All posts filed under: Places we ate at before we turned Vegan

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay @ Royal Hospital Road, London, UK

In winter of 2012, I had the opportunity to visit the UK and try the famous Restaurant Gordon Ramsay @ Royal Hospital Road, which is a 3 Michelin stars restaurant established in 1998. The restaurant is very small and intimate, and they are VERY strict on their dress code for the men, so please ensure no t-shirt or slippers or you will be denied entry! After more than 1 year, the amazing presentation AND flavours of the dishes still linger in my memory. One of the best meals of my life, comparable to Sushi Saito in Tokyo!

Lunch Treat for 21 Special Teenagers from Mountbatten Vocational School @ French Ladle

Those who have been following EatPrayFlying would know one of our purposes is to grow to a decent readership to help with social causes, related to children, learning and old folks. Hence, I am so glad that I manage to marry my full time work with EatPrayFlying, where my team at work helped to organize a team building day last Friday. We brought 21 special teenagers and 2 teachers from Mountbatten Vocational School, affiliate of the Singapore School for the Deaf, to French Ladle, and treated them to a sumptuous buffet lunch. Through our team building day, I learnt that Mountbatten Vocational School (formerly known as Vocational School for the Handicapped) was established in 1975 to train our deaf youths to be skilled workers. Due to the needs of the community, it opened up to students with various learning disabilities. Currently MVS is an Approved Training Centre to offer the ITE Certificate in Food Preparation and the ITE Certificate in Food & Beverage Service, so the children were quite excited to interact with the owner …

Sushi Saito @ Tokyo, Japan

Sushi Saito ranks in the tops of my favourite meals in my lifetime so far, alongside L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Taipei and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. Sushi Saito is a three Michelin star Japanese cuisine restaurant known for its sushi. It is quite hard to locate, hence I have attached a map below. It is in a very unassuming building right opposite the American Embassy, but the hunt is worth it! Unfortunately, because this meal is >2 years ago, I cannot remember all the details of the dishes, but the freshness of the seafood and their perfect balance with the amount of rice lingers in my mind till today. There were 2 lunch sets – 12 pieces or 18 pieces. You only pick the number of pieces and not the individual type of sushi. Ok, and wait for this…… this tuna belly was so fatty and soft, it tasted almost like red meat. AMAZING. I still remember how it tasted till today after >2 years! 🙂 It isn’t easy to make a reservation as …

Symmetry Cafe @ Jalan Kubor

We visited Symmetry Cafe before when they first opened, and since we were nearby for brunch at A for Arbite, we decided to swing by to get our coffee fix. Café by day, restaurant bar by night, I remember their food and coffee to be above average. Overall, I feel that Symmetry has become too crowded. Firstly, we waited almost 10 minutes for 2 cup of takeaways. Secondly, we could not stand for 30 seconds without being chased to move out of the way. Thirdly, they were playing club music rather than brunch music which made the whole cafe feel very hectic for a relaxing Sunday. Also, the Soy Flat White ($6.50) bordered on bad – it tasted like the soy milk did not blend with the flat white. In fact there was hardly any coffee taste. However, saving grace is that their Flat White ($5.50) continues to deliver and be one of the better Flat Whites we enjoy in Singapore, in the ranks of Nylons and Chye Seng Huat. Miss my first experience with Symmetry …

La Cuisson @ Princep Street

La Cuisson used to be based out of a coffee shop in Holland Village, but have been open at 44A, Princep Street since Sep 2013. Translating, La Cuisson should be “The Cooking”, and the food definitely impressed for the value. Incidentally, the chef, Kenneth Lin, were just featured on yesterday’s Straits Times! Their menu starts with “Charcuterie”, which is preserved meats, but in modern day, charcuterie are prepared for their flavors derived from the preservation processes. Good thing there were 4 of us, so we could try a bigger variety. We had the Charcuterie platter ($22), which comprised Foie Gras Terrine, Country Pork Terrine, Pork Head Terrine, Chorizo and Saucisson, and I like their flavours in the above order too. For mains, first up, we shared the Shoulder Tender 200 grams ($28), which is a 200day Grain Fed Australian Angus. Then, we had the Sous Vide Pork Chops 300+ grams ($33), which is cooked at low temperature served with a pork and ham jus, apples, roasted tomato, yam puree and corn salsa. I personally felt the apple …

Yomenya Goemon @ Star Vista

Tried out Yomenya Goemon @ Star Vista with an old friend for lunch, and found the lunch sets decent at $15.90 per set, which included a salad, soup and pasta main (fusion Japanese Italian) We had the Cheese Yasai Pasta and Chicken in Wafu Sauce Pasta. Though not hand made, I found the pasta cooked well al dente style, with good sauce. Another decent lunch spot in the Biopolis/Star Vista area though I find Long Black Cafe more value and quality for the same price.

Chin Chin Eating House @ Purvis Street

My family likes to eat to Chin Chin Eating House @ Purvis Street for weekday evening dinners. We have been there so many times and also introduced many friends and family there. They are efficient and good value for money (usually total $50 for 4 pax). Always crowded without fail! They have Hainanese chefs so their traditional Hainanese fare like Pork Chops are good bets! Their chicken rice is also one of my favourites; I prefer it to the other hot favourite (Yetcon) just opposite Chin Chin Eating House. Great place for local tzechar style food, especially for big groups! — Chin Chin Eating House Address: 19 Purvis Street Phone: 63374640 Hours: Daily, 7am – 9pm

Long Black Cafe @ Biopolis

Went to meet my extended team in Biopolis so we decided to try Long Black Cafe over lunch. Nice cafe with a lot of al fresco seats, and given the quiet surroundings, Long Black Cafe is quite a nice chillout hidden find especially if you have to think about life and work. Food and coffee were both above average, with good value lunch sets (soup, main and drink for ~$15), and I suspect the only reason they haven’t made it to those top cafe lists in Singapore is because they don’t open on weekends and close by 730pm on weekdays! We also had ala carte mains and sides to share: Overall, I believe this is a good value alternative to Star VIsta and food court in the area! — Long Black Cafe @ Biopolis Address: 20 Biopolis Way, Centros Block, Singapore, Singapore 138668 Tel: 64789945 Operating Hours: Mon – Fri: 8:00 am – 7:30 pm

Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 @ Liang Seah Street

After a very hearty French meal at La Cuisson, we decided to take a stroll to Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 at Liang Seah for local desserts. Ah Chew has been one of my favourite local desserts place for years! Always a back up option after dinners because they close relatively late past mid night especially on Friday and Saturday nights. The Mango Sago with Pomelo is very usual favourite, with huge real mango chunks! Next is the Hot Steamed Milk (curd texture). No matter what your usual favourite local dessert is, I am pretty sure you will find the Ah Chew version satisfying. Tip: Always long queue so if you are driving, get one person to alight to find parking (also takes a long time) and another to queue! And you can only order after you got a seat unless you are taking away! — Ah Chew Desserts 阿秋甜品 Address: 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-10/11, Liang Seah Place, Singapore 189022 Operating Hours: Mon – Thu: 12:30 pm – 11:30 pm, Fri: 12:30 pm – 12:30 am, Sat: …

Taiwan: Taipei – Shi Lin Night Market 士林夜市 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Shi Lin Night Market (士林夜市) is the ultimate Taiwan night market experience with overload of our senses: smells, noises, huge selection yummylicious food – oyster egg, steak, innards, teppanyaki. Shi Lin was very enjoyable for us in December as we could enjoy the walk and food without the rain or humidity. For this post, we must apologize for some poor res photos as we focused only on eating so all shots are shot on camera! On Level 1, we tried: Chicken Chop – loads of MSG, Pepper and Oil. Much better than any I have tried in Singapore though it is the same “Hao Da Da” brand. Big Intestine Wrap Small Intestine (大腸包小腸) with garlic – very strong meaty flavor. This is Taiwanese version of hot dog, which is a pork sausage wrapped in a glutinous rice sausage. Must have for all who love sausages but be prepared to queue! Right outside the Ci Qian temple in the heart of Shilin Night Market. Ah Liang Mian Xian (阿亮麵線),  also near Ci Qian Temple. Strong seafood …