Located in Amoy Street, Burlamacco Ristorante is a fine example of a stylish eatery – elegant yet friendly and unpretentious. Named after a carnival mask from the characteristic town of Viareggio in Tuscany, it aims to provide a relaxed, fun, positive atmosphere while retaining the traditions.

Barely opened for less than 2 months, the two owners, Chef Gabriele Piegaia and General Manager Paolo Colzani, are not strangers to Singapore F&B scene. Chef Gabriele has worked in Senso Ristorante and Hotel Michael @ Resorts World Sentosa. As for Paolo, he spent many years working in Les Amis and Iggy’s, and was also recently awarded Manager of the Year 2012 at the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore.

Battuta di tonno e avocado
Chopped red tuna and ripe avocado ($22)

Dinner started with Chopped red tuna and ripe avocado as appetizer. This is only tasting portion, and Chef has added a Deep Fried Parma ham with Cheese as a surprise to the dish. The tuna tartare is tossed with some unique soy sauce, which is delicious.

Trippa alla Florentina
Beef tripe stew in fresh tomato sauce topped with parmesan cheese and parsley ($18)

Beef tripe is the stomach lining of cow and it is rare to find this ingredients in local restaurant. It tastes somewhat like soybean but unfortunately, it is too heavily covered with tomato sauce and parmesan that I can hardly taste the beef tribe.

Linguine all’aragosta
Linguine with lobster in Spicy Arrabiata Sauce ($28)

However, I am quite impressed wtih their pasta as the restaurant makes its own pasta. Try the Linguine with Lobster in Spicy Arrabiata Sauce. The pasta is QQ and chewy, you can really taste the difference between handmade and ready made pasta. The pasta is cooked till al-dente and well mixed with the rich tomato based puree and topped with a lobster.

Cacciucco alla Burlamacco
Traditional Tuscan fish and seafood soup with garlic bruschetta ($36)

Cacciucco is a fish stew from Tuscany, consisting of a variety of fish and shellfish cooked in wine and tomatoes. The seabass, cod, crayfish, octopus, mussels, crab, cuttlefish etc are fleshy and succulent. The stew is simple but very flavourful. I am hoping that they have more soup in the stew.

Filetto alla griglia
Grilled Beef Tenderloin ($34)

My favourite is the beef tenderloin which is sous-vide for 48 hours. The rosy pink meat is very juicy with lots of fat marbling which melts in the mouth. Sinful, yet irresistible.

Crostata di cioccolato con gelato alla menta
Chocolate tart with mint ice cream ($14)

The chocolate tart with mint ice cream has a good firm crust filled with rich, dark chocolate. We had two chocolate tarts that night and the other one had a slightly burnt edge which made it a bit bitter.

Semi alfreddo al croccantino
Frozen caramelized almond semifreddo with salted caramel sauce ($12)

I like alfreddo more, it’s the lushest and creamiest of frozen desserts and tastes more like ice cream in a chocolate cup!

Wine lovers will be pleased to know that the restaurant has over 120 Italian wines (from $12/glass, $68/bottle). If you are working nearby, head there for a three-course lunch sets for just $34 from Monday to Friday. The set lunch menu changes every 2 weeks.

Burlamacco Ristorante
Address: 77 Amoy Street 069896
Tel: +65 6220 1763
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm; Sat 6pm-10.30pm. Closed on Sundays.

Bespoke cocktails is a growing trend in Singapore where cocktails are made from scratch according to your tastes and personality.

Bar Stories is a quirky little bar that takes a little finding, but it’s well worth the search. We came here for a drink and the owner asked us what fruits we love. He immediately asked the mixologist to create two cocktails for us.

Derrick prefers something sour so the mixologist created a passionfruit cocktail which is very refreshing!

While I love eating Ispahan, so I requested my cocktail to has rose syrup and lychee in it. I think I preferred Derrick’s one as mine wasn’t sweet enough.

Then the owner offered us another drink which has a refreshing burst of berry flavors with the thyme leaves. Perfect as a summer drink!

I love the bespoke excitement from the cocktails, because everytime you go, you have a totally different drink according to your mood. Each glass of customised cocktails ranges from $20 to $24. And it is a great place to chill out with your friends with all the lovely vintage furniture!

Bar Stories
Address: 57A Haji Lane, Singapore, Singapore
Tel: +65 6298 0838
Website: www.athousandtales.com
Opening Hours: Mon-Thu 3pm-1am; Sun 3pm-1am; Fri-Sat 3pm-2am

I FINALLY DID IT!

I have been wanting to make Jelly Hearts for the longest time. I first ate it in JC, when my form teacher treated us with this cute dessert right after our A Levels. The concept was still very new at that moment but it tasted heavenly!

It has been almost 10 years and lately I got in touch with Jelly Hearts. So I decided to give it a go and try to make it myself!

If you have made Jelly Hears before, you will agree with me that this is not a difficult dessert to make but THE MOST TROUBLESOME & TIME CONSUMING one! Because there are three different layers and after completing every layer, you have to chill it in the fridge for hours. So it is not those dessert that can let you eat within the same day of making.

I wanted to make this to give to some of my friends as a mini Christmas treat. All went smoothly till the very last stage when I have to pour the strawberry jelly layer into my already chilled cheese cake. My strawberry jelly layer leaked out of my removable cake tin and when I went into the kitchen, my whole kitchen floor and table is filled with strawberr jelly! I should have taken a photo of the horrible mess that I have created. And it was already 1.30am in the middle of the night!

Well, I don’t know what exactly went wrong but I assumed it was my removable cake tin. But the consolation for myself is, I don’t really like the artificial strawberry flavour, so the less the merrier! Then when I took it out from the fridge the next day (yes, my fridge was also full of strawberry jelly), it still looks ok! I packed about 20 jelly hearts to the office happily.

Guess what, when I reached the office, half of my jelly hearts have melted and most of them are disfigured! It only took me 20 minutes to go office! I felt very tramautised by it but luckily my friends are still willing to eat them! 够朋友！

So I am making it tonight again, and this time I am using another cake tin, please wish me good luck!

Recipe – Jelly Hearts
For 10 inch square tin (Makes 25 jelly hearts)

Ingredients

For the crust -
300g digestive biscuits
150g unsalted butter

Method:
1. Microwave the butter for 30 to 40 seconds at high till butter is melted.
2. Dip a brush into the melted butter and butter a large rectangular pan generously.
3. Place digestive biscuits in a food processor and process until they become fine crumbs.
4. Add the melted butter into the biscuits. Stir well.
5. Place Using a potato masher or a large glass with a flat surface, pack the mixture tightly into the pan.
6. Place the pan in the fridge and chill until ready to use.

Tip:
- If you are using a non-removable tin, you can line the tin with aluminium or baking paper so that the crust won’t stick to the tin and it will be easier for you to remove.

For the cheesecake layer -
250g cream cheese (placed in room temperature for 2 to 3 hours to soften)
2 & 1/2 tablespoons gelatin powder
200g boiling water
70g sugar
About 13 strawberries

Method:
1. Add gelatin powder and sugar in a bowl.
2. Add boiling water to the mixture. Stir well till all the gelatin everything has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese till soft and smooth.
4. Add the cooled gelatin mixture a little at a time. Whisk well to combine.
5. Remove the pan from the fridge. Pour the cream cheese mixture on to the biscuit base and let it set for 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, cut the strawberries. Cut them into half and use a heart shape mould to cut them into heart shape.
7. Press each strawberry half into the cream cheese mixture. Let the strawberry sink in gently.
8. Cover the pan with cling film wrap. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Tips:
- If the strawberries don’t sink in, they will float up in the jelly layer later.
- If you don’t have a mould, just slice off the white tops with the leaves and cut a deep V in the centre.

For the jelly layer -
Tortally Strawberry Jelly Powder
250g boiling water
250g cold water

Method:
1. Add boiling water into the strawberry powder. Stir well till the jelly powder is dissolved.
2. Add in cold water. Gently pour the cooled mixture over the cream cheese layer.
3. Cover with cling film wrap again. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Tips:
- Ensure that the jelly-water mixture has cooled. If the mixture is still hot, it will melt the cheese layer and cause bits of cheese to float in the jelly layer.
- Use a sharp knife with a thin blade to cut the jelly hearts. Prepare a large jar of boiling water. Dip the knife into the water. Wipe it off and cut. Repeat that with every cut to get a nice clean cut with no crumbs sticking at the sides.
- Use a hairdryer to blow the surface for a few minutes before removing the jelly hearts. The heat will warm the butter at the base and make it easier to remove the jelly hearts.

2012 passes especially fast for me. I felt like I just celebrated New Year not too long ago? And now I am celebrating it again in a few days’ time. It wasn’t easy to write this post because there are simply too many happenings in 2012. It felt like I just took a deep breath on 1 Jan 2012, and then days and months passed very quickly as if I was on a F1 race, and now I finally released the breath and preparing to take another deep breath on 1 Jan 2013. Thank you for going through this journey together.

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Top 3 Posts for 2012
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1. Beancurd

I did a post on the recipe for beancurd pudding, it was a hit last year and it continues to be a hit this year! I guess many people still love this and wants to try at home. I have even received an email from a Malaysian reader asking me to help him set up a business which was quite funny. So anyway, if you want to have a bowl of Lao Ban similar beancurd, try this recipe and I hope it works for you.

2. Bangkok

Thanks to YC for bringing me around, I get to try very interesting food places in Bangkok. From the best Pad Thai, to fish maw soup, wanton soup, mango sticky rice etc.

3. My best 5 at Ang Mo Kio Central Market & Food Centre

Everyone loves food guide. And writing this food guide in Ang Mo Kio Central Food Centre is easy for me because I stay in Ang Mo Kio. I hope in 2013, I will have more time to do this!

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New on Misstamchiak 2012
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1. New blog design

I am sure you have seen the new blog design (DUH!) and are already accustomed to it. I paid for the design and it is going to be on my blog for a long time, so I really hope you love it as much as me.

About 80% of the blog is already done. The INDEX page is already up and it has all my 5 years of blog posts. You can search them easily in alphabetical order or simply use the “search” box.

2. New oven

My wish for this year is to get an oven and the kind boyfriend has bought me one as a birthday present. Very happy and I spend quite a lot of time playing with it, especially when I am feeling stressed at work! Haha! I am still not very good with it and need to explore more. But this is for leisure definitely, I don’t think I can write a book about it!

Here are some of my favourite bakes for the year:
- Ispahan Cupcakes
- Jelly Hearts
- Marble Butter Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Coffee Walnut Cupcakes
- Scones

3. New Hobby: Bento

I remembered last year, I was busy making food miniatures using clay. But this year, schedule has been so crazy and I didn’t have to time to do it, so I stopped. It is a pity because I really want to learn how to make traditional clay food before they disappear. I hope I can continue to do it next year.

But this year, I have done quite a lot of bentos. Thanks to J Mama & Baby, I received many interesting bento moulds and cutters and created many interesting bento designs. It pushes my creativity to the limit and make me brainstorm for more creative ideas for each ingredient. I think my future kid is very lucky, such a talented mother! LOL!

Read more about my bento posts here.

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What I have done for myself in 2012
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Totally no food related, but I guess people just like to read some juicy news once in a while. If you have been following me on twitter, you may know that I have recently gave all my savings on a new Executive Condominium in Fernvale (Seng Kang) called Topiary. I think buying an Executive Condo is the biggest thing I have done this year and I am still very shocked by it myself.

The boyfriend and I have tried to apply for BTO four times and it is seriously not successful. We applied as first timers (2 chances) and chose the flats which are within 2km from our parents (another 2 chances), but the queue number we get are just way too shitty. EVEN when I have went to see the MP for this matter. So how to start a family and kids?

Just count ourselves downright unlucky. I know many of you may have tried more times than us but seriously, I can continue trying if I am 21 years old. So anyway, thinking that we are already so unlucky with BTO, we tried our luck with this EC and our queue number is 26. -_- I think some things are destined to be. So yup, I am slowly accepting this big news myself but are really looking forward to it (though I will continue to eat bread for many more months).

I am already looking at some interior design books and want to make full use of the small space. The new house will be ready in 2016 only lah (THAT IS WHY the boyfriend has NOT proposed). But if you have any recommendations for interior design firms, furniture shops or household appliances brands, let me know.

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Wish for 2013
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So I did a makan gathering at High Society a few months back and we have about 60 people joining us that night. The BIGGEST gathering I did till date. It was definitely not easy but it was nice to mingle with readers, friends from the hotel & PR agency, food bloggers and people who love to eat!

I guess restaurants are already recognizing the power of social media. This blog has given me the chance to meet many many good friends with the same hobby. We have no competitiveness among ourselves and we just purely love to eat and be merry, to have more group gatherings with foodies! I hope we can keep it that way instead of killing one another, the food blogging scene is definitely going to go stronger and better!

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Thank You!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I started out 5 years ago with a small goal of just keeping my articles online for memory. But this food blog has grew over the years and this year, it has reached the highest readership of 90K per month, with about 45K unique. Thank you so much for reading this blog. I really work very hard on this blog and aims to post 5 times a week as I hope you have something new to read everyday!

2013 is definitely going to be more exciting. I look forward to you joining me in Miss Tam Chiak’s little food adventure! Here’s my Facebook page. You can follow me on twitter and instagram (@misstamchiak) too!

Cheers!

Do you know, when we Singaporeans say we want to eat “carrot cake”, majority of the time we meant radish cake in hawker centres instead of the western carrot cake found in bakery shops. The teochews call them “Chai Tow Kway” while the Cantonese calls them “Lo Bo Gao”.

During the olden days, the cantonese would cook the rice mixture with mushrooms, sausages and white radish while the Teochews would fist steam the rice mixture with radish, before frying it with garlic, dark soy sauce and fish sauce.

The earliest appearance of carrot cake is believed to be in Chinatown and Lau Goh is one of the earliest hawker selling teochew style “Chai Tow Kway”. He started selling Carrot Cake from a pushcart along Merchant Road in the 60s. During that time, all the carrot cakes are handmade. Rice is soaked overnight before milling it the next day. But because everything takes alot of time and effort, many hawkers now do not do it anymore.

Unfortunately, Lau Goh has passed away and his third son, Peter Goh continues frying plates and plates of carrot cake for us. Peter and his wife are actually partially deaf so you have to order your carrot cake by pointing to the pictures above.

Peter’s carrot cake is definitely very different from how Lau Goh’s original carrot cake but it has its beauty too. It is sad that they no longer make their own carrot cake. But the preserved radish and fish sauce makes it very delicious.

If you are like me, who cannot decide to have the white or the black version, you can just order this dual carrot cake ($5). They are very generous with eggs. Peter uses vegetable oil instead of lard so his carrot cakes are slightly healthier. The white one is well coated with egg and fried to a crispy texture. The black one, on the other hand, is well coated with black soy sauce. It is interesting that white pepper is sprinkled on my carrot cake too.

Will not specially come back for this but if I am having my meal at Zion, I will definitely have a plate.

Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway
Address: 70 Zion Road, Stall 26 Zion Riverside Food Centre
Opening hours: Mon to Sat 12pm – 2pm and 7pm – 11pm; Sun 10am – 3pm and 6pm – 11pm. Closed on Tue.

References:
 刘佑珠，菜头粿不分黑白，Lian He Zao Bao, 8 Jan 2006

Just two days ago, a few of us met up for Christmas / New Year celebration at Karen’s place! For the past few meals at her house (read here and here), she is always the one busy in the kitchen so this time, we decided to pot luck to give her a break!

Karen prepared salad and got roast beef from Plaza Brasserie.

East meets west sausages. Keropokman and Kopikosonggirl bought these cheese filled sausages and Taiwanese sausages from Cold Storage and grilled it!

As for me, I decided to try something new: Roast a Chicken! The boyf spontaneously wanted to help me with this and I even gave him a youtube link to let him learn how to butterfly a chicken. But he was tied down with work so in the end, I had to do everything myself. But nevermind, the consolation is, I can now butterfly a chicken! It is not as difficult as it seems! And I think I did quite a good job as a first timer. If you want to know how did I butterfly the chicken, scroll down to find out!

The chicken didn’t turn out as roasted as we expected and it looks like the Asian version of steamed chicken. But I am glad it turns well. The marinade is very simple but of course you can add more ingredients. I just prefer to keep it simple and not overwhelm it with tons of different flavors. The vegetables are flavoured by the oil from the chicken and the meat is very tender! Perhaps it is because I bought the Sakura Chicken from NTUC. Keropokman gave it a very atas name: Herb Roasted Sakura Chicken with Assorted Root Vegetables and Chestnuts.

The talented Keropok family did Green Tea & Kahlua, Coffee and Cocoa popsicles. I seriously think they can start a business liao, especially now when popsicles are in trend!

And not forgetting my JELLY HEARTS (Recipe here)! This time, my jelly hearts are PERFECT! The strawberry jelly didn’t leak out of the baking tin, my kitchen is not in a mess. And I doubled the amount of my cheese layer! LOVE IT!

Here’s a picture of us! We did a gift exchange and I got a Citrus Reamer and a necklace! HOHOHO!

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Ok this is a rather gruesome part so if you are not keen to know how to butterfly a chicken, you can scroll directly to the recipe of my Roast Chicken at the end of the post. I actually want to make this a full post, but the gruesome photos will be big and erm, not very appetizing to the eyes lah. LOL

So why do we want to butterfly a chicken? For me, it is because I was late for the gathering and by doing the butterfly cut allows the meat to cook faster. Haha! But seriously, you will see alot of people actually butterfly the chicken during BBQ so that the whole chicken lays flat on the grill and cooks more evenly, since all the meat is about the same thickness. And also, it makes it easier to cut the chicken into two and butterfly shape looks better.

How to butterfly a chicken?
1. Turn the chicken breast side down. Cut away the backbone using a scissors.

2. Now position the chicken so the drumsticks are pointing away from you. Use a knife, cut the carcass open to break the breastbone.

3. Trim away all the fats (remember, they are very unhealthy!).

Rinse the chicken through tap water and it is ready to use. You can cook directly or cut the chicken into half.

TADEH! My first time butterfly-ing a chicken and I am quite pleased with it! So with that, we can start marinating and roasting the chicken!

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If you are keen to try roast a chicken for a New Year Party tonight, it is not too late! Head to the supermarket now and buy all the ingredients and in less than 2 hours, your roast chicken will be ready! I wanted to have alot of vegetables to pair with my roasted chicken, so that I don’t feel so sinful when eating it! Hehe

Recipe: Herb Roasted Sakura Chicken with Assorted Root Vegetables and Chestnuts

Ingredients
1 Fresh Chicken (about 1.5kg)
100g Onions, cut halves
5pc Water Chestnut
100g Carrots, cut into small pieces
100g Celery, cut into small pieces
3pc Garlic, cut into pieces
some honey
some butter

Seasonings
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
some Bay Leaves
some Rosemary

Method:
1. Brush the seasonings on both side of the chicken. Cover it with clean wrap and marinade for at least 30 minutes. You can definitely use other seasonings such as lemon or butter.

2. Preheat the oven at 200 degree celsius.

3. Place all the cut vegetables on a baking try.

4. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, with the boney part facing on top first. Roast for 30 minutes.

5. Flip to the skin part, brush some butter and honey, and roast for another 30 minutes.

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So this is my last post in 2012. Once again, thank you so much for reading. Leaving you with a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:”The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Happy New Year and cheers to a more tam chiak 2013!

“Happy New Year! Welcome on board to SushiAirways. The aircraft is under the command of Captain Chef Wong Eng Chun and leading air stewardess Simbian Chua. We hope you have a pleasant journey with us.”

Flying into the heart of the touristic Kampong Glam district in Singapore, the enclave of the quaint Arab Street and Haji Lane, SushiAirways (寿司航空) is a new Sushibar offers a panoramic first class “flying” experience unlike any other, minus the turbulence.

When you enter the restaurant, you’ll have to totter up a flight of metal-plated stairs, like those leading up to an aircraft. Upon reaching the entrance, you’ll be greeted by service staff dressed as air stewardesses. As you enter the cabin, be awed by its interiors which was made to closely resemble the legendary 1930s Douglas DC-3, an American fixed-wing propeller-driven chrome plated aircraft.

Taking an unconventional design approach for a Japanese restaurant and bar, you will be surprised by actual aircraft gallery meal carts and storage boxes, overhead compartments, characteristic aircraft lighting and rounded panoramic aircraft-like windows overseeing Kampong Glam.

This cute, gimmicky eatery serves, nope, not yucky airplane food, but yummy Japanese cuisine, with a kitchen helmed by a former chef at Grand Hyatt Singapore, Chef Wong Eng Chun. It has an extensive ala carte selection of fresh seafood flown in four times a week from Japan.

Should one feel spoilt for choice, and cannot make up one’s mind, one could entrust their dining experience to SushiAirways’ Omakase (“I’ll leave it to you” in Japanese, $180 to $250 per pax) degustation menu which offers seasonal items not found in the à la carte menu. But of course, you have to make reservation first lah, cannot go on the very day and request for omakase!

To start, we had a very light appetizer which is the Fish Roe from Red Snapper. It does look abit wormy and even though the fish roe is not photogenic, it taste great! By pairing it with a little mandarin peel and Chef Wong’s homemade soy sauce, it gives a light citrus taste which is refreshing to the palette!

Next, we had this DIY Negi Tori Roll. This roll is very unique because it doesn’t come with the Japanese rice. So you basically just wrap the uni (sea urchin), tuna, tobiko (fish roe) and spring onions together with the nori and eat it.

Here’s our DIY roll, as you can see, we just dump everything into the nori and eat it! The rich uni kinda evoke the flavor of the other ingredients and I love how the tobiko “pop” in my mouth when they are chewed.

Fresh and tasty sashimi is served in SushiAirways. Our Sashimi Mori Set has Hotate (scallop), Shake Belly (salmon belly), Kajiki (swordfish), Hamachi (yellowtail), and ebi (prawns).

There also served the sashimi individually or set in their ala carte menu. Special Chef’s Sashimi Mori costs $58 (Small) and $88 (Large).

We also had a variety of sushi such as Kajiki (swordfish), Shake Aburi (seared salmon), Hamachi (yellowtail), Tamago (omelette egg), Hotate (scallop) etc. The fish slice ratio is good and I love the Shake Aburi the most!

In their ala carte menu, they also have Premium Assorted Sushi ($38 small, $58 large).

The presentation of Mango Roll ($30) can be better though. First, the mangoes are not sweet enough. Secondly, they aren’t wrap around the sushi like those Dragon Roll which you are in other sushi places. Hence the mango slices keep falling down and we have to eat the mango slices separately from the sushi.

Avocado Maki ($25) is definitely better. We can eat that as a whole with fragrant sesame seeds and flying fish roe that gives a good crunch to the sushi.

A typical Japanese restaurant will not miss out cold soba especially on this hot weather in Singapore. SushiAirways’s soba is unique because their soba is made from yam and specially imported from Japan.

If my guess is not wrong, it should be Jinenjo soba. The soba has a delightfully smooth texture and best enjoyed with a bowl of cold shoyu-seasoned broth with spring onions. Because the supply from Japan is rather irregular, the chef explained that their soba is not in the menu. However, when it is available, they will recommend it to the diners.

Their alcohol list is as extensive, and one of the more unique ones include this Nikka Whisky which looks like a Chanel perfume bottle.

Sushi Airways offers affordable set lunches at only $15 which is served with a delicious healthy garden salad with flavoursome wafu dressing and miso soup. The mains include the ever popular chicken and salmon teriyaki to crispy pork katsu, udon and the colorful Airways chirashi (sushi in a rice bowl) set.

Look! Their name card is so cute! It is a boarding pass!

And I was asking the friendly leading stewardess, do they have strict requirements to be SushiAirways stewardess? She said,”not really, as long as she is 1.65m tall and can fit in a size 8 dress.” Oh haiz, looks like I can’t be a stewardess this life!

SushiAirways Sushi Bar
Adresss: 20A Baghdad Street
Tel: +65 62911151
Opening hours: Mon – Sun 12pm – 2.30pm; 6pm – 10.30pm

Opened for about 9 months, Pietro Ristorante Italiano is a semi-fine dining Italian restaurant located off Yio Chu Kang Road.

Pietro meaning ‘Peter’ in Italian and it is named after owner/chef Peter Neo, who has 31 years of culinary experience. The former Chef di Partie of Raffles Hotel spent his days in Italy learning Italian cuisine. Upon his return, he joined a chain of well known Italian restaurants and was widely interviewed for his comments, invited for food demostrations and classes and was featured on radio and TV programmes.

We were honored to be invited by Hungrygowhere to try out the food here. While waiting for the rest, we had some home baked mix herbs bread with garlic dip. This bread is complimentary to all diners.

Dinner started with Rucola ($15) which is rocket salad with onions, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, mushroom in balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Pietro has interesting rendition of portobello. Funghi Portobello Mushroom ($20) is baked with crab meat, ebiko and prawn finished with rich gorgonzola sauce.

It was a cold and rainy night. We had 3 bowls of soups to warm up the tummy – Lobster bisque, Seafood Soup and Mushroom Bisque. I love the palatable and honest-to-goodness lobster flavour in the rich orange Lobster bisque ($14).

Seafood Soup ($12) is concocted with prawn, clams, mussels, squids in spicy tomato sauce, white wine, basil leaves. It gives a tangy taste and slightly spicy.

Creamy rich Mushroom Bisque ($10) has a earthy scent and leave a comforting warmth in the throat.

Pietro makes their own pasta and Chef Peter will come up with creative pastas such as this Homemade 4 Mushroom with Truffle Pasta ($30). The mushroom and truffle dominate, it tasted great and the aroma and flavour was undeniably amazing! I can finish off the pasta myself easily.

There are also pastas cooked in paper! Linguine al Cartoccio ($26) features crayfish, mussels, clams, calamari in seafood sauce and chilli. They are baked in parchment paper at the final stage to allow the pasta to absorb flavours of the sauce and ingredients.

Nero di Seppia ($23) features two important element in a pasta dish – seafood and squid ink. The Squid ink flavored carnaruli imported rice is cooked with prawns, calamari, mussels, clams. It is good to have risotto instead of spaghetti, so that it won’t be a messy affair.

Infused with garlic, parsley and white wine, Spaghetti alle Vongole ($20) is classic pasta dish in every restaurant. It may taste better if more garlic and chilli is added.

One of their attraction is Pietro red wooden oven which is used to create many interesting pasta flavors. Bismark ($22) is a delectable pizza in feta cheese, honey baked ham, rocket salad, sunny side up and mozzarella cheese. I love its thin crust, now you can indulge in pizza without the immense guilty pangs after!

Pizza Pietro ($26) features homemade pork sausage with porcini, cherry tomato, pink pepper corn, rocket and mozzarella cheese in cream base.

Pietro’s signature dish is Pancetta Arrosto ($26). Roasted pork belly is served with porcini, kidney beans and apple sauce. A slow-roasted pork belly gives you beautiful succulent moist tender pork with light crisp crackling.

Smoky Baby Pork Ribs ($24) comes with Homemade BBQ sauce.

My favourite is the Grilled Australian Beef ($34) which is juicy and tender, drizzled with truffle sauce.

Nothing can go wrong with Profiterole ($14). The puff comes in chilling cold ice cream. I think it needs more chocolate sauce though.

It is difficult to judge a tiramisu because everyone has different interpretations on a good tiramisu. If you prefer a strong coffee taste, you will love the Tiramisu ($12) here.

I like the Chocolate lava cake with rum ($15). The cake was oozing with chocolate, and it came with a scoop of ice cream.

Pietro has a luxurious touch to its interior decor as well, with a beautiful feature wall that blends into the alfresco dining area, making you will feel that you are in Italy!

The restaurant is offering a 1-for-1 Promotion for lunch from 11.30am to 2.30pm daily (exclude weekends and public holidays). Chef Peter also does Italian style roasted suckling piglet, remember to reserve 3 days in advance.

Pietro Ristorante Italiano
Address: 12 Jalan Kelulut
Tel: +65 6484 5528
Operating Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm; 6pm – 11pm daily

Tiong Bahru is well known of its good hawker food (read my post on Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre) and its quaint little cafes. But lately, there is a new addition to the neighbourhood — a new Thai restaurant, Baan Tong Thai!

Opened for about 6 months ago, this restaurant is rather packed with working crowd when I visited on a weekday for lunch. The kitchen is said to helm by a Thai chef who is also the co owner. Service is brisk and when we sat down, we were served 4 different Thai sauces: seafood (green), BBQ (dark red), Balachan (with seeds) and sweet sauce.

Of course, we have to have some Clear Tom Yum Soup ($8.80). We ordered the seafood here, but other options include chicken and prawns). It’s a well-balanced soup, and you do get to enjoy all the flavours of sweet, sour, savoury and umami, before the chili hits you. Their prawns didn’t make the mark though.

Pork collar is one of the favorite cuts among the Thai, this is because it has the right amount of lean meat, muscle, and fat. But sadly, I have yet to find a Thai restaurant in Singapore that does it well. They are either too dry or bland. The BBQ Pork ($14) here is also, unfortunately, dry and tough.

Prawn Cakes ($6.80)

We ordered prawn cakes and fish cakes but I prefer their fish cakes. Using only the freshest Batang fish meat and spices, Fish cakes ($6.80) make a great snack on their own dipped in sweet Thai sauce.

This Thai version of Honey Chicken ($9.80) turns ordinary chicken into an amazing-tasting meal.

Seabass is turned into crispy fried fish and smothered with strips of mango, chillies and spring onions marinated in a fish sauce, sugar and lime juice mixture. This Mango Seabass ($31.80) is what epitomises the Thai philosophy – hot, sour, salty, sweet!

Dessert was Sticky Mango Rice ($6.50), right type of mangoes were used – a perfectly ripe and very sweet!

Not a fan of their Chendol ($6.50) but to the dining partner, it was a hit! Jackfruit was added in and the whole cup was heavily flavoured with gula melaka and jackfruit, cannot really taste the chendol strips.

Nevertheless, their Thai Ice Tea ($3.50) is not bad, not too sweet and it was well balanced.

The manager was very proud of his Thai Ice Tea and showed us the premium tea they used to make the tea. So if you want to have a cup of good Ice Tea, go for this brand!

There are definitely hits and misses but Baan Tong Thai has definitely captured the essence of Thai cuisine.

Baan Thong Thai
16 Kim Tian Road
Tel: +65 6270 1008
Opening hours: 11am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm

For those of you who are working around Raffles Place, I am sure you are familiar with Platypus Test Kitchen at Clifford Centre. I went there for lunch early last year under a friend’s recommendation and I am glad that they have recently opened Platypus Kitchen in Bugis Junction!

Yes, Platypus has taken over V8 Cafe and the restaurant offers a flurry of mediterranean & italian dishes inspired by the flavours of arromatic olive oils and the freshest seafood. The restaurant constantly comes up with little twists on classics just like a platypus – a little weird in their own ways.

Unique selling point?
- They make their own pastas everyday.
- There are no added MSG, additives or preservatives in their dishes!

One of the owners, Nicholas, is the author of the bestselling cookbook, Bachelor’s Banquet. His interest in cooking started when he began experimenting his mother’s kitchen at a young age. So he found his passion in cooking and opened Platypus 3 years ago. Nicholas feels that people are paying too much for casual meal and gourmet food should be accessible. So he offered reasonable price for reasonable quality.

Our dinner started with a bowl of truffle fries. Nobody can say no truffle fries, at least for me. I can’t remember when did it appear in my life, but since then, I have been hooked. When there is a truffle fries option in the menu, I will definitely go for it.

The Truffle Fries ($6.90) here are deep-fried to a shade of gorgeous golden-brown and infused with quality white truffle oil and topped with shaved truffles. I like that the fries are cut thick but I thought the truffle taste could be stronger.

Risotto balls are usually very dry, but Platypus Kitchen’s Risotto Balls ($8.90) are stuffed with mozzarella, breaded in panko then deep fried. Crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside, these tasty rice balls are served over rich pumpkin puree which is an interesting twist to the usual side dish.

Char-grilled Spanish Shrimp & Chorizo Gambas ($8.90), these chorizo are made using chicken instead of pork. They are then cooked with homemade tomato sauce and roasted and sundried tomatoes, love the tangy tomato sauce!

I asked Nicholas, what makes a plate of good pasta? His answer was, a good plate of pasta is all about the dough, chewiness and creativity. All these elements are very obvious in the dishes. One example is the Black & White ($17.50) which is interwomven with egg and squid-ink tagliolini with crabs and scallops in white wine consomme. I love how their pasta is tender to the bite and with just the right amt of sauce!

Nicholas’s food always stands out with creative touches here and there. You are either going to love this or hate this. Spicy Diablo Crabs & Prawn ($18.50) is a plate of egg tagliolini with tossed with prawns and crab claw meat in a spicy egg sauce.

Don’t be fooled by its appearance because it can be quite spicy if you are not a chilli lover. Still as good as what I had previously at the Clifford outlet, the first mouthful is always a kick for me and subsequently, it just gets better and becomes very addictive. Are you ready?

Saffron infused Risotto ($19.90) is served with char-grilled prawns and scallops then finished with sustainable caviar and fine herbs. I love this the most because carnaroli rice is used which is a premium grade for making risotto. The risotto maybe slightly bland but when you mix in the saffron, it just gives it a balanced flavour. Moreover, it looks like a beautiful garden!

If you want to have non-pasta dishes, the outlet here also serves Poached Chicken & Truffles ($19.90, add $3.50 for truffle overload). Milk-poached chicken breast comes with truffled potatoes, confit garlic, shaved truffles and parma ham with brown butter custard. Rather creative for to combine chicken and truffles together.

This is Nicholas and his cookbook “Bachelor’s Banquet” ($24.90) which was published in 2009 with his co-writer Adhika Maxi. Why the name? Because they wanted to show that men can be excellent cooks and that preparing an intimate meal for two is not rocket science.

Platypus Kitchen really takes pride in their dishes. Every pasta dish we had is really creative and you can’t really see a similar one elsewhere. And 99% of their food is below $20 (except for a seafood stew which costs slightly more). It also has super affordable lunch and dinner deals.

Weekday Lunch: Pasta & Risotto sets from $12.90. Every set meals includes choice of hot soup or salad, plus choice of cold beverage.

Dinner: Set meals from $16.90. Every set meals includes choice of hot soup or salad, plus choice of cold beverage.

If you get the set meals, you can get their non-alcoholic carafes at $2.90 (UP $6.50), Beer cocktails at $4.90 (UP $9.90), SOL Mexican Beer at $4.20 (UP $7.20), Heineken Beer at $4.50 (UP $7.50) or Kirin Beer at $4.90 (UP $7.90)!

Platypus Kitchen
Address: 200 Victoria Street, #03-29 Bugis Junction
Tel: +65 6333 4434
12:00 pm – 10:00 pm

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Generous Nicholas decided to giveaway his cookbook “Bachelor’s Banquet” (with his signature!) to ONE LUCKY READER! There are 80 recipes in this book such as bacon & egg risotto, tuna nigiri bowl, lemon chicken with corn relish etc. The preparation methods are delicious yet easy to prepare. You can keep it for yourself or give it to your boyfriend/husband to give them a chance to cook for you!

Here’s the question: Where is Platypus Kitchen latest outlet?

To win, leave a comment with the correct answer! Closing Date: 6 January 2013 (Sunday), 23:59. Only for readers living in Singapore.

Even though the boyfriend doesn’t like to eat bak kut teh, one good thing about him (or rather, his family) is, his parents (who are teochew) braise their own ducks at home during special occasions. And when I knew about it, I was so excited and told him I want to learn how to braise a duck!

I don’t know why, I am really not a fan of roast duck. But when it comes to braised duck, it becomes a different story. When I was at Tekka Centre, many of you have recommended me to try Heng Gi Goose and Duck Rice. The rest have commented that the original stall owner, Uncle Yang, is no longer there and hence standard dropped. Thanks Rayner’s tip off, I found Uncle Yang at Hong Lim Food Centre with his new shop “Ah Heng Duck Rice”!

I guess I am not very particular about my braised duck, unless it is super tough. Just give me a bowl of rice, drizzled with some dark savoury sauce and a few pieces of duck, I am happy.

When I went on a weekday afternoon for lunch, Uncle Yang was helping to serve the rice and collecting money while another guy does the slicing of the meat. There wasn’t much crowd. Ah Heng Duck Rice has nice braised duck which is sliced thin, with a shiok chilli sauce dip. I like the Lor as it is the thin watery type and is sweeter still has enough umami.

Ah Heng Duck Rice
531A Upper Cross Street
#02-64 Hong Lim Food Centre

Malaysia’s famous celebrity chef, Chef Wan, has opened his first ever restaurant in Singapore! It got everyone in Singapore every excited, with queues forming outside the restaurant during dinner almost everyday. The boyfriend treated me to 1 Market’s buffet lunch during the New Year.

The halal restaurant showcases exotic recipes in buffet-style, with creations inspired by his travels in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia. Let’s see what they have!

We started our lunch with some Japanese delights such as sashimi, sushi and soba.

Here are the cold seafood range. Because we had lunch, there is no oyster lah.

keropok for u?

There is the live station where the chef will prepare some Penang Rojak and Kueh Pai Tee for you.

Everyday, they will have a Today’s Special corner and on that day, we had Thai seafood noodle soup. The soup is tangy and provides a good start to the meal.

Salad

From left: Squid Charcoal, Steamed Chicken, Thai Steamed Fish, Stingray Charcoal

From left: Chicken Belado, Lamb Stew, Thai Prawn, Turmeric Crab

Here’s my buffet plate.

Satay is often out because chef was too slow in keeping up with the demand. And they don’t really have a queue system, so everyone who wants satay just lingers around the corner and wait. You can probably get satay immediately if you come earlier or come very late. I suggest they do up a queue system or at least have a number tag on each table, so that they can serve us the satay after it is ready.

Their grill is also taking way too long. In fact, I have never get a chance to eat any at all. It was only when I am done with the mains and halfway into the desserts, then I saw this grilled sotong.

However, one commendable thing about 1 Market is their huge variety of sauces. Almost every corner, you will find different sauces and all of them tastes so good (especially if you are a chilli fan). I am not sure if they are doing it already, but it would be nice to bottle up the sauces and sell too!

The dessert corner serves a variety of tarts and kueh.

They have semi-DIY corners like this ice kachang station where you take the ingredients you want, pass it to the staff and they will do the shaved ice for you.

Something to die for is their waffles. Surprisingly, buffet restaurants in Singapore has been churning out superb waffles. Kiseiki does it well and 1 Market does it well too! Of course, you will expect a queue for the waffles. And if you want ice cream, you have to ask from the staff. All their ice cream lah, ice lah, all managed by the staffs, so you have to ask them for it.

At a corner of the dessert station, is a pot of cheng tng is super sweet.

Thank you boyfriend!

Likes:
- The hot dishes are pretty good only if you love the spices. So if you can’t take it, you may not enjoy it. But I love their range of sauces.

- The waffles are good.

Don’t Like:
- The grill section’s supply cannot meet the demand. I initially thought it was a problem because I went on a public holiday. But from the reviews in Hungrygowhere, it seems to be a constant problem.

- Too much manpower used unneccessarily. Yes it will help to reduce some wastage but it just makes the queue longer especially during peak periods. For instance, we can DIY on the rojak ourselves and take the ice cream ourselves. They can focus more manpower on the service staffs because the clearing of plates was too slow.

Conclusion:

Overall, I still prefer the buffet variety at Buffet Town. Frankly, I feel that for the price charged (see above picture for price list), food selection and quality can be better. If you really want to go and try, go during non peak hours. Weekends and public holidays, the queues are crazy and you most likely can’t get any grilled food then. So it’s not worth it.

1 Market By Chef Wan
Address: #04-45-49 Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Rd.
Tel: +65 6341 9159
Opening Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 6pm-10pm daily

Last Sunday’s lunch was at Bedok South Food Centre. My eyes brightened up when I heard it because the first thought was “CHAR KWAY TEOW!”. Unfortunately, the boyfriend never enjoys Hill Street Fried Kway Teow and until today, I still don’t know why. But he will still queue 45 mins to buy a plate of fried kway teow for me.

Anyway, I need to get my craving fixed because Bedok South is not very convenient and we don’t visit it very often. In fact, I have been craving for Hill Street Fried Kway Teow since the Ultimate Hawker Fest event a few months back.

I think one of the essence of a good plate of fried kway teow is definitely the wok hei. And the owner of Hill Street Fried Kway Teow has definitely done it well because you can taste the smoke flavour of the noodles clearly. If you take a closer look at his wok, he uses a very shallow wok which is probably only 5 inches deep. This is to make sure the kway teow is fried uniformly.

A plate of $3 fried kway teow (above pic) has alot of ingredients in it. I like how crunchy the bean sprouts are, with lots of eggs and sweet dark sauce. Not forgetting the bits and bits of crunchy pork lard, oh mine, it’s heavenly! One unique ingredients which this stall has is the addition of chives which is believed to enhance the flavours of the noodles.

We all know that eating too much fried kway teow is definitely not good for the body, so if you really want to fix your fried kway teow craving, make sure you go to a good one so that you won’t waste your calories on something unworthy. Hill Street Fried Kway Teow is definitely worth the queue but it won’t be the top of my list. Somehow, I still prefer No 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow.

Hill Street Fried Kway Teow (Bedok South Market and Food Centre)
Address: Blk 16 Bedok South Road
#01-187 Bedok South Market and Food Centre
Operating Hours: Tue to Sun 12pm – 4pm, 6pm – 10pm. Closed on Monday.

There are more and more Thai eateries in Singapore and many of them are beginning to open their eateries in quiet neighbourhood. First, it was Nakhon Kitchen in Kovan, then I found Ont Authentic Thai Cuisine in Ang Mo Kio, last year Baan Tong Thai opened in Tiong Bahru and now, there is a new Thai eatery in Tampines: SOI THAI KITCHEN!

My favourite for the meal is Beef Paneang ($10). The beef cheek is stewed for 4-5hours before it is cooked with red curry sauce. The meat is very soft and tender.

A Thai meal is never complete without Tom Yam Soup and Soi Thai has 3 different types, thick base, tom ka and clear version, with the option of Prawn or Chicken ($6). The thick and tom ka base is the less spicy. I personally prefer the clear base. We had the Thick Tom Yam Prawn Soup ($6) and it is much sweeter.

Thai Yellow Ginger Chicken ($8) is a simple dish and its flavour is enhanced by yellow ginger.

I was learning how to cook a good plate of vegetables and I learnt that the most important thing is to make sure that the vegetables still remain crunchy and bright green. It may sound easy but it is really difficult to get it right. Hence, when a plate of well cooked vegetables arrived on my table, I can’t stop eating. Thai Style Kang Kong ($6) is stir fried with garlic, chili, some seasoning like oyster sauce, fermented bean, soy sauce and fish sauce. It still remains very crunchy and greeny.

Namjim Larb is one of our all-time favorite Thai dishes, and it is a very common dish served throughout Thailand as well as Laos. Larb means salad and it can be made with minced beef, pork or chicken. In Thailand, it is made to be very spicy but the lime juice and mint leaves give it a splendid combination.

But at Soi Thai, the chef turned it into a dip for fried sea bass. Sea Bass with Namjim Larb ($22) is fried till crispy skin and the tangy dressing wakens your mouth and add extra dimensions of flavour. Don’t worry about its spiciness, they have tone it down to suit the local taste. However, if you prefer it to be more spicy, just let the chef know.

Dessert was Mango Sticky Rice ($5).

My lunch here was not bad, besides the usual Thai dishes, there are also some interesting dishes like the beef cheek. Service is swift and it is easy on the pocket. The eatery only accepts cash.

Soi Thai Kitchen
Address: 824 Tampines Street 81, #01-28
Tel: 67842421

Are you a fan of THE BIG BREAK?

This latest original reality television series on StarHub Channel 435 features 12 underprivileged youths from across Asia realising their dreams of becoming a chef.

Tonight at 10pm, don’t forget to catch The Big Break Episode 9 where the remaining contestants are back at Resorts World Sentosa for the ultimate Italiano experience! The contestants’ multi-tasking skills are put to the test, as they are required to knead, assemble and bake their own pizzas. With only one pizza oven available, disaster strikes as the flustered contestants scramble to bake their creations within the stipulated time!

After watching the show, I am sure you will be super motivated to make some traditional Italian food yourselves. Thanks to the invitation by The Asian Food Channel and Resorts World Sentosa, I attended an exclusive cooking class by AFC’s resident chef, Chef Wendy Ong. This hands-on cooking class shows us the secrets behind making that perfect slice of pizza and a delectable cannoli.

Recipe 1 Pizza

Ingredients (Yields a 14 x 15 inch tray skinny pizza)

Pizza Base
1⁄2 cup of warm water
1⁄2 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of quick rising yeast
1 1⁄2 cups of plain flour
1⁄2 tsp of salt
1⁄2 tbsp of olive oil

Sauce
1⁄2 can or 85ml of tomato paste
1⁄2 can or 113ml of tomato sauce

Toppings
1 green bell pepper
200g of button mushrooms
100g of chicken ham
100g of chicken hotdogs
1 can of pineapple chunks
3 tomatoes
300g of cheddar cheese, shredded

Method:
1. For the base, add a pinch of sugar to the 1⁄2 cup of warm water and stir. Add yeast to water and let it sit for 5 minutes. (NOTE: Yeast will be killed if temperature of water reaches 60 degree celsius and above)
2. Place remaining sugar, flour, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Add yeast mix to flour and stir until dough-like.
3. Dust your hands and table with some flour and knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Knead till it becomes smooth and stretchy.
4. Let dough rise under room temperature for about 45 minutes, or until it is doubled in size.
5. Roll dough into desired shape and thickness and place them on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper.
6. To assemble, spread sauce over the pizza base and add your favourite toppings. Have fun with it and make it your own!
7. Bake in the oven at 200°C until the base is crisp and browned. If your dough is thinner, set a higher temperature.

TIP: How do you know if the dough is ready?
Chef Wendy suggests, use the “window paint” method. Take some dought and stretch it against the window or sunlight. If some light can shine through, it means the gluten level is good enough.

So this is my pizza!

After 20 minutes!

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Recipe 2 Cannoli

Here’s how to make traditional Sicilian Cannoli, pastry dessert made of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling of ricotta cheese!

Ingredients (Yields 30)

Shells
150g of sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp of sugar
A pinch of salt
12g of butter
1 egg yolk
65ml of water
Some cooking oil

Filling
32g of icing sugar
115g of ricotta
125ml of whipping cream
100g of chocolate chips, optional

Method (Shell) :
1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
2. Cut in the butter.
3. Add egg yolk and water together and mix till the dough is formed.
4. Rest dough for 30 minutes.
5. On a well-floured surface, roll dough until it is almost paper thin.
6. Cut out the dough to 2.5 inch circles.
7. Wrap dough around cannoli metal tube and overlap the edges with egg white.
8. Heat cooking oil to 180°C. Deep fry the dough till golden brown.
9. Let cool on paper towel and remove from tube.

Method (Filling) :
1. Cream ricotta and sifted icing sugar till a smooth consistency is attained.
2. Whisk whipping cream to medium peak.
3. Fold cream into ricotta mixture.
4. Fold in chocolate chips (Optional).

To Assemble :
1. Fill cream into a piping bag.
2. Pipe the filling into the cannoli shells and serve immediately.

Tada! My cannoli! If the dough is too much, you can put some in the chiller and keep it for 2-3 days. If you want to preserve it longer, wrap it with cling wrap and put into the freezer.

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About The Big Break

Premiered exclusively on StarHub Channel 435, this latest original reality television series will feature 12 underprivileged youths from across Asia realising their dreams of becoming a chef.

Judged based on their culinary and hospitality skills, techniques learned during the challenges, as well as attitude and performance, all participating youths will try their hand at getting one step closer to the grand prize of a scholarship worth over S$30,000 at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy in Singapore.

There will be no losers either. Every week, a selected number of youths who don’t qualify for the next round will be granted a S$2,000 bursary by RWS, allowing them to continue on with their education after they return home from the show.

Having just survived a grueling challenge, the remaining contestants are back at Resorts World Sentosa for the ultimate Italiano experience! The contestants’ multi-tasking skills are put to the test, as they are required to knead, assemble and bake their own pizzas. With only one pizza oven available, disaster strikes as the flustered contestants scramble to bake their creations within the stipulated time!

For more information on The Big Break, please visit: http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/thebigbreak. The site will provide the latest information about contestants as well as summaries and highlights from each episode.

Hello from Taiwan! I am having holidays in Taiwan for 9 days so I will be sharing some of the eateries which I have been to.

One of the Taiwanese street food people love is definitely the mee sua. It is available almost everywhere in Taiwan but finding a good one is not easy. Everyone knows Ah Zong Mee Sua (which I have already blogged about it here), so this time, we travelled to Rao He Night Market to visit this famous eatery which has been around for close to 80 years!

Dong Fa Hao is a small eatery in Rao He Night Market started in 1937 (WOW!) and there are 3 dishes recommended to try here:
1. Oyster Mee Sua
2. Pork Potage Soup
3. Glutinous Rice

We only ordered the oyster mee sua and pork potage soup because we were very full from dinner. The Pork Potage Soup (肉羹，55NT) is also one of Taiwanese representative dishes. The meat is mashed and seasoned with salt, sugar, pepper, sesame oil and corn starch. They are shaped into bite size and cook with yummy soup. It warms the stomach especially during this cold weather.

What I love about this shop is the Oyster Mee Sua (面线，55NT). They use pork bones to cook the soup of the mee sua and unlike Ah Zong Mee Sua, this stall doesn’t add corn starch into their mee sua, hence the soup is very clear. And small shrimps are added into the soup to enhance the flavours. Their thin noodle tastes delightfully silky and the oysters are all delivered from Taiwan’s the famous source of oyster, Budai Township, Chiayi County.

The bowl of noodle also serves with fresh large intestines and particular hand-made sauce to which holds the royal customers. The intestines are not braised. They are just washed clean and put in ice water to retain its crunchiness.

Initially, I find the mee sua abit bland. Because the chilli and vinegar is not premixed into the mee sua. Their homemade chilli uses small chilli and after adding in their power chilli to the mee sua, I love it very much. It is very flavourful and has got the kick!

It was a pity that I didn’t try the glutinous oil rice which is made of the picked long glutinous rice and fried with the sesame oil and hand-made sweet sauce. I will come back for that next time!

Dong Fa Hao (Rao He Night Market) – 東發號 (饒河街)
Address: 台北市松山區饒河街94號(土地公廟旁)
Operating hours: 8.30am – 12am
Address: (02)2769-5739

Looking for new brunch places? District 10 Bar & Restaurant now offers weekend brunch too! If you haven’t visit the outlet at Star Vista, it is worth exploring. This European Bar & Restaurant has a Spanish twist in their dishes thus have introduced a range of new tapas, while keeping some of the signature main courses from their UE Square outlet. And now, they have also introduced a range of weekend brunch items!

Our brunch begins with Eggs Benedict ($24) where there are two perfectly poached eggs with runny yolk, laid on thinly shaved Spanish Jamon Iberico Ham on two slices of English muffin halves, and finished off with their creamy and tangy hollandaise sauce.

We also had Creamy Scrambled Eggs ($18) with toasted muffin, grilled tomatoes, hash brown and crispy bacon. No complaints about the scrambled egg cuz they are creamy. But the bacon was seriously burnt. It will definitely taste crispy and delicious if it was handled better. Maybe because we had this before their official launch for the weekend brunch, so they still had some fine-tuning to be done.

My favourite at District 10 is the Brunch Beef Burger ($22) which comes with charcoal grill black angus patties topped with fried egg, crispy back bacon, cheddar cheese on a sesame bun and served with natural cut fries. The beef patty is usually served medium and it is good enough. It is very thick and juicy.

District 10 at The Star Vista has more than 35 tapas and pinchos (spike in Spanish). “Huevos Rotos” with fries and Jamon ($14) is a very classic snack that Spanish people eat at any time of the day. The best way to eat it is to break the yolk of the egg and mix everything together. Fries lover will love this!

Homemade Duck Spring Roll ($9.80) is a western style spring roll, something unique with a little duck slices.

Ham love will love Premium Cold Cuts Platter ($24) which contains Iberico Spicy Chorizo Bellota, Iberico Spicy Salchichon Bellota and Spanish Iberico Jamon. Our favourite is still the Spanish Iberico Jamon.

End your brunch with District 10 Sour Cherry Sundae ($11)!

District 10 Bar & Restaurant
Address: 1 Vista Exchange Green, #01-42/K3 The Star Vista
Tel: 66942884

Hello from Taiwan, again! I have officially finished part 1 of my work in Taiwan, bid goodbye to my love as he returns to Singapore tonight and now, I am embarking on a exciting food journey with iSee Taiwan Foundation soon! Since I have some free time now while waiting for the team to arrive, I shall do a little sharing with a worth-mentioning stall I ate on my first day here.

So on the first few days, I was staying in Le Meriden Hotel, which was very near to Taipei 101 building. We arrived in the afternoon and were really hungry. So we looked through the guide book and after 15 minutes walk, we arrived at Peng Ji Smelly Tofu stall along Yong Ji Road（永吉路).

This stall is just like typical roadside stall, so you may even miss it when you walk pass. But they really take pride in frying their smelly tofu. You know, some smelly tofu stall fry their tofu beforehand and when customers place order, the stall owners will just refry it. The smell of the tofu is already something that needs courage to be eaten, if the texture of the tofu is not right, then you definitely won’t enjoy the smelly tofu at all.

However, there are many smelly tofu stalls who does it beautifully well. Some of them braise it and for Peng Ji’s case, they fry it well. The owners doesn’t pre-fry everything and left it there. Instead, they will only fry their smelly tofu upon pre-ordering. And what makes them unique is, they are very particular about the temperature and time of frying.

They will first place the tofu in a 150 degree celsius fryer and deep fry it until the moisture of the tofu comes out. This is important because if you fry it too long, the tofu may become dry and old. Then, they put it into a 200 degree celsius fryer to fry the tofu, to create the crispy outer layer. When I asked the owner if he has sets a particular frying time, he said:”The frying time differs because every piece of tofu is different.”

Indeed, very professional answer. Or perhaps that is his secret. Either way, his smelly tofu is really crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. When he is done with the frying, he will create a hole in the middle where he will then pour his special garlic soy sauce, and topped with homemade pickled cabbage at the side. You will smell the stench before eating, but after plucking the courage to take the first bite, you realize the smell doesn’t linger in your mouth nor clothes at all.

In Singapore, you find that majority of the eateries sell a menu full of many dishes, which leaves you very confused on what to order. But in Taiwan, things are different. Most of the eateries only has a few dishes, and they are very good. If they aren’t good, they would have probably closed down within a few months.

So besides smelly tofu, Peng Ji also sells oyster mee sua. Their mee sua soup is cooked with fresh oysters from Dong Shi. Personally, I feel it isn’t that fantastic, but if you pair it with the smelly tofu, it makes a perfect meal.

Their smelly tofu is 45NT. Their oysters mee sua is 40NT (small) and 55NT (big).

彭记臭豆腐
Address: 台北市永吉路30巷177弄1号
Tel: 886-2-8787-4628
Operating Hours: 11.30am – 9 pm, closed on Sunday
Directions: 市政府站4号出口，walk towards 永吉路 for 5 mins.

One of the most interesting trip during my Taiwan travel this time is to go on a day trip to Jiu Fen Old Street (九份老街). This place is like Taiwan in the olden days (or maybe little Hong Kong), with many interesting shops. And, there is the beautiful ocean view of Keelung outer sea!

I always wonder why is it call Jiu Fen (九份) and not Ba Fen or Qi Fen, so I went to google and according to Wikipedia, it is said that long time ago there were only nine families in Jiufen. Before the roads on land were built, all materials were transported via ships. Thus a habit was formed that nine pieces of same object were purchased at one time for reservation. Hence, the place was called Jiufen.

Due to the frequent rains in Jiufen, the stores on the street built the rain canopy outside, which formed a faint alley, it is also known as “Dark Alley”.

The trip to Jiu Fen Old Street is full of delights. There are shops vending the most famous country snack of Jiufen, such as Glutinous Rice Cake, Taro Glutinous Rice Cake, Hongzao (Oxo Cubes) Meatball, and cold or hot Taro Rice Balls…etc. The street is filled with delicious snacks. Almost every tourist who comes to Jiufen would taste all those above.

Jiufen Taro Rice Ball has become a symbol of Jiufen local snack by accident. Founder of the Taro Rice Ball was making them for the family. Due to good feedbacks, he started to sell them. From there, Jiufen Taro Rice Ball became popular in Taiwan. The taro material comes from Tachia Taichung. In order to maintain the texture of taro, every process needs to be examined carefully. Although now we can eat Jiufen Taro Rice Ball all over in Taiwan, they still do not have the same flavor and texture as those of the local Jiufen.

We visited two super famous ones within the old street. The first one was Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan (赖阿婆芋圆). It occupies 3 full shops in the old street, one is for making and selling the taro balls while the other two shops are for diners to eat. We ordered the combo yu yuan (综合芋圆) which has a mixture of sweet potato balls and taro balls in red bean, green bean and sweet potato soup. Each bowl costs 40NT.

As we walked further, we came across this braised stall which has super long queue. We joined in and bought some braised food for snacks. They are pretty cheap with each piece from 30NT. It is somewhat like the kway chap we had in Singapore, except that the lor (sauce) is thicker and more fragrant. And they do not add in any preservatives.

As we climb all the way up, it is a breath taking view of the ocean and sky…

Then, we smell something! Peeping into the backyard of a shop, we saw something steaming. And they are yam! VERY FRAGRANT YAM!

Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan (阿柑姨芋圆) is another stall that sells taro balls. Although we already had a bowl just now and were quite full, but the fragrance of the yam really made us hungry again. Verdict? GO FOR THIS ONE, SUPER SHIOK! For a bowl of 50NT taro balls, I get double more taro balls than Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan (赖阿婆芋圆). And every taro balls are so so so fragrant as though you are eating the real yam! The previous shop which I visited, the taro balls has more glutinous flour than yam, and I feel like I am just eating sweets.

At a corner of the old street, we spotted this sausage aunty with very unique fashion sense. It is hard for you to miss it. Her sausages aren’t really fantastic but I think her hairdo wins her more customers. And she is very game about it, when I take out my camera, she will automatically pose for me. In case you can’t read the badge on her chest, it says “Phototaking is FREE!”

We ended our trip with a sweet potato puff from Misty!

There are also old school mart and souvenir shops. And some quaint little shops that sell clothes. There is even this interesting mask shop where the owners make mask of famous personalities!

There are also many unique teahouses in Jiufen. These teahouses are best stops during visit to this mountain village. This one that we walked past, even provides fortune telling while you brew your tea!

Love this place, very different from the modern Taipei city. But the place is getting more tourists, so it is better for you to come during weekdays. If you are not in a hurry, you may want to pick a nice inn and stay for the starlight and fishing lights at night.

1. At Taipei Station (台北火車站), buy railway ticket to Rui Fen (瑞芬). The journey is about 20 mins.

2. Upon reaching the station, look for the black sign that heads towards Jiu Fen (往九份). It is quite easy, just follow the crowd.

3. You will then be out of the station. Now look for the 顶好 supermarket just across the road. Board the bus that goes to Jiu Fen.

If you are a foodie, you have definitely long regard Taiwan as one of the world’s great food destinations. There are much more to eat besides the usual night markets which many of us are familiar with. The restaurant scene has been gaining popularity for its diversity and exotic offerings.

Taiwan is a very competitive market and they have smart and innovative luxury restaurants that impress travelers with taste, service, décor and of course, style. People are no longer only looking for good food, but more importantly, it is the dining experience. This burgeoning epicurean scene gets a major boost from iSee Taiwan Foundation, when they have recently organized a Food For Fun (食在有趣) competition to promote some interesting dining experiences available in Taiwan.

The foundation have received thousands of applications from bloggers all around Taiwan and the team has eventually picked out the best 10 restaurants based on their experiences. I am honored to be invited by iSee Taiwan Foundation to embark on a 5D4N Food For Fun (食在有趣) trip around Taiwan. And for this trip, we are gonna try some of the restaurants in Taipei and Taichung!

My first Food For Fun restaurant visit is this Japanese restaurant called Tien Ming An (天命庵) in Taipei. A former National Taiwan University teachers’ dormitory, Tien Ming An is situated in a quiet school district near the Shandao Temple MRT station (善導寺捷運站). There are almost no shops around the area and I was attracted by the quiet charm of the neighborhood.

The restaurant itself is within a Japanese-style house built during the colonial era. The house is well preserved structurally and the owners have tried their best to maintain the decor of traditional Japanese houses such as the sliding doors, narrow corridors and wooden floors.

Here, they specialized in their yakitori. You can expect a great variety of vegetables, pork and chicken skewers, grilled to perfection. Unlike some restaurants which rely heavily on sauces, Tien Ming An focuses on offering original flavour of the ingredients.

Among the skewers we sampled, 天梯 (NT$100）was the most interesting skewer. It sounds like some atas name, isn’t it? But it is actually the gums of pig! It was very chewy, in fact too chewy for my liking, and tastes somewhat like cuttlefish. My favourite was 鸡肉腿葱串 (chicken leg with scallions, NT$120) which was tender and pleasantly flavored with teriyaki sauce.

In addition, we ordered a 蔬菜组(vegetable set, NT$200 for 6) which includes tomatoes, ginko, corn, mushrooms etc. Each skewer has slightly charred exteriors and a mild charcoal taste.

Besides the yakitori, we also had 鸡软骨 (NT$120) where the chef will get rid of the fats from chicken knuckles and deep fried till crispy. While I appreciate their hard work, but I feel that the fried skin was pretty hard and old on that day.

One of their signature is 猪尾巴 (pig’s tails, NT$120) where the pig’s tails are first braised before grilled. Look at the beautiful shiny skin, the meat retains the flavour from the braised and added the smoky flavor from the grill.

My dinner ended with a bowl of 酒蒸蛤蜊汤 (NT$80) where the clams are steamed with wine.

In my opinion, the yakitori has a nice charcoal grill but I felt the meats were not juicy enough. But the cozy atmosphere kinda make up for the food and you feel like you have been transformed back to the olden days Japan. The restaurant also offers beer, sake, whisky and wine.

To let you have a feel of how the restaurant looks like, I did a mini video clip, together with a small interview with the owner. This is my first time trying to do a video on the blog. Despite being a broadcast student for 4 years, I have totally lost touch with it after I leave school. My Olympus XZ-1 camera is definitely not the best tool for video taking and I have only just started to meddle with iMovie, so please pardon me for this very amateur video. You can also read the review on iSee’s micro site (in Chinese).

Tien Ming An (天命庵)
Address: 34 Xuzhou Rd, Taipei City (台北市徐州路34號)
Tel: 02-23225642 (Reservations recommended）
Opening hours: 5pm – 1am, closed on Mondays

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* Food for Fun (食在有趣) gourmet tour is proudly organized by iSee Taiwan Foundation. Only airfare, hotel accommodation and selected meals are sponsored.