This Chinese New Year, Ban Heng @ Orchard RELC International Hotel was where I had my first yu sheng. The RELC is not usually a place people would think that has an acceptable Chinese restaurant, as it is overshadowed by its more renowned neighbour, the Shangri-La Hotel. In fact my aunt (who was inviting) told us she had never tried this restaurant before, but that her friend had recommended it. As no one in my family had tried Ban Heng at this particular location, we were curious how the meal would turn out.

First up was the yu sheng, which was the standard delicious.

Next up was a black pot that looked small, but that had so much goodness inside that to afford everyone a few helpings each. It was the first time I was having pen cai, and I was amazed. Our pen cai included tiger prawns, abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, fried oysters, sharks fin, roast pork, napa cabbage, beancurd sheets, scallops, shitake mushrooms - stacks of premium ingredients that built each other up in flavour. The pen cai was a superb dish, save for the dried oysters which tasted strange. It took awhile but we demolished the entire pot.

More large, juicy scallops arrived in a third dish that also contained mushrooms and pinenuts.

Next was a large steamed pomfret. Unfortunately, Ban Heng failed on this one. Some of my relatives could smell its fishiness when it arrived at our table. It definitely tasted fishy, and no one really wanted to eat it. When another aunt brought it up to a waitress (who was from China), she dismissed it, insisting that that's how the fish tastes.

Rubbish! Even if it was not meant that way, it amounted to an insult to us. All of us have eaten steamed pomfret and other types of steamed fish, and everyone knows the taste of fish that is not fresh!

The second last course was a huge mound of glutinous rice, which everyone had a taste of except me, and they thought it was not bad. There was so much that we had leftovers to da pao.

My relatives said that the dessert comprised frog's glands (?). I did not have any, but everyone else was happy to eat it.

Overall, our dinner at Ban Heng alright. The highlight was definitely the pen cai, but I think I would need to taste a few common, average dishes to be able to more accurately judge the restaurant's culinary standards. Service was not too bad, except for the fishy steamed pomfret situation and that intentions were sometimes lost in translation with the servers from China.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.sg/2013/03/ban-heng-orchard-relc-international.html

This is going to be a brief review as I rarely eat tartes and am not an expert on them. We were given a box of pretty tartes from Paul Bakery. I could not resist, and had a little bite of each. I think their names are as follows:
- Top row from L-R: Strawberry Tarte, Mixed Fruit Tarte, Chocolate Tarte
- Middle row on the left: Lemon Cream Tarte with Meringue

All of the tartes had a delightful buttery base, strong enough to hold the tarte yet moist and crumbly in the mouth. And of course, not too thick so that you feel like you're eating a biscuit with a smidge of topping instead of tarte, where the main focus is on what is within the tarte's shell.

The pastry cream below the Strawberry and Mixed Fruit Tartes was creamy yet light, and slightly sweet, pairing up excellently with the fruit. Both tartes are suitable as light tea time snacks.

The Lemon Cream Tarte with Meringue was a favourite amongst my friends. It had carried enough of a tart lemon-y flavour at a level that was just delightfully right.

My favourite was the Chocolate Tarte for its dense, chocolatey richness that felt as lusciously thick as a brownie, but more smooth and less cake-like.

I would eat these tartes again, and take bigger bites!

Ka-Soh Seafood Restaurant is an old school zi char place that is famous for its milky fish soup and prawn paste chicken. Just like Tambuah Mas is the restaurant I had to visit before leaving Singapore for further studies and each time I returned, Ka-Soh is the same to my sister. When my sister was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at around 1am, mom even went to Ka-Soh in the evening to da pau (takeaway) food for her when she reached home!

I have eaten at Ka-Soh more than ten times altogether, and not once has its fish soup or fish given off a fishy aroma. In fact its soup has always tasted creamy and deeply nourishing, and addition of ground white pepper kicks it up a notch. Note that the milkiness of the soup is not due to any kind of milk, but from the boiling of fish bones. Ka-Soh's fish soup is the kind of soup you would want especially on a cold day or when you fall sick.

The steaming claypot beancurd was more average, but not too bad.

Ka-Soh's prawn paste chicken actually smells a little stinky, but you are going to be sinking your teeth into golden brown, crispy, juicy morsels that taste better than KFC. For the health conscious, they are not very oily. My only gripe is that the chunks of breast meat have always been overcooked, rendering the meat tough and dry.

Ka-Soh is generous with its sambal balacan when it comes to cuttlefish kang kong. This dish has always hit the right level of spiciness. They serve it up soaked in oil though, so remember to drain the veg before tucking in.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.sg/2013/06/ka-soh-seafood-restaurant.html

I love Indian food. The only problem is that mom does not, and therefore she does not cook it. To get my fix, I have to eat it outside, and it's not that often that I get to eat it outside either as I usually have dinner at home on weekdays and dinner with my parents on weekends. But one Saturday when my parents had a function, I took the opportunity to have an Indian dinner at Curry Gardenn with my aunt and uncle.

That Saturday evening, Curry Gardenn was packed. People were queueing outside. It was by luck that we only had to wait a few minutes before one table was vacated and we could sit. Curry Gardenn's menu is extensive and there are many options to choose from. Like the idiom "there are many ways to skin a cat", Curry Gardenn offers chicken (amongst other meats) that can be done more than 17 ways.

You can ask the servers for their recommendations, but hopefully you already know what you want. For our table of three, the server recommended that we order individual dishes instead of a set meal. But when our dishes arrived, we saw that the portion size probably only for two, and not much bigger than the portion size of person who ordered their set meals. Choose wisely.

My aunt and uncle shared a plain naan and a garlic naan. We also shared the chicken tikka masala, rogan josh, and mixed veg kurma.

Aunt and uncle commented that the naan fell below their expectations. They like naan that is light, airy and poofy, with a crisp exterior and burnt bits. Curry Gardenn's naan however was flat, thick, dense and doughy. When my uncle asked the owner about it, the owner explained that he does not use baking powder / soda as it is not healthy. That was the first time I heard that baking powder / soda is unhealthy. I do not know how true it is, but my standard for naan's is the same as aunt's and uncle's, and if I cannot have that then I would rather go without.

The rest of the dishes had such a beautifully complex and exquisite flavour. As Curry Gardenn does not use coconut milk in its dishes, but a blend of fruit and nuts, the gravy is much lighter in terms of taste, and on the stomach. Aunt and uncle liked the lightness, and remarked that they could eat a lot without feeling "gela" (nauseous from rich food). Having a light gravy is a nice change - I concur, but only as a change from eating heavy curries, which I prefer a little more than half the time for its heartiness.

In terms of portion size, it was all disappointingly so very small, for the price. There were perhaps only five pieces of chicken in the pot, not even enough to have two each. It was the same situation with the mutton and the vegetables.

As we were still hungry after those dishes, we ordered a tandoori chicken to share. Remembering that we had received a bigger portion in the past, when we ordered to take away, we told the staff that it was a take-away. Indeed, when the clear plastic bag of our tandoori chicken arrived, it seemed like there were eight to ten chunks of chicken within.

But after my uncle asked the same staff to heat up the chicken, it returned in a similar metallic container and there seemed to be fewer pieces of chicken returned to us.

On the whole, Curry Gardenn serves excellent tasting curries, but be prepared to leave with a hole in your wallet if it is a feast that you want.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.sg/2013/08/curry-gardenn.html

On the third day of Chinese New Year after an afternoon of driving around visiting relatives, we were feeling slightly carsick and ill from the heat. As Longhouse Food Centre was on our way home, we stopped by to pick up some dinner. Having had rich dishes on the previous days like pen cai, and lots of Chinese New Year cookies, we just wanted something hot, and plain and simple.

After taking a look at the various stalls' offerings, we settled on food from Bugis Street Chuen Chuen Chicken Rice, namely their chicken congee and chicken feet.

Mom had most of this congee. I only had a few spoonfuls. But I could have gobbled (or drank) the whole thing. The hot, silky soft porridge was immensely soothing. Mixed with the special chicken-flavoured soy sauce, it was soothingly delicious, warming and satisfying, the kind of comfort food you would want on a cold day or when you feel ill. Probably the only congee that could beat it is that from Crystal Jade and Imperial Treasure.

Chicken feet, whether cooked Thai style or Chinese style, has always been a favourite of my sister and I because of its crunchiness. As chicken feet itself is tasteless, much depends on the sauce / gravy accompanying the feet. In comparison to their chicken porridge, I found Chuen Chuen Chicken Rice's chicken feet average, and a little on the sweet side.

If anything, I would return to the stall for more chicken porridge.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.sg/2013/08/bugis-st-chuen-chuen-chicken-rice.html