Holland V's Tai Cheong

A friend, immensely surprised by the fact that till date I had not had a meal at Tai Cheong Bakery before, decided on the prompt that it was time I gave this place a shot, and go there for a proper meal. 

If my friend was surprised by the fact that I hadn't yet tried, I was even more surprised by the level of enthusiasm about me having not yet tried. 

After all it wasn't that I hadn't had their tarts and pastries before... 

But, of course, as I soon found out, having a full meal there is another matter altogether. 

It's not just the decor, or the ambience, or the menu. 

It's everything. 

You don't realize it at first even though, honestly, the char chaan tang vibe of the place should give you a clue. There're traces of Hong Kong's presence on the walls, the floor and even the tables itself, where underneath the glass-topped table you find little postcards, mahjong tiles and tourist-type of paraphernalia. 

The decor's a little reminiscent of 60s and 70s Hong Kong though. 

At least that's what I feel anyway. 

Can't say for sure if the menu's just as reminiscent- it would take a local to tell me just that- but the menu today at Tai Cheong here in Holland Village included dishes like Macaroni Soup, Noodle Soup, Scrambled Egg with a host of additions to choose from, Curry Rice where you could have Chicken or Beef, and Cheese Baked Rice. Something else they had was Silky Egg Rice. 

What made the foods here interesting were that you had lots of choices, and had lots of add-ons to choose from. 

Like with the Scrambled Eggs, where you could have a choice of Chicken Chop, Spam Fries, Cheese, Ham, Corned Beef, and Cheese & Chicken Chop together. 

With the Curry Rice, you could choose the Beef Brisket or the Chicken. 

With the Macaroni Soup, you could have it with Shredded Chicken or Three Eggs/ Luncheon Meat or Three Eggs/Ham.

I had thought we'd go only for the curry chicken as I'd heard that the chicken pieces were no tiny bird, that the curry was solid with the perfect blend of sweetness and creamy, tasty curry powder spice, and that there were generous pieces of potatoes in the curry. 

But my friend thought we should also try the Baked Rice, so Cheese Baked rice with Beef, Truffle & Mushroom Cream it was. 

No kidding you, it was SO good. 

You'd think this be just an ordinary dish of rice and beef slices mixed with cheese of various kinds and thrown into the oven. 

But here at Tai Cheong (maybe what with them being a bakery), they got the texture, temperature, and heat distribution pat perfect. 

Inside the very, very hot dish the rice was fluffy and warm with the truffle & mushroom cream evenly distributed all over, so much so that every mouthful included not just the warm grains of soft rice, but also the thick, warm cream oozing between the grains. 

For bite there were the beef slices, which, whilst I had feared they might be overcooked hard, turned out to be incredibly soft, full of beef flavor, and surprisingly easy to chew.

What I liked most about this dish was the cheese on top of the rice. 

You know how it's like if you've ever had cheese baked rice where the cheese doesn't blend with the rice, where the cheese literally can be peeled off the bed of rice below, and where both the cheese and the rice don't taste good whether together or even separate. 

Tai Cheong here gave you zilch of that (slipshot) (cookie cutter) experience. 

What's more, the cheese- crusty on some sides, melty on others, went so well with both the rice (and cream) and the slices of smooth, tasty beef. 

Had I not been starting to feel a little full, I would have gone for spoonful after spoonful after. 

Especially since the curry chicken was remarkably rich in flavors and taste, tummy-warming, even cozy. it wasn't as thick as I thought it might be, and I had a lovely time savoring the curry as if I were sipping on a soup. 

I'm definitely going back for either one of these dishes whenever I'm back at Tai Cheong. 

Maybe I'll try the Silky Egg Rice or the Cheese Baked Rice with Pork Chop and Tomato Gravy- the Pork Chop sounds interesting.

And I'm not going to miss out on their savories nor their bakes either. 

I'd be silly to. 

If I'm not going for the Buttered Toasted Bun with Condensed Milk or the Coconut Cream Bun- both of which I have not yet tried- I'm going back for the egg tart- which I usually do because the crust is crisp and buttery and the filling isn't very sweet- the Hong Kong Egg Milk Tart, and the savory Chicken Pie as well. 

A Meal at Westin

You know, I won't be forgetting the dinner that I had here at Westin Singapore any time soon.

Not because the meal was a buffet (even though, yes, it was so) but because I had been wanting to drop in to this hotel for the longest time ever but never had the chance to do so. 

I can't say I am very familiar with The Westin- it has, after all, been many many years since I last stayed at this hotel brand when it was still back at the Raffles City site, but I have wondered how this new one at MBFC be like, and I have wondered how it be looking like. 

In that sense, then, I'm thankful for the view. 

Especially since not everyone who came for dinner this evening snagged a table by the window the way we did. 

And it isn't every day that one gets to look out to the sea, the solo island in the middle of the sea, the sky, the clouds, the highway, and the port terminal of which I don't know it's name. 

At first glance it might look like all these pictures are the same, but in fact they were taken at different times and a close look will reveal minute changes that we'd otherwise not bother to see. 

More importantly of course was the food. 

I didn't manage to get pictures of everything that I ate, but here's a sampler. 

One of the first plates I took had a slice of beef (with horseradish mustard), a handful of stir-fried noodles (I think it was Ee Mian) and a couple of mantous that I took a bowl of chili crab sauce for. 

I can't remember whether the beef had a strong flavor, but it certainly was tender, and I had no difficulty chewing through it. Together with the horseradish one got a bit of grilled gamey warmth with the tart, slightly spicy condiment. 

What I liked, if I'm not wrong, were the noodles. 

They were savory, not very salty, and every bite gave me a taste of the soy sauce (or whatever sauce) that seemed like it had coated over every strand of noodle. 

Of course one can't go wrong with fried mantous and chili crab sauce, both of which complemented each other very well. Would've been lovely if the sauce were thicker, then again, it might not have picked up so well. 

After this there were oysters. 

One cannot come to a buffet without taking freshly shucked oysters (if there be any), and especially if they be fat, juicy ones like the ones they serve here. 

It's recommended that one have oysters with lemon or tabasco sauce. 

We like ours with vinegar. 

Apparently it helps with the digestion, and aids easing the taste of the brine. 

For this meal I think we took more than two plates, but it's been a while, and I can't remember. 

I know I took a fair bit of seafood though. 

Like these crayfish which, I have to admit, at other buffets I usually don't. 

It's not because there wasn't anything else to eat. 

But it was because I wanted to have foods that I knew I would not be able to have outside of such a buffet offering, and so even though the roast duck and roast meat looked really good, even though the platter of salmon in cream seemed enticing, I had to calibrate and curate what I was having this evening. 

I'm going to say that I pretty much enjoyed this crayfish. 

Yes, there have been times when I've gotten a bit squeamish at the legs and the shell and the green green thing that people say is roe and is actually nice to eat, but this time, with the aid of mayonnaise and Thousand Island salad cream, I simply ignored the legs, ignored the feelers and tried to give myself a lovely time pulling out the meat from the shell (rather barbarically), slathering it generously before happily eating it. 

Perhaps what I liked about these crayfish here were that they were extremely chilled and cold. It didn't matter that I took my time pulling the meat off the shell. Even when I came to the last piece, it was still cold. 

Same too it were for the salmon sashimi, which, for this evening I'm not sure whether there was salmon belly or just the salmon alone. 

Whichever it was, the slices were thin enough, the flesh was firm, the sashimi itself was chilled, and there was no odd odd fishy taste like some other less-popular places might have served. 

So firm was the sashimi that I helped myself to a few pieces of the Aburi salmon sushi too. 

Somewhere after this plate of sashimi back I went to the buffet counter, trying to make up my mind with the cooked food offerings this time. 

To be honest there was a lot to choose from. 

Here at Seasonal Tastes there was a pasta station, a soup station, a bread station, a cheese station, plus a salad bar and all the other cooked foods ranging from the Italian to the Western to the Eastern. 

I wasn't sure what I ought to eat, so where I might have had stir-fried vegetables Chinese style, or fried rice, or even wok-fried pieces of fish swimming about in some sort of gravy, I went for a bowl of lobster bisque (it came recommended), another tong-ful of stir fried noodles (yes, they were hard to resist), and another dish which I too suddenly cannot remember. 

At the end of the meal there was of course dessert where at their round dessert counter I helped myself to a variety of cakes- there was cheesecake and red velvet cake, if I'm not wrong, plus a couple of gummy sweets, some candy, and a cup of gelato, which, instead of one, I ought to have taken two. 

But I had gotten a little full by then, what with the pre-prepared kueh pie tee (the chefs actually filled the little cups for you) and popiah that I know is easy to find all around the country but for some reason this evening I found a little hard to resist. 

(NDP) Burger at Capitol

Couple of months ago- it was National Day itself- a friend and I headed downtown for dinner, and fireworks. 

I hadn't known what it was were going to have. 

But my friend said we'd be eating at a place somewhere near where the fireworks would be, so, of course I went along. 

There aren't many dinner spots downtown where one can have a reasonably priced dinner and still get a clear view of fireworks, so I had at first assumed we'd be at a place close to Clarke Quay or Boat Quay right near the Padang. 

As it was, I soon found myself at Capitol Building, and at an American-style diner, to boot. 

I don't know what it is that made my friend decide that a burger dinner on Singapore's National Day would be good, but patriotism is done my way, so on this day itself I didn't quite care. 

Broadway American Diner describes itself as an all-American-themed diner, and no doubt, upon stepping in, you feel it- decor and menu wise. 

What makes this place interesting is that the surroundings aren't walled in, and so, even as you're having your meal in a place with red cushioned chairs (aka 50s American diner style) and with pictures of Hollywood movie icons from the 50s-60s all on the walls, you're actually looking out to the entrance of the Capitol Theater, and it is as glamorous as it can be. 

Of course it is not for every performance that everyone dresses in cocktail or evening- there're some performances that don't have a dress code, I'm sure- but the vibes, whether formal or casual, then or now, remain the same. 

Perhaps it is the environment of Capitol Building, Capital Theater and the restaurants themselves. 

Every place is similarly immersive.

And no less than here at Broadway American Diner where the menu straightaway tosses you back a couple of decades with burger offerings like Pull Pork Burger, Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger, Double Cheese Black Angus Beef & Bacon Burger,  and Buttermilk Chicken & Cheese Burger. 

I was quite tempted to go for the Buttermilk Chicken (I fancy the flavor of buttermilk chicken) but then we were sharing, I can do either chicken or beef, and so we opted for the Double Cheese Black Angus Beef & Bacon Burger instead. 

It was so good. 

I mean, I've had burgers, and some of them from reputed places with reputed flavors, but not every place has a burger served on a home-baked sesame wheat bun that's soft and fluffy all at the same time. 

The patty was thick, yet surprisingly moist, and tender in texture. 

It wasn't wet to the degree where the meat fell apart at first bite, but neither was it dry or tasteless that made you feel like you were really chomping through processed meat. The lettuce too was cold and fresh and I delighted in the juicy sliced tomatoes that gave this fresh burst of juice to the warmth, grilled flavors of the meat.

Of course the sauce- it might have been mayonnaise, it might have been honey mustard, or a combination of both- was thick and creamy (Americans don't stinge on their cream) and we liked it so much we dipped our fries in it and requested for another. 

I had thought, that with such and such a meal, we wouldn't be having anything else. 

But my friend decided dessert was good to have.

So we chose the waffle. 

The Mixed Fruit Waffles with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. 

They were really good! 

Especially since they came stacked up like this instead of one whole round by itself (which is how most ice cream waffles are)

What made this arrangement lovely was how we could deconstruct the tower, leave the ice cream on just one quarter part of the waffle, layer the fresh cream on another quarter of the waffle, and then munch our way through the other two quarters without having to worry that the melting ice cream would make the whole waffle soggy- like most ice cream waffles tended to do. 

The ice cream was good.

The fruits were also good.

So much did I like how this dessert was done that I tried not to waste the chocolate sauce and slid the waffle around as much as I could to get as much of the sauce. 

There're more offerings here at Broadway American Diner than just burgers and dessert, by the way. 

If you're a fan of American-style hot dogs, they've got things like Frankfurter Roll and Smoked Beef Hot Dog, and both will have toppings like Gruyere cheese, Sauerkraut, Capers, Mustard and Russian Dressing. For something different, the Spicy Beef Sausage will have Arugula, Mozzarella Cheese and Chili Con Carne. 

Their appetizers are not to be left out too. 

So are their drinks.

One might go for an experience of Chili Cheese Nachos, Fried Buffalo Wings or Mac & Cheese. 

Or go straight for their milkshakes, which have classic flavors like Double Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter and Strawberry Mascarpone, but here- what with them being in the Capitol Building- they've got Ondeh Ondeh, Banana, Coconut, Taro and Mango too. 

I'd like to try the Mac & Cheese at another time. 

Same for the Ondeh Ondeh milkshake too. 

dal.komm's Food

I've always thought of this place as a good one for cafe culture, and for coffee. 

Koreans do, after all, know their cafes well enough, they're creative enough to come up with some of the best mixes in the region, and they've no qualms making sure that their cafes live up to their name. 

The menu here at dal.komm is fantastic, I tell you, and were it not for the fact that we had to be mindful of our diet, there'd be so much here I'd want to have. 

Much of their menu is balanced between the savory and sweet, like in their selection of small bites, where, besides the French Fries and Sweet Potato Fries, they have Honey Hotteok, Honey Butter Tater Tots, and something called Creamy Rose Tteokbokki. 

I'd like to try their Honey Hotteok sometime. 

Likewise their Carbornara Tteokbokki.

Simply because I am quite a fan of those little steamed rice cake (tubes) but haven't had much of an opportunity to munch through them all. 

The other thing that stands out in this place is the Ramyun and Pasta. 

I'd like to try Shiitake Samyang Ramyun one day. 

Then again the Creamy Rose Pasta seems pretty good too. 

This afternoon we were trying to make up our minds between coffee or dinner. 

But what with it being the hour, it seemed wiser to have a bite or two rather than slurp down cups of coffee, which, at another time, would have been just as good. 

To be honest I had found myself wishing to have their Rose Latte or their Sweet Potato Ice Blended, but we were here for food, and so up came our order of Honey Butter Tater Tots, and Garlic Cheese Pizza. 

If there's one thing to be said about the food here at dal.komm, it is that the Koreans really do know how to eat. 

I mean, it doesn't matter what you're having. 

Whether it be a cake or a dessert or anything else, one thing you can be sure of is that the food will be good. 

I found myself being enormously satisfied with the Garlic Cheese pizza.

They didn't skimp on the cheese, I tell you. 

The layers upon each slice were so d*** thick my teeth literally sank into the cheese and I found myself slowly peeling the layers off as I ate through the piece. 

And even though I couldn't quite tell where the garlic in the garlic cheese was, I could taste it, and it was wonderful. 

Perhaps next time I might give the Kimchi Cheese pizza a shot.

Then again the Ssamyang Chicken pizza sounds rather nice too. 

One thing I'm sure we'll go for- and no brainer on this one- is the Honey Butter Tater Tots. 

We loved it.

Not just for the Honey Butter Sauce, which, let me tell you, was a perfect blend of sweet and savory, but also for the fact that they were tater tots on their own. 

These little hash-brown like potatoes are probably one of the most fun to eat, and when well fried like the ones they have here, make for a delicious snack on their own, and for us today, a great accompaniment to the meal at the same time. 

Perhaps it might not be that appealing to a person who likes their potatoes spicy, but I'm someone whom at McDonalds breakfasts dips her hash browns into hotcake syrup or jam more than ketchup or chili.

So there.