don't think this is an ONION-FLAVORED one hor.

It's not! Made of 100% REAL ONION okay?!

Cock & Bull Combo

Don't you love the vulgar title?!?! At roughly 800 grams, this is no small cock bull! Unfortunately, there's nothing big about the taste.

The Prime Rib of Beef (left) was too fatty and the Country Style Chicken Chop (right) was........ eh..... too common! Still prefer the lip smacking honey style chicken chop from Old Airport Road hawker centre!

Fish and Chips

Usually, Mr Kon, Ms SaNeVa and I will never order this common dish unless the eatery is damn famous for it. BUT, our little boy man, Mr Chiu, loves Fish and Chips. And he is always searching for this dish on the menu whenever we dine.

The batter was really good with a crispy cover yet maintaining a moist, tender content.  

Passed!

Oh, the others sucked by the way! Potato wedges were not palatable, the coleslaw had not much of a flavour and the garlic bread was too hard!

Failed failed failed!!!

Buckaroo's Texan Pizza

Not outstanding!

Please do not infer "not outstanding" as bad because it really wasn't.

Maybe it was the ingredients (beef, chicken, mushroom, onion, olives and gherkin) or maybe it was me. Living in Singapore means i am subject to a lot of 'fusion' pizzas like bak kwa or teriyaki pizza, both of which i enjoyed a lot!! 

At least, this cowboy pizza was piping hot from the oven with very sticky cheese and a generous spread of ingredients!

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Additional Information

Concerned about the pricing? Here it is, for your consideration

Onion Rings = Dun Remember but There Are Two Sizes

Cock & Bull Combo = $42.80

Fish and Chips = $19.80

Buckaroo's Texan Pizza = $21.00

Kindly add a 7% GST and tip if you cannot find fault with the service! 

The View (Outside My House)

It was with absolute anticipation (and excitement) when i saw the big panels barricading the big patch of field (roughly two football size fields) in front of my house.

Finally!! A park with a kidney-shaped pond filled with lotus, tortoises and an exercise corner for the exercise-deprived me residents around the area! At long last, an area that is so ridiculously close, i can theoretically jump down from the 7th floor for my exercises!!

Taking a closer look at the information board while walking my dog, disappointment slowly seeped in and i was speechless for a split moment.

Another building to block the

beautiful view?!?!?

That view was defaced once, when they built the primary school! With good fortune, it is only 4 storey high and the green field remains. Now, it is a bloody 15 storey block!!

Sighz.......

Now the questions:

(1)

Would it pose a direct block to my view? If it's perpendicular to my block, it is still not too bad.

The current view allows me to see beyond the shores of Singapore and i can even catch the occassional fireworks.

(2)

Would it be situated too near to my block? Hopefully not, i am usually naked not wearing my shirt when i am at home and it's... bad karma to burn people's eyes.

Only time will answer my questions.

Awaiting for First Quarter of 2012.

Flowers @ Shuang Lim Monastery

Some of you might have heard that my beloved though maliciously abused camera is spoilt.... AGAIN!!!

Maybe it's time for me to get a super tough camera, like the Olyumpus Tough-8010 with a 2 meters shockproof and 10 meters for waterproof!! 

Good for the sadistic users (i am the angelic kind).

With the demise of my young Panasonic Lumix TZ15, i am helpless.

Pictures play a very part when i blog, given my limited language proficiency. Hence, i have no choice but to blog on pictures i took in the past (frequently do that anyway!).

Flowers are one of my favourite models.

The colors, the different appearances usually beautify most pictures!

The following few pictures were taken in my recent trip to Shuang Lim Monastery on Chap Goh Meh 2010, the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Yes, water lilies*!! :P

And all taken by the Lumix!

 *Thanks to Yongde, who corrected me! I though they were all lotus flowers!

Buckaroo BBQ & Grill (Buffalo Wings and Rack of Veal in Porcini Cream) @ Andrews Avenue (Near Sembawang Park)

The first time i saw the neon signboard, i thought it meant Australian cuisine, with the decor being outback influenced, many knick knacks displayed prominently everywhere and Australia being synonymous with kangaroo.

Buckaroo sounds like a kangaroo with buck teeth, as my brain told me.

Back then, my super nice maternal uncle treated me to pork chop. Skeptical initially since i wasn't a big pork chop fan!! Details are pretty fuzzy after a few years but at the very least, i still remember how delicious it was.

Fast forward to my recent trip to Buckaroo.

Eating too much during the spring festival made me really guilty and a promise was made to eat sparingly.

For two persons who are trying to lose some weight, we only ordered half a dozen of buffalo wings and a main dish deliciously titled Rack of Veal in Porcini Cream. There's even a well cautioned warning the dish is pretty addictive!

Buffalo Wing #3

My last acquaintance with this dish can be read HERE. #10 was just too much! #3 was nice but lacked the shiokness! K.I.S.S (picture attached above).

Rack of Veal in Porcini Cream

One one hand, at S$42.80 a plate, the price was steep!! On the other hand, the portion was huge!!

Van looked me. I looked her.
Both looked at the dish.


F the promise!!!

The whip potato was unlike any i had before! I hate whip potato and find it a waste of calories for something so mundane and tasteless.  But this one here had.......... such a different taste; so yummy i took a scoop, another scoop until i finished roughly half (not an easy feat!). Didn't manage to finish everything because Vanessa was busy snacking on it too!!

The sauce (porcini cream) accompanying the rack was creamy thick and had a tasty fragrance that made it so heavenly;worthy of the addictive warning on the menu!! Too much of course can be relatively overbearing.

The veal looked like whitish (though veal means young cattle?) and depending on which part you start from, the texture differs. The meat was not as flavoured infused compared to beef and this was when the cream became the hero in enhancing the meat.

Pardon me.

Because i didn't know that the salad like thingy was ratouille! Remember the cartoon movie talking about a rat with a flair for high class french cuisine. 

Downgraded to a side dish here, it didn't lose its goodness and was like a good plate of spaghetti without the pasta.

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Location

12B, Andrews Avenue.

Very near to Sembawang Beach Park.

Opening Hours
4pm to 10.30pm

Closed on Tuesday

Additional Information

Proudly declaring itself as an "ang moh" style coffee shop located in an ulu location, the price is definitely not coffee shop prices.

Service was commendable although there is no 10% service charge!! Tipping is the culture to go in Buckaroo. Ice water is also provided at no extra charge!!

Food pictures were taken from iPhone.

New Snack for Watching Movies in the Cinema

Alex taught me something new today.

In cinema theatres, it is very common to find patrons enjoying the hot, crunchy popcorns. Though irritating (especially when the movie has reached a silent yet intense frame. And then you hear a slow "crunccccch......."), it is indispensable for most of us when catching a show.

In recent years, nanchos drenched in bad bad cholesterol-laden cheese have gained popularity. Bad for us, the crunccccch remains.

A new variation by Alex proves to be quite delicious (a harmonious combination of crunchiness saltiness, sweetness and a tad of spiciness).

Not to keep you waiting, you will need the following:

One. Popcorns

Two. A Cup of Cheese (charge separately)

Directions of use:

Dip the popcorns in cheese.

That's IT!

So far, there's no diarrhea.

Safe for Consumption!

i think

God of Fortune (財神廟) @ Sembawang (三巴旺), Singapore

Spare the argument, the God of Fortune (aka God of Prosperity, God of Wealth, Cai Shen and 财神) is the "homo-sapien" symbol for Chinese New Year!

Everywhere you go, you can see the pictures of Cai Shen, the statues of Cai Shen, humans dolling as Cai Shen, Cai Shen toys and even songs that ring irritably with the descent of Cai Shen (cai sheng dao, dong, dong dong dong!).

Without doubt, this "specialised" temple in Sembawang (28 Admiralty Street), housing the God of Fortune, attracts a lot of people during the Chinese New Year.

And with the big TOTO draw of S$10 million looming then, my mom had to pray for some hopefully good fortune to tide the year over (she needs her shopping and my paltry pay is not helping).

To my surprise, Cai Shen is not ONE god!

From the mini placards placed in front of each statue, the responsibility for the god of fortune is in fact shared by different gods, each handling a directional (north, east, south, west and central) or type of fortune!

Not being an overly religious guy, i roamed around the temple, which is decorated with so many glittering gold decorations but is relatively small in size since the compound is shared with other temples.

The Shan Cai Tong Zi (善才童子) is a disciple of Guan Yin Goddess. There's a ladle that you can drenched the statue with water. He can help you to manage and attract your monetary assets.

The Dragon King! I don't really see any direct link with the God of Forune except that water is believed to help in the "birth" of fortune and dragons are believed to control the water world.

These four statues used to be located somewhere else to welcome all visitors. With the closure of some pathways, they have been assembled near the main entrance.

Dozens of coiled shaped incenses for the god(s).

Though we didn't win the TOTO S$10 million (sadly), our main hope is to be granted good fortune every single day of the year; financially, physically and mentally.

And i hope the same for everyone of you!

HUAT AH!!!!!

The Gambling Curse (Luck)

Being Chinese, gambling flows in our dragon blood.

However, I am really not a compulsive gambler and my bets are limited to the 3 times a week 4D, the occasional TOTO when the winnings are big and the rare mahjong whenever i feel my mum is on the verge of losing her memory!

Hallo, I don't even go to Genting Highland for its casinos!

It's the theme park fresh and cool weather i crave for!!

Nonetheless, the internal need from birth intensifies during the Chinese New Year season; the unmistakable clark clark sound from the mahjong tiles, the resounding "picture, picture" for the banker in blackjack etc etc. 

And of course, who can miss the vulgarities from the losers!! Being a multi-racial country has its benefits. The swearing in its multiple forms from the languages and dialects do sound pretty colourful and intriguing!

The most memorable gambling session (with no lack of @#!$@) came from Ssaneva's house; she was the banker for blackjack. 

Kon had 5 Cards (aka Gou Ling) - 2 times payout

Alex had Double A (aka Ban Ban) - 3 times payout

I had 3 Cards of 7 - 7 times payout!!!

The first in my life!!

Challenging play was next when we tried "In-Between"! 

The gameplay is as follows:

=>Each player pays a dollar to the pot ($4 for 4 of us).

=>Two cards (open up) will be distributed to each player in order.

=>You will be dealt a closed card (3rd one)

=>The choice is yours; would you want to bet that the rank for this closed card is between the two cards you have (A being the smallest and K, the biggest)?

Yes?

Say your stake (everything in the pot or just S$1)?

No?

Skip and the next player continues.

=> As usual, there's a catch.

Between.

You get the amount of money you stake for

Beyond.

You pay the exact amount of money you stake for, back into the pot

Same.

Please dutifully pay double the amount of money you stake for, into the growing pot!!!

With a pathetic S$4 in the pot, our pot ballooned to S$300+!!

I lost close to S$200 for one game.

No pain, no gain

No risk, no return

True of this statement but i am going to start on a very boring caution message here. 

The curse of gambling is so terrifying it can shape your life from young till death. It can empty whatever you have, including the shirt on your back, the roof over your head and the worst; your loved ones.

Enough about this! You do have the brains to weigh the pros and cons! We shall leave it to the gahmen to propagate the vices of gambling.

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I spent S$100 on the TOTO S$10 million draw

The numbers were not the winning combination.

*heart pain*

Spring Festival (The Food)

Certain food is a MUST HAVE during certain festive seasons; like mooncake for Mid-Autumn Festival and rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival.

For the Lunar New Year, there are seriously too much food associated with it!!

On bite-size snacks alone, there are a few dozens to choose from. For Singapore, this colourful variety was further expanded as a result of a harmonious multi-racial society.

Privately,
there is one simple meal that i never thought i will miss.

My family had this meal for the reunion dinner every single year. Since the fresh ingredients were purchased in bulk and uncooked, the same meal will be "recycled" for the next few days.

But this year, the mother hen decided to spare herself the trouble of preparing for it.  

|=_=|

Another classic example of

"Humans (aka me) always take things for granted"

The broth that had withstand long hours of cooking

The careful spreading and excitable dumping of any fresh ingredients into the boiling soup. Popular ingredients include salmon, prawns, fish balls, squid, meat balls, crab sticks, vegetables, tofu etc etc.

Want to splurge? 
Add abalone, sea cucumber, scallops and crabs!

The Anticipation?

A bowl of delicious soup that was infused with all the essence of the fresh ingredients!

What's the Meal?

Steamboat lah!!!!

See so many pictures still don't know?!?!?!