I haven't been visiting the Far East Square, Chinese Square area for some time and was surprised to see a booming F&B scene when i dropped by during one weeknight. It was amazing the number of options the CBD crowd gets for dinner. The Mad Poet is the new kid on the block there, inspired by watering holes in New York.

I was surprised to see how empty it was as compared to the rather packed &Sons next door (had a taste of it at Savour 2014). Well, both Mad Poet and &Sons are gastropubs but the former is American, while the latter serves up Venetian ciccheti, which is a novelty in Singapore. Perhaps that's why the Mad Poet has been neglected. But hey, don't write it off as yet. Comfort food is always what we go back to isn't it?

An extensive drinks menu is available to go with the food. There's a good selection of European and Asian craft beers e.g. Old Speckled Hen and Wychwood Hobgoblin from the UK, and Hitachino Nest Red Rice and Yona Yona from Japan. I enjoyed the refreshing Death & Resurrection, a Caribbean white rum infused with cumin and shaken with Japanese yuzu.

The best kinda bar bites are those that are fried to a crisp, with lotsa flavors. The Tempura Mushrooms were quite perfect and we loved the really light and crunchy batter that was paired with a truffle aioli.

More crunchy bites but here's one that really packs a punch, the Jalapeno Poppers ($10). I thought these jalapenos were harmless, like the many that i've tried in Singers. Instead, i felt the blood rush to my head and i momentarily lost it for a bit. But yea. piquant peppers with creamy cheese stuffing and salsa are possibly the best beer food.

I liked the Buffalo Wings as well. It's hard to find decent ones in Singapore (not too spicy nor sour). My only complain is the accompanying blue cheese dip wasn't pungent enough.

The Smoked Duck Breast ($18) was also a great side/main. I haven't had any smoked duck that left an impression on me until Mad Poet came along. Tender and succulent slices of smoky red meat with the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

For something more substantial, there's the Mad Burger ($23) which is made with a Wagyu beef patty. The burger is a little on the bland side though.

If you work in the area, Mad Poet does a really affordable lunch menu that is priced at $10 nett. Think pastas and hearty sandwiches with various fillings such as cajun chicken, smoked salmon and roast beef. It also makes a decent spot to down a couple after work.

Mad Poet
20 Cross Street, #01-23/24, China Court, Singapore 048422

Tel: +65 6557 0312
Mon - Thu: 11am - 11pm
Fri: 11am - 12am
Sat: 11am - 11pm

For the wanderlust and foodies, Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel is looking at satisfying your hunger. Drawing inspiration from their travel experiences, Executive Chef Nobuyuki Taguchi and his culinary
team at The Dining Room has crafted a new ala-carte menu that showcases signature dishes from around the world.

For the Francophile, the Confit de Canard, which is also Chef Nobu’s personal favourite. The duck leg is cured overnight, slowly simmered for another 10 hours before pan-frying to yield a golden-brown crispy skin, encasing the tender and flavorful meat. Paired with braised red cabbage and sautéed potatoes.Nothing beats a whole pork knuckle to go along with some beer! Eisbein, a traditional German delicacy, features a whole pork knuckle marinated overnight with a special in-house blend, boiled for another hour and then glazed with a coat of apple vinegar to attain a crisp finish. Good for sharing!
Have some Asian comfort food with the Dolsot Bibimbap. Mix in the homemade gochujang, a fermented condiment specially concocted by Korean Chef Kim, for a sweet, tangy and subtle chilli kick.
The Taste of the World ala carte menu is available daily for both lunch and dinner at The Dining Room. In-house guests may also enjoy these dishes in the comfort of their room.

The Dining Room, Sherton Towers Singapore Hotel
39 Scotts Road, Singapore 228230
Tel: +65 6839 5621

If your instagram, twitter or Facebook feed haven't been taken over by droolicious food pictures from SAVOUR 2014 yet, well, here's some (more) food porn from the annual gourmet food festival. Held from 5 to 9 March 2014 at the new location of The Promontory @ Marina Bay, SAVOUR is back with more Michelin-starred chefs, award winning restaurants, culinary activities and international food producers.

The highlight of the event was certainly the Gourmet Village for me, since i can't cook for nuts and thus demonstrations are wasted on me. I picked my dishes based on the mood of my tummy. I don't quite consider where the chefs hail from or their background. I only care if the food is good. Oh and i'd forgo the restaurants that i've visited. 

We started with desserts first because that was the first thing that greeted us. Oxwell & Co's Valrhona Chocolate Pot with fresh cream and homemade honeycomb gave us the smooth and sweet start to our night. I loved the slightly bitter mouse with the airy light sweetness of the honeycomb. Lovely.

Well i can't believe i haven't visited The Disgruntled Chef till now. Well, after sampling Chef Daniel Sia's food at SAVOUR, i'm sure i'd be back for more. The Braised Pork Cheeks with Miso Daikon and Mousseline Potatoes hit all the umami notes. The meat fell easily and i loved how the daikon had soaked up all that delicious stew.

So we went back for a second dish, the Crispy Lamb Short ribs with cumin and mint yoghurt. I liked the spices but we found the ribs to be too fatty. More yoghurt will be great to balance out the dryness.

We decided to go with the Tatin De Boudin Noir Aux Pommes by Chef Christophe Paucod from Lugdunum Bouchon Lyonnais, Japan. Not for the faint hearted or uninitiated, this is their house made Blood Pork Sausage with Apples, Tatin's Tart style. Well the sausage isn't as dense as the Scottish Haggis (which i love). It had more of a powdery pate texture and it's really savory (aka salty). Interesting pairing with the slightly acidic apple slices. My advice is not to have this as an individual main course. S and i only got through half of it because it was too much.

Chef Alvin Leung from Bo Innovation Hong Kong is a SAVOUR favorite. I didn't get a go at the molecular Xiao Long Bao last year so i had to this time round. We also ordered the Lap Mei Fan, a foie gras foam, rose wine jelly and crispy rice pops dish.

Well, i guess i can conclude that i'm not that into molecular gastronomy. The XLB broth was delicious (though a little sour) but why would i only want to taste the flavors without getting the real texture of the dish? The lap mei fan just didn't live up to my expectations. Now can i have the real XLB and claypot rice?

I quite enjoyed the Linguine Crab & Nduja by &SONS, the bold Italian Bacaro, but it's a little on the oily side. Do not miss out on the home cured Salami platter with Soprassata Veneta, Salame Dolce and Salame Piccante. Perfect beer or wine food! Will definitely check them out at the China Square outlet.

If you still aren't quite satisfied at the end of your meal and need something really filling and comfort-food-ish, grab the gourmet Bubbledogs. The 4th of July is every bit the sodium and fat packed hot dog (i meant it in a good way) that will satisfy any cravings.

There are many other notable restaurants and dishes like Mikuni (Kanpachi Truffle Soya and Braised Short Rib), JAAN (Organic Egg), La Cantine (because Bruno is awesome), Kiin Kiin (Frozen Red Curry)... So yeah.. don't miss out.

If you are inspired by all the delicious dishes and wanna give it a go at honing your culinary skills, head on to Tools of the Trade (ToTT) to pick up some toys. This is the first time SAVOUR is presenting a cookware retail section since its debut in 2012. Don't know what to get? Check out the products by interacting with the QR Code shopping wall or browse products at the iPad station. Live product demonstrations are also available.

ToTT is offering free delivery with just $80 worth of purchase at the SAVOUR ToTT's booth via ToTTstore.com instead of the usual $200 spending requirement! Free ToTT Home Chef membership is also available and new sign ups can stand a chance to win exciting prizes including a SousVide Supreme Demi in a lucky draw.

Well if you are tempted by the offerings available, SAVOUR is still on for the weekend! Check out their website for more information and start planning your menu. ;)

Who doesn't love cheese? Other than the lactose intolerant of course. Sorry folks but you're really missing out on a lot. For those who love their dairy like i do, here's one good one for you- Latteria Mozzarella Bar at Duxton Hill. For those who don't dig cheese (you should though), they do the Italian staples well too!

This 90-seater semi-alfresco restaurant is huge on cheese, which they import twice weekly from Italy. The cheese menu revolves around 11 variations of fresh mozzarella, each served with a contrasting side ($20-30).

Is it any wonder the pièce de résistance is the Burratina (a baby burrata) served with roasted pumpkin and truffle ($20)? This round of fresh artisanal cheesy goodness hails from Puglia and is made from cow milk mozzarella and cream. It has a solid silky outer shell and soft creamy center that spreads like a dream. Only because i wanted to give the dish a more umami dimension, the highly accommodating service staff added a round of parma ham to the dish for an additional $5. The squash gives the dish a tinge of sweetness and then there's also the earthy truffle perfume. I would have this as a main anytime and the portion is more than sufficient for that intent. 

Our starter of Crab & Stracciatella Cheese Salad with Roasted Zucchini ($20). I love the shredded rags of cow's milk mozzarella and fresh cream. It is delightfully rich but not too heavy. The crab meat lent a light and fresh seafood sweetness to the mix and i love the juicy roasted zucchinis at the base of the tower. The red wine balsamic reduction lifted the dish with the slightly bitter sweet acidity. Nicely done.

The Garlic Prawns, Chick Peas & Pesto ($20) antipasti was a good and piping hot complement to the cold cheeses. I couldn't resist mopping up the gravy with the delicious bread that was served. That was after we devoured the succulent prawns. They are a little small and we could definitely do with more! 

Next up, the Smoked Scamorza & Porcini Mushrooms Risotto ($25). Smoked Scamorza has a more dominant in taste than the mozzarella and i like how its natural saltiness flavored the risotto cream broth. I would say this is more of a wet risotto but it's nicely executed nonetheless. Would be a good dish to share.

If pasta is your thing, do not miss the Linguine Crab & Mascarpone ($25). The silvers of crab meat lent some fresh seafood sweetness to the pink sauce. I say this is as good as Valentino's.

I was surprised at the size of the Grilled Beef Sirloin Steak Tagliata with Rucola & Truffle Sauce ($35). This is a full size steak, grilled simply and served on rockets. The steak was tender and done medium rare like we like it. Love the truffle sauce too. I could hardly finish my dishes.

For desserts, it was the Lemon Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries ($15). The pudding is slightly more curdled and firm but i love the thick milky smooth texture which is perfumed by the refreshing lemon. This is a match made in heaven. (No picture because the lighting is pretty bad and i think using the flash is rude.)

I must say i'm really impressed with the quality and quantity of the food served by Latteria. Also, the impeccable and friendly service made dining there an extremely enjoyable experience.

Enjoy their 3 course weekday set lunch at only $28++. You don't have to wait till Restaurant Week to do that. :)

Latteria Mozzarella Bar
40 Duxton Hill, Singapore 089618
Tel: +65 6866 1988
Lunch: 12-3pm (unavailable on Sat)
Dinner: 6-11pm

17 years is a long time for an F&B outlet to survive in Singapore so there must be something that Japanese restaurant Tatsu is doing right. While other restaurants are busy opening (and closing) chain stores, Tatsu focused on maintaining their customer base at Chijmes and only recently expanded their business to serving diners in the Central Business District. Located at Asia Square Tower 2, customers will be able to enjoy 2 different dining experiences from the Sushi Bar and the dedicated Teppanyaki Performance Counter.

The Sushi Bar serves fresh sashimi and sushi along with seasonal creations. The fish is air-flown multiple times a week for that extra freshness. The Omakase Sashimi ($40) is a contemporary platter with some interesting flavors. Notable were the Albacore (aka White Tuna) marinated in soy and yuzu and the superbly marbled and creamy Toro! 

There's something about homemade tofu with century egg sauce that drives me crazy and the one used in the Pitan Tofu ($8) dish was lightly spiced to give it that extra kick.

Next was the Chef Special, Imo Tofu Foagura ($20) which is a grated yam paste that is first steamed "tofu" style and then deep fried and served with foie gras and a dashi sauce. The foie gras could have been better pan fried imo.

We refreshed our palates with the Kabuto Saka Mushi ($18), a delicious fish head soup with a smoky bonito taste.

If you would like some entertainment to go along with your meal, you would be entertained by Chef Kelvin's acrobatic cooking antics at Tatsu Teppanyaki. There were flying knives, seasoning shakers and food flying around and not to mention fire, lots of fire! If you are into rich flavors, do not miss out on the food here.

The King prawn ($24) is done 2 ways. The head is flattened and grilled into a biscuit disk that crackles. The meat was tossed in an umami garlic mayonnaise with lots of fried shallots and garlic (enough to kill a vamp). Save the sauce for the other dishes, it's amazing with EVERYTHING. especially with the garlic fried rice.

For a lighter tasting dish, there's the Silver Cod ($24) in a light hon mirin sauce with fluffy egg.

L's favorite dish of the night, dancing scallops tossed with a Japanese mapo tofu sauce ($26). The scallops really flip-flopped on the hot grill and she liked that the sauce wasn't all that cloying.

An A4 grade Wagyu Beef from Miyazaki Prefecture is used for the teppanyaki (200g, $168) but was sadly a little overwhelmed by the yakiniku sauce. Well, you can customize the strength of the flavors so just let the chefs know in advance.

Affordable lunch and dinner sets are available at the Asia Square outlet with prices starting from $25. Bento delivery is also available in the CBD.

If you're interested in trying Tatsu, they will be participating in the upcoming Restaurant Week from 15 - 23 Mar 2014.  

Tatsu
12 Marina View #02-26, Asia Square Tower 2
Tel: +65 6844 9855

Weekdays: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 5.30 - 9.30pm

Sat: 12 - 2.30pm, 6.30 - 10pm
Chijmes outlet will reopen Apr 2014.

Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant is a well known brand for exquisite Cantonese cuisine. Since the opening of the first Peach Garden outlet at Novena Gardens in 2002, they have received numerous accolades and awards from renowned publications such as Singapore Tatler’s Best Restaurants Guide and Singapore Top Restaurants Award from Wine & Dine.

We were bringing a friend around town and decided to have dim sum at the Peach Garden OCBC Centre restaurant as it is known to have a great view of the city.

We surely weren't disappointed by the view! It was a little hazy but still rather impressive.

Only a small selection of dim sum items are available, i noted only 18 items. 

Century Egg Porridge is a must order for me when eating dim sum. Good gluey consistency of the congee and there was plenty of shredded pork. Love the crispy crackers on top too. 

I liked the presentation of the Steamed Shanghai Xiao Long Bao ($5.20). You don't have to worry about splitting the dumplings filled with flavorful pork broth.

Peach Garden supposedly has one of the better Steamed Creamy Custard Buns ($5.20) around. The buns were fluffy and light but i found the texture a little too gelatinous and it lacked that 'liu sha' (flowing lava) feel. Taste wise, it was satisfactory but i thought it could do with a richer salted egg yolk taste.

Deep fried Prawn and Fresh Avocado Roll ($6) was just like any regular fried dimsum item. The ingredients didn't quite come together to give the dish an identity.  I wouldn't recommend this.

Baked Mini Egg Tarts ($4.80) were delightful but yea on the pricey side because they're so mini. But yea love the wobbly egg custard on top of the lovely puff pastry.

We ordered the Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling ($6.30) but instead we got the Steamed Fresh Scallop Dumpling with Asparagus ($6.80). I didn't even realized that they got the wrong order. And so began the the unfortunate dining experience with the service staff. 

Well it started with the staff being rather pushy when i was ordering our first round of dim sum. Firstly, we were waiting for S who was parking so i didn't want to order everything at one go. Secondly, i have a tendency to over order (especially for dim sum) so i was making a conscious effort not to go crazy. However, that was met with some outwardly disdain by the staff (due to my small order) which i absolutely do not appreciate. Do i look like i can't afford dimsum? So i reigned in my unhappiness because i was hosting a friend.

The screw up was when they absolutely messed up our second order which took forever to come. 15 minutes into waiting, our plates were cleared after they asked if we were waiting for more food, which was strange. Well we thought our food was going to arrive soon after but nope, that didn't happen. Another 10 mins later when we checked with them again, we found out that they forgot our order (which they didn't tell us directly but we saw and overheard the commotion). Another 10mins passed before our order finally came and it was the wrong order. 

We had to make do with the messed up order because obviously we weren't going to wait for another 30 mins. The Deep fried Savoury Yam Pudding with Minced Meat and Portugal Sauce ($5.20) was really oily in the middle and i had to drain the oil from inside. It also lacked in the yam and filling department.

The Steamed BBQ Pork Bun ($4.80) attempted to calm me down a little. Juicy well marinated strips of char siew enveloped by the softest pillow bun.

What happened after the meal was an instagram post on the meal and me complaining about how terrible the service was. I have to applaud the Peach Garden Marketing/PR team for resolving the issue immediately. Good service recovery i must say. I've been informed that the staff involved have been counselled. I don't know if it's special treatment because i'm a food blogger but i would like to give them the benefit of doubt.

So yea, hits and misses at the Peach Garden OCBC Centre. If you're looking for decent dimsum with a view, it's ok. Well on the service end, it really depends, no matter where you go.

Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant
Peach Garden @ OCBC Centre
65 Chulia Street
#33-01, OCBC Centre
Singapore 049513
Tel: +65 6535 7833
Mon - Sat: 11.30am -2.30pm, 6 - 10pm
Sun and PH: 11.30am - 3.00pm, 6 - 10pm

You guys probably know that i'm quite a yoga fanatic and if time allows, i'd be at my studio for 3 to 4 hours everyday (those were the days). With less time to yoga, i've recently decided  that more cardio is required to spice things up a bit. Well it is certainly timely that i was invited by Virgin Active to try out their newly launched Zumba® Step workout.

I'm sure you guys have heard of Zumba® and some of you would have tried it as well. Well, i can't do Zumba® for nuts because i simply don't have it in me to be sexy. I swear that i look like a retarded robot trying to move my hips and it provided much entertainment for my fellow blogger friends who were at the workout session with me.

If you are as challenged as me in the sexy Zumba® arena but still wanna reap the benefits of the cardio workout, then Zumba® Step is perfect for you (psychomotor skills still required unfortunately). It combines offers a balance of traditional fitness (30 percent), dance (40 percent) and step aerobic moves (30 percent) to encourage participants to use more energy to lift their body weight against gravity.

We were all surprised at how tiring the class was and in my opinion, it was tougher than Body Combat because it requires balance and certainly more hand leg coordination as well.

Expect to feel the burn in targeted areas like glutes and legs for a lower-body sculpting workout. Yes those dreaded steps are required for a nicer looking behind.

Do not expect to be perfect during your first class. In fact the first session may be a little stressful. I was trying not to fall to my death or break something. Doris, our super hot instructor told us that it takes about 3 lessons for students to be familiar with the routine and that's when you'll be able to relax and enjoy the class.

I obviously take my stretching very seriously. Always remember to do a proper cooling down to prevent those terrible aches.

Happy sweaty shiny people! To find a Zumba® Step class, contact Virgin Active or visit zumba.com. Thank you Virgin Active for providing a great workout for me every time.

Virgin Active
One Raffles Place, Tower 2, Level 5-7, Singapore
Tel: +65 6908 7878