11 Feb 2012 - Dim Sum at Crystal Jade and The Eastern Restaurant

Crystal Jade
Had a pot of Pu'er, one pineapple bun, a bowl of porridge, 2 baskets of siew mai, 1 basket of shrimp dumpling, a serving of braised "phoenix claws" (chicken feet) and another basket of custard buns. ~$40.

Waiting for food...


Siew Mai was puny as compared to the ones he had last week at Straits Cafe. However, judging by the ingredients and texture, these were of higher grade. At least 2 parts of crunchy prawns and small pieces of meat inside, as opposed to being wholly minced meat.


The close up.


Shrimp dumplings, nice, but perhaps the Siew Mai was more worth it.


Pineapple bun with a slice of butter. ~$2. Love how the sweet and brittle crust contrasted, yet complemented, the soft bread beneath.


Bowl of porridge, with toppings such as cuttlefish, peanuts and... can't remember. ~$7.


Golden delights, custard buns. Imagined to be overflowing with the custard of salted egg yolks.


Looked like the flow was well contained, but these were still a delicious way to end the meal.


Walked around and had some damage done to his pockets before they decided to go for another meal. Genki Sushi had quite the queue, looked much too long to wait for sashimi. So they went across to CentrePoint for more dim sum.

At The Eastern Restaurant, had Pu'er again, Yangzhou-style fried rice, 1 serving of braised beef brisket, 2 servings of dumplings in chilli oil and 1 basket of soup dumplings. ~$50

Various menus...


Dumplings in chilli oil, 红油抄手. Chilli oil for some fire and vinegar base for that piquant taste, kept him wanting for more. A little pricey at $6 for 5 though.


Soup dumplings, bursting with soup inside.


Yangzhou-style fried rice. Seemed quite healthy, not too oily or salty. Had him thinking that it was a bit bland. ~$10


Chunks of braised beef brisket in a generous serving (probably for 4persons), $~12. Meat was fork tender and tasty, and the dish also had slices of bamboo shoots and mushrooms, equally delicious.

03 April 2011 - Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant

Alighted at Orchard MRT for her weekly invasion of the retail shops. She just had her online shopping delivered and still wanted to make more killings. Luckily this stopped with the purchase of a interior design magazine and her monthly dosage of the ViVi magazine.

As usual, she got hungry after all that walking. Despite his grumbling about having bought groceries and not cooking them, they went for dim sum that she craved. Inquired at Crystal Jade Takashimaya, but the waitress informed them that dim sum was not available. Browsed their way eastwards and finally made a pit stop at Plaza Singapura. Tried their luck at Crystal Jade again, but was realised that dim sum was served only in the afternoon.

In the end, they went next door, Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant.


Tea was served while waiting for the food. The service assistants were very attentive, kept topping up the tea as the water level dropped. $2.40++ for a pot of tea, free flow.

Ginger shreds that were not enough for his dim sum...


Drunken chicken was served refreshingly cold. This was not as tender as the Hainanese-styled steam chicken that they so dearly loved. Thick chunks of chicken at $6.80++, guess it soothes the ache of the price a little.


Generous chunks of beef brisket and tendon at $9.80++. Tendons and meat were well softened. The rich and decadent tendons really melt in the mouth, so good that the plate did not seem to provide enough.


Next came the Golden Fried Rice at $8.80++. Topped with floss, this had a sweet and slightly spicy taste. Not how he likes his fried rice. There were also crispy and sweet bits that he could make out, not too bad to chew on though.


Finally, dim sum. Pork dumplings for $6++ a basket. The soup contained within was tasty, did not have any hint of gaminess, and the first one burst on the first bite. 爆浆小笼包!


Guess what? The girls at the next table had the crab roe version of dumplings, and this made her want to pig out. So here you go, Crab Roe Dumplings for $11.80++. Each of the dumplings had crab roe mixed into the mince pork filling. He didn't feel that this was worth it, as the price was double that of the vanilla pork dumplings.


Last but not least, 10% discount on A la carte items with DBS/POSB credit cards.

05 November 2010 stew day

she bought some groceries the night before, and finished cooking them all the very next day.

unagi fried rice - a little soggy for rice, but the texture was soft enough to be passable as porridge. she remembered added some soy sauce, teriyaki sauce in the mix to achieve this. talk about "feel for cooking"...


stewed eggplant with bean sauce - slightly spicy, soft tender flesh. he prefers this to steamed ones that has texture like sponge.


later in the day, they went out shopping where she bought her lancome mascara, some tee shirts for him, and then ushered themselves into Pepper Lunch. they were having a promotion for some combos, and they opted for the rib-eye and beef stew set.

you've seen enough of the sizzling rib-eye before, now for an eyeful of the beef stew. (actually, the stomach had taken over the mind, and by the time he had realised, it was all too late...)

the last time he had this stew was dinner buffet at Hotel Rendezvous. loves how the meat falls apart, with some soft chewy tendons in between. not forgetting the carrots so soft you can pinch apart with delicate chopsticks, onions so sweet and the flavourful potato mash. he can hear his stomach growling again...

25 May 2010 in Taiwan

a busy day of moving. moved to jia yi the previously day and checked in at tang ye motel. this was his bedroom


this day was another day of moving, went to royal secrets motel but had to wait until 6pm before they could check in. so they decided to check out another colleague's room.

open concept bathtub with TV and a waterfall just beside. equipped with rainshower.


dinner was shabu shabu, and they had the fresh, fat and succulent oysters. wide selection of food, not forgetting the cuts of beef and pork.


next up was reunion dinner, however it seems like he only has a picture of the fried rice. must have been too busy with the food again


the couch in his room, after finally checking in.

brinjal with mince beef and omelette rice 01 Feb 2010

fried omelette rice using the new frying pan - egg was too dry, but rice was just nice, as she added the condiments in a controlled manner, rather than throwing them in all at once without tasting.


brinjal with mince beef - she tried to deep fry the brinjal with a lot of oil, and after cooking, the oil seemed to have dried up. a very unhealthy meal awaiting...oil-charged brinjal with mince beef

multi-course dinner

yet another day of sleeping in. got up late noon to start preparing for dinner.

brought out the stuff from carrefour the day before, and realised that he had mistaken kangkong for spinach. how embarrassing.

had the wife's special fried rice again, this time with some "flowered" curry flavour chinese sausages.


two "flowers" - on her request


the kangkong that she made


radish soup with pork ribs (maybe a little too much green onions)


xue mei niang - anyone knows the english name for this? used cornstarch, glutinous rice flour, wheat flour, sugar, milk, whipping cream and cherries for this.


there's another dessert in the fridge, sweet potato mash cake, but let's not disturb it now.

[UPDATE]
here's the picture of the sweet potato mash cake