Yum cha at Canton Paradise J Cube

Ahhh...yum cha again. I've been yum cha-ing many times in recent times. In any case, dimsum is one of my favorite foods and hence, you'd be seeing many dimsum posts from me! ;D

Who doesn't love dimsum right?!

I was at Canton Paradise J Cube with my fiance recently. It was our first visit there. The dimsum was AWESOME. It is the best dimsum I've eaten so far in Singapore and its standards are comparable to those you find in Hong Kong! And all this while I've been eating average or bad dimsum in Singapore...wondering where good dimsum can be found? I've finally found the place! Yes, it's definitely a must-visit-again-and-again-and-again place

First up, check out the siew mai. The fish roe on top was nice and the prawn inside was yummy too. It was one of the best siew mais I've eaten too.

Next up, these egg tarts were served piping hot and they were so delicious. I actually prefer these kind of traditional egg tarts to portuguese egg tarts. Seldom are you served piping hot egg tarts in dimsum restaurants. I was so delighted. The crust was nice and the egg custard was smooth too. It's a mini egg tart so you can pop like 3 of these into your mouth and not worry too much about getting fat!

This unique dish was a deep fried bacon and cheese roll. Dearie said that you couldn't really taste the cheese flavor and that it tasted more like cream. But it was nice. It wasn't spectacular though and I don't like to eat too much deep fried stuff also, so I'd probably skip this dish the next time I visit.

This you tiao chee cheong fun was very delicious. It's the best I've eaten so far in Singapore and much better than Victor's Kitchen. Actually I've only eaten this dish twice in my entire life. It's not easily found in dimsum restaurants in Singapore. The youtiao inside was deep fried and crispy whereas the one I ate in Victor's Kitchen was soggy. The sauce was also good.

Custard bun aka liu sha bao is one of my favorite baos all time. The good ones I've eaten in Singapore so far are from Imperial Treasure and Victor's Kitchen. There is finally a third one I found of comparable standards!

Check out the custard that oozed out. I loved it! It had fragrant salted egg taste and the custard melted in one's mouth. It was served piping hot too. So good I can eat this everyday!

Wah. Have you seen such a fat and juicy har gao? Can you see the bulging prawn inside? Seldom do you find such good har gao in Singapore. It's definitely the best I've tried in Singapore. Believe it or not, it's even better than some har gaos in Hong Kong! The prawn tasted so fresh and juicy I thought the har gao was going to explode inside my mouth. Haha. Joking la.

This was some vegetables dumpling. It tasted very nice too. But I'm not a huge fun of vegetables dumpling.

I didn't try this pork ribs dish. I don't fancy this dish at all.

Overall, I will rate it 4.5/5. Although the food was fantastic, the service was rather poor and you also had to wait for awhile to get in. It was quite crowded when we went there on a Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Be prepared to wait for at least 15 minutes to get in. After your order, you'd also have to wait around 15 minutes for your food to be served.

Canton Paradise can be found at J Cube Shopping Centre. Its location is: 2 Jurong East Central 1, #02-09 JCube, Singapore.

Orange Thimble

Orange Thimble is an arty farty cafe tucked in a quiet street away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I first got to know about it through a magazine's recommendation. I told dearie about it and we decided to go there one weekday morning for brunch.

There's alot of free space in Orange Thimble and I really liked it. It was pretty quiet on a weekday morning and you can go there to study or do work on your laptop.

You can also go there with a bunch of mates to chill and chat over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.

This was the raisin scone we ordered which was served with butter and jam on the side. I tried abit and it was okay, nothing spectacular.

This was what I had. Quiche. I think it was bacon and cheese quiche. It was not too bad. But I'm not that big of a quiche fan. I just didn't know what to order. Oh, the unfortunate thing was that we couldn't try the shepherd's pie because it wasn't ready yet when we went. The weekday menu also didn't offer as much variety as the weekend menu.

Check this out: A thick slab of nutella (I think) sandwiched in between two crusty, sugary and chewy biscuit-cakes. This was too sweet even for as sweet tooth like me. Not only was the chocolate slab too sweet, the biscuit-cakes were also very sweet. It's called "Hazelnut Dacquoise".

I can't remember what drink we ordered. I think it was mocha or some latte. But anyway, it came with two small gem biscuits which I used to eat when I was a child. This is so retro! The drink was not bad.

Orange Thimble can be found at: 56 Eng Hoon Street, #01-68 Singapore. If you visit Orange Thimble, you may like to go there on a weekend instead for its expanded menu. I don't think the food was fantastic but I found the ambience really nice. I rate it 3/5. 

P/S: I'm so going back to try the shepherd's pie!

Imperial Treasure

My Mum and I had dimsum lunch the other day in Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine at Takashimaya. It used to be one of our favorite restaurants. However, on this visit, we were utterly disappointed with the food. Although service was considered good, I no longer rate it as one of my favorite restaurants.

The dimsum here used to be so tasty. I wonder if they changed chefs?

Nevertheless, their custard "liu sha bao" is still one of the best I've tasted and I will introduce it in my post.

First up...this deep fried dumpling "jiao zi" tasted as oily as it looked. There was too much fried dumpling skin which was totally unnecessary. I didn't even want to eat the skin. It was terrible. The prawn inside was small and not worth mentioning.

Does it even look tempting to you? I don't know what the chefs were thinking.

Next up was "char siew chee cheong fun" which was good. I liked it and it had much "char siew" inside. The sauce was also good.

The pan fried carrot cake was lousy. All I can recall is it tasted very oily.

Chicken claw...gross! No way will I ever eat it. My mum ordered this dish, so I've no comments.

Their "siew mai" was very oily and horrible. I don't recall tasting any prawn inside, but I could be wrong. Nonetheless, it was a far cry from yummy "siew mai" you can find in Hong Kong where the prawn inside is big and succulent.

This dish used to be one of my favorites here, but it no longer is. See that greasy paper the food was served on? Such a turn-off. Luckily, they didn't taste as bad as they looked. I tried the yellow one which was custard. My mum tried the black one which was red bean paste aka "dou sa". Although they didn't taste too bad, we both agreed that they used to taste so much better.

Fortunately, the custard ban aka "liu sha bao" was still of great standards. I loved it. Its bun was soft and the flowy custard melted in our mouths. The custard tasted salty and sweet at the same time and had a buttery and salted egg taste.

I don't know if it was a one-off incident where they cooked terribly that day or whether they changed chefs. However, based on this visit alone, I will rate the restaurant 2.5/5. If you do pay the restaurant a visit, do try the custard ban "liu sha bao" and "char siew chee cheong fun".

Imperial Treasure can be found at: 391 Orchard Road, #04-20A Ngee Ann City, Singapore.

Melts-in-your-mouth MOS chicken teriyaki burger

I'm craving for chicken teriyaki burger from MOS right now! It's the best chicken teriyaki burger ever. Even though Macdonald's chicken mcgrill burger is also quite nice, it is a far cry from MOS's.

Not only are the buns soft, the chicken inside is tender and juicy. The meat is also cooked with fragrant teriyaki sauce. The vegetables are fresh and topped with creamy mayonnaise. The burger is absolutey delicious and melts in one's mouth!

Two Chefs Eating Place

I had a nice Chinese dinner the other weekend with my fiance and his family at a hawker centre called Two Chefs Eating Place.

I can't remember whether this was chicken or pork. But it was cooked with almonds and tasted sweet. The meat was chewy and nice.

This colorful dish had egg as well as spinach. It may look watery but tasted fabulous. I think this dish can make vegetable haters start eating their greens!

Next up was a very yummy butter pork dish fried with butter powder that was sweet and melted in one's mouth. It had a milky texture, smelled and tasted buttery. I couldn't help eating the butter powder on its own! The pork was also very yummy.

Two Chefs can be found at: Blk 116 Commonwealth Crescent, #01-129 Singapore. It was very crowded when we went and we had to queue. As the night turned darker, the queue seemed to get longer. Hence, I would advise you to go earlier if you don't wish to wait too long.

Its food is as good or even better than those served in restaurants. I will rate it 4/5.

Craving for muffins

For some reason, I'm craving for a muffin. I'm actually not that much of a muffin lover. But I'd love to sink my teeth into one right now.

What kind of muffins do you like?

I like big fluffy blueberry muffins with big, fresh and juicy blueberries inside. The top of the muffin should be crusty too. Chocolate muffins are also nice and should contain alot of crunchy chocolate chips. Banana muffins are nice too but no blueberries or chocolate chips to chew on.

How about you? What is your favorite muffin? 

En Japanese Dining Bar

En Japanese Dining Bar is a nice Japanese restaurant at UE Square. I first got to know about it when my friends decided to meet there for dinner. I then brought my fiance there for dinner on a Friday night for my second visit and his first visit.

The california roll had crunchy roe on top...I loved it! I really dislike california roll which have soggy, soft roe. I prefer the roe to have a solid and crunchy bite.

We had sashimi - I can't remember the exact fish - but there were salmon, squid and yellowtail. The sashimi was excellent and the best I've ever tasted in Singapore. Not only were the fish very fresh, the meat were also juicy and succulent.

We had yakitori as well.

I think this was bacon wrapped on the outside with scallop within.

This was too hard to chew. It had long thin white mushrooms inside. I didn't like it.

Underneath this massive egg blanket uncovered fried rice. We both loved the dish. The fried rice was very fragrant and was probably fried with garlic.

The waitress recommended this dessert to us:

This was so refreshing! Every bite was silky, smooth and sweet. The syrup tasted like caramel. This dish is called "tounyu panna cotta". It is a soy bean milk panna cotta.

En Japanese Dining Bar can be found at: 207 River Valley Road, #01-57 UE Square, Singapore. I will rate it 5/5. Not only was the food delicious, the service and ambience were not bad too. It is definitely one of my favorite restaurants. Do try the tounyu panna cotta and sashimi when you are there!

A nice dinner in Marmalade Pantry, Ion

My fiance and I had a nice dinner the other day in Marmalade Pantry at Ion, Orchard.

I must say the service was quite good. When we mentioned that we were sharing the soup and spaghetti, our food were split into two portions for us. We didn't even have to ask for an extra plate or bowl. It was actually the first restaurant I encountered where its staff took the initiative.

First up was our yummy mushroom soup. It was the best mushroom soup we had ever tasted. It was fragrant and tasted fantastic. The soup had a nice thick texture and wasn't like some restaurants which serve diluted soup. However, the croutons were slightly soggy and didn't taste as crunchy.

Next up was the best spaghetti we had ever tasted. The cream tasted awesome and not too rich. The noodles were great and the poached egg was an excellent topping. With the bacon bits, the dish was so delicious that we wanted more!

This was our chocolate cupcake. It was okay, not fantastic. It tasted chewy and slightly dry. The top of the cupcake was crusty. However, for a chocolate lover like me, this cupcake was definitely not chocolatey enough and did not live up to its name.

Lastly, this was our apple cinnamon cake. It tasted just like carrot cake to me. I enjoyed it much more than the chocolate cupcake. The texture of the frosting was creamy and the cake was good.

Our overall experience in Marmalade Pantry was good. However, it can get very crowded on weekends. But I'd say it's rather worth the wait. I will rate it 4/5.

Marmalade Pantry can be found at: 2 Orchard Turn, #03-22 ION Orchard, Singapore.