Yes, it’s that time of the year again. Alba White Truffle season is here!

The insane craving that couldn’t go away started after I read ST’s article on it. Many restaurants in Singapore are offering luxurious special menus and so far, I think Otto’s is the best priced. And I may be a little biased here, but I know that I can always count on Otto for a great meal. And I’m glad I wasn’t proven wrong =)

The last time I got so excited over an eggy dish was at Bistro Du Vin last year when Chef Marie was in town.

Gosh, this scrambled egg with blue swimmer crab ($19++) is to-die-for. Like, seriously. Texture was incredible, smooth and not overtly creamy, with big chunks of sweet crab meat, and the morsels of aromatic funghi added such a lovely burst of intense flavour to it.

I get hungry just writing, thinking, and looking at it!

I super love the Atlantic cod tagliata with porcini mushroom crust and creamed baby spinach ($40++) as well! The same weighing, shaving and weighing routine for another 2 grams of heaven was done and I had me a huge slab of tender fatty fish that literally melted in my mouth.

Desserts was a nice surprise. The crème brulee looks innocently enough, yes? But looks are deceiving. Underneath the layer of caramelized sugar is scrumptiously silky white truffle-scented custard cream! A little sweet, a little savoury, this weird combination actually works.

With so many new ice cream/gelato parlors popping up in Singapore, it’s been eons since I last ate Scoopz’s ice cream. This small takeaway shop has been around for the longest time ever, maybe about 10 years or so? Though Parkway Parade was my regular hangout place when I was in sec school and JC, I’ve never tried it cuz I wasn’t into ice cream back then, only fast-junk-food haha, and McDonald’s 50 cents ice cream cone was good enough.

I finally had a taste of Scoopz’s ice cream a couple of years ago and it has become a must for me to have (more than) a scoopz everytime I swing by the mall =) That’s how good it is!

Local flavours are their “thing” so there’s nothing fancy here, just common favourites like chocolate (duh) and vanilla. Tropical fruit flavours are also their specialty, especially durian. All the ice cream it is hand made on freezing pans and the “massaging” results in a texture that’s dense and smooth.

After such a long hiatus, I went for 5 (instead of my usual 3) scoops: Avocado, black sesame, jackfruit, strawberry, rum and raisin. Ahh, sugar heaven~

What I like best about the ice cream here is that all the flavours are very intense and strong, plus not overly sweet. If that’s not tempting enough, servings are incredibly generous! And $6.90 for these 5 big scoops? Done deal! I hereby challenge you to name me another place that offers such good quality ice cream and fabulous price tags =)

I always manage to find a new flavour I like at Tom’s Palette. This time, it’s Mocha Mac Nuts! Almonds and macadamia nuts are painstakingly roasted, then coated with white chocolate, before adding in the aromatic coffee mixture. I really love how nutty this is!

As usual, I tried all the flavours available for the day! Outstanding flavours include:

Salty Yuzu (above and below), I like for the tangy-salty flavour tease on the taste buds;

Salted Egg Yolk is literally like eating frozen mooncake;

Summer Berries tastes ribena-y.

The 4 Christmas flavours at Tom’s Palette are out, folks!

I was excited about Chestnut Brandy (above) previously and rightly so! Though I couldn’t taste much of the brandy, the pure chestnut goodness was love at first taste!

Chocolate pudding (fruit cake with marshmallows) was already sold out by the time I reached but the friendly staff gave me a really generous sample. It’s like a nutty old-fashioned chocolate ice-cream, I like!

White Chocolate Cranberries and White Christmas (below, candy cane with mint) didn’t catch my fancy cuz I don’t like white choc and the latter was soooo minty, kinda like toothpaste!

And this is also the first time I came across Longan Red Dates (in both pics above). According to 8 Days, this is “ideal for auntie types too lazy to brew liang teh” (herbal tea). Heh, so now I’m an auntie! But who cares, what a great way to soothe the sore throat I’ve been having lately, haha.

Chikuwa Tei used to be Wasabi Tei at Far East Plaza. Though I’ve never been to the old premises, I’ve heard of the “good” old days when the restaurant was helmed by the infamous ”nazi chef”. With a much bigger restaurant to control now, the chef is no longer as grumpy as before, phew. Otherwise, how can grumpy people cook good food?

Service was very brisk and efficient. Seats were shown, orders were taken, and a small bowl of crunchy renkon (lotus roots) was given as appetiser within minutes.

Call it a moment of insanity. Till now, I’ve still had no idea why we had the Jumbo Roll ($5++). I dislike anything with those awful frozen crabsticks so this was no better.

On the other end of the spectrum, these sheets of mini dried sardines ($8++) were super delicious! So crispy and addictive~ Portion was small so it’s best to get one for yourself! =)

Another star dish of the night was these fried salmon wrapped with seaweed ($12++)! Love the texture of this. What made it even more tasty was this homemade Japanese curry! It’s on the sweet side so it’s perfect as a dip for those savoury salmon rolls.

The cod fish in claypot ($24++) had a nice sweet broth, plenty of tender oily fish and assorted vegetables, but it’s definitely not as memorable as the salmon rolls and sardine sheets.