Sunday, January 10, 2016

Praelum Wine Bistro @ Duxton Hill

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Visited this place for the November baby's birthday. The factors that were taken into consideration; nearby parking, wine, decent food and cosy ambience. Plus, this place is new to all of us in the group (don't we all like to find new places to dine?).

Reservation was easy via Hungrygowhere. Was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from Gerald (Praelum) on the mobile and he asked whether we had any dietary restrictions, and also if we would like to arrange anything for the birthday girl. Thought that was rather nice of him.

cosy
our table

The place was fairly relaxed at about 7+ in the evening. The food menu has limited choices, and later on, we discovered that the food portion of the mains were just about the same as the tapas. Gerald was very friendly and was on-hand to recommend food and drinks.

food menu

Complimentary bread basket was served while we waited. This was really useful, as on that night, the food that we ordered, were arriving very slowly. The bread had a nice crust and soft on its inside.

complimentary bread

Tarte flambé was highly recommended to us. A dish that originated from Alsace, France. Thin crust, light, savoury and crisp. Indeed it was rather nice and tasty and we did two orders of this.

The other appetiser that we had, was the five-spiced calamari. Nothing remarkable and a tad too salty, unfortunately.

Tarte flambé with portobello, onions and gruyère @$18++

Five-Spice Calamari with sesame mayo dip @$16++

Ordered some meats as our stomach was still grumbling. Was informed that one of their must-try is the Pork Parcels. This has been around in their menu for the longest time. Also tried a new dish, the Grilled Chipotle Chicken.

Pork Parcels @$22++
Grilled Chipotle Chicken with mango relish @$20++

The meats were all good. The pork parcels consist of herbs, cream cheese and mushroom. We were sharing this amongst the four of us, so cutting it open was indeed a messy affair. Tasty and flavourful. The chipotle chicken was slightly spicy and the mango relish was a good pairing for that sweetness against the smokey spicy flavour.

For drinks, we had a bottle of De Stefani Prosecco Zero. Nice hue of light straw colour, bubbly, fruity and dry. Paired well with our foods.

De Stefani Prosecco Zero @$80++

Still hungry, hence more food was required. Ordered two mains and was really surprised by its small portions. Nevertheless, the food was enjoyable. Loved the tender, meaty chunks of the beef. The mashed potato was nicely smooth too.

Salmon-En-Croute (main) @$28++
Braised Beef Cheeks (main) @$30++

Ended the night with lava cake, courtesy of Praelum. Thank you for the lovely desserts treat, complete with a lighted candle.

happy birthday, dear friend

Expect to spend about $50 to $90 per pax. Do note that there are price discrepancies on its menu found on its website as compared to the menu in the bistro (information is correct as of 9 January 2016).





Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Bakes n Bites @ 51 Old Airport Road

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This stall is located at the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. Nearest MRT would be either Dakota or Mountbatten. From Dakota MRT, take Exit B, turn left and walk straight and you will be able to see the Old Airport Road hawker centre across the road. Stop at the traffic light and cross over and you will be standing near to the alfresco seats shaded by big umbrellas. Head on straight into the hawker centre, turn right and look for stall #01-164.

Bakes n Bites has a variety of sweet bakes including cakes, muffins, puffs, swiss rolls, cheesecakes while its savoury selection is currently limited to shepherd's pies.

cakes and shepherd's pies

The stall owners; Christopher and Christina are both jovial and friendly. They started the business not too long ago, and it was actually borned through sheer determination and hardwork. Christopher had learnt baking after he was retrenched from work when he was in his fifties. His wife, Christina, supports him in his endeavour as she helps him tirelessly in ingredients prepping, attending to orders and various other activities.

Had the chance to converse with them and it was evident that they take pride in the things that they do. Christina had shared that they tend to use natural ingredients and no preservatives. They are open to requests from customers and not adverse to having to tweak their bakes in order to cater to most customers.

For instance, their "asian shepherd's pie" doesn't use any cheese nor tomato paste. This was so that customers whom are not tolerant to cheese could still enjoy the pie. However, should there be customers whom prefers cheese in their shepherd's pie, just let Christina know in advance and she might just be able to cater to your request.

guess the meat-fillings of this pie~
(front) beef  @$3.70 and (back) chicken @$3.00

The shepherd's pie uses on russet potatoes and are handmade daily. Most of their goods are baked on-site at the stall. The potatoes tasted fluffy, light and moist.

There are quite a bit more variety for the muffins. The usuals include blueberry, blueberry chocolate chips, orange, double chocolate and banana muffins. The unusual would be the chinese herb flavoured muffin. The price ranges from $2.10 to $2.30 for muffins.

(top clockwise) banana chocolate chip, orange, double chocolate muffin and vanilla
(front clockwise) herbal (litsea cubeba), blueberry chocolate, blueberry muffins

The muffins could be eaten either chilled or warm. For blueberry and herbal muffins, these are recommended to be eaten warmed as its fragrance and flavour would have been enhanced.

The warm muffins were indeed soft and bouncy.

segments of double chocolate muffin

Christina had shared that the litsea cubeba was boiled for 12 hours before it was chilled and consumed as a drink. On its own, it tasted bitter with licorice-like finish (苦甘味). This herb is said to be good in dispelling flu and cold, plus able to relieve fatigue. However, not many would be acceptable to this bitter taste, so Christopher made use of it in a muffin form so that the benefits of this herb could be enjoyed by most.

Next, we sampled quite a bit of its no frills cakes. First, we had the mixed fruit cake, butter cake and the banana cake.

(top clockwise) fruit cake, butter cake and banana cake

The butter cake was made with Golden Churn butter and it was indeed very rich, creamy and buttery. The banana cake was slightly drier and it contained about 80% banana. Am not a fruit cake person, so no comments for that.

butter cake
banana cake
Was more interested in the swiss rolls. Tried three flavours that night; latte coffee, vanilla and pandan. All were good. The swiss rolls here were purposedly made to be slightly more dense and compact. Its texture was more chewy-bouncy kueh-like rather than fluffy cake type. Interestingly, meringue is used instead of the usual cream for the swiss rolls. Meringue is lighter yet tasted similar to cream. The coffee and pandan fragrances were really strong and enticing. Lovely.

(front anti-clockwise) pandan, vanilla and latte coffee

The chewy brownie here was quite good as well. Preferred it over the choc fudge cake.

(bottom) chewy brownie and (top) choc fudge

And for the finale, we had the Five Layer Cake. This was created in-lieue of rainbow cake. Each layer has its own flavour; chocolate, coffee, orange, vanilla and one more that I cannot remember. Very likeable especially if you like kek-lapis.

Bakes n Bites also do baby full-month packages and custom-made birthday cakes, so do email/call Christina, to find out more.

Five Layer Cake

This was an invited tasting. Thank you Christopher and Christina for hosting us and the HWG team for the invite.

Bakes n Bites

Location: #01-164, 51 Old Airport Road, Singapore 390051
Contact:  +65 90083463
Website: http://www.bakesnbites.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakesnbites/
Business Hours:
Tue - Sat: 11:00 - 21:00
Sun: 09:30 - 21:00

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Food For Thought @ National Museum of Singapore

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Was there to visit the museum so had brunch at the restaurant in there. Actually, should have done the reverse order. Ought to have bought the tickets first to the museum then have lunch because the paid tickets entitled one to 10% discount off ala-carte items.

Got seated pretty quickly as the place was fairly relaxed during that weekend of visit.

alfresco seats

ice water
Was in the mood for some scrambled eggs and coffee so got myself the "House Works" while my friend ordered the baby back ribs. Both food portions were generous.

House Works (scrambled eggs, butter brioche, bacon, salad and hash browns) @$15+
Honeyed Hoisin Sauce Braised Baby Back Ribs @$25+

Requested for some jam to go along with the brioche. Liked the sweet and savoury combination for brioche with scrambled eggs and bacon. Yums.

strawberry jam

The hash browns were lovely oblongs of golden brown. Salad leaves were limp but the dressing was good. It was a very filling breakfast.

Friend loved his ribs as well. Suitably tender though not fall-off-the-bone kind.

Food For Thought

Address: 93 Stamford Road #01-04/05, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore 178897
Website: http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/
Reservation: https://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/categories/restaurant/food-for-thought-national-museum 
Business Hours:
Mon-Sat & PH Eve: 10am-10pm
Sun & PH: 10am-9pm
 
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