Over Easy

Merry Christmas! (:

It's relatively bright outside for a rainy and wet morning! Hopefully the rain will stop in the evening so that people who have to make their way to Christmas parties and other gatherings will have an easier time travelling! My sister's going to cook a storm tonight and we're all looking forward to a night of homecooked goodness as well as Running Man! (: Can't wait!

Anyway, I'm quite sure most of you are aware of the elephant parade that has been going on in Singapore for the past month or so. There are simply so many differently coloured elephants everywhere! (: On our trip to Over Easy earlier this month, we saw four nicely decorated elephants posing outside One Fullerton and we couldn't help but give into our touristy sides for once and snapped photos of/ with them.

Anyhow, we chose to have lunch at Over Easy because Jeffrey needed to meet up with a guy to sell one of his gadgets and we were glad that we got a chance to dine here because the food's pretty good! I always wanted to eat at Over Easy but never had the opportunity to because the timing was never right.

When I saw that they were offering their milkshakes for $12 each, I couldn't help but order one because I was interested to know what a $12 milkshake tasted like! So far, the two best milkshakes I've had are from Once Upon a Milkshake and Seah Street Deli and they both cost less than $12! Over Easy's malt milkshake, which was what we settled with in the end, wasn't as great as Seah Street Deli's because it was more milky, less thick and melted much faster than expected! I didn't think it was fantastic but it definitely wasn't bad. Not too bad for a milkshake fix but not something that I would order again in future because it's way too expensive!

That day, Matty and I decided to have a set lunch each while Jeffrey chose a main dish off their ala carte menu. Each set lunch costs $23 and it comes with a starter, a main dish and coffee/tea. Matty decided to go for:

 the duck confit salad for his starter (this was beautifully done!) and

steak frites for his mains (you've to top up $10 for this particular dish because steak costs more than the other mains if I'm not wrong, but the extra cost was worth it!).

I decided to have the

 soup of the day (tomato cream soup) for my starter, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and

eggs benedictine for my mains. I especially loved the thicker than usual toast instead of muffin base which came with the nicely poached eggs. I thought that the hollandaise sauce was creamy but it didn't have much taste that day. If you love eggs benedict and think that the portion size is usually too small, then this would be perfect for you! (:

Jeffrey had the Over Easy Burger ($20), which was generally well-received. Actually if you know Jeffrey, you'll realise that his expectations of and standards for food are shockingly low so most things taste nice to him (which also means he's not a very good judge of dishes but it's okay (: ). He said this was one of the better burgers that he has had so I am thinking this should be quite good!

We'll be back to savour more dishes and to take in the gorgeous view of the MBS area! (: Merry Christmas everyone and may you enjoy this festive season with your loved ones! (: Hohoho!

Selfish Gene Cafe

Hello! (:

I made a trip down to Selfish Gene Cafe with Matty this afternoon for a 'job interview'. It's a silly little story to do with coke and sprite dispenser-tubes but to cut to the chase, the 'job interview' turned out to be a pleasant and relaxed lunch with my most hardcore gamer friend!

We chose to dine at Selfish Gene Cafe because Selfish Gene is opened by Matty's good friend, Gene! (: I must say that I felt very comfortable at Selfish Gene Cafe because the interior decor is simple, clean but not bare and the atmosphere is relaxed and non-threatening. I like the simplicity and the serenity that this cafe offers and I do hope to go back again soon to try new food items! 

We started with two cappuccinos ($5 each) and it was warm and comforting (: I love the starshaped shortbread/ cookie that came along with my drink!

Matty had the Breakfast Plate ($15.80), which looked extremely appetizing! The toast was exceptionally good because it has crispy crusts yet the bread isn't too dry or hard! (: It's definitely a dish to look forward to after tumbling out of bed!

I chose to have the daily special, which was mushroom toast with thyme ($10.80). I loved the nicely tossed side salad that came along with my dish because the dressing was refreshing! The mushroom toast itself was pretty interesting because of the spread they used to coat the toast. If you've a big appetite like me, you may not feel full after this dish but it's okay because you can do what I did next, which is to order desserts to fill you up! (:

Selfish Gene Cafe serves a good range of desserts for those who desire something sweet to munch on. Today, we chose to have the

chocolate fondant ($5.80), which was alright but I felt that the chocolate sauce that was supposed to ooze out could have been more viscous,

lemon meringue tart ($5.80) which was, in my opinion, baked to perfection (loved it!) and

the banana cake with peanut butter sauce ($5.80). The banana cake tasted a little like the banana muffin from Cedele, which is fine with me since I like the muffins from Cedele! What made this dish stand out is the peanut butter sauce that was drizzled over the relatively moist banana cake. Fascinating combination but I'm glad it works! (:

Gene informend us that he had just gotten his chai tea leaves yesterday and offered to try to concoct chai tea latte for us (: The chai tea latte lacked the chai flavour but it's probably because the drink was prepared on such short notice. I'm sure they'll work on this and I hope to be able to drink their perfected chai tea latte in future! (:

On the whole, I'd a lovely afternoon at Selfish Gene Cafe! Thanks Matty for bringing me there and to all at Selfish Gene Cafe for the wonderful hospitality (:

Rakuzen

Hello!
I am back! (: It's been raining on & off since I woke up this morning and I think I understand what some people term "Singapore/ tropical rain" because rain in countries outside of SEA isn't like that (or at least I haven't seen it)!

Today I shall share some (blurry) photos of Japanese food that my family had at Rakuzen not too long ago. My sister decided to go to Rakuzen to celebrate her birthday so we happily trooped along (:

I think Rakuzen's menu is slightly similar to Sushi Tei's - especially the sushi pages! - but there are definitely more set meals to choose from!

We ordered a sushiya salad ($15) with sesame dressing to share and all of us liked it very much. I think it has to do with the dressing! I don't regret going with the waitress's suggestion despite my initial desire to try to the Rakuzen dressing.

Their dragon roll ($16) looks very much like Sushi Tei's but I think Sushi Tei's tastes nicer because the meat in the roll is usually served warm (: Kinda makes eating it nicer because it feels like the sushi has been freshly made, but that's just my own opinion. All dragon rolls are supposed to look alike hence the share the same name so I guess it boils down to personal preference as to which dragon roll is better tasting.

Sashimi mori ($68) was another dish that we ordered to share. My brother is in love with sashimi so we kind of ordered this specially for him (: I like the variety and it's good to have something for everyone!

If you want to get your money's worth when dining at Rakuzen, my advice is to go for their sets! (: If I'm not wrong, each set comes with

a side salad and

your main meal which in this case is a tempura and salmon set? It's called a Rokkaku Bento ($38) and it's good for two to share (on top of some side dish) if the two are small eaters! Sorry for the blurry shot!

If you want to play it safe, you can always go for the chicken terriyaki set ($21), which somehow never fails to disappoint.

If you are my brother who likes sushi and udon and want to have both in one seating, then you can go for the mini udon zen set ($19), which will probably fulfill what you want. As you can see from this photo, there are other side dishes like chawanmushi and diced watermelon for your dessert so it's quite a wholesome meal in that sense.

Unagi lovers will probably go for the unagi zen set ($25), which in my opinion is quite worth it because there's a little bowl of sashimi to accompany the set above too! The unagi was decent sized so you probably won't feel too hungry after eating this.

Beef lovers can go for the gyu. houba zen set ($16) which consists of slices of beef cooked on a leaf that is sitting atop some charcoal (: Think the portion for this set is pretty small so you can definitely finish it!

Of course, if you aren't a big eater and would like to have non-set dishes, you can always go for individual dishes such as the chicken katsu don ($14) or

the yasai ramen ($24). I think this is the most pricey bowl of vegetable ramen I've come across but in its defence, it IS a substantial bowl of ramen with lots of condiments and noodles! You are also allowed to choose your soup base so I guess it's not a bad deal. Definitely comfort food on a rainy and/ or cold day!

Okay that's all for today (: The last 12 days of the year is going to be jammed packed with festive meet-ups, cook outs and what not but I'm sure they'll be enjoyable and fun! Am looking forward to it! Enjoy the final stretch of 2011! (:

Meet Orangey (:

Since I'm on holiday and am unable to blog about food, let me introduce you to someone who never fails to bring a big smile to my face - ORANGEY! (:

I wish he were mine but he isn't. He belongs to my neighbour and he understands Mandarin! Love Orangey!

Original Sin

Hello again everyone! (:

Time passes way too quickly! I haven't been very on the ball with regard to doing prep work for next year because I've been spending most of my time on activities that take up the opposite ends of the social-spectrum. I've been alternating between meeting friends (which to me is a very social activity and a luxury since I don't get to do this much during term time) and being very antisocial by staying at home and catching up on tv drama series (Greys!) and other DVDs! (: My life now is nothing short of FANTASTIC and I wish time would slow down just a little for me to do all these things that I need to do before I brace myself for 2012.

This holiday, Jeffrey and I have been spending a bit of time with our new good friend (okay fine not so new to me) called Matt! (: He's my faraway neighbour and friend and he's an absolutely wonderful holiday companion because not only does he goes out to eat and walk about with us/ me, he also plays games and watch the gogglebox with me! =)

One of our very first meals as a wandering trio is a satisfying lunch at one of my all time favourite restaurants in Singapore - Original Sin.

If you don't already know, Original Sin is vegetarian-friendly and hence I am able to eat anything & everything on the menu! (: Whoopee! Be sure to check out their full length floor-to-ceiling chalkboard for their daily specials!

No meal to Original Sin is complete without the Mezze Platter for starters ($22). If you really like this a lot, you can choose to have it as a main (I think the main costs a bit more). The combination of warm pita bread with the three different dips, potato balls, olives and salad vegetables with vinaigrette sauce is almost a sure-win and I think it's a great dish to kick start any meal!

 I chose to have the 'daily special' - risotto with pumpkin, asparagus, rosemary & sage ($26) - and I ate every single morsel of it! I would strongly recommend this dish to all pumpkin lovers because the taste of pumpkin is strong. The portion size is just right for me so I think it should fill you up pretty fine (:

 Jeffrey had his Sicilian Pizza ($22) as usual. It has a thin crust and thin base so I don't think there's too much carbo/ dough. A person with an average to big appetite can polish this off on his/ her own (:

Matty decided to have the Vegetarian Lasagna ($26), which he commented tasted a tad like moussaka! It was well-received and I think I may order this in future (:

We decided to skip desserts that day and have coffee instead!

 Their cappuccino ($6) was above average and their

Macchiato ($5) was average as well. I guess coffee isn't the restaurant's main draw but it nevertheless is decent.

Needless to say, the three of us left Original Sin full and contented! (: We will be back! Have a great weekend everyone!

Tea Lounge

Hello everyone! (:

Festive December is here and I can't help but be affected by the joyous celebratory atmosphere all around (: I think the many social gatherings and meet-ups definitely accentuate this feeling of indulgence that I have been guilty of experiencing (possibly a tad too much) over the past few weeks! I suspect that life in December will probably continue to be like this - decadent, (recklessly) carefree and jolly (: I think such hedonism is pardonable (and to be welcomed!) if it means refuelling our batteries and getting our spirits ready for yet another new year ahead (: Afterall, this kind of life won't last forever even if we wish for it to be so! So let's enjoy this merry season and whatever it brings while it lasts!

To usher in the month of December, I went to Tea Lounge at The Regent's with Jo and Jeffrey to celebrate Jo's birthday in advance! (: Jo and I had previously been to The Tea Lounge for their weekday tea and we were blown away by the food and service so we told ourselves that we would definitely be back. This time, we decided to have their weekend tea ($48++/pax) by way of celebrating Jo's turning a year older and we were happy that our stellar impression of the restaurant still hasn't changed (:

Lots of silverware and English tea cups and hankerchiefs! (: I think Tea Lounge is possibly the only restaurant that can rival Goodwood Park's L'espresso in terms of quality of English high tea food and experience. For those who love L'espresso, you've to try Tea Lounge too!

Here are some photos of the savoury food that we'd that day. I think we absolutely adored the appetizers/ side dishes corner because the dishes were so well done! The 'mains' were not to be put down as well because everything, and I really mean every single dish, was at least above average tasting or better! Feast your eyes on the savouries:

Please do NOT miss the jam station! We almost missed this but thankfully our sharp eyes caught sight of a girl standing at the jam station and we decided to check it out! Lovely jams to go with their scones or crackers!

For those with a sweet tooth like me, you'll love their dessert spread:

Don't forget to try their famous souffle (ours was espresso souffle because it was the flavour of the day). I'm not a souffle lover but I could tell that this was more palateable than others which I've had! (:

A cup of coffee (you can choose whichever type you want) to end our meal (:

The three of us left Tea Lounge feeling extremely contented (: I think I shall make it a point to go back to Tea Lounge every now and then, and especially when I need a relatively quiet place to catch up with friend(s). Alright that's all for today (: Have a great weekend everyone! (: