Hairy Crab Feast at Li Bai

Having been wowed thoroughly by their hairy crab meal last year, my family and I decided to come back to Li Bai for their hairy crab feast! (:

We ordered the hairy crab meal with additional hairy crabs each! (: Here's what the menu features:

Hairy Crab Xiao Long Bao

Topped with a thick creamy layer of hairy crab roe. Delicate bao skin of the right thickness that went so well with the filling. could be a little bit more generous with the roe though. other than that, it was a good start to the meal. 4/5

Birds Nest Soup with Hairy Crab Roe/Sharks Fin Soup with Hairy Crab Roe

Actually, the menu states sharks fin soup, but last year, the waitress changed it to birds nest for me and I rmb all of us were wowed over how yummy it was, so this year we asked the waitress to change it for us again (: Exquisite, elegant food/art. Classic gold and yellow dish to showcase its superiority. Imagine a bowl of cream of mushroom. but now, replace all the cream with hairy crab roe and the mushroom with birds nest. Lots of roe, lots of birds nest! A smile comes right after every spoon of the soup :) I'd say this is a MUST-TRY! 5/5

Hairy Crab

To make sure we enjoy every single strand of the crab meat, we asked for our crab shell to be removed when served to us. The waitress was really great! As my mom finished her sharksfin soup first (our birds nest took a little longer), hence she asked my Mom to start on her crab first and helped my mom peel the shell off her crab legs. Then as we started eating out crab, she helped us peel ours as well, while we were eating! Great service (: The crab meat is sweet and really yummy. Only disappointment was that the crab turned cold very quickly (should be due to the air con) which made it less appetizing (tasteless, cold) as we eat. The roe was super duper awesome when hot though! Recommend eating the roe first (: 4/5

Ginger tea!

Felt that theirs was quite good! Hot and spicy plus not overly sweet (: The Chinese believe that we have to drink ginger tea after eating the crab to ease the "coolness" of it! My dad and the boy thought it was spicy enough though!

Cod Fish with mushrooms

Initially, we were uncertain of what fish it was as the meat was a tad too tough to be a cod. After confirmation with the waitress, it was confirmed to be a cod. The fish went well with the condiments (spring onions, chye por, soy sauce). However, the sauce was too salty to our likings. Too wasted to soak the cod in so much soy sauce. Plus the chef really overcooked this one, all of ours were hard which made us doubt whether this was cod fish or not because even my maid at home can steam the cod fish just nicely till it melts in our mouth so we were rather disappointed with this. The mushrooms were yummy though! 3/5

Springy noodles with abalone and mushroom

My mom remembered how wonderfully springy and awesome the noodles were from last year's meal and we werent disappointed with the noodles this time round either! Its like a damn good plate of wanton mee! The mee is very springy and chewy, its like a perfectly al dente wanton mee haha. Each bite makes you want to slurp up more of it! The mushroom was the softest and most flavourful mushroom I've ever eaten in my life!! Abalone was great too, the stock they cook their stuff has so much depth in flavour and I can tell they really let the mushroom and abalone absorb the broth fully to present the best taste and texture to their customers! MUST-TRY once again! 5/5

Fresh Longjing Tea

They changed our long jing tea to this prior to dessert

Hashima with black sesame tang yuan in ginger tea

I'm not sure how a good hashima should be but personally, i like this dessert a lot. The rice balls were well made. The skin will not stick to your tongue or to the roof or bottom of your mouth. The skin and filling ratio was just right. The ginger soup tasted very much like the ginger tea except that it is slightly stronger and a lot sweeter. 4/5

Personally, I feel that Li Bai really dishes up quality dishes, no wonder its a veteran in the Cantonese food scene here. Actually, not just Cantonese, in the Chinese food scene! I really applaud the wonderful service we got at Li Bai (esp with the waitress patiently picking out the crab meat for us!) and their friendliness + quick response! Overall, dining at Li Bai is a joy and they were fully booked the night we went (no surprises) so I'd recommend making reservations!

Li Bai

Sheraton Hotel

TWG Pastries

The boy bought some TWG pastries over today! And we had a mini pig-out in my room!

Blueberry Tart

This was rather lacklustre I feel. The pastry cream felt almost tasteless, and the tart was saved by the plump juicy blueberries. The tart base was okay, crumbly but no buttery fragrance nor was it crispy. Would not recommend this as its a really average tart. Can get much better ones from elsewhere eg Drips/Muffinry 2.4/5

Singapore Surprise

This fared much better than the blueberry tart. I had this before in the restaurant while dining with the best friend and in the restaurant, they serve it in sliced form, not like this round one here which the boy bought from the storefront of the Ion outlet. This is like a creme brulee tart, with a layer of raspberries in between, lending the tart a tinge of sourness that balanced the layer of creme brulee perfectly. I felt however, that eating this in the restaurant in slice form is slightly tastier as the layer of creme brulee on top wasnt that thick so the ratio was, in a sense better. The tart crust was a little thin for my liking as I prefer something substantial, that I can sink my teeth in and feel the "crunch" when I bite into it which was lacking in this tart. 3.6/5

Overall, I think TWG pastries are not bad, and the price comes with the packaging and the chi-chi feel of the desserts but they certainly are not the best in Singapore, neither are they very value for money I feel.

TWG

Ion Orchard

Wimbly Lu

Having read about this new cafe specialising in chocolate, I knew I had to ask the boy to bring me there to try out what good stuff they have and I'm glad I wasnt disappointed at all!!! The boy and I went there after Pave and we were glad we decided to come here!

Watch out for the beetle to spot the cafe!

Check out the cosy and rustic decor of the cafe! I really feel that there's a good warm homey feel to this quaint cafe and the atmosphere really relaxes you. I guess its something to do with the dim lights and the strong cold aircon plus the really comfy sofa seats we were sitting on!

Their cafe is beautifully decorated in preparation for Halloween which they have some special promotion going on for!

Their menu (they also have a food menu serving things like sandwiches/savory crepes/soups/snacks etc but till 9pm only)

Get your own water from this super old-school water dispenser! I like!

Where the yummy goodies are (: 

Waffles with vanilla bean ice cream & maple syrup

$8.50

BOY OH BOY IS THIS A MUST-TRY!!!!!!! The boy and I declared it the best waffles we've eaten to date! It has the best airy-to-crispy ratio HANDS-DOWN!!! Once served, we would tell immediately from the look of the waffle that it would be crispy and we were not wrong when our knife cut into the waffle and it was all crackly and we could hear the crisp sound of our knife cutting through the waffle! The waffle was light, super fluffy and airy, so soft, but crispy at the same time, you really really have to try it to know what I mean!! 

There was a good drizzle of maple syrup, not too much such that it was overly sweet or the waffles were soggy, but just right such that there was still a little leftover that we could mop up with the waffles and for the whole waffle to be coated with it! The vanilla bean ice cream was sooooo creamy and went extremely well with the waffle, it was pure indulgence I'd say. Thick, creamy, luscious, authentic vanilla bean ice cream with crispy fluffy warm waffles, perfect match made in heaven! What more would you ask for? (: PLEASE TRY THIS I BEG YOU 5/5

This was the FASTEST the boy and I ever finished a plate of dessert, we just attacked it as if someone was gonna kill us at that instant if we didnt finish it. I think we took all but 5mins to finish the waffle and I'm not kidding, it was that good.

 Spot the small little black spiders at the top left corner of the glass panel!

Shop front

We wanted to try their signature Black Out cake but unfortunately its sold out :(( its okay, we'd DEFINITELY be back for their awesome waffles + maybe try their pancakes/savory menu and their black out cake + other desserts they have to offer! Tonight they had chocolate cheesecake, chocolate eclair, rocky road bars, scones (raisin and plain ones), chocolate truffles (baileys, rum& raisin, etc). Sold out items include blackout cake, tiramisu, brownie, apple crumble, eton mess. 

We'll surely be back to try out your other awesome food!! I'd also buy the scone next time cos they looked really inviting (: Plus there's no GST or service charge! The waffle's only $8.50 and I'd say its the BEST WAFFLES hence the BEST VALUE FOR MONEY WAFFLES IN SINGAPORE! Please go and try it even though its at a rather ulu place!

The service staff there are extremely friendly, very warm and welcoming, love the vibe of the cafe!! One of my favourite cafes to date in Singapore (:

Wimbly Lu

15-2 Jalan Riang

(Just turn into Jalan Riang and you'd be able to see a row of shophouses which has Wimbly Lu first, then Jules Cafe then The Fat Cat!)

Drips Bakery Cafe

After the ice cream at Brownice, the boy and I decided to go to Drips Bakery Cafe after reading so many great reviews about their tarts!

It was rather easy finding the cafe if you drive I think! Its like the 2nd building on your left when you turn into the road and its right in front so keep your eyes peeled! If you miss the cafe, just look out for the red sign on the building that says 82 Tiong Poh Road! (pic below) Thats the building you're looking for! Park your car and then walk down and you'd see it soon enough!

Nestled amongst old flats, I found the place really cosy and feels as if you're not in Singapore! Because you certainly dont get to see such old school flats anymore in Singapore! These 2 storey flats are a rare sight now I feel.

The array of cakes and tarts! The day we went they had cherry tart, cinnamon pear tart, chocolate mousse and etc cakes

Fruit Tart

Look at the huge juicy strawberries!!! The strawberries were really sweet and the mangoes in the middle were v sweet as well!! Great choice of fruits here btw. There was another fruit tart but with raspberries instead of mangoes, but we chose mangoes instead. The crust was not too thick, and it was buttery no doubt but I felt that The Muffinry's tarts are much better! In terms of taste, thickness, buttery-ness, and substance. The boy and I both agreed The Muffinry does better tarts (: But overall, I'd say this is really quite an awesome tart! The pastry cream isnt too sweet either and goes well with the tart + fruits. The sight of the tart itself just makes me want to order it and have another one! Haha. 4.5/5

Cinnamon Egg Tart

This sounded reallyyyy nice and appealing to us however it got very jia lat after awhile because its like eating super creamy egg whites and nothing else? The tart base was v thin and not crispy/crunchy at all, a little soggy actually. And the cinnamon taste wasnt strong at all. This tart was a letdown and I couldnt manage to eat more than a few bites of it because of how jia lat it got (even with drinking green tea) so the boy had to finish it (poor thing :/) 2.5/5

Honey Lemon Drink

Green Tea

The green tea isnt very strong, quite mild actually, wouldnt recommend this.

Love the environment and the ambience of the cafe! I especially love the part of the cafe we were seated at (further in not the part with the sofas and stuff) because I liked how they used glass for a part of the ceiling to let the natural light shine in. That made the cafe really bright and cheery! (: Would definitely go back to try out the other tarts they have available and I feel that the cinnamon egg tart is definitely an exception to the other yummy goodies found in the cafe!

Drips Bakery Cafe

82 Tiong Poh Road