I was tasked to look for a place for dinner for my office gathering and I suggested this new Mexican restaurant that has just opened at CHIJMES.
I have eaten at several Mexican restaurants in Singapore, but this is definitely the best I have eaten.
They have both indoor and outdoor seating. Outdoors, you dine alfresco but they only serve small bites and drinks outside. Indoors, its air-conditioned.
Here are the highlights of my meal:
Tapas
- Papas Encabronadas: Cut half baby potatoes served in a pot. Yummy.
- Donas de Huitlacoche: This is smoked corn mushroom donuts. Its black in color. Looks off-ish but its delicious.
- Dobladita de Jaiba: Served as an ice cream cone, the cone is a tortilla shell deep fried and it has Crab meat, Avocado, Pico de Gallo & topped with Serrano Meringue.
Dinner
- Ensalada El Mero Mero: Salad with caesar dressing, tomatoes, sunflower seeds & grilled braised pork belly
- Pulpo a las Brasas: Grilled Octopus, Corn Cream, Black garlic & Tajin Ash
- Flautas: Crunchy Tortilla stuffed with chicken, avocado cream & tomatillo
- Burrito XXL: Charcoal Beef Arrachera Burrito, Cheese, rice, beans, avocado, lettuce & pickled onion
- Lechon a la Brasas: 12 hour slow roasted piglet, for 2 – 3 pax
- Queso Fundido: Chihuahua melted cheese, farm tomatoes, salsa & tortilla
Dessert
- Chocolate Ahumado: Mexican Chocolate Ganache, Churros, Cinnamon & Passion Fruit Milk
- Pina a la Brasas: Grilled Pineapple, Caramelised Piloncillo, Papantla Vanilla Ice Cream
- Milhojas de Cajeta: Crispy Crepes, Mexican Milk Caramel, Coffee, Almond
I had several cocktails:
- El Mero Mero: Very popular cocktail amongst my dining group. Strong and a tinge of orange in the drink.
- Mojito: Served in a bamboo cup with lots of crushed ice and a piece of sugarcane. You can chew on the sugarcane to add some natural sweetness to your drink.
- Latin Lover: Served in a wooden flat bowl, it was orangy and reminded me of being at a beach resort.
- Frozen Margherita: We had several jugs of this. It was slushy and drink slowly to avoid brain-freeze.
A great dining place at a centrally located venue – CHIJMES.
This place is definitely on my recommended list! Try it!

After a great dining experience at this restaurant recently, I came back here for lunch and went for the omakase lunch.
We were seated at the sushi counter, which uses Japanese wood and we were able to watch the chef in action and also talk to the chef about the origins of the ingredients of the dishes he prepared.
The chef is knowledgeable and well versed in sushi preparation and cooked food.
Here are the courses that we had:
- Stewed Bonito: The first course of the meal. Served cold and very refreshing, with tasty gravy.
- Fresh beancurd skin topped with seaweed, roe and freshly grated wasabi: The chef gets this special supply of fresh beancurd skin that’s ben layered to create tofu. Topped with the other ingredients, it was a delightful dish.
- Teapot soup: Drinking the soup with and without squeezing the lime made the soup taste different. After drinking the soup, you can eat the prawns, mushrooms and vegetables that has been cooked inside.
- Sashimi -
- Hokkaido sea urchin: The chef only imports the best brand from Hokkaido and if its not available, it means the quality is not up to their standard. It has heavenly.
- Setouchi Sea bream: Biting into this white fish gave a good bite. Definitely fresh!
- Nagasaki Spanish mackerel: The chef flame-broiled the outside of the fish – skin side in front of us. It gave the fish a slightly smoky flavour. I usually do not like mackerel and this changed my perception. Loved it.
- Wakayama strip jack: Also fresh and delicious.
- Hokkaido scallop: It was very sweet and delicious. Must-order.
- Assorted fish with Goma dressing: Assorted fish that was marinated in home-made sesame dressing. The dressing was unlike any that I have tasted and definitely not off the shelf. It was good.
- Fried Japanese fish with Japanese sweet potato cut in the shape of the Ginko leaf: Decent piece of fish that was skewered on a stick, coated with small bread crumbs and fried. Fish was very good. It came with two pieces of Japanese sweet potato that has been cut into the shape of a ginko leaf. Good presentation. It also had two soba noodles that has been tied at one end with seaweed and deepfried. I had thought it was toothpicks and inedible till the chef said I could eat it.
- Mini hotpot with Oysters, crab meat, seasonal mini Japanese potato and cream and cheese sauce: Another highlight of the meal. I wasn’t expecting the whole oysters in there and together with the cream sauce, it was yummy!
- Rice topped with Unagi, Japanese pickles and Nagoya Miso Soup: Last course of the meal. It was a mini bowl of Japanese rice topped with two pieces of freshly grilled unagi. The unagi was soft, but do be careful of bones.
We were filled to the brim after our meal, and most importantly, the food were fresh and good!
I look forward to visiting the restaurant again in the near future.

This is my ‘Place To Go’ for modern Singapore cuisine. Located along Bukit Timah Road, near Old Holland Road, you can get there easily if you are driving/ taking a cab.
Violet Oon is Singapore’s very own ‘Celebrity Chef’ and has many a cook book written by her.
With a restaurant, its now possible to eat food cooked according to her recipes.
I came for dinner recently with my colleagues and were in for a treat.
Here are the highlights of my meal:
- Dry Laksa ($22): Fresh rice noodle tossed in Vio Laksa pesto with prawns, tau pok and bean sprouts. The dry version of the traditional laksa that you usually have. The sauce is thicker and creamier, and it was nice!
- Buah Keluak Pasta ($24): This was my favourite, where you get Buah Keluak that’s been infused with spices, minced prawns, chilli padi and coconut milk tossed in with spaghetti. A modern fusion pasta that you must order!
- Ngo Hiang ($15): Deep fried fresh prawn, crab meat, pork and water chestnut rolls seasoned with five-spice powder and wrapped in bean curd skin. The fillings were substantial and went well with the sweet sauce that came with the dish.
- Tauhu Goreng ($15): Fried bean curd with julienne cucumber and bean sprouts topped with peanut sauce. The bean curd were nice. Wished the bean sprouts were cooked, so that they don’t taste raw.
- Sambal Bendi ($9): Poached lady’s fingers in a spicy and tangy dried prawn floss paste. The prawn paste were slightly tangy and went well with the lady’s fingers.
- Garam Assam Fish ($23): Spanish Mackeral fillets n a spicy and sour gravy with pineapple slices and lady fingers. I loved the sauce. Full of ‘rempah’ (spices) that you can taste with each spoonful of gravy. However, my dinner group finished all the fish before I could sample it… So have to try this next time.
- Desserts
- Pulut Hitam with Vanilla ice cream: Interesting addition of glutinous rice in the black glutinous rice made this dessert unique. It’s the modern version of the traditional hot pulut hitam that you find elsewhere.
- Kuay Beng Kah (Tapioca Cake) with gula melaka and coconut cream: Traditional nonya kueh, that’s made into a cake and served as a slice. Served warm and drizzled with gula Melaka and coconut cream, it was divine!
- Bread and Butter Pudding with Whisky and Custard Sauce: The first thing that ‘struck’ me was the whiff of whisky from the sauce which the bread and butter pudding was drenched with. The whisky and custard sauce gave the dish a whole different flavour, compared to the ones you have had before.
The restaurant is done in a modern setting, and offers a great ambience and nice place to chill out with friends and family.

If you are hankering after dim sum from the 60's or if you want to bring your parents to reminisce dim sum from the 60's, you can visit Mouth Restaurant for the new ' Nostalgic Canton Dim Sum' which is a 9 course dim sum menu specially created and only available from now till Jan 2015.
It cost $24.80++ per pax with a minimum of 4 pax.
Here are the dishes that we savoured:
1) Dumplings in Double-Boiled Winter melon Chicken Soup:
- Birdnest and Chicken minced meat: Served as a green dumpling in the soup. Wished there was more bird nest in it, so I can taste the bird nest. Good for ladies!
- Hashima and Crabmeat: Orange dumpling. Chockful of crabmeat. Awesome flavour.
2) Steamed Chicken Siew Mai with mushroom, asparagus, turnip and wolfberry: Presentation was nice. I found the asparagus too fibrous and wished they had removed the skin of the asparagus. Else it was ok.
3) Steamed Hairy Gourd with Minced Chicken Meat, Water Chestnut and Conpoy in Oyster Sauce: Hairy gourd as a base and topped with minced chicken mix. This reminded me of my early childhood, when my mum prepared this dish at home. Great memories!
4) Steamed 3 Colors Crystal Dumpling in 3 Flavours: Good presentation, each person had 1 type of 'colored' dumpling served in a dim sum container.
- The clear dumpling had straw mushrooms and ham, The orange dumpling had diced button mushrooms and the green dumpling had egg white, crab meat and truffle oil.
The green dumpling was the best!
5) Deep Fried Taro-Coated Prawn in Blended Oyster Sauce: Fresh prawns coated with mash yam and deep fried till crispy. Very good. The oyster sauce that went it had diced mushrooms and scallions in it and complimented the prawns and taro.
6) Deep Fried Dumpling with Fresh Prawn & Char Siew in Sweet & Sour Sauce: Think wanton served with sweet and sour fried prawns and char siew. The wantons were crispy and went well with the sauce. The serving of the prawns and char siew was also like an 'ala carte' order. Good sized portions.
7) Pan Fried Glutinous Rice with Chicken Meat & Mushroom in XO Sauce: You know lotus leaf glutinous rice with fillings? This is now pan-fried and served with XO sauce on the side. It was crispy on the outside and the inside fillings included the usual salted egg, diced mushrooms and stewed meat. Eating with XO sauce gave it a different dimension. Not bad!
8) Braised Beancurd Skin Roll with Chicken Meat, Mushroom, Fish Maw and Luncheon Meat: My favourite dish for the meal. Instead of plain steaming, this was served in a superior stock, which tasted like 'cream of chicken soup'. Excellent, and unlike the ones you get at other dim sum restaurant. Must-try!
9) Legendary Baked Cream of Salted Egg Yolk Bun: Baked instead of the usual steamed ones you get at other restaurants. Very yummy!
The meal was very filling, despite my lunch kakis' worry that being dim sum, the food will not be enough to fill their stomachs. We left the restaurant very full!

I was in tha Ang Mo Kio area and was looking around for a good chicken rice stall.
I came across this recommendation and decided to try them out.
My first choice of white chicken is sold out, so I went with the roast chicken and also ordered their lemon chicken chop rice to try.
Here's the verdict:
- Roast Chicken Chicken Rice: The rice is slightly fragrant, and was alright, The chicken was not bad. You can order the meal as a set, which will cost $4.50 and it comes with a side of vegetables and your chicken and rice will be served in different plates. It comes with a ginger sauce that is quite salty and the chilli sauce is potent.
- Lemon Chicken Chop Rice: They use the same chicken rice as the one above. It was a deep fried chicken chop and I couldn't taste the lemon flavour at all. I wonder if they are supposed to drizzle some lemon sauce over the chicken chop?
The chicken rice came with a bowl of cabbage soup, which is healthier than the usual chicken soup you normally get at other stalls.
They also have porridge available, which I see many customers at other tables ordering. Will try that the next time.
I spent $3 per person.