Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also commonly known as Mooncake Festival is less than a month away. Just like how the name suggests, mooncakes are here to make their ubiquitous appearance with some traditions to stay.

I was glad to try out the Delicate Cantonese Snow Skin Mooncakes from St Regis Singapore. Yan Ting Restaurant has came up with an enticing selection of snow skin mooncakes including flavours like durian, mixed berries, green tea, purple sweet potato and royal milk tea with chocolate champagne.

I have to say the packaging has bought me over before I even try out the mooncakes.
It sure is an ideal gift for the elders and your parents.Assorted Snow Skin Mooncake (Exclude durian flavor)
Box of 8 @ $68.80 Mixed Berries Snowskin Mooncake with Strawberry Paste
Box of 8 @$66.80

It's tough to pick just one favourite from the selection because they all tasted satisfying with the much tenderness. The Green Tea flavour has a well balance of tea bitterness that is well pulled off by the sweet mooncake paste. The Mixed Berries flavour on the other hand leaves both sweet and slight sour aftertaste due to the berries, and it turned out very addictive. Left: Purple Sweet Potato Snowskin Mooncake
(Box of 8 @ $66.80)

Right: Royal Milk Tea Snowskin Mooncake with Red Bean Paste and White Chocolate Champagne Truffle (Box of 8 @ $68.80)

What took me by surprise was the alcohol intensity found in the Royal Milk Tea Snowskin Mooncake with Champagne Truffle. A bite into the truffle oozes out pretty strong alcohol. It sure was a terrific rendition of mooncakes and definitely a favourite for alcohol lovers. Left: Sweet potato Snowskin Mooncake
Right: Green Tea Snowskin Mooncake

Yan Ting is an award-winning purveyor of authentic Cantonese delicacies. To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yan Ting has given diners a premium collection of hand-crafted treasures to satiate your palates with their mouth-watering rendition of mooncakes.

Hope you liked this review!

Celine

More photos with full review on:
http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/08/st-regis-singapore-cantonese-snow-skin.html

It was a saturday afternoon and the place was reasonably packed. I didn't really called for reservation because they simply do not take reservation. But they do help you reserve the seats if you call like half an hour earlier, which was what I did.

Caramel Cappuccino $6.50

I do not usually order a drink to pair it with my mains. But I do have a craving that noon and I wanted to try one of their recommendation.

I must say, the caramel cappuccino was pretty good. The sweetness hit the spot so well - neither too sweet nor bland. The only downside about it was the simple latte art. But it's okay, a big heart shape is cool! I love it everytime I take a sip of the Cappuccino. The sweet caramel taste coffee make its way through the thick layer of milk foam. Hot Chocolate with Dark Cocoa S$7
My friend ordered the hot chocolate and it was mediocre. Nothing special about it.
I do like the presentation of the drink though. Love how the chocolate shavings settle in the pool of milk foam. Poached eggs on Thick Toast with Smoked Salmon S$15
This is highly recommended.

I think the price itself is quite reasonable, especially when it comes with a generous serving of thick (really thick and savory) smoked salmon coated underneath a blanket of hollandaise sauce. I find myself very addicted to the hollandaise sauce. This is really one of the best smoked salmon with poached eggs and it's the only one I would return for, because I really really detest egg yolk. If not for the hollandaise sauce, I'll just shove the egg yolks aside. Chicken and Mushroom Pie S$14
The pie on the other hand was definitely not as satisfying as the smoked salmon toast.
I guess pies aren't really Group Therapy's specialities so do not expect much. The crust may be crumbly but not fantastic. It was such a wonderful and lazy afternoon~~
I enjoyed my smoked salmon so much.
This is really a good place for brunch!

Celine

More photos on: http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/08/brunch-at-group-therapy-best-smoked.html

If you are looking for a sumptuous spread of buffet, in particular korean buffet, you should never miss Todai located conveniently at Marina Bay Sands. Though labelled as 'Korean' Buffet, Todai is actually a buffet restaurant packed with an enticing selection of Seafood and International cuisine.

Todai introduces 12 sections in their buffet line, some of which are Churrasco, tepanyaki, sashimi, Korean cuisine, Japanese sushi and Chinese cooked food.

Indeed, Todai has unveiled a new menu consisting free flow of Sea Eel BBQ, Abalone Ginseng Chicken Soup and ala carte Alaskan King Crab that are simply irresistible. The local and international choices are aplenty at the buffet too.

And of course, the free flow of snow crabs.
Seafood lovers would definitely relish the free flow of premium seafood such as snow crabs and sashimi. Todai also provides a mouth-watering selection of premium and creative sushi. Satiate your palate with more than 15 sushi assortments here. My other favorite section at Todai is none other than the Churrasco section.
The Churrasco section has a wide variety of meat for you to enjoy as well.

Most of the meat are prepared to medium rare. You can actually request for a longer simmer if you do not prefer meat that are too raw. One of the recommendation by the Todai's management is their specialty - Korean Fish PancakeThe star of the night is the salty yet juicy Alaskan King Crab.Sea Eel BBQ
Hands down to the juicy and meaty Sea Eel BBQ. The Sea Eel taste great as it is coated with tasty BBQ sauce, but I personally didn't like how it was packed with soft and tiny fish bone although it is consumable. Brace yourself for a flavour explosion as your savour the Ginseng Chicken Soup, packed with an extremely succulent and chewy baby abalone

For full review and more photos, please visit
http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/08/food-review-todai-korean-buffet.html

You might not know what is Koh Grill and Sushi Bar, but surely you would have heard of the legendary "Shiok Maki". "Shiok" is a commonly used slang word among Singaporeans to express satisfaction.

Be it on instagram, facebook or any sorts of social media platforms, people have been raving so much over this Shiok Maki from Koh Grill. So I know I must get down to try it. Other than the shiok maki, I also tried other maki here as well.

In fact, I may actually have a different point of view regarding the makis here!

Pidan Maki $16.80
Combination of sashimi and avocado, served with very own homemade sauce

Pitan (century eggs) sauce is drizzled over the maki wrapping avocado and sashimi. We all know pitan taste really strong, so personally I didn't quite like the overwhelming pitan sauce that covers the taste of avocado and sashimi.

Yet on the other hand, my friend actually quite like this dish because of the sauce. So it depends if you have a thing for pitan (century eggs). Crappy Maki $18
Crispy soft-shell crab and seaweed wrapped with seared swordfish belly
I'm guessing the word "crappy" derives from the soft-shell crab used in this maki. The crappy maki fare much better than the pitan maki. There's no additional strong sauce to confuse the taste bud so I get to enjoy the true taste of the swordfish belly. The smooth tender swordfish belly wraps the Japanese rice very nicely with its adequate thickness. Most of the maki here are also topped with abundant amount of tobiko. Shiok!!! Maki $16.80
Heavenly combination of charcoal grilled eel wrapped with lightly roasted salmon
Each and every shiok maki drizzled with charred cheesy mayonnaise and topped with excessive tobiko (again) seems very addictive. Parts of the salmon sashimi that wraps the maki are also scorched so it gives a well combination of raw and grilled salmon sashimi maki.

As much as I love this a lot (been here thrice just for shiok maki), the standard differs every time I was here. Sometimes, the presentation can be really neat (like the one in the photo) and the taste is satisfying; but sometimes the whole thing just looks like cheese mayonnaise splashed thoughtlessly onto the salmon sashimi wrapping the maki, giving a very mushy texture.

Hope you liked this review

Love,
Celine Chiam

For full review and more photos, please visit
http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/07/food-review-koh-grill-and-sushi-bar-is.html

I've been to quite a few Ramen eateries and the most unforgettable one is the one recommended by my friend - Keisuke Tonkotsu King at Orchid Hotel.

Nonetheless, I got a chance to try out Ippudo Ramen at Mandarin Gallery, thanks to Openrice's invite. Here's my take.

For full review with more photos: http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/07/food-tasting-ippudo-japanese-ramen.html

The interior design is mostly furnished with wooden furniture and very dimly lit. You can choose to have your meal on the dining tables or along the ramen bar just for a quick fix. Very swiftly, my choice of drink was served. I tried the Choya with Lemon (Choya is fixed and you can choose from a few flavoured soda). Choya with lemon tasted more citrus and gassy, and it actually leaves a slightly dry aftertaste. Halfway through the dinner I got to try another drink - Umeshu with Cranberry, and this time I was bought over.

Umeshu with Cranberry is definitely stronger and smoother with a hint of fruity taste thanks to the cranberry. It leaves a slightly stonger alcohol aftertaste. I prefer this drink to the previous one because I like how smooth the drink is. Choya with lemon is a little too gassy to my likings due to the soda that was paired with the choya. Goma Q
Fresh Japanese cucumber with sesame
Start off the meal with a refreshing appetizer, Japanese cucumber coated with Ippudo's sesame sauce. I find the sauce perfect because it comes with a tangy and spicy taste. The only complain is that the cucumber was a little too thick, so the taste of the cucumber very quickly overwhelms the sesame sauce after much chewing. Pork Bun (recommended)
Steamed bun with braised pork and Ippudo's original sauce
If you are hankering for some braised pork but not served in a pool of ramen broth, try the Pork bun at Ippudo. This deceptively simple sounding item turned out so well, no wonder it was one of the best seller and many diners' favourite. The pork bun comes with a smooth soft bun sandwiching the succulent braised pork, drizzled with Ippudo's original sauce. Spicy Shrimp Mayo (Recommended)
Lightly battered deep-fried succulent prawns served with home-made spicy mayonnaise dip
At first glance, the size of the prawn and the way this appetizer was displayed already won many hearts. Dipped in a spoonful of spicy mayonnaise, the huge fresh prawn itself was crunchy and juicy. Beef Tataki (recommended!)
Pan-seared tender beef slices served with a tangy sauce
My apology for recommending so many dishes, but most of them are honestly my favourite! This is especially for the beef tataki.
The beef tataki are medium-rare wagyu beef slices. It goes very well with the tangy sauce on the side, if not the soya sauce that comes with it. In fact, it taste as good consumed on its own. Surprising to say this but the original ramen (Shiromaru Motoaji) itself already possess an extremely rich and thick broth that suggests how long the broth has been boiled. That said, it doesn't require any additional miso paste or anything and it's marvelous on its own. Akamaru shin-aji
Ippudo's original broth enhanced with the special blended miso paste and fragrant garlic oil. Served with thin noodles, buta bara (pork belly), kikurage and spring onions. A refined, modern-style ramen.
This time, the second ramen has additional miso paste which added a saltier taste to the broth. Instead of Chashu (pork loin), Buta Bara (pork belly) was used for this ramen. I personally don't prefer the broth to be so salty. So it really depends on your preference actually. If you prefer a much stronger and richer broth (saltier), you can try the Akamaru Shin-Aji.

For full review with more photos: http://www.chiamhuiy.com/2013/07/food-tasting-ippudo-japanese-ramen.html

Celine Chiam