r a n d o m f o o d

Grilled Turkey and Mushroom Sandwich @ Simply Bread
Was introduced to Simply Bread at Guthrie House.. It's quite a gem I think, or perhaps it's just the nostalgia washing over me as I gaze longingly at the assortment of Potato Breads, Ciabatta etc. Prices seem rather reasonable too, a loaf of bread typically goes for about 5 bucks plus, which is around the amount you would have to pay for a similar one after conversion from Euros to SGD. We ordered a Special of the Day, which was a grilled Turkey and Mushroom sandwich. It came with a coleslaw, which was nothing to rave about but could be better if it were slightly wetter to counter the dryness of the breads. The bread came with 'grill streaks' which seem rather authentic, and was quite nice, though it might have been sweet if we could choose the type of bread for our sandwich. The fillings were adequate, and the melted cheese was on the generous side, awesome...

Chocolate Souffle @ Bakerzin
Went to Bakerzin for more Molten Chocolate Cake before the promotion ends hee... Got to try their Chocolate Souffle at long last too! We were initially hesitant about the portions as it looked quite puny in the photo in the menu, but we had pleasant surprise when we were served with this rather gigantic souffle and a scoop of capuccino ice cream to boot! Was quite heavenly, with a slightly crunchy crust and light warm insides. Though I would still choose the Molten Choc Cake over it anyday! =P

Ivan and I about to pig out on ice cream at Icekimo's! It's tucked into this row of shophouses at Sin Ming Ave (or is it Road?) somewhere around Upper Thompson, would never have found it or chanced upon it if not for him knowing about it and bringing me there. More homemade ice cream goodness! (There's more than Island Creamery now woohoo..)

Blueberry cheesecake, Teh Tarik and Nutella ice cream in chocolate waffle @ Icekimo
We tried the blueberry cheesecake, teh tarik and nutella. Blueberry cheesecake was nice, albeit not exactly a very local flavour. ;) The teh tarik didn't seem to have as strong a flavour of tea as what I remember of its counterpart at Island Creamery. Think I still prefer more swirls of nutella that Island Creamery does to theirs too... The ice cream seemed to melt at a slower rate at least. =) Was generally very satisfying though!

s o p h i a c n y

Sophia & family and my mum flew back from Shanghai for the Chinese New Year celebrations! They were here for about 2 weeks, and just flew off again yesterday, how time flies... Mum's taking another flight out a few days later though. That's Sophia on her cute Trunki luggage which can be pulled around with her on it!

Went to a coffee shop at Rowell for mouth-watering prata etc indian food.. That's her dipping paper Thosai into one of the various dips. Had a really sumptuous dinner there -- paper prata (simply love the thinness of it!), prata with egg, mee goreng, bee hoon goreng, mutton soup (a disappointment), Tulang (aka bone marrow, mmmm bliss). Andy would've ordered even more if not for our limited stomach space I think, blame it on deprivation of Singaporean food hee..

First time I get served Milo Dino topped with a lychee! We also had Teh Cino, Indian Chendol (erm dunno what exactly is so 'indian' about it though) and Mango Lassi.

After one of our trips to Sentosa, we headed to Ben & Jerry's for our ice cream fix! Sophia being offered her scoop of Chocolate Sinfulness while she terrorizes the B&J cow... Quite a good offer going on now -- free scoop of some new flavour of sorbet (can't remember the name, but think it had bananas and mango in it if I'm not wrong) with every 2 other scoops ordered. So totally pigged out on 3 scoops with a chocolate waffle! Until my mum almost got a brainfreeze from it haha...

And more ice cream! At People's Park Centre's hawker centre, Soya Bean ice cream from Mr Bean (or is it Jollibean? gosh they're sprouting all different outlets all over the island). My mum's quite crazy about it, it's really quite interesting -- rather light, with a soya bean aftertaste.

q u i c h e e t c

Spinach, Ham & Mushroom Quiche
Been wanting to try my hand at cooking up a quiche ever since the period when I was in Germany, but never had the chance to. So finally got to do it when Ivan and I decided to have a cookout at his place! =D Turned out really well, surprisingly quite easy actually. The filling was light enough, not too cheesy for his mum's taste I hope. ;) The crust, which we bought on sale from the Cold Storage at Guthrie House (shortbread crust, not quiche crust actually), unexpectedly tasted of A&W Rootbeer! Haha... Was somehow inexplicably quite addictive though oops..

Minestrone Soup
Ivan was having a craving for some Minestrone Soup (or at least to cook some), so that's some really adapted version of it, without any beans other than baked beans (cos we both hate 'em haha). Think it would've been delicious if not for the cherry tomatoes which made the taste kinda sharp (couldn't find any nice red tomatoes at the supermarket somehow).

Chapalang omelet thingy
Had some leftover ingredients from the quiche, so I attempted to make an omelet out of them, in the style of some japanese dish I remember indulging in at Waraku which was basically really sinful due to the copious amounts of mayonnaise and cheese.

z e l i f e

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake @ Bakerzin
Initially wanted to sit down to a cozy cup of coffee and slice of cake at some cafe we haven't tried at Vivo City, but this french cafe which Winnie and I were eyeing apparently closed down before we had the chance to try it! But it could be a blessing in disguise, as we finally ended up in Bakerzin and lo-and-behold -- there's a promotion that lasts till 31st Jan for their acclaimed Molten Chocolate Lava Cake going for $4.90!!

Have always wanted to try it, after hearing and reading reviews on it, but the price for that puny size has been holding me back.. So this steal of a promotion was like my lava choc cake dream come true! Woot! Doesn't it look simply picture-perfect? Admittedly the portion is rather small, especially as compared to the one at Dan Ryan's, but it's finer, and the fruits and ice cream somehow make it less heavy (though the chocolate and cake itself is still sufficiently rich) so that one doesn't get sick of it too soon.. So wanna pig out on it again soon before the offer ends!

Viennese Ice Blended Coffee @ Bakerzin
aka Kaffee nach Wiener Art which was the love-at-first-sip in a cafe in Leipzig, Germany, last year. It's basically just cinnamon powder added to coffee, but I simply love the combination mmm... When the waitress mentioned orange peel, we thought that it had a touch of it in the coffee too, which piqued our interest, but to our dismay, it amounted to just two tiny strips for decoration purposes and nothing orangey at all in the drink. Oh well... This came with a small jug of syrup to add to your coffee to a level of sweetness of your liking.

Tomato and Cream sauce Chicken Chop Baked Rice @ C.Nai Hong Kong Cafe
Passed by C.Nai Hong Kong Cafe on the 2nd level of Bugis Village, was rather surprised that there's actually a food outlet in that part which is known for its tiny shops selling clothes and accessories. She'd seen good reviews of it on TV, so we decided to give it a shot. Been always a fan of tomato and cream sauce (thick yet not sickening), it was a slight disappointment when it came with just half of it covered in tomato sauce and the other half in cream sauce. Thought they'd at least mix the rice in the sauces before baking it so the rice would soak in the flavours. So some grains of rice at the edges which escaped the cover of any sauce or cheese ended up kinda dry. But it was still generally not bad after mixing it all together yourself. Miss our casserole dishes creation days...