It has been a few months since I tried writing this post.
Two months, to be exact.
It isn't because I don't have pictures or don't have anything to write, but because I do, and there is a lot that I want to talk about.
You know how there are some meals that don't seem to leave impressions or memories on you even though you know you've had a great time?
Not the case with the weekend afternoon tea here at JEN65.
There's something about this buffet here that sticks with you long after you're finished.
I don't know if it is the offerings, the ambience, or the crowd.
There's something very cozy about the cafe here. Maybe it is the orangey-yellow tones of the furniture. Maybe it is the color of the warm-toned wood. Or maybe it is how their lights make the place feel welcoming, and embracing, both at the same time.
It doesn't matter which part of the restaurant they seat us.
All sides feel the same.
But we have a thing for space and so often prefer to be seated at the lower deck closer to the laksa noodle side.
If there's one thing about the food here at JEN65's afternoon tea that I like, it is the combination of both ethnic Asian and Western that speaks to me.
This is a place where you can decide whether you want a salmon pastry or a plate of seafood pasta with mussels and cream or a plate of beef rendang with rice.
This is a place where you can have a plate of sushi together with a serving of salad.
Or quiches with Chinese-style wok-stewed vegetables.
I am the sort who loves variety, and it is wonderful knowing that I can have on the same plate a grilled ham & cheese sandwich, a spinach quiche and a heapful of mee goreng all at the same time.
Then again I don't usually mix everything, and so, instead of tossing everything onto one plate at one go, I go multiple times.
I began the meal this afternoon with several sticks of satay, a wee little bit of mee goreng, and a couple of cherry tomatoes that would add that burst of sweet-sour fresh tomato juice whilst helping (hopefully) with the digestion.
I like the satay here.
Best if you eat it hot, but it also doesn't matter if you happen to have it lukewarm.
Yes, the meat does get a little hard but, surprise of surprise, it's not dry, and tastes just as good along with other foods.
So clean, and good it is that I don't even need the peanut sauce.
I just eat the satay all on its own.
This afternoon (upon the recommendation of my friend) along with my second helping of satay, I helped myself to a bowl of sweet, creamy pumpkin soup, a grilled ham & cheese sandwich, and two little bites of what I think is chicken dim sum.
It might have been siew mai.
It might not have been.
That's not to say that I didn't help myself to other foods.
One plate I took had on it mashed potato (which unfortunately turned cold before I could get to it), some couscous (that I found at the salad counter), a heap of black olives and more of the cherry tomatoes.
Then there was the plate which had four little cups of kueh pie tee, one lor mai kai (I wanted the glutinous rice) and a ham & cheese sandwich.
I have my own tastes when it comes to customizing my kueh pie tee.
Where others might go with the full works of turnip, chopped hard boiled egg, sesame seeds, parsley, tiny little shrimp and everything else, mine only had the chopped hard boiled egg, lots of parsley, and a little bit of sweet sauce.
I didn't take the turnip, nor the sesame seeds, nor even the shrimp.
For some reason the turnip tends to soak through the pastry cup of the kueh pie tee even before i get to the bottom of it and I like my pastry cup to stay crisp and crunchy throughout.
Hard boiled egg and sweet sauce go surprisingly well together.
Buffets are some of the best places to test just how suitable some combinations can be.
It's like I didn't know how well tomatoes and black olives together were.
And how well fresh crab meat and laksa soup go together.
This crab laksa dish is one that we specially concocted ourselves.
Admittedly it does take a bit of brute strength to whack out the shell to get to the meat inside but thankfully my friend is quite gungho when it comes to laborious tasks like these and at our table there gets a fair bit of hammering with tools and all.
My job?
Yank out whatever shreds of crab meat there are still stuck inside.
Stir the crab meat inside the soup.
Eat it.
This afternoon I decided I was going to leave a lot of room for dessert.
No way was I going to do the same thing as I'd done the last time- eating myself happy with all the lovely foods but leaving no space for all the desserts I wanted to try.
This time I got three servings of dessert.
First one was an ice cream sandwich whose carnival-like stall was alfresco outside the restaurant at their outdoor seating area.
I think the flavor was Thai milk tea.
The ice cream didn't melt as quickly as I thought it would.
So solid was it that I was able to eat the entire ice cream with a spoon- without having the bread slowly getting soaked in melting ice cream.
After that I helped myself to a couple of cakes.
There were some cute, and unusual ones that I hadn't had before, like the kueh lapis- a staple cake which I always try to have whenever I'm here- that I like to eat layer by layer. Then there was a slice of Earl Grey, a gula melaka sponge cake that looked like a banana one, a lemony cheesecake, and a cute little piece of Nyonya kueh of glutinous rice that I took mainly for the pretty colors.
The Earl Grey was a lovely blend of soft mousse-like texture, and sponge.
The lemon cheesecake gave a pleasant contrast between the sour and the sweet.
The gula melaka was thick yet had that slightly burnt taste which I always like.
And the kueh, simple as it might as seemed, had them so delightful I found myself appreciating it even more.
I had thought I'd be fine with just this plate of dessert.
To my surprise I realized I actually could still eat more.
So back to the counter I went, and came back bearing a couple pieces of dragonfruit, more of the spongy gula melaka cake (which I really liked), and marshmallows dipped in the chocolate fountain.
Oh, by the way, have I mentioned the drinks?
There can be no afternoon tea without drinks, can there?
So here at JEN65 one gets a variety of sweet drinks- the fun type- lots of fruit punch, syrupy drinks, iced peach tea, and iced lemon tea, but me, I go for mugs of hot green tea or osmanthus tea.
They work the digestion better.
For me to eat more.