Thursday, March 20, 2008

Of shrimps and durian


I was looking at the options for a very late breakfast and made an interesting find of a durian chee cheong fan (rice rolls) down at Beach Road in the Golden Mile Food Centre (#01-86). I've read about them sometime back in the past before and it was some store that was mentioned down in Geylang. The chee cheong fans from the store are all made as you order them, so there aren't any pre-fabricated ones lying dry in some heating mediums waiting to be bought. I thought this durian rendition was pretty good with a rather generous filling of durian puree. It wasn't the most fragrant of durian flesh that I've had, but it was decent. It would have been great if the ground peanuts had been more fragrant rather then tasting flat and lacking of any toasted aroma. On the other hand, the shrimp fillings of the second one which I've gotten weren't anything special at all.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Portuguese Egg Tarts from Lisboa Bakery


This was a place that I probably wouldn't have visited if not for a fact that a co-worker lives nearby. Lisboa (Blk 642 Bukit Batok Central, #01-150, tel: 6563 5423) is a bakery selling Portuguese-styled confectionery so naturally, egg tarts come to mind.

PET aka Portuguese Egg Tarts

I was given a box of these by said co-worker during tea break one day. The crusts look weak, dry and maybe a bit unappealing while the surface of the egg custard didn't not look as charred. Although their looks were not appealing, I decided to give them a try because the strong egg aroma coming from the tarts weakened my willpower to refuse them.

Did not regret as they tasted quite good. The crusts were not too oily and were crispy at some parts. The egg custard were soft and fragrant, making me want to pop another tart in my mouth after I finished the first. I was hoping that the surface was more charred and the tarts were warm. This was my afternoon salvation nonetheless.

Egg tarts anyone?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Milk tea pudding from Tampopo Deli


I picked this one up from Tampopo Deli (#B1-16, Liang Court Shopping Centre, 177 River Valley Road, tel : 6338 7386) thinking that it might taste of milk tea. I was wrong. The little container of milk turned out to be just as it was. A little container of milk. There wasn't any enchantment in them to magically unlock any hidden flavour in the pudding. Nada.

More breakfasting at Simply Bread

Simply Bread, sandwich
Simply Bread, sandwichFunny how firsts can be quickly succeeded by seconds and before you realise it, the third arrives. Then it becomes what we term as a habit. It was just about a week back that I was mentioning about the rarity of myself doing breakfast and what do you know? I'm up for another one again. Actually enjoying this and am looking forward to another the next weekend. By the way, that was quite an expensive sandwich that you see up there. It costed more than $20. If you haven't yet penetrated the disguise, it's the roast beef sandwich from Simply Bread with 2 sunny side ups, 2 strips of bacon and aged cheddar slices. I was overcharged by about $4.50 already for the sandwich before the add ons and those eggs actually costed $6! To add on, Simply Bread simply didn't have a contactable email address from their website and their staff are apparently unaware at all of any feedback avenue for the company.

Simply Bread, sandwich
The sandwich was verifiably, great. Why wouldn't it be considering that it got stuffed with a generous portion of roast beef topped with eggs dripping with runny yolk/sliced cheddar/bacon and then slathered across with whole grain mustard. Almost unhinged my jaw getting a good large bite. Will be hard pressed to find a better sandwich. For now. Was expensive though The cost did leave a a little bitter aftertaste.

Simply Bread, sausage breakfast

Simply Bread, bacon scrambled eggs rollThe sausage brunch platter which was a varietal of the ham steak version that I had previously. Was pretty good as well. I didn't expect these meaty sausages to be packed so taut in their snappy cases. The first couple of bites were literally bursting with juices. The style of the eggs on the side can be chosen. In the case of omelette, there is also the option for fillings as well. I picked mushroom. There were also rolls with bacon and scrambled eggs which they have over at the counter.  Weren't as good since they was pre-made and left sitting for a while. They never heated those before serving.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Peanut Pancakes, Whampoa Food Centre

Yes, I am back at this place again. I couldn't resist the noodles and I found myself seated just in front of the store, chowing down my lunch happily. I couldn't help but notice the stall next to Yu Xing(Blk 91, Whampoa Drive, #01-28 Whampoa Food Centre). The stall owner of Granny's Pancake seemed busy preparing peanut pancakes and pancakes with coconut and red bean filling. Although there was no queue, people are ordering 10 pancakes at a go. Business was brisk.




Eventually I found myself in front of the stall and ordering the pancakes. I like the corners of the pancakes because of the crispy thin sides. The peanut mixture contains finely ground peanuts and finer granules of sugar which made the pancake a delight to chew!

This pancake is the kind with thick skin with a generous serving of the peanut filling. As it was piping hot when I sank in my teeth to the thick skin of the pancake, you only need to chew it a couple of times before it slides in your throat and goes straight to the tummy.

How convenient to have both stalls that sells the kind of comfort food that I crave side by side. The kind that I like. Yummy...

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Sugar Donuts



Donut innards!

I like them. There are so many flavours out there these days that I have grown to appreciate these plain sugar donuts. What I like about this particular sugar donut stick from Gin Thye Cake Maker (Blk 152 Bukit Batok St 11, #01-264, S650152) is that it has an "old school" fried donut taste. The texture is not bread-like or too dense. Tastewise, the light sugar coating provides a crunchy crust, revealing a light and fluffy inside of the donut balls. I could finish 2 sticks of these and not feel guilty.

They have been around since I was young and now that donuts are being repackaged, all these marketing fluff has made them too commercialised making it difficult to find no frills sugar donuts. I would love to know if there are any other places still selling these kind of donuts which are not located too far in the west. Now, on to the second stick...