BeanSTRO by Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Have you been to Marina Bay Sands? Hubby said he'd take me there one day, so we finally made it today. We met the girlfriend and her family for brunch at the new BEANstro at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. If you go there by taxi, be sure to tell the driver that it is at Tower 1 or 2.

We started off with drinks...

I opted for the White Chocolate Latte, which is very rare for me as I do not normally consume caffeine. It's just the words 'white chocolate' got me interested. Truth be told, it wasn't worth the caffeine intake as I could hardly taste any white chocolate. Maybe the hot version would have been a better choice.

I ordered, by special request, a hot White Chocolate for the girl. I requested for a special something to add to her drink but I will not reveal what it was, else I might get my head chopped off. :{ Oh Mr GM, is it possible to add a caffeine-free hot White Chocolate or ice-blend for kids onto the menu please? Hint hint.

Godbrother no.3 had a Chocolate Banana ice-blend, a favourite of ours too.

Breakfast specials include the delicious and tummy-filling Buttermilk Waffle with caramel sauce and freshly-whipped cream.

Princess had this for her main course and godbro no.4 had it for his dessert after trying a piece of hers. Hehe. Yums!

And the very popular and beautifully-done Eggs Benedict for godbro no.2.

For starters, we (the gf and I) shared an Ahi Tuna Nicoise Salad,

as well as Skinny Fries which were very well-done and super crispy.

Godbro no.3 had the Fried Pacific Dory for his main, which came with a side of skinny fries and salad.

The adults mostly had this, except hubby who went for the Caesar Salad with roasted chicken which we did not take a photo of. This is the delish King Prawn Fettucine. Uber delish! Ask for more black pepper.

Godbro no.4 had a Herbed Chicken Club.

To round off her meal, the princess had a serving of Berry'd Treasure yoghurt swirl with an extra 2 servings of marshmallows. Indulgence or what?

This cafe is rather big and has plenty of seating. The best seats are the ones outside, around the fountain area where you can watch the boats going by, somewhat like those gondolas you see at The Venetian, Las Vegas. However, it's more like wannabe gondolas which don't quite make it. The fountain in the middle of the roundabout is not working and there isn't really much to be seen in that small man-made river, nothing like that of The Venetian. One word of caution... flies! If you don't like them, then I suggest you find a seat within the cafe. Or, bring your own fly swatter. The server explained to us that the flies came in through the opening above the 'fountain'. There is a hole there as the roof doubles up as a wishing well. It is for the coins to go down through, but due to the poor design, most coins get stuck at the bottom of the 'bowl' ceiling and gives one the impression that there might be mould all over. It is pretty unsightly. Our server also explained that the flies are coming due to the ongoing renovations around the place. Let's hope the fly situation clears up once all the renovations are done.

Pricing for the food and drinks here aren't the same as what you would expect to pay at most CBTL outlets. The quality of food here is higher and according to hubby, the ice-blends are smoother than what you would usually get. There is also a wider variety of food choices.

We enjoyed our brunch very much, and also the company of our friends made it all the more enjoyable. Thanks for the lovely meal. I would go back again another time, just to try the eggs ben and the eggplant lasagne which I believe, is to die for.

Chilli's, Resort World Sentosa

We spent a fun-filled week with sis and on one of those days, it being a Friday, we decided to catch a movie after the girl got home from school. And since we were at Vivo City, I suggested visiting Resort World and having dinner at Chilli's. I was told by a friend that the food served there was too salty so I told myself to steer clear of the items that she ordered on her visit there. Unfortunately that was the only restaurant I knew that existed there, and I did want to take sis and mum to Resort World.

It rained the entire afternoon and stopped just in time for us to make our way to Sentosa. However, while waiting for our food to be served, the rain started again and the downpour was so great we saw from our seat by the window, people scurrying everywhere, trying to get out of the rain. It didn't dampen their spirits though, as there were many more people milling about, being entertained by stilt walkers, probably from Universal Studios. I regret not having taken photos of the heavy downpour but it showed how badly designed the shelters were at Resort World. They are meant to be covers to keep out the rain, but in this case, the covers themselves were letting rain in.

I love the lampshades as well as this little guy on a propeller suspended from the ceiling. But most of all, I love the tables! Aren't the tiles gorgeous?

Time to check out the menu!

Ok, this is me! I feel like I'm on some quest to find the best melt-in-the mouth and moist ribs on this island.

Beer for the hubby and some electric blue blast slushy drink for the kid, from the children's set meal. I opted for a fruit punch.

No paparazzi please!

Kids' pasta came with fries.

Sis went for a prawn pasta dish.

Hubby surprised me by ordering a salad dish. He usually goes for burgers. :P

Mum had the pulled pork sandwich which she said was salty, but yummy.

This is my honey bbq ribs with a side of mash topped with cheese, bacon, and chives. Verdict - I still prefer the Brewerkz one.

All of us females were stuffed by the time we were done with dinner but hubby went for the dessert. I didn't check the name of this but it is a cake with chocolate chips, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and almond bits, drizzled with caramel/chocolate sauce which was overly sweet.

Brewerkz @ Riverside Point

I planned a gathering for a group of friends to get together this March as one of them is in town from Klang. These are the girls I grew up and went to school with, and together with our 3 little ones, we met at Brewerkz to kick off a fun evening. The meeting was supposed to have been on a Wednesday but was postponed as C arrived in Singapore later than expected. Fridays are busy days in the pubbing area, but we managed to pull it off.

The rain was upon us all afternoon and it kind of dampened the spirit a little when we thought we wouldn't be able to go on the riverboat ride. However, by the end of our meal, we were delighted to note that it had stopped raining, except for a very slight drizzle which allowed us to carry on as planned. The Singapore Riverboat Cruise counter was right at the doorstep of the restaurant so it was very handy for us to pick up tickets. Best of all, there was only one other couple on board the boat. They got off at the next quay and we had the entire boat to ourselves, it almost felt like a private boat. :D The tickets cover 2 quays and it costs S$8 per person one way. Our destination was the Merlion Park at One Fullerton. There is a longer boat ride which covers the Marina area but that is not available after 5pm. We loved the lights along the way. We couldn't stop oohing and ahhing. The kids had fun waving to people on the bridges as we went under them and they loved making noises each time, creating the echo effect. All in all, it was a great evening! We hope to meet up again when C is back in December for Christmas.

We started off with Virgin Margaritas. These are great for kids as they do not contain alcohol. However, they tasted pretty sour so most kids might not like them.

C ordered a platter of sausages with mash for the kids to share. However, she ended up eating most of it but she didn't like the one with the lighter shade. I believe that is beer bratwurst.

The kids had child's portion pasta which was just plain pasta in tomato sauce and it comes with a drink of choice.

S had ribs which she said was fall off the bone type. It came with an onion salad which is not really my cup of tea. The mash is delicious though.

This is what I had - Seafood spaghetti, as it is a Friday thus no meat for me. I thought this was so-so, it wasn't that great. The pasta we had at Swensen's was much much better.

The menu is very interesting with lots of choices of food, but with 4 ladies and 3 little girls, we couldn't order much. The nachos looked really good and some of the food sound very nice. I do want to return again and try the burgers, nachos and the brownie which we didn't have space for in our tummy. But this time, I will be arranging for the guys to join us so we can order more stuff to share and try, as the portions are very big.

Lunch with friends

One day last week, I believe it was on a Thursday, two friends and I were supposed to meet in town for lunch. However, at the last minute I had to wait for the arrival of some computer chairs, thus I decided to invite the girls over instead. I wasn't sure what food to prepare for them and the bff said she felt like having either a solid hamburger from Wendy's or The Handburger, failing which, she'd settle for Japanese food. I don't make a mean burger so the next best was Japanese food which was right up my alley. :P I'm not saying I make great Japanese food, but it's much easier than a burger any day!

I served the meal in very pretty disposable containers which I bought from Daiso. I went to the wet market that morning and picked up a few pieces of fresh salmon which I cooked with teriyaki sauce. I used ready CP tornedo prawns which were so yummy and so convenient. I picked up a packet of California maki and made a fruit stick with sun melon, strawberries & blueberries. I also made a side salad and drizzled some goma salad dressing over. To comply with bff's wishes (I was making up for her birthday Monday past), I added mini burgers to the bentos. As I didn't manage to find any fatty minced beef, I decided to pick up some fresh English breakfast sausages and squeezed out the stuffing and made them into patties. I am embarrassed to say that the salmon turned out a little undercooked and a little pink in the middle but nobody complained and every one's plate was empty at the end of the meal. That is the greatest compliment one can ever get. :) We had a surprise guest who decided to join us at the last minute but thankfully there was more than enough rice, etc to go around.

This is princess' portion - she didn't eat the burger, I did. :)

This was specially made for the princess as she loves cha soba. What she gets from the Japanese stall in school is only soba. Yes, they have a Japanese stall in school! Isn't she ever-so lucky??

This organic tofu is my favourite choice whenever I make cold tofu. It is so smooth and it just glides down the throat. Love it! Unfortunately I wasn't prepared and forgot to pick up some bonito flakes to garnish it with.

Bff brought along a little gift of 'Black as Chocolate" ice-cream, all the way from Taiwan. Her cousin-in-law is a partner in this cake business and she sometimes brings goodies when she comes home for a visit. Lucky us get to try this. Read more about them here.

What lovely packaging.

The box comes with a spoon. How thoughtful, you can eat on the go, but I think the portion is too big for one person.

Look at all the yummy chocolate bits!

Verdict - I thought it was yummy with all the little bits of chocolate. Princess of course loved every bit of it, but hubby thought it was only so-so, as it was not creamy enough for him.

Steamed Stuffed Tofu

I posted this item in FB a few weeks ago, and a friend asked for the recipe today. Decided to show her how it's done here. M, please note that the ingredients do not have exact measurements as I estimated the amount of seasoning used.

Ingredients -

Round tofu (without egg)
Minced pork
Spring onion
Fried shallots

Seasoning -

Oyster sauce
white pepper
corn starch
light soy sauce
sesame oil

Method -

1. Cut tofu up into approximately 6-7 portions, not too thin, and arrange on a plate (suitable for steaming). Next, cut out a hole in the middle halfway through each piece of tofu and keep dug-out tofu aside.

2. Season minced pork with light soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil and corn starch. Add in the dug-out tofu and mix well. Shape them into balls and stuff it back in tofu. Steam tofu on a soft rolling boil, not high heat, if you are using a wok.

3. Mix oyster sauce with water from steamed tofu and pour sauce back over tofu. When ready, sprinkle spring onions & fried shallots before serving. Serve once it's done and eat while it's warm.

The sauce didn't turn out too well this time, if you notice. The actual end result isn't supposed to be this wet. But it was still yummy. I'm still trying hard to get hubby to eat tofu. He doesn't like anything that doesn't have taste, such as tofu and chee cheong fun.

Speaking of chee cheong fun, I made this dish with some ccf which a neighbour picked up for me from the factory that produces it. It was super cheap. One roll cost me only 20cents, thus I got him to buy 10 rolls. He and his wife taught me to fry it this way and I'm in love with it.


Ingredients -

Chee Cheong Fun (cut into smaller pieces)
Dried shrimps (hae bi or xia mi) - soaked then minced
Bean sprouts
Egg
crabsticks or meat (optional) - you can even add prawns, fishcake, according to your taste and preference
garlic (minced)
spring onions
fried shallots

Seasoning -

Chilli sauce
light sauce

Method -

1. Fry garlic till fragrant, add minced dried shrimp. Next add bean sprouts. When half cooked, add in chee cheong fun and crabsticks, chilli and light sauce. Stir in beaten egg till cooked and serve warm. Do not forget to garnish with spring onions and shallots before serving. Delish!

Note - Do not overcook chee cheong fun else it will fall apart. It cooks relatively fast so it's a very quick dish to prepare. Great for a simple one-dish lunch.

Dinner - Chinese Sausage Omelette & Spinach with tofu fishcake

Was chatting with HK over msn and talking about what we were going to have for dinner. I mentioned lap cheong omelette and she thought it was rather interesting. Therefore decided to share it with her here. This is what it looks like... :) Such a simple dish, just slice up the chinese sausage (in this case I used chicken sausages, which are the only ones I ever buy), since I am partial towards chicken, not so much pork. Fry them in a little oil, then add a beaten egg or two.

I was visiting a friend the day before, and her mum cooked this spinach dish & I enjoyed it, so here, I made my version with tofu fishcake which I had to clear from the fridge. I also made a pot of bak kut teh using the instant stock which Al gave. Was surprised hubby loved it, but little princess thought it was too peppery.