[Food Review] Beaulieu House

Beaulieu House has a very long history which dated way back to 1910. It was home to the British Naval Officer and later on taken over by the government. Now, it is a seaside restaurant which exudes an old world charm.

Located right within Sembawang Park, Beaulieu House sits magnificently on higher ground overlooking a slight stretch of sand and the sea. You can see the view of the Straits of Johor directly opposite. Built in a neo-classical style, the entrance of the building is flanked by wings on either side and topped with a sloping mansard roof. The patio is enclosed with intricate Victorian-style cast iron work.

[Food Review] Irodori Japanese Restaurant Riverview Hotel

For Japanese food lovers, Irodori would make a very good choice because it serves reasonably priced Japanese all-you-can-eat ala carte items at $36.80++. 

What's more, they have a very wide selection from their menu of more than 100 items, ranging from sashimi, makimono (rolled sushi), yakimono (grilled dishes), nigiri sushi (finger press), temaki (hand roll), ippinmono (appetisers), agemono (deep fried dishes) to teppanyaki and more.

And even more appealing is that their food is made by experienced chefs using only the freshest seafood and ingredients from Australia, New Zealand, Norway & Europe.

Set up is simple, cozy with the traditional sushi counter at the side where you can see the chefs in action.

[Food Review] Two Trees Bistro & Bar (TTBB)

Two Trees Bistro & Bar (TTBB) is a quaint establishment located along the intersection of Aliwal and Pahang Street. It serves home cooked local fare as well as western delights. We were very impressed by the warm hospitality that were showered upon us during our visit. This place felt exactly like home.

Warm and cozy interior with yellow walls and paintings.

Started off with canapes and Blueberry Twist. The Blueberry Twist is a unique creation which consists of gamon ham and blueberry giving it a sweet and salty flavour which totally induces the appetite for the main courses.

TTBB's creation of grilled zucchini, tomato and Japanese cucumber topped with grilled bacon and seafood salsa on egg in crackers.

[Recipe] Miso Sunkissed Tomatoes Pasta with Basil

Got inspired by reading one of the recipes online and modified this great tasting pasta! Sunkissed tomatoes, aka sundried tomatoes adds so much flavour to the pasta. The miso stock gives this dish an extra boost and further escalated the flavours!

If you love pasta and don't want something as sweet as tomato based pasta and looking for something more flavourful than simple aglio olio, this would be an AMAZING recipe for you!

RECIPE FOR Miso Sunkissed Tomatoes Pasta with Basil

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

- Spagetti, boiled with salted water and cooked till al dente

- 4 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped)

- Bacon (sliced into small pieces)

- Handful of basil leaves (shred leaves into bits and remove stems)

- 6-8 pieces of sunkissed tomatoes with olive oil

- Half bowl of chicken stock with 1 tbsp of red miso paste (stir together with a little bit of warm water)

- Salt and black pepper

- Grated mozzarella cheese

- Italian herbs

Method:

- Fry garlic, sunkissed tomatoes and bacon in pan. Add a little bit more olive oil if not enough.

-  Add the bowl of chicken stock + miso paste

- Toss in cooked pasta and stir everything, mix well.

- Add basil leaves and continue stirring till basil leaves are wilted.

- Season with salt and black pepper (I omitted salt because the dish was already very flavourful, added lots of pepper instead)

- Dish out. 

- Add some grated mozzarella cheese over dish and a few dashes of Italian herbs seasoning. (this seasoning smelled wonderful)

This is the sunkissed tomatoes i bought (from Cold Storage):

- Enjoy it :)

* The original recipe calls for some milk but I left this out, however, dish still tastes very good.

* You may add mushrooms and more ingredients if you wish.

[Hotel Review] Mini Hotel Central- Hong Kong November 2014

After a guided tour of Mini Hotel, Causeway Bay, I was also invited to visit Mini Hotel at Central! If you haven't already, do check out my full review on Mini Hotel at Causeway Bay

Mini Hotel, Central

Central is the heart and pulse of Hong Kong. Here, you can easily access all the great attractions within minutes of walking distance. LKF and Soho, the most sought after dining and clubbing spots in HK, are just 3 minute’s walking distance from the hotel. Walk a little further along Hollywood Road towards Sheung Wan, you will find yourself lost in time in a street where modern galleries and Chinese antique shops are standing side by side, hip western cafes and local Cantonese noodle shops are neighbors. If you are keen on doing a crazy shopping, go to IFC or take a ferry across the harbour to TST Harbour City. The IFC and Ferry Pier are just 10-15 minutes walking distance from Mini Central. Isn’t it great enough?

Mini Hotel Central offers 196 rooms ranging from 100-120 sq.feet. It is truly an ideal modernistic and stylish place to stay. Let the pictures below do the talking!

[Hotel Review] Mini Hotel Causeway Bay Hong Kong November 2014

In this post, I will be covering a review for Mini Hotel at Causeway Bay. Review for Mini Hotel, Central can also be found here: http://ilovedawn00.blogspot.sg/2014/12/hotel-review-mini-hotel-central-hong.html

 They will be opening another branch next year!

We were honored to be able to stay a few nights at Mini Hotel, a chic, contemporary, modern, boutique style hotel in Hong Kong which is suitable for budget travelers. Nowadays, with so many budget airlines offering cheap air tickets to many Asian countries, it's perfect when you can also find a budget hotel to match up with the cheap air tickets. Mini Hotel is one of the rare and cheapest boutique hotels you can now find in Hong Kong, it costs approximately SGD$150 per night only.

However, despite of it's reasonable prices, Mini Hotel offers a well equipped, comfortable, cozy stay in a stylish and trendy setting and they are located in prime districts in Hong Kong.

Mini Hotel, Causeway Bay is relatively close to key locations such as the Lee Garden (1 min. walk), Hysan Place where the biggest Apple store is located (3 min. walk), and both Time Square and Sogo Department Store is just 4 min. away from the hotel. PRIME LOCATION CHECK!

[Food Review] Cheeky Chicky

Cheeky Chicky is a newly opened establishment bringing you the 'soon to be famous' Beer Can Chicken! But despite its name, Cheeky Chicky actually serves more than just chicken, they serve a fusion of Asian dishes guarantee to fill your tummy.

 The whole atmosphere was laid back and cozy with cute doodles of chicken on the black board and comfortable cushions on the seats.

 And of course, no meal that includes chicken is complete without alcohol! We were recommended to try this very exquisite Momo-shu which is Peach Sake. Tastes sweet and very easy to drink. They have a variety of other alcoholic beverages and beer.

And Cheeky Chicky's signature dish is none other than Beer Can Chicken! 

[Recipe] Stir-fried Basil leaves with minced pork

Every time when I visit Thailand, I will always order this dish because it's simply yummy and it's found almost everywhere in Thailand.

I've seen the hawkers and food vendors whipping up this dish before my eyes and I thought it wasn't too difficult to cook this and so, I tried it for myself.

RECIPE FOR Stir-fried Basil leaves with minced pork

HONG KONG November 2014- Finding an accommodation via TRAVELMOB!

As some of us may know, ever since the opening of HK's Disneyland years back, the prices of hotels have increased progressively in HK.

For small and budget hotels, the average price is currently about $100 per night and that is getting a very very tiny room with just a bed and minimal walking space. You can probably just fit one luggage and squeeze your way around the room.

Hence, during my trip last month to HK, I visited TRAVELMOB and managed to find myself a nice room to stay for 4 nights during my HK trip.

The difference between TRAVELMOB and other hotel websites is that TRAVELMOB is a world leader in vacation rentals with over 1 million listings. They offer a large selection of properties for any travel occasions and any budgets.  And that is, you won't find hotel rooms here, instead, you will find rooms, apartments, houses, villas etc for your holiday vacations! The good thing is that some of these properties are even cheaper than hotels and it's easier to find something that suit your needs because they have so many properties in almost every location!

[Recipe] Chicken in Milk (Slow Cooker and Oven Recipe)

Got this wonderful recipe from Jamie Oliver and modified it abit cuz I don't have some of the ingredients the original recipe yields for. Tried both the oven and also slow cooker style. Both tastes just as great!!!

[Recipe] Stir Fried Chinese Cabbage and Herbal Chicken

Stir Fried Cabbage

A very simple but extremely yummy dish whipped up in less than 10 mins!

Learning Courses

Recently I'm so into cooking. I simply LOVE FOOD and cooking stuff which i love brings me a sense of satisfaction.

Of course, it's always trial and error, some food I cook so far are not bad, some very good and some not so good. However, when food is wrongly cooked, not only the food goes to waste but time, money and effort goes to waste as well.

It's not a bad idea to take up some cooking lessons and get some tips so that when you try it out yourself next time, the possibility of the dish turning out bad would be lower (hopefully).

This website which I came across: http://learningcourses.com.sg has the LARGEST COLLECTION of courses in Singapore!!!

[Food Review] Three Bistro

Centrally located at Marina Square, directly opposite Suntec City, Three Bistro may be the perfect place for you to have a lunch or dinner plus a nice glass of vino or beer.

[Food Review] Hansik Korean Family Restaurant

Hansik Korean Restaurant is a restaurant run by a family of Koreans serving home cooked Korean dishes and grilled BBQ meat which are not only pleasing to the palates but also nutritious! When i visited last month, they are still serving ala carte items off their menu but recently, they have changed their menu and introduced unlimited all-you-can-eat buffet.

And the good news is that the cost of the buffet is extremely pocket friendly!!! It's very much worth it to dine here because the quality of food you get is good which is very important to many of us including myself. I am not really a buffet person because I believe in quality rather than quantity. However, when i learnt that Hansik is now serving unlimited buffet, I am delighted!!! Imagine having your favourite Korean dishes over and over again without getting sick of it :)

LUNCH SALAD BAR at only $12++!!!

This includes a variety of authentic Korean dishes like seafood pancake, glass noodles, garden salad, Kimchi stew, seafood soup, potato salad, bean sprouts, Jja Jang Myeon, seasonal fruits, drinks etc.

(It's so cheap! Where to find this kind of deal in Singapore nowadays?! Maybe can find... but nice or not first?)

and next is an even better deal.. top up a few more dollars and you get...

LUNCH (11.30am-3pm) BBQ Buffet at $16++!!

where you get an unlimited variety of meat and sides! Meat includes beef bulgogi, beef short plate, LA galbi, pork belly, pork bulgogi, pork rib, pork collar, chicken bulgogi, spocy chicken bulgogi, bbq prawns, bbq squid, kimchi stew, pancake, jja jang myeon.

(What a steal!!This is definitely super value for money!)

[Recipe] Salted Egg Pasta

I tried something new today, got the inspiration while scrolling thru Instagram last night. The instructions were not very specific so I tweaked a little bit and added some of my own ingredients.

[Food Review] Hong Mao Mian Jia 红毛面家 Angmoh Noodle House

Hong Mao Mian Jia aka AngMoh Noodle House is located in Joo Chiat, one of my favourite places in Singapore because it has really good food and also because I grew up in that area. This noodle house, as the name implies specializes in Wanton Noodles and has a very rich cultural heritage which dates back to the 60s.

[Food Review] Lai Huat Sambal Fish Restaurant

Some of you might have already heard of this restaurant which opened years ago.

However, this relatively new restaurant is opened by the nephew of Lai Huat Seafood Restaurant located at Horne Road. This is opened by chef/owner Patrick Lim and is located at Siglap. After years of apprenticeship from his grandfather and a burning desire and passion to pass down his grandfather's signature dishes, this latest Lai Huat establishment was opened.

[Food Review] The Boiler SG

Owned by bankers-turned restaurateurs, “The Boiler” is a Southern American-inspired seafood joint that serves up fresh seafood in Louisiana style known as Seafood Boil. The restaurant, despite being located in an industrial area, was almost filled to the brim on a weekday evening and is surprisingly spacious and provides not only fresh communal style seafood but also a wide range of alcoholic beverages too.

 Started off with some delicious appetizers. Clearly remembered the Southern Chicks and Waffles where a piece of tender chicken is placed on top of waffles held together by a toothpick.

[Review] chin-fillers-botox-one-point-v-face 2

More than a month has passed after my first session at  Dr Tiffiny Yang Aesthetic & Surgery Clinic. In case you haven't read yet, I did One Point V Face treatment which consists of chin fillers and botox to achieve a slimmer, v-shaped look.

Full review on my first session here: http://ilovedawn00.blogspot.sg/2014/09/chin-fillers-botox-one-point-v-face.html

The chin fillers showed immediate effects and around 20-30% of it would subside after about a week. However, for botox to take effect, it takes approximately 1 month after injection. So here I am again updating the results of my treatment because botox have fully kicked in by now.

[Food Review] Jin Long Seafood Restaurant 金隆海鲜菜馆

Jin Long Seafood Restaurant 金隆海鲜菜馆 has been established for decades in the cozy neighbourhood of Bedok. They started from a very humble stall in a coffeeshop and expanded their business into a full-fledged restaurant to provide a clean and comfortable air conditioned environment for their growing customers. 

I was introduced to this place earlier this year due to an invitation to a friend's birthday celebration. Was pretty impressed with their dishes and brought my family here few months later again.

Jin Long is now located under a HDB block facing the main road. With it's vibrant signage, it' s hard to miss it when you are at this area. There is a huge car park right at the block.

We were here on a weekday evening and the restaurant was about 80% full so be sure to make reservations before coming.