Burnt Ends

Having heard so many good reviews about this place, I dragged the boy down for dinner one night! We had to make reservations a week in advance! Seats are super hot here!

Warmed Oyster

$7/piece

This oyster is warm, literally. Not piping hot, not cold, but warm. So its different from what we're normally used to and some may be put off by it. The oyster was juicy and will burst into your mouth upon biting it. Its slightly sour cos of the "sauce" which balances the creamy taste of the oyster rather well. However nothing special about this I feel. 3.3/5

Smoked quail eggs

$6 for this

Generally I avoid smoked stuff because of the saltiness, but the novelty of eating a smoked quail egg got to me + the good reviews about this dish made me order it! Honestly, it was a tad salty for me but the taste was addictive! Plus its bite-sized so it makes a really good snack. Would've been better imo, if the yolks were a bit runny :) 3.4/5

Fennel, orange, burrata

$14

This was another highly raved dish but I felt that it was very normal. The fennel albeit a bit juicy and crunchy, had minimal taste? Maybe it was to let the natural flavour shine through but when paired with the strong tasting burrata, everything just tasted of burrata. 3.2/5

Squid, sweetcorn, paprika

$14

This was quite yummy! The squid was done nicely, slightly crispy at the edges and not too chewy (which is what I dislike about squids). The sauce was good and went well with the squid. The corn, juicy and sweet! 3.5/5

Leek, Hazelnut and Brown Butter

$12

This was creamy-ish because of the brown butter which also lent a fragrance to the dish. Hazelnuts were an ingenious addition providing a good textural + taste contrast

Kingfish, Apple, Seaweed

$18

The kingfish as you can see was reallyyyy charred on the outside and well, for the sake of my LT health, I was quite taken aback to see the whole charred fish being presented to me. It was quite a hassle to remove all the charred parts or to not cut into it. Basically the skin became charred which would've been really crispy (I imagine) if I could eat it!

The flesh though was ohsojuicy! Plump fleshy and juicy :) wonderfully done! I dug into it hungrily but the skin was just a little bit annoying. The apple and seaweed were nice tgt when paired w the fish but kind of unnecessary cos the freshness of the fish just shines through. 4.5/5

Burnt Ends Burger

(Pulled pork shoulder, Cole Slaw, Chipotle Aioli, Brioche Bun)

$20

The boy said the bun was really fluffy and fragrant, the pork was quite tender but there was a tad too much sauce so when he bit into it, it was a little messy! Overall he thought this burger was not bad! 3.8/5

Restaurant layout! We were sitting near the door at the end of this really long table.

Compare this photo w the photo above. Difference lies in the smokiness of the area. It was SO smoky I couldn't take it (but I am rather sensitive to this and I generally do not like smoke). The boy also felt that it was a bit too smoky. Everywhere was smoke! And the smell was rather strong too. So if you're planning to head anywhere aft that...

Pineapple, Rum, Vanilla

$10

Grilled pineapple this was and I applaud whoever who came up w grilled pineapples which I've seen in quite a few restaurants now and am sure has been around for v long. Because the sweetness and the juice of the pineapple just shines through even more! Couldn't detect the rum. This was a v simple dish and I don't think its well, worth the 10bux or the stomachspace or the calories. 3/5

Fig tart

$10 (should be! Sorry tried looking for this item on their menus on fb, but I couldn't find it but their tarts are usually 10bux so it should be 10 bux)

This was tart quite good. The crust wasn't the crispy buttery kind but a bit harder. The figs, well not really v abundant but acceptable. This tart was quite nice in terms of the mix of flavours form the figs to some nuts to the crust. 3.2/5

On the whole, even though there are many good reviews about the place and there were some hits that night, I doubt I would be returning soon because 1) smoky 2) the charred stuff 3) the food is rather average but expensive

Their menu changes rather regularly to reflect change in seasons/fresh produce though there are some mainstays, do check their fb page (link below) for the menu!

Burnt Ends

20 Teck Lim Road Singapore 088391

62243933 (please make reservations!! If you want to ensure you've got a seat, at least 1 week in advance! There're many who walk-in but generally you either have to wait q long or you don't get a seat)

Mon 6pm-12am

Tues-Sat: 11.45am-2pm, 6pm-12am

Cake Spade

Went to Cake Spade 2 separate times with T and the boy!

The shop space is really really small and is located at Orchid Hotel where Teppei and Sushi Kou. At most like 4 or 6 seats inside and maybe 8 outside (2 tables of 4). The variety is quite big though and this small shop has been gaining a lot of attention amongst foodies! I've been hearing a lot about their tofu cheesecakes and hummingbird cake so I made them visit with me :) 

Sorry I don't remember the price because it was awhile back!

Lemon tart

Personally I like a crispy tart crust so this one wasn't as crispy as I'd like it to be but it was still good! Buttery, holds up well and fragrant. The curd could've been more sour (I like sour stuff) but it was good enough! So in summary, this is a rather good lemon tart! 3.9/5

Molten Lava Cake w Vanilla Ice Cream

Well this wasn't molten at all :/ and it tastes rather weird tgt w the ice cream idk why. Oh wait I rmb! The ice cream tasted really weird and we regretted getting the ice cream! The choc cake itself was good :) 3.6/5

Strawberry tofu cheesecake

Don't worry, you cannot taste any tofu! It was light and rather refreshing. Nice change from the usual dense cheesecakes. Base could've been slightlyyyy thicker imo! On the whole this was q good but not something I'd yearn for. 3.6/5

The lady there is really nice their selection of cakes is so tempting!!!! Would like to go back and try their Hummingbird cake!

Cake Spade

1 Tras Link #01-06 Orchid Hotel

Singapore 078867

64443868

Mon-Thurs 12-8pm

Fri-Sat 12-1030pm

New! Nescafe Smoovlatte, Smooth as Silk

I was very honoured to be part of the launch for this new Nescafe product, which I must say is very convenient and does pack a punch (more about the product later)!

Initially, I did not know that it would be an art jamming session. When I received the email about the launch, I freaked out totally because I. CANNOT. PAINT. nor draw nor do anything remotely artistic  :( I was like omgomgomgomg I can't believe I am gonna art jam, I have no idea how to paint or wtv the techniques. I don't even get idea popping into my head. Doodling was never my thing. My doodles were all so ugly I couldn't stand them myself so I don't doodle. 

BUT I must say, I really learnt a lot from this event. I have never been to such an event before where they were cameras taking photos of us doing stuff, we had to pose for photos, so I learnt quite a bit from the situation I was put in. Then, of course, I learnt quite a bit about painting with watercolour on a canvas and some techniques. You'll see my finished product later and well, please be nice or umm kind with your comments!! Totally a novice here.

The venue was Artistry cafe which was a place I've been wanting to visit (my list is v long) and well I didn't really get to try their food/desserts tonight but the atmosphere was good and well, some place I'd wanna go back to!

This was the layout tonight. Each to a canvas, watercolour, palette, brushes, apron, etc stuff you need!

These people played really really nice music for us while we were being picasso-like on the canvas (ya right) but anyway, I really forgot what their band name was I'm really really sorry, I would've remembered if I wasn't freaking out about the painting thingy! Wanted to clap for y'all too while you guys were playing but the painting just zapped all my focus and energy. Anyway, great music!! 

Nescafe Smoovelatte 

Now I don't drink coffee at all, but I had to try this and see if it was really "smooth as silk" like the punchline, and true enough! It was really extremely smooth, slides down your throat so easily! Its the milky kind of coffee but don't worry, it achieves a good balance so its not overly milky? There's still coffee taste in it. As for sweetness, I know everyone likes their coffee in differing levels of sweetness but honestly, this kinda caters to most tastes? Cos its very in between in terms of sweetness! Not too sweet yet there it is sweet, but not cloying! I found it rather enjoyable to drink it! 

This was what was served tonight as refreshments!

Okay generally I REALLY love their toast. Somehow it stays DAMN crispy even after being left outside in the aircon room for quite a long while!! I was super amazed and loved it. The toppings for both were yummy and flavourful: salmon and some pork thing respectively on the left & right. 

Didn't try the falafel. Parma ham + rock melon - parma ham didn't have much taste, rock melon wasn't sweet either so this was q average. Quiche was nice although idk what the fillings were! Crispy shell too! Which I liked :)

We were given this pasta thing but I didn't manage to eat it! So I can't comment on whether its nice or not!

Our work station

This is my finished product guys!

I took um quite a lot of courage to decide to put it up here because I honestly do not think its nice and ummm so yea.

Anyway background is coffee!!!!! Which I thought was quite cool haha they asked us to use coffee as a medium so coffee background the whole white canvas was all my mind could think of haha. 

Oh and those are coffee beans haha hopefully you can tell what they are without even needing to read this!

We were all given a goodie bag each to bring home and you see the CD over there on the right? I thought it was Smoovlatte's media images or something but!! Turns out its a legit music CD! Stacey Kent's The Changing Lights CD. Honestly I've never heard of her, but I went to listen to some songs just now and I like it! Very light, a bit playful and totally something you can chill to! No I'm not paid nor incentivised to review her CD, just saying what I think. Neither am I asked to write nice/good things about this product so everything in this review is only my own honest feelings! 

I really like how they package it in this bottle, super convenient (BUT don't underestimate it! Its 190ml!) and the ergonomics of the bottle fits your hand perfectly :) 

Girls and guys watching your weight take note! Fret not, yummy coffee at 110kcal per bottle! Anddddd how much does it cost? $1.30! 

I'll be giving the Smoovlatte away to my friends so that they can try it! Will you be getting one too?

Here are details about this new product and when you can get it!

At all 7-11 Stores in December 2013 officially but I heard you can get them at the end of this week from 7-11 stores!! So do pop by 7-11 (I know most of us do) and check it out! 

Only in January 2014 will the other convenience stores/petrol marts/supermarkets//hypermarkets etc be retailing this product.

This event was certainly something new for me and as what Nescafe said at the launch, they want to pioneer a new trend just as how art jamming is a new trend in Singapore. 

So thank you so much nuffnang for this learning experience and Nescafe for holding it!

Inviting you for a food tasting at Pizza Hut!

Hi everyone!

Update: Pizza hut postponed the food tasting!!! Sorry I just got the news! Will be letting y'all know of the new date when I have it!

Foodmakespeoplehappy blog is inviting you for a free tasting session at Pizza Hut!

Details: 
20th November
7-9pm
City Square Mall

How to get seat(s)?
1) Head on down to my Facebook page here
2) Look at the instructions!

I have 7 seats to give away in total!

Ends 11 November 2013, 2359
Hope to see y'all there! 

Pan Pacific Hotel Afternoon Tea! [Invitied tasting]

I was very honoured when Pan Pacific Hotel contacted me to ask if I would like to go for this tasting. Really felt like it was a stamp of approval! So how was the tasting session?

We were first served tea & coffee but we weren't asked the type of tea, but it was English Breakfast tea served. Not sure about the coffee though! We were seated with the other bloggers/media and marketing staff of Pan Pacific and conversation just flowed! It was really enjoyable :)

We were presented with this afternoon tea set and everyone rushed to take photos, arrange the things nicely etc. And I was attracted to the bottom layer - cakes cakes cakes! What's different is that the cakes were sizeable, unlike afternoon tea sets from other hotels - dainty. So this depends on individual preference, where some prefer dainty cos big portions look daunting, some get wowed by the big portions and feel like its value for money!

This is how a set looks like - tea, the 3 tier stand + clotted cream/jam/curd to go with your scone!

Top tier - savoury sandwiches

Apple Wood Smoked Salmon with Traditional condiment on brioche - the bread was okay, a little hard can't tell its brioche, everything was quite normal. I quite liked the smoked salmon though!

gg truffle on baguette: creamy eggs with a whiff of truffle! Would be good if the bread was more crisp

Pumpernickel bread with camembert cheese w fig - I felt that the cheese taste wasnt strong in this, neither was the fig prominent

Mini turkey & cheese burger - this was extremely normal, like something you can have at home easily

2nd tier - savoury + sweets

3rd tier - sweets!!

So the chef came out and introduced the 3 tiers to us and someone asked where we should start eating from and he recommended starting with scones and then moving on to savouries then ending with the sweets. 

Chicken & truffle pie (left): can't taste the truffle but if its just a chicken pie, its good, why? Because the pastry is flakey & crusty. And because its bite-sized, you can just pop the whole thing in your mouth without worrying about the pastry flaking! 

Scone: this was quite a good scone! Not too crumbly, good mix of soft/crispy texture, buttery fragrance! Tiny thing but potently good. This was the 2nd on our favourites list for the afternoon tea set! Felt that the lemon curd went really well with the scone. The pastry chef said the cream was specially imported from Devonshire 

Roasted Beef, Gherkin and Pommery Mayo in Mini Seed Roll

The bread was what the boy liked 'cos the seeds made it extra fragrant. However when eaten as a whole with the beef, somehow, there wasn't much taste to it and it was just average

Left: sticky date with toffee frosting

Right: Red velvet with cheese frosting

The idea of converting sticky toffee pudding into a cupcake is quite ingenious! It wasn't too sweet 

Red velvet was not bad the cream cheese frosting not too sweet and cupcake moist

Classic cheesecake (left most): out of 3 of us at the table that day, all 3 put cheesecake as our top choice! It was really good, creamy but not too jialat, fragrant, crust just nice, and it almost just melts in your mouth. So sinful but so delicious! This was my and the boy's top favourite that day!

Lemon bar
Sherry triffle
Bittersweet chocolate fudge cake

Bittersweet fudge choc cake: this was fudge alright, till it was a bit too dense for me. Its more of a dark chocolate kind of cake and that tulle of chocolate there? Awesome. If you love dark chocolate, please eat that. Its so good. The chocolate cake is quite sizeable and we didn't manage to finish it between the both of us partly because we got a bit bored of it after awhile.

Lemon Bar

Now this would have been great should it have been executed properly. The lemon "curd" on top was frozen and it was SUPER hard to cut into it + it doesn't stick to the shortbread crust below i.e. they're two separate layers. The shortbread crust, is well,  literally shortbread, super crispy and NOT the type you can cut nicely without crumbs spilling all over your shirt kind of crust. BUT I still kept eating this, why? The lemon "curd" was v tangy but with a slight tinge of sweetness so I liked that and ate that part separately from the shortcrust bottom. 

Speaking to the head pastry chef later, he said that the lemon "curd" wasn't supposed to be frozen and supposed to be softer and he noted that mistake of his staff.

Sherry triffle - quite a classic dish that was alright

*

Now after stuffing ourselves with the afternoon tea set (which there were replenishments of!) they brought out some Christmas items for us to try! These would be available in the Xmas afternoon tea set!

The spread for us!

Didn't try the fruit cake though cos its not my kinda thing!

Pumpkin scone - this scone was SUPERSUPER soft!!!! And in the middle I think there was some cream cheese filling? Not sure what the filling was but it was a joy to eat this! If you like crispy crunchy scones, this is not it. This is more like a sandwich of sorts I feel. But buttery fragrance with hints of pumpkin and that soft pillowy texture is just great for me!

Sorry I can't remember the exact name of this but it was some sort of a trifle thing again with raspberry! This was good because of the contrast between sweet + sour, and I finished it all! Even better that it comes in a cute glass jar!

Fruit Mince Pie

This was what the chef proclaimed to be his favourite! And well, the pastry is really really good and the filling was quite good with a good mix of dried fruits/nuts spiked with rum (which I would've preferred to be stronger but we can't please everyone and alcohol is difficult to gauge). I've never been a fan of fruit mince pie but this one warranted me to finish it!

Afternoon Tea set

$58, including coffee and tea for 2

Additional free flow red & white wine, $48 per person

Additional free flow champagne, $58 per person

Note: from now till 31 December 2013, coffee and tea + all food items in the Afternoon Tea set are refillable! 

However after 31 December 2013, then replenishment would be $4 per item!

So as you can tell, some of the items in the afternoon tea set is more of for 1 person, so if you want, go before 31st December for the unlimited refill so that you and your partner can both have a taste without paying more! And without the awkward cutting into half to share kinda thing.

Thank you very very much to Mus of Pan Pacific Hotel for the invite! Was really humbled to be invited and to experience a food tasting session at a hotel! Thank you for the chance! :)

Pan Pacific Hotel

7 Raffles Boulevard

6336 8111

singapore@panpacific.com