Ramen Champion at T3 is now open - Power Riki Ramen (Toyko)

To my CEB"s delight. And mine too, having been subject far too many times to my CEB insisting he had to have his noodles at the food-court at T3.

The concept is the same as that of Ramen Champion at Iluma - at the entrance, one gets a card with a band to slip over one's wrist and that card is used to record one's purchases which one pays for by producing one's card to the cashier at the exist.

However, there is one huge difference - the Power Riki Ramen stall at Ramen Champion at T3 Changi Airport which is not found at Iluma. Below is a pic of the stall found near the entrance. The chef is a genuine Japanese chap who speaks rather good English and was able to give me a full description of his broth, compared to the others around.

And he indeed has good reason to be proud given what the Power Riki ramen stall is dishing out. Out of all the ramen that we've tried (there is the Ikkousha station at this Ramen Champion too), we think that the Power Riki Ramen which hails from Japan is the best. Not just in terms of taste, but more importantly, it is CONSISTENTLY good.

Especially the broth which isn't just plain chicken broth as is the case for the other ramen station with the red sign called SuKe (the ramen there tastes like a watery version of Campbell's chicken soup).

The Slog Reviews: 10/10. Solid good ramen full of healthy flavourful ingredients. And in portions that aren't overwhelming but just right. Great job, chef!

Bario Ramen at Ramen Champion at Iluma

Ever since being introduced to Ramen Champion at Iluma last year December where I tried out the Ikkousha station (click here), I was quite determined to introduce my CEB to the good stuff.  My CEB, having lately developed a penchant for spicy stuff, ordered the spicy ramen from the Bario stall which looked like this - a mountain of noodles in some fiery and oily looking gravy.

I on the other hand, ordered the normal Bario Ramen which looked like this but came with a heaping of noodles and fresh beansprouts. Both bowls were pretty aesthetically pleasing I'll say and we fell upon the bowls as soon as we had the chopsticks in our hands.

The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10 (my CEB said 6/10 for the record) for the generous portions of fresh thick noodles and beansprouts. The noodles were a bit heavy though on the stomach, and plentiful but somehow the broth didn't hit the spot the way 1 other stall's ramen did. Will post about that later.

Indo Padang Restaurant at Cathay

1 of my first buys on Groupon was 3 vouchers for SGD90 worth of meals at Indo Padang restaurant at SGD45 (SGD15 x 3 vouchers).

That was the worst buy ever. Not only did I not have the time to use the vouchers till the week before they expired, but it was an absolutely horror altogether. The ambiance was nice, the servers were friendly, the food didn't take forever coming...BUT the quality of the food! Awful doesn't even begin to describe the food.

Food from a Malay/Indonesian stall at a food court beats the food coming out of this restaurant's kitchen hands down.

I'll start with the beef rendang, the dish on the left of the picture. That was the only semi-decent dish out of everything we ordered. The dish cost almost SGD10, and the meat was tough, but not too touch to spoil the dish. No great shakes, but edible.

I wanted to order the giant prawns dish but was told they didn't have that. So I ordered the udang petai, prawns cooked with the petai vegetable. That is the dish on the right. It came with potato cubes and those were the only bits of the dish which were pretty good. The prawns were smallish, very tough and totally dry. Not the least bit of juice or sweetness. I, a noobie at cooking, have cooked sambal prawns and those were much better. Oh, and there were all of about 8 small prawns for SGD 10! What a rip off! Even with a voucher giving a 50% discount, I would not have paid SGD5 for this dish.

And sambal kangkong...how do you mess up such a simple dish! My sister and I love kangkong and we attacked the dish with great gusto, only to look at each other with wrinkled noses after taking the first bite. The gravy was overly sweet, almost to the point of being syrupy sweet. Ugh. And it was such a tiny portion for that price! Less than what you would get in a food court mixed dish stall.

Now, the fish. I intended to use 2 of the vouchers so I was looking to order SGD60 worth of food. Since the fish head curry was SGD22 and there were 2 of us, it made sense to order this dish. The fish head came in a pot with thin looking yellow gravy. Which was a put off but never mind, maybe it would be nice. My sister took 1 bite and spat it out. And I soon found out why. The fish was not fresh. Not even the curry (which was awfully thin) could mask the "Cao Seng" (rotten) taste of fish that was not fresh. We told the waitress who took it back to the kitchen. She said the fish came that day. If it did, it must have been left in the open too long. It was bad. And that was the only fish head the restaurant had that day.

So I decided to order another dish. The next most expensive fish on the menu. Only to be told it was not available. So I ordered the belachan fish. And tada,...look at the picture of the fish that came deep fried, about 8 inches long, had belachan paste dumped on its body and cost SGD 8. What a rip off! I mean, look at the size of the bowls...that should give you an idea of the size of the fish!

I also ordered tauhu goreng. And for some strange reason, despite the horrible fish, prawns and all, we were envisioning a mountain of warm toufu...but no, we were served with the above dish whcih consisted all of 6 pieces of over cooked deep fried toufu. At least the toufu was not spoilt, like the fish, but the dish had been so overcooked that the outer lawyer was hard and dry and chewy. And the inside was all shrunken. This cost SGD5...I wouldn't pay a dollar for this.

And the drinks! My sister ordered ice strawberry which cost SGD 4 and I ordered lime juice which was the same price. After one mouthful of the drink, she abandoned the glass together. Ice strawberry? It wasn't even blended ice but just water mixed with strawberry powder. My own drink was so overpoweringly sweetly sour that I could not finish it either. So that was SGD8 for you.

The Slog Reviews: ZERO/10. I've never rated a local restaurant zero before but any restaurant that serves food that is just so awful really shouldn't be in this business. The bill came to SGD62 but in effect I'd only paid SGD30 for this meal.

And it was not worth SGD30. If I hadn't already paid using Groupon vouchers, I might have sent every dish back to the kitchen after 1 bite and just walked out. And I did mention I bought 3 vouchers right? I just let the third one go to waste. I wouldn't give a voucher for Indo Padang restaurant to my worst enemy...or maybe.

Fishing Season 2012

Ever since I've been with my CEB, I have not gone prawn fishing. The only fishing I've done was offshore fishing organized by his friend.

With my old fishing kakis jio-ing me to go pond fishing at Punggol and for upcoming fishing trips, I need to go send my reels for servicing and set aside some time to practice tying knots so I don't make a right fool of myself.

My fingers are itchy. It has been far too long. Going to cut back on personal and work trips to free up the weekends.

I MUST go fishing. The huntress in me is crying to be let out.

Sibu Island Resort - our first holiday for 2012

There was a Groupon Promotion for Sibu Island Resort at SGD48 nett per person for a 2D/1N stay at Sibu Island Resort which seemed like a pretty good deal. So a week before CNY, my CEB and I woke up at the unholy hour of 7am on a Saturday for the drive to Tanjong Leman jetty.

We stopped for breakfast at the Macs near Carrefour (en route to Jusco Tebrau City) and it took us about an hour to get from Macs to Tanjong Leman Jetty which I had been to before. How to get to Tanjong Leman Jetty is pretty simple. Head in the direction of Jusco Tebrau City and basically just keep going all the way straight in the direction of Mersing. No turn-offs or turning to the right or left. Just straight following the signboards. The turn off the Tanjong Leman Jetty is very abrupt off the main road so it is wise to keep an eye out for signboards. This is how the jetty looks like. Parking at the jetty cost RM4 a day and there is a nice new parking area behind the main jetty building near the KFC.

From the main road, one gets on to a narrower road (1 way each direction), the start of which is marked by a police post. And on this narrow road (the journey from the main road to the jetty is pretty long - at least 25mins), it is easy to get lost and head in the direction for the Sedili jetty so follow the signs that say KFC. I kid you not. There is a newly built KFC at the jetty which opens at 10.30am. The first ferry out to Sibu Island is at 11am and the KFC is the only place in the jetty which is air-conditioned and has a nice view of the sea. The cost of the tickets to the island was not included so we purchased 2 round-trip tickets at Counter 1 of Tanjong Leman jetty at RM140. The journey to the island on the ferry took less than half an hour. The ferry was supposed to hold just 50 pax and there was just the right number of seats for that number of people. Some folks put on life jackets and we followed suit though my CEB commented that this was a bad idea as we would be trapped in the cabin if the boat capsized. I made sure we sat very near the exit so we could get through the door. Just in case. The tragic drowning of fellow anglers at this same area couple of years ago is pretty much unforgettable.

Anyway, after we got off the ferry and started the short 3 min walk from the terminal to the resort (the only hotel on the island), I had a feeling of Deja Vu, that I'd been here before. And when I caught a glimpse of the staff singing and playing musical instruments at the reception area, I was even more certain that this was not my first time to the island. The peacock wandering across my path drove the nail into the coffin...especially when it let out loud and irritating caws.

My CEB on the other hand, had never been to the resort so I was careful not to spoil his experience by telling him what could be expected...he would find that out in due course. As we made our way to the room which was situated along the winding path up a hill, we came across some wild deer lazing in the shade. When we moved closer, well....guess from the pic below it is clear what happened. Forget Bambi cozying up to you.

The room (superior room) was just as I remembered it. Dank, dusty and dark. For the first time since a long time, I had to get up in the middle of the night and put on a pair of long pants so I could sleep on the sheets. I was scratching uncontrollably in my shorts and T-shirt before that and just praying I could fall asleep so I wouldn't feel how dirty the sheets were. There was limited cable access on the small (32 inch?) TV in the room and although we were told there was free WIFI access in the room, neither of us could get a working connection on our smart phones. We were "connected" but could not access the web so lying about the room (which is what my CEB loves) for the afternoon was out of the question.

So we made our way to the lobby where my CEB tried to access the web on his HTC but again the free WIFI service proved deceptive and he gave up after a fashion. To sit in the lobby and hear the cawing of the peacocks was not an experience I enjoyed.

We were entitled to enjoy 1 free recreational activity so we chose Archery where each of us would get to shoot 6 arrows under the guidance of an instructor. I was more than eager to let my CEB shoot my share of the arrows but because we had to wait so long for our turn (there were only 2 shooting boards so only 2 people could shoot at a time) I decided to have a go. The instructor was friendly and spoke good English so we had a pretty fun time there.

With 3 more hours to kill before dinner and no WIFI, my CEB and I decided to check out the sea sports centre for an hour of kayaking. The cost was only about RM30 per person, and when we got to the center, there were 2 staff there watching TV. However, they obligingly got to their feet and dragged one canoe to the water's edge for us.

My second time canoeing (first time was in Hanoi) and I was determined to get paddle around the island or at least head in the direction of the mountain which was most scenic. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty strong (monsoon season isn't officially over till Feb) and we found ourselves being rocked pretty violently in the little orange canoe.

From the pic below of my wet hair, it is pretty evident what happened. We capsized. The wave rocked us to the right and instead of leaning to the left, we let ourselves get caught in the momentum and before we knew it, we were in the sea. Salt water in my eyes, my haviannas floating around me...the canoe overturned next to my spluttering CEB...what an experience. The first thing I did was check that my camera was still around my neck (waterproof cameras rock), and then grab for my haviannas. My CEB and I then took an end of the canoe each and uprighted it before clambering on board. That was when he wanted to call it a day but with half an hour more to go, I wasn't about to. So the compromise was that we would just canoe near the island and not around any bends. Especially when my CEB pointed out that the resort staff in the sea centre were watching TV and not know if anything happened to us.

After the canoeing experience, we went straight to the pool, showered off the salt water and jumped right in. It was a really smallish pool with the deepest end being 2.3m which was really quite deep. Best not to let a child swim unattended in this pool despite its deceptively small size.

It started raining in the evening and to our amazement, we saw a peacock sitting in the rain at the small pool at the top of the slide (the pool). We had pretty much run out of things to do on the island short of fishing (which we didn't come prepared for and were loathe to spend good money renting rods and sitting at the coast) so we decided to take the earlier ferry (10am) back to the mainland instead of the 2pm one the next day.

Since there were no other restaurants on the island and there were no transport services provided between the kelongs nearby and the hotel, we had dinner at the same restaurant we would have our buffet breakfast the next time. There was a choice of having either a buffet at RM55 per pax or ordering from the ala carte menu but because we were starving, we didn't look at the menu at all. The buffet for dinner wasn't exceptionally good but the lamb curry was pretty delish. There was plenty of fish, green veg (kai lan) with mushrooms, and 1 other main dish but really the selection of mains was very limited. And the dessert sucked. Awful. Just awful. I would not recommend having the dinner buffet at all - a salad from the ala carte menu at RM20 would be a better choice. Now that I have blogged about this and have some photos of the place, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget that I've been to Sibu Island Resort and there is no way absolutely that I am going back, esp given the bedsheets!

CNY Reunion Dinner 2012 at Grand Copthorne

My CEB and I hit upon the brilliant idea of having our first reunion dinner as a married couple at a hotel restaurant. This would save both parents having to prepare, cook and wash, and also spare us the thankless task of eating two dinners on the same day and having to rush from 1 place to another.

Both MILs love buffets so 2 weeks before CNY, my sis and I went down to Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel to pay up in full for the reunion buffet for the 7 of us. We were informed that Cafe Brios was fully booked but the hotel would be opening up a second venue (the function rooms) and the same type of food and service could be expected. I was disappointed that we could not secure a table at the restaurant and rather apprehensive what the experience might be given that we would be eating at some alternative venue.

However, thumbs up for Grand Copthorne for pulling it off very well using their function rooms. We were shown to our table (the tables were arranged wedding-style) and were pleasantly surprised to find that the table had been thoughtfully decorated with ang pows, gold foil chocolate nuggets and coins and even an ang pow containing a 25% off discount card for future visits to Cafe Brios.

The spread of food was superb for the CNY reunion dinner - there were loads of sashimi (no shortage of tuna, salmon etc) and sushi. And oysters, scallops in shells, prawns (both the normal type and the river type with the big head), and even crab legs at the cold counter area. There was also a dragon beard candy counter (that had a really long queue each time).

The lobster bisque was extremely creamy and delicious, as was the black herbal chicken soup. For a buffet especially. Hot dishes-wise, there were just too many to choose from ranging from Indian curry chicken which my sister found mouthwatering good, to otah which I simply loved, and even sambal stingray and grilled seabass etc. There was also a counter serving beef (ribeye) and salmon wrapped in cheese. Oh, and there were pineapple tarts, tang yuan, red bean soup, jelly and even durian cake for dessert. Perfect. Just perfect.

And the price for all that food? Just slightly under SGD400 for the 7 of us. Money well spent and value for money. Grand Copthorne even had a Cai Shen Ye ("God of Fortune") go around the tables shaking hands and everyone at my table shook his hand for good fortune :)

With such a fabulous experience at Grand Copthorne for CNY reunion dinner, I'm definitely going to be making my reservations earlier for CNY 2013 at Grand Copthorne's Cafe Brios!

Viral Factor (2012) Movie

I have watched a lot of movies between now and the last time I blogged about a movie. However, I have not been compelled to blog about any of them, good, mediocre or bad.

I do now. Here is the Slog's Review of Viral Factor: (scream!!!!) VIRAL FACTOR SUCK EGGS!

Okay, great I've got this out of my system. I foolishly noted an acquaintance's post about how great Viral Factor was and insisted my CEB and I watch it on Chinese New Year's Eve. Instead of Journey 2 (which was no great shakes but which I would have happily watched twice on hindsight).The movie is like a 150 year old vegetable that won’t just quit despite being senile, incapacitated and annoying. The characters in the movie are worse – they get shot with bullets, front, back, centre and side and yet can run with the best of them and kick the baddies’ ass.

The opening scenes were shot in Jordan but there were only Chinese actors/actresses which made the whole thing seem rather unrealistic. The good cop lead actor played by Jay Chou was part of a team tasked to protect a scientist who was able to make a deadly virus. His girlfriend called Ice (what a name) gets killed in the shootout and Jay’s character gets a bullet in the head. He is told he will die in 2 weeks/months. His character’s mother then chooses to disclose that he has a father and brother. I hate the mum’s character – she is incredibly full of self-pity and sheds endless tears at every scene when talking about the past or when embracing the present. The tears are all for herself of course…ugh. Ugh ugh. Okay, so Jay takes an AirAsia plane (one would have thought he would fly by a better airline given his limited lifespan) to KL where his character’s dad and elder brother are. On board, he meets a doctor played by an actress who has been beat about the head with an ugly stick. She tells the pilot to fly at a lower altitude (is that even possible?) so that Jay’s headaches will ease. They part at the airport and incredibly, she just happens to be the one scientist that the baddies target to kidnap and work on the virus because the scientist got killed running away. Oh yes, a huge part of the movie is shot in Malaysia of all places (one is treated to repeated scenes of the twin towers ugh). Jay sees her being kidnapped and saves her from his bad ass elder brother.

In the evening, he susses out his good for nothing gambler of a father and what do you know, the first time he finds his father, the father is being pummeled for failure to pay his debts. What a family reunion. At this point of the movie, I find myself feeling genuinely sorry for Jay. He has been given short and bad lines which he delivers in a stilted stuffed monotonous voice. And sorry for his character too. With a mother like that and a father…and a bullet in the head. He gets the second prize pity ticket. He founds out he his a niece who is the only likable character in the movie. Nicholas Tse isn’t too bad either – he gets the first prize pity ticket because of the troubles in his personal life. Good acting despite the lousy script and lines.

I’m not going to waste anymore time reviewing the movie except that it is predicable. Jay with the bullet in his head sacrifices his life for the brother when they take down the baddie. The little girl gets saved and is reunited with the grandmother (the most annoying character who of course cries tears of self pity and stupidly asks for Jay – I mean, come on, how could she not have known). Nicholas’s character does time of course and the baddies are all killed by the superbionic brothers.

This has to be one of the worst movies ever.

Food.

Food is all those substances which, submitted to the action of the stomach, can be assimilated or changed into life by digestion, and can thus repair the losses which the human body suffers through the act of living.

The Physiology of Taste, Billat-Savarin.

Ramen Champion at Iluma - Ikkousha

I was in town today for work and met a fellow legal eagle I hadn't met for months (he has a 2 month old daughter now!). Because I wanted ramen, he suggested we go to Ramen Champion, somewhere I'd never heard of before! Ramen Champion is a "Marche-concept" restaurant where there are 6 different ramen stalls in one large restaurant and at the entrance, one is given a card where one's purchase is recorded. Payment is made at the exit based on the card.

At my friend's recommendation, I had Ikkousha's version of Hakata Ajitama Ramen, which he said was the most popular of the 6 ramen stalls here. The lady at the stall persuaded me to opt for the ramen bowl which had 7 slices of fatty pork meat and cost a hefty SGD17+ a bowl (regular version). The Slog Reviews: 6/10. The broth was so darn salty that finishing the soup base was not possible, and I was thankful to have my cup of bubble tea which I'd bought earlier with me to clean out my mouth between each bite. The noodles were firm and springy, no complaints but the meat had loads of fat, and being soaked in salty broth did nothing to improve the taste of the meat. I wouldn't go back to this stall again.

My friend on the other hand chose Bario, because he was starving. I understood what he meant when he carried his bowl of ramen to the table - a veritable mountain of ramen indeed! I think I'll try Bario the next time I go back!

When I complained to him about the saltiness of the Ikkousha ramen, he said I should try the Sappora Ramen because that had corn in it and would be sweeter.

Going to Ramen Champion today makes me wish I still had a job in town - just so I could savor the better fare instead of the stuff that passes for lunch in the boondocks. :D

Address: 201 Victoria Street Bugis Iluma #04-08/09/10 S(188607).

Operating Hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm

Te: +65 6238 1011

Sunday Brunch at Ku De Ta at Marina Bay Sands

Ku De Ta is one of my sister's favorite places to be and to dine (if that word can be used given how very little she eats to preserve that figure which has been on the covers of magazines). So naturally, to celebrate my mother's birthday this year, we found ourselves having Sunday brunch at the restaurant. And at a window table indoors to boot, given how last minute the reservations were. But that's my sister we are talking about - given how she is a frequent diner there, and how last Xmas she and her Mister racked up more than SGD700 on Xmas dinner for the 2 of them alone....

Anyway. Ku De Ta for brunch buffet cost SGD68++ per pax. Which was not overly priced given the view, the ambiance, the "name" of the place, and the quality of the food. This was an ala carate menu buffet which meant that one could order the dishes one wanted of their (somewhat limited) menu. In the mean time, there was a spread laid out for desserts, cold cuts and cheese and bread, as well as mushrooms and soba which one could part-take of freely. The menu had black angus beef but at 1pm, they had run out of beef which made me most upset. I mean, what kind of buffet runs out of a dish, and they had less than 15 dishes on the brunch menu! So we made do with the oysters, foie gras, chicken teriyaki, yellowfin tuna steak, prawn skewers, tempura, fried rice, all of which were rather limited in portion-size wise. There was also the breakfast menu one could order a chicken steak from, or crumpets even with eggs. Milkshakes like banana something, lychee with coconut milk, coffee (latte, mocha) and tea were also available in unlimited quantities.

I wish I could say it was impressive but it wasn't. The foie gras was of course done well, but how much of the extremely rich tasting liver one can realistically down is limited. The chicken teriyaki was burnt, the oysters took a long time coming although they were fresh (we had to ask 3 times), and my mum thought her fried rice was better than the one at Ku De Ta. The prawn skewers were unimpressive, and so were the eggplant and tempura dishes.

The dessert spread was pretty good and there was a fair selection of unique chocolate desserts all of which tasted delicious, like the balls which had a hint of banana. My mum thought I'd taken this plate below to share with the rest of the table, but no mdm, I finished all of it on my own,

And at the end of 3 hours of eating (the buffet brunch is from 10 to 3pm), I was so stuffed I could not open my eyes. It was raining outside and the aircon was slightly chilly so I took out my burberry cashmere shawl which is as soft, rich and fluffy as, well, I don't know, and wrapped it around myself...and almost dozed off. The rest carried on with their lattes and mocha shakes.

And I resisted going outside to take photos (since I'd been twice already) but my mother was insistent. Since it was her birthday, I had no choice but to walk around with the rest of the tourists and snap pictures which are probably duplicated a million times on facebook. The weather was pretty awful today and we got off the rooftop just before it started pouring really heavily.

The Slog Reviews: Not going back to Ku De Ta anytime soon for the brunch buffet. Although the place was packed (mostly with tourists), and some felt that it was not expensive given the quality of food, I know of an even better place to drop one's dollar and feel satisfied, as one should when going for an all-out-pig-out.

Xu in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam - 1 of the best fine dining experience I've ever had

It is 8pm and I am still stuffed from the buffet brunch at Ku De Ta. I'll write about that later but first, let me share this absolutely fabulous dining experience I had in Ho Chi Minh. I'd walked past the restaurant on the way to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner the day before, and the simplicity of the menu outside, the glimpse of the interior, and 2 Japanese girls carrying a map and scurrying in, caught my attention. So, the next night, we were back for dinner at Xu. The first level is the bar area which appears to be highly popular among the local folks and expats. Men and women can choose to sit at the bar, high bar tables or sprawl in comfy couches. The dining however, is on the second floor which looks like this. We did not have reservations (duh) but the sincerity (and not menace, I hope) written all over our faces got us in. Don't be fooled by the empty tables - the tables filled up really quickly by 7.30pm.

The servers spoke pretty good English and were helpful and friendly. Upon their recommendation, I ordered the fresh spring roll filled with ribeye. Now, my mother dislikes eating beef and when I mentioned that to the server, he was quick to check with the kitchen and offer to have the spring rolls filled with shrimp instead. However, given that the cost was VND200,000 still, I thought we should still stick with the ribeye.

When the dish was served, truth be told, I was aghast at the size of the portions. SGD12+ for just one spring roll which was sliced into 4 pieces. Yes yes, I know, fine dining, not pig out session but still. But the moment I bit into the spring roll, and the juices of the perfectly done ribeye flooded my mouth mixed with the accompanying greens within the roll, I was in gastronomy heaven. I kid you not. The right doneness, the right portions in each quarter, the sweetness and succulence of the meat, of the entire roll...even my mother said there wasn't any trace of "beefiness" at all. Yet it was still beef to a beef lover, and 1 of the best I ever had...in a spring roll at that!

The next dish is my mum's favourite out of all we had for dinner. Lemongrass skewered seabass. It sounds deceptively simple, and if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have ordered seabass at all because that is a cheap fish. And one that I have caught so many times, F.O.C. So why would I spend VND300K (SGD 18+) on a fish dish in Vietnam.

But..and I mean a huge but here...thank God I had my mother with me. Because the chef in the kitchen worked a miracle with the fish. No, not the Jesus kind of miracle by multiplying the fish. In fact, the opposite. I thought with the price tag on the dish, we would get a whole fish at the least, even if it was a small one. But wrong. Just 4 portions of fish. No kidding. For SGD20, I could get 4 whole seabasses in the market/fish pond.

The sweet onions, coconut milk and mushrooms accompanying the fish were so delicious that I wiped the plate clean. I don't care if those were there to beautify the dish because...they were so  delicious. And the fish, when I say the chef worked a miracle, I meant it. He managed to turn this ordinary-tasting fish, into pure chunks of heavenly sweetness and flavor. And I mean flavor, the kind that bursts in your mouth and makes you think that if the world were to end with this fish dish in your mouth, you have absolutely no regrets. It is THAT good.

Out of deference to my mother again, I ordered the chicken roulade. Out of all the meat, chicken is at the bottom of my list but my mother loves chicken so...Anyway, when the dish was served, I was pretty immune now to the appalling portions. Again, for VND250 (SGD15+), the food was beautifully presented but so, so, so, limited in quantity. Esp when viewed by a glutton.

Now, the puree that accompanied the chicken which was more than ordinary slices/cuts of chicken somehow enhanced the experience of eating the chicken meat which appeared to be wrap around some sort of center. I am sorry I can't describe this dish better but believe me when I say the chicken was the most tender I've ever had.

Up next, coconut braised pork belly. Hey, all I am going to say is that...have you watched Masterchef? Because this dining experience made me feel like....wow, so this is what the really good food in life must taste like. I haven't been eating grass my entire life, and had the good fortune to eat at pretty pricey places both in Singapore and overseas (esp when travelling for work with the "Higher Beings"), but nothing I've eaten so far has moved me as much as the food in Xu. So. Order the pork belly (but only after you had the seabass which is still more awesome)

And surprisingly despite the little portions of everything, I was quite full by the end of the main courses. I suspect it has to do with the fact I ordered morning glory to go with the one bowl of rice that we shared. This was the only dish that didn't have me waxing lyricals because the entire dish was all stems. For VND60,000, I think we should have at least some green leaves!

We had room to spare for dessert and thankfully the server warned us the portions would be really small. I had no idea how small till dessert was served. Now, each dessert cost between USD 75cents to USD2, so we figured we could order 4 and share, so that we could try more. The coconut che (in the shotglass at the end) was ordinary, the durian one failed to impress in anyway, and the pandan pannacotta was just passable. The only one slightly more interesting was the sugar and cinnamon soursop parcel which was recommended by the server.

And...after having the 4 desserts, we ordered another 4 because frankly, a teaspoonful for 2 pax isn't quite going to cut it. The chocolate brownie with ice cream was a waste of money, the white chocolate custard was good, chocolate kumquat truffle was boring and I forget what the last one is. But you should get the drift by now - desserts at XU...not fab. Main courses...Fab.

The Slog Reviews: Don't, please don't miss out dining at Xu if you are ever in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh...and especially if you are staying in District 1! If I ever have to (touch wood) go back to that city, you can be sure that I'll definitely be back for more of the good stuff.

One Bite Puff from Taste Better at Jusco Bukit Indah

Thankfully the husband is away from SG on a work trip today (and for a week ~ yes brilliant marriage life we have with us spending half a month apart, when I travel and he travels the same month).

My mum had absolutely insisted on buying for her daughter (despite spending most of the car ride taking photos on her cellphone of my bulges sigh) a box of durian puffs at a shop that we just happened to pass by. It was the herd mentality - the sight of the queue there had her making a beeline for the shop despite my telling her that I did not NEED a durian puff. (At the time of writing this sentence, I have eaten all the puffs :( ).

Now, this picture below was taken right before I'd started eating - you will note that the box is full of the 6 puffs (cost RM8 for the entire box). I didn't notice what was written on the lid but I really should have heeded the suggestion there, despite the stupid smiley face at the end.

Firstly, I'd told my mum it would not be good just from the look of the puffs because the outer crusts looked so hard and slightly brown, nothing like those durian puffs which melts in the mouth from our good old 717. The crusts were hard for a reason - to contain the durian goo within which was lacking in substance...very thin and watery, not a paste at all, or real durian meat for that matter

Hence, the advice on the box to put the entire puff in one's mouth. Because half a bite would result in the same disaster that I had - durian goo flowing down my chin, on my chest, on my nightgown...after I'd bathed. However, the puffs are so large that it is a challenge putting the entire puff in one's mouth...and I assure you with all my eating, I do NOT have a small mouth. So figure. And the thick crust just tastes horrid and doughy. Combine that with the lousy durian goo (I can't make myself write paste as it isn't), you have a right sh*t puff.

There is a reason why the brand is called Taste Better. The sh*t puffs really need to taste better because after eating the entire box of puffs and having 3 puffs burst on/all over me (not that I didn't learn my lesson but I could not fit the puff in at a go), the aftertaste in my mouth is not one of durian but a strangely bitter one of lousy crusts

La Jolie Hotel & Spa in Vietnam Ho Chi MInh

Excuse the appearance of the bed. I snapped the picture when we were leaving because I could not be arsed to do so when checking into the hotel. Travelling with two large suitcases, having to tip the bellboy, and having to move from Sheraton to a well, more affordable one kind of quells the happy-camera button.

Given that I'd arranged for day tours (Cu Chi Tunnel, Ho Chi Minh City Tour) for the next 2 days, there wasn't much point staying on at Sheraton Hotel at USD250++ a night. I'd checked Agoda's reviews and La Jolie had received so many positive comments that it made sense to book a room there for about SGD80 a night.

 

La Jolie is a new hotel and the taxi driver (airport cab) could not find the hotel. We went around a few times till we found the tall skinny building next to some sort of an Indian restaurant, and 2 traffic lights away from Sheraton. The staff were friendly and spoke good English but what I really disliked about the hotel was that they were insistent on keeping our passports unless we gave them USD20 as deposit. I definitely wasn't comfortable letting them hold on to our travel documents overnight and shelled out the USD20.

However, other than that, and the taxi incident, which I shall write about later, I have nothing but good things to say about the cleanliness and condition of the hotel. The room (we were upgraded to a suite on the 6th floor which had an awesome river view) was all in white, clean and spacious enough with free wifi. There was even a bathtub (not just a shower), bathing robes and a safe in the room with 2 bottles of complimentary water.

As for the breakfast, I thought it was really excellent for the price we were paying. There were eggs and pho to be had (by ordering), as well as dessert like coconut jelly which I ate without restraint, soup, porridge, fried noodles, fried rice...and the staff provided excellent service throughout. The environment as per the pic below was clean and comfortable. In fact, I would go so far as to say that other than the drinks available (or lack of), La Jolie's breakfast spread gave me almost as much satisfaction as the buffet breakfast I'd been having at Sheraton.

In fact, our breakfast experience was so good that we decided to utilize the 30% discount coupon the staff gave us upon checking in to have dinner at the restaurant (the same place we had breakfast). We ordered spring rolls, since these are a Vietnamese staple, but the spring rolls turned out to be fried spring rolls and not the fresh ones. Therefore, be very careful when you order spring rolls in Vietnam - always ask if fresh, or fried, if not clearly specified. In any case, the fried spring rolls were decent enough - not swoon-worthy or even close. Despite being a tad too oily for my liking, the spring rolls were crunchy and quite tasty, especially with the dip.

We also each had a bowl of pho. Unfortunately unlike the pho for breakfast, the beef in the dish while plentiful, was either cooked too long or was just plain tough. Not very appetizing. I would strongly suggest against ordering pho as a main course from the menu (unless during breakfast).

Overall, I would definitely rate La Jolie Hotel very highly in terms of service, location, food and condition of the room. Definitely value for money in every way given its current hotel rate. However, the hotel needs to stop holding on to travellers' passports in exchange for a monetary deposit. I hardly think there is any law that mandates that and if this is a policy the hotel has, it definitely is a huge turn off.

Also, the hotel called a taxi for me from off the streets at VND160,000 to take me to the domestic airport. I paid that amount to the hotel staff but when I asked the driver at the airport to give me a receipt (for my travel claims), he wrote that he only received VND130,000. I am definitely not too thrilled about the hotel keeping VND30,000 for doing nothing except sending a staff to flag down a cab passing by which I could have done. That doesn't smack of an honest way of earning money.

Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh City

I've been to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) a couple of times but never knew that there was a hard rock cafe there despite staying at the District 1 area hotels like Park Hyatt, and hotels at the Riverside like The Majestic. I always thought that the Hard Rock Cafes would be centrally located or at least in a popular district with visible presence. However, it took a 15 min slow walk from my hotel (Sheraton) to get to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner as the restaurant was located at/next door to Intercontinental Hotel (a 6 min walk from Park Hyatt). Click here for the address. Because we got there about 6+pm, there was some rehearsal going on for a show that night and it was really really loud. The server informed us that if we wanted to stay until the show started, we would have to pay for tickets for the show. I told her that given the noise level, I could not wait to be out of the place fast enough. Snap. The manager was at my side in all of 5 mins explaining that the rehearsal would be over soon and we could get to enjoying our meal without our eardrums throbbing.

We started with the Jumbo Combo: This consisted of the Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. The dish came with 4 different sauces for mixing and matching, 1 of which was Blue Cheese. Presentation of the dish was good, impressive, and portions large enough for 3-4 pax. The server suggested that this dish was enough for 2 for the evening, (hint: I should not order any more). But hey, I am Stuff-Thy-Face-If-Stressed-When-Travelling-For-Work. So after demolishing most of the smoked chicken wings, onion rings and chicken tenders, and leaving most of the potato skin behind because it was so hard and not worth me wasting any calories on, I waved the server over and to her horror (Are you SURE? *high pitched tone), ordered the Smokehouse Trio Combo (slightly more expensive (almost VND400K) than the Jumbo Starter which was about VND320,000+).

Smoked chicken, smoked ribs and smoked pulled pork. The ribs were so good that it had me licking my fingers and wishing that I'd ordered all ribs instead. The chicken tasted like well, chicken...and I was so so incredibly stuffed that the taste of the pulled pork did not register much. I think it tasted porky even though it was coated with heaps of some sticky thick sauce. Needless to say, to the smug triumph of the server behind us, we had to ask for bags to take away the fries, and the other half of the Jumbo Combo. Note: I managed to down the entire glass of milkshake before leaving as a final gesture of defiance.

As you can tell from the picture above, the ambiance at Ho Chi Minh's Hard Rock Cafe is really very nice with all those pretty red lanterns at the bar. The servers speak reasonably good English and on a Thursday evening, the restaurant appeared to be popular with expats (no local folks here) and other tourists. I really like Hard Rock Cafe. The atmosphere and servers there (from USA to Ho Chi Minh) somehow make me feel welcome and less alone when I am travelling for work.

Oh and of course, I had to get my HRC fridge magnet. For some strange reason, they did not have the guitar-shaped magnet so I had to make do with this one. And the Love All Serve All bit is missing too. Oh well. I'm not sure if this is true but the guy manning the cashier told me that there would be a Hard Rock Cafe in Hanoi sometime in 2012. I'm so not going to back Hanoi ever if I can help it (more posts on that later) so despite preferring to always buy my own magnets from places I have been, I'll have to get my colleagues to send the guitar-shaped magnet to SG. I bet it'll have a picture of Halong Bay!