Original post at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/04/modestos-restaurant-vivocity-harbourfront-singapore/

Modesto’s Restaurant used to be at the ground floor where Jamie’s Oliver occupied. But since its move to level 3, I am sure many do not know of its existence since it isn’t at a very prominent location.
The space is in a irregular shape with mainly brown tone for almost everything. It a little dark even in the day, unless you are seated next to the glass panel.


Antipasti (Appetizer)
12 appetizers listed on the menu to choose from. 12 is quite a lot of choices.I am sure Calamari ($20) is one of the hot favourite with many. The calamari may not be as tender as some, slight chewy but still very much acceptable.Bruschetta priced at $2 to $4 per piece with 3 different topping available. First with marinated diced fresh tomatoes ($2 per piece). The other 2 types of toppings both at $4 per piece; Norwegian smoked salmon, fresh arugula & mayonnaise and Fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese with marinated tomatoes. Fresh baguette and ingredients are the trick to this dish.Alette Di Pollo ($16) consisting of 8 pieces of well marinated Fried Chicken Wings and Drumlets with a pretty spicy homemade chilli. The chilli reminds me of the chilli served with Chicken Rice. The chicken remained succulent. We enjoyed.

Insalate (Salad)
3 choices. I tried only Insalata Mista ($14) consisting of a mixed of fresh greens, carrots, capsicum, olives and fresh tomatoes served with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil as dressing. Fresh greens that is the key.

Pizzeria (Traditional Wood-fired Pizza)
2 sizes of pizza (regular and mini) with 27 flavours of pizza.
Capricciosa Pizza ($26/21) is topped with Cooked pork ham, mushroom and artichoke. If this isn’t your choice, there are 26 others to choose from. Choice of pizza really depends mainly on one’s preferences for the ingredients.Paste Speciali (Modesto’s Special Pasta)
Modesto’s Restaurant offers 14 selections of Modesto’s Special Pasta; quite a lot to choose from.

Tagliatelle Nere ($32) consists of fresh home-made black ink flat pasta with sauteed fresh prawns, scallops and diced tomatoes in a shrimp bisques sauce. If you like a rich seafood flavour, this is for you.
Ravioli Funghi ($28) may be common but this is special as it uses a saffron walnut sauce.

Ravioli Funghi

 

I am quite neutral to this dish. I couldn't say I enjoyed it but neither do I dislike it.


Paste Classiche (Classic Pasta)
More pasta selection from the Classic Pasta category, another 10 choices.
Linguine is my favourite pasta as such Linguine Vongole ($25) is a great choice. This is one of the better Vongole as I could savour the white wine fragrance. Absoluate a must order for all Vongole fan.Carbonara ($25) is a rich and sinfully delish pasta and always a comfort pasta to turn to especially whenever I don’t know what to order. This is one of the very flavourful Carbonara where all the taste elements attain a great balance.

I find that the pasta at Modesto’s Restaurant fare much better than the pizza. I am not saying the pizza is no good but I thought it could be improved. I have been returing for mainly the pasta.

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I usually dine at VivoCity outlet of Paradise Dynasty as this is one of my favourite Chinese restaurant. The first Paradise Dynasty that I knew and dine at was when it started out at Ion Orchard. Ever since, I have been returning for more.
Paradise Dynasty is a name I am sure need no introduction, as many must have known about it by now. It is fame for its colourful Xiao Long Bao in various filling. Some may find certain filling exotic when it was first introduced. I did back then.


Dynasty Signature Xiao Long Bao
Based on the name, Dynasty 8 Flavours Xiao Long Bao, one would have known that there are 8 flavours.The original is in the centre. Starting from the Green, clockwise; Ginseng, Foie Gras, Truffle, Cheesy, Garlic and Crab Roe and Szechuan. If diner like any a particular flavour, diner could order just for that flavour in 6s or 10s. Personally, my favourite is still the original.

Shanghai Dim Sum
On Paradise Dynasty Menu, 14 Shanghai Dim Sum are offered. They are mainly the classic Shanghai Dim Sum.Pork Dumpling with Hot Chilli Vinaigrette is a dish I seldom order. In fact, I ordered it only once. It is not that I didn’t like it but I don’t usually dine with a huge enough group to allow me to order both the Xiao Long Bao and Pork Dumpling.

La Mian
Paradise Dynasty offers 8 La Mian in Pork Bone Soup selections and 9 other La Mian.La Mian in Signature Pork Bone Soup has a dense an rich soup full of pork flavour. And I like the egg with runny yolk that came with the bowl of noodle soup. All the La Mian in this category are similar except for the main topping.Pork Dumpling La Mian in Chilli Sauce and many more are available for selection. Noodles are very much the same. Likewise, it depends on what ingredient does diners prefer to have it with the handmade noodles.

Dishes
Scrambled Egg White with Fish and Conpoy has mainly egg white topped with only a single yolk on centre. It is not quite my kind of dish as I prefer yolk. But I like this dish.Diners could opt for the Stir-fried River Shrimp in Spicy Bean and Tomato Sauce too. Though this isn’t quite kind of my dish.An healthy option is the Stewed Sliced Fish in Chinese Wine.For Szechuan Specialty, one could turn to Spicy Szechuan Crispy Chicken. The chicken in this dish was so crispy. I find the spice level acceptable.Quite a good selections of greens are also available.Mains
Among the few rice option at Paradise Dynasty, I usually turned to Yangzhou Fried Rice but strangely, I couldn’t find a photo of this dish in my archive.Shanghai Fried Rice is pretty similar to the Yangzhou Fried Rice except that it is fried with an additional dark sauce. Personally, I still prefer the YangZhou Fried Rice.

Desserts
The desserts offered at Paradise Dynasty has a mixed of Shanghai dessert and Hong Kong Style dessert.Pan Fried Pancake with Red Bean Paste and the Banana Souffle like Shanghai Dessert are 2 of the available selection.For the more conventional diner, they could go for the Mango Pudding or Lemongrass Jelly.Diners are definitely spoiled for choice, as always when diners are at Chinese Restaurant. The must order at Paradise Dynasty is certinaly the Xiao Long Bao.

Original Post http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/10/kraftwich-swissbake-one-raffles-place/


Kraftwich is the latest concept cafe created by Swissbake. The environment is casual with some hipster touch.On weekdays, Kraftwich starts as early as 7.30am to serve the early birds in the CBD area with some hearty breakfast items. There are 3 types of bread to choose from; the Croissant sandwich, Multigrain Croissant and Swiss Crumpet. Each with different fillings; Turkey Ham & Cheese Croissant, Egg Mayo Croissant, Tuna Mmultigrain Croissant, Fritata Multigrain Croissant, Poached Egg & Turkey Ham Swiss Crumpet and Beef Pastrami Swiss Crumpet at $5.90 each. These 6 items are available till 11am. Diners could add $1 to enjoy it with coffee or tea. For even healthier Breakfast option, both the Bircher Muesli and Crunchy Apple Granola Mix are available.We tried both the Poached Egg & Turkey Ham Swiss Crumpet and Beef Pastrami Swiss Crumpet. Though it was delicious, I find the mayo spread a little too sweet for my palate.Kraftwich has named its fame sandwich Kraftwich ($8.90) too. With 8 fillings; Smoked Salmon, Turkey Ham & Cheese, Tuna & Egg, Vegetarin, Smoked Duck, Portobello and Smoked Chicken to choose from, diners are spoilt for choice. Diners could opt for either the Maize bread or the Mutligrain bread. Both are considered healthy choices.

The top favourite among the group diners for the night was the Smoked Duck. Surprisingly, the Portobello was also very well received. Me too like these 2 items. And the other important factor of the sandwich was bread was fluffy and soft.If bread isn’t your preferred choice, diners could choose to Go Green with Our Kraft ($9.90); replacing bread with greens. Likewise 8 toppings for the salad. Alternatively, diner could go for DIY Your Kraft ($7.90) consisting of mixed veggies and 5 regular toppings of diner choice. There are 20 regular toppings and 9 premium toppings to choose from.
Good news for diners, one could opt for Kraft Me A Meal at $13.90 consisting of a Main, choose either the Kraftwich or Our Kraft Salad (add $1) and a Side, either Mini Salad or Soup. Lastly a drink, Cappuccino or Iced Lemon Tea.As we know Swissbake has various delicious bake which include the pastries, Quiche and Pies should diners wanting to opt for something light there are various flavours to choose from.Sweet Endings with either Daily Cakes or Mug Cakes ($6.90) is always a great way to complete the meal. We tried 4 of the 5 daily cakes. The top choice for most is Paradiso Di Nocciola, followed by Chocolate Fudge. A handful enjoyed the Hazelnut Crunch, which I didn’t. No one chose the Blueberry Cheesecake to be their fave. It was a pity we missed out on the Black Forest Cake.There are 5 flavours of Mug Cakes ($6.90); Chocolate, Chocolate Banana, White Choc Strawberry, White Choc Blueberry and Bread & Butter Pudding. Each Mug Cake come with a scoop of ice cream. We tried only the Bread & Butter Pudding Mug Cake which most of us find it a little too sweet. Daily from 2pm to 6pm, diners could enjoy a pastry and coffee or tea at $6.90 or Cake and coffee or tea at $7.90; value for money.At Kraftwich, there are both Coffee or Non-coffee option. For Coffee, both black and with milk are available. The signature coffee drink is the Salted Caramel ($5.50 hot / $6 iced). I tried their Cappuccino ($4.90). It is a cuppa with low acidity, nutty full body.A handful of Not Coffee selection with the Swiss Pure Hot Chocolate where can customise the level of chocolaty and option of marshmallow are available too. As usual, Assorted Hot Tea($4.90) isn’t missing. A pity there is only an Iced Tea available for selection, the Iced Lemon Tea ($4.90). 2 Frappe ($6.90) are also on the menu, Strawberry Yoghurt Frappe and Banana Choco Cookies Frappe. Lastly the Cold Pressed Juice, Orange ($5.90), Spinach Apple ($6.90) and Beetroot Orange ($6.90).Kraftwich provides delicious and healthy option of both Salad and Sandwiches will certainly attracts the Executive working in the area.

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Full review is on http://www.nahmj.com/2016/01/31/food-rebel-telok-ayer-singapore/
Food Rebel is an eat clean cafe in the Business District Area offering organic and healthy eating food at Stanley Road.Interior is fairly simple. No theme spotted, only homogenously brown coloured furniture throughout the cafe. Environment is nothing but casual and relax.Mondays are Meat Free Monday. So you won’t expect to find meat on any of the sandwiches and salad or even top up. Tuesday Through To Thursday (TTT) Menu, hooray, I start to see meat at least on its Top It Up section. As such, it has similar offering as the Meat Free Monday. I tried the Flavoursome Scarlet Quinoa. This was found on both the Meat Free Monday and Tuesday Through To Thursday menu. As the name suggested, the quinoa is scarlet coloured and indeed flavoursome with some herb and sourish. It was appetising. As I needed some meat, I Top It Up with Oven Baked Chicken and my favourite Baked Pumpkin. It was a delish and wholesome meal.Finally, last day of the work week, Food Rebel thinks it is time for some indulgence with Feed Me Up Friday. On this day, there are 2 Hot Friday Special with meat!! I tried the Towering Thomas comprises of a sesame bun, a chicken patty with chop pasley and spring onion which enhanced the flavours, a sunny side up. There are 2 other, in my opinion, secret weapon in this burger making it so fabulous. The salsa sauce on top of the chicken patty and the pumpkin mash on the bottom of the bun. The sourish from the salsa and the sweet from the pumpkin seriously helps to flavour-up the chicken patty. It is really a pity that one could only get the Towering Thomas on only Friday. I have to endure any craving till Friday! Oh no!Over at Food Rebel, the cafe offered Organic Green and Functional Teas, Tripod Coffe, Power Smoothies and Boosters. I tried the Yellow Fellow Power Smoothies ($9), a concoction of Coconut, pineapple and dragon fruit. I admit that the colour of the drink is disgusting but lucky, it tasted so much better than the look. It is a sweet and sourish drink which I could savour the pineapple and dragon fruit flavour. It was the amazing coconut that augmented the taste of the drink.I ordered a Flat White ($6) as there isn’t Cappuccino in the cafe. I was a little disappointed. I didn’t appreciate the Flat White as the coffee aroma was almost nil, instead, I kept tasting coconut oil. I am wondering if they have given me theBulletproof ($6.50) instead of Flat White.I visited Food Rebel twice; once takeaway and the other dine-in.

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Original review was posted at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/02/28/grazie-italian-cum-western-offering-serangoon-gardens-singapore/

Grazie serves delish, authentic Italian food at the less known Serangoon Gardens Food Centre. Most of us might not even notice this food centre much less to mention spotting this hidden gem. At the Serangoon Gardens vicinity, most might have known about Chomp Chomp. Though it is not as prominent as Chomp Chomp, this other food centre is along Serangoon Gardens Way, nearer to the end of Serangoon Gardens Circus. Since it is less visited by most, as such it is quieter and cleaner.Grazie occupied stall 1 at Serangoon Gardens Food Centre which is easily spotted on the left as one entered the food centre. This humble looking stall is helmed by a 25 year old chef, Clarence Tan, who learned the trade and skills from the previous owner of Grazie through on the job training. He then took the stall over from him and now he is the new boss of Grazie.

At Grazie, menu is kept simple with a focus on Pasta in Aglio Olio, Tomato Sauce, Cream Sauce, Tomato Cream Sauce and Cream Pepper Sauce. Cream Pepper Sauce is a highlight at Grazie which was self-created by Chef Clarence Tan. He highly recommends as a must try at Grazie. This sauce is also used on the Grilled Chicken Thigh ($8.80). Other mains include the Grilled Dory Fish with Mushroom Sauce ($8.80), Chicken Parmigiano ($12) and Grilled Ribeye Steak with Mushroom Sauce ($13.80).All seafood and meat ingredients served on the day were sourced fresh from the market by Chef Tan himself. All the sauces were also made from scratch. He strongly believes in serving quality, fresh food that are non-frozen and with no MSG and preservatives to his diners.We started our meal with the handmade Mushroom Soup with garlic bread ($5.50). It was such a thick bowl of soup filled with lots of chopped mushroom. I could savour the mushroom bites at each mouthful. Soup was creamy and no doubt tasty. When the garlic bread was dipped into the soup, it absorbed all the essence. What a comforting way to enjoy the soup.When we were served the plate of Seafood Aglio Olio ($8), we were shocked to see the size and the amount of prawns, clams and squid. The amount of seafood for a plate at $8 was insane. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Not only the size was reasonably big but was certainly fresh and not over cooked. Even the squid rings were still tender. Pasta was al dente as well, no doubt.Grilled Chicken Thigh with Cream Pepper Sauce ($8.80) is a signature item at Grazie. The Cream Pepper Sauce is the pride of Chef cum Owner Clarence Tan. The dish was served with 2 sides; the truffle fries dusted with Parmesan cheese and salad with chick pea. The Truffle Fries was filled with truffle scent not only strong enough for the nose but for the tastebud too. What I like about the dish is that Grazie uses Chicken Thigh and not Chicken Breast. But personally, I find the cream pepper sauce a little too sweet for my liking. Should Grazie allow, I would swap it for the Mushroom sauce.

Grazie serves food with a quality and it is value for money too. Though some may lament that there isn’t air-conditioned or free Wifi. If you look beyond these but on the food alone, it is worthwhile popping by for a meal or maybe takeaway. Go for the Seafood Pasta with your preferred sauce is highly recommended at Grazie. Grilled Chicken Thigh with Cream Pepper Sauce is equally good if you don’t mind the sweetish cream pepper sauce. If you like soup, do start your meal with the Mushroom Soup.

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