It is all about Southern American Cajun seafood boil on our sunny island these days and we checked The Boiler, a gem tucked in the ulu and industrious Tai Seng estate. It's a queer location for a seafood spot but we absolutely dig the cavernous space and their delicious offerings. I guarantee that The Boiler is certainly worth your trek!

Here's the menu. It made perfect sense for us to order the Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag ($139) since there's a huge group of us (we had 3 bags of that). Each bag feeds more than the recommended 4 pax (that or we are small eaters). Dungeness or Brown Crab, prawns, mussels, clams, sausages, and corn are tossed with a sauce of your choice.

Our food were delivered in plastic bags placed in big metal buckets. You can only imagine the excitement at the table when the food was poured over the grease-proofed table mat. Don't worry, plastic bibs are provided to protect your clothes but try not to wear white yea?

For the sauce, there's garlic butter (for the kiddos), pepper butter (for amateurs), mild, medium and raging spice. Of the lot, i thought that the mild worked the best. It was more savory than the bland and boring garlic butter, but not too spicy to give you a heartburn or mar the taste of the seafood. You really don't wanna be eating chili alone (my bad experience at Cajun Kings taught me that. Read review here).

Of the ingredients in the bag, I loved the succulent and juicy prawns, the salty chorizo style sausages, and not to mention the sweet corn! The juicy kernels provided a respite from the spices after a while.

Get a lobster ($49) to go with your meal! Same price as Pince and Pints but without the queue (just make a reservation)! I liked this better than the crabs. Lemon butter was a good choice as the sauce is lighter and simpler, which allowed the freshness of the lobster to come through. The pepper butter can be rather overwhelming with spice in my opinion and not quite suitable for this meat.

Have some sides to go with the seafood. The bags come with fried man tous (buns), which were great to mop up the sauce a la chili crab style. We enjoyed the Cajun Fries ($5.90) with crispy thin batter and substantial filling. On hindsight i would have tried the sweet potato fries ($6.90). The onion rings ($7.90) were made with real onions and gave the meal an added crunch. Luncheon fries ($7.90) are well, luncheon fries.

If you're not up for a seafood feasting, you could also do smaller meals such as fish and chips, chicken and waffles, and hot dogs as well. 

For desserts, we had the Molten Lava cake ($9.90) which remained fairly decent even after all the photo taking. The almond (mocha?) ice cream with Oreo crunch was a hit with us. 

Skip the fried banana and durian fritters ($7.90) with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. It sounded way more exotic than it tasted and certainly not quite worth the price for fried pisang. Plus it had a stale oily taste.

We really enjoyed our meal while it lasted. It was fun passing food around with our bare hands and letting loose at the dining table. However, the gastric reflux was pretty severe and the garlic aftertaste lingered long after the meal concluded. In fact, it's pretty nauseating thinking about it right now. So yes, it's a once in a blue moon indulgence for us.

That said, I'd certainly recommend The Boiler for a gathering with family and friends! What's your favorite seafood boil? 

The Boiler
18 Howard Road
Tel: +65 6635 1285
Sunday - Thu: 5 - 10.30pm

Fri- Sat, Eve PH: 5pm - 12am

Closed Mon

A good restaurant is one who keeps her customers and Restaurant Ember has been doing that for more than a decade (12 this year)! With a chic face lift and a change in chef (Chef Sufian Bin Zain, previously from Iggy’s and Waku Ghin), Ember has kept its rich classics and added refreshingly light new dishes to the mix. We sampled some items from the lunch set menu, as well as others from the main menu.

Taste buds were awakened with the amuse bouche of crispy sakura ebi and the loveliest freshly baked bread. 

I love cheeses and the Burrata ($14) was a great way to start. Milky and creamy fresh cheese with nutty, smoky and slightly bitter endives, cherry tomato, arugula, pesto. Well Chef had me at burrata.

For a lighter tasting starter, the Flan is a classic that is well loved by customers. Steamed egg custard with generous chunks of mudcrab, asparagus and Aonori (seaweed). It was every bit Japanese with the silky curd and light earthiness from the asparagus.  

I can never say no to Duck Confit and this 36 hours twice cooked leg with mashed potatoes and caramelized onions ($32) was delicious. Certainly my top 2 choice for mains at Ember. I loved that smokiness of the cured meat and it wasn't overly salted as well. My way of eating this? Remove meat from bone, mix things up a bit. You'll get that light creaminess from the potatoes and the sweetness from the onions along with the savory leg. Yums. If you wish to have this for dinner, do order in advance for the a la carte item.

My other favorite was the Pan-roasted Barramundi ($28), with tomatoes, fine beans, Avruga caviar, clam jus ($28). Loved the light flavors of the barramundi and the salty bacon-like avruga caviar. 

For dinner, you could do the 60 hours slow cooked Angus Short Rib ($38), with a special charred onion puree (which doesn't taste like onion at all), confit of cherry tomatoes and beef jus. Cooked to perfect tenderness, the marbled meat was paired perfectly with the sweet onion puree. I could love onions like that.

The Bouillabaisse with NZ Langoustine, Hokkaido Scallops, Barramundi, Garlic Aioli ($32) was sadly weak in the umami seafood flavor and tasted a little flat in my opinion. Perhaps a little too delicate? The clams were rather flavorless and the langoustine was limp. I would rather a firmer shellfish and fish.

I'm not a fan of Ember's dessert due to the lack of balance in their sweets.

Our Valrhona chocolate fondant had a mysterious burnt taste. It's a safe dessert but it's nothing wow. 

The deconstructed cheesecake with figs, crumble, Tahiti vanilla ice cream was light in flavors but not in texture. The creamy cheese would do better with fresh figs than the processed jelly jam.

The Texture of pistachio, sponge, crumble, ice cream, ginger milk foam ($15) was refreshing enough only because I love ginger and the hint from the foam added that light perfume at the end. The dish was as transient as the foam, so light that you don't even taste or feel it, with the exception of the really sweet ice cream. 

The best part of dessert was the dessert wine actually. Well if you need something sweet, just go for the Torbreck The Bothie 2011.

Hits and misses at Ember but there are sufficient options in the set meals to ensure a good meal. The 3 course set lunch is only priced at $42 and the 4 course dinner at $88. I would bookmark this for business lunches. :)

Restaurant Ember

50 Keong Saik Rd, Singapore 089158
Tel: +65 6347 1928
Weekday Lunch: 11.30am - 2pm
Dinner (Mon - Sat): 6.30pm - 10pm
Closed Sun

I've visited Hatter Street months ago but wasn't compelled to write them a review since they are already so packed and the crowd also played a part in my lacklustre dining experience with them. 

Despite the whimsical theme, the space was uncomfortable. I think their main purpose is to pack as many people in as possible so it was rather cramped. Also, you have to wait for a table before you can place your order, even though everyone knows that there is going to be a long wait time for the waffles. Do i make sense? Ok maybe i was just (H)angry (hunger induced anger) and i wanted my food fast but that did not happen.

So what's to eat here? Desserts, just desserts. Yvette Chua, who owns the place, trained at Singapore’s Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed at Hong Kong’s 3 Michelin-starred Bo Innovations for four months and she decided that desserts are gonna be it. Well, there's the famed Smoked sawdust pudding ($5) which is essentially a milk pudding with graham and some smoke. Well, i don't fancy the schmancy for desserts. I just want hearty calorie full options. Next. 

Other items such as some passion fruit and chocolate tarts, popcorn cake etc. But honestly, let's face it, you're just there for the waffles.

Waffles ($8.90). We went for the Pandan ice cream with gula melaka sauce which is a hot favorite. The waffle was crispy, and by crispy i meant it was like a giant potato chip. As with potato chips, once you start you can't stop so don't bother sharing because you can easily finish one on your own. Nice lingering aroma from the pandan ice cream but we could do with more gula melaka sauce. I reckon that the sea salt caramel waffle with vanilla ice cream wouldn't be too shady. 

Oh my 天 ($7.50) is a cookies and cream brownie with oreo ice cream and it came recommended. I should have trusted my own judgment because i thought the brownie was too tall and dry based on its appearance. I was right. The texture was a bit more cakey but with greater density but it was lacking in flavors (it had a one dimensional sweetness). I would not recommend this. The oreo ice cream was good though.

The Matcha latte ($5.50) was rather sweet and very milky. Thankfully it had sufficient matcha taste. 

I would love to be able to make this my regular dessert joint in the hood because the waffles are quite wow but i would never visit on weekends. The staff's mild hao lian beng attitude was also a put off. Moral of the story, do not stand between an hangry girl and her food.

Hatter Street Singapore
212 Hougang Street 21, #01-333 Singapore 530212
Tel: +65 6988 4591
Tue - Sun: 1-10pm

Close friends would know my obsession with having a V shaped face. Well, if you guys must know, my chubby cheeks stayed with me till I was 20 despite being as skinny(fat) as you occasionally see on Instagram and all. I'm not sure how my hamster cheeks went away but I religiously use the Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Total V Contouring Serum. However, if you're in need of a quick non-surgical non-invasive fix for an important function, then the Radio Frequency (RF) Brightening Treatment by The DRx Medispa would be the solution. I recently checked this facial out for my friend's wedding dinner.

Nominated as the “Best Non-Surgical Facelift”, the DRx RF Brightening Treatment promises more toned skin with visible tightening and lifting effect immediately after one session.

So how does it work? A specialized super brightening/anti-pigment cream or pore tightening/anti-aging cream will be worked into your face. You'd lie on a metal plate for the RF to work. Some physics and circuits thing that you can go read up on if you're interested. The therapist will then use another hand piece to massage your face.

You'll feel some heat as the massage goes on. That's due to the Radiofrequency (RF) energy which will generate bio thermal energy in the deep layers of your skin (deep dermis and sub-dermal layers). The purpose is to activate metabolism (for slimming) and increase the flow of nutrients and oxygen (for brightening).

The simple action will help stimulate collagen growth so that over time you'll get firmer and radiant-looking skin.

Hamster cheeks being squashed right here! Other benefits include reduced wrinkles, firming and toning including the eye area. Yes please! Smile lines be gone!

Daphne, my therapist for the session did half of my face first so that I could show you guys the comparison shot. Look at the right half of the picture! There was a visible lift of my cheek! And hello fruit-cutting-chin. :))

The DRx RF Brightening/Rejuvenation treatments are non-invasive with no downtime and it only takes 45 minutes! This makes it a good lunch time treatment! :)

The after treatment effect! Ahem fully clothed under that robe still! Daphne worked mostly on my laugh lines because she said my skin is still very young so nothing much to firm up. Wheeee!

And here's a picture at my friend's wedding 2 days later.

I've been told that this treatment is very rich so it may cause some breakout for some skin. I developed some little pimples but they were not obvious and only showed up after the wedding.

If you'd like to try this treatment, remember to quote ‘Blogger Cheryl 40% RF Treatment’ to get 40% off RF Brightening Treatment (U.P. $550) before GST.

Good news to my KL readers too, The DRx Group has opened its second branch in Kuala Lumpur at The Boulevard, Mid Valley City and will house The DRx Clinic, The DRx Medispa at the sprawling 5,000 sqft location spanning two floors. The award-winning DRx Trichology services will now be available to you guys too!

The DRx Medispa Singapore
302 Orchard Road, #14-02/#16-02
Tong Building (next to Paragon Shopping Centre)
Singapore 238862
Tel: +65 6223 1555
Mon to Sat: 10am to 8pm
Sun: 10am to 6pm
http://instagram.com/thedrxmedispa

The DRx Clinic and Medispa Mid Valley
No. 43-G The Boulevard Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2284 1088
Weekdays: 10am to 7pm
Weekends: 10am to 5pm (clinic is closed on sun)

There's a blazing fire that is out to turn up the heat on Hongkong Street and that is FOC Restaurant, a new Spanish dining concept and cocktail bar. FOC is an inspired collaboration between Michelin-starred Chef Nandu Jubany, Chef Jordi Noguera formerly from FoodBar Dada, and award-winning mixologist Dario Knox previously from Catalunya Restaurant. Yes it's a star studded team!

Expect a contemporary small plates menu with Catalan and Mediterranean influences, complemented by a selection of inventive cocktails. They even created a selection of Asian inspired tapas which were honestly pretty darn good.

Gazpacho de sandía con helado de aceite de oliva ahumado. Watermelon “Gazpacho” with charcoal smoked olive oil ice cream ($12). Light and tangy cold soup to awaken the taste buds. Love how the dish is kept cool with the olive oil ice cream!

Croquetas de setas. Mushroom croquettes ($8 for 4). There's something about breaded and fried mashed potatoes that have me ordering it over and over again and these were creamy with chunks of earthy mushrooms.

Coca de anchoas y escalivada, con queso Idiazabal. “Coca” with anchovies, charcoal grilled peppers, eggplant, spherical Idiazabal cheese ($16). This is great for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. I love the smokiness of these Nightshade but that kind of overpowered the cheese when you pop it in whole. It's a little pricey though.

Vieiras con caviar de soja. Scallops soy caviar ($20). It's scallops, and it's nicely seared and it's in a salty soy. There's really nothing else to it.

Pulpo a la gallega. Octopus Galician style, prepared with paprika, olive oil and potatoes ($22). I'm not a fan of octopus because it is rather flavorless and is easily rubbery. The pulpo at FOC is first sous vide so it's firm but not overly chewy and lightly spiced. I liked the potatoes more than the octopus though.

“Cansalada” confitada con pure de coliflor. Confited pork belly with cauliflower puree ($14/4pcs). Bland. Fatty. Bleah. Give me that cauliflower puree on its own.

Paella de arroz negro con mariscos y “all I oli”. Black Mediterranean “Paella” with seafood and garlic mayonnaise ($22). The rice was just right, done al dente of course. The rice tasted more sweet than salty, which took me by surprise on the first bite. Some salt please. I liked that there were generous chunks of squid mixed very nicely with the rice.

Cochifrito. Crispy Pork Taco ($14/2pcs). This is one of my favorites if not the top favorite dish. This is FOC’s take on the Mexican taco, and that crispy shell was too addictive. It's like a really awesome fried wanton skin filled with tender pulled pork. I really liked the crispy pulled pork. I didn't even mind the dou miao and I don't even like bean sprouts. Now could we have this in jumbo size or what?

Bocata de foie-gras a la brasa y shitake marinado. Grilled foie-gras with marinated shitake and green apple ($22/2pcs). Loved that broiche bun with a glossy blistered exterior. It was very crunchy and extremely buttery. Even though the foie gras was on the oily side, it had a nice creamy texture and i liked that the green apples added that tinge of tartness.

Chuletón a la brasa con guarnición. Grilled “Chuletón” beef steak with garnish ($35/150gm). Order if you really need your meats. It's tender and juicy but nothing spectacular. 

Espuma de Crema Catalana . “Crema Catalana” FOC Style ($12). Now this is like a Spanish creme brûlée with a distinct dulce de leche ice cream in the middle which was kinda icy. Nice sour strawberries break the monotony of the light foamy cream but still not quite my idea of desserts.

FOC Hamburguesa de chocolate FOC chocolate burger ($12). Now here is one carefully crafted dessert burger made from white chocolate, vanilla mousse, strawberries and mint leaves. You should eat it all together for a balanced review of this dessert. The combined flavors of the smoky caramel, sweet milk chocolate and the tart strawberries were delightful. The cream in the 'bun' had a marshmallow texture too!

If you find the food a little too pricy, i'd suggest that you line your tummy somewhere else and then come here for drinks and some snacks anyway! The impressive and affordable drinks menu curated by Dario certainly gives 28 HongKong a run for their money plus there are available ALL DAY. Dario also started FOC’s own solera system to age a range of spirits and makes an extensive list of syrups, infusions and bitters.

The Madame Butterfly ($13) was a delicate like a rose with many house made ingredients e.g. lavender honey infusion and Floral Gin Blend N. Great drink for the ladies.

If you're for something refreshing, the Indochine Enchantée ($16) will cool any Singapore heat. Distinct passion fruit, mint, lime and honey could be tasted. If they could up the ginger flavor, the drink would be perfect.

If you want something with a kick (spice), then the Blacked Out in Bangkok ($13.50) would be your thing with the home made Lemongrass-Ginger-Cachaçz, Kaffir Lime Leaves Infusion and Chili Padi-Lemongrass Tincture. SPICY!

For Serious Drinkers, El Vermouth de Dali ($15.50) is a strong one. It's citrusy with a light bitterness and spice. You will also taste a hint of the smokiness.

I would recommend the bar counter for an interactive dining experience (only if it's just the 2 of you).

For bigger groups, i love the space at the further end of FOC Restaurant with double-height ceilings, a large skylight and three communal tables that seat up to eight diners each. Very cosy indeed.

Adding to my list of favorites for tapas and drinks. Will certainly be back with friends!

FOC Restaurant
40 Hongkong Street
Singapore 059679

Mon - Sat: 12pm - 2.30pm; 6 - 11pm

Cocktails and bar bites available all day