Year 2009 food escapades

for my Year 2009 food escapades, i aim to try out the below places:
disclaimer: pictures not taken by me. obtained from website.

• DimJoy
  http://www.dimjoy.com/about.html
  
  
• Les Bouchons – 7 Ann Siang Road
  serves steak
  
  
  

• 
  
  Location: 279, Jalan besar
  
  
  
• Ps Cafe
  
  
  
  
  Location: 28B, Harding Road
  
  
  
• Satsuma Dining Bar
  
  
  
  
  Location: 1 Nanson Road (river valley)
  
  
  
• Pepperoni Pizzeria
  Location: 6 Greenwood Avenue
  the last time i went there should be around Oct/Nov 08, theu were closed and had some renovation works going on. I'm still not sure if it had been bought over by another establishment or just having Renovations. Will check out the Info soon. Hopefull they are just having reno =)
  
  
• One Rochester
  - to Chill
  Location: Rochester Park
  website: http://www.onerochester.com/
  
  
• Blue Basil
  
  Location: 56, Cairnhill Road
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pasta Brava
  Location: 11 Craig Road
  Been wanting to head there for the past years, but just didn't find the chance to.
  shall try to make it there in 2009 ;)
  
  

Viet Food Va Va Voom!

I visited Vietnam abt 4 months ago (for the 1st time in my life) and it was during that trip that I abandoned all pre-conceived prejudice I have towards the cuisine. Well, there's a good reason why I'm not pro-viet food, coz like many other Singaporeans, Thai food's the way to go for our spicy tastebuds and we tend to think Viet food is dull and tasteless.

Not that I had alot of great tasting Viet food during my trip but I sure had some pretty decent tasting meals there. So when I came back, I checked out some Viet food restaurants and found out that u can count the no. of them with one hand. :P

Anyways, I visited Va Va Voom for the 2nd time since my Viet trip and this time I brought Yyn along...
(You can read more abt my review here.)

Mains from $6 - $10 - I say Value-for-money!

Pork Cutlet Rice - ard $8.00

With meatloaf, fried egg and sweet sour dressing on the side...

Plum soda - $2.80

Vietnamese Drip Coffee - ard $4

Pho Bo - Sliced Beef Noodles - $6.00 (they have brisket variations, and a Hanoi Beef noodle option) Maybe i'll try that on my next trip!!

If i'm gonna pay $4.50 to eat @ a food court nearby, I would gladly top up another $1.50 to eat @ Va Va Voom... At least it spares me the squeezing and pressure of eating quickly @ the food court... :P

U.d.d.e.r.s Ice Cream

U.d.d.e.r.s Ice Cream
155 Thomson Road
Goldhill Shopping Centre
*located at the vertical row of shop houses next to United Square
Tel: 6254 6629

It's been over a month since i've been to Udders but was pretty caught up to write about it.
We tried Chempedak, Rum and Raisin, Tiramisu flavours etc...

What can i say. Don't bother so much, just GO!!!
Its fantastic! Every flavour is just bursting with richness and authenticity!
If you are undecisive, just get the staff to let you try out the flavours, but word of caution though, you may end up even more confused as all the flavours are to die for!

Really, Definately worth trying!
Its a ice-cream place, i will not talk too much about it except that they have a good concept, nice location, great tasting quality ice-cream, nice decor.

This is more of a grab eat and go place as it tends to be quite populated at times, making it quite Squeezy to hang-out.



Udders is really good. Can be equally rated with Island Creamery

Swirl Gelateria

Swirl Gelateria
557 Bukit Timah Road
#01-04/05 Crown Centre

Tel: 6464 6180




We tried 5 to 6 flavours. Nothing fanciful. It isn't BAD, but i won't say it is GOOD either.
The Alcoholic flavours lack the Ummph factor. It is bland and i did not feel that there was any liqueur added.
Other flavours were not impressive as well. All lack the flavour. Tastes more of milk in all.
therefore, i would not recommend for anyone to try out this place.
I guess this also explains why it is so isolated and empty on the many occasions that i pass by as well as on a Friday evening itself.

* if you are looking for a quiet place to discuss some project or to hang around with your friends for games and chat, this place is OK venue for that. Keep your expectations of the ice-cream Low though or you may walked out disappointed.

Melvados Cafe- Closed Down

was browsing through a few credible sites/blogs/food reviews for my next Friday Supper Club location.
Criteria: to be a cafe budget average bill ard $12, a good spot to chit chat, GOOD FOOD! a rather comfortable ambience
I found review of Melvados through the Lady Iron Chef's website and decided to give it a try. O especially love the fact that this place is at Bukit Timah Road (love this area)



Melvados
559, Bukit Timah Road
#01-01 King's arcade (next to Coronation Plaza)
Tel: 64693101











we ordered:
Smoked Duck Confit Oglio Pasta (spaghetti):

- Great combination of tastes. Eatting this transports me to the world of "Ratatouille" where the rat takes a bite of one ingredient and another bite with another ingredient, but yet it fuses together to create an "outburst of harmonizing flavors!"
okok, maybe not that exaggerated like in the cartoon movie, but this dish does a little excitement to your taste palettes. The bell peppers, smoked duck, olive oil, slight powdering of cheese, garlic,pepper is a nice concoction.
costs: $9.90
*eat it while its hot!


Breadbowl Beef Stew

It does not look that fabulous, but when you peel off the bread , dip in with the stew and take a bite of it, you would be pleasantly surprised!
conclusion:
The bread is toasted to perfection (at least it meets my standards)
It is nicely toast and crisp, but not hard on the outside, yet in moist and soft in the inside. Amzaingly, the stew does not soak through the bread, so i was quite happy that i do not need to be eatting soggy bread.
The stew is done quite well, more towards a Tomato-ish taste.
costs: $9.90


Fish & Chips

It came out looking plain and dull, quite short of standard. I tasted it feeling skeptical about it at 1st but ended off with a nod on my head.
It is not heavy like the usual fish and chips where they dip cheap dory fillet in thick batter and fry it to crisp.
This version here uses breadcrumbs, therefore it may look Shrunken in comparative to the usual fare of fish and chips, but i will say i prefer this version alot more. It is delectable and not "Gelad" (so filling tt u get sick of it)
I couldn't really make out the type of fish they were using as i took only a bite out of this dish, but 1 thing for sure, they do not use the usual cheap dory fillet.
costs: $8.90


Last but not least, the MUST HAVES!
BROWNIE!! what can i say? this is a Brownice specialty cafe, how can i give the brownie a miss?

Black & White Kisses with a scoop of ice-cream

i sunk my fork in it and devoured it unknowingly within a short matter of time.
Is it good? Well, i dunno what to say, maybe you should go try it for yourself.
costs: $4.90 + ($1.00 single scoop of ice-cream)


Overall conclusion:
Surprise find. I nice cozy cafe that serves great food at a affordable pricing.
A sad thing though is that this place is really really unpopulated. we were the only ones around.
This place definately deserves more publicity.
I will be heading back there and recommending people at this unpolished Gem.
NO GST** NO SERVICE CHARGE** NETT PRICES** EVEN ENTITLES YOU TO 15% DISCOUNT IF YOU HAVE CERTAIN CARDS (Safra if im not wrong)

ps: for people that want to chill over a game of pool and beer, they have it over there.