Gula Melaka Cake at Assembly Ground

 Went to Assembly Ground a while back and had this really awesome cake. It's like ondeh-ondeh in cake form. Unlike the local versions of gula melaka cakes which are usually steamed and are usually very light and airy, this one is an ang-moh style cake with robust cake layers infused with the smokiness of gula melaka, topped with lucious frosting and desiccated coconut. The cake's from Maple and Market, which is somewhere in the East, and I have yet to go there.

They had so many interesting cakes including a nutella/peanutbutter cake, which I really wanted to try but we were so stuffed from chicken collagen ramen we really couldn't eat anymore cake.

The main reason we came here was cos MT bought green tea latte for $1.50 on one of her food apps and she had to use the coupon... Green tea latte was apparently not bad, but I was too freaking stuffed.

Btw, I really hated their pokey metal chairs - I was wearing a dress and the stupid chair left imprints on my legs. Really uncomfortable. Possibly don't want too many people occupying the space and loitering around... Wear jeans if you are visiting - you have been warned.

The Assembly Ground
#01-21 The Cathay
2 Handy Road
Tel 67333375
Closed on Mondays

Croute

Went for a post call brunch at Croute, which is the sister restaurant of the now defunct Hummerstons (which serves delicious poutines). It's located in a very very sleepy Valley Point, which has so many renovations. I don't know why people go there cos there's hardly anything to do (besides to do yoga). 

Actually, Croute only opened at 10, so we went over to Lins Smoodees first (legs too tired after not sleeping the whole night). Of course, after eating, we have negated all the antioxidant benefits of the green smoothie...

 I had the pulled pork sandwich, which had really nicely marinated pork, coleslaw and a crusty bread. Not bad ( I think this was about $13 or $14?) though it was a bit messy to eat cos of all the sauce.

Extremely messy I must emphasise - I was eating like a barbarian with my hands...

 The bread platter was better than expected - we were crazy over that green dip in the middle, which is actually edamame with truffle oil. Who would have guessed that such a combination would be so heavenly! If I have the luxury of time, and not have to sleep early, I would love to  have to buy a jar of this stuff home, lie on my sofa and watch a good movie.

The other dips were not bad, but compared to the edamame dip, paled in comparison. The babaganoush (eggplant) dip was not bad. The hummus was too garlicky for my liking (if you're looking for good hummus I would suggest Pita Pan, which has awesomely creamy hummus)

The truffle carbonara pasta looked really strange, with the egg being more of a scrambled egg - but taste wise it was tasty, with lots of truffle and mushroom.

Croute (by Hummerstons)
#01-11 Valley Point
491 River Valley Road
Tel9740781
Monday to Sunday 10am to 8pm

Santouka Ramen

The first time I tried Santouka Ramen, when it opened its flagship store in back in 2008, before smartphones (the horrors of having to live without my smart phone, GPS and internet on the go).

The pork cheeks are still as delicious as I remember them to be. The broth creamy, slightly salty (can request for less salty when you order) and has a robust pork flavour.

The pork cheek - which has one side of fats, and the other side of really soft melt in the mouth meat - it has a different texture from the regular charsiew which comes with most ramne. Also, there's black fungus, sliced spring onions, bamboo shoots and a piece of fishcake.

The noodles, like all good Japanese ramen, came al dente. The average sized bowl is pretty filling, and I was regretting having my dessert before my dinner.

I personally prefer Santouka over Ippudo, because of the pork cheek ramen, and because I like their tonkotsu broth. Plus we had dinner really late and most of the other restaurants were closed.

 The gyoza was not bad, but not spectacular, not remarkable or memorable.

The reason why we were in that part of town, was none other than to eat Ilao Ilao (at least, for me), which is my new ice cream yogurt addiction. I heard that they're opening a new branch in United Square, so all you people near Novena can go hurry down for your yogurt fix (I'm superbly envious btw!). The queue is insane at all times. But I'm such a sucker so I just queue anyway.

Santouka Ramen
Cuppage Terrace
Cuppage Road Singapore 229452
Tel 62351059
Openes from 12-3pm, 5.30-12am

Hashida

This post shall be loaded up with lots of sushi porn - partly because I can hardly remember what I ate just that the experience was so marvellous and delicious, I went into instant food coma after. 

I got the entry level sushi lunch set (Tsubaki), which costs $80++. Unless I'm not paying for it, budget is always a consideration, and I find that the $80 set sometimes gives me the same satisfaction as a slightly more expensive one. 

The meal kicked off with one of my favourite foods - yuba tofu, which is so insanely hard to find here.

 I think this was some white fish (can't remember what exactly)

 Snapper

 Isaki (Grunt fish)

 Katsuo (bonito)

 Hamachi (yellow tail)

 Ultra fresh roe and rice

 Tamago

 Chutoro

 Tuna maki

 Dessert


#02-37 Mandarin Gallery
Singapore 238897
Opened Tues to Sunday
12pm-3pm, 7pm-10pm
Tel 6733 2114

Kilo by Pact

 Kilo is still one of my favourite restaurants in town - however, I'm sad to say that they've stopped serving their awesome sushiros for dinner!! The horrors.

Their blue corn crusted crab cakes with balsamic vinaigrette and roasted red peppers - crab cakes are always a hit amongst all people and these were no exception. They were a little drier and crispier on the outside than the usual crab cakes, but when paired with the roasted red peppers, were just the right texture.

The BBQ pork riblets and parmesan wedges were extremely addictive - sticky soft fall-off-the-bone ribs.

 They have happy hour between 530 to 8pm on Tues to Fridays.

All plates are 16, and you have the option of combining plates so that everyone can try a bit of each.

Stuffed Roasted Figs, walnuts, Danish Blue Cheese, crispy bacon and chives (usual size $20) - it's a heavenly combination with the soft mushy figs, and the intense umami flavour from the blue cheese, paired with the saltiness of the bacon - super delicious and its something that I definitely want to recreate at home.

On the right is the octopus- lime guacamole and flaxseed chips - which didn't have too much lime, and since avocado makes everything taste better, it was polished off in a flash.

The last starter we had was the Tequila cured salmon and roasted Jalapeño crostini (I think that was what we ordered, in the background, but my memory fails me).

 My favourite is still the warm baby eggplant with donburi sauce, marscapone cheese and tempura flakes ($12). It's a warm dish, served with sliced baby eggplants, in a sweetish Japanese sauce, and topped with a dollop of marscapone cheese for creaminess.

 The Kilo Smashburger which has 2 patties, cheddar, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onions on a brioche bun ($23)
No comment here since it's beef.

The squid ink fettucini with sautéed prawns, crispy baby squid, and raw egg yolk ($23)
They ran out of baby squid, so they gave us more prawns instead. I still think their appetisers trump their main courses!

It's a big pity about their non-existent sushiros, I really hope that they can bring those back for diner. Their website's menu was pretty much out of date (sadness cos I was all ready to order their awesome sushiros and pork belly donburi).

Kilo by Pact
#02-16/17/19 Orcahrd Central
181 Orchard Road
Tel 68847560

llao llao

I'm a big fan of frozen yogurt - my favourite is yami yogurt, followed by Yoguru. I prefer the icy/sour tasting yogurt rather than the creamy pseudo-soft serve ice cream kind.

I tried the Sanum ($6.90), which is what most people were having. It's essentially like a yogurt parfait. Don't deceive yourself that this is actually healthy - I'm sure that it packs the same amount of calories. But do eat it if you want a refreshing dessert. It comes with soft serve yogurt, with a choice of 3 fruits, a choice of one 'crunch' (think crushed oreos/chips ahoy/ granola/caramello biscuits etc).

I personally don't like my yogurt with chocolate, cos I think it spoils the taste of the yogurt.
Being the boring person that I am, I got strawberries plus strawberries plus blueberries for my 3 fruit. I got the strawberry sauce, which has lots of strawberry preserves, and caramello biscuits for the 'crunch'.

The yogurt here is quite similar to Yoguru's in taste, but has a creamier texture. I'll definitely be back for more! Probably going to order the same old thing cos I'm so boring.

llao llao
I went to the branch at 313 Orchard #B3-55 but there are 2 other branches:

Singapore Polytechnic 
500 Dover Road Polytechnic Food Court 3 

Marina Blvd
Marina Link #B1-04 Marina Square Shopping Mall

UPDATE
I've written a post on how to Maximise your Llao Llao experience 

Imperial Treasures Steamboat at Ion Orchard

I'm not a big fan of steamboat because I find it very stressful to eat - with people dumping in raw food when I'm trying to take out my cooked food (sure way to get gastroenteritis) and then there's the issue about eating beef. So as much as possible, I try to avoid eating steamboat. However, Imperial Treasures has proven me wrong and I actually was pretty satisfied with this steamboat.

 I was super impressed by their service - I requested to have a 2 sided pot so that the others could eat as much beef as they wanted, and I could have another side for the non beef stuff. At no extra charge. We had the pork bone soup which was highly recommended by our server.

 Something that's I don't get to eat often - the pig liver, which is actually really delicious when cooked just right (like al dente). My grandmother liked this so much that we got 2 more plates.

 Other note worthy stuff - I really liked the siew mai (found it intriguing that we can boil it rather than steam it), assorted balls (pork, mushroom, carp etc), wantons and lamb slices. I also liked this prawn noodle which you could squish out from a plastic bag with an edge cut off, to form a super long prawn noodle. And of course, the quintessential bean curd skin and spinach (not pictured here cos it was already eaten up).

Of course since it's one of the imperial treasures restaurants, you do pay a premium - it's much more expensive than your regular steamboat restaurant, and they charge you a fee for the array of sauces seen in the first photo. I still think that nothing else beats vinegar mixed with spring onions and parsley when it comes to condiments for steamboat (since I have low chilli tolerance). The place is really nice and clean and not stuffy or stinky at all. Still won't choose steamboat as my first choice but  I won't object if anyone chooses it now!

Imperial Treasures Steamboat
2 Orchard Turn 
#04-09/10 Ion Orchard
Singapore 238801
Phone 66369339

Rose Veranda,Shangrila

 Happy high tea at the Rose Veranda - love their sandwiches but they don't have the quintessentially English plain cucumber sandwiches which I adore. No problem cos they have lots of other choices to keep me entertained, along with a sushi/sashimi station.

 The very out of place highly processed crab claw and more sandwiches.

The laksa was not bad - with a very thick gravy and lots of dried prawns. Added lots of crystal prawns, laksa leaf and fish cake.

I really liked the selection of cheeses (but can't beat St Regis) and I ate so much that I felt full till tea time the next day. My digestive system is growing old.

Rose Veranda
Shangri La
Tel 62134486

Uma Uma Ramen

 Outdated post but Uma Uma ramen is still my favourite dry ramen! Saw this in the Lifestyle section in January and couldn't resist going down to try.

 It was Feb so they were having a special Valentines day drinks menu

 Which consisted of appropriately named and decorated drinks

 The obligatory tamago and karaage

 Daikon salad - Uma Uma ramen does one of the most refreshing daikon salads ever! And their bite sized gyoza

 The beef tongue that everyone can't seem to get enough of

 Another appropriately named drink

 The 'Lou Hei' Ramen, which we very unashamedly asked for more chopsticks and then proceeded to do our Lou Hei in the middle of the very quiet bar...

The very delicious dry ramen that I cannot seem to get enough of. With the wobbly half boiled egg, chill oil, char siew with melting fats. Lip smackingly good. 

Uma uma Ramen

01-41 Forum the Shopping Mall

Tel 62350855