Saturday, February 28, 2009

NewYork NewYork Restaurant - CityLink Mall


If you are to surf the internet about Newyork Newyork's ratings and reviews, you will see that alot of customers complain about the quality of their food and service. But not me... I had been to this place for about 3 times already and I'm always satisfied. In fact I find this restaurant to be one of the few good hang-out place to chill-out with friends.

Long que to be seated is always expected. Price range is relatively similar with Swensen and Cafe Cartel. However, I find the way they promote and advertise thier menu more applealing. Ambiance is casual and cool. Don't forget to try thier self-service free-flowing candy floss (it's always apple flavor everytime I visit)

Must-try:

1. Giant Burger (literally bigger than life!)
2. BBQ Pork Ribs (though not as big compared to Cafe Cartel)
3. Roasted Spring Chicken (tender, moist and well-marinated)
4. Garden Salad (my mom's favorite! ask for more dressing)


both bbq pork ribs and roasted chicken comes with potato wedges

giant beef burger comes with extra large serving of french fries

Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 4
Service - 4
Price: Expensive
Will visit the place again? YES

Makan Mumbai


Just a little two-blocks walk at the back of our office, Makan Mumbai is an accessible place for who wants to pleasure themselves for a combination of vegetarian and non-vegetarian indian food in a buffet set-up. Though they also have ala-carte meals to choos from, I always opt to avail th S$10 eat-all-you-can selection.



The buffet table is merely compose of steamed rice, plain naan, 3-4 varieties of vegetable dishes/ curry, 1-2 meat staples, papad, dessert and juice.

I only try the longbean and potato dish and suprisingly, I actually like it. The chicken tikka is not-so-spicy and tender (I had 2 servings of it). I'm happy with the unlimited serving of papad. The dessert is too sweet for me and the juice they provide is not even cold.

Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 3.5
Service - 3.5
Price: Affortable
Will visit the place again? MAYBE

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Cooking for 2 - Adobo and Afritada


Upon receiving Mr. A's unexpected valentine gift (see the gift at http://mommy-ybeth.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-unexpected-valentine-gift.html ), I told him that after we attend the church mass - Sunday lunch will be my treat. I was suprise when he said that he will only say yes to my invitation if I will cook instead. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Mr. A: you always say recession times right? cook so cheaper
Me: you know no visitor allowed on my flat. where to serve the food?
Mr. A: your hbd playround has nice covered picnic tables. hehe.
Me: haha! are you serious? what to cook? pasta ?
Mr. A: no, chicken dish. maybe like what rica did last bbq party.
Me: that's adobo and afritada. ok, I'll try. but we will eat very late.
Mr. A: ok! deal!

So after the church mass, Mr. A went straight to his home while I proceed to fairprice tampines mall to buy all the ingridients I need. I was awake until 1am last night browsing the internet looking for the easiest way to cook these traditional filipino viands - Chicken Adobo and Chicken Afritada.


finished cooking Chicken Adobo at 11:30am


thigh and leg chicken parts
lots of chopped garlic
olive oil or vegetable oil
ground black pepper
dried bay leaves (I didn't put this - can't see at fairprice)
soy sauce
vinegar
7up or sprite (optional)

Heat oil, add the chopped garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add chicken and saute until the meat is beginning to tenderize. Add ground black pepper, soy sauce and vinegar. Let it simmer for 25-35 mins or until chicken is done. Make sure to add more vinegar or soy sauce until it suits your taste (should be a bit tangy). When chicken is tender, you may want add some 7 up or sprite for a aweeter taste then let simmer for another 5 minutes.



finished cooking Chicken Afritada at 1:00pm


winglet chicken parts
cubed potatoes
diced red onion
minced garlic
sliced green bell pepper (I didn't put this, can't see at fairprice)
chicken stock (broth)
tomato sauce
olive oil

Hear oil, sauté garlic and onions. Add chicken and cook until slightly brown. Pour the tomato sauce and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat is almost tender. Add potatoes, green bell peppers (if you have) and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper if desired.

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food all-packed, just waiting for rice
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While waiting for the rice to cook, I took bath again as I smell like hell (combination of onion, garlic, vinegar, sweat, etc). Sms Mr. A while drying my hair saying that lunch will be serve at 2:30pm, hbd playground picnic table.
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He arrived 10 minutes late but I didn't get angry upon knowing that the plastic bag he carries contain a bottled of cold coke and frozen haagen-dazs chocolate ice cream. Hehe...
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Bragging aside, I know I did well as the dishes I served taste almost the same as what Rica prepared on her last sponsored bbq party. And although Mr. A commented that I cooked the food a little salty, I noticed he ate well and had 2 servings of rice. :)
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Long John Silver - Singapore

After long hours of window-shopping and looking for nice bargain at Eastpoint Mall Simei, I decided to have a late lunch at Long John Silver. Compared to other fastfoods like KFC and Mcdonalds, they market thier fish products more. Not to mention the they also have the most variety of side dishes to choose from (like corncob, potato chips, garden salad, rice with black pepper sauce, etc.)
I ordered thier new S$3.95 combo - consist of 1 fish fillet, 1 chicken fillet, french fries and a choice of either pepsi or sprite. I add-on a colelaw for another S$1.50 and I have my heavy meal in a snap.

Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 3.5
Service - 3.5
Price: Affortable
Will visit the place again? YES

Asian Kitchen - Singapore



You won't go wrong with this restaurant if you are craving for a nice quick quality average asian gourmet. They have a wide variety to offer - from noodles and rice, to dumplings and dimsum. Me and my two closest office friends usual go here if we want a more relax friday lunch-out. The service is impressive from the welcoming of customer to the fast serving of food (I'm talkng about both thier branch at raffles and cityhall respectively). Though I sometimes find it too oily, it's still a value for money considering the big serving portion they give.

My all-time favorites here are: luncheonmeat friedrice, beef friedrice, pork dumpling and hongkong-style fried noodles.

Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 3.5
Service - 4
Price: Affordable
Will visit the place again? YES

Monday, February 2, 2009

My Home-made Carbonara


Though I love to eat, cooking was never my cup of tea. During my early twenties, I tried preparing basic meals and even did baking - but all were failure. No matter how I obey the cookbook instruction point by point, still no luck. I gave up and convinced my self that this certain skills requires some innate gift from God. Hehe...

My friends knows how much I love pasta dishes - from my mom's sweet-stlye kiddie spaghetti to the major philippine fastfood pasta version up to the authentic italian beef bolognese and seafood alfredo. Yummy!

Maybe because of boredom and the fact that I was just at home, last saturday I decided to explore the kitchen and cook creamy carbonara. Reseach an easy-to-prepare recipe over the net, bought all ingredients after office and then I was set to go. Whew!


creamy white sauce made of butter, nestle cream milk, evaporated milk, cream of mushroom, parmesan cheese and parsley



boiling the san remo spaghetti until aldente


started sauteing the garlic and white onions with olive oil


pour the cooked pasta after



next is putting the cooked turkey ham


little by little put the white sauce and stir continuosly


topped with more parmesan cheese and parsley
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I started cooking at 7pm and after 2 hours, I had my 10-minute home-made dinner at 9pm. Suprisingly it tasted good. Total cost for all-of-a-sudden kitchen exploration is S$15. It's been 3 days already and there is still alot of carbonara stock on the fridge. Wanna taste some?

Shahi Maharani (Raffles City)


Maybe I'm one of the very few filipinos that really appreciate and like indian food. Maybe my work environment and circle of friends made a great influence for me to enjoy the strong flavor and spicy taste of it. For all of you who want to try authentic north indian dishes, I highly recomend Shahi Maharani at Raffles City. The offer buffet lunch and dinner at some days but mostly they serve ala carte meals. The restaurant interior is very classy and elegantly done. They also have a traditional musicial show performance every night time, not to mention the high-class service of well-uniformed servers.


my baby zyrus near the started "papad"


I've been at this place thrice already. First time was with my office colleagues, then with my family and just recently with MY B. I highly recommend that you order the following:

Mutton Briyani - rice is so soft and moist, generous serving of big chunk tender meat

Butter Naan - the aroma of it will make you crave for more, the bread is just perfectly done - not too toast and very tasty

Buttered Chicken - so thick and full of flavor gravy, perfect for naan dipping

Chicken Tandoori - my all-time favorites. for me, it's an indian version of a chicken bbq, just marinated with more spices and chili


mom and brother enjoying the food


both eating using their hand
Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 4
Service - 4
Price: Expensive
Will visit the place again? YES

The Village Chef at Changi Village


One ordinary Sunday afternoon, Mr. A and I decided to make a far drive and head towards Changi Village to eat some freshly cook steamed garoupa fish. We arrived at 8pm but the main hawker where we normally use to order is so jammed packed that we decided to choose the outside area where people eating are lesser. The server at "the village chef" were smiling wide when we approach their place, can't say no when they tried to invite us to sit and eat. Well, our food arrived and too late for us to know that we made the wrong decision of having our meal there.


Seafood Fried Rice - thier version of it is combination of oily rice, variety of mix veggies and little slices of imitation crabstick (no sopped squid, no whole prawn, no slice fish)
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Prawn Omellete - again, too oily and better to call it shimp omellete because the so-called few prawns they use is too tiny.
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Steamed Garoupa Fish - clap, clap! this is the only food we ordered seems to satisfy us. fish is indeed fresh and not overly cooked. the broth is tasty and not salty.
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Rating from 1-5 (5 being the highest)
Food - 2.5
Service - 3
Price: Affortable
Will visit the place again? Maybe not.




Marche Restaurant - Vivocity Singapore

Marche Restaurant at VivoCity offers a wide array of asian, swiss, continental and western food. You can't go wrong as it caters to different cravings of thier customers. Service is excelent and the place itself is cozy and artistic - love the cowboy theme and the wooden homey set-up.

Every customer will be given a "guest card" upon entry. You need to present this to the counter every time you make an order. A special card wil be given to kids as they have a separate set meal for them. You need to surrender the card upon exit for payment.


so tender roastmary chicken - gravy is too rich and tasty

thick and well-done steak, mashed potato is soft and creamy


crispy garden salad in thousand island dressing with chicken strip & bacon bits - too good!


marche version of prawn tempura (btw, they uses black king prawn)

bite-sized calamari

mama and brother before eating

my son playing with marche's free balloon give-away
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Rating from 1-5 (5 being the highest):
Food - 4
Service - 4
Price: Expensive
Will visit the place again? YES