Japanese Set Meals at MOF @ My Izakaya

Went to MOF @ My Izakaya at Tiong Bahru Plaza for dinner. It is having a "Everyday is MOF Day!" promotion now, so there is a different promotion for each day from Monday to Friday. I went on a Thursday and the promotion is "30% off your 2nd set meal with every order of 2 set meals." 

I ordered a Vegetables Hot Pot & Salmon Set ($20.80). It comes with a vegetables hot pot, salmon sashimi, pickles, raw egg and rice. There are 2 soup bases to choose from - sukiyaki soup or miso soup. I chose sukiyaki soup. Usually I enjoy my sukiyaki with pork but this set only comes with beef or salmon, so I had to settle for salmon since I don't take beef. Personally, I don't think salmon taste good when cooked in hot pot, so I ate the salmon slices raw and they taste fresh. The vegetables hot pot is okay. 

My friend ordered the Salmon Set Meal ($19.80) which comes with salmon steak cooked in teriyaki sauce, tori karaage (fried chicken) in tempura sauce, pickles, rice and miso soup. The salmon is good but the chicken tastes salty.   

For dessert, I ordered a Macha Imo ($6.80). Macha Imo is soft ice cream served with green tea sauce, red bean paste and Japanese sweet potato. The hot sweet potato tastes heavenly when eaten with the cold ice cream . I love it! 

By the way, each set meal also comes with a cup of tea or coffee. Overall, I find the set meals average. But, the Japanese desserts at MOF @ My Izakaya is a must try! 

MOF @ My Izakaya: 

302 Tiong Bahru Road, #02-16/17/18, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Singapore 168732

Fried Kuay Teow Mee @ Seah Im Food Centre

As direct as it is, the stall name of this Fried Kuay Teow Mee at Seah Im Food Centre is simply ""Fried Kuay Teow Mee". No fancy name, and the best part is a plate of the Fried Kuay Teow Mee (also known as char kuay teow) only cost S$2. Where can you find such an affordable price in Singapore？

Though cheap, the char kuay teow did not disappoint me. A very basic dish with the very traditional ingredients like cockles, fishcakes, the noodles and kuay teow was not too dry. Though greasy, but that is what a plate of char kuay teow is about - Is ok to spoil yourself once in awhile to indulge in "high-calorie'' local delight. There are also other price options available. 

Besides fried kuay teow mee, the stall also sells fried carrot cake, fried hokkien mee etc all for just S$2. It is located at Seah Im Food Centre which is just opposite Vivocity and near to our tourist attraction - Sentosa. Grab a bite at this food centre before you head to shopping or visit Sentosa. 

Seah Im Food Centre

2 Seah Im Road 

Stall #01-26

Yuan Yang & Teh C @ Toast Box

Toast Box is a cafe that sells traditional Singaporean beverages and food. Its signature beverage and food are traditional Nanyang (South East Asia) coffee and toast. There are many branches all over Singapore, and I dropped by the one at Suntec City the other day to rest my tired feet after shopping for hours. 

I ordered a cup of Yuan Yang ($2). Yuan Yang is actually coffee with tea, a popular way of drinking coffee and tea in Hong Kong. The taste is unique and the caffeine kept me alert for the rest of the day. 

 

My friend ordered a cup of Teh C ($1.80). Teh means tea while C refers to milk. Thus, Teh C is milk tea. I tried some of my friend's Teh C which is sweet and fragrant. I like it more than my Yuan Yang.    

Toast Box: 

1 Raffles Boulevard, #B1-126/127, Tower 5, Suntec City, Singapore 039593 

Mango Desserts @ Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert

Went to Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert at VivoCity for, well, dessert. As a mango lover, I was delighted to see the variety of mango desserts on the menu.  I ordered Mango Crystal Pearls and Grass Jelly ($5.30), Mango Pomelo Herbal Jelly ($5.30) and Mango Aloe Vera Sago ($5.30).

 

Among the 3 mango desserts, I like Mango Pomelo Herbal Jelly the most. Herbal jelly is supposedly good for the skin and helps to clear the body of heat and toxicity. Eaten on its own, herbal jelly has a slight bitter taste which I don't like. However, when served this way, the sweetness of the mango and mango syrup hid the bitterness of the herbal jelly.

Overall, I give this shop a thumb-up for the variety and creativity of its desserts. However, I find the desserts too sweet because I think they added too much mango syrup. For Hong Kong style mango desserts, I prefer another shop - Honeymoon Dessert.

Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert: 

1 HarbourFront Walk, #B2-25A, VivoCity, Singapore 098585 

East meets West Casual Dining @ KungFu Paradise

The concept of KungFu Paradise is "East meets West", which means it serves both Asian and Western cuisine. For Asian food, there are Hong Kong style rice and noodle dishes, Thai Tom Yam soup, etc. For Western food, there are pasta, burgers, grills, etc. A great place to go to when you are with a group of friends and everyone wants to eat something different.   

The Seafood Chilli Crab Pasta ($10.90) is a "East meets West" dish which serves pasta in our local chilli crab sauce. To my surprise, the chilli crab sauce tastes authentic and goes well with pasta. This dish may be a tad spicy for some but as a spicy food lover, I love it!    

The Chicken Cutlet "Babe" Rice ($10.90) is a Hong Kong style baked rice dish. And yes, I didn't spell the name wrongly. That's the restaurant's idea of humor, I guess. You can choose to have the baked rice with tomato sauce, cream sauce or curry sauce. I chose the curry sauce. The curry is Japanese curry, which means it tastes more sweet than spicy. The chicken cutlet is crispy  on the outside and tender on the inside, yummy!  

The French Toast with Ice Cream ($4.90) is normally served with vanilla ice cream, but I requested for chocolate ice cream instead and got it. It was also served with a bottle of maple syrup. The french toast tastes like doughnut, and tastes better with the maple syrup than with the ice cream.

Overall, the food is good and the price affordable. The restaurant absorbs GST and service charges, which means the price you see on the menu is the net price you pay. However, it charges 30 cents for a glass of water.

KungFu Paradise: 

2 Jurong East Central 1, #01-07, JCube, Singapore 609731

Herbal Roast Duck & Chinese Cuisine @ Dian Xiao Er

Yesterday was Father's Day in Singapore. My family and I headed down to Dian Xiao Er, a Chinese restaurant in Vivocity, for a celebratory dinner. The queue outside was very long when we arrived at 6.30 pm. The waiter passed us some menus and we placed our order while waiting for a table. When we got our table at 7 pm, our food was served almost immediately. We were impressed by the efficiency. 

Dian Xiao Er is famous for its herbal roast ducks, so of course we had to order that. In fact, we ordered 2 ducks - Duck Roasted with Ten Wonder Herbs ($13.60) and Duck Roasted with Wild Ginseng ($13.90). The herbs are said to be good for health, helping to relieve stress and fatigue, and to restore energy, etc. The taste of the ducks is sweet, but at the same time contains a subtle bitterness of the herbs. Great combination, yummy!      

For our veggie, we ordered Kangkong with Fermented Beancurd ($8.60). The saltiness of the fermented bean curd makes this a great dish to have with plain rice.  

I'm actually a lover of shark fins. However, I seldom eat them in recent years, due to the "Save the Sharks" campaigns that have been going on aggressively. The Fish Maw Thick Soup with Seafood ($16.90) is a great alternative to shark fins. The texture and taste closely resemble that of shark fins we eat at Chinese wedding dinners.

The Stir Fried Frog Legs with Spring Onion & Ginger ($16) is so tender that I feel like I'm eating chicken. The sauce is yummy and goes well with plain rice.  

The Yam Ring Delight ($19.30) is not bad. I wished the chef had put in more vegetables though.

We ordered the Wheatgrass Tofu ($12.60) because it sounds really healthy. The tofu (bean curd) has a smooth texture and the taste of the wheatgrass is subtle, not overwhelming. Quite a special dish which is worth trying.    

Overall, we had a sumptuous and healthy dinner. The signature herbal ducks are a must try!

Dian Xiao Er: 

1 HarbourFront Walk, #02-137/138, VivoCity, Singapore 098585 

  

Saint Marc Cafe @ Vivo City

Tea-time while waiting for dinner. The hot weather made cold dessert much more appealing and thus, we decided to go Saint Marc Cafe. Beside drinks, they serve a range of food from pastries and sandwiches to parfaits and Japanese desserts. It has a free-seating concept and you got to go to the counter to place your order. A buzzer was given to us so to alert us to collect our order at the counter when the order is ready. At the front of the food counter, you can choose the ready-made pastries and at the cashier, you can order the the drinks and desserts. 

We ordered the chococro which is croissant with chocolate filing. It is nice especially when is still warm. The outer layer is crispy while the centre is soft. The chocolate filing adds flavour to the buttery croissant.

Chococro

Next up is the Kyoto Delight which took a while to be ready. One look and we can see the milk soft serve, complemented by matcha ice-cream, red bean paste. mochi and mini rice balls. But as we ate, we discovered the pound cake and cornflakes buried underneath. What a nice surprise and combination for a cup of dessert. Yummy! However, it became too sweet at the end as all the syrup was at the bottom of the cup. 

Kyoto Delight

Will be back to try out their drinks and sandwiches soon! 

Saint Marc Café 

1 Harbourfront Ave, Vivo City 1F #108-110, Singapore 098585 (Harbourfront MRT) 

Opening hours: 10 am – 10pm