Coffee Lounge @Goodwood Park Hotel

Hello everyone (:

First and foremost, happy deepavali! (: I'm sure everyone's feeling more cheerful this weekend because of the festive celebrations! I happened to go by Little India yesterday and it was nicely done up! Oh, the Istana was opened today as well but we decided to give it a miss since we went there not too long ago. I love festivals and celebrations because everything seems cheerier somehow (:

Yesterday, I met my very helpful friend, Paul, in the morning because he was supposed to teach me how to edit a video! =) In return for his kind favour, I treated him to high tea at Coffee Lounge! Initially, I wanted to go to L'espresso because I enjoyed my previous visit there but Jeffrey (the blur pok) didn't realise that there were two restaurants (Coffee Lounge & L'espresso) serving high tea so he made a reservation for Coffee Lounge instead. I was pretty upset when I realised that he made the wrong reservation because my siblings told me that the food at Coffee Lounge was "okay only" but since L'espresso was fully booked that afternoon, we'd no choice but to go to Coffee Lounge. Thankfully, Coffee Lounge didn't turn out to be a disappointment! (: I was pretty happy with their relatively small spread of Asian/ local dishes and I really love the homely and laidback ambience of that place.
I thought the ceiling looked rather nice (: The restaurant's two predominant colours are brown and beige and they help to create the inviting, homely atmosphere that I was talking about.

The table setting is neat and presentable (: I liked that the table size was just nice.

Cutlery on a black table mat. I wasn't sure how clean this mat was so I didn't rest my utensils on the mat.
Salt & pepper shakers and glasses of iced water. Because Paul is an avid tea drinker, he used quite a few packets of sugar! I was pretty amazed at his ability to take in so many cups of tea!

Fruit salad with some kind of rojaky sweet sauce and cheechongfun with sweet sauce. The cheechongfun was fantastic (:

Fried chicken wings, cheechongfun & gluttinous rice. The gluttinous rice wasn't as fragrant as I hoped it to be but it was still pretty okay.

Crab and prawn dumplings, kueh pie tee and chwee kueh. I liked the kueh pie tee filling, probably because it was made entirely of vegetables (carrots and raddish if I'm not wrong?).

I like making kueh pie tees (though I know that I'm not really good at it because I don't know which toppings to put) so I made an entire plate for us to share.

I scooped a whole bowl of cheechongfun for myself! =) I think my long hiatus from cheechongfun caused my sudden and intense attraction to it.

A plateful of goodness: cheechongfun, fried spring rolls, chicken & prawn dumplings and crabmeat & prawn dumplings.

Fried chicken wings/ drumlets, fried spring rolls and cheechongfun.

Laksa! (: It was so good that I'd two bowls of it! Yumyum.

Roti prata with curry and chicken prawn dumplings. There was curry chicken but no one was really in the mood for spicy stuff so we gave it a miss.

Gluttinous rice, prawn & chicken dumpling, vegetable salad and banana paste! The banana paste is actually a dessert dish but I took a small helping to try the taste. If you're a yam paste lover, you'll most likely like this dish! (:

Folded roti prata, more dimsums and a fried chicken wing.

As you can see, the items (cheechongfun, fried spring rolls, dimsum, gluttinous rice) are always being repeated so you know that there isn't much variety. Thankfully, the quality made up for the lack of variety so we're good (:

We decided to get a cup of coffee after a while. Coffee and tea are included in the high tea buffet so you can have free flow of coffee and/ or tea!

Bread & butter pudding. It was pretty average on the whole. I think the ultra thick vanilla sauce helped to mask the relatively unimpressive bread & butterpudding.

If there's one thing I didn't really like about this high tea buffet, it's the range of desserts available. They didn't even look appetizing! =S

Thankfully, they'd alternative desserts such as mango pomelo! =) It was refreshing and nice. It could've been a bit colder though.

Chocolate ice-cream with chocolate flakes. This was probably the best chocolate icecream that I've tasted in a buffet setting. The texture of the icecream was pretty consistent and it had a very rich, non-airy taste. The chocolate flakes reminded me of Movenpick's chocolate icecream =) I really like it!

Alright that's all for now (: Hope that everyone will enjoy the long weekend! =)

The Square @Novotel Clarke Quay

Hello (:

Life's getting a lot busier and there's quite a bit of adjustment to get used to so I may not have the time and energy to update this space though I would love to do so. Anyway, I'm thankful that Monday & Tuesday have gone by because they were ultra tiring days =( Now that I've a bit of free time on my hands, I shall blog about our Singaporean buffet lunch at The Square!

Jeffrey and I went to The Square to try their Singaporean buffet last Saturday and it was pretty good! I suspect that my buffet experience there was much better than expected because there weren't many meat dishes and so I'd a wider variety of food items to choose from. Jeffrey thought that the buffet was "okay" so I guess it isn't fantastic but it's above average in terms of quality, service and price.

The restaurant wasn't crowded when we arrived so we could take our time to walk around and choose our dishes. However, the food area was invaded by many hungry post-wedding/ post-engagement celebrators about fifteen minutes after we arrived! Thankfully, their occupation at the food area was temporary and other patrons like us could continue having our rounds of food without squeezing with them.

One interesting thing about their table setting is that they provide metal chopsticks! How korean.

One of the few buffets with free flow of fruit punch (left), homemade ice lemon tea (right) and tea/ coffee from the machine (not pictured).

Their broccoli soup was WONDERFUL. In my opinion, it is probably the best thing to have at The Square. I liked it so much that I drank two full bowls of broccoli soup! Yumyum.

Sushi Platter. Although the sushi range was relatively wide, the quality wasn't up to standard and hence we didn't eat as many sushis as we would like.

Croissant with sausage, mayo & alphapha! One thing I liked about this buffet is that they've a sandwich corner! (: I love sandwiches and I couldn't help but try most of the appetizers/ canapes/ sandwiches on display.

The wonderful assortment of canapes/ appetizers that I tried (there were more!) (from left): Sweet potato salad, prawn & egg on some kind of toast, smoked salmon & olives on spoon & greek salad.
Jeffrey wasn't too impressed with the sandwich/ appetizer bar so he went for crab claws, satay and fried dumplings instead! He said that the crab claws were nice =) They remind me of those that can be found at Old Chang Kee.

Codfish Chawanmushi, Mushroom & Ham Pizza & Soon Kueh. The soonkueh was a disappointment but the other two were not bad.

Some lettuce, sushi and fried rice. We thought that the fried rice tasted a bit too dry but there were lots of condiments so I guess that kind of made up a little for the dryness.

More fried rice, sushi, chicken, satay and pizza. Jeffrey said that the chicken satay was quite good! He didn't try mutton satay because he doesn't like them.

Laksa! =) What's a Singaporean/ Asian buffet without laksa? The laksa gravy was actually pretty good. I was expecting it to be watery and bland but it surpassed my expectations.

Chicken rice! (: I can't believe that Jeffrey didn't see the chicken rice on display! haha He said it tasted "okay only".

Cream-based pasta with mushrooms. As you can probably tell from the photo, this bowl of pasta didn't taste good at all =( We could hardly taste the cream sauce and there was neither fragrance nor taste.
Bread & butter pudding. The vanilla sauce was a massive failure because it was way too runny! The bread & butter pudding was below average as well because the bread was a tad too soggy and it didn't carry the usual bread & butter pudding aroma =S

Thankfully, the durian pengyet was pretty good! I'd two bowls of it! =) As usual, Jeffrey avoided this.

A plateful of desserts. We only picked the more 'exotic' looking ones because we decided to give the usual desserts a miss. The white ball on the top left hand corner of the plate had some kind of gummy as its core; it tasted really weird and we didn't like it. The three types of cake: carrot, tiramisu and white-cum-milk-chocolate were good. The same cannot be said for the overly hard chocolate block (at the top of the photo) because we'd such a hard time trying to eat that dry and hard piece of dessert.

Finally, I couldn't resist ordering a waffle from the waffle counter! You'll get a plain waffle and you can add whatever toppings you wanted! =) Amazing. Initially, I wanted to have a scoop of icecream with the waffle but the choices of icecream didn't look too good so in the end, I added maple syrup and chocolate sauce (the latter was way too runny) instead. The waffle was a tad too hard but other than that, it was okay (:

All in all, the buffet was pretty alright. There were obvious misses such as the bread & butter pudding but I liked the fact that there were other kinds of food (i.e. sandwich/ appetizer bar). The buffet costs $30+/person but you can get certain discounts if you pay using certain credit cards.

Alright that's all for now! (: Will blog again soon. Have a great week ahead!

Barracks Cafe

Hello! (: I'm thankful that it's finally Friday because this means that I won't have to cover long distances to get to and back from school for the next two days! Whee.


Anyway, if you're looking for a place to chill out and have a great meal this weekend, I'd recommend Barracks Cafe @Dempsey! Jeffrey and I have been there a few times and we always leave this place feeling well-fed and happy (:

We decided to visit House again last weekend for a relaxed lunch after doing some kind of community service in the morning.

As it was mid-autumn festival last Saturday, House was nicely decorated with many different kinds of paper lanterns! =) I especially liked how they chose suitable lanterns that did not compromise the feel of their restaurant.

Sweet Potato Nibblets ($7). I distinctly remembered enjoying this a lot during my previous visit so I made it a point to order it as a side dish. Unfortunately, Jeffrey isn't a big sweet potato fan so I ended up eating most of this yummy dish on my own! =S

Eggs Benedict ($15). I think I'm going through a breakfast-set phase which is why I ended up ordering eggs benedict! The main reason why I chose this set was because I wanted to see how eggs benedict looks like. I know it's quite a silly reason but I suddenly recalled the Julia Roberts character whipping up different kinds of eggs in Runaway Bride to decide which kind she likes so I thought I should try to expand my knowledge of how eggs look when they are cooked differently. Anyhow, this dish was pretty well put together although I would have preferred it if it were served when the eggs were warmer. My lukewarm eggs quickly began cold and I felt that it was quite a waste.

Fish & Chips ($27). Jeffrey decided to try their fish & chips that day and it was great that he did because their fish don't taste like 'normal' fish & chips. We can't decide whether it's nicer than usual fish & chips but we can safely say that their batter is unique. Somehow, the pieces of fish weren't as oily as some others that we've tasted so that's quite a winning factor. Their truffle fries are really yummy when served warm so please eat them while they're still warm! =)

Warm Chocolate Toffee Cake ($12). If you're a chocolate fan, you simply HAVE to order this. How can anyone resist soft chocolate sponge cake covered with a thick, luscious layer of chocolate? If there's only one dessert you can try at Barracks, it has got to be this!

I've decided to post some photos of the food that we tried at Barracks on our very first visit late last year so that you can see what is offered during lunch (& dinner).

One meter long sausage ($25). We ordered their famous one meter long sausage which had to be placed diagonally across the table! We were extremely intrigued at the length of the sausage and how it managed not to curl up (till the end) or break into smaller parts. The sausage tasted pretty nice so if you're a carnivorous person, do order this as your starter!

Some kind of angel hair pasta which has mysteriously disappeared from the menu. Either that or I can't seem to locate it. In any case, it was pretty alright, nothing fantastic so you aren't missing out much if this dish isn't offered anymore! (:

Squid Ink Paella ($28). The portion was huge! It's DEFINITELY enough to feed two people. Frankly speaking, I've never eaten any squid ink-ish stuff before this and I must say that I like the taste quite a bit =) Fortunately, our teeth weren't stained after eating the squid ink paella. Maybe I should give squid ink pasta a try the next time I visit an Italian restaurant (:

Old-fashioned American Sliders ($22). Admittedly, we were attracted to this dish because of its name. We were first introduced to the term "sliders" when we watched Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and since then, we told ourselves that we had to try those sliders if possible. In a way, the name of this dish won us over even before we considered what it actually was. Essentially, this dish consists of two yummy mini burgers, truffle fries & sweet potato fries. I don't recall it being fantastically good but it's worth your money (: Burger lovers should try this!

Mushroom Risotto ($24). I especially enjoyed this dish because it was extremely flavourful! It reminded me of the carrot cake served at Marmalade Pantry - it's basically risotto that is chokeful of peas, beans, mushrooms, tomato bits and other ingredients. There's literally a burst of flavour in each bite! A wonderful warm dish to savour (:

Strawberry shortcake ($9.50). As we were pretty full by the time we finished our main courses, we ordered desserts to share instead of having one each. The strawberry shortcake was listed as one of their top 4 dessert choices so we knew we'd to get it! It didn't taste like normal strawberry shortcakes as it wasn't as soft but the vanilla sauce more than made up for it! =)

Our self-created platter of desserts: Chocolate toffee cake, strawberry shortcake & vanilla icecream ($6.50). That was the most expensive scoop of icecream we've ever tried but we didn't regret ordering it because it was the first scoop of vanilla bean icecream that made me realise the importance of having black specks on vanilla icecream. Generally, if you see black specks on your vanilla icecream, it means that you're in luck because your vanilla icecream is going to taste nicer than usual! =) Needless to say, we finished all the vanilla icecream!

Alright, that's all I've to share with you today! (: Have a good and foodlicious weekend!

Easy Sunday Lunch

Hello (:

Since LPP and Gumtoo are away this weekend, we've to settle all our meals on our own! Initially, I wanted to go to some place which allows us to take a short stroll after eating but everywhere seems a tad too far. In the end, Jeffrey & I decided to go to O'Briens at Jelita for lunch since it's not that far away =)
If you're craving for sandwiches or wraps, O'briens is the place to go! It's a nice alternative to Subway though I think Subway sandwiches are more filling. If I'm not wrong, O'briens recently changed/ updated their menu so there's more range and variety now!

I opted for watercress & egg wrap (~$6.90), which actually isn't on the menu but I could still order it since they're pretty flexible. I fell in love with watercress & egg sandwiches when I first had them at Pret in June and I've been ordering it everytime I don't feel like having my usual tuna sandwich fix. The watercress & egg wrap at O'briens did not disappoint and it's definitely something I'd probably eat again and again.

Jeffrey opted for the Triple Decker Sandwich Set ($10.90), which consists of chicken bits, bacon & vegetables. His sandwiches were served warm so they were very yummy (: I especially like the toast-lines on the surface of his bread slices - I feel that they accentuate the aesthetic quality of the entire dish.

As there weren't many dessert options at O'briens, Jeffrey and I decided to pop by Ghim Moh Market for some "Chinese" desserts.

A bowl of soft silky beancurd ($0.60). I was astonished to find out that this relatively big bowl of beancurd costs less than a dollar! (: I think the most interesting thing about this bowl of beancurd is its syrup. Not only was the syrup browner than usual, it had a 'thicker' texture yet it wasn't overly sweet. The 'thicker' texture reminded me of diluted maple syrup. Definitely one of the nicer bowls of beancurd I've had.

A bowl of 4 ahballings in peanut soup ($1.50). Jeffrey has no prior knowledge of this dish so it was impossible trying to make him understand what ahballing is! I think he recognized the ahballings as "tang yuan"s, which is still fairly acceptable, except that they're NOT tangyuans (at least in my opinion)! I chose to have four ahballings with different fillings - redbean, yam, peanut and sesame - and since all of them look identical, I only found out which ahballing I was eating after biting into each wholesome ball of yummyness. =) I think I like the sesame filling most because it complements the peanut soup best but the others were tasty as well.

Anyway, LPP & Gumtoo are supposed to be home any time after dinner! Can't wait to see them though it's only been a few days (: Will update again soon! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening! =)

Cafe Hacienda

Apart from desserts, another course that I simply cannot resist is a big hearty breakfast set! I need not have a good breakfast set in the morning; I can have it at any time of the day and it'll still bring a megawatt smile to my face.

My idea of big hearty breakfast sets are usually those breakfast/ brunch sets that are usually served during weekends at chillax cafes such as Cafe Hacienda, which Jeffrey and I patronised last weekend.

I got really excited when I saw the words "all day breakfast"! =) I wonder whether their menu remains the same throughout the day or whether there's a day/ night menu.

I made a discovery during our lunch session at Cafe Hacienda: Jeffrey likes eating sugar straight from the sachet but he hardly does so because he thinks that it's unhealthy! I remember eating spoonfuls of sugar whenever hunger pangs hit me when I was young! =P Jeffrey eventually brought a sachet of raw sugar home but he didn't eat it (probably because the health-conscious side of him didn't allow him to do so).

Coaster! I think this coaster was taken from Hacienda Bar, which is located next to Hacienda Cafe. The bar was closed in the day but I guess it'll be opened at night.

Bolognaise Spaghetti ($20). I didn't think the portion size justified the price but Jeffrey insists that the quality made up for the smaller-than-expected serving size. He finished his spaghetti pretty quickly so I guess he really liked it a lot (either that or he was just hungrier than usual, heh).

The Ultimate Breakfast Set ($17). Frankly speaking, I was torn between a few choices but I eventually settled for this because I felt like having eggs on that day. My scrambled eggs were fantastic - they were warm, creamy and extremely flavourful. I loved every bite of it! =) The toast went very well with the eggs and the salad on the side gave a good contrast to the creamy eggy taste. Jeffrey and I were wondering why the sausage was greenish in colour but it tasted pretty good so I guess the colour doesn't matter that much eh?

Sticky Date Pudding with Vanilla Ice-cream ($10). We ended off our meal with this dessert and it proved to be a wise choice because it was much better than I'd expected. The pudding was denser than other sticky date puddings that I've tried and I suspect this is because the dates to pudding ration was higher than normal. I actually liked the strong date flavour and I think the vanilla bean icecream went impeccably well with it. A great dessert to try! =)

I'm thoroughly satisfied with my first visit to Cafe Hacienda and I'm sure I'll revisit this place soon. I can't wait to try the other yummy items on their menu! (: Oh by the way, if you're planning to go on a weekend, I'd suggest making a reservation because the cafe doesn't have a very large seating capacity and it was fullhouse when we went last weekend.

Alright, that's all for today! (: Take care!