Peramakan @ Keppel Club

After watching The Little Nyonya on Ch 8, my family has began searching for a nice Nyonya family restaurant and we finally found it! PeraMakan! The restaurant leads out to a large patio with a beautiful sea view overlooking Sentosa. PeraMakan is open to club members and members of the public for lunch and dinner. Do remember to make reservations as they are very crowded in the night. It's a cozy family restaurant beautifully decor. I heard that the restaurant was previously located at Joo Chiat.

They have non-spicy dishes for children. However, I have started to expose my kids to spicy food. My close friends would know that I love spicy food especially homemade sambal!

We ordered Bendi Goreng (ladyfingers fried with dry prawn sambal). The ladyfingers are not overcooked and maintained its crunchiness. This dish is not spciy enough!

The Beef Rendang (braised beef shin in spicy coconut gravy, served with toasted spiced coconut). The beef is really tender and the gravy superb. We finsihed this dish so fast that we had to order second round!

The Nyonya Ngoh Hiang is a bit disappointing. I felt that the taste is a bit mild, the chef should use more spices. The dish is served with Luak Chye.

 

The Otak Otak Makanan Laut may look dull and dry but it is actually very tasty and fragant. You can find and taste the fresh mackeral, prawns and squids in the otak paste. It is grilled on a kunyit leaf. Yummy!

The Bakwan Kepting Soup is very tasty and nice. The meatballs are made with minced pork mixed with mackerel, crabmeat and bamboo shoots and cooked in chicken & fish stock. For those who are interested to make this soup, I have my own simple recipe. I didn't use mackerek and bamboo shoots and the meatballs taste just as great. The kids love this soup!

Oops! The kids finshed this dish even before I could take a decent pix! The Nyonya Tauhu uses soft tauhu squares which are deep-fried with prawns and topped with crispy fried ginger, spring onions and sliced red chillies. The taucheo gravy is very tasty.

The Sambal Udang uses fresh shelled-prawns stir-fried in fragrant sambal sauce, with  Petai beans. The petai beans taste a little bitter and  pungent. It's like durian, you either like it or hate it. Sad to say, I have yet to acquire the taste! According to the Malays, petai is good for cleansing of the kidney and bladder system. The beans are filled with vitamins and health benefits.

For desserts, you can order their signature Durian Chendol which is topped with durian puree.

You can also try the Sago Gula Melaka which is not commonly found. It is a made from boiled sago pearls served chilled with gula melaka and coconut cream.

However, my fav is still their Apom Berkuah which is a rice flour pancakes served with warm banana sauce. The pancake is adorned with colour from the Bunga Telang (a.k.a Blue Pea Flower). The sauce is a bit sweet but blended very well with the tasteless pancakes.

We enjoyed the food very much and we would definitely be dining there again! The restaurant also have set menu for 10pax and Dish of the Month.

 

Food: Excellent
Service: Excellent
Ambiance: Excellent
Price: S25/pax

 Peramakan
10 Bukit Chermin Road
#03-00 Keppel Club
Singapore 109918

Greenhouse @ Ritz-Carlton

Actually, I'm not the buffet-type person. I tend to eat more than I can handle and in the end don't really appreciate the food anymore. Being a small-eater, I also find that it's not value-for-money since I eat very little. Sometimes, I don't even go for second round.

However, since the buffet spread at the Greenhouse is one of the best in Singapore, I decided to give it a try. There's plenty of choices - salads, Japanese, Cantonese, Italian, Indian, seafood, pastry and desserts!

The cold seafood selection is wonderful with scallops, prawns and oysters. I don't eat oysters these days so I give them a miss. The seafood is really fresh but frankly speaking, I think warm seafood taste nicer than cold seafood. 

The cream of mushroom soup is simply delicious. It uses at least 3 types of mushrooms blended. It's not too creamy or too salty. I don't mind having another bowl of soup!

I'm not a bread person but I decided to try the pastry as they look so inviting. The bite-sized chicken pie is so delicious and the cheese stick is also nice.

The shark fins soup is average as there's more crabmeat than shark fins. However, it's not too stachy or salty.

By now, you should have guess that I am a soup person as I like to drink soup. However, this is not a soup, it's actually an Italian seafood stew. I didn't really take note of the name. The tomato-based soup is very appetizing with a bit of herbs like rosemary and black pepper. The seafood ingredients are very fresh and consist of prawns, cod fish and fish slices.

I know that I shouldn't eat processed meat but just couldn't resist the three sausages. My fav is the German sausage.

I tried the tempura prawns and soft-shell crabs. I found it a bit too oily so didn't go for second round.

There's always room for desserts! My hubby had choc ice-cream and a slice of delicious choc cake. I had mango pudding and a slice of choc cake. I find it interesting that the hotel actually personalized their choc by printing the logo on the choc. It adds a special and personal touch.

I had another scoop of mango ice-cream and some strawberries.

The hotel also serve premium coffee and tea so do ask for them.

Food: Excellent
Ambiance: Excellent
Service: Excellent
Price range: $48/pax

The Ritz-Carlton
Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue, Level 3,
Tel:6434 5288

The White Rabbit @ Harding Road

We have heard so much about The White Rabbit Restaurant and the renowned Executive Chef Daniel Sia so we finally arranged to have lunch there. The restaurant is converted from an old church. I really like the ambience there very much especially the stained glass windows. It give the place a peaceful, romantic and rustic feel. There is also an outdoor bar, a garden and a swing. Harding Road is situated opposite the Botanic Gardens. There are private parking lots outside the restaurant so you don't have to worry about parking issue.

This is an innovative idea. Instead of throwing away your old plates, you can consider using them as wall decorative. It makes the place very homely and cozy.

The restaurant will serve their homemade bread while we wait for our orders to arrive. They offer kids' meal so we ordered hamburger and fish & chips for the kids. This is not a camera trick but the gourmet mini burger is really very small. So I guess they compensated with more fries. The fish fillet is slight bigger and I like the homemade tartar sauce. Actually, it's not that difficult to make your own tartar sauce. You will need mayonnaise, finely chopped pickled cucumber, capers, onions, and fresh parsley. On second thought, I would rather buy them off the shelf.

We ordered Pan Roasted Salmon which is served with confit of fennel and citrus ginger beurre blanc. Fancy isn't it? The presentation looks so nice that I didn't want to spoil it. The salmon is really fresh and quite thick. We also ordered the famous White Rabbit Mac & Cheese which is served with spring vegetables and with a few pieces of truffle. Don't ask me why truffle is so prized and expensive because I also can't appreciate the taste. Nothing unqiue or special to me. Their appearance are also not appealing. So black and rotten-looking! Perhaps I haven't acquired the taste yet.

Info on Truffle

A truffle (pronounced /ˈtrʌfəl/) is a fungal fruiting body that develops underground and relies on mycophagy for spore dispersal. Almost all truffles are ectomycorrhizal and are therefore usually found in close association with trees. As of December 2009, black truffles were sold for about 1,000€ per kilo in a farmer's market and 3,490€ per kilo in a retail saler (Source:wikipedia)

We were not impressed with the food but find them acceptable. So don't set high expectations. We didn't order any desserts as we were quite full. However, we really like the ambience and don't mind going back there for high-tea or bunch.

Do take a look at their creative and unique website. Almost like reading a book, interesting concept, full of hidden surprises.

Food: Good

Ambiance: Excellent

Service: Excellent

Price: $35/pax

The White Rabbit

39C Harding Road Singapore

Tel: +65 6473 9965
http://www.thewhiterabbit.com.sg/




Opening Hours
Weekdays: Noon–2.30pm, 6.30pm–10.30pm
Weekends: 11am–2.30pm, 6.30pm–10.30pm
(Closed on Mon)

Canton-i @ ION Orchard

If you're looking for a quiet place to have a light dinner or supper, this is the place! Canton-i  is the new food outlet at Orchard Ion. The place is beautifully decorated. Very modern and yet cozy. They served tim sum, Cantonese food and side dishes.

For starter, we ordered jasmine tea and lemon grass drink. The lemon grass drink is really refreshing and nice. Lemon grass is believed and proven to aid digestion.

We ordered some side dishes and set meal. The roast pork is simply delicious and crispy. The wantons are tasty as the prawns are very fresh. However, my kids complained that the rice are a bit too dry so I requested for a bowl of sauce.

 

This dish has a unique taste, the chives, bean sprout and dried shrimp blended well together. However, they should reduce the amount of oil for this dish.

The stewed beef brisket is very tasty. Really taste like those I ordered in Hong Kong. The beef is really tender. The white radish is also very tender. Must remember to order this dish.

The Fried Carrot Cake is very normal. The uniqueness of this side dish is the bean sprout. I prefer white fried carrot cake whilst my hubby prefers the sweet sauce type. So sometimes, we have to order 2 plates. However, this is in-between. Not too white and not too dark!

 

I think the highlight of the meal is the rice congee!. It's so smooth and creamy and full of taste (hope it's not MSG). The Cantonese like to boil their congee for many hours. You can order 2 or 3 ingredients so I ordered meat balls, pork slices and fish slices. You can also order pork liver, pork kidney, century eggs, cuttlefish, intestine, etc.

If you are adventurous, go for the abalone congee priced at $38. It is served in a very large bowl and the portion is sufficient for 2-3pax. By the time we finished our dinner, we were too full to order any desserts.

Food: Excellent

Ambiance: Excellent

Service: Good

Price: $20/pax

Canton-i Restaurant

2 Orchard Turn

#03-14 ION Orchard

Tel: +65 6509 8368

Daily: 11am - 10pm

http://www.canton-i.com.my/

TCC ~ The Coffee Connoisseur

Once a while, my Uni friends would organize a gathering  to catch up with each other. No matter how busy I am, I would still find time to meet them. I really  treasure our friendship. Our friendship have strengthen over the years despite our busy schedule  and distance. One of my Uni friends actually worked in KL so we don't get to meet each other so often. So whenever she is in town, we'll definitely find time to meet up. I will reschedule my weekends  appointments like facial and hairdressing so that we could catch up with each other.

So for this gathering, I suggested meeting at TCC, a cozy and quiet place to chit-chat (share). (Hey! My Uni group don't gossip!) We'll share about our working life, family and complaint (de-stress) a bit! Sometimes, we would meet for lunch, dinner but for this gathering, we had afternoon tea! Do you know that TCC offers more than 60 varieties of coffee? If you're not a coffee-drinker like me, you can select other drinks (cafe latte, fruit blends, milkshakes, yogurt drinks, iced teas, sodas, kaffee, etc). Some of you may remembered me as a coffee-addict but I've long given up coffee due to health reasons. However, just smelling the coffee aroma can make me feel awake!

We ordered 2 cups of TCC's Special (premium coffee) and 2 cups of Hazelnut Latte. I like the cute little choc chips cookies that were served together with the coffee. The hazelnut latte is really delicious and creamy.

We also ordered 2 sets of the snacks plate. The snacks are bite-sized but good enough for us. I find the taste of the bak kwa sandwiches really unique. Very fusion! The strawberries dipped in choc are really a treat. The mango and shrimp cocktails are simply heavenly! The taste of the mango really complement well with the shrimp, lettuce and caviar. The raspberry macarons are so crispy and light. This French confection has recently been made popular by cafe and cake shops. I've yet to learn how to make them.  Looking forward to our next gathering!

TCC has 31 outlets islandwide. Their menu consist of breakfast dishes, soup, salads, main course, pasta, sandwich, snacks, desserts and cakes. Their cakes are so delicious that I don't even want to order their main course. At TCC, there's always room for desserts....

Food: Excellent

Ambiance: Good

Service: Excellent

Price: $20/pax

TCC @ Isetan Scotts

350 Orchard Road Level 2 Isetan Scotts Shaw House

S(238868)

Phone : 62355622

http://www.thecoffeeconnoisseur.com/