Thanks to The Soup Spoon, I had the opportunity to try their newest Brazil Souper Inspirations that will be launched on 11th August 2016 at all Soup Spoon outlets. Souper Anna religiously visited Brazil together with her team of inquisitive foodies and learnt from the locals how Brazil puts food on their table.We had a night of educational and fun sharing by Anna followed by a quiz and lastly the food tasting of the 4 delightful soups that are so vibrant in colour and ingredients.Checking out the 4 soups, they offer a variety of flavours for the different palates. There's beef, fish, chicken and even a vegan option.

Beef Stroganoff Brazilian Style (314 calories)Apparently this is almost Brazil's National dish! The original Russian recipe is made with onions, butter, mushrooms, beef slices, sweet wine and sour cream and served with potatoes or pasta. The Brazilian version however is supersized with more ingredients with added cream and is always served with steamed rice and chips. The soup spoon's version is based on best of both options and even comes topped with yummy, crispy potato sticks. Can we please have these crispy potato sticks as an option for ALL soups ?!The beef was a familiar taste to my tongue and you wouldn't use more an ounce of jaw muscle to chew this, as the beef was extremely tender. There was a sweet aroma from the variety of ingredients in the soup that really opened up my appetite for more food! Soup Spoon was extremely generous with the ingredients for this soup!

2. Moqueca Barramundi (313 Calories)Okay, there's 2 reasons to order this soup. 1. If you love singaporean style food, aka laksa and 2. If you love fish. I fall into both categories, hence this was the sure winner for me. Dear Soup Spoon, are you listening to this, keep this on the regular menu. The soup itself provided a fragrant aroma that carried the scent of all the ingredients! Too many to list but once you smell it, you know it's good stuff!The fish itself was so soft and tender. Everything in this soup was edible with just a spoon. Do be careful with the fish bones, I did see a tweeny weeny bone the size of, like 2mm? Other than that, I had so much fun and enjoyment fishing out all the humongous fish chunks in the soup. I sure hope that regular customers would get the same fish to soup ratio. At the end of the event, out of curiosity, I was asking around if anyone had chosen this soup as the "Best soup of the night"and not surprisingly, almost everyone agreed.

3. Galinha Caipira (Country Style Chicken Stew) 316 CaloriesYou can never go wrong with a soup that has tender and juicy chicken embedded in it. This soup had a thicker consistency than the fish. It was modelled more towards the thick Indonesian soto ayam. This soup had a lighter taste but with a distinct tumeric lingering aftertaste. It is topped with chopped peanuts, coriander and coconut flakes. I didn't quite spot the coconut flakes but I felt that the soup could do with a bit more chopped peanuts. Considering that everything in the soup is either soft, tender or mushy. A slightly harder texture like chopped peanuts would provide a more satisfying crunch into each mouthful.4. Vegan Caldinho De Feijao 488 CaloriesOkay, so the interesting part is the vegan soup is the one with the most calories! Say Whut?! The black beans was bathed in a savoury soup filled with tomatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, tapoica, celery, carrots, garlic and more. The beans was cooked to a firm, grainy consistency, a hybrid between a bean and porridge. The soup itself was slightly too salty for my liking. The garnishes of chopped coriander seems to be a key favourite in all the soups tonight.

Located within a few metres of Tai Seng MRT is Carol Mel Cafe. This is my third visit to the cafe and the new creations from the cafe owners is what keeps bringing me back. Starting off with this fusion appetizer.

Luncheon Fries with Salted Egg $12 *Highly Recommended*The luncheon meat itself is sliced in equal thickness and then battered with flour and authentic salted egg giving each bite a satisfying crisp and crunch. Not to mention, the soft and tender luncheon meat sandwiched inbetween this irresistible batter. I just couldn't stop laying my hands on them. The slightly grainy and lumpy salted egg bits had a vivid aroma and flavour that left a tinge of spice with each mouthful. 2. Yuzu Wasabi Soy Sesame Dressing Angel Hair Pasta $18This dish was very instagram worthy with lots of pretty ingredients with naturally bright colours! This cold angel hair pasta was served with fresh tiger prawns, smoked salmon, blue shell mussel, kani leg and tobiko but usually you would get Ikura. For $18, that's alot of yummy seafood in one plate! The cold angel hair itself had the texture closer to that of wanton mee. The prawns were fresh and so was the tobiko. I really liked the crunchiness that the tobiko added to the dish, which I know would be amplified with Ikura.

The dressing was unique and at the same time brought the dish to whole new level. You can definitely taste the kick from the wasabi sauce. I'm a I weakling when it comes to spicy foods and I usually shun food with wasabi in it, in fear that I might not be able to take the spiciness. However the soy sesame dressing did a great job stabilizing the taste and enhancing the flavour of the cold angel hair pasta. This was another ingenious creation of Chef Andy!

3. Duck Confit $18Crispy duck leg confit served with butter mash potatoes and a side salad served with Japanese sesame dressing. The sauce for the duck was made with orange and red wine reduction. For the first time ever, I learnt how real duck confit was made. It takes about 3 hours for the duck leg to be slowly heated up in an oven, surrounded in fat. That's a lot of time, not to mention, limited oven space and also gas or electricity depending on what kind of oven you're using!The result? Really really really tender duck meat that falls right off the bone and with a bit of pan frying, the crispy duck skin is extremely satisfying in taste and texture. Definitely a a meaty and flavourful dish that would satisfy any duck cravings you might have!

4. Rainbow Cheesecake $8This rainbow cheescake definitely caught my eye as I peered into the cake display at Carol Mel. This is no ordinary rainbow cheesecake. The vibrant colours each represent a distinct flavour.

Red Strawberry
Orange Orange
Yellow Lemon
Green Pandan
Blue Blueberries
Purple Yam
All in all, this rainbow cheesecake is set to brighten up your mood and palate. Moist cheesecake texture that melts with a crumbly graham cracker base.

Overall : Carol Mel Cafe offers a variety of food options all with an interesting twist. Don't be afraid to try something that you wouldn't normally order as Chef Andy would be certain to impress you with every dish that comes out of the kitchen. The cakes are just as delightful as the mains, so do remember to leave room for dessert!

Located in the middle stretch of the hawker center is this roast duck stall that you cannot miss. The queue is always there but the queue time is usually 20-30 mins.The roasted duck neck is sold at just 50 cents for this portion. The roast duck skin is simply crispy and pretty much sat soft any roasted cravings you might have. The sweetness of the sauce is also just right. If anything, drink up the sweet corn soup for added sweetnessAt just $3 for a plate of char Siew and roasted pork. This is extremely value for money and the roasted pork skin is as crispy as a graham cracker. The roasted pork isn't too fatty and pretty much melts in your mouth. The char Siew is decent too! Overall, great value and high satisfaction guaranteed! Checkout the texture of the roasted pork skin! All the good food here cost a total of $6.50! Talk about feeding the family on a budget !

Fika Swedish Cafe has 3 outlets in Singapore. One at Beach Road, another at Millenia Walk and the first one that I visited, at One KM Mall at paya lebar. On my second visit, I went to Millenia Walk and a group of colleagues, comfortably sat down in a quiet corner of the rather spacious Fika Cafe.The wait staff were very friendly and patient. Everytime, they came around to clear our plates. They would ask how did we find our food. Don't forget to check out their cake display on the left the cashier. I had recently seen on their instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fikacafesg/) that they had mini princess cakes and I was also keen to try them during my first visit at One KM Mall. After the waiter came by to take our orders, I walked up to the cake display and picked 2 more cakes. Swedish Meatballs $19.90++
These meatballs aren't like the ones you have at Ikea. There's alot more moist and subtle in flavour. The meat is tender and you can tell it's alot fresher than those frozen ones at Ikea. The cream sauce itself was sharper in flavour and smoother, almost milk-like. The cream sauce, gives you the feeling that the meat ball pretty much melts in your mouth. The potatoes were also just as delicious. They were of the consistent texture and even as a low-carb eater, I polished the potatoes off this plate!Smoked Salmon Crepe $19.90++
The smoked salmon crepe was a delightful surprise to me. The chef pretty much stuffed as much smoked salmon as they could into the crepe. There was so much smoked salmon in here, any smoked salmon fan would rejoice! The salmon wasn't fishy in aroma or taste. There was a right amount of smokiness to the salmon and the eggy crepe's subtle flavour helped offset the strong lingering taste of the salmon. The crepe was soft, moist and pillowy in texture.3. Toast Skagen $21.90++Having worked in Sweden, my dad is a huge fan of Skagen, or the fresh water shrimps commonly found there. He was desperate to taste it again that he bought a frozen packet of these shrimps from IKEA but, it tasted nowhere as close to what he remembers. At Fika however, he was extremely pleased to see this and also confirmed that it tasted very close to his experiences in Stockholm. The shrimp themselves are extremely crunchy and you can taste Fika's honesty in the freshness of the ingredients they have placed on your plate. The toasted bread itself was also fresh and crunchy. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I've had skagen in both the sandwich ($21.90++) as well as the crepe ($19.90++)
One thing you cannot dismiss is how vibrantly red the fish roe is, set atop of the skagen. I would definitely get the skagen again in either the sandwich or crepe, on my future visits to FIKA.4. Lingonberry Cheesecake $7.90++
After all the amazing main courses, the desserts were also just as amazing. The servings of the cakes were just right for sharing between 2-3pax. The lingonberry cheesecake was dense, but not overly sweet. The graham cracker crust at the bottom, wasn't too stiff for my fork to divide it. At the same time, the cheesecake texture was smooth and and melted in my mouth. 5. Princess Cake $7.90++
Another signature swedish dessert is the princess cake. Wrapped in pink fondant, is a lightly cream, followed by layers of light spongey cake. This wasn't a top favourite amongst locals, according to a staff at One KM, and I can see why. Even amongst my colleagues, no one really appreciated the pink fondant. Yes it is pure sugar, but it's so pretty! I did however enjoy the cream and the sponge cake layers.6. Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Mousse Cake $6.90++
This is for all you chocoholic lovers out there. A chocolately cake emphasized with a hazelnut crunchy later embedded in the bottom part of the cake, to give you a different texture in every mouthful. The middle layer of the chocolate cake was pretty mild in terms of flavour, but it carried off a pleasantly sweet chocolate fragrance. In terms of flavour, it was smooth, a bit heavy, but not too heavy and gelat to the palate.Overall : FIKA is a very honest establishment that definitely serves up some of the most honest ingredients to the customers with friendly staff. If you have never tried swedish cuisine before and you love smoked salmon, beef balls, cakes, or just looking for a new halal eatery to checkout, do give Fika a try!

Located on the second floor, near the escalator is Bangkok Jam. It is a rather open-concept restaurant. The tables have a glass top with very colourful pop-art designs. I tried their thai milk tea that tasted rather diluted and nowhere as sweet as I had half expected it to be.1, Green Papaya Fresh Spring Rolls with Zesty Som Tam DressingLunch reaches a pinnacle with the presentation of the colours of the vegetables definitely brought out the appetizing factor for the dish. The dish was always well plated, but it was way too spicy for my liking. I'm also not a fan of springs rolls that aren't fried.2. Grilled Australian Wagyu Beef Short Plate Salad with Chilli Lime DressingEach and every slice of the grilled australian wagyu beef was juicy and tender. The chilli lime dressing on the other hand boasts a hint of saltiness paramount for the spiciness to stand out.

3. Stir-fried Kway Teow with Sriracha Sauce, Cuttlefish & Chicken / PorkThis dish cleanses the palate with its sweet and savoury impression of pad thai. The sriracha sauce wasn't as spicy as I had expected it to be. The kway teow had a distinct wok-hei taste but without the wok-hei fragrance. Bangkok jam was generous with their ingredients. Every mouthful of kway teow was accompanied with some cuttlefish, chicken or pork.

Overall : A cosy ambiance for a nice family meal on a weekday or weekend. The food here tries to look reasonably priced without trying to over promise.