Office Pantry

For some, the pantry is just a long table at a small corner of the whole office; you will be GLAD to find a few packets of 3 in 1 coffee-mix and at most, a toaster oven that is only BIG enough for two pieces of bread.  

For bigger corporations, most likely the pantry is a room and maybe a much bigger one than yours. In this case, there's a pretty high chance to see a water sink, water dispenser, a fridge, a microwave oven PLUS a few tables and chairs.

Wait, isn't that the kitchen? 

In my work place, i have the luxury of a fairly big pantry serving almost 30 staff members and in my Starhub days, the pantry was big! With so many users for the pantry, it is inevitable that things (usually food and drinks) are sometimes "LOST".

The usual defence to this "theft" is to write your name or paste a post-it note (with your name) on the item. BUT, when it happens again and again, you know you have to do something more extreme!

 

Although i regret to inform you that there's always a joker amongst the thieves!

If you meet the joker, please resign to your fate.

SERIOUSLY

Seafood Paradise (Again) @ Defu Lane

It was yet again another trip to this restaurant that seemed to be permanently etched on our minds (at least for Alex and I) whenever we crave for butter crabs, mantou and mee goreng!!!

I was not that impressed with the food in my first post 1 year back on this eatery. However, my last trip (less than) 2 months ago changed my biased perception utterly.

Just a short review on some notable items!

Mee Goreng

At S$8 for small, the real thing was anything but small. The rich spicy noodles was good enough to make your stomach crave for more! With so many squids, fish and prawns, the price was really a big steal!

Wasabi Prawns

Just a warning; this small dish was not that economical at S$16 for 6 prawns that will absolutely not be deemed as big. However, it will be worth a try for first timers.

Besides the crunchy exterior with a fresh moist interior, each prawn was heavily soaked in a mixture of wasabi and mayonnaise! Rest assured, the wasabi was not very "choking". In a way, it reminded me of the salad prawns usually reserved for Chinese weddings... without the wasabi.

Butter Crab

For the past 3 times i ate this dish, i revised my rating higher EVERY SINGLE TIME. This time, we ordered a small crab at 700 grams PLUS 12 pieces of mantou!!

Though it was still not as thick as Mellben's butter crabs, there was a unique taste (maybe a combination of curry leaves, pepper, chilli, sugar) that made you want to lick the plate dry! Highly recommended with mantou!!!

At $38 per kg, the crab was not that small (psst.... i suspect the shell was super light) but all crabs should taste the same so long they are fresh! What matters most is the gravy they come with!

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Total damage was S$66.15 for 4 of us and it was just the right amount of food! No service charge was added to our bill although the service was very attentive. No additional charge as well for plain water.

Please refer to their official website HERE for more information on menu, opening hours and how to get there.

Nutella Ice Cream @ Island Cremery

Like many people, i love ice-cream!

Whether they are from Swensen, Hagen Dazs, Udders, Island Creamery, Scoops or even Macdonalds and street stalls don't matter to me! Be realistic, no vomit or beer flavour lah.

If not for my ballooning waistline, i would pamper myself every meal with a scoop of this frozen sugar-filled dessert.

My favourite?

Nutella ice cream from Island Creamery!!!

La Petite Cuisine (French Food) @ Serene Centre

First and foremost, i am so full!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most common review on internet about the above mentioned small eatery at Serene Centre was that it is correctly named; the portions were really petite. Due to these scary reviews, i decided to order 'slightly' more.

2 Entrées, 2 Mains, 1 Dessert, plus 2 Soups (4 entrées!!) for 3 pax.

Boy did i ENJOY REGRET it! That served as a very important lesson that we should never believe EVERYTHING on the internet.

More on the petite eating house below!

Food

For such limited space (cooking and seating), they provide quite an extensive menu. Items include:

Soup De Masion
(btw, it means Soup of the House)

Both our Onion and Potato & Leek tasted really light yet flavourful. This is one key advantage that Western soups have over Asian, which always tend to be rich and complicated.

Onion soup

Potato and Leek soup

Escargots in Croissant With Salad

Land snails are never considered part and parcel of my normal grazing habit although it was not my first time trying it. Truthfully, the escargots were nothing to scream about. The croissant, however, was the highlight with the unique, tangy sauce smeared all over it.

Ravioli of Prawns & Foie Gras

Before i tried this, i have no idea what it is. My first thought was that it is some kind of pasta. I know i am not tat far from the truth, but i didn't know it comes in pouches, like xiaolongbao!

On one hand, the dish was an eye-opener for me (it was good too!). On the other hand, i could not enjoy it much due to its Foie Gras content (click HERE for more information!!). Guilt factor...

Confit de Canard with Gratin

First look: crispy skin!! Yes, i know it was fats fried to a cackling... but so nice okay!?!?! The gratin was delicious; sliced, cooked in and smeared with creamy butter. Unfortunately, the duck meat was rather gamey.

Tarte Tatin

Translated literally as an upside-down apple tart, the caramelised butter with the flaky pastry made a very good match. Regrettably, the slices of apple decreased the marks of almost perfect dish; they seemed drained of all flavours except bitterness.

The bitter apple

Price

Economically priced for French cuisine. My damage totalled $69 and tap water (with lemon pulp) is provided FOC.

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In all, i enjoyed my food trip but i miscalculated the portions, resulting in a fullness not experienced for quite a while. Service was quite good and the chef (a French man) was a really humourous guy! He demanded cheekily that i should pay him money for taking pictures of his food. wahahaa.

La Petite Cuisine is located at 10 Jalan Serene, #01-05, Serene Centre (very near to Adam Road Food Centre). 

Bon Appetit.

Another Two Saviors (for my China Trip)

Further to my post HERE, there were two other kind of biscuits (one strawberry, one milk) that saved my thundering stomach back in Hunan, China.

They were good enough for me to bring back 5 boxes each from China. Crunchy, thick, full of flavour and not sweet at all! Plus, as usual with environmental-never-friendly China, each comes with individual packing!

The only shortcoming; half of them were spoilt!!!

Soft, chewy and absolutely yucky!!

Invisible Man

No, this is not about a comic character like Wolverine or Superman!

A real person okay?!?!!

You can pinch him, molest touch him and even hold him!

Courtesy of my friend, Teck Lee, who sent me an email full with pictures of this invisible man, Mr Liu Bolin.

Judge It Yourself!

Fine, he was not really invisible but he managed to blend himself really well with the environment. Was it a special power, or was it photoshopping at the highest level?

NO!

He used paint (yes, my dear readers, normal paint) to integrate himself or others with the surrounding. The following two pictures will show how fantastic he is with this unique skill.

For more information, please use google; the best search engine in the world world!! At least for the moment. 

Tiong Shian Porridge Centre (长城粥) @ Chinatown, Singapore

I have absolutely no idea what the big hoo-ha is all about for this particular porridge place located at New Bridge Road, Chinatown. Hm... Or is it congee? Porridge? Whatever! I will use porridge!

To some of my starhubber colleagues, family members and recently, some of my NUS colleagues, it is just porridge!!

Maybe i am clueless about porridge; to me, plain porridge with pickled chye sim (lettuce) and sunny side up is fabulous, normal sold-in-hawker-centres minced pork porridge with a raw egg is delicious, home-made fish porridge with loads of fried onions is irresistible!! 

Menu for 长城粥! Click for an enlarged view of its prices!

Fine, 长城粥 has a big range of variety (besides fish and pork, there are prawn, cuttlefish and the yucky frog)! Fine, they may taste heavenly to YOU! Fine, they are popular! That's not fine! Popular does not mean the stuff is good!! And their service is really..... to the point; you order (no smile), you pay (no smile) and someone will deliver the porridge to you, full stop.  

Regardless of what i typed above, i have patronised this particular shop for at least 5 times although there are numerous hawker centres around the area with better food and chirpier staff!!!

Contradictory with valid reasons below.

Firstly:

My mom loves porridge, know how to differentiate them and adores this shop. The worse thing, we frequent Chinatown.

Secondly:

We believe porridge is less fattening than other Chinese meals. Especially in times like this, when i need to cut down on fats intake.

Thirdly:

I really like porridge, anyone of them!

Fourthly:

Peer pressure to visit this shop!! Hahaha. I have a choice though.

If you have never tried the porridge here, it's high time you do so. Crowds and unavailable seating will definitely deter me from entering the shop. Got it? Please also note that the second floor is available for dining! Take the lift or staircase next to the drink stall.

The second floor. Don't bother waiting for tables on the first floor!

By the way, anyone remembers a chicken rice stall in Chinatown where the chicken was served ice-cold? Anyone knows where it moves to? Tell me!!!