Jumbo Seafood (Riverside Point)

Alicia and Stefan were back for a visit in December... and Stefan loves our local food, especially seafood. Alicia, despite being a pescatarian, is not a big fan of seafood - especially those that change colour when cooked :) So we always organise makan outings just so that Stefan gets to eat his favourite Singaporean (seafood) dishes. Which is how we ended up at Jumbo Seafood - for the Black Pepper and Chilli Crabs!

The Black Pepper Crab $39.60++


and Chilli Crab $39.60++


were both pretty average. Like I said before, I haven't had a really good pepper or chilli crab in ages and would welcome any recommendations...

We also had Drunken Prawns $32.50++,


Steamed Soon Hock $39.00++,


and Baby Squid $15.00++.


Again, all very average. The soon hock and prawns were quite fresh though...

The Beancurd Special $12.00++ was pretty yummy, but not vegetarian (which we thought it would be).


We requested for the Hong Kong Noodles $12.00++ to be cooked without meat for the pescatarian in the house -


It was still good without meat - but really I always like Hong Kong Noodles :)

We were all terribly amused by the bib so I just had to take a picture of Stefan wearing the bib -


It's on request only so do ask for it :D

Always a safe option when craving the old favourites but really very average food.

Thanks for the treat, Alicia and Stefan!


Jumbo Seafood (Riverside Point)
30 Merchant Road
#01-01/02 Riverside Point
www.jumboseafood.com.sg
Tel: 6532 3435

2am : Dessert Bar

Alicia was back for a visit and after a satisfying tze char dinner at the corner coffeeshop at Holland Village, we decided to check out 2am : Dessert Bar for erm, dessert - obviously :)

The entrance is a bit hidden away and after a slightly perilous climb up the stairs (it was kinda dark), we were greeted by a very chic and modern interior - with comfy sofas lining the walls and the rest of the place filled with bar seats. I love the ceiling to floor windows but I'm not sure you can see that much in the night. We picked a sofa and proceeded to make ourselves comfortable - actually it was not all that comfortable coz I ended up with pins and needles in my legs not soon after...

I ordered the Twix $13++ :


I love Twix (the chocolate bar) but this is nothing like that. It's burnt caramel mousse with peanut crumble and home-made valrhona ice cream. Not that you can really tell from the picture - oops :P It tasted pretty good - the chocolate ice-cream was yummy but it's made of valrhona so unlikely to taste bad, and the caramel mousse and peanut crumble combination was very similar to that of tiramisu.

We also tried the Cheesecake $15++ :


which was two slices of creamy cheesecake, blood peach form and chunks of mango. Such unusual combination of flavours, and everything went really well together.

And how can three females have dessert and not order chocolate cake of some sort?? Of course we ordered Chocolate $14++:


which is a warm chocolate tart, blood orange sorbet, with caramel drizzled over it. Loved the blood orange sorbet - it was really sour, and was a perfect foil to the bittersweet chocolate tart.

Presentation-wise, everything was amazing. Not forgetting the fact that the owner herself described the dessert in detail while serving it to us. Trying to imagine the amount of effort that has gone into preparing the dessert, and taking the time to explain the dessert to us, kinda makes up for the higher than average prices.

Probably not the kind of place I would visit that often, but the interesting desserts and chill-out atmosphere warrants a try at least.


2am : Dessert Bar
21A Lorong Liput
Tel: 6291 9727

Foo House Bar & Café

My sister kept asking me to check out this place - it's opened by her husband's friend, Sam and some of his family members. Recently made two trips here and enjoyed the food on both occasions.

The place is located in a quiet Bedok neighbourhood but gets its share of regulars. It's a cafe in the day and pub by night (with soccer being shown on the big screen TV). The chef here (Sam's uncle) used to be the Executive Sous Chef at the Grand Hyatt so besides your usual pub grub, you also get hotel-standard food at café prices.

One of their Signature Main Courses is the Roast Duck $14.90+ :


I was a bit hesitant when the dish first arrived - it's served with potato chips! But loved it on the very first bite... it's tender and flavourful. There was not enough gravy but Sam brought over more gravy before I could even think to ask for it. Apparently the very same dish costs 3 times the price at Mezza9 so this is a real bargain. And the portion is generous too - it's more than enough for one person.

I also tried another one of their Signature Main Courses - Hainanese Pork Chop $9.80+ :


Being a Hainanese family, they had to have this on the menu :D And it was pretty authentic too! The tangy tomato sauce brought back memories of the pork chops I had when I was young...

On another trip, I tried the Irish Stew $8.90+ :


At first, I thought that the portion was kinda small... but I ended up having a hard time finishing it :S This is perfect comfort food for a cold, rainy day - hot steaming soup and tender chunks of meat and carrots.

I've seen Fried Mars Bars at a few other places but ordered it here on a particularly adventurous day - Fried Mars Bar $4.50+ :


The deep fried Mars Bar is a little package of sin - it's full of calories and fat... try not to think of the dental bills you will incur soon! But it is sinfully good... but so sweet that you really can't have too much of it at one go. Order this to share!

The other thing I loved here - the Iced Lemon Tea $3.00+ :


My sister loves this drink here and insisted we each order a glass. This iced tea is mixed with orange juice, some fruits and well-shaken before being served. Seeing how most other places charge you even more for iced tea that comes from a dispenser (yuck!), this is good value, and really tasty too!

Service here can be a bit spotty as the wait staff (part-timers) are mostly students, but their enthusiasm more than makes up for it. Come here to chill out, and have some good food at very reasonable prices.


Foo House Bar & Café
6 Jalan Pari Burong
Picardy Garden
S488672
Tel : 6445 3110

Food #03

Read about this place on IS Magazine and decided to check it out with K & M. We managed to get a lot along the road right outside the restaurant - lucky us :D The place stands out among the dilipidated shophouses around it, the interior decor is industrial - raw, basic and simple...

I started with the Leek and Potato Soup $4 :


I didn't like it very much - a bit too thin and not creamy enough for my tastebuds... but definitely a generous portion.

For the main coure, I had the Tempeh Burger $11 :


This is the first time I've had Tempeh. Tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form - it has a nutty flavour and texture. I'm not too fond of the tempeh, but loved the rest of the burger, the fried egg was a nice touch.

K had the Eggplant stuffed with mixed summer vegetables, Tempeh and Wolf Berries with leek and rosemary Pilau Rice $14.00 :


Tried a bit of it and it was quite yummy!

M had the Mixed Grilled Vegetables Pizza :


Interesting place! Food was a bit iffy but they only just opened up on this visit, and have since more dishes like Shepherd's Pie that I would love to try so will be heading there again soon (I hope :). Check out Post-Museum next door!


Food #03
109 Rowell Road
Tel : 6396 7980
http://www.food03.sg/

Bedok Food Court (near Bedok Camp)

Came here for dinner twice in the last month - always a good option for hawker food when meeting up with easties (easterners?).

The Hokkien Prawn Mee $3 I had here is damn good -


Get it from Bedok Corner Hokkien Prawn Mee (Stall no. 29), or just go to the stall with the queue. Takes a while before you get your food but it's worth the wait. The noodles are moist but not spilling over with gravy, perfect mix of noodles and bee hoon, and a decent number of prawns included.

The Sambal Sting Ray $8 from Ah Ngeow Cooked Food (Stall no. 23 / 24) was pretty decent too...


The Oyster Omelette from Soon Lee (Stall no. 2) was also done the way I like it, with lots of crispy bits.


And just because I've never tried it before, we ordered Nasi Ayan Penget from a random stall -


Totally not what I expected - the chilli was not spicy at all, or maybe this was a poor example of Ayam Penget...

The first time I was here, the very famous Cheng Tng was sold out by the time we finished dinner so I made it a point to make sure we got the it early the 2nd time round.


Order it from 夜来香 (Stall no. 31) for just $2. It's got plenty of ingredients in it, including a lot of stuff that I recognise from the cheng tng I had when I was a kid, but no idea what it really is... old school cheng tng, yums.

Plenty of reasons to come to this hawker centre - lots of stalls with good food, car park is never full and clean unlike the one at East Coast Park... the Hokkien Mee and Cheng Tng are definitely must tries!


Bedok Food Court (near Bedok Camp)