After some difficulty, we found the place, past shops selling fondue, antiques and stonewares. From the outside it seemed like a nice and welcoming place. as with all the other outlets there in Dempsey road, it’s surrounded by nice foliage and is a little focus of tranquility just next to busy shopping belt.

I wasn’t very particular, so I ordered their special for the day, which was their chicken pie.

Chicken Pie from PS Cafe

The pie looked pretty good, as did the mashed potatoes, but I was to be sorely disappointed. First off, the chicken was overcooked, and was absolutely tasteless. Secondly, the mashed potatoes weren’t smooth and like the chicken, was bland. I can’t imagine how cooking chicken could have turned out so horrendously wrong for such an eatery. And I was even more shocked when the bill came up to $27 (excluding tax) when 2 of us saw that the price listed was $23.95.

Maybe it was just my dish, since the others who ordered things like fish and chips finished off their plates fairly easily, but I felt very let down. It appears that their desserts are better, but I wasn’t in the mood to try. At least the ambiance was pleasing, and the restrooms were prettily decorated.

You can find PS Cafe at:

28B Harding Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)

Tou Hua at Rochor Original Beancurd

In the evening, I went for a friend’s concert at the SMU Arts and Cultural Centre, and after that she brought me to one of the SMU students’ favourite haunts. This must be one of the few places in Singapore where you can eat in an alleyway, so it was a novel experience. I tried to take a photo of the alley but as you can see from the photo of the tou hua above, I haven’t yet mastered skill of photographing in low light areas. Heh.

The dessert was very smooth and light, though I would have preferred it to be a little sweeter. Not bad at all. It’s quite a popular place for their other desserts like grass jelly, you tiao and egg tarts, and has a constant stream of customers. If you’re driving you might need to park a little further down past the church because there seems to be a bit of a jostle for car space outside the shop.

You can find Rochor Original Beancurd at:

2 Short Street

Tom Yam Seafood with Tang Hoon from Thai Accent

At the recommendation of a friend, a few of us headed to Vivocity’s Thai Accent for dinner on the last day of O&G. I tried the Tom Yam because I was sorely deprived of what I like to call “kick food”, ie food that gives you the kicks. And disappointed I was not. Fragrant and spicy and filling, this dish really satisfied.

Another dish worth sampling is the chicken in pandan leaves. Very simple dish, and can be eaten with rice if you like, but it was well done. The pandan flavour made the chicken even more fragrant than it already was. I can’t remember the price now, but both dishes were under S$15.

Ambiance was excellent, with brightly coloured murals on the walls and a great view of the harbour and Sentosa outside. Service was commendable, and it should be since we were charged for our plain water. To make it worth the 25c or so, they constantly refilled our glasses. The prices overall are slightly higher than those of Thai Express in keeping with the location, but I’d say it’s worth a try.

You can find Thai Accent at:

1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-145/146 VivoCity

Swordfish Collar from Fish and Co
Went to the Dhoby Ghaut outlet for caregroup Christmas Party. Our group of 12 were ushered into a little corner room on the second floor, which was simply cozy. Only problem was that the door was hard to open, and we had a bit of trouble trying to get the attention of the waiters outside.

But no worries. Our orders were taken, and the food served up. Had no idea they had such a dish as swordfish collar, and how good it was. They give you these 2 pieces of…thing that look like steak covered with bread crumbs, and it’s actually the fish! You scrape off the meat from the bone and cartilage, and dip into the sauce they provide.

It wasn’t like, spectacular, on my ratings (I always prefer steamed fish over the fried ones) but it was good – tasty and succulent. Thing is, it’s a humongous portion served with rice or fries, so it might be better to get someone to share this dish with you. It cost S$16.90 so it’s really worth it!

Sobaworld

Headed to Shimbashi Soba to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Had never been there before but I’m glad it turned out well. We were told that lunch hour is very crowded, so we reached there before noon and got a table for 5 easily. Choosing the soba was difficult, because everything’s a soba here if you know what I mean, and everything looked so appetizing. Finally settled for the Chef’s recommendation for warm soba, which comes with duck, mushrooms and bean cake (tao pok) in a broth.

I was completely blown away by my meal! The broth was absolutely delicious, although it was bit salty. I’m usually adverse to salty foods, but this was different. I’m not sure if it’s the duck or the mushrooms or some other ingredient, but it was fantastic. Soba was fresh and fragrant.

The ambiance wasn’t too bad – cozy enough for our little gathering in the midst of patho mugging. Service was excellent, with the friendly waiters who appeared passionate about the food they served. Only grievance I had was that they served the plates before the birthday cake. Argh! That was meant to be a surprise and it was spoiled because the waitress just started distributing the plates and forks. Sigh. Oh well. At least the cake from Breadtalk was nice!

My dish (can’t recall the Japanese name, but it’s first on the list of Chef’s Recommendations and the only warm soba) cost S$19.80. A bit steep for soba, but I’d say, worth every penny.

You can find Shimbashi Soba at:

290 Orchard Road
#B1-41 The Paragon

Les entrees

Half dozen baked Burgundy snails with tomato and garlic butter

Ever since I tasted my first escargot on my birthday, I think I’ve overcome my fear of weird foods. This version is pretty tasty on the whole.

Les Plats

Red wine braised beef cheeks, carrots, mushroom and parsley potatoes

This is excellent, and I would recommend it. It’s soft and tender and tasty – everything a braised beef should be. The flavour is controlled and the dish is very…clean, not something that, you know, anyone would slobber up. The sauce was excellent too.

Les Desserts

Dark Valrhona chocolate mousse 66% with fresh passion fruit sauce

Plus an ice cream of course. Ice cream was great, but the mousse even better.

Altogether the meal cost me $33 (the red wine braised beef costs $3 more). I would say that it was rather worth it, especially given the service and ambiance. One of our party had to rush off early, and they were accommodating and able to accede to her requests of rushing her orders. Their coffee is particularly potent though – I’m still feeling the effects more than 10 hours after consuming it!

On the whole it was a pleasant experience dining at the restaurant. I wasn’t bowled over but you know, it’s the sort of place that I wouldn’t mind coming back from time to time, if only to spend a lazy afternoon out. Heh.

You can find Au Petit Salut at:

40C Harding Road (Minden Cluster)

For reservations call 6475-1976.

serves 2

200g udon

100g pork fillet

3 tablespoon of ponyu sauce (equal amounts of lime juice and soy sauce)

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon of honey

1 chilli pade, deseeded and minced

1 stalk chinese celery for garnishing

Steps:

1. Season the pork fillet.

2 Prepare the ponyu sauce.

3. Put the udon noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and leave.

4. Stir fry the pork fillet until desired.

5. Mix udon, pork fillet, ponyu sauce, chilli and chinese celery. Serve.

My experience:

This is an easy to prepare dish, just like the cookbook said. How you prepare the pork fillet will determine how good the dish will taste though. I’m not very good with meat yet, so it tasted kinda bland. At least the dish went down quite well. Heh.

serves 4

fish stock:

200g of fish scraps (bones, meat, anything)

1 medium-sized carrot, sliced

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks of spring onion

2 stalks of chinese celery

seafood marinade:

100g squid

100g prawns

200g fish fillet

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 chilli padi, deseeded and sliced

for the soup:

3 stalks of lemongrass, just the lower part and remove the outer layers

1 tomato, sliced into wedges

4 slices of pineapple from a can, cubed

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

100g bean sprouts

garnishing:

1 baby cucumber, cut into sticks

chinese celery

spring onion

Steps:

1. Put the ingredients of the fish stock into a pot and add about 6 bowls of water. Bring to a boil then let it simmer for 45 minutes. Leave to cool and remove the oil.

2. Combine ingredients of the marinade and mix well with the seafood. Leave for 30 minutes.

3. Stir fry the onion and lemongrass till fragrant, before adding them to the soup.

4. Add the tomato, pineapple, lime juice, sugar and salt to the soup and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute.

5. Add the seafood and simmer for another 3 minutes, then put in the bean sprouts. Remove from heat.

6. Garnish.

My experience:

This must be one of the more complicated dishes I’ve tried so far, but the results are fulfilling! It’s 4 hours after dinner and I can still feel the effects of it. Heh. I’ll probably try it again after O&G. A warning though: deshelling the prawns and waiting for the fish stock to cool takes time – altogether I took more than 2 hours from start to end.

The dish is called Canh Chua Tom in Vietnamese, in case anyone was wondering. And I must apologise for the lousy photos – my photography skills are worse than my cooking skills, and I’ve to admit the pic was saved by the Auto Smart Fix function on Photoshop. Heh.

If you want a better close up but less appetising shot of the soup, here it is (I did warn you!):

serves 4

1/2 medium sized carrot

1/2 medium sized cucumber

dressing:

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 rice vinegar

steps:

1. Cut cucumber and carrot into small strips.

2. Mix the ingredients of the dressing and ensure that sugar is dissolved.

3. Add dressing to the cucumber and carrot and mix well.

4. Leave for 30 mins, tossing 1-2 times.

5. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge.

my experience:

A pretty simple dish, which goes well with rice. Original recipe has it using radish, but I substituted it with cucumber.

serves 1

125g Hokkien noodles

vegetable topping:

20g snow peas

20g bean sprouts

1 spring onion, chopped

2 sprigs of chinese celery, chopped

sauce:

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger

1 chilli padi, deseeded and finely chopped

1/2 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce

sesame oil

Steps:

1 Soak the noodles in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and place in a bowl. Blanch the snow peas for 15 seconds.

2. Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of water.

3. Heat oil in the sauce pan and cook the garlic, ginger, chilli, sesame oil for 30 seconds.

4. Add the bowl of sauce and cook for 1 minute.

5. Combine the noodles, goose, sauce and veggie topping. Serve hot.

my experience:

The original recipe was for a crispy roasted duck, but you can be lazy creative and use any sort of meat. The goose was from Hongkong and given by my grandmother. Haha.

To suit the serving size, I had to change the amount of honey and soy sauce, and used 1 tablespoon of honey to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and the noodle turned out too sweet. So use more soy sauce!

Fish In Vegetable Roll

serves 4

6 lettuce leaves, sliced into 2, discard the central vein stalk

300g of white fillet, cubed

marinade:

1 stalk of lemongrass, only the lower part and inner portions, sliced

1 chilli padi, deseeded, minced

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of lime juice

1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons of oil

Steps:

1. Mix the marinade well, and place fish cubes in, ensuring that they are well coated. Leave for 30 minutes.

2. Place a cube each into the half-leaf and roll it up. Repeat till you get 12 rolls.

3. Steam for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

my experience:

This is an altered recipe. The original has it done with banana leaves, where you have the option of grilling and would definitely make it look more appetizing than my oversized brussel sprouts rolls! Be sure too not to over cook the fish.