Finally Pince & Pints because i have been deterred by the insane queues (so i heard) BUT... Say goodbye to looooooong queues (just long ones) as Pince & Pints look to expand by mid Oct 2015, with another 30 seats added on the second level to their initial 46-seater space at their Duxton outpost. YAY. 

Some news on P&P in a bit but first, here's introducing their latest addition to their menu (currently only 3 lobster dishes), the Truffle Lobster Roll! They have just launched it on 14 Sep 2015 and i must say it is the best lobster roll that i've had in Singapore. 

The Truffle Lobster Roll ($68)  is a new variation of the signature Lobster Roll at Pince & Pints Restaurant and Bar. This roll is done hot, which elevates the aromatic and earthy truffles, as opposed to the regular cold mayonnaise tossed Traditional Lobster Roll ($58). 

Was invited by Nuffnang to join the Genting Highlands Foodie Tour with LadyIronChef some time back. In Part 1 of my post, i highlighted some interesting things to do in Genting Highlands, Malaysia (read about it here). So here is Part 2 on the food.

We ate at several of the hotel restaurants during our stay- Resorts Hotel's Resort Cafe, Highands Hotel's Coffee Terrace and also Genting Palace Restaurant. Didn't like Resort Cafe's food. Nothing special. Mostly Malay food and kuehs. Oh really bad coffee btw. That was what everyone was talking about after. Coffee Terrace has more of an international spread. I enjoyed the Japanese and Roast section the most. Not a bad for an international buffet. My favorite however is Genting Palace Restaurant. It is definitely a place to go back to again.

We had dinner and dimsum breakfast here on 2 occasions and i was really impressed with the food. Do you know that all the restaurants in Genting Highlands do not use MSG? Natural seasoning are used to bring out the flavors of the ingredients and they were really delicious. Some of my favorite dishes from the dinner are as follows.

Huge fresh prawns cooked in a sweet and sour sauce; succulent flesh that is easily separated from the shell, easily one of the best dishes. Mama doesn't take pork so everyone let her have more of this (so sweet).

The friendly head chef Jacky was explaining to us how to cook vegetables. You got to cook them in boiling water, add some salt and ginger juice/slices to it, then fry them with the other ingredients after. Do this to maintain that crunchiness and the nice greens. Throw in some braised baby abalones and you get a decadent dish.

I'm not a fish fan but i couldn't stop eating this dish! Cantonese steamed fish topped with enoki mushrooms, shredded pork and maybe some preserved vegetables. It's sweet and savory all at once, definitely umami.

Yam rice was also a delight. Each grain was fluffy and full and they did not stick to each other too much. Love those chunks of yam and preserved Chinese sausage in this one. Very fragrant.

Everyone loved this Mango and cream mochi because it was wonderfully light. I felt like i was floating on a piece of cloud. Chef Jacky said he could fill them with durians too. I'll definitely be back for this next time.

Me with Chef Jacky, LadyIronChef and the Genting Marketing Team who hosted us for the trip.

Chef Jacky is really the sweet and charming chef. He entertained us all night with his tales and nuggets of cooking tips. He also happened to like my Mama quite a bit! Pulled her into his arms when she wanted a picture. So cute. :) Glad my little old lady enjoyed herself.

Our dimsum breakfast was prepared by the youngest executive chef in Genting and it was one of the better dimsum that i've tried in my life. I would say it's comparable to the 1 Michelin Stars that I had in Hong Kong.

Fried Yam Balls stuffed with char siew. Crispy latticed batter with juicy honey barbecued pork inside. The yam paste is dense with some little chunks of yam. Yums.

Steamed tender pork ribs with black beans and chili. When pork is this fresh, it's sweet. The meat simply fell off the bone.

No pretty pictures of the flowy golden liquor from the Salted Egg Custard Bun because i gobbled them up immediately. Simply one of the best steamed custard buns i've tried. It's also the first time Mama tried this hot, and she loved it. :)

Mama also loved the Glutinous Rice with Chicken and Chinese Mushrooms. Juicy stewed mushrooms with delicate chicken meat. I love that it's moist and nicely flavored with the dark soy sauce and natural jus from the fungi.

Best puff pastry egg tarts that I've had. The glossy egg was semi solid that disintegrates once you send it into your mouth. The puff was crisp and crumbly as well. I believe i was doing a little dance after popping the first one. Then the second.. and the third..

Me with the Chef and the only proper picture that Mama and i took with Brad.

Short me and tall Brad. After many failed self portrait shots, he finally got one that we both look ok in. :)

Once again, thanks Nuffnang and Resorts World Genting for the awesome trip. And thanks to LadyIronChef for being such a great travel guide too! :)

Malaysia on Dwellable

It's been 5 years since I last visited Genting Highlands but that was for an entire week of work (was interning at MTVAsia). There was hardly any time to simply relax and enjoy even though I did sped a lot of time at Highlands Hotel The Bakery (they have decent sandwiches and desserts) and Coffee Terrace for their International buffet.
Fast forward 5 years and I was given the opportunity to visit the place again as a tourist. Was invited by Nuffnang to join LadyIronChef for a foodie trail plus catch Khalil Fong's concert. It couldn't get better than this.
Decided to bring my aunt (affectionately known as my Mama) with me on the trip. This is the most important woman in my life (mum comes second) and I love to bring her out to experience new things like trying new cuisines or visiting new places together.

Anyway, Genting remained the same as I remembered. Best way to get away from the heat in Singapore, thanks to the cool weather. I'm not too sure if predictability and consistency are good traits that RWG should maintain (in certain aspects) because the facade was as dated as back when I was a kid. It's almost like stepping into a time capsule. A little nostalgic but I don't quite appreciate it that way.
I stayed at Resorts Hotel previously which has quite decent amenities and the interior was a little more polished. This time we were put up at First World Hotel and let's just say this would never be on my accommodation list if I were given a choice. Even the easy going Mama was complaining about the lack of bath items and how spartan the deluxe room was and she is a very simple lady. Well I guess it really boils down to your budget. If you want a cheap and no frills lodging, this would be it. It's comfortable enough for a short weekend. If you want something more luxe, go for the better rooms/suites at Highlands Hotel, Resorts Hotel or The Maxims.

Lodging aside, the plus points of First World Hotel is that it has the largest shopping arcade and tons of dining options ranging from fast food, hawker to mini restaurants. Entertainment wise, there is 1 cinema and a karaoke lounge as well as an indoor theme park which is perfect for the kiddies. In fact, the Mama and I woke up early to catch the 4D Little Prince ride because she really enjoyed the Shrek one at Universal Studio Singapore. For RM8 per pax, I think it's inexpensive for a 20min ride and thus I can discount the lackluster 4D experience (to me it was just 3d with the rocking chair motion). We spent more money on the photograph they took of us (rm30).

What we both enjoyed was our little excursion to the Farms. Along with some other bloggers and Brad, we headed to the lower Skyway area and that's where the Strawberry, Lavender and Mushroom farms were located.

The simple pleasures in life. Plucking our own mutant strawberries. It's RM6 for 100g. We only picked a few because the prettier ones are already in boxes (RM15/box). Well I still prefer those that I had in England. These are skinnier and more tart.
Marveling at the wonders of Nature's creations.
The Mama has green fingers and she loves the fruits and plants in the farm. She kept wishing she had a pair of scissors so she can graft the roses back home. Haha.

The Lavenders were not in season yet and we only saw a few pitiful stalks. This made me miss Croatia with all her vibrant and flourishing wild lavender bushes.
Too bad they don't have a mushroom restaurant here. They really ought to do something like Mushroom Pot here though. I would love to sample the fresh fungi. That would definitely trump the diluted strawberry milk tea that they were selling just next door.

How to get there- cab from the resorts on meter would cost you about RM20. To prevent us from getting conned, the Genting people helped us book cabs for our journey. It costs RM35 per way. Just tell the driver that you want to go to the Lower Skyway Strawberry Farm, which is together with the mushroom and lavender farms.
Another highlight was obviously the Khalil Fong concert. I love this dude even though I haven't been following him actively. The other bloggers were surprised to know that Mama actually knows this guy. This lady watches Taiwanese variety shows. She was clapping enthusiastically during the concert. So cute. The bloggers were given different class tickets from our plus 1 and I wasn't very pleased about leaving her somewhere else during the show. Zyon, an ecoblogger, was really nice to exchange tickets with us so that Mama can sit in front with me. Anyway, i gotta say that the Arena of Stars is quite a good place to have a concert. Hsiao Jing Teng is gonna be performing there soon.

We even managed to grab a backstage pic with Khalil after the show.
Bleah. Too many cameras and they didn't coordinate at all so I ended up looking at the wrong cam. Grr. Nevertheless, cool dude, great songs and performance. I like how he's a little awkward and in his own world.
So yeap. This is what we did other than all the eating. It's supposed to be a food trip after all. Thanks for Nuffnang and Resorts World Genting for the trip. My little old lady enjoyed herself quite a fair bit and that's what matters to me the most. More on my favorite eats in Genting in the next post!

Malaysia on Dwellable

Happy Vesak day my friends! I was under the impression that everyone will get a day off on Monday but i realized it's not the case! How can?!! It's ok. It is still possible to have some fun on regular weekends and i'm gonna share with you what i did a couple of weeks back. 

S and i were trying to decide on a place for lunch on a Sunday. We decided to be spontaneous and drove to JB in hope of finding some good food and adventure. Predictability is obviously neither of our strong suit and his random chicken rice craving resulted in us driving up to Malacca (at 1pm!!) just to have some chicken rice balls! Like Seriously?? Sometimes i swear he's like a pregnant lady. Anyway, i didn't complain since i'm not the one doing the driving. As long as the boy is happy, i'm good. :)

The drive to Malacca takes about 3-3.5h. It's easy cruising on the highway but the troublesome part is obviously getting to the town centre (Jonker Street to be specific) where the food is. I reckon it took us at least 30mins to get from the border of Malacca to the Heritage centre. 

I've been to Malacca a couple of times in recent years. There is absolutely nothing to do except to eat. The mission was simple- have as much food as we possibly can and then head back to JB for supper before hitting the sack and getting ready for work the next day. Obviously at 4.30pm in the afternoon, Chung Wah has already closed for the day (they close at 3pm). I was so thankful that Hoe Kee was still opened at that time. If you wanna have chicken rice balls, only eat from these 2 stalls. 

The crowd at Hoe Kee. Love the shophouses in Malacca.

I've always been fascinated with chicken rice balls. I have no idea why. I guess it's just cuter presentation and greater convenience when it comes to eating? Definitely less messy too since the grains wouldn't fall all over the place. Child proofed. These balls are the size of regular fishballs. I like my rice a little starchy and sticky so these are perfect. The fragrant and fluffy rice grains have expanded and split nicely to give it the chewy and bouncy texture. I swear you can play ping pong with these.

The chicken is nicely steamed and extremely tender. I absolutely love the soy and sesame sauce that the chicken was sitting in. There's a tinge of sweetness from the sesame oil and light saltiness of the soy sauce which goes so well with the chicken rice. I drenched the rice with this sauce rather than the dark sauce provided along with the chili. Each rice ball is RM0.20. You can simply order the sets which includes chicken and some rice balls. They serve plates of chicken rice along with the balls on weekends to meet the demand. We paid RM13 for 2 person. 1 whole chicken merely costs RM32. I believe i can devour half a chicken easily. They also serve Assam Fish Head which is popular with the patrons! 

Our strategy was to eat a bit of everything so that we can taste as many dishes as we can possibly stomach. Took a walk down Jonker Street to our next eating destination to Jonker Dessert 88 aka Jonker88.com. Everyone  Next up is the famous Chendol of Malacca because it has the amazing sticky smoky caramelish Gula Melaka. I so love that thick sugary coconut syrup that they drench all over the shaved ice with more coconut milk, green jelly and red bean. Love this! And it only costs RM3. The durian chendol is famous as well so try that if you like durian. 

S decided to give the Nyonya Laksa (RM5) a try. The texture of the translucent noodles is amazing. It looks like mee tai mak but it has a chewier texture. Very smooth. It's quite unlike any kinda Chinese noodles that i've had. The gravy would scare any faint hearted non spicy eaters but the heat is not as strong as it appears to be. I would say it's a little similar to Tom Yum but it has the distinct Assam taste. There aren't a lot of ingredient in this dish- it's accompanied with a few pieces of fried yong tau foo (fish paste wrapped in beancurd skin). Very appetizing dish. After having a few mouthfuls of this, i felt like i was ready to eat everything Malacca has to offer.

Further down the street from Jonker88, we chanced upon a Chinese bakery that serves fresh and piping hot pastries. Traditional bakeries hold a dear place in my heart even though i am not a huge fan of the Chinese pastries (not all of them). They had my favorite Ma3 Ti2 Su1 aka Pong Pia aka Bei Tei Sor aka the pastry that has malt candy in it. :) It's simply amazing when it's warm. Trays and trays of pias greeted us as we stepped inside for a closer look. I simply had to buy a Lao Gong Bing (Husband biscuit) for S and a Lao Po Bing (Wife biscuit) for myself. :P  

The aunty kept encouraging me to taste everything so i happily helped myself to the samples. As a result, i left with a bag of baked goodies for the family. Each biscuit only costs RM1.20 or less. 

There is a little store in the main store that sells durian desserts. The durian puffs are sold at 3 for RM5 or 6 for RM8. The puff has a custard taste and slight airy texture to it. Once you bite into it, the rich golden liquid would flow and envelop your taste buds. The filling is a little wet and not as creamy as i would like it but taste wise it is pretty good. I like my durian bittersweet and this is just the right taste. 

More eats- Ondeh Ondeh. The ondeh ondeh are on the small side so there isn't enough of the gula melaka. Guess we are too spoilt by the Sg ones which are filled with coconut goodness. 

We spent 7-8h on the roads and only 2h was spent eating and exploring Malacca. It doesn't seem like a very smart choice mathematically but our stomachs disagree. It's always worth it to travel for good food. Our appetite for adventure was also satisfied when we made several wrong turns along the way. Googlemaps is simply not very reliable especially on Malaysian roads. 

If you have a little more time to spare, you could possibly explore the area better. There are old temples and Peranakan houses to check out. You could even stay in a Baba house for the night. 

Or take a ride on one of these floral trishaws. They are so adorable and cheerful. Would be awesome to ride one around town. :)

All food featured are along Jonker Street. Start walking from the bridge connecting the Main Square to Jonker and head straight down. Just keep your eyes wide open and eat whatever you feel like having. Come 630pm the Jonker Walk would be closed to vehicles and that's when the night market starts. :) To a great weekend, every weekend!

Hoe Kee Hainam Chicken Rice Ball
4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat
75200, Melaka

Jonker 88 Desserts

Jonker Street

Malaysia on Dwellable

I have been hopping on over to our neighboring country for quite a bit for the main purpose of eating and reviewing their food. Seriously you can't beat JB for the cheap and tasty seafood. Malaysian chefs are awesome. If you don't believe me, check out the chefs at the good zi char stalls in Sg, bet the chefs are Malaysians. Price wise, you only pay less than half of what you normally would in Sg and on top of that you'll get 30-40% more food! What's there more to ask for? 

The braders and i finally drove in to JB for seafood supper 1 night, that's after years of saying that we should. Think massive jam and empty stomachs and ravenous appetite upon arrival. Jaz, our supper food guru, recommended Restoran Mun at Taman Sri Tebrau (it's where all the Singaporeans go to for supper) and we happily invited Jaz to order. :))

So began a night of nonstop eating. 1st up, Ginger sliced wild boar (RM12). Nice tender meat that is well marinated. I like how the spring onion lifts the taste of the dish and takes away some of the porkiness. I always think that it's very simple to cook Chinese food. Just use some minced garlic, sliced onions and some ginger and walaa, authentic Chinese meal. :P
Deep fried baby squid (RM12) was next. This was an appetizer for us. Crunchy and caramelized baby squid that is lightly spiced. Perfect beer food but we had it with sugar cane juice. :)
Sambal Kang Kong (RM10) is a dish that we'd never fail to order. Nice pungent sambal shrimp paste against the slightly crunchy kang kong. I think they add a little of the fermented brown beans to give it the additional salty taste. Goes best with rice.
Then came our seafood orders. Butter Crayfish (RM56) with a total of 4 crayfish (perfect for 4). Crispy flour batter which is mixed with butter and sugar. There are still little sugar granules that gives the slight sweetness to the dish.
Thought the batter was a little too much. It has a little more flour than butter and i'd choose to have more butter anytime. The meat was fresh and chunky. I love crustaceans (only when the meat is easily removed)! The dish is a little dry on the whole but it was fine because we had some superb gravy from the next dish..

Salted Egg Yolk Crab (RM108). This was the highlight of the meal. 2 medium sized crabs cooked in a buttery and savory salted egg yolk gravy which is slightly sweet and spicy. Absolutely finger licking good! Granted the crabs are not the huge Sri Lankan ones that we are used to in Singapore, but they were substantial enough.

By the time our Salt Baked Herbal Chicken (RM26) was served, we were fully stuffed (did you see how much the 4 of us ate?!!) And this is not even a spring chicken. It's like a full sized adult chicken that has been stewing in its own juice for hours. The result is meat that simply falls off the bone. We easily chopped up the chicken with a spoon! The herbs taste isn't very overpowering but i thought the broth tasted a little sourish. I guess my tongue was just a little confused by then due to all that contrasting flavors.

All that food only costs us a total of $100sgd! Seriously that can only buy you 1 crab dish in Singapore. Super love JB for the cheap food. Yes i'm such a cheapo Singaporean. Haha. 

Was told i was overdressed for JB hawker supper in my maxi dress. :P

So yes. If you are tired of Singapore food or you are simply bored out of your minds on this island, take a little trip out to JB and eat like a king or queen! I sure did! More on my Malaysia eats soon and ideas for the long weekend coming up. Watch this space!

Restoran Mun (closed)

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, 80050 Johor Bahru
Tel: +607 332 3113/ +6012 780 3113