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.

Bought this cake at Secret Recipe's recent 50% discount during their 10th Anniversary promotion...  It was only $25.70 after discount.  Quite a good deal, isn't it?

This Moist Chocolate Cake is a chocolate sponge cake with semi-sweet dark chocolate cream at the outer layer.  In between 2 layers of chocolate sponge cake is a layer of mocha cream.  The cake was firm and not too soft.  Totally love it.  I suppose it will taste even better when heated ... as in... warm chocolate cake?

This is definitely an idea cake for gatherings and occassions... =)

Seafood Aglio Olio @ Secret Recipe

Secret Recipe @ Henry Park Apartment

42, Holland Grove Road

Singapore 278810

Phone: +65 68751233

Operating Hours: 10am - 9pm (Daily)
[Closed]

 

I'm quite glad that I discovered this dish.  It is awesome.  I love the springy spaghetti texture and the slightly burnt taste.  Though it was kinda oily, I guess it should be alright since olive oil was used in the cooking... or perhaps it was my own assumption.

The fried noodle was soaked in the fragrant garlic taste.  *Just make sure you do not burp straight into someone's face after that.*

I love the freshness of their seafood - prawn, crayfish and squid.  For $14.90 (ala carte + ice tea meal set), I can't really complain that the crayfish is too small.  Though I did wish that the portion could be double.  However, the proportion of ingredients and noodle was just nice for me.

FYI, Secret Recipe Diners card holders are eligible for 1-for-1 meat set.... So, it works out to be about $8.75 for each person (for the seafood aglio olio meals).

Swensen's @ Bishan Junction 8

Swensen's @ Junction 8
9 Bishan Place #01-39
Tel : 62526229

Though I have been to Swensen's countless times, I have never tried the side dishes such as the Spice 'n' Chic chicken chucks and Rodeo BBQ wings.  They looked pretty ordinary but, they were tender and delicious.

Spice 'n' Chic - Golden fried chicken thigh strips in a hot and spicy batter.  The deep-fried pieces were cripsy and not too oily.  The chucks were tender and juicy.  There were about 4 or 5 pieces per serving.

Rodeo Wings - Fried-up chicken wings tossed with BBQ sauce and crushed black pepper.  Comes in 4 pieces per serving.

Comparing both chicken side dishes, the chicken chunks left a deeper impression.

Pineapple Seafood Baked Rice - A succulent mix of seafood and pineapple chunks in cream sauce baked over savory rice with cheese.  I've always like Swensen's baked rice but this particular dish doesn't quite suit to my liking.  The top layer of cheese was a little watery.  I had expected the rice beneath the cheesy layer to be pineapple rice but ... it turned out to be white rice?  Where is the pineapple?  Well, there were small chunks of pineapple mixed among the baked cheesy and seafood (mussles, prawn and fish).

I'd say - go for its curry chicken baked rice instead. You will not regret it.

Special Shanghai Tim-Sum

Special Shanghai Tim-Sum

Margaret Drive Food Centre

Block 40A Commonwealth Avenue #02-480

Tel: 6474-4803, 9662 3501

12.30pm to 8pm (Close on Mondays)

Located at the 2nd floor of this old hawker centre tugged in the old housing estate.  You can see that this stall is really old from the signage.

The reason why I was there - Shanghainese Dumplings aka Guo Tie.  10 pieces for $4!!  This is very reasonable because each dumpling is quite huge on its own.  The skin is really crispy with fillings such as pork, chives and ham.  Good food being good food, be prepared to wait for 30 to 45 mins.  Otherwise, you can call to order your dumplings before heading down.  Despite the reservation, be prepared to wait for another 15 to 20 mins.

I love this Sour and Spicy soup.  $4 for a serving which can be shared between 2 persons.  Ingredients found in the soup includes seafood, tofu, cabbage and eggs...

The Shanghai fried noodles was a little disappointing.  Give it a miss unless you can't live without noodles.  =P

The stall was featured on Bryan Wong's food programme! Check it out!!

126 Eating House (揾到食 Wen Dao Shi)

126 Eating House (揾到食)

No. 126 Sims Avenue, Singapore 387449 (between Geylang Lor 15 and 17)

Tel: 67464757, 67454869

This is a real hidden gem in the "bustling" Geylang area.  From the outside, it looks run-down and probably a Grade "C" type of place.  But this old school Hong Kong dim sum cafe serves really quality dim sum with a very good selection of more than 70 dishes!  I think it you name it, you can find it.  From the fried stuff to steam stuff to baked stuff to congee and even crab bee hoon!! 

There is so much variety that it is worth more than 1 visit.  And for dim sum, nohing beats it when eaten fresh and hot.

The cafe has an outdoor section without aircon and an indoor section with aircon.  Seats are limited inside so be prepared to wait if it is "full-house".  One good thing is that the cafe is open 24 hours!!

Deep fried shrimp wrapped with potato shreds.  Must try!

Onion pancake.  Quite different from what you find elsewhere. Other than the fragrant onion taste, the juicy and tender minced pork brings out the uniqueness of this pancake.

Fried beacurd skin with shrimp.  Loves the springy shrimp filling.

Pan-fried carrot cake in cubes.  This is quite different from what we find in HK because of the battered layer.

The xiaolongbao was just average and a little disappointing. You can find better ones at Dingtaifeng or Crystal Jade Kitchen.

Har Kow is highly recommended. Must try!!

Love this char siew cheong fun because of the sweet sauce.  The sauce has a very unique taste.

This was the reason we were there - shredded duck porridge.  The porridge, cooked in claypot, was thick and flavourful.  Another must try!!

Lotus Leaf Rice - see how the braised meat has blended into the rice nicely?  Love its huge peanuts found in each rice ball.

Cold drinks are served in the take-away containers.  The lime juice which I ordered was really thirst-quenching.  The juice is made from lime and you can find pulps in your drink.  The lime and sour plum combi has been one of my fav drinks and this one qualifies to be on my top list.

The total damage was about $50 for 5 of us and I thought it was quite reasonable, esp for quality food.

This was my take-away dessert - coconut tart!  Can I say it is one of the best I have tried so far - thick crispy crust filled with undiluted dessicated coconut filling.  I think it only costs me $0.70!!  What a steal!!

 

 

You may like to check out other Dim Sum postings:

- Leong Sang Hong Kong Pastries (click)

- East Ocean Teochew Restaurant (click)

 



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Singapore High Tea Buffet List

A fellow blogger - Camemberu has been diligently compiling a list of buffet places and updating it.  A great effort indeed and I would like to share it here with those who are searching for buffet places.

http://www.camemberu.com/2009/10/singapore-high-tea-buffet-list-updated.html

Tong Heng Confectionery

Tong Heng Confectionery

285 South Bridge Road

Tong Heng is one of the traditional oriental pasty shops located at Chinatown.  Apparently, this is the only remaining outlet in Singapore.

They are famous for egg tarts, but I personally love their walnut cookies.  It is a must-try.

Was attracted to the unresistable looking mooncakes that were freshly baked at the shop.  The white lotus paste is smooth and easy to eat.  Like other mooncakes, the white lotus paste is less sweet than the regular lotus paste.

Cross section of the mooncake.  The thickness of the baked skin is just nice.  The golden brown skin looks simply so yummy.

Each mooncake costs $8 if purchased individually.

Garden Pastry & Cake

Garden Pastry & Cake is another shop which I have eyeing on their crispy skin mooncakes.  The crispy skin teochew mooncakes comes in the following flavours:

- Yam

- Yam with 1 yolk

- Durian

- Vegetarian Yam

Each box of crispy skin mooncake comes in either 4 regular size mooncakes or 8 mini mooncakes.  Mini mooncakes are only available in yam and durian at $4.50 each.

The crispy skin is unlike Eater Palace which has very distinct layers.  Garden's crispy skin appears to be layers that wrap round the mooncake.  The durian mini crispy has a yellow dot on it to differentiate from the normal yam crispy.

Whole mini crispy yam.

Cross-section of the mini crispy yam mooncake.  The yam paste was pretty decent, not too soft or too dry.  It would have tasted good if it is warmed before eating.

Whole min crispy durian.

Cross-section of the durian mooncake.  The filling is supposed made from D24 durain.  However, it tasted like lotus paste has been added to the durian. 

Generally, I like this mini crispy yam because of its small portion and reasonable price.  Quality of food is also quite decent.

Swensen's - Durian Supreme Mooncake

I've always been a faithful follower of Marriott's durian mooncake but this year, I've decided to venture out.

I've decided to try a new adventure - durian ice cream mooncake from Swensen's.

The durian ice cream was good - thick durian taste.  But the skin is rather thick.  Probably because, to prevent the skin from breaking and ice cream leaking out. Not only was it thick, it was also a bit overly sweet.

Other flavours worth a try includes hazelnut and sticky chewy chocolate.  Each box of 4 costs $25.90.  There is 15% discount for selected credit cards.