Nyonya & Baba

From the first time I have been staying in Singapore (around end of 2008) until now, I tried many types of cuisines (Western food, Italian food, Korean food, Japanese food, Indonesian food, Singapore food, etc). But I almost never tried Singapore Peranakan food.

If I am not wrong, I only had tried to eat Singapore Peranakan food at 2 different restaurant and this is my first Singapore Peranakan food article on this blog.

I feel a bit sorry as I should try local dishes more than other country's food in Singapore. I will do more hunting on Singapore Peranakan food from now on (hope it's not an empty promise from me :p).

In this article, I will review about Nyonya & Baba restaurant. This restaurant is located at Vivo City Mall.

We try Buah Keluak Fried Rice, Nyonya Mee and Chendol.

Buah Keluak Fried Rice is a fried rice mixed with Buah Keluak and they put a lot of crispy anchovies on the top of fried rice. Buah Keluak make this fried rice become a black colour.

For the taste wise, you may expect slight bitter taste that comes from Buah Keluak. Even though a bit bitter, Buah Keluak Fried Rice is delicious and crispy anchovies make the taste perfect.

FYI, Keluak a.k.a Pangium Edule is a tree that grows on the mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea). This tree produces a large poisonous fruit (also called the football fruit). Event though it's a poisonous fruit, this fruit become edible by fermentation.

Buah Keluak Fried Rice S$13.00

Nyonya Mee is a noodles filled with streaky pork, shrimps and garnished with Chinese parsley and spring onions. It is served with pineapple, cucumber sauce and pounded chilli.

This Nyonya Mee is not bad and best to eat while it's hot. Pineapple, cucumber sauce and pounded chilli is also nice.
 

Nyonya Mee S$12.00

 

Pineapple, cucumber sauce and pounded chilli

 

Please be noted that both dishes portion are quite big. It can be eaten for two people. They also serve us the Crackers and Achar.

 

Crackers and Achar 

 

From my experience after trying both main dishes at the same time, I suggest you will not make the same mistake as me :) Eating both fried rice and noodle at the same time are really not the best combination unless you have a big appetite. We were very full after finishing both dishes.

I also like the Chendol. It has sweet taste and refreshing.

 

Chendol S$5.50

Will I go there again? Yes.
 

Nyonya & Baba Restaurant

 

Details

Name: Nyonya & Baba

Address: 1 Harbourfront Walk #01-54/56 Vivo City Mall

Nearest MRT: Harbourfront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Daily: 11:00AM - 11:00PM

Read More

Monster Curry

Calling out for a curry fans in Singapore. Have you ever try Monster Curry before?

If haven't, perhaps this article will make you crave to try curry at Monster Curry restaurant.

There are two things that make Monster Curry quite special compare with other normal curry restaurant. First is the portion that is very big like a monster size portion (plate size of 34cm in diameter). Second is that they offer 5 different types of spicy level: 0 Flame (without chilli), 1 Flame (Normal Hot), 2 Flame (Extra Hot), 3 Flame (Very Hot), 4 Flame (Super Hot), and 5 Flame (Monster Hot).

I try Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry with 1 Flame. As I cannot stand spicy food too much, I feel that 1 Level is spicy enough.  If you realized in the curry picture has heart shape in the middle of the curry, that's a chili.

The Chicken is crunchy and tender. The curry taste is very delicious. It's so tasty that I can eat the rice with curry alone :)

The portion is very big so it can be share for 2 people.

Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry S$14.00

For the drink, I try Japanese Yoghurt drink ($2.80). This yoghurt drink is very nice and have a sweet taste. It will reduce the spiciness that you feel inside your mouth.

Overall I am happy eating curry at this place.

Want to challenge yourself? You should try their 5 Flame. Maybe you can have a fire breath like a dragon :p

Please take note that this restaurant is very crowded, so you may foresee a long queue. You may see below picture to see how long the queue.

Will I go there again? Yes.

 

Details

Name: Monster Curry

Address: 1 Harbourfront Walk Vivo City #02-126

Nearest MRT: Harbourfront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Daily: 11:00AM - 09:30PM

Read More

The Queen & Mangosteen

Hello Awesome People!!! Looking for a cosy restaurant with a great Sentosa view at Vivo City? You may try The Queen & Mangosteen.

The Queen & Mangosteen is one of my recommended restaurant for having lunch and diners.

Over there, we tried Baked Jumbo King Prawn, Grilled Chicken Breast and Coconut Ice Cream.
 

Baked Jumbo King Prawn S$26.00

Baked Jumbo King Prawn served on Truffle Pasta and Wild Rocket. It's very delightful and the Prawn is fresh.
 

Grilled Chicken Breast S$24.00

Grilled Chicken Breast stuffed with Herbed Cream Cheese served with Fruit Chutney, Mustard Potatoes and Garden Vegetables. The chicken is tender and the combination between herbed cream cheese with grilled chicken is simply superb.
 

Coconut Ice Cream S$10.00

Coconut Ice Cream served in Exotic Coconut Shell, topped with Rum and Sea Coconut. This dessert is not only looking great, it tastes one too. This is a must dessert to order if you visit The Queen & Mangosteen.

Will I go there again? Absoultely Yes.

The Queen & Mangosteen

 

Details

Name: The Queen & Mangosteen

Address: #01-106/107 Vivocity 1 Habourfront Walk

Nearest MRT: Harbourfront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Daily: 12:00PM - 12:00AM

Read More

Jamie`s Italian

A few months ago (duh, lazy me, for only manage to post it by now?!?!), , my manager treated my team for dinner at Jamie`s Italian restaurant.
 
We decided to choose this place because we were curious of "how tasty Jamie Oliver dish will be? -- as he is very famous chef".

Despite many not-so fantastic reviews from fellow bloggers, I still dared to persuade my other colleague to try the restaurant.

When we arrived at Jamie`s Italian restaurant, we were amazed with their classic and cosy interior decoration. It's so cool.

We ordered Crispy Squid, Rump Steak, Bruschetta Board, SPC Marinara, Crab Spaghetti, Mushroom Risotto, Tagliatelle Bolognese and Funky Chips.

FYI, almost all the dishes have 2 different portions: small and big. All of the dishes that we tried are in big portion. Actually, the big portion is not “that really big”. For me personally, it's just a common adult portion.  I believed the small options is referring to kid’s portion.

My favorites are Crispy Squid and Funky Chips. Those dishes are tasty. You may consider to order it.

Rump steak is quite salty. If you prefer to reduce your salt intake, you might reconsider to order this dish :)

The rest of those dishes` taste are so-so only.

Overall, we were not satisfied with the foods that we tried. I believed if Jamie Oliver cooked those dishes himself, the taste will be so much better (and of course the price will be so much higher)..

Will I go there again? No.

Crispy Squid S$11.50



Rump Steak S$28.50

Funky Chips S$6.50



Mushroom Risotto S$26.50

 

 

Jamie`s Italian Interior

 

Details

Name: Jamie`s Italian

Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk #01 165-167 Vivo City

Nearest MRT: HarbourFront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Sunday - Thursday: 12:00PM - 12:00PM

Friday - Saturday: 12:00PM - 11:00PM

Read More

Madam Kwan`s

Have you ever heard about famous Malaysian's Nasi Lemak named Madam Kwan`s? It's so famous in Malaysia and they had opened their first branch in Singapore located at Vivo City. Interested with that news, me and my colleague went there after work to have dinner.

Although the restaurant was very big and had two entrances, the queue was still quite long. 
 
Over there, we tried Nasi Lemak and Nasi Bojari.

Nasi Lemak was contained aromatic coconut steamed rice with chicken curry, sambal ikan bilis, dried shrimp floss, hard-boiled egg, acar and fresh cucumber. This was the most expensive Nasi Lemak that we have ever tried so far and the taste is so-so. For us, it's not worth at all.

Actually Nasi Bojari was contained tri-coloured rice with assam prawns, beef rendang and deep fried chicken drumstick. But in that day they didn't have tri-coloured rice left, so they changed it with plain rice. Nasi Bojari taste was delicious. The chicken was big enough, but the beef rendang and asam prawns portion were very small.

After we tried those dishes, we were wondering why this restaurant was so famous. Maybe we should try Madam Kwan`s at Malaysia or maybe they were famous because of their expensive price :p

Will I go there again? No.

Nasi Lemak S$13.90

 

Nasi Bojari S$18.90

Madam Kwan`s Interior

 

Details

Name: Madam Kwan`s

Address: #01-152/154, Vivocity, 1 Harbourfront Walk

Nearest MRT: Harbourfront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Daily: 10:00AM - 10:00PM

Read More

Ocean Restaurant

Happy Tuesday, folks!! How’s your day today? Today I want to share with you one “so-called” high end restaurant which is located at the S.E.A. Aquarium.

Heard this restaurant from the news.

The owner of Ocean Restaurant is Cat Cora. If you watched Master Chef, you would probably know her. On one of the episode, she became the guest judge over there. She is also an Iron Chef America.

Enough about the “owner”, let me share with you my experience dining at the Ocean Restaurant.

To reach there, they provide a buggy service to fetch their customer in between Casino and the restaurant.

When I reached there, I was surprised with the restaurant ambience. One thing straight away took my attention is the huge large aquarium inside. One side of the wall is show case so many type of sea creatures swimming around.

The restaurant is not that big, but not squeezes either. Luckily we still get a place although we never do any reservation earlier. Fuih!!

All the diner were busy captured the images of them self, the fishes and of course them self together with the fishes =P

Over there, we ordered Boston Lobster, Coq Au Vin Asia, Singapore Sling and Lychee Cooler.

The “waiting to be served” time is a bit slow.  

Boston Lobster is a Sauté Boston Lobster with Chef Cora`s special Mac and Melted Cheese. The shell-less crab is fresh enough. The taste wise is not bad.

Coq Au Vin Asia contains Lemongrass-Sake braised spring Chicken with Roasted Ginger, Thai Chili and Young Bok Choy.

Frankly speaking, the chicken dish is similar with a home cooked dish. It comes with a not so big portion of boneless chicken and a bowl of rice. It just a decent dish, there is nothing special though.

The Singapore sling over there is refreshingly nice. But I personally still prefer the original version of it at Raffles Hotel.

Lychee Cooler consists lychee syrup, pineapple juice and lime juice.

This Lychee Cooler is a combination between sweet, sour and a bit bitter altogether. 

Will I dine over there again? Ehm, I don’t think so. Lovely place for a special occasion, but honestly it’s not that lovely for my stomach (the portion is a bit small) and wallet =) 

Coq Au Vin Asia S$35.00

 Boston Lobster S$52.00

 

Lychee Cooler S$10.00

Singapore Sling S$15.00 

Ocean Restaurant Interior

Buggy Service

Details
Name: Ocean Restaurant
Address: 8 Sentosa Gateway. Admission to Ocean Restaurant is via West Zone Carpark, B1M. Diners can park their car near Equarius Hotel.
Nearest MRT: Harbour Front MRT

Opening Hours
Daily: 11:00AM - 10:30PM

Read More

Tung Lok Signatures

Good Day to Everyone!!

Today, let me share with you one of Tung Lok Restaurant at Vivo City. It called Tung Lok Signatures.

Last year, I and family are invited by my brother in law for the family meeting at Tung Lok Signatures.

Over there, he ordered the following fantastic Chinese foods:
- Barbecued Whole Peking duck
- Tan Jia-style Braised Shark's Fin with Dried Seafood and Shredded Fish Maw
- Sautéed Prawn with Salad Greens Preserved Vegetable in Dried Conpoy Sauce
- Traditional-style steamed Live'Soon Hock' fish with Red Dates
- Deep Fried pork ribs with Minced Garlic
- Braised Homemade Beancurd with Snow Fungus, Conpoy Crisps and Vegetables
- Fried Handmade Noodles with shredded Duck Meat
- Chilled Dessert with Dried Apricot.

Peking duck skin is very crispy and the sauce makes this dish’ taste so amazing. It makes this dish to be such a great starter.

Tan Jia-style Braised Shark's Fin with Dried Seafood and Shredded Fish Maw taste normal for me. It’s nice but not great. Maybe it’s because I am not a soup person.

Sautéed Prawn with Salad Greens Preserved Vegetable in Dried Conpoy Sauce is also one of the great dishes over there. The Prawn is quite big and fresh.

Traditional-style steamed Live'Soon Hock' fish with Red Dates and Deep Fried pork ribs with Minced Garlic is taste okay.

Other than Barbecued Whole Peking Duck, Braised Homemade Beancurd with Snow Fungus, Conpoy Crisps and Vegetables is also my favourite. The Beancurd is soft and have a delicious taste.

Fried Handmade Noodles with shredded Duck Meat was nice, but the duck meat was a bit too less. We expect it more because they use whole Peking duck meat from Barbecued Whole Peking Duck dish.

I love the Chilled Dessert with Dried Apricot dessert as well.

Thanks to my brother in law for treated us to a great dinner. Overall, the family meeting went well. We enjoyed a fantastic meal, great company and an overall awesome and relaxing night. The host, food and ambience were wonderful. 

Barbecued Whole Peking duck

 

Tan Jia-style Braised Shark's Fin with Dried Seafood and Shredded Fish Maw 

Sautéed Prawn with Salad Greens Preserved Vegetable in Dried Conpoy Sauce

Braised Homemade Beancurd with Snow Fungus, Conpoy Crisps and Vegetables

Fried Handmade Noodles with shredded Duck Meat 

 

Chicken

Traditional-style steamed Live'Soon Hock' fish with Red Dates

 

Deep Fried pork ribs with Minced Garlic

 

Chilled Dessert with Dried Apricot





Tung Lok Signatures Interior

 

 

Details

Name: Tung Lok Signatures

Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk VivoCity #01-57

Nearest MRT: HarbourFront MRT

 

Opening Hours

Lunch :

11.30AM – 3.00PM (Mon to Sat)

11.00AM – 3.30PM (Sun & PHs)

 

Dinner :

6.00PM – 10.30PM (Daily)



Read More

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee is one of the noodle restaurants that I would recommend you to try.

It's simply because the taste. The taste is very tasty; and the noodle texture is similar with Indonesian’s noodle.

It's quite difficult to find tasty noodle in Singapore, so I was really happy when I found this one.

This restaurant offer tasty noodle with a nice pork, fresh shrimp and dumpling. One bowl noodle comes with two shrimp and two dumplings.

Other than pork, they are also offer other toppings and different kind of noodle like noodle with fried chicken, curry noodle and many more.

The price is affordable, the taste is nice and most important thing is the portion is big. So, it's worth to try!!

Will I go there again? Of course I will =)

Jia Xiang Noodle S$6.40

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee Interior

Details

Name: Ji Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee

Address: 1 Harbourfront Walk, #B2-38 VivoCity

Nearest MRT: HarbourFront MRT

Opening Hours

Daily : 11:00AM -10:00PM

Read More