Avocado Milkshake @ AV

After the delivering the chicken rice balls to CJ, the Pancakes brought Mum & Dad for a taste of the legendary avocado milkshake.

At $2 a mug, it is well worth the price to taste the heavenly concoction of avocado, milk and gula melaka (palm sugar). To make your own, please refer to the post here. Add a dash of whiskey to your homemade concoction.  It will totally lift the taste of the milkshake.  Or you can add a dollar to have yours served with whiskey.

This time round the Pancakes had the milkshake from Stall No. 17. Of course, there is these other stalls selling the same stuff. Will go for Stall 19 the next time round.

Taste test: A tad too sweet for Mr Pancakes, but nonetheless it is a good afternoon drink. Filling, tasty and very nutritious. And somehow, the drink didn't look as green as it used to be. Too much milk added?

Avocado King

Alexandra Village Hawker Center

#01-17

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Hainanese Chicken Rice Ball

This gotta qualify for one of the growing up food for Mr Pancakes. Mum and Dad used to bring the Mr Pancakes and his younger brothers to have chicken rice balls for BREAKFAST. Yes, there is no typo error here. Breakfast. According to Mum and Dad, they used to have the chicken rice balls for breakfast during special occasions or when Grandma feels like it.  Grandma used to walk to the stall at 6 in the morning to buy the tasty treat back when Mum and Dad were kids. (Different Grandmas, of course.)


The stall had not shift since Mr Pancakes knew of its existence. Only moving across the road to it's current location.  And of course the second generation had taken over the stall and had moved with times.  They no longer serve their wares for breakfast.  It's more of a brunch or lunch kinda thing.


The novelty of having your chicken rice in balls never wear off.  And now Mrs Pancakes is also in the fray, it means more visits to this stall.  


Each set meal comes with two chicken rice balls, a serving of chicken meat and one tau pok with soup. (and half a egg, I think.)  The kong ba (pork belly) is a treat too. Each set cost $4.50, costly for a chicken rice. But hey, nothing can buy back the nostalgia. And there is always a healthy stream of customers. Order servings for the number of pax that you have. You will generally end up with more stuff than ordering individual sets.  And the cost will work out to about the same.

The chicken rice balls hadn't lose its charm over the years.  The chicken meat though is a bit bland and cold. But totally hawker or street food.  Mr Pancakes do like the soft tender meat served by places like Boon Tong Kee, but yah, nostalgia feelings always wins.  And yes, the chicken meat served here is a tad bit oily.  The pork belly was soft, with a very distinct soy flavour, though not overpowering. And yes, it melts in your mouth. And last but not least, the tau pok (fried bean pouch) served in it's soup. It's one of a kind. Simple, yet unforgettable.


And yes, the chilli sauce gives that sharp kick.  Please taste a bit of it first before you decide to dollop your chicken meat in it. It packs quite a punch.  Disappointedly, they do not serve the ultra thick black soy sauce anymore. 


The way to enjoy the chicken rice balls hadn't changed much.  The Pancakes and family will always drizzle the tau pok soup over the chicken rice balls to 'soften' them up first.  It also adds the taste of soy into the rice.  Then proceed to crush the rice balls and eat with a good serving of the chicken or pork belly.  Scoop a spoonful of the soup with a tau pok.  Chew the tau pok while swallowing the soup to wash down the oil in the mouth. Heavenly.  Repeat.


Boon Hwa Food Centre

43 Jalan Besar

(coffeeshop at the end of Dickson Road)

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Aglio Olio

Chocolate Chip Cookies went to China Square for dinner in a peaceful and quiet setting. Though much raved about on forums, Aglio Olio was a disappointment for us.


We settled for a 2-pax dinner set which includes a small bottle of wine, a basket of garlic bread and chicken wings for sharing, 2 bowls of soup and 2 pastas or pizzas, all for $39.90++.

The chicken soup was just normal. any cafe could have produced this. Garlic bread wasn't too shabby as compared with the soup, but quite standard as well.

We aren't wine experts, but the red wine didn't go well with pasta for sure.

The chicken wings were terrible in our opinion, but thank goodness for the chilli sauce (off-the-shelf, not home-made). We started listing all the better chicken wings we've eaten elsewhere.

And now, the supposed-highlights of the meal - the pastas. There are 4 levels of spicy-ness to choose from. Chocolate Chip (who can't really take spicy) chose normal and I (self-proclaimed chilli padi) took spicy. Both pastas turned out slighty too hot for comfort, but certainly took the focus away from the disappointing pastas.

Chocolate Chip's pepperoni aglio oglio. He said it tasted nothing special but wolfed it down anyway because he was hungry.

I was expecting my bacon aglio oglio to come with fried, crispy and hot bacon, but the bacon strips were boiled (I think), wet and soft. I could hardly taste the garlic, much less the olive oil! Service wasn't fantastic as the servers seemed over-eager to clear our plates. Frankly speaking, to us, Aglio Olio's pastas are no different from Pastamania's.

So much for the high ratings. I would probably visit the area for a nice little dinner away from the crowd but am definitely not stepping into this restaurant again.


Aglio Olio
3 Pickering Street
#01-40 China Square
Nankin Row

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Red Dot Brewery - Beer Tasting

The Pancakes went for the Beer Tasting organised by Blue Hall this weekend.  It is a great deal, you get finger food and the most valuable of it all, you get to listen to the master brewer!


Mr Pancakes read an article on why beer can be one addictive activity, simple reason, the process of beer drinking engages all our senses, making it a very pleasurable experience.


Sight: The tiny bubbles that fizzles through the beer gives a fuzzy feeling. Like champagne.
Smell: The distinct smell of the hops. (acquired taste but nonetheless attractive)
Touch: The cold surface of the beer mug.
Hearing: The 'chink' of beer mugs when toasting.
Taste: The fruity, bitter taste of beer.


Experience: Beer is usually drank with a group of friends in a laid back social gathering. It makes us feel good inherently. And the alcohol dilates our blood vessels, making us feel relax. Add the process of beer drinking with all 5 senses engaged, no wonder it's a very theraupetic and desirable experience! 


(The crappy thing is what you get the next morning... if you drink too much. Otherwise it's... BOOMZ.)


Anyway, back to the tasting part. Will share more on the brewer's story and my thoughts in the later part of this post.

The group were initially given three samplers. And as the master brewer went on. He decided to serve us an extra tasting portion. Very nice of him, so that we can have a full range of taste. Here are some of the tasting notes. 


Summer Ale: Floral, fruity smell. Golden yellow. A slightly more bitter aftertaste as compared to the lager.
Lager:  Pale yellow. Crisp taste and a drier drink.
Green Monster: Beer with spirulina. Green drink. Enough said. 
Weizen: It looks cloudy, very similar to hoegaarden. They are all wheat beer. Has a fruity taste (of bananas) with a light spicy note. 


Apparently all their beer is unfiltered which lends the different flavours to the beer as compared to bottled beer. Filtered beer not only remove the yeast, the flavonoids are more often than not removed. (according to the brewer.)

The side dishes were so-so. But then again, who's here for the food? Those who had been there before vouch for the grill items on the menu. Shall have a go at it the next time the Pancakes visit. 


And yes, we had a tour of the micro-brewery, which Ernest Ng (the master brewer) designed and built himself, after years of home-brewing and studying the subject. And it did help that he was in the construction business for a long time before moving on to being the first local brewer. (which i think is amazing by all standards.) 




And yes, the master brewer, Mr Ernest Ng himself. He started off in the military and then after that to construction business. Finally turning his passion into a business. And that is one BIG thing to Mr Pancakes. Mr Pancakes always believe that if you keep doing what you love (ie passion) and keep on improving until you are good at it, someday, you will reap the benefits (with proper planning). And this man is one classic example.


Ernest knows his stuff inside out. Mr Pancakes was impressed by his biochemistry knowledge on the full process of beer brewing. Right down to the enzymatic reactions and the different parts of organic chemistry reaction. But Ernest totally blew Mr Pancakes mind away when he started to dwell into the anatomy of the barley grain. It was CRAZY. And during the tasting notes itself, he also talked about how the human tongue detects taste. Yes. That is the kind of details he went into. And of course during the tour of the micro-brewery he again spoke about his stuff.


You can tell and feel the passion in this man. He shares his knowledge and you always have this feeling that there is sooooooooo much that he wants to share and he can't wait to share. He even asked us to take pictures freely. I was totally inspired by him. And yes, he definitely got no airs. Ernest is the type of person you can just go up to and talk to him. At the later part of the tasting, he just dropped by our table and just talked. Sharing his experience of working with Thai construction workers and his plans of a new branch at Boat Quay. 


The man himself. Mr Ernest Ng. Owner, Master Brewer, RED DOT BREWERY.

Oh yes. I forgot to mention that the tasting comes with 4 towers of beer. And for the 18 of us. 

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Ramen Santouka

Managed to arrange a last minute meet up with Mr FE for lunch today. After talking to Mr Nurse about Japanese cuisine the day before and food in general two days before, I have this craving for the ramen @ The Central. I decided, might as well, as I need to get some ingredients from Meidi-ya for Mr K's birthday lunch.

Met and catch up a bit with Mr FE. We been friends like for about 14 years now and even though we would like to meet up more often than what we are doing now, it is always amazing to be able to just share your thoughts and in general just talk cock.

So, we (actually I told Mr FE about my craving and he gamely obliged to accompany me to satisfy it) headed straight to Ramen Santouka @ The Central which is near Mr Fe's workplace. Amazingly it is the only few outlets without a lunch special. (Billy Bombers was calling out to me, but I was dead focused on getting my ramen.)

I did not bring a camera with me, and had to borrow these photos from other websites.

Mr FE ordered the Char-Siu kara-miso ramen. And of course, I dived my spoon into his soup, even before he touched it. Disappointedly, it did not excite my palate.

This is taken from [here] and shows the char siu ramen with miso soup. The kara-miso is slightly red in colour and has the chilli fragrance. It is however, NOT spicy at all.

[photo from here]

Mr Pancakes on the other hand ordered the pork-cheeks special (Yokusen Toroniku) with the miso-soup. The pork cheeks were FANTASTIC. Tender with the right amount of fats. It also tastes superb with the condiments and the miso soup. However, it is a tad too salty for Mr Pancakes' taste. This goes to the miso soup too.

Mr Pancakes shared his tasting notes with Mr Nurse and 'complained' that the stuff were good but a tad too salty. Mr Nurse's reply was, "Well, ramen is supposed to be flavourful. You will know when you go Japan." Ha. oh well. I will stick to soba noodles then!

Will order the shio-soup and the chicken karaage as recommended by Mr Nurse.

Total bill came up to $44 which was quite decent. Though a tad too salty, a satisfying lunch nonetheless.

The Central, #02-76 (near Billy Bombers/ below Ma Maison)

6 Eu Tong Seng Street

+65-6224-0668

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District 10 Bistro

Went for Sunday brunch with the Association, something I had not had the chance to do for a long while due to work commitments.

Set in a more secluded part of Singapore, District 10 was not as crowded as we expected it to be on a late Sunday morning. Ambience was more relaxing, amidst the greenery. We chose to sit outdoors and had our meal next to (or rather, under) a huge tree.

I shared the Eggs Benedict and Pancakes with Banana and Chocolate with Miss C. For drinks, we had cafe mocha and Antioxident, a fruit juice concoction.

The Eggs Benedict came with hash brown, grilled tomato and a salad on the side. The muffin was one of the more toasted ones Mrs Pancakes had tried, was nice and crispy. Ham was not too salty, which gave it extra points. Poached eggs were nicely cooked, not too runny in the middle. The light hollandaise sauce topped the dish giving it a very pleasant taste.



The pancakes, however, did not meet up to expectations. Pancakes were too dense. Mrs Pancakes prefers the light and fluffy version. Also, there was just a drizzle of chocolate sauce which didn't stand out in the dish. The taste of bananas overwhelmed and she couldn't taste the chocolate.




Make sure you are not in a hurry if you want to try out the food there as service staff can be quite slow. It took a long while for the drinks to be served (even plain water) and we had to ask for the bill the second time around for it to come. Read More...

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