Any time is a good time for ice cream—no matter what mood you are in. When we are feeling joyous, we celebrate with ice cream; likewise, ice cream cheers us up when we are unhappy. It is hard to imagine how something so simple is able to bring happiness to millions of people around the world, isn’t it?

Established in 1988, Cold Stone Creamery proudly dubs themselves as ‘Ice Cream Innovators’. Their ice cream is freshly made on the spot—smooth, rich and creamy.

At the same time, the popular ice cream parlour is also known for providing great entertainment value when it comes to their signature ‘ice cream toss’ dance and they throw pretty great private parties too—think party food, adorable character-themed ice cream cakes and colourful party decorations.

For kids and adults alike, Cold Stone Creamery is worth visiting countless times because it is always a good time there! And with the array of flavours, how would you even get sick of their ice cream?

MADE FRESH DAILY IN THEIR STORE

What makes their ice cream so insanely delicious could perhaps be the fact that all their ice cream are freshly made in-house daily.

And the sheer variety will make anyone go weak in their knees—adults and kids alike.

NEW COLD STONE CREAMERY OUTLET AT WATERWAY POINT

Originating from Arizona, Cold Stone Creamery currently has more than 1,400 stores worldwide and in Singapore, we are blessed with four outlets that strategically located at Orchard Central, Vivocity, HillV2 and the latest one at Waterway Point, East Wing, #B1-K13.

THE COLD STONE CREAMERY EXPERIENCE

Cold Stone Creamery caters to all by allowing us to customize our own ice creams!

Every cup of ice cream served at Cold Stone Creamery is called a ‘creation’ because you do not simply get a scoop of plain ice cream just like that. Scoops of your preferred flavours will be placed on a frozen granite stone and mixed with various types of toppings of your choice.

Choose among their Signature Creations or opt to create your own with fruits, nuts, candies, cookies and more. With more than 1000 different possible combinations, everyone can have their own favourites. It is like a personalized work of art!

SIGNATURE CREATION FAVOURITES AND NEW FLAVOURS

Cold Stone Creamery’s classic Signature Creations are well-received by people from all walks of life. From Founder’s Favorite® to Mud Pie Mojo® and Strawberry Banana Rendezvous™, there is something for everyone there—whether you are a hardcore chocolate fan or someone who prefers something fruity.

New to the menu are two uncommon ice cream flavours but they are certainly not something you wouldn’t have heard of. Welcoming Nacho Cheese and Chendolicious, Cold Stone Creamery’s flavour library has just expanded yet again. Now available at 1-for-1 Love It size, exclusively for Mastercard® Cardholders, till 13 May 2018.

The former boasts a light cheese flavour that is not too overwhelming and is topped off with our all-time favourite nacho chips while the latter is creamy and smooth chendol ice cream mixed with pandan green jelly strips and crunchy red beans.

PRIVATE PARTIES AND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Planning for a party for your children? Leave that to Cold Stone Creamery and get one step closer to throwing a fun and memorable party for your little ones.

Kids love parties and they love ice cream, sprinkles, cones and party food!

Complete with wall decorations, savoury snacks, and drinks, everything is done for you so busy mummies and daddies are still able to throw the best birthday party for their little one without much planning.

PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSAL PICTURES & DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

Which kid doesn’t love watching films from Universal Pictures & DreamWorks Animation? Even as adults, we are still huge fans of their box office hits including Despicable Me, Madagascar and Trolls!

Make your little one’s day by allowing them to indulge in a decadent ice cream cake that comes with their favourite cartoon character. This is a special collaboration between Cold Stone Creamery and Universal Pictures & DreamWorks Animation that will surely put a smile on your child’s face.

CHARACTER-THEMED ICE CREAM CAKES

You can expect favourites such as Despicable Me, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon to be included as one of the many designs available. These adorable character-themed ice cream cakes are now available at all Cold Stone Creamery outlets. Pay with Mastercard® to enjoy 15% savings.

What’s more? Stay tuned to Jurassic World cake designs which will be available at all outlets from 17 May 2018.

Whenever you are ready for an ice cream treat to cool off from Singapore’s humidity and warm weather, drop by Cold Stone Creamery for the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience®!

This post is brought to you by Cold Stone Creamery.

ladyironchef

Time flies, it has been a year already since ladyironchef (LIC) was started. With each post published, and each month flying by, the counter has jump twelve times, and LIC reach its first Anniversary!

Contrary to what many readers or visitors have thought that LIC was a female because of the nick “lady” in lady-ironchef, LIC is actually a Guy! Well just to clarify to prevent any future misunderstanding. Some of the common questions LIC encountered are as follows;

” Why ladyironchef? ”

” Why not gentlemanironchef? ”

” Are you pretending to be a female-blogger so that you can get more visitors? ” …

And the list goes on and on. Well i’ll like to say i can’t really remember the main reason for choosing ladyironchef as the name of my blog a year ago. In the first place i started this blog, it was more of a hobby, a place to document all the place that i had eaten at. It wasn’t begin with being a “foodie” in mind.

That was the main reason for the lack of direction, organisation, and even the content of the posts. Then slowly more and more visitors started to come in, and that was then LIC realise more have to be done, if not it’ll be quite disgraceful to show the visitors the low standard of the writing and the food blog.

LIC took pain, blood, sweat and whatever you can think of, to improve his writing of the food, much more time was spent writing the reviews, from mere mins to a few hours now for writing a single review. Its not as easy as you think because you’ll have to think of what to write, how to describe the food, how to phrase the sentences, everything will be easy if you are good in language, and this unfortunately is where LIC isn’t that strong in.

Following the improvement in the style of writing the food reviews (not that the current reviews are all very well-written), you must know people will get bored and won’t read the long paragraphs of writing (that is only human nature), and to attract readers’ attention, nice photos are needed, this is like what they say after all, pictures tell a thousand words. So LIC learn the better uses of his Canon Ixus, the different angles to take nicer photos (not that the current photos are very good, but slightly nicer than last time)

A shareholder is someone who has some involvement, or stake in, i shall hereby coined the term sharereaders for all the readers at LIC, for all that i’ve written are all shared with you. Thank you all for supporting my blog, be it positive or negative, you’re always welcome at LIC.

ladyironchef.wordpress.com has 47,906 total visitors as of today 6 April, even thought 47k is not a lot (given that some websites have tens of thousands a day), but i’m really satisified with the result. In addition, the first few months of the start of LIC there wasn’t much visitors, the numbers really pick up towards the last few months.

This marks the First Anniversary of LIC, and i hope to share with all my sharereaders many many more years of gastronomic food escapade. And with that, LIC is proud to present you with ladyironchef.com! LIC is moving to my own domain and hosting so as to provide my sharereaders with better, and more enriching food reviews. Please relink me, re-bookmark me, re-remember my website, there’ll be no ladyironchef.wordpress.com from now on it will all be ladyironchef.com !!

Well, this speech can go on and on because LIC really has a lot of thoughts to share with everybody, but i know it is tedious to read each and every word, and most people might not have even read until this part, so i shall end this post here and now. With this, i shall mark the last post on ladyironchef.wordpress.com and begin a whole new chapter at ladyironchef.com

I’ll also like to apologise for the seemingly lack of posts on LIC, no LIC has not stop eating, in fact LIC is eating faster than he blogs, thus the slow pace of the release of new posts. Be sure to check the up & coming posts like Absolute Haven, Rio Brazilian Restaurant, MINT, Social Media Breakfast, Relish, Melvados and many more …
 

ladyironchef

You are always welcome at ladyironchef.com. Whatever written herein are my geniune feelings about my food adventure, expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias.

Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. You can always click on the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments or drop me a email at bradleyfk@gmail.com, may it be positive or negative : )

My Prologue for Ladyironchef (LIC) has been getting quite good response, so let the first of many chapters in LIC monthly gathering begin! It is quite a task organising a gathering because of various reasons.

The budget. Everybody have different budget, so its not easy to choose a place which everyone is comfortable to, so i thought since its the first time, i’ll choose a place which is not very high in budget, should be comfortable for most people

The Time. Everybody also have different time that they are available, so its not easy finding a common time slot to satisfy everyone.

The Location. The place can’t be too ‘ulu’ otherwise people who are staying out of the way will have difficulty going right?

The Food. This should be the main focus since we’re having a food gathering after all, if LIC introduce a lousy place, everyone will be blasting me from left right centre, or asking for refunds! 

Having said all that, the place LIC has chosen is Wild Rocket’s Relish, a gourmet burger restaurant.

Date is tentatively set on 6 April. If too many people cannot make it, then we’ll see how and shift it around, but it should remains on a Sunday lunch. And just in case you don’t know, King’s Arcade is just beside Coronation Plaza (see map). The bus services there are 171, 67, 852, 961, 66, 74, 151, 154, 156, 157, 170, 174.

Wild Rocket’s Relish
504 Bukit Timah Road
#02-01 Cluny Court

Date: 6 April, 2008 (Sunday)
Time: 12 noon

Please let me know asap because i’ll need to confirm the number of people attending, and do the necessary organising stuff. Send me your mobile number to bradleyfk@gmail.com, everybody is welcome to join!

See you there!

Bistro One Zero Three sounds quite interesting right? Being the inquisitive me, i was naturally attracted to the name, and hence the visit to the place. Located at Pasir Panjang, its not a place where you’ll imagine a restaurant like Bistro One Zero Three will be situated. Nevertheless, the ‘ulu’ place makes it fun to go to, as though like we are on a food-hunting trait.

Initially we thought it was near the Haw Par Villa area, so we started looking for it there, but then how wrong we were, Bistro One Zero Three is at the other end of Pasir Panjang Road, quite near to PSA Building. If you are going there by train, i suggest stopping at HarbourFront and take a bus there, its only a couple of bus-stops away from HarbourFront.

The cosy 52 seater bistro is into its tenth-month, and started by the owner Eric, together with his sister and his sister-in-law as the chef. Stepping into Bistro One Zero Three, we felt totally at home, the homely-wood furniture plays a part, but it is the friendly service of the owners who welcomed us enthusiastically, and serving us ice-water while we were going through the menu, that impressed us.

The Menu comprises of sandwiches, gourmet salads, some sides, spaghetti and the mains. They are actually in the midst of introducing more items to the menu, but meanwhile, this are the options available.

Besides dining, Bistro One Zero Three also provides services for birthday-party events, company functions. The previous night they just had a event where guests let their hairs down and party till late night at the bistro. The bistro is a draw for the working crowd during weekdays, and on fridays & saturdays there are people like you and me who specially visit the place.

Well, i like the early-bird feeling, when we got there for a early lunch, we had the whole place to ourselves, totally like what i experienced in Sweet Indulgence! Being hungry people, we went through the menu and didn’t have much problem ordering the food. My dining companion being a Salmon-lover, naturally she’ll order Pan-fried Salmon. My two other mates had Cajun chicken wrap and Salmon & crab meat spaghetti, while i had the bacon, ham, mushroom spaghetti.

Salmon & Crab Meat Spaghetti ($14.50)

We began our meal at Bistro One Zero Three with the Salmon & Crab meat Spaghetti. With two generous piece of salmon on the tomato-based spaghetti, it got our salivary gland working even before we started eating! While slurping down the pasta, we can also taste the crab meat which goes quite well together.

Bacon, Ham & Mushroom Spaghetti ($13.50)

There are tomato, carbonara style and aglio olio options to choose from, I chose carbonara style since the other spaghetti is tomato-based. The carbonara Bacon, Mushroom Spaghetti here at Bistro One Zero Three is slightly different from the usual one you’ll find in other restaurants.

Usually the egg in carbonara style will be mixed together and cook with the heat of the pasta itself, but in this case, the chef put on his thinking cap and played with his creativity by leaving the egg yolk on top of the pasta. This is a pleasant surprise for us knowing the chef actually put in his heart & soul into making something different from the norm.

Well, i’ll preferred the salmon spaghetti to this one, not that this is not good, but after trying both pasta, we come to a consensus that the tomato-based spaghetti here taste better!

Pan-fried Salmon ($16.50)

With Balsamic glaze & acompanied with seasonal vegetables, the Pan-fried salmon is a must-have for all the salmon-lovers out there. Balsamic dressing is a traditional flavoured vinegar commonly used in Italian cuisine, the Balsamic glaze here added a slight twist of Italiano to the salmon.

Cajun Chicken Wrap ($15.90)

Tomato herb Tortilla & Mesclun mix are found inside the Cajun Chicken Wrap. The chicken wrap does give me an oddly feeling of ‘popiah’. The two Cajun chicken wrap serving is rather small, and definitely not enough to serve a grown-up (well depending on the appetite also). My mate wasn’t full after he finished it.

Warm Brownie w/ French Vanilla ice cream ($5)

Who can resist the temptation of desserts after a meal? Not me, there is always room in my stomach for them! For the record, i love my desserts more than my main.

The warm brownie together with a scoop of the cold ice cream seems to match nicely together. The brownie is not too sweet also.

Panna cotta with Mocha ($5)

One thing about Bistro One Zero Three is that they currently have limited desserts selection, only two! So we ordered both the brownie and this one to share. The owners are looking for new additions to the desserts section, so we had to make do with this two for now.

At first glance, we thought that the dessert was a soup, but on second note, it was not! Panna Cotta is actually an Italian Dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set.

Panna Cotta is usually eaten plained or sweetened with vanilla, chocolate or fruits. But the one we had at Bistro One Zero Three gave a different twist by adding Mocha to flavour the dessert.

Total bill for 4 person (4 mains & 2 desserts) adds up to $82.86 (including GST & service charge). Overall the experience at Bistro One Zero Three is a positive one, and its a good place to chill out & dine with your friends. The place isn’t really inaccessible if you know where it is, just a few bus-stops away from Harbourfront. And the cozy environment and friendly service from the boss definitely makes it a plus for a revisit, but they need to work on their desserts selections if they are to satisfy my desserts-demand.

Bistro One Zero Three
103 Pasir Panjang 118531
Tel: 6476 6373

” Who say guys don’t like their desserts? I do! “

1. Knives and Forks

This is one of the most common problems for people that are used to flatware (knives and forks) being brought to the table with each course. On a properly set table you usually see a series of forks on the left side of your plate, and a series of spoons and knives on your right (the table is always set for right handed people). The very simple rule is to always work from the outside in; the cutlery farthest away from your plate is for the first course. If you are still unsure what to do, wait and follow your hostess or host.

Always take small portions of food at a time and put your cutlery down between each mouthful. When you put your cutlery down, place it on the plate (never back on the table and do not rest it half on and half off the plate); cross the tips of the two pieces (if there are two) or angle it if there is just one. This tells the server that you are not finished. When you are finished, place your knife and fork together in the centre of the plate vertically. The tines of the fork should point up and the blade of the knife should point to the centre towards the fork.

You should always hold both your knife and fork – you should not cut your food up at the start and then use your fork only (this is an American tradition and is generally fine in America, but not in Europe). The tines of your fork should always point down toward the plate – for difficult foods like peas, you should use your knife to squash them onto the tip of the fork. The fork is not a scoop, do not use it like one.

Do not pick up any cutlery that you drop to the floor. It will be replaced by the server.

2. Soup and Pudding

Soup spoons generally come in two shapes – one is shaped like a round bowl, and the other is shaped like an egg. When eating soup the soup bowl must stay on the table. It is never acceptable to drink your soup from the bowl. To eat your soup, push your spoon away from you starting at the centre of the bowl to the farthest edge. Bring the spoon to your mouth and drink the soup from the edge – do not put the whole spoon in to your mouth. Do not slurp.

Pudding is not to be confused with dessert – they are two entirely separate courses though one can take the place of the other. Pudding is a sweet course, whereas dessert is usually fruit or cheese. To eat pudding you are usually given both a fork and a spoon. The pudding spoon is held in the same way as your knife, with the bowl of the spoon facing inwards, and (for right handed people) is held in the right hand. The pudding fork is used as a pusher only. You do not put a pudding fork in to your mouth. Using the fork, push a small portion of your pudding on to the angled spoon. As you lift the spoon to your mouth, tilt it a little so the bowl is now facing upwards. When you have finished eating, the same rules apply here for placing your cutlery back on the plate.

Occasionally the pudding fork and spoon will be found directly above your plate, rather than in the cutlery at the side.

3. Napkins

A napkin is used for one thing only – dabbing the mouth. Never wipe your mouth with a napkin, you should always dab. Your napkin should be unfolded and placed on your knees. It is never acceptable to tuck your napkin in to the front of your shirt or dress. In ancient times this was normal, nowadays it is the height of vulgarity.

If, for some urgent reason, you must leave the table before you have finished, you should place your napkin on your seat (after you have asked your hostess to excuse you). This tells the server that you plan to return. When you are ready to sit down again, simply replace the napkin upon your knee.

If your napkin drops to the floor, it is acceptable for you to pick it up unless the house has a butler or servants near the table. In those cases they will remove the fallen napkin and replace it with a fresh one. Never place anything in your napkin (especially not food).

When you have finished eating, the napkin should be placed tidily (but not refolded) to the left side of your plate (but not on your plate).

4. Glasses and Wine

Normally you will have two or more glasses at the table. Your glasses are on the right upper side of your plate. You can have up to four glasses. They are usually arranged in a diagonal or roughly square pattern. The top left glass is for red wine. It will usually have a fairly large bowl. Directly below that you will find the white wine glass, that will be smaller. At the top right you will find a champagne glass or perhaps a smaller glass for dessert wines or port. on the bottom right is your water glass.

If someone offers a toast to you, you remain seated while the others may stand. Never raise a glass to yourself. You should never touch glasses with other guests when toasting – it is enough to raise the glass in their direction. Keep eye contact when toasting. If you wish to raise a toast, never tap the side of your glass with a utensil, it is the height of rudeness and you could damage very expensive glassware. It is sufficient to clear your throat.

Do not gulp your wine. It is impolite to become drunk in front of the other guests or your hosts. Sip quietly and occasionally. The purpose of the wine at dinner is to complement your food, not to help you along to way to drunkenness. If your server is refilling your glass, you should never place your hand over or near the glass to indicate when you have enough. You should simply tell the server that you have sufficient or tell him prior to pouring that you do not wish to have any more. Never hold the glass for the server to pour your wine.

5. Body and seating

There will usually be a seating plan near the door of the dining room, or place cards on the table. If neither exist, wait to be seated by your hostess. There are strict rules as to whom sits where at the table and it would be extremely embarrassing if you had to be asked to move, both for you and your hostess. Remember, the hostess governs the table, not the host. The host will sit at the head of the table (this is normally the seat farthest away from doors or commotion. To his right sits the wife of the guest of honour and to his left sits the wife of the next gentleman in order of importance. The hostess will have the guest of honour on her right, and the second most important gentleman on her left. The remainder of the seating plan can often be arbitrary but will always alternate based on gender.

When you are seated at the table your feet should be firmly planted on the floor in front of you. Do not cross your legs, do not lean back on your chair, and do not shake your feet. Your elbows should be at your side at all times. Sit upright and do not lean over your plate when you are eating; bring your food to your mouth.

In England, the correct behaviour is to keep your hands on your lap when you are not using them. In France the rule is to keep your hands above the table at all times. You may place them on the edge of the table but you must never put your elbows on the table.

6. Food in General

You must not start eating until everyone has been served. If there are a large number of guests, the hostess may indicate that you may begin before everyone is served. If this is the case, you should begin. If you take a mouthful which contains something you cannot swallow, you should excuse yourself and remove it in privacy. Absolutely do not do so at the table table and never place it in your napkin or on your plate for all to see.

If you are eating something that has stones or pips in it, you may use your forefinger and thumb to remove them from your mouth. Place them on the side of your plate. You must never use a toothpick at the table, nor should you blow your nose. If you have something stuck in your teeth that you must remove, excuse yourself and go to the bathroom to remove it. It is also acceptable to remove bones with your fingers.

Do not salt your meal before you have tasted it; it is an insult to your hostess. If you do need salt, use the tip of a clean knife (if a salt spoon is not provided in the salt dish) to transfer some salt to the side of your plate which you can use for dipping.

Small pre-dinner snacks must always touch your plate before being put in the mouth. Do not take it from the serving tray and put it straight in your mouth.

7. Bread

If you are having bread with your meal there will usually be a small side plate on the left hand side (or above your left left hand cutlery) of your place setting; if so, use it. If not, it is perfectly acceptable to place your bread directly on the table to the left of your plate. You should not put the bread on your plate directly.

Bread should never be cut. When you wish to eat it, tear a bite sized piece off with your fingers. Don’t worry about crumbs if there are no side plates – the servers will sweep each setting between courses if needs be. Normally there should never be butter served at a dinner table, but these days it is seen from time to time. If there is butter, use your butter knife (found either on the bread plate or to the extreme right of your setting) and transfer sufficient butter for your bread in one go. Place it on the side of your side plate. If there is no side plate your hostess should ensure that you have your own individual butter dish. You should butter each piece of bread as you eat it, rather than buttering it all up front.

8. Conversation

Unless you know every guest at the table very well, you should not discuss politics, religion, or sex at the table. You should also avoid any controversial subjects that may fall outside of the scope of those three topics. Dinner is meant to be enjoyed, not to be a forum for debate.

You should give equal time to the person sitting on your left and your right. It can be difficult to talk easily with strangers but it is absolutely imperative that you do so that everyone can join in on the conversation. This is such a strict rule that I know of a lady of high standing who was seated next to her greatest enemy. In order to comply with the rule, she simply recited the alphabet to him the whole time. Having said that, I would not recommend this behaviour at all as it implies another kind of rudeness.

Do not yell to the ends of the table. You should speak in low tones but you do not have to act like you are in Church or a Public Library – dinner is meant to be enjoyed and the conversation is a fundamental part of that. If you are not very confident with speaking to others, a good rule of thumb is to ask the person questions about themselves (never personal questions). Everyone loves to speak about himself and this will also make you appear to be a good listener.

9. Different Foods

Some foods can be difficult to eat. This is how you should do so:

Artichokes: using your fingers break of one leaf at a time. Holding the spiny end, dip the base in your dish of melted butter or sauce and suck out the fleshy interior with your teeth. Place the remains on your place. Once you reach the soft centre called the heart, use a knife and fork to eat it as you would a steak.

Asparagus: Pick up each stem with your left hand and dip the tip in the butter or sauce. Eat it one bite at a time, never put the whole stalk in your mouth. If you are left with a hard base, you may discard it on your plate. The thick white variety sometimes seen in Europe should always be eaten with a knife and fork, never with your fingers.

Cheese: Small round cheese must always be cut in small pie-shaped wedges. Larger cheeses that have already been cut into a large should be cut from the pointy end first (this is called the nose).

Escargots: These snails are usually served with a special gripping tool and a small fork. Grip the snail shell with the gripper and use the fork to turn the meat out.

Fruit: If a dessert course is served, you will probably have a dessert fork and knife. You should use these on larger pieces of fruit.

10. General Dont’s

Don’t make a fuss. If you don’t like something, leave it.
Don’t blow on hot food to cool it down. Wait for it to cool itself.
Don’t smoke at the table unless invited to by the hostess.
Don’t photograph the table, it looks desperate.
Don’t move your plate after your meal has been served.
Don’t treat the servers badly. It makes you look common.
Don’t eat chicken or chops with your fingers.
Don’t point with your cutlery.
Don’t hold your fork while you drink your wine.
Don’t overstay your welcome

Finally, be sure to say thank you to your host before leaving and send a letter of thanks the next day (if you are lucky you will be invited back).

Bon appetite!

Source taken from http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-rules-for-fine-dining

I have updated ” The list that everybody wants to go “, and also included the links to the posts i made on the places i had been to. Please click on the links to view the post, hopefully it’ll make it easier for you search my older posts.

Just in case you forgotten, you can find the link by looking at the right side, the third box under “Travel & Eat“. Kindly click on that link next time, and you will see my latest updated list.

This list will be updated regularly, probably once a week, so do watch out for new additions to the list, feel free to add comments, or suggestions to help me improve my site. Thank you!

Regards

Brad

Sweet Indulgence, the petite cafe at Stanley Street is as charming as its name. From the decorations, to the food, to the service, everything just made you feels at home. Your cosy corner, in the hearts of the city. My female companion and i arrive at the place at 530pm, but the restaurant was not opened yet as their kitchen starts at 6. However the staff warmly welcome us in to the place. Being early-birds, we were the only diners there, and we enjoyed every moment there. The feeling was though we had booked the restaurant, and had the whole place to ourselves.

Upon stepping into the restaurant, I felt as if I had transported into another world all together. The bar counter, the simple yet comfortable furnitures under the dim spot-light made us feel totally at ease. The staff was very friendly, and he told us to make ourselves at home. So we heed his words, and literally make it our home.

Pretty is the word to describe the place, cozy is the word to describe the feeling, and indulgencing in the sweetness basically sums up everything else. We took photos, every shot and angles of the whole restaurant. While being overly engrossed in taking pictures, we even forgot to take our orders until we saw the chef sitting behind us.

The menu ranges from appetizer, salad, tapas, to the main course like pasta, fish & seafood, meats, to desserts and wine. Although under each category there might not have a wide range of selections, but for what it lack in variety, it made up for it in the pure quality and the presentation of the food.

And just for your information, the restaurant starts its lunch menu from 1145 to 230pm, dinner is served from 6 to 10pm. Indulge in a sumptuous three course set lunch at an additional $6.80 on top of the main course’s price.

Selections of wine available

The painting of the wall and the furniture colour blends in well together

The cozy corner seats

As we were in quite a rush for time, we didn’t have any appetizer or tapas to start the delightful meal, so we proceed on and begin with our main course. A peek into the menu, we immediately know what we wanted. As my female companion is a fan of spaghetti & also a lover of fish, the spaghetti salmon & mushroom seems to be tailor-made for her. To complete the fish-lover experience, i had the pan-sauteèd salmon steak.

The spaghetti selections come in the price range of $13.90 to $17.90, while the main course starts from $14.90 to $23.90 for its beef tenderloin.

Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom ($15.90)

Spaghetti tossed with fresh salmon, mushrooms & seasonal vegetables in cream sauce. Being the fan of cream base rather than tomato base, the Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom suits the tastebud of my companion perfectly. The sauce isn’t very strong, therefore it doesn’t overwhelm the overall taste of the dish. Coupled with the generous helping of fresh salmon & mushroom, every slurp of the pasta seems to exist for your savour of it.

Pan-sauteèd Salmon Steak ($19.90)

Pan-grilled salmon accompany with daily vegetables, serve with vanilla infused cream sauce, finished with balsamic reduction & caramelised cherry tomatoes. First taste into the Pan-sauteèd Salmon steak tell me this is something special, the second bite confirms the truth. The salmon is pan-grilled perfectly, where pan-grilled salmon in the hands of less-skillful chef will becomes hard and dry, this is definitely not the case at Sweet Indulgence.

The Salmon fillet that i had at Friends @ Jelita was slightly different, that one is coated with cripsy cajun crust. In this case, the grilled skin did not prevent me for tasting the soft and freshness of the juicy salmon. Some pepper and salt are sprinkled to add additional flavouring to the salmon, not that it is necessary, the salmon is so good that it can be eaten on its own.

The daily vegetables of broccoli and carrot helps to balance the meal, and the mashed potato together with the vanilla infused cream sauce certainly taste specially good. The only thing that i have to add will be the serving could be better, but i guess good food comes in appropriate serving, too much of a good thing spoils the taste.

Warm Choco Lava Indulgence ($8.90)

To end off our delightful meal, there is no doubt desserts are a must at such a sweet place like Sweet Indulgence. Warm chocolate cake filled with melted dark chocolate, served with tropical fruits and a scoop of ice cream.

Warm Choco Lava Indulgence’s filling very much satisfied the chocoholic in me. As our spoon cuts into the chocolate cake, the melted dark chocolate ooshed out and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the warm dark chocolate taste like dark chocolate, and the ice cream like any other ordinary ice cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The warm dark chocolate seems to fuse perfectly with the cold vanilla ice cream, and the effect is a yummy sensation.

Tiramisu ($7.90)

Dessert couldn’t have been more satisfying than in the form of the popular Tiramisu. Original Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese and Italian sponge fingers soaked in espresso and lots of kahlua, rum & brandy.

The Tiramisu i had at Wild Rocket was creative, but in my personal opinion, this ought to be one of my favourite Tiramisu. The first moment the tiramisu goes inside my mouth, I fell in love with it. Touching the tip of my tongue, the super soft texture of the cake immediately melt and touch my heart. Beautiful is the word, heavenly is the feeling, and falling in love with it concludes the tiramisu. I’ll be back for this one, watch out for it yeah!

Total bill for 2 main 2 desserts for 2 person comes up to $52.60 which is definitely not expensive, given the quality and presentation of the food, the excellent service, the comfy environment, which makes our dinner perfect. Also please be reminded that the restaurant is currently opened during weekdays only, there are plans to open on Sat in the near future.

After we finish our dinner, the boss of the restaurant, Christopher came and we had a friendly conservation, and the restaurant even gave us two complimentary orange juice on the house. The orange juice are some of the ones that they are looking to bring in from new suppliers and are not on the menu as yet.

If you visit the place and may not agree with me that the place is that good even its a small restaurant, hidden in the heart of the city. But the fact is I enjoyed the place very much indeed, and that is enough. We received dining vouchers in the form of $15 discount for every $60 spend in the dinner menu for our next visit. I will definitely be back for more. memorable dining experience – Sweet 2 Indulge

Sweet Indulgence
2 Stanley Street
Tel: 6223 7707

” I fell in love with you “

Well, always one true to my words, i said i’ll be back at Miss Clarity during my first visit. And here i am again. Nothing much has changed since my last visit, the kiddy decor, the colourful environment, the cute menu. Most importantly, the service has remained true to the Miss Clarity spirit, the food remains as good as well, with the price remaining the same.

As usual, we choose a main and add on $3 for an additional salad/soup, drink (barley/lime), and a dessert of the day.

Chicken Cordon Bleu ($8.80)

Deep fried breaded chicken breast stuffed with ham & cheese, served with tartar sauce and potato/vege as side dish. Chicken Cordon Bleu was ordered on the last visit as well, but my brother wanted to try so here goes. Steady and reliable. And did i mention the price?

Fish & Chips ($7.50)

Crispy breaded fish fillet with fries & clarity’s homemade coleslaw, served with tartar sauce. The fish & chips was decent, given its served in a cafe, the price is reasonable for the quality provided. The fillet layer’s bread crust was nice, and added a different dimension to the usual fish fillet served.

Total Bill was $22.30 for 2 person which i emphasis again is pretty reasonable for the amount of food served. What i really like about Miss Clarity is the fact that they provide good service, yet do not charge service charge for it. In addition, they even absorb the 7% GST. That will save you in the pocket to the tune of 17% for your meal. A jug of iced water with lemon slices are also given to each table even if you had ordered drinks.

Hello to the many people reading this entry, please do share your comments may it be good or bad : )

Miss Clarity Cafe
5 Purvis Street 188584
Tel: 63394803

” I refuse to pay service charge and GST when there is no service provided “

New York New York (NYNY), the eye-catching restaurant located at the underground of Citylink. NYNY stands out with its dazzling name, and always caught the attention with its alluring interior decorations. The green and cozy furnitures are the signature of NYNY. Having pass by NYNY many times but fail to go inside, a timely visit is always due on the cards as my companion and me went there for lunch.

The interior of NYNY

The front page of the Menu, a copy of the New York Post

Seafood Platter for 2 ($33.90)

We ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 to share. A platter fit for the Kings and Queens of New York! Cold Crab, prawn fritters, crispy fish salmon and calamari rings, compose of the delightful meal. Having ordered Seafood platters previously before at Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co, i was rather pleasantly surprise when the platter arrive. All right i admitted, i did not pay much attention when i made the order, so i didn’t really notice the word “Cold Crab” on the menu. Yep, thats the surprise, neither was my companion ready for it. Nonetheless, let us take a peek into what is present in the platter.

Crispy fish & chips

Well you know the ever-present fish & chips? Steady and reliable

Prawn Fritters

The prawn fritters were excellent. I loved this one. No doubt the prawn might not be very big, but then the bigger the prawn, i feel the less tasty it is. The prawn here is deep-fried, coupled with the Tata sauce, it is simply irresistible.

Fish Salmon

The Fish salmon here eaten raw, a tad too fishy for me, so i’ll give it a pass

Calamari Rings

Now then, everybody should know Calamaris are actually fried squids right? O well just in case. The calamari rings here are up to the mark, tender and juicy. In my humble opinion, i consider the calamari rings here to be one level up from the one at Fish & Co. The main explanation being the ones at Fish & Co are too salty for my liking.

Cold Crab

North Altantic Fishermen love their chilled steamed crabs. Just some background information on the crustacean. In case you don’t know what is a crustacean, they are large group of arthropods, comprising approximately 52,000 described species. Baffled already? All right all right, to put it in short, some of the names we are familar with; lobsters, crabs, shrimps, crayfish,

The sea creature with the claws that are ready to pinch you if you are not too careful. To be honest, i am not a big fan of crabs. Why? Because i am lazy, yes pure lazy.

It takes skill to eat a crab you know? there are so many different parts of the crab to be eaten, well i like the big hammer of the crab, there’s lots of meat there. The small leg? Nah, you can have it. You’ll have to slowly suck the meat out of the thin skinny leg. Well be careful while you are having a suck at it, the cute guy or pretty girl next table might just be looking at you.

Nevertheless, both of us took quite a long time to finish it, the Cold Crab is fresh, too bad we are not crab lovers huh? hahaha!

Some might say New York New York is not good, they excel in the decorations but failed in the food. But my contrarian view tells me that they are good and a excellent place to hang out with your friends. The decorations are well done, in fact the environment of a restaurant plays a huge role as to whether the food is good. The food might not be the best, but they are still good. The crucial factor to this will be the price, its within reasonable pricing, and all this only sums up to one equation, i will be back.

Total bill was $39.90 for 2 person, which i find it to be inexpensive. NYNY @ Citylink is strategically located to tap on the huge crowd travelling from City Hall to Suntec/Marine Square. Thus, the restaurant being full even when it is not during lunch or dinner time is not an uncommon sight. NYNY, like Big O belongs under the same management of N.Y.D.C There are more to try from the comprehensive menu of NYNY. Until then!

1 Raffles Link, Citylink Mall, #B1-47A
Tel: 63419695

” Food all the way from New York City “

May all our wishes and resolution comes true

All our family, friends and love ones be happy always

Thus, the remaining Taiwan trip posts will be postpone until a bit later, meanwhile, do also look out for my up & coming posts on some of the restaurants i went for the past few weeks but haven updated yet, this includes the following; Secret Recipe, Ivins, Daily Scoop, and Hooked!

Recent buys: i got a shirt and skinny tie from topman, pondering over the hat from Zara, and oh ya, i need to get a external hard-drive soon (not enough memory).

Ladyironchef

Map of Ri Yue Tai

 
We are quite close to paradise aren’t we?

See picture at ladyirontravel for the next surprise:  ????

Taiwan very own Bing Lang Xi Shi ????! The tour guide knows this ????, so he invited her to come abroad our bus for a photo-taking session. See no touch, and only woman gets to photo with her.  Just in case some don’t know what they do, the woman basically sit at a stall by the road side, wearing very little (bikini), and sell Bing Lang ?? (a kind of fruit? something like chewing gum) to man who wants to buy from them. Of cos there also also stores manned by uncle and auntie selling Bing Lang, and the price is much much lower. Tour bus drivers usually buy from them instead because of the much much cheaper price.

The Bing Lang sell by ???? is one for one dollar (if i nv rmb wrongly), while the one not sell by them cost one bing lang for ten cents twenty cents? There u have it! Thats the reason why they are being paid SGD $3k a month just for sitting there to sell Bing Lang. Thats just a job, nothing really disgraceful, but then again there are ???? who provide extra you-know-what also.

Leaving Ri Yue Tai, we arrive in Taizhong around 6pm. We went for a dinner at a restaurant which is open by one of the tour guide’s wife. Good business idea right, husband tour guide bring tourist, den wife open restaurant for husband bring over. The food variety for the buffet is really pathetic.

But den again i couldn’t care less, you know why? Because we are in Taizhong Feng Jia night market!! Why eat this food when there is plenty of taiwan snacks waiting for us around the corner? So we hurriedly finish our dinner and went out of the place. Given 3 hours to shop around the night market : )

I decided to stop here, partly because not enough time already, and also because the next post about Feng Jia night market will be super long, lots of things to share and tell. Exciting!! But the next post will be out later, nowadays very busy hardly got time to blog.

For the full post, please go to ladyirontravel

” Anything and everything can be found in Taiwan’s night market “

Entering day 4 of our trip, we are in Kaohsiung now. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant as usual, but today’s breakfast is rather lousy, first of all, its a buffet, but they only give us one plate, one bowl (for porridge), one pair of chopstick and one spoon. The plate and bowl have to re-use.

When you encounter problems like this, the tip is: take more of those food you find acceptable. lol!

After breakfast, we proceed on to Mei Jia Nong Shu Chun, a Hakka Village. The places showcast the Hakka culture, from the stuff they use, to the food they eat.

Arhh.. the highlight of this post, our lunch! Be warned, this is not a ordinary lunch, neither is the place ordinary. This ‘Wu Jiao’ restaurant is one a kind, never-seen-before, extraordinary place. The theme? The entire structure or building pillar is designed using tree logs! Cool right? All right then, take a peek inside! 

Taa-daa!! Does it looks more like a greenhouse than a restaurant to u?

Chicken

Cant remember whats this

The ordinary yet delicious sweet sour pork is extraordinary here

Cod fish which is super nice

Prawn

Hmm.. the meal taste superb! But is it really the chef cook so well? Mayb not, because the environment surroundings, plus the excellent presentation of food on specially-designed plates (by the boss herself) makes the food look food, resulting in you feel hungry, which in turns makes the food taste well. But lets not care whether the food taste good or not, kudos to the boss who make this place happen, who spend effort in designing up the place, and even carving the design for the utensiles.

After we finish our meal, we head up to the second level for some exploration. Gee! When we go the place not very crowded, so the second level is not used. But nice place really.

The end of this special meal marks the end of this post. The next post we will be going to Ri Yue Tai, and at night we will stay in Tai zhong, where we will visit Feng jia ??. Stay tuned!!

For the full post, please go to ladyirontravel

” Presentations make the food, the food make us “

Not true, Taiwan is just as kiasu! We head out for our ‘night mission’ after we put out stuff in the hotel, while on the way to the fruit market, we pass by this street where there is at least 3-4 tution centre side by side? Maths, language, science, you name it they have it. The time was about 9-10pm, still got lots of students there having their tution. Tsk tsk

One of the many many shops selling fruits. The whole street got at least 20-30 shops selling fruits? Mayb more. hahaha. The fruits are very fresh, and its cheap. So we walk around looking at the many different variety of fruits, we brought some back to the hotel, of course mango is a must. We never walk the whole street cos its too long, anyway every store sells about the same fruits, and their price is also about the same. So its a matter of which shop is lucky to get us as their customer

Another shop

Yet another shop

Like i mention before, the convenience shop in Taiwan is really power, they sell everything and anything. Look what i got in my hand, Tiramisu, and where did i get it from? Bingo, the convenience shop. hahahah! And its quite cheap, i think its $1, and taste not bad too.

Thats the end of our third day in Taiwan, tomorrow we will travel to Tainan for lunch at a very special restaurant, please remember to watch the next post, follow which, we will go to Ri yue tai, and at night we will stay in Tai zhong, where we will visit Feng jia ??, a lot of things to eat and buy!! See the next post coming up soon.

For the full post, please go to ladyirontravel

” You see all kinds of different things when you travel “

“ There is something peculiar about Ajisen Ramen and it’s all in the soup. Their Ramen’s Tonkotsu soup can help to prevent aging!

The Japanese Society of Nutrition & Food Science announced in a general meeting, “The intake of collagen contained in the bones and cartilage, etc prevents aging.” Collagen is a protein, mainly found in the skin, tendon, bone, cartilage and other connective tissues. This protein is the essence of life because it easily makes up one third of the 60 trillion body cells. And our Tonkotsu soup has lots of collagen!

What is health without taste? A feature of Kumamoto Ramen is Senmiyu; a rich brown sauce that accompanies the fair Tonkotsu soup. Our unique culinary methods ensure that all the flavors are sealed into the sauce. In fact, Ajisen guarantee that your taste-buds will be bowled over by their Tonkotsu/Senmiyu combination! “

Went to meet my mom for dinner at IMM after Arnold’s celebration, at first wanted to go Secret Recipe for dinner, cos i want to eat their desserts, but my mom wanted to eat ramen, to savour that time she went to Japan and had ramen. Although there was a few Japanese restaurants around, we settled on Ajisen since my mom wanted ramen. The restaurant was packed fully, but there was still space for two-seaters. We took a while to decide on the ramen, and made our orders, suprisingly the ramen came quite fast despite many patrons in the restaurant, mayb its very easy to cook ramen : )

Ramen cost 10 bucks each, but you have the raman set, which consist of a ramen, side dish, and a drink for $13.80. We chose the crayfish ramen (voted most popular), and the soft ribs ramen

Crayfish Ramen

The crayfish ramen was quite special, the crayfish came with a sweet-spicy sauce. Ramen had egg, crayfish of cos, and mushroom. The ramen soup was quite delicious, but i found it too salty, had to drink tons of water after finishing the ramen.

Soft ribs Ramen

Actually every ramen is the same except for the main ingredient that comes with it, for this one is soft pork ribs, the ribs was managed rather well-balance, very chewy. My mom commented that the ramen in Japan was nicer, the noodle was not so thick, much thinner there : ) 

Chicken cutlet that comes with the ramen set

The sauce for the chicken was nice, but the chicken was a tad too small, o well after all this is the compliment set.

Fried prawn which also come with the ramen set

Fried prawn in Japanese restaurants was always nice, no complains

Simple dinner at Ajisen total bill was $32.49, not very expensive i guess, for the set came with a ramen, side dish and drink. But the quality of the side dishes can be improve i guess, they are not really worth it for the extra $3.80? But then again $3.80 for a side dish and drink, you can’t really complain can you?

2 Jurong East Street 21
#01-113 Imm Building

Tel: 6564 5610

” Food is for our mind, health, and body “

Yippee!! Have been looking forward to this trip. The plane is 1pm, and no more Garuda airline, its China airline this round. This is my first time to Taiwan, and from what i hear, its gonna be whole lots of fun!!

This will just be the start of the many-to-come oversea trips. Ever since going to China, i discover the wonders of travelling and it really open my eyes and change my perspective about the world. There are so many places that are so wonderful and i have not been there. Top on my list: Europe, Spain in particular, Australia, New Zealand, and even China there are so many more cities to visit.

Will take lots of pictures on the food, culture and scenaries there. Hold it there and wait for me. See ya in a weeks time, will be back on 23th the next sunday noon : )

Met up with Val, Serene, vyonne, lyn for lunch, went to Tiong Bahru market.

Price: $2, $2.5, $3
Verdict: Taste not bad, although the serving was a tad small

Serene got the famous Tiong Bahru Chee Kwah. I think got three stores claim that they are the original one, no idea which is the one, anyway Serene say the price increase again, mayb the boss say the “cai po” price increase because of GST hike. LOL!!

It has been estimated that one third of all cancer patients developed their disease because they did not include a sufficient amount of whole plant fibers in their diets. Studies have also shown that vegetarians – when following a well-balanced, low-fat, high-fiber vegetarian diet – often have lower incidence of coronary artery disease, hypertension, and obesity.

Save the Meat for the Weekend
The recent Western obsession with protein diets is turning out to have potentially fatal results, namely osteoporosis and kidney failure. During protein metabolism, your kidneys must excrete the excess components of protein, known as amino acids.

To complete this process, the kidneys neutralize the acids by binding them to calcium, which in turn, depletes your body’s store of this essential mineral.

The rate in the U.S. of osteoporosis is strikingly higher than China, where almost everyone eats a lower protein vegetarian diet. Evidence has also been found that excess protein weakens the kidney function. But you don’t have to give up meat entirely to attain longevity.

In studies of animals with chronic kidney failure, simply reducing their intake of protein extended their lifespan by up to 50 percent! Take this advice: limit your meat eating to only the weekends, and you will be taking a balanced and healthy approach to your diet.

Choose Fish
If you do decide to eat meat, you will want to make educated decisions about the meat you choose. Of all animal products, fish is the healthiest choice because it is high in protein and low in fat. The omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish protect your blood vessels from plaque, prevent high blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and help you maintain good respiratory health.

Populations that eat a diet consisting of mostly fish, vegetables, and local fresh fruits experience practically no cardiovascular disease and have a high percentage of healthy seniors.

Ladyironchef comment

This is just a article i found somewhere, i still eat meat, but i eat it with lots of greens and fruits : )

Decided to have a quick lunch at Uno after reading fatpig review on it. Didn’t know that the Jumbo coffee shop at Dover has Uno as its new tenant since the last time i went to the coffee shop it wasn’t there. Anyway for the introduction, Uno Beef House is something like Botak Jones, (and Botak Jones second visit here) ”restaurant-style” western food sell in coffee shop environment.

Actually from the name Beef House we can tell that Uno is famous for its steak, but then feeling rather full i wasn’t quite ready to eat steak for lunch, so i had fish & chips ($5). I think nowadays go out eat quite a lot fish & chips already (cos at tekong always eat chicken!!), i try not to eat fish & chips next time : )

The fish wasn’t too exceptional, quite normal like those normal coffee shop western food. The coleslaw was nice though. Prehaps u really have to try steak at Uno, they aren’t call Beef house for no reason.

Mister Ang had chicken chop ($5). I felt the chicken chop was okay, nothing too special but still slightly above average.

Overall, the food was quite okay, mayb we didn’t try its signature steak. But considering the rather cheap price at $5 for most of the items, it is still acceptable. Most importantly it doesn’t has a long Q like Botak, and it is near my home : )

19A Dover Cresent
Jumbo Coffee Shop

Have you Blurb?

This week for some unknown reasons, they let us book out on Friday morning 11am. Cool rite? Never imagine so good let us out one day early instead of booking out on Sat afternoon which is now? haha! Anyway, yesterday came back never do much, had been sick for the whole week, but being elected as platoon-in-charge (for a week), i hang on there and waited until a new platoon ic was elected on thu before i went to see the Medical officer (MO). MO gave me “Attend B” which means that i am excused from light duties for three days, gosh how i regret seeing the doctor, thu fri sat no exercise, people run i cannot run. So bored seating there doing nothing. O well, next time i make sure i got a fever before i see doc.

 Saturday which is today, dad buy lunch back from Block 158 there, for people staying in Bukit Batok, should know/heard of this stall selling Hokkien Mee (Prawn Noodles) there, quite famous i guess, even people not staying in Bukit Batok had heard of its fame before. Having tried the Hokkien mee (HM) so many times for so many years already, i would say the HM is not bad la, but then not really the best i ever tried, the best HM i feel is at Whampoo Market there.

This stall uses Opeh leaf to keep the HM (for $3 and above), but then again does wrapping HM in Opeh leaf really improves the taste of HM? After eating so many times, i still do not have the conclusion, so the ball is in your court to judge. For a $3 packet, the serving isn’t very full, so sometimes we rather buy two packs of $2 for one person. The strength of this HM i will say is its chili, the chili is just nice, not too spicy not too sweet.

Being hungry man after coming back from Tekong, i had another helping, Wanton Mee (WM)! This stall that i’ll like to recommend is at the coffee shop behind the Hokkien Mee stall. “Discovered”this WM stall after my mother brought it once and found it was good, and the rest is history, ever since then when thinking of WM will definitly think of this stall. WM may be a common street food found practically in every Coffee shop and hawker centre in Singapore, but then really, to be able to declare as good WM, few stalls come into mind.

Let’s see, the essential items in WM, first: Great noodles, second: Quality Sauce, third: Excellent Char Siew, last: Fantastic Wanton. Basically some stalls may have good wanton or char siew, but their noodles taste like shit. So for me, i personally felt that so long the noodles is great and the rest are okay, the WM is good. For the sauce of the WM, different stalls varies with different type of sauce, but generally speaking there are two types, the clear and the dark-sauce. I do not like dark sauce for WM.

This stall actually fulfills my requirement, the wanton here is average, char siew not bad, but most importantly are its noodles. Their noodles are really good, once u take a bite you will know what i mean, you can feel that the stall owner really has skill in cooking the noodles one. Seriously just eating the noodles without any wanton or char siew is good n’uff for me. And you-know-what? The damage is only $2!! Where can u find such good Wanton Mee at two bucks nowadays?

I can’t remember the name of the stalls, but if you still don’t know, feel free to ask me, i can “direct” you there. lol. Going for dinner later at Seafood station, so stay tune for the post on crabs & gang : )