Ma Maison in Bugis Junction

My friend Kwan invited me for a dinner after work, and I was just happen to be nearby Bugis area; and it is not far to travel from his office to Bugis; therefore, we decided to settle 'thing' here. Apparently, Kwan is quite familiar Bugis restaurant and he recommended a Japanese Western restaurant which is located inside Bugis Junction.

I was surprisingly found a hidden gem, this restaurant is nice and cozy, it was decorated just like a fancy restaurant from Japanese movie. The waitress immediately approached and asked me whether have a reservation. I said no; then she requested me to wait although there are plenty of empty tables. Apparently, they are all reserved. After about 15 to 20 minutes waits,  my table is ready, Kwan was also arrived.

Soon enough we had placed our orders, and the place started to fill with people gradually. our first dish to be delivered is their baked soup, which is strongly recommend by Kwan. A cut piece of French bread soaking in a strong favorite of soup, sprinkling with Mozzarella cheese on top and baked until golden brown. The soap has very strong taste of onion, the first taste of the soup is very heavy, matching with thick milky smell of Mozzarella. It's surprisingly compatible.



The second dish is baked potato with cheese, they use the tiny potato with shrimp and Mozzarella; it looked great and nice presentation. But for the taste, I didn't like it. I thought it was like baked potato skin that we usually seen in normal western restaurant, but it was not, mostly because of the tiny rough skin potato that I'm not fancy with.











Next dish is the squid ink Spaghetti, the taste was just decent, no much thing to be mentioned; I can't really taste the fishy squid ink taste, it was just a normal Spaghetti for me.










And then, the hot pot salad arrived, the mixed of fresh vegetables such as bell paper, cauliflower, broccoli, mushroom, lady finger, cabbage, tomato and etc all cooked in a hot pot with light seasoning, the colorful vegetables has a catching look and freshness of vegetable combination taste. It's simply delightful.












Next, it's Omelette rice. the presentation was really nice, especially the tender and juicy egg blanket on the fried rice, the brown source on the side; truly an eye candy that caught my eye while it arrived. After tasted it, I thought it was just ok, The fried rice is using ketchup and just plain fried rice without any other seasoning or ingredients; egg is tender and juicy as I expected, the sweet and salty brown source is quite match with egg, but rice; I think it was little bit over favorite. but overall, it was quite decent for me.








Paul arrived quite late, we have almost finished every dishes, then we re-ordered some other food for him. first of all, it's the sausage platter, it was normal grilled German sausage; it looked pretty nice but I didn't really try on it, I can't comment much...

Another add-on dish is baked pasta carbonara, it smelled very good, but I was really stuffed by that time; otherwise I would like to try it, anyway, I still remember that Paul did mention about the shell shape pasta was too soft, but it still taste good.









In the end, we decided to get a dessert for the closing, Kwan approached to the display counter to choose; and he got a peach cake. I'm not a big fan of dessert, the sweet and refreshing  peach cake really boast up my satisfaction for the dinner that night.








Lastly, when we asked for the bill, they provided a key for us to 'check out'. That was pretty cool.
Overall, the environment of the restaurant score high, I really like the classy and coziness that restaurant gave me. The taste of the food, I would said it was above average, some food not even reach my expectation. The food presentation was remarkable, if you enjoy to take food photo, it gotto be the right place.

L’Entrecote The French Brasserie at Suntec City

Another casual night, Kwan and Paul invited me to join their dinner, different than the other times, Carl also joined us. We met at Suntec City entrance with a big screen, I had no idea for what we gonna have for dinner, just followed their steps and leaded me to a restaurant, L'Entrecote the French Brasserie.

The restaurant is neat and cozy, what caught my eye was the table, instead of putting table cloth, they put white paper to cover the table top; which reminds me that I had been an Italian restaurant once, they also put white paper as table cloth, and provided crayon that allows kids to draw or sketch on it while having dinner.






Kwan strongly recommended their signature steak with fries to me, which is also highlighted on their menu. I don't have any reason not to choose the steak; hence, Kwan and I chose the steak, Paul ordered baked fish with rice and vegetable, and salad; Carl ordered stew beef with penne pasta.







They didn't take too long for delivering the food, the steak just looked fantastic. it was perfectly medium grilled and cut into size, the yellowish sauce covered on top of the tempting steak; with a large portion of golden brown french fries on side, do I have any more description for the dish? I can simply skip the fries as it was just normal fries, but worth to mention is the fries was unlimited to top up. Well, the steak was tender and juicy as expected; the sauce was really fragrant and unexpectedly mild. I though it would be very strong tasted, but it was certainly not, it reminds me Rendang beef, but it doesn't like Rendang that having a strong favorite, you can smell there are different kind of herb and spices but it still preserved the taste of fresh beef. However, Kwan told me his first experience was so much better.

Stew beef with Penne Pasta

Baked fish with rice and Vege

Green Salad

I didn't tried their food, Carl's pasta looked pretty good for me either; the fish looked quite dry for me, but good thing is they providing sauce on the side.

After finishing the main course, we decided to get a dessert, profiteroles de l'entrecote; aka the vanilla ice cream puff with chocolate syrup on the top and dazzling almond chips. The dessert was just ok for me.

Overall, the expereince was quite decent and memorable. Will I go for second time? sure. why not.

Hakka Lei-Cha 擂茶, Kelapa Sawit, Kulai 古来沙威

Hakka Lei-Cha 擂茶 is one of my favorite traditional food for all time, it requires complicated steps  and numerous of different ingredients to process. Lei-Cha also called Hum-Cha 咸茶, it's because it tasted salty, mild and make you feel comfortable and delightful. It has a unique fragrant and layers of enjoyable tastes, and most importantly, it deeply represents the profound spirit of Hakka, that friendly, hardworking, simple and less-demanding of life. Lei-Cha was very popular and likable for most people, and due to the long process requirement, you can't easily find Lei-Cha from any place else.

The traditional ingredient for Lei-Cha including peanut, sesame, tea leaf, mint's leaf , herb's leaf and etc to mix and stir in a big bowl with a big chunky stick into paste, and pouring hot water to mix with the paste to become the soup. The mixing and stirring with the chunky stick gesture is called "Lei" in Hakka, and that's how it called "Lei Cha".
Worth to mention is the herb leaf, they called it 苦丽心, just like the way it called, it taste bitter; but it help to digest and cool down body temperature.



For the main food itself, it's mixed with different vegetables such as deep fried chopped bean curd with green garlic 豆干炒大蒜, 树籽菜or马尼菜, stirred fried long bean 菜豆 and dried radish 菜脯 (my favorite). Each one of the dish already tasted very tasty and fragrant, the key ingredient which can found among every dish is dried shrimp 虾米. The fragrant of dried shrimp can push the taste of each bowl of Lei-Cha to another level. Combining all the tasty dishes together, the taste is powerful and definitely beyond the imagination.

Mixing with stream rice, (some may use Garlic rice or Deep fried dehydrated rice 锅巴or蓬米) and peanut (they should provide on side); and of course pouring with the soup, mixing together and start digging up; it shall overwhelm your appetite.

In Kelapa Sawit, Kulai. a Hakka town filling with human kindness and friendliness. Not only their warm-heartiness is worth mentioned, their good food also makes them proud. The most representative dish among their good is definitely Lei-cha. It's not easy to find a good Lei-Cha in other places, the taste of Lei-cha in Kelapa Sawit makes you think of childhood, the taste of warmness and comfy.

The feel of tasting Lei-Cha to me, the first taste is comfortable, the sweet and salty combination is perfectly matched. you will keep dig your bowl until it finishes without your awareness.

This is always be the taste that I miss the most after all the years that I spent at outside for studying and working. I'm proud to be part of this sweet hometown; and I will be definitely introduce this heavenly food for any outsider.

The Beacon, Marina Square Singapore

Last night Kwan and I went to have dinner, he was enthusiastically recommending a pub/bistro nearby his office and told me they have a great live band. I would definitely follow his decision, since he had been going through for a rough week since Paul was out of town. Last night he was obviously still in blues.

Before we went there, Kwan also told me that Friday night is their oyster night, and he seem excited for the oyster. Ya, why not? it's oyster. When we got there, there seems like having a function that night, and most of the table was reserved, we just literally asked their staff, and they that we can dine in there but we have to leave before 9 as their tables were fully booked, so we took the table as we have more than enough time for a dinner there. They also have 1 for 1 beer offer that night, so we just rapidly placed the beer order right the way.

The environment is cozy and classy, and our table was very near to the stage, everything seems perfect. Soon enough we had placed our order, then patiently waiting for their good food.

First of all, the oyster was served, the size of the oyster was generous and the freshness was unquestionable, with the $5 for 5 oysters; it was worth the money. second order, please..

We were recommended by the staff for the Pollo chicken pizza, it was thin crust, mildly taste; for a heavy taster like me, it was just a decent dish.

And we also ordered some finger food, the watchmen combo, It includes calamari, chicken sausage and chicken wings, and it serves with 3 different sauces: Mayonnaise, Mustard and Thai chili sauce. The portion was big enough to cater 3 to 4 persons. The calamari and chicken wing were nice, they were perfectly deep fried in golden brown, crispy outside and tender inside; but after a few more, I started to feel tiredness and sickness. The chicken sausage was just so so for me, but surprisingly we had finished that first, perhaps it was less greasy compare with calamari and wings.

Finally, we had put quite some effort to finish all the food. Overall, the food was quite ok, it's a bistro; most of the food mainly go with the alcohol, don't expect much from it. Worth to mention is the live band, they did a good job to rock that night.

Menya Musashi Ramen 面屋武藏 at Raffles City

My friends, Kwan and Paul invited me for a dinner together last night, we met each other at Raffles city. As usual, we struggled for what to eat for dinner at the beginning, then we decided to go for Chinese food in a Szechuan restaurant. However, the restaurant was under maintaining of electrical supply. So we end up to have Ramen instead.

The Menya Musashi Ramen, I had tried their Ramen before, but back in years ago in KL. It was a decent experience; I wondered their Ramen in SG should as good as in KL. It was a long queue that time, but we were still required to wait for 5 to 10 minutes for empty table. Apparently, their menu had added plenty of options since my last trial. Of course, they still preserve their White, Black and Red soup choices.

I had ordered the Charshu Ramen in White soup, the soup was thick with strong flavor of pig's bone, simply tasty and satisfy.

Paul ordered the tomato Ramen, it's their new menu item, I forgot to ask Paul about the taste but  it looked fantastic while it was presented to our table.

Kwan also ordered the items, Sakura Ramen. The pink color Ramen just looked lovely, the unique way of the Ramen is the soup was served on separately, it was more like a dipping sauce for this Ramen. we was recommended to pick Black soup. The taste and flavor was even stronger. Speaking of the plain pink Ramen, the taste also different than the normal Ramen, it has an unique fragrant dissolved in your month while you chewed it, I can't tell what fragrant is that, but it was just nice. it's an excellent choice for that dinner.

Melaka Trip

We planned to have a short trip in Melaka for the Good Friday long weekend, we had been planned for this over weeks. Before the trip, I had been browsing over the internet for the good food and good places regularly and there are numerous of food blogger recommending the food in Melaka. The satey celup, laksa, cendul are top of my food hunting list and I was looking forward on it.

Finally, the day has arrived, 5 of us can't wait to jump into the car and start the trip excitedly. We successfully reached there despite of the traffic jam and minor losing of direction, yet, we still manage to find our hotel and check in on time. We were lucky to book the hotel early which located to the exciting Jonker street for just few minutes walking distance with a reasonable price.

When we stepped into Jonker Street, apparently, it was crowded by all the tourists and stalls that were surrounded two side of the street; for me, the food stalls caught my attention at the very first place, the smells and variety food displays over the entire street were seducing me to stop me kept moving forward. My all senses went up high, I can't over come the temptation and bought some to feed my stomach, we had tried the Nyonya dumpling and Pork dumpling (Ba-Zhang), I don't really fond for the Nyonya dumpling, the taste was mild and less flavor for me; but the Pork dumpling was excellent; we have kept looking other food, but we can't go too far as we knew that we have to save some space of our stomach for our next stop, Satey Celup.

After a recharging foot massage, we arrived at Ban Lee Siang Satey Celup, as we knew that the famous Capitol Satey celup was crowded, and we might end up to wait for hours; so we chose Ban Lee Siang, however, we still can't avoid the queue, we had waited around 30 to 40 minutes for the table. Well, the theory of the satey celup is stream bot with substitution of the soup to satey sauce, and all the food such as mushroom, hot dog, fish ball, friend wanton, kangkong, youtiao and fried bean-curd skin were on the stick. each stick cost RM0.80, that's sound reasonable. When my first bite of the satey celup, the strong flavor of the sauce overwhelmed my entire month, it was very tasteful, the heavy food lover will love it; the fragrant of peanut and sesame combination, all the food soaked into this sweet and spicy sauce; any ordinary food can be pushed to different level by this powerful sauce instantly. However, in my personal opinion, you can't be having too much as your tongue would felt numb and start felt sickening of the food. My friends concerned about their hygiene issue as they use the same pot of sauce from the previous customer. Other that that, it was worth to try.

After my stomach was stuffed by the satey celup, I couldn't have any food for the rest of the night. Since the night was still young, we decided to go the Geography cafe after taking shower in the hotel. The Geographer cafe was quite well known since the movie and commercial took place the scene at this cafe few years ago. the cafe was rebuilt from a historical  heritage that over century, its the combination of modern and old timer. After having some light beer and live band, we had just called for the day.

The next day morning, after having breakfast from hotel, we decided to go shopping at Dataran Pahlawan and Mahkota Parade. But before that, we would like to try the Taming Sari Tower, it costs RM10.00 per pax by presenting MyKad, otherwise, its RM20.00. It was worth to try only I felt slightly uncomfortable that it keeps spinning with speed from beginning to the end.

After that, we resume our food hunt, the Nadeje Mille Crepe. We had got the right direction from information counter. When we saw the crowds, we knew we came the right place. Soon enough we got a table and placed orders. We had ordered their famous must try Mille Crepe in Rum raisin, Strawberry, Double chocolate, Tiramisu and Cheese favorite. The crepe covered by fresh cream layer by layer evenly, every single bite was refreshing and you won't feel sinful at all. I suggested the best time to enjoy it is while the waiter delivered the cake and it was still cold, after displayed and exposed to outside for some time, the refreshing level may drop rapidly.

We have our lunch in a Nyonya restaurant which nearby the mall, we ordered the Asam fish head, Ayam pongteh, friend egg, Kangkong, Sambal sotong with petai bean, Deep friend chicken and Cendol. The asam fish head was pretty good, the sourness and spiciness are just nice and it goes well with white rice. The ayam pongteh was also decent, but I though it was slightly too mild for the taste. the rest of the other are average for me. Worth to mention is the cendol, it was fantastic; I think the credit should be the Palm Sugar, Gula Melaka. a well-known product from Melaka, it has a unique sense and fragrant that can't be found from other object. Overall for this meal, it was just so so for me; it cannot compete with the Nyonya food I had some place else.

After entire day of shopping and Karaoke, we decided to go easy and classy way for dinner. We went Hard Rock cafe for dinner, we were told that there a band performing that night, so we picked the front table that closest to the stage. Stepping into the restaurant, our eye were caught by all the decoration over the restaurant. With a reasonable time, we were seated and waitress started to took our orders. We had ordered an appetizer platter for sharing, which including the Buffalo wings, potato skins, Onion ring, fish fillet and spring rolls. That was good enough for 5 of us. For the main course, we had two different salad, the combination fajitas, grill chicken sandwich and BBQ combination. The taste of the food was above average for me, but they offer good service for us. 

After the live band started, the environment started to change... Especially the ladies who dressed up nicely and dining classily in the restaurant, who were acting so high suddenly when the band started performing. The restaurant transformed into a happening pub in a second, it was amazing. No doubt the band had done a remarkable job to rock the entire restaurant, however, we remained calm and steady due to the stuffiness and tiredness. 

The last day of Melaka, we decided to went back Jonker Street to resume our food hunting, We found  random shop that selling laksa, we gave it a try. I think it was just ok for me. At the same time, we have tried durian puff and coconut shake. Worth to mention is the coconut shake, it was blended with real coconut, and we found it surprisingly refreshing and the taste of the ice cream goes so well with it.

It was shameful that we could not find the famous popiah that was recommended by most of the food blogger, we have to leave Melaka with some regret. Maybe next time...