Chinese New Year Lion Dance | Takashimaya Basement | 15 Jan 2026

 Date: 15 Jan 2026 (Thursday)

10.08am | Takashimaya Square, B2

Event: Launch of the Takashimaya 2026 CNY Fair
Details: Facebook

Recap: Takashimaya, 15 Jan 2026

Troupe: Zhong Hup Lion Dance Troupe

[CNY 2014] New Year Snacks

It is the time of the year again!  Lunar New Year comes faster this year, just within a month from the start of 2014.  I contemplated quite a bit what new year snacks to get this year.  Pineapple tart is a must but I have yet to find one which really excites me.  While shopping at Takashimaya CNY fair, I chanced upon 2 snacks from Rasa Sayang which are rather unique and tasty.  Their snacks are made in Indonesia.

 

 

The first is Oven Baked Purple Yam Chips.  It is oven baked and there isn't other added flavouring.  It is simply thinly sliced purple yam, sent into the oven.  Sounds healthy?  I think so.  It tasted so.  The only unhealthy bit is that some vegetable oil has been used during the baking process.

The second is Gula Melaka Kueh Bangkit (literally means fragrant cake).  Tasty kuah bangkit should crumble and melt in the mouth, not too floury, not too sweet and has a fragrant coconut taste.  It is actually quite labour intensive to make kueh bangkit.  The additional plus point to this particular kueh bangkit is the gula Melaka taste.  Double coconut happiness!

Ok, I have a week to continue my search for the perfect pineapple tart this year.  Send me recommendations!

Website : http://www.rsayang.com/

SG Cafe Series: Paris Baguette Korean Cafe

Those who have been to Korea will know that this is a mega café chain that originated from Korea.  It started in 1986 and focuses on producing French classic bread.  It is found everywhere, every corner in and outside Seoul. 



The drinks available in Singapore are quite standard, and nothing out of the ordinary.  Besides the delicious, pretty and interesting-looking bread, they also serve relatively healthy sandwiches and salads.  Here's a chicken salad and cheese with lots of vegetables.  It is healthy because it actually has more vegetables than meat.

Besides it's bread and drinks, something you have to try is the Original Royal Milk Pudding.  It has a very fragrant milk taste with a thin layer of caramel at the bottom of it.  I am always tempted to get a second bottle whenever I get started.  It is simply too difficult to resist!



If you are a cakes and pastry lover, my personal recommendations is the tiramisu and the Haha cake.  The cute strawberry on top of the Haha cake adds on to the humorous name which the cake already has.  While the cake is really yummy, you do pay a price for it.  Each slice can costs between $6.50 to $8.50, depending on what you order.

If you prefer bread, they do have some unique and Korean-themed selections such as Bulgogi, Garlic, Sweet Potato.  My personal favourite is the custard cream bun.  A small selection of cookies is also available at the bread section.  But again, you will feel the pinch from your pocket since the cheapest bread would set you back by $2.50 at least and for cookies, at least $1.50 for a small piece...

But nonetheless, the café does serve quality food and if you do not mind the price, it is a pretty good place to hang out when some Korean pop songs playing in the café. It is also easily accessible from Orchard MRT station.  ^^

Paris Baguette
435 Orchard Road
Wisma Atria #02-48/53
Singapore 238877

Getting there: Take MRT to Orchard Station.  Head towards Wisma Atria and take the escalator to the 2nd level.

KrispyKreme : Opens at Tangs on 12 Oct 13!

Finally, the wait for Krispy Kreme's glazed donuts will soon be over!

 

[SG Buffet] Open House Restaurant at Grand Park Orchard Hotel

Options for weekday high-tea seems to be quite limited and we can easily understand why.  Simply because the weekend crowd is generally better.  Recently, a group of friends decided to meet up over high tea and we went to Open House Restaurant at Grand Park Orchard (former Crown Prince Hotel).

The selection are mostly local delights with some Asian selection.  The food spread is quite good with a few stations where the dishes are freshly cooked and served at your table.

The choice of dim sum included siew mai, har gow, char siew bao and black bean pork ribs.  The kar gow skin was a little too thick while the siew mai was alright.



The local cuisine section has usual snacks and dishes that we Singaporeans eat at any time of the day.  That includes roti prata (Indian pancake), fried carrot cake (oriental pan-fried steamed rice cake in black soy sauce), nasi lemak (Malay coconut rice with otah, salted fried peanut and fried anchovy), chwee kueh (oriental steamed rice cup-sized cake topped with preserved radish), fried chicken wings, curry puffs, samosa and peanut pancake.

There is another section where ala carte dishes can be ordered namely claypot rice (oriental style steamed rice cooked with black soy sauce and Chinese sausage in a claypot), fishhead curry (Indian style way of cooking head of fish with brinjals and spicy coconut milk)  and sayur lodeh (Indonesian style vegetable curry that is usually not spicy or mild spicy).  Teochew Porridge is also available at the buffet line with braised peanuts and preserved cai xin.  Nothing elaborate and fanciful but the key condiments are there.

The cakes and pastries section was a little disappointing.  They look quite ordinary and the taste was average.  The durian pengat tasted a little sourish.

The black horse, which truly surprised me was this Sichuan Noodles.  It was very very good, for someone who enjoys eating food that has vinegar.  Spiciness and sourness was just at the right level.  The noodles, though it was a little thick, blended well with the hot and sour soup.  

On the whole, it was a good place for weekday high-tea.  Affordable price with a rather good spread of food.  There may also be seasonal credit card promotions.  The café staff will be able to advise.

Open House Restaurant

Grand Park Orchard Hotel

270 Orchard Road Singapore 238857

Tel: 6603 8855

Website: http://www.parkhotelgroup.com/orchard/dining/open-house/

Nearest MRT: Orchard Station

Getting there: Walk along the basement of Wisma Atria which connects to Ngee Ann City.  Exit Ngee Ann City, cross over to Paragon and then to Grand Park Orchard.

View Larger Map

Related Posts:
- Todai Singapore (Click here)
- Korean Grill BBQ Buffet: Ssikkek (Click here)

Krispy Kreme is coming to Singapore town!!

This is great news! I don't have to wait till I go Korea to enjoy this fabulous donut! :D

Goodwood Homemade Durian Ice-Cream

Finally bought and tried the Goodwood Homemade Durian Ice-cream.  The ice-cream was pretty pulpy (and therefore not the smoothy type) and not too sweet.  However, it wasn't as creamy as I would like it to be.  My personal preference has always been towards creamier ice cream.  As there isn't any preservatives added to the ice-cream, it must be consumed within a week! 

As with the rest of the durian pastries from Goodwood, the price is always of concern.  At $18 a tub (after adding the GST), it isn't as affordable and probably one of the most expensive ice-cream in town.

Available at the Goodwood Park Hotel Deli (22 Scotts Road, Singapore 228221).  Tel: 6730 1786.  The deli is opened from 9am to 9pm.

Getting there: Take the MRT to Orchard Station.  Use the underpass and go towards TANGS (departmental store).  You will pass by an exit with an escalator to the street level on the right-hand side.  Do not exit and just keep walking until you reach the underground level entrance to TANGS.  Take the escalator that is opposite the entrance to get to street level.  At the street level, keep right and walk along Scotts Road.  Pass by Scotts Square and Far East Plaza and keep walking until you reach Goodwood Park Hotel which is on your right side.



View Larger Map

Smoothie King - Jeju Green Tea Smoothie

Smoothie King debuted in Singapore last month. The first store is found at Centrepoint, right smack in front of Centrepoint's entrance. What caught my eye was this Jeju Green Tea Smoothie. We normally see fruit-filled smoothie but this is really special. While the base taste has the sweetness of fruits, you get this unique green colour plus green tea taste. What's more - I've toppoed it up with Collagen Enhancer.

To avoid having a queue build up at the counter, you're given this beeper, which alerts you when your drink is ready for collection. Cool!

Website: http://www.smoothieking.sg/

Address: 176 Orchard Road The CentrePoint Mall Singapore 238843
Tel: 6633 5051

Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm daily

Getting there:  Take MRT to Somerset Station.  Exit the station through 313 Somerset, cross the road to arrive at Centrepoint Building.


View Larger Map

Eggless Love Letter from Yes Natural

有蛋跟没蛋的蛋卷有差吗？答案是没有。。。Bought from Chinese New Year fest at Taka.  $12.80 per bottle with over 70 pieces.

Name of shop: Yes Natural (www.yesnatural.biz)

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie

Paragon Shopping Centre
290 Orchard Road #B1-K8 Singapore 238859
Telephone (65) 6733-8893 Facsimile (65) 6733-8896

Opening Hours

Mondays to Sundays : 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thanks to the UOB Christmas 2011 Charge and Redeem programme, I managed to qualify myself for this promotion.  Collected this cake from the Paragon (B1) branch.

The outer layer is a thick chocolate mousse.  Inside the cake, there is a layer of chestnut cream and sponge cake.  Between these 2 layers, it is filled with lychee mousse and pieces of fresh lychee!  The chocolate mousse is extremely smooth.  You may even taste a tint of bitterness because it uses dark chocolate for its mousse.

East Ocean Teochew Restaurant

1 Scotts Road #02-18 Shaw Centre

Tel: +65 6235 9088

Opening hours

Mon–Fri: 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm
Sat, Sun & PH: 10.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm

Note: The restaurant has moved to Ngee Ann City, #05-08/09.  Contact number remains unchanged.

Had brunch at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant which serves dim-sum during lunch.  Although this is a Teochew restaurant, it serves hong kong dim sum and you see waitresses carrying trays of dim-sum and shouting out what they have o their trays. 

But, the waitresses spoke in cantonese.  Hmmm... this is kinda unfriendly to those who do not understand the cantonese language.  When I asked for the dim-sum menu, the waitress answered that they serve all dim-sum today, just listen out. =(  So, what happens to customers who do not know what the waitresses are "promoting"?

蛋煎肠粉 (Pan-fried Cheong Fun with Egg) - It felt like flattened cheong fun dipped in egg (just like when cooking bombay toast) before it was pan-fried.  Light soy sauce was served together with this dish.  The eggs tend to soak up the soy sauce, so I thought it would be better if the soy sauce is served in a separate sauce plate.

Steamed Carrot Cake - the rice cake was soft and filled with lots of radish and dried shrimps.  Definitely something which we can't find at hawker centres.  Light soy sauce is added to the carrot cake when served.

The century egg porridge isn't too impressive.  Would say that the quality is just average.  Can give it a miss if porridge isn't a miss for you...

Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun comes with generous serving of char siew, as you can see.  What's unique is that - it is served with green veggie. Otherwise, this dish is also quite average...nothing to shout about.

奶皇流沙包 (Custard bun) - This is a must have! Beware of the golden yellow hot milky custard, else you might scald your tongue. However, the bun tastes best when eaten while it is hot! 

At the end of the meal, wash it down with a cup of thick chinese tea. It is so thick that it tastes bitter... yucks!

Total damage for 2 persons was less than $40.... a little steep for about 5 dishes.

 

 

Related Posts:

126 Eating House (click)

Leong Sang Hong Kong Pastries (click)



Ginza Bairin (ION)

Ginza Bairin (Japanese website: http://www.ginzabairin.com/)

2 Orchard Turn

#B4-39/40 ION Orchard

Tel: +65 6509 8101

Everyone has got their plate of tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork cutlet) and they look really yummy.  The outlet, which originate from Tokyo Ginza, has a strong japanese ambience, from its simple wooden chairs to its deco.

It operates with a fast-food concept ie.  queue up to place order for your food, place the number stand on your table and the waiter will serve the food when ready.  During dinner time, the restaurant, which is not small, is packed.  So, the best thing you could do is, get 1 person to find a seat in the restaurant while the other queue up to place food order.

However, I gotten give the delicious tonkatsu a miss this time round as I wasn't feeling too hungry for the pork fillet.  Instead, I ordered a potato salad and a croquette.

I always love japanese potato salad and this one looks simply "pretty" and yummy.  Loves the pieces of potatoes and carrot bits.

The brown sauce at the background was meant for the croquette.  Except that the croquette was a little too oily and a little costly ($2.50), I have no other complaints about it.

I shall be back again for its tonkatsu another time.  Together with a cup of cold green tea, the meal costs $9.90.

Shimbashi Soba

Shimbashi Soba at Paragon
290 Orchard Road
#B1-41 Paragon, Singapore 238859
Tel: 6735-9882 Fax: 6735-9883
Business Hours: 11:30 am to 10:00 pm

If you've ever been to the food paradise basement level at Paragon, I'm sure you'd not miss the crowd outside a Japanese restaurant (Shimbashi Soba) watching how the chef makes the soba from scratch... right from the machine sifting the soba (or is it buck wheat) flour, to kneading the dough, to cutting the noodles that are as uniform as you imagine.  Every strand of noodle is cut to precision, same thickness and length.

The thought of eating the freshly made soba got the better of me...it was also because that buck wheat was supposedly a healthier choice compared to other forms of noodle.  I decided to part with $20 bucks to try out this soup soba with tempura, which I requested for all ebi.  The menu came with an assortment of tempura.  I was pleased that there was no additional charge for the change since some where in the menu mentioned that the chef had specially selected a particular type of prawn for the soba.

My soba set came after 15mins later.  Waiting time was considered reasonable since it was a weekend dinner time.

With the hype about how good the soba taste and for the price I was paying, I did have come expectation.  It had imagined it to be as good compared to one which I tried in Japan.  To my great disappointment, both the soba and tempura did not meet my expectation...  Firstly, the soup wasn't pipping hot and the soba lacked the chewiness.  The tempura prawn was a little soft and did not seem to be as fresh as it should be.  The tempura coating wasn't that crispy as well....Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed at all.  It was quite a disappointment considering all the rave reviews around....or perhaps I should give the cold soba a try the next time.

Eater Palace Yam & Pumpkin Mooncake

Eater Palace

available at Takashimaya and Vivocity from now until early October 09

Tis' is the season for mooncakes.  Me loves the traditional baked lotus paste mooncake and teochew flaky skin yam mooncakes most.  Teochew moonies are only available from selected bakers and hence, I will normally seek out the teochew ones more than the traditional ones.  It isn't difficult to find reasonably tasty traditional ones and really, we are spoilt for choices.

For the Teochew Yam moonies, many would remember the famous Crown Prince Yam mooncakes, that sold like hot cakes.  Ever since the closure of Crown Prince Hotel, I have been looking for alternatives.

At the recent Vivocity fair, I was rather impressed by the ones from Eater Palace.  They actually microwaved the yam mooncakes for 40 secs before presenting the mooncakes for tasting. It really tasted good.  Furthermore, the mooncake chef was making and frying the mooncakes on the spot.

There are 2 mooncakes in each box.  It comes in these flavours:

- Yam

- Yam & Pumpkin

- Yam with single yolk

- Vegetarian yam

Check out the multi-layer flaky skin.  It takes good skill to make the skin.

This is the yam and pumpkin flavour.  The filling has turned soft after heating in the microwve and it became a little difficult to cut.  Because the mooncake was bought a few days ago, the flaky skin wasn't crispy anymore.  And I discovered that the mooncake was quite oily (see the oil on the plates) from the fried skin.

$18 for 2 mooncakes.

Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant

IMPERIAL TREASURE NAN BEI RESTAURANT

391 Orchard Road

#05-12/13 Ngee Ann City

Tel: 6738-1238

Decided to have a reunion dinner with friends at the Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. Because of the peak season, we were given 2 options on the time slot, either 7pm or 8.30pm. If we had chosen the 7pm, we had to finish our dinner by 8.30pm! So... we opted for 8.30pm... so that we would not be rushed to finish our dinner.

The food quality is really quite good...and that explains why the restaurant is so packed. Making reservation is a must!

Must try - This spinach tofu dish is so so so good.

The beancurd skin is slightly crispy while the beancurd is very soft and fragrant. The bottom layer is spinach.

Souffle Egg White Ball - If you frequent CJ restaurant enough, you might be surprised to find the same dish at Nan Bei... Frankly, I would not have been able to tell if the souffle balls were from CJ or Imperial Treasure if they were placed side by side. Overall, the souffle balls tasted good.
 

Definitely an ideal casual dinner place for cantonese cuisine, on not-so-crowded evenings.

Waraku Casual Dining Restaurant [Closed]

Waraku - Heeren Branch

260 Orchard Road

#05-04 The Heeren

Singapore 238855

Tel: 6834-1123

(http://www.waraku.com.sg/index-sin.html)

Was quite surprised to find that business at the restaurant level was rather quiet on a weekday night. We were given a choice to choose our seats, despite reservation made...

The cosy restaurant is a suitable place for small gatherings. They also offers a while selection of Japanese food. I ordered the Gindara Kaminabe (Codfish Hotpot), $12.80. There are 3 choice of soup base to choose from (Miso, Wafu and Chige) and I opted for miso soup base.

Besides the codfish, the other main ingredients include mushroom and cabbage.

If you prefer something hot and soupy, hotpots are always a good choice.

Su Korean Cuisine [Closed]

Su Korean Cuisine

14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, #01.21

Telephone: (65) 6235-0420

Was there for a late dinner since most of the makan places at Far East Plaza were already closed by 9pm.

Frankly, the side dishes looked ordinary and tasted ordinary as well. Nothing worth special mention...

That's my main dish - Ginseng Chicken soup..... It was supposed to be the main-course of the day and had some discount. Again, the soup was ordinary as well, except that, there were a few more red-dates compared to other Ginseng Chicken Soup that you can find in other restaurants.

The portion is good enough for 2 persons.

Will I go back again?? Will prob do so if I have no other makan choices.