Tea at the Ginger Garden | Halia

24th August 2013.
Take a stroll, take your time, surround yourself with greenery, and just take everything easy on a Saturday morning at the Botanical Gardens. What is there not to like?

Times like these are hard to come by. The fatigue from school and tropical heat fade away as one gets distracted by a joyful couple getting their wedding shots done with their friends by the lake and the sight of a families have a good time on the expansive lawn.

At the end of it, you can even reward yourself with a nice afternoon tea at Halia, located in the midst of the Ginger Gardens of the Botanical Gardens. Furthermore, the price tag pales in comparison to the staggering 42++ you get in one of those ritzy hotels downtown.

That’s what Halia at Botanical Gardens got to offer, a relaxing afternoon tea surrounded by lush greenery on the weekends without breaking the bank. Halia’s Weekend Afternoon Tea Set (28.00++ SGD), concocted by Executive Chef Peter Rollinson, an Australian chef who has once headed Flutes at the Fort, the Prime Society and the Sault Restaurant in Daylesford, Australia.



As part of the tea set, you get to enjoy either coffee with single refill or if you prefer something more exotic, the Halia Infusion, a ginger tea sweetened with honey is pretty good too especially when served chilled on a hot day.

Together with the tea, enjoy the petite savoury and sweet bites from the elegant two-tiered tea set. The Freshly Baked Scones was an excellent start, competently baked, these scones exudes a warm buttery fragrance. Savour it with the delicate Chantilly cream or the orange and ginger jam.

Chef Peter also took inspiration from local cuisine for the tea menu. Most apparent was the Wagyu Beef Rendang Samosa which was not bad but too oily. Besides local cuisine, the afternoon tea is also a way to sample some of the dishes Halia offers as main courses, a sneak peek of the main menu.

While I applaud the attempt to come out with interesting tea bites, some just don’t work such as the House-cured Salmon, Pickled Cucumber and Toasted Rye which was too raw and rough in taste. The Quince and Almond Cake with Crème Fraiche was just weird with the crème fraiche and the Coconut Panna Cotta, mango, passionfruit and lychee with toasted coconut was overwhelmed with the taste of coconut.

However, there are tea bites I enjoy too, such as the Smoked Trout Parfait with Cucumber, Apple and Lime which was a fascinating combination of the savoury and fruity flavours, the Poached Chicken & Smoked Paprika Finger Sandwich was pretty good too and so was the Ginger Flower Macaron which worked for me with its touch of spicy ginger.

Overall, some worked and some didn’t and the afternoon tea menu changes once in a while so don’t be surprised to find something different for your next visit! As for service, I think it needs some polishing up, when I arrived, one of the servers attends to the Caucasians first instead of the Korean family and I, but other staff were friendly and courteous, hopefully it is an isolated case. Overall, the ambience was great and price is quite reasonable for an afternoon tea here.

Halia Tea Service
Available Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm (last seating)
28++ SGD per person.

Thank You Cyndiana and Ivy from Food News for the invite.

Halia at Botanical Gardens
Ginger Garden @ Singapore Botanic Garden,
1 Cluny Rd
Singapore 259569

Rochor Thai — A Thai Adventure In More Ways Than One

Xin Li, and myself attended the event. So dashing, in his Wong Kar Wai moment. 

Greeted with the vibrant orange interior and numerous pictures of Thai street scenes, this place exuded a homely vibe. It was a vibe that was further extended by our warm host, Kenny, and his young team of chefs, headed by Joel. 

Nam Tak Krai Kab Bai Toey - Pandanus Lemongrass Welcome Drink

This was a refreshingly sweet and cool drink, with the intensely aromatic and sweet flavour of pandan accompanying the refreshing citrus flavour of the lemongrass. A great drink, probably a hit with the kids with it's bright green colour as well. 

Cha Yen - Thai Iced Tea

Using good tea is a key to making thai iced tea. The smoky taste of tea filtered through the richly bodied milky tea, and it wasn't too sweet or heavy. Pretty good. 

Kanom Jeen Sao Nam - J's Cold Sald of Kanom Jeen Noodles

While this amuse bouche tasted pretty good, I was expecting a sharper, perhaps more uplifting start to a meal. The noodles had been sprinkled with grated coconut and dried shrimp, resulting in a interesting medley of savoury sweetness. You can imagine the slight "hay bee hiam" taste (acquired taste, this one, I like it though) being quite well-balanced with the full-bodied, slightly salty creaminess of the grated coconut, all gone along with the refreshing vermicelli. Not too bad. 

Som Tum - Green Papaya Salad Central Thailand Style

I have to be honest and admit that this wasn't anywhere near the best of papaya salads I've had. It tasted overtly wet and soggy, over-marinated in something that tasted too heavily of vinegar. The carrots tasted slightly raw and it didn't go very well with the long beans at all. Although the accompanying nuts was a good effort, it fell quite short as the characteristically associated flavours of sweet, sharp, spiciness of a thai salad didn't come through.

Tom Yum Talay - Hot and Spicy Seafood Soup with Thai Herbs

First, the good stuff: It wasn't as oily as I expected, and it was quite spicy enough to give me a good kick, like a good tom yum soup should. However, the prawns weren't too fresh, and the offerings inside didn't play the part of revealing the fresh seafood flavours that were masked under very heavy spices in this tom yum soup. Additionally, the overwhelming saltiness (presumably an overdose of fish sauce) made this a very confusing mix of flavours — it sort of kicked away the spiciness of the tom yum, but it also masked the seafood that wasn't very fresh.

Po Taek - Clear Spicy Sour Soup with Holy Basil and Kaffir Lime Leaves

This was a deadly spicy soup, so I was wow. The lime and citrus flavours that presumably came with this was sadly masked by the very heavy overdose of fish sauce. Not good at all. 

Pla Nin Pao - Salt Baked Whole Tilapia served with Spicy Coriander Sauce

I am actually not a very big fan of fish even though I eat it quite regularly (happens when your family is Teochew). Tilapia is one of those freshwater fishes that can taste very muddy and fishy (utterly nasty) if not chosen properly — after all, it is a bottom feeder fish, residing at the bottom of the riverbeds feeding on plants and algae. However, I was very pleased to say that this was an excellent tilapia — so good, you could actually eat it on its own. The salt-baked crust ensured that the moisture was packed in, avoiding those situations where you had an awfully dried fish I've had at some tze char restaurants. It had a nice light saltiness to it, presumably because of the crust, and tasted wonderfully fresh, even evoking the taste of the water that it was in. I was okay with the spicy coriander sauce, which was not very spicy despite its namesake. The tilapia was so good in fact that I just ate it on its own, which is something I don't usually do with freshwater fish. 

Kor Moo Yang - Seared Pork Collar served with Aromatic Dried Chilli Sauce

This was quite salty, especially for some of my dinner companions on the table. While the pork collar was fairly tender and well-layered with fat (not too much, thankfully), it went well with the dried chilli sauce in my opinion. If I could suggest any improvements to this, I would suggest that the sauce be made sweeter to balance out the salty nature of the pork. 

Gaeng Kaew Wan Gai - Chef's Special Green Curry with Chicken Thigh and Thai Eggplant (right) This did taste surprisingly sweet for a green curry — not that I minded, though. The chicken was not dry (always a good thing) and the eggplant was not too disgustingly mashed and overcooked. Above average, but nothing to write home about other than it being exceedingly thick and creamy, which gets a bit gelak after a while. Gaeng Phet Pla Krapong Daeng - Dry Red Curry with Red Snapper Fillets I think this was personally one of my favourite dishes of the night. The slight sweetness accompanied the sharp saltiness of the red snapper well, in a robust medley of textures assaulting my mouth. There was a wonderful smokiness to this dish that added an extra dimension to the interplay of sweet/savoury, and the snapper was sufficiently moist to say the least. This was quite well done, and I would recommend this highly.

Goong Pad Nam Prik Pao Kab Horapa — Stir Fried Prawns with Thai Chilli Jam and Sweet Basil Didn't remember much about this dish other than the slightly sweetness of the thai chilli jam kicking in with the robust flavours of the sauce, which was very heavily wok hei-ed. Hoay Lai Pad Prik Pao - Clams Flambe in Chilli Jam and Chef's Stock The clams weren't too bad — fresh, and went well with the robust, wok hei flavours of the stock.

Khao Niew Ma Muang - Mango Sticky Rice

With the coconut milk sauce copiously absent, it was replaced with toasted sesame seeds instead. I did miss the full-bodied creaminess this sweet dessert is known for, but I also did appreciate the very soft and mushy texture of the rice going well with the mango that wasn't too sweet. It was an interesting take on the traditional dessert, perhaps from reminiscient of the variant made in Thailand. 

Tab Tim Grob - Thai Red Ruby

Tasting just like strawberry milk and red beetroot, there were complaints on the table that the chestnuts weren't big enough. That aside, there was a creamy, fragrant sweetness overwhelming your tongue, and definitely a dessert that the kids would love to go into a sugar high for. 

While certainly not the best Thai restaurant I've tasted, I am tempted to give it a chance on the virtue of it being 2.5 weeks old (at time of tasting). It does show a very raw potential, and the passion for such a young team of restauranteurs trying to strike it out in an intensely competitive culinary landscape is quite commendable. 

The food, with some misses, was largely above average and the commitment to not using MSG and things like no service charge and GST make the deal a tad bit sweeter here. An honest restaurant wanting to strike it out, I am tempted to give it a chance. 

As with most Thai food, actually.

Our deepest thanks to Joel & Kenny for the invite for this tasting and for hosting us. 

Rochor Thai
340 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427592

Email: rochorthai@modasflame.com.sg

Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30AM-10.00PM
Last Order: 9.45PM
Closed on Mondays

Zsofi Tapas and Bar

26th July 2013.
There’s a tapas craze going on in Singapore. Not really among Singaporeans but restaurateurs. Month after month you hear about new tapas bars/bistros, and it’s becoming a cliché to start off an article along the line of “tapas bars are sprouting everywhere”.

Zsofi has been around before the hype though. They’ve been around as a tapas bar, dishing out free tapas with any purchase of booze (yay free food!). Now they are venturing into the bistro scene, offering home-style Spanish food alongside the extensive tapas menu.

Though the chefs are Singaporeans, the restaurant stays faithful to the Spanish food culture, while toning down the flavours a little to appeal to both locals and Spaniards.

Trudging through the late afternoon heat in Little India, we reached Zsofi parched. A glass of Sangria cooled us down, ready for the heat of the first dish.

We kicked off the dinner with Pimiento de Padrón, Spanish Padrón peppers (each with a slightly different level of heat) sprinkled with sea salt flakes. Fortunately for us, none was too much to take. Or maybe we just have a high capsaicin tolerance.

The Pan con Tomate is served in an interesting, hands-on manner. Instead of serving chopped marinaded tomatoes on toasts (a la bruschetta), Zsofi leaves cloves of fresh garlic and 2-halves of tomato in the basket of toasts. Before you eat, rub some garlic and tomato on your toast. The full, pungent flavour of garlic stands out easily, so go easy on it.

Though the octopus slices of the Pulpo a la Gallega (boiled octopus served on boiled potatoes, with a dash of paprika) wasn’t ideally springy (I remember hearing it was intended this way), but the natural flavours of the slimy sea creature was retained. I wish the slices were thicker though.

The variety of seafood that comes in the Combinado Mixta Marisco a la plancha is as good as having the sea in a platter. All the quintessential seafood items are in, and you can smell them before they arrive at your table. Apart from the presence of lobster, the dish was simply an honest seafood platter.

It was surprising to learn that the pork selected for Secreto Ibérico is marbled, because it certainly felt tough and dry. That’s all.

Duck and, more importantly, French comes to mind when it comes to confit. Imagine my bewilderment when Pollo was introduced as a chicken confit. The boss quickly explained that this dish was a result of fierce competition between tapas bars in Spain, and the need to innovate and differentiate. 

For dessert, we had Churros con chocolate. Unfortunately, the sticks disintegrated even before I could dip it into the chocolate sauce. The outside were crumbly more than crunchy, and the inside flaky more than pillowy. In the end, I had to deploy a fork just so that I could smother the fragile churros in chocolate sauce.

Zsofi is definitely not new in the tapas scene in Singapore, which is why personally I had expected more from them. Then again, the bistro side is still relatively new, so I believe they are in the midst of ironing out the kinks. Decent place to hang out with friends, but a tad over-priced for what it’s worth.

Thank You Yong En from Orbital Group Asia and Zsofi Tapsa and Bar for the invite!

Zsofi Tapas and Bar
68 Dunlop Street
Singapore 209396

Back to Dezato

14th August 2013.
A couple of weeks ago, I visited Marina East where the public golf course is for a site visit. It is kind of amazing that all these lands beyond Tanjong Rhu used to be part of the sea only about 30-40 years ago and Tanjong Rhu used to be like the clan jetties in Penang with various shipyards up till the 1990s. Today, one probably wouldn’t know until you do a search of Tanjong Rhu on PICAS.

I walked from Marina East gardens, dropping by the public golf course then walked to Marina Bay Sands and the Gardens by the Bay via the Marina Barrage.

Saw some kids on an excursion at Marina Barrage.

The site visit ended earlier (partly because of the heavy downpour) and it was about lunch time so I decided to drop by an old favourite, Dezato at Boat Quay. The sad thing is the prices here are no longer nett prices and consistency had been an issue during previous visits.



Fortunately, my special lunch set of Gyuniku Tendon pretty good, the tempura was just nice. The ebi tempura for example was succulent with a light crispy batter seasoned with tempura sauce. The beef slices were tasty too. The whole lunch set cost about 17.50 after taxes.

Dezato Desserts and Dining

20 Lorong Telok

Singapore 049032

Spice Brasserie | 槟城美食与螃蟹大宴

16th August 2013.
Passing by Parkroyal Kitchener Road one day, my eyes were fixed on their huge banner introducing their Penang Buffet. Hence, I find it very lucky indeed that just a few days later, I received an invitation from Spice Brasserie of Parkroyal Kitchener Road to try their new menu featuring Penang classics such as the Assam Laksa and Penang-style Char Kway Teow as well as a decadent crab feast with at least 10 kinds of crabs on offer.

Spice Brasserie has always been overlooked in favour of the more popular Plaza Brasserie of Parkroyal on Beach Road or the Lime Restaurant located in the architecturally prominent Parkroyal on Pickering. It is a pity because Spice Brasserie is actually a rather nice restaurant with plenty of space for kids and the elderly and the ambience is great for a casual get together or family gathering. Furthermore with a refreshed menu by the new chef, Frederick Kho, things are looking good.

The new chef is a native Malaysian from Kuala Lumpur who has a rich culinary experience, working in several notable hotels such as Penang’s Golden Sands Resort by Shangri-la and Singapore’s Shangri-la Hotel. He is also a fan of both Penang and Kuala Lumpur cuisine hence the Penang Buffet at Spice Brasserie.

To keep this post short, I will just point out some of the memorable dishes from the buffet. First and foremost, there were the Penang Classics such as Penang Oh Chien (Oyster Omelette), Penang-style Prawn Mee, Assam Laksa and the ubiquitous Penang-style Char Kway Teow. My favourites were the amazing oh chien which has generous chunks of oyster embedded in its creamy egg and pan-fried to perfection with a delicate, smoky crust and served chilli sauce.

The Assam Laksa was another winner. I wasn’t impressed by the Assam Laksa I had in Penang (partly because we had it at the touristy Gurney Drive (Chef Kho advised against visiting it if you want to true Penang food experience). This Assam Laksa wasn’t overwhelmingly spicy like the ones I had before and it has a nice fruity and sweet touch to it from the pineapples. I was also informed that mackerel was used for this Assam Laksa, hence staying true to the Assam Laksa back in Penang. Furthermore, Chef Kho also serve this CNN No.7 most delicious dish with its full range of condiments which include finely sliced cucumber, onions, red chillies, pineapples, lettuce, common mint, daun kesum (laksa mint), pick bunga kantan (torch ginger). This was one of my favourite dishes for the day.

Then you have the crabs, the main feature of their Friday Crazy Crab Dinner where you get to enjoy at least 10 kinds of crabs prepared and different way and tasted different (instead of just being named differently). Sauces aside, I must point out that their crabs are rather fresh. The flesh was still springy and succulent as opposed to the chalky powdery texture I had in a previous crab buffet.

The Singapore Chilli Crab was served with mantous to mop up the gravy, which is very thoughtful of them. My only gripe is that the gravy was almost honey-like sweet. I prefer it to be more spicy but Chef Kho explains that there are diners who complained that it was too spicy and pointed out that if you enjoy something more spicy, you should go for the Nonya Chilli Crab instead.

My favourite item among the crabs is the Braised Crab with Glass Noodles. The noodles have great texture and come thoroughly soaked with the flavours from the crab. The crabs accompanying the glass noodles were pretty good too if you prefer something without gravy and just want to enjoy the sweetness from the crab meat itself.

I didn’t try all of the crabs. I tried the Sarawak Black Pepper Crab which was more spicy than the usual Black Pepper crabs and the Herbal Crab which was one of the other lighter crab dishes but with a herbal infusion with red dates, dangui etc.

Another signature of Spice Brasserie is their Teochew Porridge Buffet which is bound to please my parents. During our visit, they had sweet potato porridge served with a whole range of condiments and sides such as braised chicken and pork belly with mui choy to enjoy with your teochew muay.

Finally, we ended our buffet with some quality ice cream by Kapiti from New Zealand. This is the second restaurant I found Kapiti Ice Cream, 10-at-Claymore has it too! Similar to 10-at-Claymore, Spice Brasserie changes the flavours from time to time. I was told that their ice cream is unavailable on the usual supermarkets (indeed, I don’t see them at Jasons Marketplace or Fairprice Finest). The Kapiti Ice Cream is just one of the many sweets offered on their desserts counter which offers from assort French pastries to traditional desserts like kuehs, cheng teng and Ice Kachang!

All in all, I must really thank Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for the invitation. I have found another place where our family could have a decent buffet meal with plenty of room at wallet-friendly prices. For UOB Cardholders, you get a sweeter deal with their 1-for-1 offer on Mon-Thurs or 1 dines free with every 2 adults on Fri-Sun till 31st October 2013.

And here is a short Chinese write up by our guest, Calvin Ng! :
檳城的風味美食，加上富有本土氣息的家常菜，還有讓所有人垂涎欲滴的螃蟹自助餐 － 座落在吉真路（Kitchener Road) 賓樂雅酒店 (Park Royal Hotel) 的香料法式餐廳 (Spice Brasserie) 新推出的自助餐，應該能滿足一家大小的味蕾吧！

擁有豐富經驗的主廚Frederick Kho師傅獨挑大梁，推出許多經典的檳城美食 － 就包括了酸辣的Assam叻唦，檳城鮮蝦福建面，檳城炒粿條及蠔仔煎。更讓人為之瘋狂的是每週五所推出的螃蟹自助餐 － 有十道不同烹調法的螃蟹任你挑選！有大家愛吃的辣椒螃蟹，娘惹咖喱螃蟹，鹹蛋螃蟹以及米粉螃蟹。選擇多樣化，讓人不知道該從哪裡下手。

餐館的空間寬闊，位子很多，能容納近300位客人。還有特設的貴賓房 － 適合辦生日派對，公司聚會或是大壽等等。一踏進餐館，服務生親切友善，笑臉迎人，非常體貼。用餐的客人以家庭居多。一家負老攜幼來享受本土風味的美食，讓我不禁也想帶自己的爸媽來用餐呢！

值得一提的是自助餐裡有的潮州糜 (Teochew Porridge) 以及隨旁的配菜 － 滷豬腸，滷鳳爪，滷豬腳，也忘不了我愛吃的梅菜扣肉。雖然味道一般，但一定能抓住愛吃潮州糜老一輩的心。

也沒忘記我愛吃的榴蓮美食，榴蓮糯米飯 － 榴蓮肉任你拿！

豐富的配菜 － 也有我愛吃的阿喳（Achar）！

愛吃娘惹糕點的你，怎麼能忘了九層糕，Pulut Inti以及其他的經典糕點呢？
自己動手做Ice Kacang！新西蘭的Kapiti雪糕甜度適中。Blueberry Muffin口味是我的最愛！

當晚，主廚Frederick Kho也特地和美食博客們聊天。親切友善的他曾在檳城工作一年，也和我們分享檳城的美食所在！果然都是饕客！

總的來說，吉真賓樂雅酒店 － 香料法式餐廳的自助餐的確是個一家人外出用餐的好去處。因為食物選擇多，又有老少都愛吃的本地及檳城美食，加上餐庭環境理想，沒有距離感，是個用餐的好去處。


Do check out these reviews by Food Nomads and Hubsch Jess Baby who were at the session as well.

Spice Brasserie
吉真賓樂雅酒店
PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road
181 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208533

Penang Affair
Mondays to Thursday
Lunch | $34 (Adult) $15 (Child)
Dinner | $38 (Adult) $15 (Child)

Crazy Crab Night
Fridays Dinner | $58 (Adult) $25 (Child)

Sensational Seafood
Saturdays Dinner | $58 (Adult) $25 (Child)

International Buffet
Fridays to Sundays Lunch | $34 (Adult) $15 (Child)
Sundays Dinner | $38 (Adult) $15 (Child)

Thank You Cleo from Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for the invitation!