Kopi Tiam at Swissotel The Stamford is no ordinary coffee shop, but one which is known to gather the best of local dishes with a heavier than usual price tag. Even though most of the hawker food served here easily cost more than $10, locals and tourists come here to savour their signatures such as Fish Head Curry, Laksa, Rojak and Char Kway Tiao.

What many may not know is they actually have some special promotion every month, which all range from Teochew fare, Cambodian dishes, all-things fish, to the most recent authentic Cantonese culinary creations.

The Clay Pot Rice with Chicken, Salted Fish and Pork Sausage ($18) seems to be the must-have, because it is what Chef himself recommended, plus it is one of the few carb dishes on the promotional menu.

I am so used to pouring the dark sauce and oil over my claypot rice, until I saw that the seasoning has already all been added inside. This is so that the rice would not be that dry and can absorb the flavours better. I like the chicken meat pieces inside – well-marinated and tender. Though they could be more generous with the Lak Cheong. Personal preference.

Full Post Kopi Tiam – Satisfy Your Cantonese Culinary Cravings

Kopi Tiam 咖啡店
2 Stamford Road, 2F Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore, Tel: +65 6431 6221
Opening Hours: Mon–Fri: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6pm – 11pm; Sat–Sun & PH: 11.30am – 11pm

Centrepoint has been off the Orchard radar for a while, and I was gladly surprised to see a new Hong Kong café opening at Level 1 within an obscure corner.

What’s a Hong Kong café without a wide-ranging variety of food? The menu is huge, with more than twenty different menu sub-headings to select from – from Hong Kong style dry noodles, ‘Ta Bin Lou’ hot pot, curry spaghetti to cheese baked rice, pasta and noodle soup.

All for an ‘adventure’, I tried the inexplicable combination of cheese “gong zai” noodles with egg and char siew ($10.30). The cheese with instant noodles merged surprising well together, giving a salty creamy tinge. The glazed char siew not only looked temptingly delicious under the light, the slices were both tender and sweet.

Full Post at InSing.com – Causeway Bay Hong Kong Cafe opens

Causeway Bay Hong Kong Café
176 Orchard Road, #01-105/ 106/ 107/ 110/ 111, The CentrePoint (Somersert MRT) Singapore 238843 Tel: +65 6733 3353
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm Daily

Really? Voted the Best for Cantonese Roast Meats? Beating the other big brothers such as Man Fu Yuan, Wah Lok, Hua Ting, Peach Garden and Tien Court – This was amazing (106 votes over 2nd place with 24 votes).

Because the restaurant was empty three times I had been there. And I never even heard of 满恒楼.

The real reason why I was at Prosperity Kitchen – I did not want to eat Ippudo Tao twice in a week. And so I crossed the road to this Hong Kong eatery that was the odd one out in a row of pubs at Mohamed Sultan.

A smiley waitress urged me to go in. And hey, it had scores of TVB stars’ autographs on its wall, including Charmaine Seah, Raymond Lam and Kevin Cheng who had graced the shop. But upon entering, it was an ‘oh-oh’ moment as the eatery was completely empty. I could choose any seat I wanted. It felt like the entire place was booked…. By only me.

One must take note to dress up more appropriately for this dim sum lunch – it is after all the main Chinese restaurant in the 6* St Regis Hotel.

The impression after walking in was grandeur, with elegant table settings, classy chandelier, luxurious chairs and serving staff dressed in stylishly designed uniforms. There was a congenial East-meets-West synergy in its ambience, and one felt like going back in time to olden Shanghai, especially when there was piped music of Lin Dai’s. The fellow patrons were businessmen, Indonesian tai-tais, Japanese couples and European ladies dressed with pearls and floral. And for once, I felt extremely careful taking out my camera to snap.

It was sheer curiosity that made me want to try out Canton-I, very chic east-meets west décor, and prices are a notch higher than Crystal Jade’s for the same kind of food. No queue, try lah.