If you could have the best of both worlds, what would it be? How about a croissant-cum-doughnut? Or a Crodo?

This unique pastry first came to light in the US this year and is famously known as the ‘Cronut’ whose name has been trademarked by its original creator, Dominique Ansel Bakery, both in the US and worldwide. In Singapore, Da Paolo has also come up with a similar pastry called the Crodo that looks exactly like a donut on the outside but tastes like a croissant on the inside.I had enjoyed dining at Da Paolo Ristorante (same group as the Gastronomia) before and the food execution and delivery were of pretty high standards so I presumed the same standards would be applied on its pastries too. Unfortunately, the Crodos clearly fell short of my expectations.

The original flavour (or Cream) is my best choice (among the worse) out of the 3 flavours. The custard cream filling is very rich and creamy and that is probably the only tantalising ingredient in the entire ring that is of interest to me.

For chocolate lovers, you might just fall in love with the Chocolate Crodo as you’d see a load of chocolate ganache oozing out of the centre after you take a bite. It looks delish but unfortunately, it lacks that chocolatey punch as I have tasted better chocolate ganache than that.

The Salted Caramel is the husband’s favourite since he’s always biased towards anything caramel. Seriously, it could do with a little more salt to further bring out the flavour of the caramel. It just doesn’t work for me.

For full review and pictures, please visit http://springtomorrow.com/2013/10/26/crodos-croissant-donut-hybrid-from-da-paolo-gastronomia-great-world-city/

Headed to Tiong Bahru Market for lunch and had queued up at Tiong Bahru Lor Mee Stall (#02-80) for at least 10 minutes but was told their Lor Mee had sold out by the time it was my turn to order. And it was only 1.30pm! Damn, if only the person in front of me could order one bowl short! Anyway, I decided to try out the other popular stall, Lor Mee 178 (#02-23) which had an even longer queue. Lol, a battle of the Lor Mees!

Though the queue was long, it moved considerably quick. I waited for probably 20 minutes which wasn’t too bad if you have time to spare. This stall had received various national accolades and was featured in a number of local food programmes as well as various print media.And here’s what I had ordered. A bowl of thick, flat yellow noodles in a starchy gravy topped with generous portions of ingredients like sliced fish cakes, braised pork and crispy fried shark nuggets. The delightful shark nugget is clearly the winning ingredient of this Lor Mee. It is fried to perfection. The batter is extremely crispy. I left the nuggets till the end to slowly savour them and they still taste crunchy despite being soaked in the gravy for a while. Shark meat itself is rather bland and doesn’t have much flavour too so the essence really lies in the crispiness of the nuggets. It’s like dunking hot, crispy dough fritters in porridge!

The gravy is also very tasty. Plus you can add a drizzle of Chin Kiang black vinegar (I’m so happy they use good old Chin Kiang!), minced garlic and a dollop of sambal chilli for that fiery kick. Mix everything up, you’ll get a mouthwatering bowl of noodles! Normally I try not to finish the gravy (for other lor mees) because it tends to be overly starchy but Lor Mee 178′s is of the perfect consistency and I actually slurped up every bit without feeling sick of it.

For full review and pictures, please visit http://springtomorrow.com/2013/11/06/lor-mee-178/

I’m lucky to be living in an estate with hawker centres and coffee shops in close proximity 24/7. But it was also disappointing that there wasn’t any decent fish soup here until I chanced upon Mr Teh Tarik eating house at Blk 608 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 (where Botak Jones used to be located) a few months back. Now, I come here at least once a week just to eat fried fish beehoon or sliced fish porridge.

Mr Teh Tarik is a halal certified coffee shop/food court with several outlets island-wide. It offers a good mix of local Singaporean food, most if not all, cooked by our Malay friends. At Mr Teh Tarik Ang Mo Kio, you’ll find nasi padang with a variety of tasty Malay-style dishes, nasi ayam (chicken rice), wonton noodles, fish soup, tze char (stir-fries), nasi briyani, indian rojak and a drink stall that serves interesting concoctions and refreshing beverages.My favourite has got to be the fish soup (sop ikan) stall. Using rich-flavoured fresh stock and ground ikan billis that is only spooned into the stock while cooking upon ordering, the soup itself is simply scrumptious. The fish slices (I think they use batang fish) are fresh and the other accompaniments of vegetables, tofu cubes, tomato wedges and black seaweed just add texture and colour to the dish. Portion is generous. My husband thinks it’s just standard. But each time we count the fish slices in our respective bowls when we eat separately, it seems mine would always have extra pieces than my husband’s! Maybe the Malay lady at the stall gives me a tiny incentive because I’m a regular customer? Maybe it’s just sheer luck!

I’m not sure if Prata Raya is a revamped version of Ah Mei Cafe that was located inside AMK Hub previously. Its menu is the same as Ah Mei’s and in fact, I’m quite certain the chefs are the same because the fish curry gravy and texture of their pratas resemble that of Ah Mei Cafe. Maybe the Ah Mei franchisee decided to strike out on his/her own – that’s what my husband and I think.Prata Raya is one of our favourite haunts for prata these days besides Casuarina Road and Jalan Kayu. They open till 2am in the morning so if you’ve just finished catching a movie at Cathay @ AMK Hub, it’s a perfect place to go to for a late night supper.

The restaurant operates on a self-service queue system. Once you order and pay at the counter, you’ll get a number tag. When your number flashes on the top left digital queue system, you can go pick up your food. Be warned, you may have to wait for 1/2 hour for your pratas (probably worse during peak dining hours) because there is only one chef making the pratas. If you can’t wait, then go somewhere else.

Drinks wise, I’d normally go for hot Teh Tarik or the Ice Milk Tea (S$2.20) that has the right balance of tea and evaporated milk. The tea has a bitter-fragrant flavour that is well complemented by the fragrant-milk taste of the evaporated milk. It’s not too sweet, despite it being a pre-prepared beverage from a dispenser.

The mutton murtabak (S$7.00) is not as greasy as I expected it to be. It comes in 4 big triangular pieces with generous portions of mutton meat inside. The mutton smell is strong but not in a bad way.

Their egg pratas and plain pratas are worth a try only if you like non-crispy type of pratas. You can’t compare these with Jalan Kayu’s of course. I like both crispy and non-crispy type of pratas but I’m more drawn to the non-crispy ones because I enjoy a more chewy texture. I like the fish curry gravy that they serve with pratas here. Very rich in flavour and not overly greasy. And if you finish your plate of gravy before your pratas, you can just bring the plate to the counter and ask for a refill.

Staff service is mediocre. Don’t expect too much since we are self-servicing ourselves anyway.

For full review and pictures, please visit http://springtomorrow.com/2013/08/22/prata-raya-ang-mo-kio-hub/

Chili’s Grill & Bar first originated in Dallas as a burger joint in 1975 and started its first restaurant in Singapore at Tanglin Mall in 2009. Today, it serves up Tex-Mex cuisine in enormous portions and diverse flavours to satisfy every taste bud.

We arrived pretty early and the restaurant was already half filled for lunch. The friendly service staff at the entrance greeted us with a big smile and even quietly asked me who the birthday girl was. She then reached out her hands to M to wish her a Happy Birthday. Sweet.

We were speedily ushered to our corner table as per my request over the phone when I made the reservation.

Our orders were taken quickly and it didn’t take too long for the food to be served too.First to be served is this wholesome basket of chips and dips. The guacamole dip is made of avocados, cilantro, pico de gallo (a salsa fresca of onions, tomatoes, chillies & lemon juice), fire-grilled corn and jalapenos and served with freshly-fried, hot tostada chips and one additional salsa dip. The guacamole is rich and creamy with a good crunch from the corn kernels. The smooth, buttery taste of avocado goes very well with the salted tostada chips which are perfectly fried with hardly any grease. I actually like their house-made salsa better because of its spicy and tangy flavour that gives that extra kick. The only downside of this salsa is that it is too runny so it’s a bit of a challenge to scoop it up with the chips without dirtying the fingers.The Triple Dipper is a combination of starters which we can pick from several selections so we get to try a bit of everything. For this, we mix and match the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Buffalo Wings and Texas Cheese Poppers that come with three dipping sauces – chipotle ranch, avocado ranch and blue cheese – and a few skinny sticks of celery.

The cheese poppers are our favourite. Gooey, runny cheese in every deep-fried crispy ball. It is delightful to see how the cheese oozes out as you take each bite and it’s even more heavenly as the flavour explodes in your mouth. We just went ‘hmmm-hmmm’ at the same time! It was pure cheese-gasm for us, cheese lovers.

The Southwestern eggrolls remind me of spring rolls except that the wrap is much tougher because flour tortilla is used. While the filling of smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeno, jack cheese, red capsicum and spinach is unique, there is actually not much of filling in the eggroll so every mouthful is just full of thick, chewy tortilla skin. It’s a pity the exterior isn’t crispy too despite it being deep-fried.

The boneless buffalo wings are made of chicken breast. While it’s easy to eat as you can just pop each bite-size cube into the mouth, the sauce that the chicken has been tossed in is too sour for our liking.One of the best grilled baby back ribs I’ve tried in Singapore that’s finger licking good. The rack is full of tender, juicy meat that easily comes off the rib bone without much effort. These are ribs that you can just eat with a fork and knife. Apparently these ribs are smoked in-house over mesquite wood and then grilled to order. I like the smoky flavour that has penetrated the meat so every bite of it is just flavoursome. The BBQ sauce that is basted over the meat is sweet, salty and tangy.

For full review and pictures, please visit http://springtomorrow.com/2013/12/01/chilis-grill-bar-the-central-clarke-quay/