Le Muria (Once Again) @ Nee Soon

A busY buSY bUSY BUSY week and i needed some comfort food to soothe my badly neglected stomach. Which by the way, is in need to be neglected for some weight reduction i wish to have for a long long time.

I endeavoured to have the beef stew in my last post on Le Muria and it was the beef stew we ordered this time! Plus a plate of delicious Buffalo wings and a bowl of mushroom corn soup (unlimited servings)!

The focus today was of course on the beef stew, which came highly recommended by a fellow foodie in HungryGoWhere.com (app is also available in iTunes for your iPhone). 

Beef Stew

Firstly, the chunks of beef were too big and would be easier to eat if it's half or even one third its original size. However, the beef was not the highlight of this dish.

The broth was the rightful star!

It was so RICH with flavour! Now i fully understand why the beef tasted so ordinary! The Asian spices, tomato based broth had absorbed most of the beefy essence!  

I did not regret having Chapati instead of rice to accompany the stew. The light flavour of the pancake thin chappati contrasted greatly yet perfectly with the strong flavour of the stew.

This dish is best shared amongst a few people and i thought baguette (aka French loaf) will be a perfect dabber (curry chicken style) for the stew.

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My next order for the next visit?

Burgers! Beware, Aaron!

Location

Look for it HERE.

Prices

 Beef Stew - S$15.90

Only 5% Service Charge!

Question - What's so special about this house?

What's so special about this house?

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Its height?

Its design?

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Look More Carefully!!

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Use the skills you normally reserved for photohunt!!

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Answer

A bloody big statue of a dog!!!

Are the family canine fanatics or what?!?!

Another saying:

This house could be a private temple honouring Xiao Tian Quan (the pet of a Chinese mythical god; Erlang Shen).

Pick and Bite @ Thomson Plaza

Alex wanted a bowl of Tau Suan (Split Green Bean Soup) to satisfy his craving for traditional Chinese dessert and i needed a cup of Teh O (tea with sugar) to perk up my sleepy self.

This cafe in Thomson Plaza beckoned us with available seating..... and a picture of Tau Suan.... and a bowl of century egg porridge priced at an unbelievable S$1.50!

Tau Suan

More thickener than mung beans, i liked it for not being overly sweet and the beans had more bite compared to the mushy ones sold in most dessert stalls. If only the soggy dough sticks (you tiao) were more crispy.

Century Egg Porridge

When i saw the preparation (open lid of cooker, scoop out plain porridge, put it pre-prepared century egg dices, sprinkle with fried onions and chopped spring onion), i thought i made the wrong choice.

No doubt it was a very simple dish but it was surprisingly delicious!

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Location

301, Upper Thomson Road,

#03-45B (Thomson Plaza)

Price

Tau Suan - S$1.50

Century Egg Porridge - S$1.50

Sun Asian Bistro @ National University of Singapore (NUS)

I have always wanted to blog about this restaurant but as luck had it, forgetting to bring the camera is a frequent occurrence.

Thankfully, i had the chance to patronise this place on a non working day (Saturday) due to the Singapore Forum on Politics. The DSLR usually accompanies me on weekends.

Without further ado, the dishes.

Fish N Chips

Alex had this. It was normal (a bit over fried) and did not scream of anything unique or unusual. I guess the fish and chips in Le Muria has elevated our expectation of this common dish.

The coleslaw salad was more memorable; cold, crunchy, fresh and tasty!

Apricot Chicken

Lockie boy ordered this. The batter was too thick and it had its lucky stars to thank that the sweet sauce enhanced the taste tremendously! 

The only apricot inkling i had came from the sauce, which i initially thought was made from lemon! 

Sambal Fried Rice

Even though the KonMan drank loads of water after having this dish (blinking alert on MSG), i found it to be very palatable (maybe due to MSG) with only a slight sambal sensation.

Chilli lovers will be greatly disappointed i believe.

Prawn Aglio Olio

Different from the typical plain, un-sauced aglio olio i know, the one in Sun Bistro used the typical spaghetti tomato sauce as its base. I am not complaining because i do enjoy this variation.

Equally commendable was the really fresh prawns (love their crunchiness) and the stir fried mushrooms!

Chancellory's Symphony

I had to pick up a passenger (Ms SaNeVa) before this dish arrived. When i returned, it was already cold... with an altered taste. Ms Tan owes me one!

First recommended by Mrs Diane Lai eons ago, i remembered the rich, creamy chocolate oozing out from the piping hot souffle!

Sinful indeed (then).

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Price

Fish N Chips - S$12.90

Apricot Chicken - S$14.90

Sambal Fried Rice - S$6.90

Prawn Aglio Oglio - S$14.90

Chancellory's Symphony - S$7.90

10% Service Charge but no GST.

Peanuts and wet towels charged separately.

Location

Within NUS Staff Club

30, Lower Kent Ridge Road

Additional Information

Not open on Sunday!!

(佛牙寺) Buddha Tooth Relic Temple @ Chinatown, Singapore

I had the opportunity (again) to visit the above mentioned temple today while waiting for Alex to finish gambling his money away at the newest casino in Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands.

To set the record straight, he lost S$1,100!

Please thank him for his contribution to Singapore's economy.

Coming back to this beautiful temple (design was from the Tang Dynasty era), it was my 3rd visit since its inception. Alone with my Nikon D5000, i took my time to walk through the four levels and rooftop.

I am not going to bore you with my naive understanding of Buddhism but i strongly recommend interested individuals to visit the temple for its wide array of Buddhist artifacts, statues, artworks, peaceful surrounding (at least for the upper levels) and attractive architecture.

First Floor

The Front Hall

The Back Hall

Offering for the Bodhisattvas

I saw this in Bangkok before, in Wat Pho.

The kids will love to donate just by hearing the ching-ching-ching.

Lining the walls of the halls were smaller sized Buddha statues. For the supposedly good fortune of yourself or your family, you can sponsor the tiny ones for a token (no idea how much though).

Mezzanine

Overlooking the first floor, this floor had some pretty good information on prominent local and and foreign monks. There was also an ancestral hall with unnamed tablets.

A prayer session was going on at the first floor!

Second Floor

I missed this floor!!!

How to get there ah?!?!?

Third Floor

The Buddhist Cultural Museum relates the life of Buddha and the spread of Buddhism. With a superb collection of artifacts from the Buddhist world, this museum was actually quite impressive.

A baby elephant and a monkey prostrating to a two meters high statue. 

Footprint of Buddha. For its meaning and symbolism, please click here.

Isn't this the highly revered emerald Buddha from Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok?!?! Must be a replica even though no information was available in the gallery.

My favourite artifact is this.

From far, it looked as if the statue was relaxing mid-air!

At the back, there is a Sacred Buddha Relics (舍利) Chamber. The best i can do was to take a picture of the entrance since no photography is allowed. For pictures, please click here.

Fourth Floor

Again, the strict "no photo taking allowed" policy as this is the main floor housing the most sacred treasure for the temple; the Buddha Tooth. The environment was serene and the floorings at the sides were elevated, allowing devotees to have a quiet time reciting the Buddhist sutras.

The magnificent main chamber was adorned with so many golden items like golden lanterns, pure gold tiles and of course, the pure gold stupa storing the tooth relic.

Seeing is believing!

Go and take a look yourself!

Rooftop

Want a nice place to read your book?

This is it!

In the middle of the rooftop is a Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, housing a huge prayer wheel in the middle. 

The prayer wheel! I saw this when i was in Yunnan two years back, in this Tibetans populated area called Shangri-La. The one there was much bigger and to surround it, you need more than fifteen persons!

Cases of Buddha statue that made up the 10,000 Buddhas for the rooftop! Of course, you can pay for yourself or your family to be part of it.

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Location

288, South Bridge Road

Within Chinatown

Price

Free admission!!

Donations welcome though.

Additional Information

The building is disabled friendly to cater for the pious elderly!

Side track a bit ah. Don't you think this sink (for the toilet) looks like an alms bowl used by the monks?

Last picture!

Golden Nur Nasi Briyani Special @ Golden Shoe Hawker Centre

It's been a long time since i met up with my sister for lunch and it was decided, after much procrasination that i should get a breather from the heavy, stressful workload recently!

Joyce (my sister) is super picky in food and she is seldom satisfied with my recommendations (i am such a sympathetic foodie). So when she recommended a particular nasi briyani in Golden Shoe Hawker Centre, my expectations spiked.

Queues usually symbolise good food and though there were around 6-7 persons in the line, service was fast and a plate of nasi briyani was brought to my presence by the maid of the house (Joyce) in no time!

On a closer look, i finally understood the "special" component for this dish; it was a mixture of nasi briyani and ayam penyet!!

The combination was pretty tasty with the tumeric fragrance from the curry soaked basmatic rice complementing the ever sinful deep fried chicken.

To perfect the dish, work must be done on the acar. It was too bland and i believe the nonya acar (with its distinctive grounded peanuts element) will be a better substitute.

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Location

Level 2, Unit 2 (#02-02)

Golden Shoe Hawker Centre

Price

$4.00 per plate!