Saveur

This is a great place for fine French dining at kopitiam prices!! What a great find! This new-kid-on-the-block was just set up here along the quaint shophouses at Purvis Street ! (Aka Hainanese street) about 3 weeks ago by two Shatec graduates and already it's a long long queue for a seat!! Expect to wait for about 30-45mins before you get to step in.. And now no reservations are accepted at the restaurant.

We spent about S$50 for 2 person for appetizer, soup, main course and dessert. Pretty reasonable. The appetizer we had was pan fried foie gras (35g) with lentils and pickled onion for $7.90. The goose liver simply melts in your mouth! Cleverly fried on the outside yet remain soft inside.. Simply awesome !

The soup of the day was butternut squash soup with Parmesan and roasted pumpkin seed @ $4.90. One word - Uniquely-Delicious !

The best one was the confit of duck with orange segments and saute shittake mushrooms, which costs $8.90. Smooth and tender! Understand the duck are cooked for 16 hours and that explains its soft tenderness! The mash potatoes are full of buttery flavor and the taste blends so well with the orange slices. Saveur really lives up to their name for fine French dining at reasonable price !

Top it off with a dessert - pistachio panna cotta ($6.90)!! C'est magnifique!

This place is definitely not to be missed. Do try to be there early else you will expect a long wait ! Saveur is at 5 Purvis Street, #01-04 Singapore. Tel: 6333 3121

南华昌 (阿秋) Nam Hwa Chong (Ah Chew) Fish Head Steamboat

This restaurant located opposite the Textile Centre, Jalan Sultan serves good fish head steamboat. This is the traditional charcoal-boiled fish head steamboat. The wall boasts of their accolades and they have been in business since 1927. Their steamboat is served with fresh sliced Garoupa fish, lots of cabbages, tang-o vegetables, seaweed, dried fish and fried yam. This one is the traditional teochew style fish soup that relies on the freshness of the fish. The soup tastes of charcoal boiled, is sweet even without the Chinese herbs like danggui which are common in some steamboat fish soup. Real natural goodness.

I also patronize Whampoa Keng fish head steamboat which is also very famous locally. (See June 2009 blogpost) Both costs about the same; $35 for Nam Hwa Chong and $30 for Whampoa Keng (but need to add $6 for serving of tang-o vegetable). By comparison, my verdict is the fish slice is big and fresher at Nam Hwa Chong while the soup is tastier at Whampoa Keng! Guess we can't have best of both world! See my delicious dinner below! Do also note that the shop serves delectable Tze-Char dishes (such as oyster omelette, fried pork chop etc) at reasonable prices to supplement your meal too!

Nam Hwa Chong (Ah Chew) Fish-head Steamboat Corner is at 814/816 North Bridge Road, Singapore 198779 Tel: 62979319 (opens daily).

瑞春点心 Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant

Are you looking to reminisce the good old dim sum days of Chinatown such as Nam Tong or Xin Dong Nam? I finally found one in Singapore!! And it's actually been here since 1962 but it slipped me till today...

Swee Choon is located along the busy street of Jalan Besar, just opposite the Jalan Berseh hawker centre. You really can't miss it! This restaurant opens to serve the crowd from evening round the clock till the next morning (6pm-10am Monday to Saturday, and from 6pm-12pm on Sunday and public holiday) so you know now where to go if you crave for midnight dim sum!! The restaurant occupies 3 shops and in one of them, lots of pictures of celebrities visiting the restaurant decorate their walls. And mind you their tables even extend into the back alley!

Their dim sum reminds you of those we used to eat during the 1960s and 70s. Even their ambience and decor. They serve a great variety of steam and fried dim sum. Also they have shanghai delicacies. We tried their dim sum and the verdict is excellent!! A-star grade for this little inconspicuous restaurant!!

See what we had:
Siew Mai (烧卖) @ $1.60, steam chicken with egg (鸡汁) @ $2.50, beancurd prawn roll (鲜虾付皮卷) @ $2.80, lo-mai kai (糯米鸡) @ $2.20, steamed salted egg yolk custard bun (奶黄流沙包) @ $3.30, chives roll @ $4.00, yam fritter (芋角) @ $ 2.00, fried tofu, etc etc ...

Prices are reasonable and food is really delectable!! Swee Choon Tim
Sum Restaurant is at 185, 187, 189, 191 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208882 Tel: 6225 7788 http://www.sweechoon.com

吃在台北 Eat at Taipei

Found a new enjoyable past-time this June school holidays! Am now enjoying a lazy afternoon watching ice skaters go by while inside this Taiwanese cafe at the newly opened shopping centre, Jcube at Jurong East. Feel a sense of freedom and happiness watching all the skaters wheezz past ..

And here I am enjoying my yummy Taiwanese blended milk tea ($2.50) and crispy chicken chop ($7.50).. Delicious ! Definitely a thumbs up for the great experience and good food!!

Eat at Taipei is at Jcube Entertainment Centre, 2 Jurong East Central 1, #03-03/18, Singapore 609731 Tel: 66843032

Spizza

Tasted wonderful gourmet pizzas from Spizza earlier at Jalan Kayu! This pizza restaurant in Singapore is renowned for their traditional thin crust gourmet woodfire pizzas baked in brickstone oven. Just like in Italy.

With 26 interesting pizza names using famous Italian women name in alphabetical order A-Z, you are bound to find one that you like... J for Juliana seems to be the crowd favorite. The toppings are mozarella, tomato, ham and pineapple. But we chose P for Pamela - toppings are mozarella, tomato, mushroom and ham. Some alluring ladies include Magherita, Tara and Isabella too! Magherita pizza was created in 1889 and named in honour after the Queen consort Magherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy for her favourite was a pizza with the colours of the Italian flag - green (basil), white (mozarella), red (tomato). Prices are reasonable at $17 for medium 10" pizza and $21 for a large 12" pizza. (20 minutes cooking time by woodgrill oven)

Spizza for friends - true enough, with the great food, it's really a great place to gather! Spizza offers not only pizza. Ravioli and lasagne are also available if pizza is not your cup of tea. There are also pasta - sphagetti, linguine and penne, though selection is pretty limited. There are selections of deserts, soups, salad and some appetizers - we tried the fried chicken wings (4 for $7) served with great chili sauce. But I would still recommend the woodfire pizzas which are mouthwatering, thin and super crispy!!

Spizza we visited is at 269 Jalan Kayu, Singapore 799497. The central kitchen is at Havelock Road. There are also outlets at Bukit Timah and Club Street where you can meet the head chef. Deliveries are available at Tel: 6377 7773 (http://www.spizza.sg)

Buckaroo BBQ & Grill

Howdy! it's been a long time since I last visited this place! Tucked in deep off Sembawang Road, this place would have easily been long forgotten, if not for visiting the Sembawang Park / Beach! Really missed the good old warm Australian ambience here...

Felt like a pig again gobbling up all the famous buffalo wings @ $17.50 for half dozen. With varying degree of spiciness to choose from! We also had the deep fried mushrooms at $15.80 which still tastes as deliciously crunchy and good! Plus the super yummy clam chowder soup served in a big bun at $9.80. It was really scrumptious!

Buckaroo BBQ & Grill is at 12-B Andrews Avenue (off Sembawang Road), Singapore 759930 Tel: 6754 2621 Open from 430pm -10pm

Itacho Sushi

Who loves a good deal? Me! Itacho Sushi is not a newcomer in the Japanese sushi food chain. This restaurant is popular in Hong Kong and is strongly recommended by foodie Ricky. It serves quality Japanese sushi and food items at very reasonable prices!

We visited one of their outlets at Plaza Singapura during lunch that day and had lots to rave about. They were offering lunch deals at $8.50! What's on the menu for $8.50? There were about 5 or 6 selection of set lunch deals to choose from Gin Karei (silver butterfly) fish to Red fish to eels. Each set comes with rice, of course. I chose the Butter Baked Gin Karei fish while Ted had the Grilled Gin Karei fish. You can top up $2.50 more to have a complete with miso soup and salad. It was a great meal indeed! Fishes were fresh and tastefully marinated. The sauce for my butter baked karei fish was superb. It tastes very much like those really sweet momo-tomato. The other karei fish dish was just well grilled and only the outer layer skin was crispy but not the fish meat, still fresh and soft. We also topped up with an ordering of 4 piece of grilled salmon sushi at $0.40 per piece. It was a great deal meal indeed! We have to share this with everyone.

Itacho Sushi is at 68 Orchard Road #02-35 Plaza Singapura. Singapore. There is also another outlet at Ion Orchard.

The Old Malaya Cafe

Right here at 313 Somerset basement, I found myself a wonderful cool relief from the hot haze outside! See what i found.

The sweet lovely cold nice bowl of Trucker's Chendol at The Old Malaya Cafe (313 Somerset Basement 3) that save my day. Its prepared with lots of sticky brown Gula Melaka (palm sugar), red beans, coconut milk and of course with ice! It's really sweet so if you are a sweet-toothed, you will love it!

The Old Malaya Cafe serves the good old goodness of the taste from the Old Malaya town. It's located at 313 Somerset, Basement 3-10, Orchard Road, Singapore.