Ms Skinnyfat

Thanks to the Derek Low saga on Singapore Airlines Suites, I believe that the awesomeness of our National carrier product is now known to many. I've loved the Suites since I first tried it on my Melbourne trip (read it here)but didn't truly get to fully enjoy the experience (other than the bed) due to motion sickness. A travel mishap with Thai Airways (TG you suck for your last min change of aircrafts) called for a rebooking on SQ Suites instead (a happy problem I say). The other good thing that came out of it? An extensive review of The Private Room, the exclusive lounge for Suites passengers, just for you!

Our golden ticket to awesomeness was handed to us at our private check in facility at T3. Fond memories of the private first class check in lounge where I spent a good hour with the helpful SQ staff who sorted out my travel woes some time back. These folks are amazing I tell you. So we breezed through the private immigration counter and headed to the Krisflyer lounge.

Many travelers would check in way ahead of their flight to enjoy the comfort of The Private Room.

I love that The Private Room is situated far away from the crowded Business Class lounge (gosh it could be crazy in there) and it's also a walk through the buffet lines of the First Class section. Since the sprawling and peaceful TPR is only reserved for Star Alliance first class passengers and SQ's top tier elite members, you can be guaranteed of impeccable but non-intrusive service (it was previously only for SQ passengers).

Love the little nooks right by the windows but the daylight could be pretty harsh at times.

Choice beverage for breakfast! Bubbly to kick start the vacation. It's Krug or Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame. I only remembered that it wasn't Dom Perignon. :P

Here is the breakfast menu at The Private Room. We checked in slightly earlier just so that i could sample the breakfast selection. Such hard work for the blog really. :P

Some of the Asian dishes are available for lunch and dinner so i thought i'd give the English breakfasts a shot. Well i regretted immediately. TIP: Stick to the Asian dishes. Really. You'll see why later but first, my top favorite- the Roti Prata.

I should have listened to the folks on SQ flyer talk and gone for the prata immediately. These freshly made pan fried doughs are possibly the best roti pratas that i've eaten in Singapore. Crispy layered buttery goodness. I was so gheeful after eating them (punny me). And that flavorful chicken curry that packs a punch! OMG. They need to sell this somewhere i swear. I think i need another trip back in here to convince the chef to open shop.

Assorted Dim Sum. Stellar as usual. Freshly made, quality ingredients, just like what i'd get in a good Chinese restaurant in Singapore or Hong Kong. Always order this too. Good thing is that it's available for lunch and dinner too.

Bak Chor Mee- Egg noodles with a minced pork gravy with shredded mushrooms and meat balls. This is done in a somewhat Cantonese style with mildly sweet saucy minced meat. The noodles are also the more delicate Hong Kong egg noodles which were crunchy. Remember to get the dried chili to pair with.

Now to the extremely disappointing English Breakfast menu. TPR really needs to do something about this. Can you see the papery egg whites is this Eggs Benedict? Too much vinegar in this one! That hollandaise sauce was also weak in flavor and texture.

And overdone egg yolks. The crispy pancetta slices failed to save the dish.

Even Prima Deli does better waffles than this Waffles with cinnamon apple and raisins. The texture resembled those from the supermarkets.

I can make better french toast than these from the TPR. The bread was too thin and it's definitely the regular white bread from the supermarket again (Brioche should be used by the way). I didn't see what's so Singaporean about this Singapore French Toast. No we don't eat such lousy french toasts in Singapore. The citrus flavored mango coulis was very thin and tasted processed.

Do yourself a favor and skip the coffee as well.

Now the lunch/dinner menu at TPR, most of which we have sampled before.

Go with the Lobster Thermidor with 3 cheeses. Well freshly cooked lobster is always better than what you'll get on board plus it's unlimited servings. Love the creamy cheese.

I don't know what got into my head but i opted for a lighter option which is the Baked Snapper Fillet. It's good if you're sick and lacking an appetite but it was too darn plain for me.

Instead of having the entire Wagyu Beef Burger (ok it's actually pretty small but the patty isn't that flavorful), we would always order the seared foie gras on its own (it's supposed to be in the burger). Sadly, it seemed to have gotten more oily! :(

The Asian selection was yummy once again. The Lap Mei Fun (Claypot Rice)- a dish of steamed white rice with Chinese preserved pork sausage, waxed duck leg, pork belly, salted fish, all cooked in a dark sauce (prep 10mins) is a refreshing dish to see on the menu. Taste wise it was decent.

Assorted Satay- chicken, beef or mutton, served with onions, cucumbers and rice cubes, with peanut sauce. Tastes the same as what is served on the SQ Biz/ First class but slightly juicier.

S enjoyed the Beef Brisket Hor Fun (rice noodles) served with tender braised beef brisket.

Other than eating, there's not much to do in the lounge other than to relax before the flight and i find myself most relaxed if i'm able to get a pre flight/ between flights bath. TPR's shower facility is great with ample space and regular bath amenities.

It doesn't have a full rain shower but this nozzle works equally well.

Also, the jacuzzi jets to give you a nice back massage during your bath. It'd be great if they provide better bath amenities though.

Hope this gives you a better idea of what The Private Room provides. Enjoy your next transit here!

XOXO

Travelerintransit

My search for brunch in Orchard Road ended on a high as i headed to Salt Grill and Sky Bar for their latest brunch offerings. I've previously dined at Chef Luke Mangan's exclusive and intimate restaurant perched on the 55th story of Ion Orchard (read review here) and it was ahhmazing. I'm so glad that they've now added brunch to their selection.

The restaurant's look has been updated and it features an exclusive dining area and a brand new bar. Of course, the unobstructed views of Orchard Road, to Marina Bay Sands and beyond add a romantic touch to the dining experience.

On to brunch. a small selection of brunch platters are offered. There are only 4 but that pretty much covers all the brunch permutations available (other than waffles). Each brunch set is about $40 and comes with a main (which is a platter in itself), 2 sides (from a selection of 8), freshly squeezed juices, and a choice of coffee or tea. It may sound like it's quite pricy but i guarantee that it can easily feed 2 person or 3 if you order the right combination.

Now my favorite platter would be the French Toast with eggs done any way, bacon, spinach, and mixed mushroom. The french toast was amazing. I liked that the bread absolutely soaked up all that egg mixture. It was almost like eating egg! The mixed mushrooms were fried with garlic and had a smokey and earthy taste which was irresistible. The bacon could be a little more crispy though. We had the scrambled eggs which were sufficiently creamy and firm but could be a little more runny.

I would recommend pairing this with the rocket and pear salad with blue cheese and caramelised walnuts. Love that stinky and savory blue cheese and that candied walnuts were way too addictive. Since there are already mushrooms in this platter, the next best side would be the avocado (i'm biased) or if you need more carbs, the house made crumpets aren't too bad as well. Eat them fast while they are crispy and still porous and dense, they don't do too well cold. These crumpets would not be out of place at tea with some clotted cream, butter and maple syrup/preserves. I sure hope they serve this at tea. It's almost a savory pancake with a crispy shell.

The Full Aussie Breakfast is quite similar to the French Toast platter so i guess you wouldn't want to waste your calories on plain toast would you? We had this with the Wagyu sausage which i thought was a little too hard and dry. I was expecting a fat and juicy link of meat.

The Eggs Benedict was a little different from the usual as it uses the house made crumpets instead of a regular muffin or brioche. Salmon gravlax (prepared with salt, pepper and dill), poached eggs, house made crumpets, spinach and hollandaise. The hollandaise wasn't too heavy and had a light tinge of acidity. Overall a decent but not fantastic eggs Ben. This was a much smaller platter compared to the above 2. I did not like the homemade baked beans as well as they were bland too.

I didn't quite like the Buttermilk Pancakes because the buttermilk flavor didn't come through. the blandness worked well with the maple syrup ice cream (which was smoky sweet) and the brûlée bananas though but i wished they were fluffier. I found myself pairing the crumpets with the condiments of this dish instead.

Salt Grill and Sky Bar is certainly a nice spot to enjoy a romantic brunch or tea. I will be back for the french toast and crumpets!

Salt Grill and Sky Bar
55th and 56th floors, ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn, Singapore 238801
Tel: +65 6592 5118

Brunch available on Weekends and PH: 11am - 2pm

I'm finally done with my Invisalign treatment! Yay!! That was 7 months of putting on and taking off, and the cleaning of the aligners every time I needed to eat (which is way too often). Even though I said that the aligners may help with the reduction of food intake because of the hassle of the aligners, I was obviously wrong. If anything, the forbidden fruit always look too tempting and after a brief struggle, the aligners would be off and I'd be chomping on snacks as per usual.

While it didn't look like I needed much straightening and the effects weren't obvious from the front (I only needed some tweaking on my lower tooth), Dr Cheng from i.Dental Surgeons at Capital Tower fixed the cross bite at the back which was caused by my previous braces treatment.

Before.

After! See the difference? Those little extra bits are the attachments (which you guys didn't even know were there the whole time). And all these happened when I went about my daily routine.

I was hopeful that this would be the end but typically after the stipulated treatment, there's also the refinement process.

My current attachments have been removed on my last visit and a new mold taken of my teeth to make the new aligners. Patients have the option of extending the refinement process to however long they wish. So I'm just gonna tweak it for a bit more for better chomping of food in the future.

Ok done with the updates. Throw me any questions you have on the Invisalign teeth straightening treatment and I'd be more than happy to answer. In the mean time, smile on!

Tis the season to be jolly! Yes it's almost Christmas and we need something to look forward to! So if you are cracking your head planning for a indulgent Christmas meal, I'm going to present to you the options available at The St. Regis Singapore by doing a French v.s. Italian showdown of Brasserie Les Saveurs and LaBrezza!

Brasserie Les Saveurs Trio of Appetisers.

Well this trio was too pretty to be eaten and they were delicate in flavors as well. The Avruga Pearl with Poached Hokkaido Scallop was my favorite. I didn't think much of the Pan seared Wagyu Beef Tenderloin with Parmesan Espuma though some of my dining companions would disagree. Foam doesn't excite me much and this didn't add any flavor as well. The King Prawn Tempura would be defeated by those from any decent Japanese restaurant. Batter was on the thick side and it kinda lost its crispiness.

Roasted Duck Breast and Duck Leg Confit was one of the standout dishes of the night. The duck was flamed with Grand Marnier and served with Winter Truffle Potato Puree which was waaaaay rich and creamy. It also came with steamed Bok Choy and House-smoked foie gras which tasted like smoked herbed cheese.

Now from La Brezza.

Italian Antipasti Selection of San Daniele Ham with Melon and Preserved Capsicum. The ham had a sashimi kind of texture which was softer and chewier. I preferred the regular proscuitto which is drier. Also, preserved capsicum just isn't my thing. The Veal Liver Pate was so-so as it was lacking in the umami creaminess. The Smoked Salmon and Mascarpone stack was my favorite of the lot, the only missing piece was an NYC bagel.

Homemade Cannelloni with Boston Lobster, Bottarga and Porcini Mushrooms, served with King Crab sauce was another of my favorites. Lightly salty Bottarga, slightly dry lobster chunks in an otherwise creamy filling in a thin and crispy pasta shell. That crab sauce made up for that mishap though because of that umami seafood flavors.

Based on the appetizers and mains that i sampled, i thought Brasserie Les Saveurs did better mainly because of the duck. The ambience at Brasserie would certainly be perfect for Christmas dinner but don't write off LaBrezza because of that.

The dessert selection was from Brasserie and as usual, they were delicately crafted. The Frozen Iced Nougat and Crispy Wafer with 70% Amedei Savarin made me forget that i was trying to control my portions. Yes i left the plate really clean. If you like chocolate, you'd go ga ga over this one.

And here is my favorite Homemade Christmas Stollen with Dried Tropical Fruit. Don't ask, just order this.

If you're planning on throwing a Christmas party, make sure you take away the lovely Honey-glazed Gammon Ham with buttered vegetables, apple and cinnamon compote, mash potato and honey pineapple sauce.

The meat was intensely salted and cured and the flavors came through even though we sampled mere silvers of meat. That honey pineapple sauce was lightly tangy and refreshing and i love the sides of roasted vegetables. Other than savory items, you could also take away cookies, Log cakes and hampers for gifting!

For more information on the festive Christmas and New Year menus, do check out www.stregissingapore.com/christmas.

The St. Regis Singapore

29 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247911

Brasserie Les Saveurs
Tel: +65 6506 6860
LaBrezza
Tel: +65 6506 6884

It's the hairy crab season and I went crabby at Sheraton Towers' Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant! I love love love the food that award winning Chef Chung Yiu Ming dishes out and his treatment of these luscious crustaceans was stellar as usual.

From now till 30 November 2014, indulge in the creamy delicacy. Chef has created 4 new dishes this year and we sampled some of it, among the other lovingly prepared dishes.

I love the dimsum selection at Li Bai and this time we had the Steamed charcoal skin shrimp dumpling to start and and it was spilling with piping hot sweet prawn juices. The Baked chicken and abalone pie to start. The pastry skin was crispy, flaky and ethereally light.

What's more, there are lovely chunks of abalone which has been very well braised.

The Braised King Prawn and Sweet Potato topped with Hairy Crab meat and Crab Roe ($36) is one of the new dishes. These were huge succulent prawns paired with a thick crab roe sauce but the flavors were surprisingly light and thus the sweetness of the seafood could be tasted. It's also the first time i see a sweet potato mash served as part of a Chinese dish here but it worked well here.

You may also want to consider the Braised Bird’s Nest with Hairy Crab meat and Crab Roe as an alternative dish if you don't like prawns.

The Red Garoupa prepared 2 ways was great as well. The natural sweetness of the garoupa could be tasted in the sautéed version and it was paired with steamed egg whites with a tofu-like texture. The deep fried version was lightly spiced with salt and chili. 1 fish, 2 textures, 2 flavors. I give it 2 thumbs up!

On to the star of the feast, the Traditionally Steamed Hairy Crab ($60/pc). If you have not had hairy crab roe before, it tastes just like a reduction of 2 dozen eggs (probably duck eggs) and that texture is just too luscious. The steamed version is thought to be the best way to experience the natural sweetness and distinctive taste of this delicacy.

I could feel my arteries throbbing in fear as I suckled on that rich and golden roe. Time to pop some atorva! Slurps.

If you are concerned about the hassle of de-shelling your crab, Li Bai also provides a de-shelling service! You do not have to die of hunger trying to get the little morsels of meat in the little legs! Whee! Just focus on getting that roe into your tummy.

We Chinese are full of that yin and yang, hot and cold nonsense so there's ginger tea to balance that 'coolness' of the hairy crab. I love a good ginger tea and this one is sufficiently spicy but sweet, and it warms the belly really nicely.

Chef created a special dish of Fried Crispy Rice with diced scallops and asparagus for us. It was truly fried rice (the rice grains were deep fried) so it was like rice crispies with normal rice. This is best paired with Li Bai's spicy XO sauce with dried scallops and chili padi. I swear I would just eat that with plain rice.

From the special hairy crab menu, you could also go for the Stewed Crystal Hor Fun with Hairy Crabmeat and Crab Roe ($78 for small portion)

To conclude dinner, a sweetened Ginger tea with Hashima. This was a little less sweet and a little more spicy than the ginger tea i had earlier. Delicious nonetheless.

Make sure you get your hands on these yummy crabs before the season is over (ends 30 Nov 2014).

Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant
Sheraton Towers Singapore
39 Scotts Road
Tel: +65 6839 5623
Mon-Sat: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6.30 - 10.30pm
Sun: Dim Sum 10.30am - 2.30pm, 6.30 - 10.30pm

The Serangoon folks are probably gonna kill me with this post on their not too hidden brunch spot but there was something that i tried which was too yums not to share. Here's Rokeby, just a couple shops down from 2 other popular spots Cajun Kings and Wimbly Lu. Sharing is caring you know?

The last time i've been in this hood was almost 2 years back when i ate at Cajun Kings! My my.. time flies! I thought that it wasn't necessary to make a reservation on a Saturday afternoon (honestly what was i thinking) and it turned out to be really crowded! Thankfully we got a table (indoors no less) in a short bit. Thank you my lucky stars!

There aren't many options for brunch actually and they could be generally classified into 3 categories, Eggs Ben, Waffles and 'Everything Else' (eggs, sausages, toast etc.). An example that falls under the 'Everything Else' category would be the Full Monty Brekkie ($17.90) and it comes with 2 eggs served with 2 bratwurst sausages, bacon, hash brown, grilled tomato, baked beans, salad and toast. And then you have every permutation of those ingredients.

A must eat here is the Aussie 2-way Waffles. This is a savory and sweet waffle (actually more savory than sweet). I was under the impression that the ingredients listed were going to accompany the waffle. However, the cheese, caramelized onion and bacon are all mixed into the waffle batter and cooked together! On the side, there were the sauteed granny smith apples which was crunchy and tangy, and also a rather juicy herb sausage.

Now this is what i call a waffle stack. I was initially intimidated by the tower but it was delightfully light with crisp edges. The server suggested that i add an egg into the waffles a la plaster prata style, so some parts turned out more egg crisp than waffle. Think of it like a plaster prata. The batter is on the thin side though so the waffle purists may not take this too well (i thought the flavors were amazing though). Rokeby do serve the regular ones too but i'm not sure how thick they would be. The maple syrup could be thicker but i'll brush it off as the added apple puree made up for the lack in texture.

Nettie had the Eggs Blackstone, which is essentially an Egg Benedict with bacon in it. She wasn't too impressed with the dish. If it weren't for the extra bacon, she would certainly have given this dish a miss. The vinaigrette that dressed the salad took her attention from the hollandaise sauce, which lacked in flavor.

Rokeby uses the Australian Five Senses coffee, which isn't my favorite type as the beans tend to be more acidic. I used the yummy Biscotti to neutralize the acidity. Ps. I think you can help yourself to the biscotti which is placed next to the self-serve water station.

Overall, nice spot to have brunch on the weekends without having to dress up much. Downside however is the bad ventilation in the cafe, which would leave you smelling like the kitchen. Remember to make a reservation because it gets packed.

Rokeby
15-9 Jalan Riang
Singapore 358987
Tue - Sun: 9am - 10pm

I've been recently informed of a hidden gem in my hood which I've been too blind/distracted to notice. Yummy salted egg yolk steamed buns right under my nose? No way! And located next to my dinner/supper haunt along Upper Serangoon Road, Heng Long Teochew porridge, you gotta be kidding me!! To correct all my wrongs, I trooped to Yi Dian Xin Hong Kong Dim Sum with my mama for a dimsum brunch.

I've honestly never noticed Yi Dian Xin in the very same coffeeshop as Heng Long because it's overshadowed by the corner store. Well I only visit at night when they're closed so I guess that's how I've been missing this. Prices are very affordable with the most expensive item only costing $3.50. Rice Roll with Prawn ($3.50) uses pre-made rice rolls but the texture is QQ enough and the prawns flavorful. For the more traditional and freshly prepared Chee Cheong Fun, head to the Punggol Nasi Lemak coffeeshop down the road, there's another hidden gem that does this.

I had to have their Signature Salted Egg Custard Pau ($3.30) as it was raved about. The bun was kinda dense but fluffy enough and the filling was well balanced with milky sweet and savory notes. I loved that it's really flowy! Eat it fast! While the custard doesn't really coagulate when cooled, the bun doesn't retain the same texture as when it was warm.

Another pau to order is the Steamed BBQ Pork Pau ($2 for 2) which looks like any other decent Cantonese dimsum restaurant types. Dark sauce, chunky meat, flowered buns. What's not to love?

The Steamed Carrot Cake ($2.20) was another of my favorite. It's amazingly melt in your mouth with small chunks of radish and chinese preserved sausage. I'm usually more the pan-fried carrot cake girl but this won me over with the texture and that special soy sauce. I could easily finish the whole thing on my own.

The Prawn Dumpling ($3.30) had a rather thick skin but the filling was adequate. Siew Mai with Mushrooms ($2.80) was packed with juicy pork meat that wasn't too fatty. I actually like this one. Steamed pork ribs with bean sauce ($2.50) comes in the regular small metal dish and was rather tender. I do like this dish but always found it overpriced at dimsum places.

From the deep fried section, I'd go for the shrimp dumpling (sold out). My Mama liked the Deep Fried Red Bean Paste with Banana ($2.50) which featured a light filo skin with a slightly coarse paste. I thought it was on the sweet and oily side though. Well obviously not my generation's kind of dessert.

Here's the menu for your reference.

The ladies in my family headed down on a Public Holiday again but this time we were too late! At 1230pm, they were only left with 1/4 of their items! It was a bad day for us because many stores were closed and hence everyone decided to eat dimsum. Heard from the owner that their dimsum typically sells out on weekend afternoons so do go early!