Located in the beautifully lit open space on level one of marina bay sands, this cantonese restaurant helmed by Chef Huang Jing Biao serves up scrumptious Chinese bites, better known as dim sum.these soup dumplings were encased in a delicate skin but i wished they had just that bit more soup for a satisfying burst in my mouth when devoured. these scallop crystal dumplings were not great but the ingredients were fresh. the skin was a little too thick though.these parcels of glutinous rice were delicious morsels and all the better to be shared. it came with a chockful of ingredients and the rice texture was how i liked it. the grains were still visible promising a soft yet chewy mouthful. I almost made a second order for these.Till I remembered I still had this plate of XO fried carrot cake.

strong on flavours. especially salt. I liked it but I was downing cups of tea after that dish.
share this. and maybe, ask for more beansprouts to ease the saltiness.

The former exec chef at Alkaff Mansion has left to set up his own cosy restaurant in the Chinatown area.

It was quiet on a Friday night and there was time to talk to the chef himself. So what's good to be ordered?This is an antipasti from the chef's own hometown in Tuscany. Trippa alla burlamacco. A signature of the restaurant and aptly so. This was my first time having beef tripe and it was just a happy burst of flavours. Stewed in tomato paste and an assortment of carrots and celery, this was savoury rich and simply perfect to start the dinner with. He also mentions that the beef tripe has been washed 5 times and cooked for 5 hours. I'm amazed it keeps a certain bite.
I also had the pacherri nero di seppia. Basically pasta in black squid ink. The squid ink didn't have that strange earthy flavour nor pungent smell. In fact, there was nary a trace of the sea. The texture of the squid ink was grainy and I found out it was because there was a large amount of chopped leeks that have been reduced in this ink to make the base. The pasta was al dente and good to the bite. They have a risotto in squid ink that I bet would be stellar as well, judging by the taste of this.

Just in case you fell in love with squid ink, Chef Piegela also sells squid ink here in his restaurant. He's happy to share his easier cooking methods.

It wasn't exorbitant but it was a relatively expensive dinner albeit worth the price tag.

My usual is a flat white. but today i felt like some chocolate and stepping out of my comfort zone was tough. I asked for a recommendation and the servers weren't all that forthcoming.

maybe they thought it was a weak pickup line. haha.

still, i told them to make me a whatever. eventually he keyed in something.

loses my spontaneity. loses my fun.simple planks of wood line the ceiling. the decor is a lot more of warmer browns and maximizing seating area. a total change from broadway cafe. Moka 75% hot chocolate was what arrived.

and no, there was no user manual on this. i drink both at one time?

i pour one into another?

eventually i decided to have my ceramic mug first before slowly adding in whatever was in the beaker.

it wasn't too high on the chocolate rush.

but enough to curb my cravings.

and made for a good mug of hot chocolate.

It's been a while since I've set foot in here. but i couldn't bear to queue for Ichiban on me own so I settled for fish and co. Since we're going for new, we might as well order something that's new on the menu as well. Baked cod with spicy teriyaki sauce.this came after half an hour with a side of buttered rice and coleslaw.

the sauce, to be honest, made the entire dish look terribly unappetizing.

it was much too sweet to be spicy and well, i'd rather just have my cod without any sauce.

tragically, i couldn't even stomach it towards the end because the sauce was just too cloyingly sweet.

yay to a visit to poh cheu!

but nay. to not having what i really wanted.

I wanted to grab me some of those bamboo shoot kuehs.

they are one of the last few traditional kueh stores around that make these soon kuehs with bamboo shoot fillings. so i settled for second best.

the soon kueh with turnip.

it's all handmade. the outer rice skin down to the fillings that are fried at the stall fresh every morning. now what;s the difference? the bamboo shoots are crunchier and have a much nicer bite. They also cost 20 cents more per piece. Otherwise, this one is also full on fillings, replacing bamboo shoot with shredded turnip and the rest is all the same, shredded red carrots and black fungus. mmm!

drizzle on their sweet black sauce and a dollop of chilli paste to boot.

simple and so satisfying.