I am always intrigued by the taste of the muddy red looks of thse dishes cooked with red rice wine and when my friend revealed that she loves it, i jump upon the chance to ask her to bring me to have a taste of it.

She brought me to Putien and ordered the Claypot Chicken in Fermented Red Rice Wine ($19.90 for medium size) for us to share. I also ordered a Organic Vegetable Juice ($4.90) because i wanted to make up for my lack of vegetable in my diet. I was surprise when my vegetable juice was serve in a cute cylindrical glass flask which somewhat makes the green-looking juice looks tastier to me. Tastewise, it was appetite-stimulating cause sour plum was added in it. The juice doesn't have the grassy taste that most vegetable juice have. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the piping hot claypot chicken was served. I was salivating upon smelling the aroma of the red rice wine. I boldly followed my friend in ladling spoonfuls of gravy onto my rice and immediately dugged it. It was so good! The gravy was not too salty and retains the fragrance of the wine smell. It was also not too thick nor too watery so it goes very well with the rice. The chicken was very tender and juicy. Black fungus was also added and they were crunchy. One thing to note is that the chicken chunk were not boneless which to me, is great because i feel that eating chicken together with its bone makes it tastier but it might be a turn-off for people who prefer to simply savour the meat.

Both my friend and enjoyed the dish so much that we each ordered another bowl of rice after finishing the chicken because there was so much gravy and it would be such a pity to waste them. Imagine our second bowl of rice totally drenched in the gravy like a rice soup porridge; you can tell how much we love it. Do take the first step like me to try it and hopefully you will like it as much as i do.

Anthesis sells a wide variety of artisan breads, pastries and tarts. I was particularly drawn to this fruit tart when i was there because of the vibrant colours of the various fruits piled on it. There were strawberries, blueberries, raspberry, blackberry and mango. Below the fruits is a crispy sweet crust base with frangipane filling, topped with a thin layer of custard and a little blueberry jam in the middle. I like their choice of fruits used as they are the not-too-sweet fruits that balance out the sweetness of the tart base. The use of fragipane (sweet almond cream) instead of a liberally custard filling also makes the tart less cloying.

A cheery-looking tart that is a refreshing and delicious treat after a tiring day. I will be back for more of their treats! =)

Duke Bakery, hailing from Taiwan, sells Japanese European style artisan breads. Their first outlet at United Square is currently drawing a crowd as they are offering 20% Off Storewide with no minimum purchase required now until Mon, 4th Nov 2013. They claim to sell low sugar and low fat breads; in other words, healthier choice.

I was interested to check them out as i was curious whether their low sugar, low fat concept makes their bread any difference in taste and texture than our common breads.

Their shop is located right beside the entrance for the shopping mall. When i was there, their display racks were mostly empty beside the ones located in the centre of the shop as there were a sizable crowd piling their own trays with lots of breads. I notice that all their breads are of loaf sizes and they do not have any individual buns sold like those in our existing bakeries. They were thoughtful in providing tasting sample beside most of their display bread to allow people to be sure that they like the flavour before buying. I bought one of their signature bread called 'Carlbell', which has cranberries and cream cheese in it. It's original price is about $6+ if i am not wrong. It was definitely chewier than those commonly sold sweet bread, and i think a little chewier than the other european breads that i have tried before. The taste was nothing to shout about, just ordinary. The bread was quite long, shaped like a neck rest. The cranberries inside was not well spread, so some parts of the bread has quite a few pieces while another part has none at all. Overall, a decent bread but nothing extraordinary.

I am glad to at least try their bread once, but my preference goes to the softer kind of breads. Do try them if you prefer chewier artisan breads.

Ben & Jerry has recently introduced a new flavour called the Couch Potato. Described as ' vanilla ice cream with salty caramel swirl and chocolatey covered potato chip clusters', i know it is a must try for me. I got my hands on a cup and i proclaim that it has taken over my all time favourite Strawberry Cheesecake flavour. There was a nice liberal swirl of salty caramel that balanced out the sweet vanilla ice cream. The chocolate covered potato chip clusters remained crispy and adds a satisfying mouth feel to the creamy ice cream. The overall combination is just so good that i got another one right after my first because i just love it too much! You must not miss this flavour!

Recently i chanced upon these new item, the Teochew Dumpling that they have added to their menu beside their signature pan fried paus. Teochew dumpling are not commonly found, thus i decided to try it. Their Teochew dumpling has the shape and size of a small soon kueh.The skin was translucent and have a very soft texture with i like. However, the filling was mushy and a bit too pepperish for me. The meat inside was rather fat, while the peanut was too raw. I think i still prefer their pan-fried buns which they are more specialised in.