Friday, December 23, 2016

Good food must share! #foodporn

I used to blog a lot on food, especially cafes that i go to and even compiled them into a blog post listing every single cafe (i think there is about 35 to 40 in total as of now?) but because of Instagram and snapchat, i got lazy to take more photos and neglected my blog. So i was scrolling through my photo app on my iPhone and found these photos of the food i had recently and they were so good that i think they deserve a blog post. So without further a do, here we go! :)

Sunday Folks
44 Jalan Merah Saga, #01-52 Chip Bee Gardens, 278116. Nearest MRT: Holland Village
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Sunday Folks need no introduction. Ever since they opened, we have been seeing photos of these soft serve ice cream waffles on social media (especially Instagram!) and it makes people wonder if it taste as good as it looks! There used to be a long waiting time of about 1.5 hours to get a table but i think as time goes by, the waiting time now is about 30 mins? 
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I really love their perfectly made-to-order square waffles, and of all the soft serve flavours, i really like the dark chocolate and also their roasted Pistachio! The waffles itself already comes with a few strawberries, blueberries, maple syrup and this chocolatey sauce but you can also add on your favourite toppings. I would highly recommend their chocolate covered honey comb! I forgot how much it cost but i think it's less than $15 in total. Good enough to share among 2 pax.


The Populus
146 Neil Rd, Singapore 088875. Nearest MRT: Outram Park
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Was thinking of a place for brunch and my friend recommended The Populus for their quality brunch. The first item in the menu that caught my attention was their signature scrambled eggs ($18.50) I mean, but look at the combination - Croissant, scrambled eggs and bacon. What can go with this combi??? (and it's so insta-worthy, HAHA) The eggs were rich and creamy, croissant was buttery and flaky and the bacon were well done, it was a perfect brunch dish for me.

But do note that The populus is quite popular for the brunch crowd (no pun intended, lol) especially during weekends so you probably have to wait quite awhile before you can get a table. I love the ambience of the place despite the crowd noise. Definitely one of those cafes you can consider going to catch up with friends on a weekday. Keyword - Weekday.


Curious Palette
64 Prinsep St, 188667. Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut
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Another insta-worthy dish - The Berry Ricotta Hotcake ($14.90) that you probably have seen at least once on your instagram feed. Do note that it's made to order so you have to wait a good 30 mins before this delectable dessert arrives at your table. Meanwhile you can just admire how tasteful this cafe is decorated, and maybe take some #ootd shots if there isn't many people around, lol.  The dessert was artistically decorated with lots of berries, sunflower seeds(?), some edible plant (?) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (i have no idea what are those purple powdered stuff on the ice cream) The hot cake was soft and fluffy and everything went really well together. The portion is huge, good to share among 2 or more.

Tendon Ginza Itsuki
101 Tanjong Pagar Rd, 088522. Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar
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For the past few months i have seen people raving about this tendon bowl on social media and i finally decided to try it myself. The queue is crazy so it's best to start queuing even before the restaurant is open (2 timings - 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm) Was lucky the first time as i was among the first batch (there is limited seating inside) but the second time i went, i queued about an hour before we could get a table. There is only 2 choice in the menu - the vegetable tendon ($12.90) and Special Tendon ($13.90) and each bowl comes with a chawanmushi and miso soup. Really worth it!

Let me go more in depth into the dish. Firstly, the semi cooked tempura egg hidden amongst all the tempura items. IT'S SO GOOD OMG. I know it's just egg but when the yolk oozes out onto the rice with the soya sauce, it's heavenly. You can easily just eat the egg and rice. Ok, moving on. 2 Ebi Tempura, 2 slices of chicken breast (very soft and tender) and mixed vegetables which can consist of melon, mushroom, long bean etc. It's so delicious and worth it that i don't mind having it every other week, minus the queue. Do note that they fry the tempura on the spot behind the bar and the smell of oil can be really strong. You probably will smell when you leave the restaurant... I would highly recommend everyone reading this to go try this tendon at least once, despite the queue.

Edit: Apparently, there is another restaurant serving Tendon at Suntec... I should try it out soon.


Clinton Street Baking Co. & Restaurant Singapore
1 Purvis St, Singapore 188608. Nearest MRT: Bugis
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Last but not least, a recommendation by a friend. Nowadays when friends ask me to recommend a brunch place, i would recommend them Clinton Street Baking to them because i love the ambience and the quality of the food! I had the above brunch set which consist of hash, eggs done to your preference, 2 thick slice of ham and a biscuit. At first i was skeptical whether the portion would be enough and if it justifies the price but in the end, i was so full and i was so satisfied!
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Despite the price (average about $20/dish) everything on the menu sound so good. The other must try are their pancake stack and their buttermilk chicken with waffles. The warm maple butter that came with the waffles was so good that you might actually want to ask for another portion. Overall the food and the ambience justifies for the price you are paying for.

So that's the 5 different cafes/ food i'm recommending this time! Trust me, they are all worth trying if you are thinking of somewhere to have brunch/ dessert. However i think your overall experience would be better if you go on a weekday, lol.

Psst. I'm in the midst of preparing my Bali travelogue and i'm heading to Taiwan next month! 


Time to hit the gym!                           

Friday, December 16, 2016

Nunsongyee 눈송이 Korean Bingsu!

Even though the bingsu dessert craze hit the shores of Singapore some time last year, can you believe i have yet to try any of this Korean dessert until last weekend! When i first received the invitation by Nunsongyee 눈송이 Korean dessert cafe to try out their outlet exclusive bingsu, i immediately jumped at the chance to have my very first korean bingsu! 
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Address: 9 Yuk Tong Avenue, 596314. Nearest MRT station: Beauty World, Downtown Line.
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Nunsongyee 눈송이 literally means "Snowflake" in Korean and in a short span of 2 years, this Korean dessert cafe grew to 5 outlets in Singapore! (Their first outlet opened in Jan 2015 if you are curious, lol) For the month of Dec each outlet rolled out their outlet-exclusive flavour and for the Bukit Timah outlet that i visited, their flavour is the Melon Bingsu! 
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Melon Bingsu - only available in the month of December 2016
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The presentation of the bingsu isn't over the top compared to the other bingsu, it was rather simple with balls of melon surrounding the shaved ice and topped with a vanilla ice cream. Wished it was more "insta-worthy" but what's most important is definitely the taste. The bingsu came with a small cup of condensed milk which sweetens up the dessert. With little description of the Melon bingsu available (because it's new and outlet exclusive) i literally have no idea what to expect other than the melon fruit and shaved ice. When the dessert arrived at my table, i was like, is that all???
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It was until i dig deeper into the bingsu and found out hidden within the shaved ice were jellies with chunks of pears! It was definitely a pleasant surprise and elevated the taste of the shaved ice. It was quite refreshing and mind you, the portion was really huge. Definitely too much for just 1 person, luckily i brought a couple of friends along for this tasting. 
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I also took the opportunity to try out another of their bingsu in their menu and wanted something that is out-of-the-norm (not the typical mango/ fruity kind of bingsu) and eventually settled for "Snow White" which was a combination of cheese, white chocolate and nuts. I know the combi sounds weird but it was surprisingly good! Overall it's like a sweet savoury taste and hidden within the shaved ice are macadamia nuts with soy beam powder. It's like a premium dessert.
 photo IMG_0307.jpgThe price of the bingsu are ranged from $13.90 to $18.90 (depending on flavour) but each portion is good to share among 2 to 3 (or even 4 person) so you do the math. I'm glad that my very first Korean bingsu experience was at Nunsongyee 눈송이 mainly because the dessert were made with fresh and premium ingredients, and not only that - i love how spacious the cafe was (not forgetting there's also free WIFI and it's opened 24 hours for the Bukit Timah outlet!) For more info on Nunsongyee 눈송이, do refer to their official website at http://www.nunsongyee.sg :)

This is an invited tasting by Nunsongyee 눈송이.

먹자!                                       


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Harry Potter exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum!

Every since the trailer of "Fantastic Beast and where to find them" was released, i got reminded how much a harry potter fan i was. I really enjoy reading the books (i still have the whole series on my kindle just in case i want to re-read them) and i remember looking forward to every single of the HP movies. Fantastic beast was really good in my opinion and i enjoyed the movie. I was so intrigued at how it was referenced back to the Harry Potter series and the movie stayed in my head for the next few days. I can't wait for the day where i can finally visit the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando or Japan. (maybe next year?) I still remember going for the Harry potter exhibition 4 years ago and i even did a short blog post on it (link) So when i first heard of another HP exhibition over the Philatelic Museum, i knew i had to visit it soon.
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The Singapore Philatelic Museum. - which honestly i have no idea it exist in Singapore if not for the Harry Potter exhibition. I don't even know what Philatelic means in the first place, which i found out later it means "the study of stamps and postal history and other related items"  The museum is located at 32B Coleman Street, just 10 mins walk from Cityhall MRT station. It's near the old Funan IT mall, around the fire station area. Refer to http://spm.org.sg/visit/location-map photo Photo 23-11-16 10 25 06 AM.jpg
The exhibition is from November 2016 to Jan 2017, 10am to 7pm. Last admission at 6.30pm :)
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Admission to the museum is free for locals and $8 (adults) $6 (children) for foreigners.
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The harry potter exhibition is located on the second level and lined along the stairway are posters and stills from the Harry Potter movie franchise. Can you believe the very first movie came out in 2001? That's 15 years ago. Time really flies.
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It all began with this letter to Harry from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
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Do note that because it's a philatelic museum, what they are really trying to showcase are their collection of Harry Potter stamps and facts. Everything else is in fact is a bonus. In this small exhibition (which only takes up a room in the museum, you get to see the different wand collections, uniform, book and limited edition/ rare collectables contributed by fans.
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There is even an interactive station where you get to wave a fake wand at the screen and see something happen. The station was malfunctioning that day so i still have no idea what it does. But then again it doesn't really matter.
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There is also a lego display of Diagon alley which was really detailed and interesting!
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A photo corner of the Hogwarts express cabin as well as the platform 9 and 3/4 wall for photo opportunities.
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I feel like i need to add some kind of disclaimer at the end of this post because after looking at all the photos in this post, you probably expect it the exhibition to be quite huge but in actual fact, it's only a room full of Harry Potter stuff. What is see in the photo directly above this paragraph is literally what you will see at the exhibition, so don't expect too much when you are there. You probably can spend a good 30 mins looking through everything and take a few photos at the photo corner and that's it. But hey, feel free to look at the other exhibitions in the museum as well :)


Always,