Tiong Bahru Bakery

Talk about Tiong Bahru Bakery and what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Their kouign amann, croissants or their wide selection of pastries? Tiong Bahru Bakery has recently sweeten their dessert offerings with 8 classics that employ traditional French baking techniques.

 

First up, there’s choux pastries which are generally a type of fluffy pastry dough that is soft airy middle with crisp outer shell.

Paris-Brest - A doughnut shaped choux pastry with Praline cream.

Chocolate Éclair/ Lemon Meringue Éclair –choux pastry filed with either dark, chocolate cream/ lemon cream.

My favorite pick out of this 3 would be the paris-brest where I like the nutty flavor of the praline cream.

Next, there is sugar doughs which are sweet short crust pastry with a biscuit-like crust.

Mixed Berries Tart – No doubt the most beautiful among the lot and Chocolate Slipper Tart, shaped like the shape of a slipper. Cute hor? Both are pretty looking and are my top 2 among the 8. The chocolate ganache was really rich but I wished that the tart base were made of shortbreads rather than biscuits.

Other cakes include opera cake, mango mousse cake and their classic Vanilla Mille Feuille!

 

Available daily 8am to 10 pm at their 3 shops in TiongBahru Eng Hoon Street, Raffles City SC and Tangs Orchard. So, grab a cuppa as well as the pastries at TBB as they make good after-meal desserts to have. Enjoy!

Thanks Janet and TiongBahruBakery for the invite!

Address: 56 Eng Hoon Street #01-70 Singapore 160056 / #B1-11/12 Raffles City SC/ L1-168 Tangs Orchard

Opening Hours: All outlets: 8am to 10pm daily

Website: www.tiongbahrubakery.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tiongbahrubakery

Instagram: http://websta.me/n/tiongbahrubakery

 

Eggs & Berries

Want to have Eggs & Berries? In case you are wondering, we are talking about literally going to the dining venue- Eggs & Berries to have eggs and berries. LOL! Eggs & Berries have just launched its newly revamped menu that promises healthy eating that expects only natural flavors.

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Apart from the classic Caesar salad, there is the option of Yuzu crab Salad ($10.90) – garden greens tossed with crab meat, smoked bacon, cherry tomatoes, hardboiled egg and garlic croutons in chef’s home-made yuzu salad dressing. Quite a pretty presentation but it might need a little tweaks. I like the innovative addition of dollops of crab meat but the bacon was a little out of place, more of the crab meat please!

Fisherman Basket ($16.90) Home-made recipe battered white fish, calamari, prawns, fries, served with either of 2 sauces (yuzu, thai chilli, aioli or hickory sauce) I personally prefer the yuzu sauce as it is a little tangy yet sweet, adding a citrusy kick to the fried fish.

True to the restaurant’s moniker, you can choose to have eggs done in any of the four methods: over easy, poached, scrambled or sunny side up.

Basil & Prosciutto di parma Omelette ($13.90)

The ham added the right amount of salt and taste and the omelette was golden on the outside and creamy within, would have been better if more cheese was added!

Eggs Florentine ($13.90)

Beautifully poached eggs complemented by english muffins, smoked salmon, salad greens and drizzled with hollandaise sauce. This is the best dish that I enjoyed as the poached eggs are well done with runny yolk. Oh the eggporn crime scene of the oozing yolk!

We can all see why eggs are the restaurant’s calling card.

Eggs & berries has also expanded its pasta selection with glorious offerings like Aglio Olio King River Prawn ($20.90) – Aglio Olio pasta served with King River Prawn baked with wild mushrooms, onions, bacon and melted cheese or Traditional Squid Ink $17.90)

Now, moving on to the "Berries" (sweet desserts) which Eggs & Berries has to offer. Apart from the crispy fluffy pancakes and waffles, there's the choice of churros, lava cake or souffle.

Passionfruit and banana soufflé (less sugar,  $9.90) – Freshly baked soufflé of egg white infused with passionfruit and bananas served with scorched bananas and vanilla ice cream.

If you are thinking of having brunch for dinner, Eggs & berries will satisfy your cravings with their extensive new menu as it is open till 10pm daily! 

Follow me and more of my foodie escapades on Instagram @ lancetaey

Outlet details:

Jurong Point

Address: 1 Jurong West Central 2, Jurong Point 1 #01-32 Singapore 648886

Changi City Point

Address: 5 Changi Business Park Central 1 #01-37/38, Singapore 486038

Westgate

Address: 3 gateway Drive #02-06 Singapore 608532

Opening Hours: 8am to 10pm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eggsnberries

Instagram: eggsnberries

Website: https://www.eggsnberries.com/

Flock Cafe at Ghim Moh - The Place to Get Pork Dishes

Will people start flocking towards Flock 2nd outlet at Flock Ghim Moh? The pork dishes offered there would probably attract the hipsters.

The first outlet of Flock Cafe had been around for more than 2 years, right when the cafe wave started in Singapore. The intention to open a second outlet was to offer a more diversified menu to the changing cafe culture.

The interior was clean with natural lighting that we liked. No more uses of flash, torchlight and hand phon LED light just to get a perfect lighting.

We loved the menu hanging at the front of the cafe. A chalkboard drawn from scratch. Very modern, very hip, and reminded me of my days in school listening to boring lessons. Ahem...


The Cheeky Eggs ($14) was the first item on the board. It was highly recommended by the staff and I did have my reservation initially, afterall it's Eggs Benedict.

It turned out to be a pleasant surprise with a crispy edge toasted brioche that blended well with the handpulled braised pork.
The pork was tender and flavourful and the poached eggs flowed. It's cheeky, looked pretty ordinary but playfully interesting.


We also ordered the Pork Cheek Rigatoni ($14) and my friends did not approve since we had already ordered the Cheeky Eggs.

Still as impressive, I thought. Their pork dishes were well executed, that we didn't regret having 2 pork dishes in one setting.


What caught our attention was this Nyonya Fish Patty Sandwich ($15.90) since we don't mind traditional Nyonya dish in a cafe setting.

The portion was huge, well infused flavours in the fish patty, similar to a fish cake texture that was chewy. The Nyonya taste was pretty acquired, if you like it, you will.


The flat white and latte ($5 each) offered here were made using Liberty Coffee blends, medium body, with low acidic tone.


Cakes were outsourced externally from external bakers and Patisserie G. We loved the Carrot Cake which was moist and not overly sweet.

Flock at Ghim Moh proved to be in touch with the current trends even though they had been around since the start of the cafe bandwagon. The innovative menu that incorporated current food trend is definitely interesting to attract cafehoppers to pay them a visit at their new outlet.

Thank You Flock Ghim Moh for the invitation.

Flock Ghim Moh

Location: 21 Ghim Moh Road, #01-213

Opening hours: 9am - 6pm (Tue-Sun), Closed Mon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flocksg

Instagram: Flock_sg

Chir Chir

If you have watched the popular K drama "man who came from the Stars", this concept of Korean fried chicken and beer should not sound new right? Cheon Song-Yi’s love for chimaek has definitely sparked off a chimaek craze, would it be your next destiny?

Chir Chir 치르치르 originated from Korea sets foot in Singapore @ 313 Somerset, much to the delights of Chi-maek fans!! Chir Chir (pronounced chi-ruh chi-ruh) embodies the chi-maek culture that represents the chi from chicken and maek from maekju for beer.

We had two salads to kick off the night with.

Honey Grape Salad ($18.90) The seedless green grapes was sweet and it comes with walnuts, pine nuts and almonds with dollops of house-made ricotta and whipped cream. What I liked most is the crispy baked sweet yet savory tortilla by the side. This certainly makes a perfect appetizer or dessert!

Mango Salad ($11.90) of mixed greens topped with mangoes, blueberry and tangy yogurt dressing. Is a more fruity option. This pales slightly in comparison  to the honey grape salad while relatively cheaper.

Chir Chir signature fried chicken is available in Crispy, Garlicky or Spicy and can be enjoyed whole, wings only or as boneless tenders. We have the crispy fried chicken ($26.90). The chicken used was fresh and sauces were imported from Korea to ensure consistency in flavour across Chir Chir’s outlets worldwide. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender-fresh, what makes this dish remarkable is that it is not oily at all. I personally like the chicken with the sweet and tangy honey mustard sauce.

Garlicky Chicken / Spicy Chicken Wings ($28.90 for 7 pieces) The garlicky soy chicken smells exceptionally good as it comes with crunchy garlic flakes which makes the whole dish addictive. But I heart the spicy one more as they were lip-burning good, now these really live up to their names of ‘SPICY’. I guess anything spicy is a weakness for me and the sweet spicy chill evenly coated over the sweet potato cubes and fried toppoki packs hell-of-a-punch! 맛있어요~~

If you are a cheese and whipped cream lover, the NEST SNOW ($32.90) does not disappoints, I kid you not that this will send you into a food coma. This dish is the most popular here and I can understand why. Spicy Cajun chicken tenders on a bed of Korean sweet potato puree in cream sauce with a swirl of freshly whipped cream and shavings of parmesan, mozzarella and cheddar make us go WOW when presented. While I find the soup a little too creamy, I really enjoyed this dish still as all my favorites such as CHEESE, chicken and sweet potato are mixed in a hot plate of cheesy cream sauce.

We also had spicy BBQ roasted chicken where the marinated chickens were pan-fried such that it is evenly coated with sauce and accompanied with salsa, whole salt-baked egg and fluffy baked potato with sour cream to make it a hearty dish.

And of course, we had Maek – Chir Chir Cream Beer [$13.80 (350ml); $18.90 (650ml)] to pair with the fried chicken. This concoction comprises of draught beer topped with freshly whipped cream, the perfect combination for a chill-out session after work!

Alternatively, to complement the slew of fried and roasted chicken, there’s thirst quenchers such as Tok! Tok (non-lacoholic $14.90 | alchoholic $18.90 a jug) - infusion of soju with mocktails.

 

My usual haunt for Chimaek is ChooChooChicken but the Nest Snow and Honey Grape Salad might just entice me over the next time as it is more spacious for large groups since the portions are generous and best for sharing! 대박!!

 

 

Thanks SixthSense Comms, Rachel and ChirChir for the invite!

Follow me and more of my foodie escapades on Instagram @ lancetaey

Address: #B3-04/05/06 313@Somerset

Opening Hours: Sun to Thu, 10am – 10pm (last orders at 930 pm); Fri to Sat, 10am – 11pm (last orders at 1030pm)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chir-Chir-Singapore/1551584908411319

Instagram: chirchirsg

Nest Tea Bar

Are you Coffee or TEA?

Tea lovers would rejoice at the opening of Nest Tea Bar located along South Bridge Road. The interior of Nest Tea Bar is beautiful with vintage chairs and furniture, providing a modern and quiet setting for patrons to enjoy and immersed in their tea experience while admiring its chic interior.

Interior

Given that Nest Tea Bar is a tea-centric café, it is no surprise that there isn’t a coffee machine here. Grab your coffee from Sarnies or Department of Caffeine nearby if you need. The menu is simplistic with a choice of either tea-tails (tea based cocktails and no it doesn’t get you drunk) or Hot brew Tea.

Menu

I am more of a coffee person so I knew little about tea other than the English breakfast, earl grey and chamomile tea. We went ahead with the staff recommendation of their cold-infused tea: pandan chiffon and blissful berries. I prefer the latter as the sparkling tea tasted light and refreshing on a hot day. The pandan chiffon cold brew fell short of expectation as it tasted more like drinking Chinese tea on itself and the pandan leave, other than its fragrance, seem to be just for display.

Sparkling blissful berries

Pandan Chiffon Cold Brew

The staffs are friendly and happy to talk to you about tea and guide you in direction of teas that best suit your palate. To accompany the tea drinking, they do offer small selection of cakes outsourced and a slice of malay kuih with any purchase of tea during their soft launch period now. (while stock last). 

Overall, the concept of a tea bar is rather novel and serves as an alternative for tea lovers in the café-densed Chinatown/Telok-Ayer region. My experience at Nest Tea Bar was a slight disappointment, perhaps since it is still in soft launch phase. Hits and misses as the Pandan chiffon failed to impress and nothing spectacular considering its price of $5.90.  

Follow me and more of my foodie escapades on Instagram @ lancetaey

Address: 265 South Bridge Road

Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nestteabar

Instagram: nestteabar

Ponggol Nasi Lemak

What’s the food that you will miss when you are on a long overseas trip away from home? I am not sure about you but I just want for a plate of fragrant nasi lemak with a side of the sambal chilli.

Nasi lemak lovers like me will be delighted to learn that Ponggol Nasi Lemak has opened a third outlet located in a two storey shophouse along Jalan Besar Road. I like that it is air-conditioned and is more spacious than the other two outlets at Tanjong Katong and Upper Serangoon. The restaurant has a fast-food style concept, modern furnishings and unique menu specialties.

In conjunction with its 35^th year, this outlet also offers 7 NEW premium house specialities to add in more varieties.

 

First up, we have the crispy chicken skin with curry leaves - $1.50 per serving and $4.70 per tub. Fat is removed from under the skin before tripled fried to ensure crispiness and tossed with kicap manis (Indonesian sweet sauce), black pepper and curry leaves. This is simply too addictive but might be slight spicy, shiokness!

 

Grilled Japanese Squid with kicap manis - $7.50 per piece if you are in the mood for some non-fried house specialities.

 

Crispy battered whole prawn/ Crispy Battered Fish Fillet - $3.80 for two pieces. This is my favourite dish among all their house specialities which I have tried. Live prawns and  fresh leather jacket fish fillet battered and fried to crisp perfection, doused it with their aioli dip for an extra zesty punch. The batter was neither too oily nor thick, even better than the ones you could get from Long John or Manhattan’s.

 

Signature Ngoh Hiang- $1.50 per piece. The essential ingredients like minced pork, water chestnuts and chives with five spice powder are wrapped in beancurd skin and fried. I really like their fried items on offer and perhaps the addition of prawn in the ngoh hiang could add a different dimension to overall taste.

And of course not forgetting what they are famous for: NASI LEMAK!!

The sambal (fried chilli paste/ hae bee hiam) goes particularly well with the rice rich in coconut milk flavour at which the best Thai Hom Mali grain is used for its perfect texture. I really liked the sambal; robust in flavours and I could just have it with the plain rice alone! My favourite ingredients are eggs, otah, chicken wing and sambal long bean and acar where it tanginess cut through the richness of the rice. Feeling hot from an overdose of the chilli, fret not as this refreshing cup of homemade hibiscus ice tea helps to cool you down and help with digestion and blood circulation.

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And if a cup of hibiscus drink is not enough bring down the heat in you, there’s a bonus option of having their homemade ice cream and sorbet at $2.50 per cup. Flavours available include Raspberry Mango, Lemongrass Lime, Pink Guava, Kyoho Grape, Passion Fruit, Blood Orange, Horlicks, Milo and Peanut Butter Milk. I personally like the refreshing kyoho grape and the creamy nutty texture of peanut butter milk!

 

Nasi lemak is enjoyable at any other time of the day and this new outlet offers not only a new look but also a new twist to the traditional nasi lemak. And my tip is: zoom in for the crispy battered fish and prawns!

 

 

 

Address: 371 Jalan Besar, #01-01, Singapore 208998

 

Opening Hours: 12pm-11pm daily, closed today.

Website: http://ponggolnasilemak.com.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ponggolnasilemak

Instagram: ponggolnasilemak

Wildfire Kitchen + Bar

Taking over the previous space left by Hatched is Wildfire Kitchen + Bar where it is more of a casual self-serve restaurant. No More EGGporn but here comes BURGERporn as it offers gourmet burgers, brunch, char-grilled steaks, coffee and even craft beer in bottle and 3 beers on tap (Hitachino, Rogue and Proper Job)

To be honest, what entices me to come on a weekday afternoon is more because of their launch of the brunch menu. Lol it’s ironic I know but the trend these day is all about café, café-hopping and brunches isn’t it?

We decided on ordering a burger and two brunch items (one sweet, one savoury) to share. It did not take too long for our buzzer to sound out as it is slightly after lunch-hour that we arrive at 130pm.

Here's their menu (courtesy from their FB page):

Brunch Menu

Burgers

The Classic Burger ($16) – A 120 Day grain-fed beef patty with butterhead lettuce, sliced tomatoes, beer caramelised onions, cheddar cheese and signature mustard sauce. The size of the burger was decent considering its price and it being the most basic one on offer, I bet the others would look like some towering burgers. The wagyu patty is more on the lean side and thus slightly drier and bland on its own but the melted cheese definitely hits the right spot. The part I like best about the burger is the bun. The buns are soft and spongy on the inside while beautifully crisped on the edges. The burger comes with side of fries which taste good although it has turned cold.

Crunchy Brioche French Toast ($16) – Thick soft brioche rolled in crushed cornflakes and topped with blueberries, strawberries honey roasted walnuts and maple Chantilly cream. I admitted to ordering this as it looks to be the most visually appealing to me. And we were pretty quite blown away when we took the first bite. The fluffy brioche was soft while the crunchy crushed cornflakes/roasted walnuts added alternating textures to each bite. This remains as my favourite dish among the 3 which we ordered.

Breakfast Omelette ($13) – Classic Omelette with mushrooms, ham and feta cheese served with  tater tots (deep fried grated potatoes), salad and toasted sourdough bread. Now I realized that sourdough bread is missing in the plate that they served us. The overall appearance looks pretty unappealing as the ham and mushroom were hiding within the omelette. Turns out to be pretty delectable and ends up being the first plate that we wiped clean. 好吃不好看

Wildfire offers not only burgers, brunch, beer (6-8pm happy hours) but also desserts: ice cream cookies from cookies & co ($6). Wished the patty was more seasoned and flavoured and that would sit it perfectly sandwiched in those SOFT buns. I love big buns and I cannot lie~ especially SOFT ones LOL!

To get to the place, it is rather inaccessible or ‘ulu’ as you have to walk approximately (1 km) from the nearest Botanics MRT under the sweltering hot sun. Good to know that Assembly Coffee is just next doors, their waffles with ice cream has been raved to be among the top in Singapore. So, kill two birds with one stone at a go!

Address: 26 Evans Roads, Singapore 259367

Opening Hours: 830am to 1030pm; brunch served till 4pm daily

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildfirekitchenbar

Website: http://wildfire.com.sg/

Instagram: wildfire.kitchenbar