Daniel’s Food Diary

As Chinese New Year approaches, here’s a little recipe for a simple dessert that can make 12-16 muffin-like cakes to be shared. With soft fluffiness, sweet aroma and the slight taste of Mandarin oranges, it’s an auspicious start to the New Year. This is good opportunity to use some of the Mandarin oranges that you do not know what to do with as well.

Ingredients:
3/4 Mandarin Oranges
3 Eggs
180g sugar (or custard sugar)
180g butter (unsalted and loose)
170g self-rising flour
1 tsp vanilla essence

Steps:
1. Boil the mandarin oranges in one cup water for about 90 minutes. Remove the seeds of the mandarin oranges and mix into a pulp. Leave the skin of the oranges in.

2. Sift together self-rising flour, then add vanilla essence, set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together butter and sugar first.
4. Then add in self-rising flour and eggs and whisk till ribbon stage. (Add in a little flour, then a little egg and a little flour in sequence, rather than all at the same time.)

5. Mix in mashed oranges, beat till combine.
6. Line Muffin Cups with floor and butter.

7. Pour Batter into muffin cups.
8. Steam over high heat for 30mins or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Verdict
The cakes are healthier and store quite well. Some say that the texture reminds them of a mini and fluffier ‘Huat’ cakes. Serve them warm with vanilla sauce or ice cream and a slice of Mandarin orange. Yumz!

It started with the wedding of Jamie and Kristin. They wanted a different and creative souvenir for their wedding guests, and what was more apt than their favourite candies from Australia customised with their names.

Fast forward two years later, their daughter is a year old, and their Sticky shop at Central one and half years in operation. Jamie and Kristin left their day jobs and ventured into the risky franchise business of candy-making, doing what they enjoy eating.

Although tucked at a little corner of basement one, it is hard to miss the bright pink walls and colourful lollies of various flavours. Sticky offers hand-made candies, and the lollies are created right before your eyes at their shop front. All confectioners have to go through a blind-test, making a batch of sweets from start-to-end blindfolded.

You can choose from a varied mix of selections from Watermelon Rock, Acid Drops, Banana, Lychee Pillows and Strawberries & Cream. If you are wondering, yes, Durian is still in the making.

And while typing this, I am trying their popular “Acid Drops”, probably inspired by our familiar “Super Lemon”. Take a first suck, and you would go “Wah” and immediately wake up if you are droned by boring work. And as you continue with your suck, you appreciate the citrus-sweet robust-zesty taste.

For some sweet treats for the festive period next week, their Valentine “I Love You” or CNY “Tiger” are already available. Or customise some like “I Love XXX”, “Hug Me”. And yes, Chinese words inclusive. I saw a bottle with the words “Customer Satisfaction” within, and that’s quite a handful of words to be squeezed into a candy rock.

In a white building filled with disputes, there is a little shop that offers sweet treats.

It may seem to be a little mix-fit, but this reminds us that amidst the serious legal business, there’s always time for sugar comfort. Maxwell Chambers have become a place where arbitrators and lawyers come to settle commercial disputes, and Once Upon a Milk Shake aka OUAM (pronounced ‘ohm’.) is a milkshake and ice cream concept store right at the entrance.

I was conducting a course for some foreign judges at the Chambers when a pamphlet of cartoon characters caught my eye. Agent Strawberry, Cerious Maple, Vainilla Pot, Pirate Queen Peach are just some of the stylistic characters and corresponding flavours of the milkshake and ice cream.

Getting a scoop of Agent Strawberry, the gung-ho lady with pink hair, just adds more fun to the usual ‘strawberry flavour’. And my personal favourite is Nutty Peanut Butler that has a delightful crunch to a smooth milkshake. Overall, the ice cream has a milky taste and rich texture, a feel that many will enjoy.

With an interior design that looks like it’s lifted straight from the IKEA catalogue, owner Alvin Teo perhaps brought the design element a level further. Call him a perfectionist or being obsessive, his purist take of the colour purple and eye for detail made this a café I would like to own. (Because I am one who likes to coordinate colours.) While you think that only the posters, décor, accents, bowls, untensils are purple, I observed that their table rags, pens and water spray for cleaning tables are also purple!

He was one of the urbanites working at Tanjong Pagar that could not find something that satisfied his craving for ice cream. And he landed up opening one his own to cater to the working crowd at the CBD.

The name of the cafe gives a clue of a fairytale concept, with the theme down to the butterfly-shaped bowls and butterfly wall design. A candlelight dinner on Saturday nights just adds on to a rather magical ambience. This may be irrelevant information, but the serving staff is a pair of very soft-spoken and sweet looking sisters who reminds me of princesses.

‘Bench & Bar’ is often related to judiciary and legal matters, and the name of this new Burger place gives you the clue that it is opened by a lawyer. Well, it is opened by none other than celebrity chef and ex-lawyer Willin Low, owner of Wild-Rocket, Wild Oats and Relish. You know, that handsome chap that always appear on TV.

Burger Bench & Bar, otherwise known as B3, occupies where Subway used to be at Cineleisure, one of the most prominent spaces at this popular place. With tables shaped like school-canteen benches, it is a suitable hangout place for groups of friends. And the 3rd – B ‘Bar’ is because there is Asahi beer on tap. How wrong can a combination of burger and beer be?

Now, at burgers priced at $8.00, a meal can off-set you by $11.80 with a $1 add-on for potato chips and $2.80 for a drink. That is a lot pricier than the fast-food restaurants around within walking distance.

But people are willing to pay for ‘real’ food – because this is as close as gourmet burgers as you can get. I had a Saute Mixed Mushroom Beef Burger, and the beef patty was a lot more juicy, tasty and substantial than ‘those ordinary burgers’. I overheard a patron from the next table saying “This is Amazing!”

The truth was I was a little suspicious when asked if I was willing to top-up a dollar for chips. There the imaginary of ‘those cheap packaged potato chips’ appeared in my head. I was wrong, and what I got were actually home-made yellow and purple russet potato chips that are crunchy and crisp with an authentic potato taste. And my friend couldn’t stop nibbling at my chips.

The Japanese Curry Chicken Katsu Burger could do better with a sweeter curry sauce and more tender chicken, but this interesting recipe is still worthy of a try. And like a child eating his first big burger, I made a little mess, and wished there was some cutlery.

Do not give the Dark Chocolate Soft Serve a miss. Jelat (rich), creamy and not as watery, it adds a final sense of satisfaction to end off the meal.

When somebody names a restaurant after him/herself, you would figure that this place may mean a lot to the owner and can reflect the personality and taste.

It is not surprising that you can often find Lena Sim, also the person behind the Japanese eatery and desserts chain Ministry of Food, hanging around the newly opened restaurant at Bugis.

Starting with the concept, it sells every from American to Italian and ice-cream to beer. And upon meeting her, she gives a very gung-ho, dare-to-try vibe, yet with a touch of fun and casualness. Therefore, the wide variety of food here is not only to attract the mixed and varied crowd at Bugis, but to reflect the everything-must-try attitude of Lena.

The handmade thin crust gourmet pizza I had was light and well-garnished with greens, suitable for those who want a guilty yet healthy treat. While the setting for the restaurant is casual, the taste of the food still indicated a certain quality expected at a finer restaurant.

A special mention is the smoked duck salad. While I am not a total fan of duck meat because of its usual toughness, this version would melt in your mouth and the tangy sauce added a sweet flavour to balance it off.

I was urged to try the Signature Ice Mint Tea – inspired when Lena Sim traveled to London and tried a similar version. This cooling thirst quencher with blended mint came in an over-sized mug, best for a hot day with a group of friends. Mind you, I only managed to drink my second cup, because Lena Sim ‘ordered’ her staff to switch the first one because it is not up to perfection.

From the food to the decor, customers may feel that the theme is slightly messy and random. Also, reviews from various sites have been mixed, especially on the service. Perhaps it just needs a bit of time to fine-tune and understand what the customers want.

Order your food with a talking pen? Ridiculous it may sound, but trust the Japanese to come out with something like this.

Ebisboshi Shotengai, the new gimmicky place which gathered 7 Japanese restaurants at Iluma, attempts to make your ordering a breeze. (I shall talk more about the food next time as it was surprisingly better than expected.)

So here’s what happen
a) You scan the pen over the food on the menu to select the item you want
b) Scan over a quantity you want (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
c) You get to review, cancel or confirm
d) Walah…. Job and food delivered, without even need a waiter

Save cost, save time, save the trouble. That’s supposedly the Ideal situation. Supposedly.

There were certain moments when I felt like a total i****, trying frenziedky to scan the pen over my Kani Nabe. Waitress walked over and said “It’s really simple.” Nah-Nah. She scanned for more than 10 times, gave up and got another menu. She didn’t have the choice to get a paper.

Same waitress came to my table to check several times. Fortunately, I only wanted to order 2 items. I wanted to cancel my drink actually, but gave up because I can’t find the word “cancel” or “order zero” on the menu.

The pen talks and repeats your order by the way. You know, that robotic voice. Kind of amusing.

I wonder what would happen if I wanted more vegetables, add an egg to my soup… oh, and with chilli power, two extra bowls, and iced water. Or can the talking pen explain to me what’s the Special of the Day?

Apparantly, the entired Pen system cost about $160,000. It can reduce up to half of the serving team and cashiers. It was fun but a tad too frustrating.

The very idea of having a hair saloon and a café together seems crazy. You must thinking what I am thinking – What happens if there is extra ‘ingredients’ in my pasta?

Owner CK assured me that the hygiene standards are in place, and the hair cutting area is a distant away. Plus, having such combinations is a common sense in other countries. So bored boyfriends can surf and have their tea while their girlfriends have a makeover on the other side.

This used to be a huge CD shop, which has given way to a very homely place merging hair services and food temptations.

You may have seen Hairloom and Caramel in some fashion or entertainment magazines. It’s a colourful area of mismatched furniture which blended well together. The décor comprising of kopi tiam tables, upholstered chairs, hand-decorated walls and transformed sofas given new covers, is cutesy, whimsical and quirky.

The owners, huge fans of Japanese food, spun up some West-meets-Jap menus with the likes of Soy Sauce Chicken Breast Salad in Plum Sauce Dressing, Unagi Sandwich with Crispy Seaweed and Japanese Mayo, Bacon Sandwich with Sliced Cheese and Japanese Mayo, and Chicken Spaghetti in Goma Sauce. Customers found the new take and experimentation hugely refreshing.

The major selling point is the Cupcakes – always different and delightfully pretty. Custom-make yours for some occasions like birthday parties and weddings. You may have special flavour requests like their sinfully good Apple Crumble Cupcake, shhh…. Don’t say I told you.

Located at Tanjong Katong Road, the ice cream-makers got their location right considering the proximity to schools such as Tanjong Katong Girls, Tanjong Katong Secondary School and my alma mater Chung Cheng High. I went there on a Saturday, but could very well imagine the potential crowd it could attract, knowing how this can be a great and colourful hangout place for the young. And this, is one stretch of unpublicised shophouses where interesting food eateries assemble.

When asked what the secret recipe to LICK was, the two owners just said it was a matter of try and error. And when they had the opportunity to open a shop, they had the “Just Do It” mentality. They had the passion and love for ice cream, which was their main driving force. Brave indeed.

Therefore, armed with an ice cream machine and a year of experimentation, without attending any special classes or having a ‘shifu’, the sisters-in-law pair managed to come up with 30 different ‘local’ flavours. Their other selling point was to include mix-ins such as nuts, cereals and chocolates, blended together on a special granite slab.

I bought 4 flavours of Kaya Toast/Nutella and Lychee/Mango combinations. The fruity mix was easily the more popular one among my friends, getting favourable comments that the ‘Hawaiian tasting combi’ was cooling, refreshing yet not too sweet. The Lychee flavour was unusually very creamy, done on purpose by the owners to differentiate from the lychee sorbets available elsewhere. The ‘Breakfast combi’ felt a little more ordinary, and some crispy toast mix-ins should add more crunch and oomph.

The texture of the ice cream reminded us of those sold by those push-carts uncles when we were young – thick, milky and dense. Best tried by slowly licking indeed. Delightful in its own way.

LICK gathered the winning formulas of the other ice cream cafes – proximity to schools, local-made flavours, mix-ins. cosy and colourful ambience, and a photo display board. My little take is this new kid on the block can be more creative on their flavours to the untried such as Ice Kachang, Bobo Cha Cha and Cheng Teng to get a winning edge.

Watami Group: founded in 1984 by Watanabe Miki at the age of 24.
This branch at Ion Orchard: 631th branch in the world. No joke.

Number of friends in this group dinner: 6.
Number of dishes + dessert ate: 15.
Price paid each: $20.50 (Cheap! considering location)

Number of dishes to be recommended: A few. Hotate Butter Yaki (Sinfully delicious), Sapporo Miso Ramen (Thick and salty), Sukiyaki Nabe (Tasty, but the portion can be better), Wafu Hotokuchi Steak (Tender), Irodori Sushi Grandeur (Colourful), Hot Choco Brownie (Must order!)

Number of waitresses who served us: 3
Number of waitresses who knelt down to take orders: 2 (When asked why, she turned red-faced and she said it’s a show of good service standards and gratitude to customers.)
Number of hand waves to get attention of a Watami waitress: 6
Time needed for waitresses to walk over after acknowledgement: 70 sec (Too many people lah)

The overall Watami experience was a pleasant one, due to the large variety of Japanese quality food. My friends and I decided that almost everything we tried were good, except the Tempura. The fried Ebi had the “I-can-fry-the-batter-better-at-home” taste, so give the Tempura a miss. Service can be a little slow due to the heavy weekend crowd. The interior design had a homely, cosy yet classy feel so it’s an appropriate place for dates or group outings.

Therefore, I was quite full of anticipation for several days, wondering if it was even better than Miharu or Marutama. And I found it at an inconspicuous spot, a little stall named Menya Kaiko (麺屋 開高). And later found out that Menya Kaiko has several stalls there in a city call Obihiro, as well as inside the New Chitose Airport at Sapporo.

What caught my attention was the King Crab Ramen at $29.80. Who would pay that kind of price, really? Tell me if you would pay $30 to eat something at a basement food mall.

I went by my theory of ‘When in doubt, just order the best seller or chef’s recommendation’. All right, Hokkaido Kaiko Ramen it shall be. Which comes in Red Miso, White Miso or Soy Sauce.

I know my mother will scold me at I pay $12 to eat ‘instant noodles’, but she just doesn’t know that Hokkaido Ramen is DIFFERENT. Ah, the QQ texture and strong bite of the noodles, with a healthy shade of yellow. Some ramen just look sickly pale.

When my Red Miso ramen arrived, I took a deep breath of the stock, trying to remind myself of the wonderful holiday I had in Tokyo. And first sip of the soup was……Ah. Not bad, not bad. Not as salty as some of the others, quite a bit of oomph, and thick enough to make you feel this is real stuff.

Although I finished the whole bowl, I can’t quite say I liked it a lot so much that I must try again. Perhaps I was not happy with the egg (one dollar extra) which wasn’t as runny as I wanted to.

And when I paid, the price was 30 over bucks for 2 bowls! Oh, service charge and GST really kills. Menya Kaiko is more tasty better than many ramen chains out there, with the service staff giving it a very ‘Japanese feel’. Maybe it’s just me. I feel that the basement 4 concept at Ion is just a ‘modified food court’, and I may not be that willing to pay premium prices for something I can have at a proper restaurant.