A pearl in the east of Singapore - Perle Noire

I read another blogger's post on their visit to Perle Noire and I got inspired to post some pictures myself. These food shots were taken in April 2011 when I had a celebration dinner hosted by my colleague who just got promoted. Thanks Zhi Li for the lovely meal!

First off, the fantastically well done Seared Scallops.  Wonderful taste and cooked to perfection. The outside is nicely seared and crisp while the inside is tender and just cooked. Served on a bed of arugula lettuce and some bacon, the simple flavours of the scallop is enhanced by the aromatic bacon. I'll give this 5-stars if I were a critic! Note: I went there in Juky 2011 and this item is no longer on the menu.

Each serving of seared scallops comes with 3, laid on arugula lettuce and bacon topped with roe

Seared scallops

The Perle Noire Juicy Burger is another of my favourites.  There's a reason why it really deserves such an uninspiring name like juicy burger - that's because the thing I like about this burger is its juiciness.  It's not so juicy that it will be dripping with blood but its just right.  The burger is really huge and tasty. I always eat the ingredients separately rather than to squeeze everything together and take a bite.   

Perle Noire juicy burger

The prosciutto wrapped cod fish was a nice touch to the high cholesterol dinner that the rest of us were having.  The balance of the flavours was good.  It also helps that I love mushrooms, fish and arugula lettuce.  =) 

Prosciutto wrapped cod fish

I was a little disappointed with the foie gras.  Not sure if it was because we divided that portion by about 10, so there wasn't really much to taste.  I got mostly the "un-seared" parts and I didn't like it. I'm sure it would be nicer if it was more thoroughly cooked.

Foie gras with apple chutney sauce

The Yorkshire Pork Rack was surprisingly good.  I've tried this a few times and it never failed.  Although its pork, the meat is tender and juicy.  Coupled with the sauce and mashed sweet potato, this combination is almost perfect.

I ordered the Duck breast.  It came with some sauce.. I think it was cranberry or something.  Nice but not as good as my usual favourites - the juicy burger or the pork rack.

Duck breast

One of my colleagues ordered the King prawns with scallop.  Looks good eh?  Too bad I didn't get to try it.

King prawns with scallop

Time for dessert.  The apple crumble was really good.  The crumble was big and chunky. I'm salivating as I'm typing this.. Hahaha

Apple crumble

Really big chucks of crumble. Nice!

Creme brulee with lime sherbet

As you can see, Perle Noire cleverly plays with its choice of flavours and creates great food marriages.  I'll highly recommend this for a nice dinner out with friends.  The prices are reasonable great for the quality of food too! 

Perle Noire is located at Siglap along East Coast Road. Tel: 64481732

The definitive travel guide to Hong Kong (part 4)

This is a continuation of things to do in Hong Kong if you're making a trip there. From my other posts, you would have already been introduced to the places that I'll go to for shopping and dining.

This year, I went to Hong Kong from 13 to 17 July and the timing was pretty good, considering that its just 2 weeks into the annual summer sale.

We had a meal at Tasty Congee and it was quite good.  Someone paid for this meal, so I'm not sure how much the food here costs. But I'd say that this is a good place to have a meal if you're in IFC.  

Tai Cheong Bakery

This is the look of the shop front, which was recently renovated.

The well reknowned bakery on Hong Kong island.  I read up a little about this place because I was curious as to why this place is popular. So it seems that the previous Hong Kong governor Chris Pattern liked the egg tarts here and had a habit of having an egg tart for breakfast. Well, what would a foreigner know about egg tarts right? Same thought I had too.. but I decided to try it out anyway...

So how did the egg tarts taste?  Yummy!  Though I still prefer the Tong Heng egg tarts that's sold in Singapore's Chinatown area, this is pretty good.  One thing I'll say is you have to eat this while its fresh.  I had ever tried this before when a colleague brought one back to Singapore and it was not quite what I tasted when I ate it fresh.

Other than the egg tarts, we also bought the chicken tart and char siew tart.

Char Siew tart/pie

Chicken tart/pie

Next trip: Hong Kong

I'll be going on my annual pilgrimage to Hong Kong next week and I can't wait.  Its been a long 4.5 months since I last travelled and I really miss sitting in the plane.  I promise I'll take lots of pictures of the places I visit, food I eat and places I shopped.  Yes!  Hong Kong here I come.....

Imperial Treasure at Crowne Plaza

The family decided to dine at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport's Imperial Treasure restaurant last night. We ordered a few dishes to just commemorate the long awaited bonus.  Plus 1 July was also the 36th wedding anniversary of my parents so a nice meal is in order...

The highlight of the restaurant must be the Peking Duck because we were the 3rd table to order this even though there were only about 7 tables occupied when we started eating.  At $55 for the whole duck, its certainly cheaper than many other places that offered this dish.  

Peking duck with crackers - $55

The duck skin was nicely roasted and individually wrapped in pieces of "i dunno what".  It kind of reminded me of smaller portions of roti prata except that its nicer and softer.  You can definitely tell that effort has been put into preparing the wraps.  Verdict: I love it.

Peking duck skin with extra sauce - just how I like it

We had the rest of the duck stir fried with ginger and scallion and paid an additional $10 for this dish.  At $65, I still think its quite cheap for 2 dishes-Peking duck skin and stir fried duck. You can also have your duck shredded and minced so that you can wrap it in lettuce (definitely a winner IMO) or stir fried with noodles.  I'm sure there are other options too if you ask the wait staff.  

Stir fried duck with ginger and scallion - add $10 to cost of Peking Duck 

We thought that the charcoal grilled pork neck would sound like an interesting dish to try so we ordered it.  The dish came with more fat than meat and we were disappointed.  Maybe this serving just had a fatter pig than usual but I won't be ordering this anytime soon.   

Charcoal grilled pork neck - $8

We ordered the Soup of the Day that had some kind of gourd, red beans, pork and fish.  The soup was delicious and very tasty.  I suspected that it could be the MSG but I wasn't thirty throughout the dinner nor after, so I think its really the goodness of the ingredients that made the soup so amazing.  Just look at the contents that the wait staff fished out after emptying the soup from the pot.

Next up was beancurd.  The beancurd looked normal at first. Inviting but probably won't rock your socks off...

Beancurd with mushroom and spinach - $14

I was so wrong!  Its very tasty and when I cut it open I saw that its egg beancurd with some mashed vegetables embedded.  Tried it and it gave me the WOW feeling.  Definitely a rating of 9! 

Look at the inside of the beancurd...

The honey pork ribs was a recommendation by the wait staff.  We didn't like it as it didn't taste special and personally for me, I felt that the meat was too soft and didn't have a good feel in the mouth when chewing. I suppose this will be good for old folks who don't have good teeth to chew. lol

Honey pork ribs - $8 each

We originally wanted to order the steamed bamboo clam with vermicelli but ordered the stir fried bamboo clam with asparagus instead.  It tasted quite okay. Not that its bad but its nothing great that would make you go WOW...  Its just what you would expect with good seafood.

Bamboo clam with asparagus $42 for 3 portions of bamboo clam ($12 each)

We had the durian pudding for dessert. At $5 for a small cup its not exactly cheap, but I'll recommend this for durian lovers. Its got real durian pieces inside and this is what makes it so great. Long after dinner you'll still have the durian taste lingering in your mouth.  Tip: don't eat this if you're meeting someone after this meal. :p

Durian pudding - $5

See the durian bits in the durian pudding? That's what makes it so great!

Overall, it was a nice meal and I might come back for the convenience since its in the east.  But it won't be my first choice when it comes to great food when you need a "wow" meal.  

Seafood Paradise at T2

The infamous Seafood Paradise has finally landed at Terminal 2.  The third seafood outlet of this chain, Seafood Paradise started out at humble little Defu Lane.  The second outlet opened at Singapore Flyer and now its also available at Changi Airport.







I haven't had the opportunity to try their seafood yet. So far, I've eaten their lunch sets twice and its pretty good. Each set for airport staff costs $12 and one of the choices is this Stir-Fried Mee Sua with Seafood. The rest of the options for the lunch set can be found here.

Back to the stir-fried mee sua.  It was my choice because of my experience with such mee sua dishes in Hong Kong.  In my other article, I've mentioned that the mee sua in Hong Kong is usually simmered with  stock and therefore the noodles are tastier and noodles slightly wet.  Yummy...

The presentation at Seafood Paradise is great. Served on a hotplate with side dishes, its really appealing although it takes up quite a lot of space on the table.  The noodles are served on top of egg, which is poured onto the heated hotplate before serving. Hence what you get is a nice thin later of egg to go with your noodles.

In the 2 occasions that I had my lunch there, the side dishes have been different. So that's a nice surprise when you get your meal served. Cuz you'll never know what you're gonna get.  For this meal, I had 2 slices of smoked duck, a vegetable dumpling and a prawn fritter.  On the top left, you'll also notice a small cup of green sauce.  That's some sort of chili which is not that spicy but gives the noodles a kick with its tanginess.  

The lunch sets here are pretty good and I suggest you try it if you have the chance to.  I haven't had the opportunity to try out their seafood and other signature dishes.  I'll post reviews after I've tried them. 

Wong Hing Kitchenette

For those who frequent Changi Village food centre, you may not have noticed this stall located at the right-most section.  This stall has the nicest Cantonese style fried noodles at super affordable prices.  Its tze char style food isn't what diners will expect to see in a hawker center, but I feel that's what makes this stall so unique.  

Wong Hing Kitchenette serves the most wicked Shang Mee with bittergourd and pork ribs I've ever eaten!  The "wok-hei" (means that the food has a taste of the fire) is very good and the pork ribs goes very well with the bittergourd when its laid over a pile of crispy fried shang mee.  Lovely!

The price of this plate of shang mee is only $3.80.  Bet you can't find anything similar at that price in Singapore.

One tip though - the hygiene in this stall isn't optimal, so its best that you don't observe how he prepares your food.  But then again, that's how all good food is prepared, don't you agree?

Have you Saboten-ed?

Ever tried the food at Saboten?  Its recently become one of my favourite eating places.  The shredded cabbage salad is so refreshing and the fried katsu is just about the right portion.  Coupled with the amazing sauces, hot steaming rice and a bowl of miso soup, the combination is just heavenly.  As airport staff, I've had a few meals there during lunchtime and we will take the set meals which comprises a portion of fried meat/seafood (depending on what you order), 1 portion of salad, soup, pickle, rice and a bowl of soup.  Its just about right.  Oh, did I mention that the price of $11,90 doesn't really give you much opportunity to consider taking the full set since its quite a good deal for staff.

The salad is just amazing.  Did I just say its amazing?  Oh yes I did.  Its amazing.  The cabbage is cold and thinly shredded, so its just like eating alfalfa, except that it doesn't really taste like rabbit food.  Then there's the sauces that you can add to the salad - one is the sesame sauce while the other is some orange flavour.  I kinda like to alternate both.  The sesame sauce is fragrant and has a thick rich aroma whereas the orange flavour sauce is sweet and gives a kick.  It somewhat reminds me of eating cold soba.  Yeah, the sauce kinda tastes like that.  Sweet and a little sour.  Add that to cold, shredded cabbage and its a winner.



Salad with sesame sauce added

Eating the loin katsu or tenderloin katsu allows you to have some fun too.  The server will give you a bowl of sesame seeds and you'll have to grind them using the wooden stick that comes with it.  Once you start grinding, you'll start to smell the aroma of the sesame seeds.  

I am pretty sure they've been roasted before, hence the fragrance.  After you're satisfied with the grinding, you can add the tonkatsu sauce.  Add more for a more watery dip, but watch out as that also means you dilute the sesame flavour.  I suggest 4 scoops for the right intensity.  

The fried tenderloin isn't too oily and is best eaten hot.  The wire mesh prevents the katsu from soaking up any excess oil (not that there is any).  See how lean the meat is?

But when you have a chance to dine there during dinner, that's when you get to experience the never-ending portions of salad, soup and rice.  Not that you need another bowl of rice, but the thought of that already makes dinner worth it right?

Yummy!

Saboten at Terminal 1 currently has a 20% offer for diners.  They will hand out dining vouchers at the Departure hall, just when you're about to step onto the escalator.  Otherwise, any airport staff pass will give you the same discount.   That should work out to be $20 after discount.  Pretty good huh?

Bangkok guide (part 2)

Dining in Bangkok is generally quite easy.  Food is cheap and widely available.  Take this for example - Nobu Shabu is a Japanese shabu shabu restaurant that offers both ala carte and buffet dining.  For buffet, you'll only be paying 399++, which works out to be about 520 baht or S$22 per head.  Considering that the quality of food is good & it is healthy, I'll highly recommend this restaurant to any visiting Singaporean.  Just take note that you'll be required to compete your meal in 1.5 hours if you're having the buffet.  

I found this restaurant by accident some years back when I was in Bangkok alone.  I never found another place that offers such delicious food.  The soup base becomes really tasty after you've had 1 round of vegetable & meats cooked in it.  The meat is very thinly sliced (as with all shabu meat), so you can eat it easily and without guilt since its lean. 

Nobu Shabu is located on level 7 in zone B, near to the cinema.  Best if you can drop by earlier in the day to make reservations but if not, you'll probably won't have to wait too long.  Opens from 10am to 10pm. 

These sauces are available for you to conjure up your own dip. As you like it

The selection of vegetables, squid, beef, chicken & pork

 

My dip with a generous helping of garlic, spring onions, bean paste, a dash of shabu sauce and losta vinegar!

Our pot filled with vegetables & lean meat. Very healthy! 

 If you walk around Central World, you may come across this massage and spa outlet.  You may think that it would likely cost more since its so well done up, but no.  Prices are the same as anywhere else.  I had a nice foot massage and I'm pretty satisfied with the ambiance and massage.  

City-Airport
Now for the final piece of advice.  This is probably the best thing that has happened to Bangkok in a long time.  The new airport city rail has 2 lines.  One that's express and plies between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Makkasan railway station.  The airport city rail station is located at Basement 1 of the airport.  This will cost you 150 baht one way.  From Makkasan station, you'll need to take a taxi to wherever you're staying.

The other line is also part of the BTS line (I think).  It goes beyond Makkasan station to Phaya Thai station and its only going to cost you 45 baht.  After you get to the last station at Phaya Thai, get out and walk to the Sukhumvit line.  The BTS station has the same name Phaya Thai.  The duration of travel on this airport rail is about 25 minutes and I think the interval is 20 minutes.  Pretty fast if you don't have to wait for the next train and convenient if you're not with lots of luggage.  Once you get to the Sukhumvit line, go to wherever your hotel is and viola!  Its easy to navigate and you can always ask for help if you need.

Have fun!