Sunset Grill & Pub

This entry is dedicated to E.

I've known E for merely two years. If I remember correctly, I've not gone out with her alone more than twice. They say, it doesn't take a food connoisseur to tell if the food is good. Likewise, it doesn't take a decade to find out E is a nice girl.

She's helpful, kind, caring, sincere, friendly, trustworthy, responsible and the list goes on. One thing all her friends will have to agree is that she is very good at organising.

Lately, I got to discover this really cool dining place and other interesting shooting locations all thanks to her. Sunset Grill & Pub is located at Singapore Flying Club, overlooking a beautiful sunset and, if you're lucky, private jets taking off or landing.





I was a tad disappointed to learn that Sunset Grill & Pub is opened by the owner of Jerry's BBQ & Grill. I'm not sure if Jerry's is related to Buckaroo BBQ & Grill but somehow I prefer the latter. No, I'm not about to start a debate who is better. After all, I love both their signature buffalo wings.

We skipped the main course and ordered a variety of appetisers to share.


Fried Button Mushrooms ($13.50)


Cheese Fries


Fried breaded calamari and prawns


Mussels in creamy olive oil sauce

The highlight got to be the highly acclaimed fiery buffalo wings with spiciness from level 1 to all the way to 30! If you're up for the challenge at level 30, your name will be on the hall of fame. Or rather hall of flame!



Try the wings last in case the spiciness numbs your tastebuds. For the chicken hearted, there's also the non-spicy version.

We started with half a dozen of at level 3($19.50). Tasty, tangy, spicy. Still enjoyable. For someone who can't take spiciness like E, that's her limit. KT thought it was no sweat and we doubled up to level 6 for the next half a dozen($21.00).

First bite, it was just as spicy as level 3. A few seconds later, the spiciness started to bit my tongue. I sipped a mouthful of ice cold beer to put out the fire but it only worsened the situation. After the beer went down my throat, my mouth started burning. I could however finished the whole thing without tearing. KT on the other hand, was screaming for water in between bites. *LOL* And poor KC felt miserable after finishing up his share.

I can't imagine how spicy level 10 is, let alone 30. O_O|||

After the burning sensation which left us with Angelina Jolie's lips, we had something sweet to neutralise our tastebuds.



Happy birthday, E. Hope you had a great time. :)

Sunset Grill & Pub is a nice and secluded laid-back place to chill out. I suppose many came here because of its rustic ambience. You may want to set off earlier as the area is quite a maze.






P/S: Thanks, E, KC&JT. It was a great trip. :)

Sunset Grill & Pub
Republic of Singapore Flying Club
140-B Piccadilly, Seletar Airbase,
East Camp
6482-0244
Opens daily from 4pm to 10pm

Sim Lim Square Food Court

Here's an entry on the soup dumplings(小笼包) at Sim Lim Square Food Court I promised to blog about earlier.

Whenever I step into SLSQ foodcourt, I'll head straight for the soup dumplings from Shanghai Delights(stall 14) and decide what else to have. Because it takes about 10 minutes for the dumplings to be served steaming hot.



I don't know about the number of folds but this is as good as it gets. Soup spilling out from the thin skin as I sunk my teeth into it. No porky taste or smell. Resting on a thin slice of carrot, this "basket" of eight soup dumplings costs only $6.00. Try them if you haven't. You'll be delighted!

I usually end up ordering Garlic Naan with Butter Chicken($6.50) from the stall next door, Indian & Pakistan(stall 15). I’d vouch for the fragrant naan and thick gravy anytime, unless I'm not fit to take spicy.

The naan is cooked in a huge ceramic furnace. Is there a name for it?



The crispy naan was flavoured with of minced garlic and butter and served hot from that huge furnace.



Tender chicken pieces were covered with sizzling curry and served on a hot plate. It wasn't exactly spicy and in fact a tad sweet, but somehow I didn't mind at all.



Perfect match.



Despite looking dry, the tandoori chicken was very tender and juicy.



Apart from roti prata, naan and dosay, I'm clueless about Indian food. I can't compare but I can tell you it satisfies me, anytime of the day.

Besides what I've recommended, the Parklane Abalone Minced Meat Noodles and popiah from Local Delights are very good too.

Sim Lim Square is not just about gadgets at bargain prices but good food too.


Sim Lim Square Food Court
1, Rochor Canal Road, Basement 1

jack 'n jill went up the hill

OK, I hear complaints.

I just noticed that I have only made 6 (including this) entries. February is short. OK, no excuse. But, but, I was really busy with other equally important things in my life. :)

How about some snacks to fill you up first?

I used to live in a block with a row of neighbourhood shops conveniently located on the ground floor. My sisters and I loved to visit this mama shop that sells a wide variety of tidbits. (The mama shop is still around!) Before Kettle Chips or Lays and Red Rock Deli, Jack 'n Jill was what made us happy. Our favourite got to be Salsa Chilli flavour.

Now that we are spoilt for choice, I hardly pick up another pack of Jack 'n Jill. Until a few weeks ago, while super-marketing, these attractive packaging caught my eyes. Fusion explosion! New flavours from Jack 'n Jill.



I grabbed all three. For I simply love to try out new and interesting flavours. My favourite is the Jalapeno and Cheez, followed by Mexicana Chilli and lastly Spicy D' Lime. The chips were overall mildly flavoured but pretty tasty.

Nothing earth-shattering really but it's always great to have more variety to choose from. Especially those that bring back good memories. Yes, I will purchase another pack of J 'n J again. In fact, I went NTUC today and was disappointed to find out that the Jalapeno n Cheez and Mexican Chilli were both sold out! :(

By the way, I also picked up a pack of salmon sushi(with wasabi) flavour potato chips. It came in a resealable bag with a bag of chips and a sachet of seasoning in it. You're supposed to empty everything in the resealable bag and shake it. Like McDonald's shaker fries. The chips were rough and K didn't like them. We still prefer Tai Sun's.



That's all for now. I'm going to dig into a bag of Calbee Pizza flavour chips.


Available at any good supermarket and convenience store.

Happy V Day

For all lovers out there.

We all know love is sweet.



Sometimes bitter.



Happy Valentine's Day!


P/S: I have to crop the unglam faces of S&L before they kill me! ;)


Obolo
452 Joo Chiat Road

Big O Cafe & Restaurant
501 Orchard Road
#02-04/05 Wheelock Place

join the queue

There's this notion that typical Singaporeans love to queue because of their "kia su"(afraid of losing) attitude. Be it freebies, food or hello kitties, the queue goes on and on and on.

For me, I simply love food more than queuing. Thankfully, there's man! I've always been fortunate to have them queuing for me willingly. :D IL was gentleman enough to offer standing in the line for Ah Lo's yam and carrot cake at Chinatown Market just to satisfy my curiosity.

The stall sells only yam cake, carrot cake and peanut porridge. While queuing, IL learnt from a friendly lady in front of him that the stall owners used to be very arrogant. They would not sell the peanut porridge alone. It was like a side. I think the old couple mellowed down with age over the years.



Twenty minutes of much anticipated wait later, it was finally his turn. IL got us a plate of yam cake and a plate of carrot cake($2.00 per plate) to share. The yam cake was sprinkled with sesame seeds and spring onions on top of the sweet sauce.



I was expecting to bite into bits of mushrooms, yam and shrimps but I could only taste the silky smooth spongy texture of the cakes. No, don't get me wrong. It didn't feel like biting into flour. This was Cantonese-style as I was told. The chilli sauce was very nice and complemented the plain looking cakes. You have to pay an extra $0.20 for more chilli sauce!

I prefer the carrot cake as no one beats the yam cake my sister's MIL made. Hokkien-style.

While we were eating, an uncle asked us if it was worth queuing. Yes, if you have the time.

Since we were already half-filled, we decided to look around the labyrinth of stalls for other good food. We spotted a queue in front of Heng Ji Chicken Rice stall.



The line wasn't as long and we decided to join in the queue. It didn't take too long to get to our turn. Around ten minutes.

The chicken was smooth and very tender.



The thing that was different was the chilli sauce. It wasn't the usual garlic chilli sauce with a hint of lime but something a tad sweet. I love chicken rice chilli and that was a letdown.



The rice was very fragrant but the serving was really small. I think any guy could have easily gobbled down three bowls at a go.



We had this mixed feelings about Heng Ji's chicken rice as we tucked in. It tasted like Yet Con's. After finishing our meal, we decided it wasn't bad. It just wasn't our plate of chicken rice.

In the end, we spent more than an hour queuing and eating which means we could have waited for the famous claypot chicken rice we wanted to have initially. But I'm glad I got to taste other good food I haven't tried before.

And I'm thankful for the great choices of food here that we Singaporeans get to queue for.

@IL: I didn't forget the super bitter chrysanthemum and luo han guo drink! :P


Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Blk 335 Smith Street

din tai fung

J is someone who has many friends yet she never fails to send me her blessings on my birthday and greetings every Christmas even when I never really remember hers. :P My bad.

J is my ex-colleague. She is easy-going, unpretentious, laid-back, adventurous and fun-loving. I only came to realize lately that she's as greedy as me. Very much a foodie herself, she follows foodblogs religiously and takes pictures of almost everything she eats with her trusty Canon Powershot(can't remember the model). No, she does not have a foodblog. I guess she's just inspired to be a food stylist/photographer so that she can finish up everything after the shoot. :P

I brought J to Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 for dinner when she came to visit on New Year's Day. A couple of years back when it first opened in Paragon, we usually had to wait for over an hour to get a table. No reservation! Now that there are many outlets around Singapore, we can easily savour the goodness of their specialty-soup dumplings( 小籠包 ). Many are familiar with the food at Din Tai Fung so I shall not go on describing how good they are. Some may argue that the soup dumplings at Crystal Jade's are better, I say Din Tai Fung is not famous around the world for no reason.







I've also tried Din Tai Fung at Taipei which a friend claimed to be better compared to Singapore's.



I'm glad to conclude that the standard of their food is consistent throughout the two countries and different branches in Singapore.



Besides the default soup dumplings, the other must-order dish is the Braised Beef Noodle Soup( 紅燒牛肉麵 ).



The noodles with broad bean sauce(酢醬麵) is one of Taiwan's favourites. Not sure if we were just hungry, it was pretty tasty.



The fried prawn fritter was something new on the menu. Wrapped in crispy beancurd skin, you can actually taste the sweetness of the succulent prawns without the excessive oil.



Speaking of soup dumplings, P and I used to patronise the foodcourt at Sim Lim Square for Shanghai xiao long bao whenever we were there to keep up with technology. They were good and affordable. That was before the birth of Din Tai Fung. And that was before everyone has become caught up with their personal lives.

Anyway, J promised to bring me to Dragon-i to try Malaysia's famous Shanghai soup dumplings the next time we meet up in KL. ;) I hope that won't take another year.

J, where's the picture of the soup dumpling you promised to contribute to my blog? I also figured that there's a Din Tai Fung at The Gardens in KL! Didn't you know that? :P Should have brought you somewhere else.


shot by J

开心点心

The dim sum at Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant (华南菜馆) may not be the best around but the dining experience is certainly delightful.



Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant sits along the same stretch of food stalls as the famous Roti Prata House along upper Thomson Road. Besides a variety of decent dim sum, they also serve Cantonese dishes. The place is not only filled with nostalgia and the fragrance of comfort food, love was in the air. Every dish was served with a smile. And it didn't stop there. As we were enjoying our food contentedly, the aunties and uncles were chatting and laughing away happily. It is heartwarming to know find such lighthearted working environment.



E also noticed a Chinese quotation that highlights the importance of happiness stuck on the retro tiled wall.







Anyway, here are some pictures of the nice food we had.



K loves the Lor Mai Kai(glutinous rice with chicken).



I thought the 纸包鸡(chicken wrapped in paper) was really good.







Sometimes it's really the overalll dining experience and not just the food itself that constitutes to a truly satisfying meal. Of course, having quality friends to share the food was just as important as the quality of the food.

Thank you, IL, E and K for the company!


Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant (华南菜馆)
244F Upper Thomson Road, Thomson Garden Estate
64533645
7am-11.30pm

旺来

Sorry for the absence. Chinese New Year has been really busy. No, I haven't been busy feasting but I was out of town for more than a week and missed my steamboat reunion. In fact, I even fell sick on the second day of CNY. But no worries, I'm in the pink of health now and had my yearly dosage of yusheng and abalone. :)

I'm no big fan of CNY goodies but this year I got my share of delicious homemade pineapple tarts in different shapes and sizes.

These are from a good friend, V. Melts-in-your-mouth pastry with moist filling made from honey rock sugar. $25 per box.



These are from my cousin, the one who taught me how to make bread. The pastry was buttery and fragrant. The pineapple filling was chewy and not too sweet.



These pineapple tarts from auntie S were crisp and had a slight milk powder flavour. The filling was similar to those by my cousin.



They all tasted really good and it depends on your preference. Let me know if you guys want to order next year. ;)

By the way, T gave me a box of my favourite shrimp rolls from home's favourite. Packed in nice tin, the skin of the shrimp rolls was a tad hard but filling was very spicy and tasty. (I can't stand those that are sweet!)

年年有余

祝你在这新的一年里，吃得饱，睡得好。




幸福饮茶
181 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh
#02-602 Singapore 310181
63631717