[[Mum's Birthday Dinner @ My Humble House, Esplanade]]

Step into My Humble House and you feel like you are transported to a grand albeit magical & whimsical world of wizards. The decor uses a dark theme but they have very unique furnishings- like these high-backed chairs, and even their waitresses have the most unique uniform- a mid-drift chong-sam inspired top with a long "tail" at the back with black pants. We were enchanted the moment we walked into the restaurant.

I often hear about this place being a ripped off-for its price and lack of quality of the food. But I think that the dinner tonight was really well-done. The price is worth the experience dining there.

We ordered the set dinner that is called "Someone is singing behind the mountain"-I didnt make this up at all; they had both chinese and english names to all the titles and dishes on the menu.

The first dish we had was the quail egg salad. It is the epitome of a simple food made sophisticated by skilled matching of colour and taste by the chef and naturally, the presetation of the dish. It was just a quail egg dipped in herbs, placed on a sliced cherry tomato and drenched with a zesty, citrusy flavoured dressing.


The first dish on the menu was amuse bouche- crisp fried fillet of silver cod with spinach, prawn mousse and mushrooms, drizzled with honey mustard. It was really tasty- having a myriad of flavours and textures in a single item. The batter was really light and crispy which makes it doubly yummy. The slightly citrus, slightly spicy sauce complemented on the dish really well. I was wondering if they should have used a different type of fillet because I felt that the flavours of the silver cod was overpowering on the other flavours. However, it seemed like I was the only one who thought so amongst my family.

The third dish is titled simple satisfaction- Braised sharks fin with fish maw in shark’s cartilage consommé. Indeed, it looked so simple that it was deceiving. It is satisfaction the moment you place the first mouthful of the soup into your mouth. The intensity of the shark’s bone in the soup is really intense. The shark’s fin slide down almost too quickly into my stomach. I was happy with this; my only grouse is that it was slightly too salty and too rich?


Next came the Unexpected-Steamed fillet of marble Goby in chef’s special sauce. Actually it was unexpected to me because I didn’t know what a goby was. The goby was a fish with very sweet and smooth texture. Really yummy. This was cooked the traditional Chinese way of steaming fish. So a fresh fish with tender and sweet meat is already a sure winner.

Tip of the iceberg was served next. Initially, we were wondering why was lychee Sorbet served in the middle of the meal. We finally realized it- it was there to “cleanse” our mouth before they start serving us the beef tenderloin. The first few dishes we had were rich flavoured seafood. The lychee sorbet had pistachio shavings on the top of it. I don’t really fancy sorbets but I guess this was a necessity before the next item was served.

The much awaited Tenderness-Pan-seared marinated beef tenderloin in red wine reduction was served. However, it was really disappointing. My sis call it the horfun typed beef. How totally sad. It was not that bad but then it was not fantastic either. It was just an item that failed to impress. I guess beef tenderloins should just be eaten at western restaurants.

If you thought that dinner was over, it wasn’t. The inspiration-Fried fragrant rice with egg white and freshly peeled crabmeat was served. I think this was really nicely cooked. The grains of rice weren’t overly soft or hard, the crabmeat and the egg whites were really “light” ingredients and a good ending to a heavy meal.

The finale was the dessert. We were all wondering what it will be like when we saw it on the menu. It is called Ice fragrance-My humble house dessert fantasy. To claim it to be a fantasy, it definitely needs to be something really special don’t you think so. We were marveled when they were served to us. Just look at it: firstly, it is served in an enormously huge bowl. Secondly, the arrangement and colours just excites you so greatly. This was a really simple dish: simple fruit dipped in chocolate sauce and a bowl of jelly-like stuff. I think we just had a lot of fun eating this.

Anyway, dinner was a great experience for my family and I. It was not just about the food, but the ambience, the presentation of the dish. And of course, dinner took a really long time, but it was definitely worth it.

Tip of the iceberg
Refreshing Lychee Sorbet


Tenderness
Pan-seared marinated beef tenderloin in red wine reduction


The inspiration
Fried fragrant rice with egg white and freshly peeled crabmeat


Ice fragrance
My humble house dessert fantasy

[[Laidback brunch at P.S café]]


P.S café is hidden behind the greenery at Dempsey road.
But it is a really nice place to sit back, chat and enjoy a good meal with your loved one.

J & I spent this Sunday brunch together at this great place. We don’t usually spend Sunday mornings together, so today was really special.

We got to the place at about 10 plus 11 and it was already crowded with expat couples and families having their brunch either indoors or al fresco. Though the haze was not that bad, we chose to sit indoors because it’s a pity that there isn’t much of a view out there.

I ordered this huge breakfast with consisted of 2 perfectly shaped poached eggs(the prettiest I’ve seen so far), Portobello mushrooms, fried bacon, with spinach and this unique potato mix with caramelized onions. Balsamic vinegar was drizzled over this dish making it aesthetically pleasing.


my big breakfast

J had the salad with pork loaf, bell peppers stuffed with feta cheese, and bread with olive sauce. I think this was a more interesting dish as compared to mine. Not the usually type of brunch menu.


J's breakfast

The cakes at the counter look really droolicious. It’s a pity we couldn’t eat that much so we opted for the smaller, lighter orange almond muffin instead. Doesn’t it look really pretty? I love fruity, zesty type muffins especially when it is combined with nuts. The muffin was moist enough and the outer layer was browned to the right degree.


Orange almond muffin

Will probably pop by to try out their dinner menu and to see if it's good. Looks really promising so far. =)

Vanilla Sugar Cookies
From Donna Hay’s The New Cook

Makes approximately 30 cookies

185g unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups plain flour
a pinch of salt
1 egg

Place butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a food processor and process until smooth.
Add flour and egg and process until a smooth dough forms.
Knead dough lightly, wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough on sheets of non-stick baking paper until its approximately ¼ inch thick.
Cut dough into desired shaped on baking trays.
Bake cookies in a preheated 180 degrees celcius oven for about 15 minutes or until they are light golden.
Cool cookies on racks.

(p.s I added a couple grains of sea salt over the cookie shapes so that there is a mix of sweet and saltiness)

Porcini mushroom broth


Beef tenderloin


Molten lava cake with hazelnut ice cream on shortbread


Ambience at Garibaldi

[[Dinner at Garibaldi's]]

My parents and I headed to the much-talked about Italian restaurant at Purvis Street, Garibaldi for dinner. It was a good decision because I really did enjoy dinner. Of course, I enjoyed my parents company and the fact that I can talk to my dad about food. =)

The restaurant is kinda hidden amongst the other eating places along Purvis Street. I really love their minimumlist concept while retaining the comfy and cozy setting of a dining area. The restaurant is rather small as well. About 40-45 diners in a setting?

My mum and I ordered the gourmet menu because it's our first time dining there and we were totally spoilt for choice. My dad ordered the soup of the day- porcini mushroom broth, and lamb which is done in three different styles.

Here’s the list of items on the gourmet dinner menu:

Crabs salad cake on top of avocado paste with a fruity mix on top
Pan-roasted goose liver with red onion, and apricot
Homemade angel hair pasta with Lobster and tomato sauce
Medium done beef tenderloin with a cake of potatoes and porcini mushrooms
Molten lava cake with hazelnut ice cream and shortbread biscuit
Cappuccino


My favourites were the crabsalad cake and goose liver and the beef tenderloin. The crabsalad cake was really light and refreshing and also it’s paired up with my favourite avocado. I know that many of you don’t really like avocado coz of its creamy or “nua nua” texture but the flavour actually goes very well with many food- especially seafood- like prawns, lobster, crabs.

The pan roasted goose liver was really delightful. Soft like melting butter on the inside and crispy like good peking duck skin. Foie gras is definitely one of my favourite sinful food. Grins.

The angel hair pasta was teamed with tomato sauce cooked with lobster. This was not bad too. The lobster was fresh and thankfully, this isn't a cream dish so it didn’t make us very full. And also, I really appreciate freshly made pasta so it is definitely a plus eating it at Garibaldi's.

My mum thought that the beef tenderloin was too rare. But I felt that it was just right, even though it was cooked less than a medium. The beef was really so fresh, sweet and juicy that you cannot eat it otherwise. Really. =) and porcini mushrooms, I just love them. They are definitely one of its kind in the mushroom family. It's rich and strongly flavoured enough to be paired up with dishes like the beef tenderloin. It also taste absolutely great with their mushroom-y aroma in risottos.

For the dessert, I felt that the portion was simply too big. I was really too full to eat already. So I got my dad to help me finish it. The Molten lava cake is one of the best that I've tasted. Rich, warm chocolate flowing from the center. The cake is also not too dry. My only grouse is that the hazelnut ice-cream, though really tasty and rich in its nutty flavour, is too rich to be eaten with the lava cake. And also, the shortbread..I don't know why they served the shortbread coz it's really too heavy to be eaten together with the cake and ice cream.

That aside, I really enjoyed my dinner at Garibaldi's. Will definitely head back sometime soon.

[[Home-cooked Japanese meals]]

My first proper post on this food blog. Decided to create a separate one just for food so that I can gush all I want about the number one pleasure of life- Eating.

Cooked Oyako-don once again. Oyako translated literally means "parent and child" which is a playful name which plays with the notion of whether chicken or the egg came first.

The main secret to this dish is the "sauce" that is used to simmer the chicken and egg. You need chicken stock, sake, mirin, light sauce mixed well and this mixture is poured over to simmer the chicken in a skillet. Once the chicken is cooked, you can pour over the barely stirred egg mixture. (Don't mix it too much because the japanese like their omelette streaked white) Let the eggs sit fora little more than minute(until it is set but still moist).