IKEA: Good food but I think they sell furniture too

Its funny how often when people talk about Ikea, the food is more talked about than the furniture or home accessories. This has happened to me quite often. We talk about  a certain item like a lamp for example, then  suddenly we are talking about meatballs and chicken wings.

I know that you can buy the meatballs frozen and cook them at home. Same for most of the desserts. But I think their restaurant and the "canteen" feel adds to the experience. The sights and smells really something to your appetite which in effect makes their good food taste better.

Beef Ribeye Steak.

This was probably the weakest dish that I ordered. The beef was just ok, it was not exceptionally tender, nor was it that flavorful. The gravy was just plain and same for the fries. 

Beef ribeye steak with fries

Swedish Meatballs.


This is probably their most popular dish. They have a very nice flavor but not that salty. The gravy goes very well with the meatballs. And once you combine the meatballs, with the jam (I think it's lingonberry), the sweetness and tartness of the jam balances the gravy and the meatballs quite well. You can definitely eat 10 pieces of these with ease and I think the reason these are so popular is because it's so addictive.

Swedish meatballs, boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam

Chicken Wings


These are good chicken wings don't get me wrong. It's just its just fried chicken wings. No sauce, no dip no anything. But I am really not complaining. Who wouldn't want to eat really flavorful, beautifully fried chicken wings? Oh, did I mention that these things are huge?

Chicken wings fried to perfection

Almond Chocolate Cake.

Dark chocolate, almonds, dark chocolate and almonds. I don't how can anyone not like this? To top it all off, it wasn't that sweet. You can finish a slice of this easy. Guilt also creeps in easy.

Chocolate almond cake a few minutes before it was devoured

Cheesecake.


One of the best cheesecakes you will ever taste. This cheesecake is dense, smooth, rich, creamy and again not too sweet. The balance of the sweet and salty is just perfect. A cheesecake this good doesn't need any toppings - its just that good. I'm pretty sure the calorie count on this would be off the scale but it's definitely worth it.

Now thats a cheesecake!

Good Day: Beef Hor Fun and Beef Fried rice at its best

This my absolute favorite stall in Amoy Food Centre. Aside from the uncle and the auntie are always nice to me, their beef hor fun and beef fried rice cannot beat. I still have not found better versions up until now. 

I usually arrive to order around 15-20 minutes before lunchtime to avoid the ridiculous line. And believe me you don't want to queue up at Amoy Food Centre because the heat is equally ridiculous - well, for Good Day, you could make an exception. It is well worth it. 

Beef Hor Fun.

There are two ways to order this. It's either with or without gravy. Both are absolutely delicious its just that for me, the gravy makes a big difference in the overall enjoyment of the dish. 

The gravy has almost oyster sauce quality to it that is beefy and nutty. For me, it taste like it has peanut butter in it or some nut flavor profile in there that gives me that nutty flavor. The thickness of the gravy is just enough it to cling to all the beef and the vegetables. Not too thick and not too thin. The beef is very tender and they do put a lot. Served with chili and you have the best beef hor fun in Singapore (for me that is).

The best beef hor fun

Beef Fried Rice.


When I don't order the beef hor fun, I order their beef fried rice 99% of the time. Oddly enough, the flavor profiles are very similar. They both have the nutty and beefy flavor but textures couldn't be more different.   The rice is very flavorful and you still get loads of tender beef slices. For added texture and flavor, a lot of bean sprouts are added as well as scallions. The fried egg, I have it added with a few drops of dark soy. Delicious!

Tell me if this doesn't look like the best beef fried rice ever.

Even the take away version looks really appetizing!

7 Maxwell Road
#01-25 Amoy Street Food Centre S069111

Din Tai Fung: Refined Chinese cuisine

I enjoy our everyday chinese food as much as the next guy. The greasy fried rice, sweet and sour fish covered in batter and a thick glistening sauce, fried or barbequed pork ribs, it all good (most of the time). What I love about Din Tai Fung is its not necessarily better than other Chinese restaurants I've been to but they are different. I find that what they were able to do is refine Chinese cuisine a bit. Most of their dishes have a nice, subtle but complex flavor as opposed to the usual big, bold, msg? flavors that I have been accustomed to.

Fried Rice with Pork Chop.

This is one of their signature dishes. Its basically fried rice topped with fried breaded porkchop. The fried rice is a bit unusual because it is on the bland side for me (which is actually a good thing because once you eat it with the pork, the salt levels are just right). Its not greasy and you can see they went overboard with the egg. Its like the egg pieces are as much as the rice.

The pork chop is obviously the star of this dish and as it should be. The meat is really nice and tender and the breading they used is very flavorful and fragrant and just the salt level is just right. I can have just this dish and be a happy camper, but I don't think ordering just one item here is never gonna happen.

Their signature Fried Rice with Porkchop 

Chilli Crab Steamed Buns.

I've had steamed buns filled with some sort of meatball, barbequed duck, barbequed pork but never chilli crab. I know for a fact that chilli crab is one of the most if not the most popular, dish in Singapore so it is nice to see they created their own take on this local favorite. The flavors were that of chilli crab, it had the spicyness of chili crab, and I didn't have to open any crab shells (which I hate). It's certainly no substitute for the real thing but it is a very good take on it nonetheless.

Dry Noodles with mushrooms and minced meat.


This dish best exemplifies what subtle but complex flavors is. You get the rich umami flavor from the fresh mushrooms, you get the saltiness from the soy sauce, you get meatiness from the minced pork, you get the fresh oniony flavor from the chives and the nuttiness from the toasted sesame seeds. The great thing about this is you get all of that but it all works very well together without any particular ingredient overpowering each other. This is definitely one of my favorites probably because of the fresh mushrooms. I looooove fresh mushrooms!

Century Egg with diced ginger.

These appetizer is basically sliced century eggs on a pool of sweet sauce (i think this is soy based) then topped with chopped ginger. I absolutely love this. Even though I am a big fan if century eggs, I must admit that there are times that I get served century eggs that have a slight unpleasant aftertaste but here the aftertaste is definitely a pleasant one. Since the yolks are on the soft side, you get a wonderful, rich, creamy texture that goes great with the texture of the "whites" of the egg. Plus add on that addictive sweet sauce that they have and a bit of the chopped ginger (which amazingly doesn't have that strong, spicy ginger flavor) for texture, and you wont be able to stop eating it. I think I finished the whole plate by myself. For century egg lovers, this is a must.

The best century egg appetizer I've ever had. Century Egg with chopped ginger.

Xiao Long Bao.


When it is your first time to eat at Din Tai Fung it is mandatory that you order this dish. Not ordering this is something like taking your first your in Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower. Well, its really not as important as that but you get my point.


As far as I know these are their specialty. Apparently, there are quite a few variations of xiao long bao but these are the soupy kind. And no, the soup is not served on the side, its inside the dumpling. For me flavor-wise, its nothing out of this world. It just taste like really good siew mai. What makes it unique is the overall feel when you put in in your mouth and start chewing. Once the soup inside bursts, the sensation is quite nice. You think you're eating a normal dumpling then suddenly, this flavorful soup starts mingling with the other food inside your mouth. Quite interesting but very very pleasant.  

Xiao Long Bao

Xiao Long Bao with black truffles.


This is not part of their menu. It's either a valentines promotion or they just found a truck load of truffles, but for whatever reason it is, I am very glad that i was there when this was available.

Xiao Long Bao with black truffles

If the normal xiao long bao is just a really good siew mai with a suprise inside, then this one is a really good siew mai with two surprises inside. The other surprise ofcourse are the black truffles, and these little (super expensive) fungus make this dish from really good to insanely good. This is probably the best dumpling I have tasted in my life. The pleasant earthiness of the black truffles just supercharges the umami flavors making you want to have more until your wallet can't take no more.

A shot of the contents of the xiao long bao with the black truffles in the center

Raffles City 
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-08 Raffles City
Singapore 179101
Tel: 63366369

Paulaner Bräuhaus - Munchen: The best beer in Singapore... so far

Finding this place was just one of those serendipitous moments that, after a long day of walking, you're tired and just want to sit and have a nice cool drink then for no reason at all you turn to you left and what do you see? A microbrewery. And you know what  that means right? Ice cold beer.

drinks menu

I am not a beer connoisseur by a long shot. I just try different beers as much as I can then just see what tastes good to me. But  if I want to play it safe, I go for my favorite Stella Artois. But since I am in a microbrewery, I want to go for their in-house creations.


Munich Dark.


"A rich, dark brew with a natural malty flavour. Four different types of barley malt are used to create the original taste of Munich."


Thats the description from their menu. All I can say is that this beer is probably the most "drinkable beer" I have tasted in my life. You get the flavor of malt and the body of beer but just a hint of bitterness. It was really quite refreshing drink after a long day of walking (IT show). I had the misconception that the darker the beer, the more bitter it is. So I guess I better start reading more about beers.


One important thing to note that you have to be very careful with this one because since it is so drinkable, you might just keep on drinking and drinking and forget that this has an alcohol content of 5.2 % which is .20% higher than their Munich Lager.

Munich Lager.

"A bright, golden brew with a smooth taste and a light hops flavour using only finest Hallertauer Perle hops."

This description from their menu was spot on for me. It was really smooth, very nice bright flavors with just the right amount of bitterness. I myself am still not a fan of really bitter beers so this one was perfect for my taste buds. Alcohol content for this beer is 5.0%.

Unfortunately its just their beers that I have tasted.  I will definitely be back to taste their house specialties. Grilled pork nuckles, Veal Schnitzel and sausage platter here I come!

Paulaner Bräuhaus Singapore 
9 Raffles Boulevard
#01-01 Millenia Walk
Singapore 039596 
Tel: 6883 2572 
Fax: 6883 0702 
Email: singapore@paulaner-brauhaus.com

Kuishinbo: A Japanese buffet to remember

I really enjoy quality buffets. I remember when I was a kid the I took the concept of "all you can eat" to heart. Whenever we get to eat in a buffet, I made sure that I was really hungry beforehand and probably skip a meal to do that. Then I would try to stuff myself with as much food as I can regardless if the food I am eating is good or just ok (ofcourse I wouldn't eat it if it were bad). So to feel that I get my moneys worth, the more you eat, the better. 

Now that I am older and probably have been more exposed to what good food taste like, when I search for good buffets, I look for quality not quantity. This means that one should look for a buffet that tries very hard to make sure that each dish that they bring out will not disappoint. One such buffet is Kuishinbo.

Sushi and Sashimi Bar. 

At the time of writing this, I can safely say that this is the best salmon and tuna sashimi I have tasted in my life. The taste is just so clean and it all tastes super fresh. Sushi selection is limited but I did like the few that I've tasted. Again, quality over quantity.

Tuna sashimi, salmon sashimi, tuna belly sushi and california maki (clockwise)

Shrimp Tempura and others.

I dont know if I was just really hungry when I was having their tempura but for me its one of the best I have tasted. Its light, crispy and you can really taste the shrimp. Im sure you have tasted the tempura batter with a bit of shrimp version. Another great thing about it is its not oily. Very addictive. The tempura alone makes everything worth it.

Another food item I liked very much was the soft shell crab. It was very rich, crispy and had a lot of crab flavor. I hope its not seasonal and when I come back they still have this on their buffet.

The octopus was a bit on the chewy side for me. I don't eat octopus very often so I don'w know if its supposed to be like that.

The chicken teriyaki was very nice. The teriyaki sauce was very balanced, not overly sweet. The chicken was tender and flavorful.

shrimp tempura, octopus, chicken teriyaki, kani salad and soft shell crab tempura (clockwise)

Dessert Station.

Their dessert station was a big surprise to me. I was thinking maybe 5-10 dessert items tops that would consist of cake, maybe some ice cream (store bought), unfamiliar (to me) japanese pastries then coffee or green tea. But when I got there, I didn't know what to get first - there were so many items to choose from!

I didn't get to chance to take a picture of the whole dessert area (maybe I will add it in the future). For now, heres a shot of my selection of their desserts. I wont be able to describe every single dessert on the plate but I must say that all of their desserts on this plate was at least ok. Nothing was particularly bad or inedible. We finished the whole plate so I guess that proves my point. 

I do want to mention a few items that stand out as "better than ok". 

First, is the spicy chocolate bar. Its the small block of chocolate with red markings (a little right from the center of the plate). This was new for me because I have never tasted a chocolate dessert that was spicy. It was a very pleasant experience to have that heat develop a few seconds after you have had it in our mouth.

Second, is the chocolate cake. This piece is located at the right most part of the plate (obviously the brown one). This had a nice texture, not too sweet, and very chocolatey. 

Last is the Creme Brulee. I liked the texture of this very much because they stayed true to what a creme brulee should have, a hard caramel top. One of the worst things you can have for dessert is creme brulee that doesn't have a crunch factor to it.

creme brulee, mango cheesecake, blueberry cheesecake,  eclair, moon cake, spicy chocolate bar,  chocolate cake

The second plate I had from the dessert are is more of my "coffee and ice cream" plate. So the items I chose was supposed to compliment my cup of coffee. Most of them were on my previous plate which kinda shows which ones I like since this is my second trip to get them.

 The worst dessert that I have tasted in this place was the one in the glass container. I didn't know what that was supposed to be but it wasn't good. It had some sort of gelatine blobs on top and another layer of fruit "gel" at the bottom. The whole thing tasted like crap to me. The dessert item that really made my day was their yoghurt ice cream. It was super smooth and had very balanced flavors (not too sweet and not too tangy). I had two servings of that which was well worth the calories.

cappucino, yoghurt ice cream, chocolate cake, eclair, weird dessert in glass

I wish I had taken more photos of my buffet experience in Kuishinbo and I hope that I can do so in the near future. This was my first trip and it was a very pleasurable experience. Even though the amount of choices they had weren't that many compared to hotel buffets and other huge buffet places, it was still big enough for me not to be able to taste everything. I think I wasn't even close. 

I will definitely be back so next time I will focus more on the other items I wasn't able to taste and take more photos. Till next time.

3 Temasek Boulevard

Suntec City Tower 1#03-002
Singapore 038983
Tel: 6238 7088

Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie: The pastry shop with a killer burger and more

Whenever I walk around the basement food area of Raffles Place mall, I always

pass by this pastry chop named Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie. I never went inside since I am not that into desserts much but I do admire their creations on display particularly their macarons. I have never tried these little colorful things and have always wanted to do so. 

One evening, me and my family were looking for a nice place to have ice cream and coffee. Beside the place that we were having dinner in, fortunately, was Canele. Given the nice ambience and also an excuse to finally try the macarons, I suggested we give it a try. 

Macarons.

I didn't have high expectations though. They looked like mini merengues to me and I am not a big fan of merengues. I thought these will be dry, tasteless and boring. Boy was I wrong. These were light, flavorful and delightful. These were the exact opposite of what I was expecting which is almost always a good thing. 

Here are the macarons I tried:

Chocolate Noir: They say its 70% chocolate. Which means that 70% of it is cocoa and the rest is a combination of some fat or liquid and sugar. The filling was rich, chocolatey, dense and not too sweet. Definitely a  nice fix for chocoholics.

Fleur de Sel Caramel: Basically is caramel with (expensive?) salt. Given that Fleur de Sel contains more minerals than plain old table salt, the saltiness factor added a nice dimension to the caramel flavor. Since caramel is mostly sugar, the salt heightens all the flavor components of the dish. Sweet and salty at its best.

Chocolate Noir 70% (brown) and Fleur de Sel Caramel (beige with cocoa sprinkled on top)

Rose: The filling was made from buttercream which was flavored with a touch of rose. You can definitely get the aftertaste and aroma of the rose but not too overpowering. Getting a strong rose smell in a dish is never good for me.

Pistachio: Buttercream combined with pralines. You get the richness from the buttercream and the nuttiness from the pralines. Very nice indeed.

Rose and Pistachio

Mushroom Soup. 

I enjoy the occasional canned mushroom soup but nothing beats the real thing. Its basic quality mushroom soup - nothing fancy, nothing extra, just pure mushroom goodness. What I like about this version is that it is on the chunky side. So getting junks of mushroom adds to the overall texture to the dish. It is served with toased bread so this can be a bit filling.

Mushroom soup

Carbonara.

It is a beautiful plate of pasta alla carbonara I can give them that. You have the pasta with the sauce at the bottom, then a generous amount of bacon, then topped of with a beautifully poached egg. And I must say, that poached egg was really done to perfection.

The problem was, thats about all the good things I can say about this dish. It looks good, but doesn't deliver on taste. If you look at the bottom of the dish, you can see the pool of sauce. The sauce should have clinged to the pasta strands instead of flowing to the bottom. This means that the sauce was too thin for it to hold, and when this happens, flavor is sacrificed. The other components were fine with me its just that when everything is combined with the "thinned out" sauce, the flavor is only about 50% of what a good carbonara should be.  

This dish could definitely be improved a lot further. It is such a waste of good presentation when it can't be backed up by the taste.

Pasta alla Carbonara

Canele Wagyu Cheeseburger.

This was the most unexpected surprise of the evening. Getting a great burger from a pastry shop. Who would've known? 

Let me note that the picture below doesn't do this dish justice which is funny because this was my exact thought when I compared the image on the menu of the burger with the burger on the table.

Canele Wagyu Cheeseburger

Size: This for me was just right. It wasn't too small that it looks like you ordered your burger form the kiddie menu. It wasn't too big that you have to force feed yourself half of the burger since its just ridiculously big.

Components: This is a relatively basic burger. You have your burger buns, patty, caramelized onions, lettuce, edam cheese, ketchup, mustard and mayo. 

Patty: For a great burgers, this is key (obviously). You can have top your burger with great ingredients, have great side dishes to complement your burger. You can even create the best sauces or condiments for your burger. But if you do not have a great patty to start with, the rest is pretty much useless. The patty that they have has a nice pleasant beefy taste, very tender, not overly seasoned and not overly thick and it has a texture of coarsely ground beef which is a must for great burgers. 

Will definitely be back for more of these!

Cross section of the burger cooked to perfection. You can see the pinkish hue in the middle of the patty. Thats a patty cooked to medium. Just the way I like it.

Cappucino. 

Just by looking at this cup of coffee you know that this will be a quality cup. It is definitely a quality cup of coffee but not great. The added design on the froth does improve the presentation a lot. If you are going to drink your coffee with a dessert item, I would highly recommend the chocoloate noir. It relaly is a great combination. You can see it in the picture behind the cup.

Coffee and chocolate noir macaron. Match made in heaven.

Hot Chocolate.

This cup of hot chocolate is mainly made from Valhrona chocolate (probably the powdered version) and other chocolate components. It was good but it could have been better. I prefer my hot chocolate drinks a bit on the thicker side and this just didn't cut it. They should probably use more Valhrona chocolate. Can't go wrong with putting more and more chocolate I always say. 

Hot Chocolate

Vanilla Ice Cream.

If you see vanilla bean particles on your ice cream, you know its gonna be a good one. This one does not disappoint. This was rich, smooth and not too dense. It wasn't too sweet and you can clearly get the vanilla flavor. Another equally good item on this dish is their tuile. Its light and crispy and just delightful with the ice cream. So for a scoop of ice cream you get the nice crunch from the tuile, the acidity from the berries to compliment their delicious ice cream. This was more than I expected to get.

Vanilla Ice Cream

As I am writing this now, Canele is my favorite food place in Singapore. I am sure that this will change as soon as I find another great food place. In my opinion, some of the items here (especially the burger) are the best I've tasted so far. It is going to be exciting to find new places to top these. And I hope I can write about it in the future. Nevertheless, I hope Canele continues to provide great new creations and keep up the quality of their food.

This is my first entry to this food blog and I think it is fitting to start it off with my favorite. This should be a fun food journey.

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie: Raffles City Shopping Centre

252 North Bridge Road #B1-46/47 Singapore 179103
Telephone (65) 6334-7377 Facsimile (65) 6334-7977
Opening Hours
Mondays to Sundays : 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.