Canele again

I went back to Canele again with another friend. I couldn't get the mushroom alfredo pasta out of my mind. This time, we shared everything so it was good. The cream of mushroom soup was good, similar to the one served at Ritz Carlton Greenhouse dinner buffet. Creamy and full of mushroom bits.
The chicken caesar was pretty ok. I didn't really like the eggy stuff. Maybe I prefer my egg to be really cooked. No pic of the mushroom alfredo pasta since I took it previously. That was still excellent. Not sickeningly creamy, just nice.
Dessert was chocolate royale as recommended by the server. It was my first chocolate dessert at Canele. It was delicious, with the crispy layer and mousse filling.
I still have yet to try the macaroon. Another time.

Aloy Thai

I waited for close to 20 minutes for these to be served. If I knew it would take that long, I would not have gone there for a quick lunch. It was not full house but there were people waiting for their food too. I noticed there were several Thai customers too, so the food must be of decent standards. The dishes were not overly pricey like some Thai restaurants here.
The basil chicken was ok. It was probably good in Singapore's standard, but after tasting a really yummilicious one from a street food vendor in Bangkok, this really paled. I still love the street food in Bangkok.
Tom Yum Seafood soup served in an earthern clay pot. The soup was pretty good and filled with pieces of prawns, squids and mushrooms. Spicy and sour. I liked that.

I went there again to "dabao" Pad Thai a couple of weeks later after my colleague told me I ordered the wrong thing :p Apparently the Pad Thai was the recommended dish. It was definately one of the better ones I had and at around $4-$5, it can be considered cheap. It took about 5 minutes wait for the dish.

Location

Aloy Thai

100 Beach Road

#01-39/40 Shaw Tower

Qi Ji Kopi or Teh?

I have been having coffee and tea from Qi Ji recently. Besides the affordable price at $1 per cup, the beverages were really superb. Kopi - full of creamy milky fullness. It has the rich coffee taste with a creamy aftertaste. I think it is the evaporated milk used or something? It is not too sweet either, just nice.
The tea is the same. Creamy tea with no hint of the bitter acidity aftertaste.

Starbucks is getting too expensive with my cup of caramel machiato ranging from $6 to $7. So I am restricting my Starbucks intake and having more Qi Ji coffee and tea instead :)

Qi Ji is also well known for its popiah. That was really nice. I like the nasi lemak and fried bee hoon too. The chili is fantastic. Having an outlet right at my office building means lunch/breakfast can be a once a week or more affair, especially when it rains.

For more information, visit Qi Ji

Fair Trade Cocoa

I love love love chocolate. That is my absolute weakness. It is so hard for me to say no to a chocolate dessert. There is something sublime about biting into a bar of chocolate, savoring the bittersweetness of the delectable morsel, allowing it to coat the tongue before melting into a state of bliss.

Then I read about Fair Trade Cocoa from Marye's blog. It was disturbing to know that the food I love so much, which is often touted as the food of God, and being so heavily commercialized during any occasions where people are encouraged to buy, may not be produced under the Fair Trade.

I have not done much research into this (job hazard - I tend to research my articles before writing, especially on something new to me) but from the articles I have read after googling it, it seemed that much awareness of it was brought into light in 2001-2002.

So what is Fair Trade?

The greatest producers of cocoa beans are in Africa and many times, the farmers are not given a fair price for the cocoa beans they produced and many children are working on the farms. Some children are sold by parents or kidnapped by unscrupulous people to the farm owners. They are kept in tiny rooms and made to work on the farms = slavery.

It seemed that the price of cocoa dropped drastically in 2000, making it really harder for farmers to get out from the cycle of debt (i.e. farmers borrowed money to farm cocoa, returns from the sale could barely feed them or get them out of the debt, and so the cycle continued for the next planting/harvesting season).

But in the latest report by Fair Trade, it looked like more consumers and retailers/manufacturers are stocking fair trade cocoa and the prices of cocoa have returned to a fairer price.

Here is a list of places where you can actually get Fair Trade Cocoa in the United States. I am glad to see that Ben & Jerry, Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Dunkin Donuts are some of the places where the cocoas are produced from Fair Trade certified farmers.

I still want to find out if Valrhona and other fine gourmet chocolates are doing that too. I am a chocolate snob and usually do not eat much of the chocolate bars produced by Hersheys, Cadbury and Nestle though I do try some of the special products as evidenced by my post :p

It is definitely hard for consumers to only buy Fair Trade Cocoa which are more expensive as dollars and cents make a big difference, especially in this current economic climate when inflation is at 6%-7% for Singapore. The food shortage crisis doesn't help matters either.

But at least now I know about this and could make better informed choices in future. That chocolate I consumed could be produced by children who are slaves. Fair Trade also applies to other produce like coffee beans, tea, sugar, rice, honey...

I am quite upset about the rice situation but that will be another blog post. This current food crisis really reminded me of the comms class I took "Communication and the Transfer of Technology". One book which still stuck in my mind and is close to my heart is 50 Years is Enough: The Case Against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund edited by Kevin Danaher. Do read it if you have the time or are interested in this.

I just googled and there is a 50 Years Is Enough website too. Do check it out.

Assorted Kit Kats

More Kit Kats of different flavors from Japan. (from left, cloockwise) The strawberry kit kat from Australia which sale will support the Breast Cancer Foundation, strawberry, tea, brazil nut (though it was translated as basil nut) and green tea kit kats from Japan.

A bit off the green tea kit kat. Milky white chocolate with green tea.

I think I am starting to appreciate living in Singapore with its easy availability of food stuff and candies from Asia (Japan, Korea, Thai...) and other parts of the world. Some supermarkets stock items from North America (mostly USA still), Australia, Europe, particularly French since Carrefour is here. So there are mini pavilions to indicate the various areas you can find your favorite products.

Golden Mile for Thai stuff.
Square 2 for Korean stuff.
Quite a number of places for Japanese stuff - The Central, old Liang Court (Meidi-ya), Isetan Scotts, Takashimaya and many more
Carrefour - European brands, particulary French
Candy Empire stocks candies and cookies from all over Europe and Australia, less on North American products
Jasons, Market Place under Cold Storage Group and some NTUC created pavilions to house products from America, Australia and Europe and Japan. Not as specialized but good enough when cravings kick in.
There is also a small shop somewhere in Little India which only sells Aussie products though I have not been there yet.
Then there is Espirito Santo which imports fresh meat from Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, plus other South American products and cheeses, antipastos, etc.

There are so many shops sprouting up in the last few years specializing in fresh produce or things. This is probably because there are many expats who live here and stay on, and it also help ease the settling in period for new foreigners. A little bit of home in a foreign land.

I know I was so happy to see Tide and Bounce being sold here when I moved back here :p

Sentosa - Tanjong Beach

I think it has been a few years since I last went to Sentosa (island south of Singapore which is now connected by a bridge "causeway" so people can actually drive in now instead of taking the ferry or cable cars). And usually when I go to Sentosa, I tend to visit some favorite attractions i.e. Images of Singapore (for the history and culture of Singapore), Underwater World (many varieties of underwater creatures to admire) and at times Fort Siloso (for military and history buffs) plus the Merlion (for a view of Singapore and to learn the legend of the Merlion which was actually dreamt up by the Singapore Tourism Board in the early 80s).
Driving towards Sentosa. Not many cars. It costs $2 per car and $2 per adults to enter Sentosa.
See the construction going on. I believe that was the old Ferry Terminal which was demolished a couple of years back to build the IR (Integrated Resort where the casino will be and Universal Studios too?)

Our destination: Tanjong Beach. This was actually my first time there after KM8 was up. Yes, it has been that many years since.
It really looked so tranquil and just great for chilling and tanning.
I have heard the sand for the beaches were imported from elsewhere so there was the powdery soft white sand. But errr....the sand that day was hardly that at all. It was coarse and not fine at all. Maybe that was due to the ban from Indonesia for Singapore to import sand from them now?
This shot of the coconut trees really reminded me of my annual vacation at Phuket.
My summer toe color! So yeah, I was there just to soak up the sun and read my book while my friend did her work :p It was a good afternoon especially since it didn't rain at all.

Aria Bistro @ Esplanade

We had a company lunch on Tuesday at Aria Bistro at the Esplanade. There was a promotion by Visa then so it was good timing. 1 for 1 set lunch with payment by Visa.

The menu has 2 choices for starter, main and dessert for $35++. The promotion is until end of May 2008.

Starters:
Poached Apsaragus mesclun salad, parmigiano foam or
Forest Mushroom Broth with truffle oil

Mains:
Breaded Dory Fillet with sauté provencale vegetable or
120 Days Grain Fed Prime Striploin with herb butter sauce

Desserts:
Green Tea Cream Caramel with strawberry salsa, caramel sauce or
Profiterole mango sherbet, chocolate sauce

I had the soup, striploin and green tea cream caramel for my set.


Mushroom broth which is very rich in flavor. Very mushroomy but I think I am too used to cream mushroom soup that this reminded me of just drinking water soaked with mushroom though definitely much better taste :p
Chock-ful of mushrooms. Ritz Carlton mushroom soup is definitely so much better.

I love the bread! This is the first time I actually like the bread served. Fresh butter with warm freshly baked bread is simply heaven.
I actually had 3 pieces of bread. The crust is crispy and the inside is just so warm and soft and fluffy like pillow. So yummilicious!
The dory which my 2 colleagues ordered. They said it was very good and so much fresher and tastier than other dory they tried elsewhere. It certainly looked delicious.
My striploin. The actual looked so much better than this pic. The picture didn't do it justice. It was not so pale :p The herb butter went very well with the bread too. Hehe. The meat was juicy and full of flavor. GM's comment was that it grew on you with subsequent bites.
The profiterole which my GM commented was really good, especially the mango.
The green tea cream caramel. I certainly didn't expect it to be served in a glass :p
It looked like avocado. Hehe. The cream caramel was not super sweet and the tart strawberry went very nicely with the green tea.

I would like to go back to Aria again for the regular menu. Too bad the Wagyu beef cheek is no longer on the menu. Apparently that was really the highlight.

Location:
Aria Bistro
8 Raffles Avenue, Esplanade Mall
#01-09 Singapore 0398002
6334 6166

Hoshigaoka Ramen Set

I find that whenever I feel like having Japanese food when at Isetan Scotts area, I will invariably go to Hoshigaoka. It is not that fantastic but it does serve decent Japanese food. Tonkichi probably has better quality but I am not that big on fried food or pork dishes :p

Hoshigaoka usually has promotions depending on the season and this time the highlight is on ramen. I decided on the miso ramen set which comes with 3 pieces of california roll and salad. I quite like the ramen largely because of the seasame seeds. Somehow it imparted a fragrance to the noodle and soup, giving a umami satisfaction. The california rolls could be better and the salad was usual.

This is definitely a simple yet filling meal. I am still waiting for the promotion which has the hot pot soup thing. Can't remember if the promotion was for Spring or Autumn.

Marble Pocky

More Japanese snacks. I chanced upon these Pocky while at Isetan Supermarket. The white marbled pocky stick was actually Rum & Raisin flavor while the milk chocolate marbled pocky stick was caramel chocolate.

I love Pocky, especially the dark chocolate for men. These marbled pocky were good too. You could really taste the rum in the rum & raisin pocky stick.

Blueberry Bagel with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

Do you go through phases on what you like to eat? I do. Right now I am into bagels though I have it like once a week or every 2 weeks. For a period, I stopped having bagel as it was too heavy. It is not that easy to find good Western food in Singapore or at least those I am used to. So far I always bought my bagel fix from Starbucks (toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese) when I was there for my coffee fix (caramel machiato).

So the other day, I was hungry and bought bagels (blueberry and cinnamon raisin) from the supermarket. The sign said "Bagel from New York - Baked fresh everyday". Then I decided to buy chives cream cheese and smoked salmon. There, a proper meal which I can make at home.

My home made bagel. Looked awful but tasted good. I like the smoked salmon. I usually avoid smoked salmon after a few bad experiences where the salmon was so salty. But this was just nice. And of course the cream cheese went very well with the smoked salmon :)

Yummy breakfast.

J.Co Donuts Again

I bought 3 donuts from J.Co last Friday after work. I actually wanted to get donuts from Donut Factory but the line was too long. J.Co was shorter, so the line with the least people won my business :p I guess I have to hop over to Suntec for Donut Factory donuts in future since I hardly see anyone there now, especially around 2+pm.

I ordered the Coco Loco, Oreology and Berry Something. These were much better than the first 3 which I tried. Coco Loco was drenched with dark chocolate inside and out which satisfied the chocolate craving.

Oreology was topped with crushed oreo cookies and it was not bad. My mom liked it best as it was not too sweet.

The Berry Something donut was actually strawberry (I think). The berried cream within the donut was not too sweet and was a bit tart which was pretty nice too.

Donut quota hit for the month now :p

Canelé @ Raffles City

Raffles City Shopping Centre basement has undergone tremendous change. Right in the middle where MIX used to be is now Canelé. Canelé has certainly expanded from its first shop at Robertson Walk, then to Paragon and now Raffles City. We decided to have dinner there for SC's birthday dinner. I like how they have 2 types of seatings - proper table and chairs on one side for those who prefer that to dine, and sofa-like armchairs with smaller table for those who want to chill and just have desserts.

This was my first time dining at Canelé at Raffles City. Before that I have tried the desserts over at the outlet at Robertson Walk and the sweets were awesome!

I ordered the seafood marinara pasta which was really good. The seafood and pasta were not overcooked and look at the huge juicy piece of scallop. It was slightly spicy with the chili tomato sauce with a bit of wine (though I can hardly taste the wine at all). The portion looked small but it was sufficient to fill the tummy, so it was just right. Plus it left some space for dessert too :p
SC ordered the mushroom alfredo, which sounded boring on the menu. Onions and mushroom cream sauce with aged parmesan cheese. But when it arrived, the aroma of the cheese just blew me away. It smelled so good that it just excited the tastebuds. Initially I thought the cheese was Emmental as that tend to have a stronger taste and aroma for me. I tried a little and it was as good as it smell. SC said it was really nice as it was not too "jelak" as most cream sauce tend to be. I would want to order that next time :)

I got to choose our desserts and it was so hard to select just two with the huge selection available. All of the cakes looked so good! The macarons too. I was no longer tempted by the meringues since I tried that previously.
I decided on the Mont Blanc as I have heard raves for it and how it was always snapped up by the Japanese. True enough, only 2 pieces were left when I went to check out the dessert counter even before our main courses arrived :p I ordered that immediately to be served after the pasta. It was nice. It was filled with chestnut paste. Very different from my usual chocolate selection.

But after reading the book "Remember Me" by Sophie Kinsella where Mont Blanc was mentioned, I will always have a different image in my mind when I hear "Mont Blanc" ;p

The other dessert was this rose infused cake. I can't remember the actual name now but it was rose infused with raspberry sauce in the center. This was really nice too. It was not too sweet and the tartness of the raspberry sauce contrasted wonderfully. You could really taste and smell the rose.

The cakes were simply perfect with the specialty teas we ordered. I had Sweet Meadows which was camomile with lemon myrtle. I think I need to try the chocolate desserts next time. There are so many which looked so tempting.

For more information, visit Canelé

Cupcakes from Da Paolo Gastronomia

I was at Paragon over the weekend and decided to pop into Da Paolo Gastronomia. My friend raved about the scones and wanted to get some. Unfortunately they were out of scones when we got there around 9pm. Yeah, we were late :p Many things were gone and I managed to get these 2 cupcakes.
Fudgey cupcake. This was good. I liked the cripsy edges and the rich taste of chocolate. It was not too sweet too. I always wonder how bakers managed to get the nice crispy edge over the "body".
I call this chocolate cupcake as I forgot the actual name. This looked better than it tasted. It was a bit flour-y to me and quite tasteless. But bascially the 2 cupcakes were more like muffins. I have yet to taste a cupcake in Singapore which is amazingly light. The best cupcake I had so far was from New York Cupcakes in Seattle. That was totally awesome!

Sun with Moon Dining

I like Sun with Moon Dining cafe and restaurant at Wheelock Place. I was there over the weekend for a late lunch and realized it was a different menu. It was smaller with less items available. This was the first time I went there for lunch. I much prefer the dinner menu as it has more ala carte items. Lunch has more sets and more mini bamboo rice dishes. I ordered the saba (mackeral) set which came with grilled saba, fried chicken, rice, miso soup and fresh fruits and coffee/tea.
The fried chicken was crispy and the meat was pretty tender. I liked it.
The saba was amazingly sweet. The flesh was not dry and the sides were crispy too. I felt I could eat the entire thing.
The miso soup was equally good with seafood, tofu and mushrooms. It would be perfect if there were small little clams in there too.

It was a very satisfying meal in all. Reservations definitely recommended, especially for dinner. It was always filled to the gills.

Location

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining & Café

501 Orchard Road #03-15/16/17

Wheelock Place Singapore 238880

Tel: (65) 6733 6636

Cereal Box? Post Box?

I never realized there are so many cutesy things doubling up as art in Singapore until recently. I am certainly venturing out from my comfort zone or usual hangout now and seeing much more. I was searching for a postbox the other day and instead of the usual plain white box, I saw this - a postbox masquerading as a cereal box. How innovative :D
The Recipe for a great nation :) Click on the pictures to enlarge and read the words.



I believe this was a competition held by SingPost where some postboxes were designed and people will vote for their favorite design. Another similar competition was held previously for the city garbage cans to encourage people to recycle or throw refuse into the bins.

Kim's Hokkien Mee

I have been eyeing Kim's Hokkien Mee for the longest time since I realized there is one near my workplace. Plus I have read so much about it though it seemed like the standard was no longer as good as before.
And sad to say, the reviews were true. The noodles were not that great. I still prefer the Hokkien Mee at Glutton Bay at the Esplanade. Something was missing from Kim's. It could be the lack of lard or something. It was not fragrant and was a bit tasteless. Even the chili was not fantastic. The portion was a generous size for $4. Just too bad it was not something you want to keep eating. I could not finish it at all, only had about 1/2 or 2/3 of it.