White Rabbit, Dempsey

We had a great time at White Rabbit to celebrate Swee Yan's birthday. This is my first time at White Rabbit after hearing loads of stuff about the place, mostly about how it is very beautiful and perfect for a wedding. It is indeed incredibly beautiful with its charming stained glass, high ceiling, large spacious dining area and sunny outdoor area. I can totally understand why people love the White Rabbit.

As with all other charming and beautiful places, White Rabbit (being in Dempsey) is rather inaccessible and you have to either drive or take a cab to reach there. It is also situated away from the cluster of dining establishments right in the center of Dempsey Road so you might take a while to locate it. I found myself lost somewhere along the winding road with the taxi uncle and ended up on the other side of the road at Au Petit Salut. The uncle commented that it was ulu. I have to agree. 

As White Rabbit is housed in a restored chapel, the stained glass was definitely an eye catching feature of the place.

I had a cup of Flat White ($8) and the White Rabbit Fry Up ($26). Pretty latte art with pretty decent coffee.

Truffle fries for sharing. It was not on the menu but we asked and we received yay!

The White Rabbit Fry Up ($26) came with eggs of any style (I chose poached of course), thick cut smoked bacon, pork sausage, grilled portobello mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, toast and greens. This was so good. The poached eggs were perfect and I am so in love with the thick cut bacon! Portions are huge and worth the price. I cannot stand cafes which charge $20+ for a miserable serving of pathetic food. The White Rabbit Fry Up was definitely hearty and happy!

After we finished our food, we headed outdoors and were so impressed by the well manicured lawn, and the set of black and white high stools, bar and deck chairs. Seriously, everything looked so pretty and... foreign. I felt like I ran into a country house somewhere far far away (although, of course, the weather and mosquitoes made me fully aware that hey, I'm in sunny tropical Singapore. Stop dreaming!).

Beauty comes with a price and the prices at White Rabbit are generally higher. But the service, deco and food more than made up for it. White Rabbit is definitely a place to be for nice occasions when you don't mind spending the extra dollar! Swee Yan's birthday was definitely a very good reason for us to celebrate a happy occasion :)))

39C Harding Road
97210536

Tue - Fri: 12:00 - 14:30

Tue - Sun: 18:30 - 22:30

Sat - Sun: 10:30 - 14:30

Closed: Mon

What to eat at Amoy - Han Kee Fish Soup, Ah Ter Fishball Noodles and Char KwayTeow

I LOVE MY HAWKER CENTERS. Sure, it is hot and sweaty, there is always a crowd if the food is good, you get shoved around pretty much and you wait forever for a seat, but this is what defines Singaporean food. Not your quaint little pretty cafes and definitely not your perfect oh-I-wish-there-were-Michelin-stars-in-Singapore fine dining. Before I was able to afford cafes and restaurants, I grew up eating hawker food. And I am still eating them. I cannot understand why people look down on hawker centers and shun these places. It is completely beyond me. 

So there are hawker centers and there are hawker centers. Not all hawker centers are made the same and some definitely have more gems than others. I have a few all-time favourites (Bedok 85, Maxwell, Chinatown, Old Airport) and Amoy definitely makes it into that list. I have many fond memories of Amoy. I remember my days as a trainee with a pay so low that I could afford very little things in CBD. My office was near Raffles Place MRT and Golden Shoe was where I headed to every time I had time for lunch (which, as it turned out, was also quite rare). We eventually progressed to walking the long walk to Amoy where the food was way better. The walk took us about 10 minutes and we sweat buckets just making that walk and back. Looking back, I don't know how we did it on such a regular basis and always making it back in time. 

My absolute favourite at Amoy has to be Han Kee Fish Soup. I am almost certain the soup is drugged. Why do I keep returning to this fish soup store and willingly queue for 20 minutes? Fresh thick fish slices and clear refreshing soup are probably the key to making the long wait worthwhile. After your bowl of hot fish soup, walk a few stores down for fruit juice. The lady is incredibly friendly, the fruits are super fresh, and they are very generous with the juice!

#02-129 Amoy Street Food Centre (2nd floor, at the side close to the church)

Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodles was recently introduced to me and boy was it good! I went for the $5 bowl (Medium) and they were so generous with the ingredients like fishball, minced meat, fish paste and liver! I am not a fan of liver and I make it a point to pick all of them out usually but the liver at Ah Ter was so fresh, I just had to finish them. The mee pok was also incredibly yummy with the dark sauce and chilli!

#01-47 Amoy Street Food Centre (1st floor, at the side close to the ATM machines)

Fried Kway Teow stall selling Char Kway Teow. Yupp, that is the name of the stall and you will definitely spot it at the first row facing the ATM Machines. I have tried better Char Kway Teow but this definitely gets a spot somewhere close to the top, even though it is not at the top. I have a friend who loves this to bits and have shot down my favourite at Old Airport Road in favour of this so I guess it is really subjective. You have to try this to decide for yourself. Personally, I find the cockles rather small but I like that the kway teow is not overly greasy and the wok hei was sufficient.

#01-01 Amoy Street Food Centre

Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory, 313 Somerset

Yes, so I jumped on Chir Chir's bandwagon and came around for dinner with my friends from jc. I walked past Chir Chir a couple of times since they started business and was always surprised to see a queue of more than 20 people at the door. I was curious about Chir Chir and their fried chicken but was unwilling to brave the long queue for what could essentially just be a hype. So when Eu suggested Chir Chir for dinner and assured us that the fried chicken was awesome, I agreed happily.

We had Mac and Cheese and the grapes salad for starters. My friend found a hair in one of the starters and the service staff replaced both dishes promptly with much apologies. Stellar service definitely. So different from places where I would receive a dirty look for pointing out that there were bits of hair or insects floating around in my food. There was once I told a waitress that my sashimi was sour (!) and she replied "Really? This is fresh you know?".

Garlic Fried Chicken ($26.90) was so yummy! Extremely crispy on the outside yet so tender and juicy within. The marination was perfect too and seeped into the chicken meat evenly. The best part has to be the freshness of the chicken without the taste of frozen meat! This is definitely a must try.

This is the famous Nest Snow ($32.90) that everybody is talking about. A pile of chicken tenders sit prettily on a bed of cheese with sweet potatoes and vegetables. The chicken tenders were quite spicy and the combination with creamy cheese and sweet potato mash was interesting. While this was good, my favourite remains the Garlic Fried Chicken.

Portions are large here so you should come around with friends to share the wonderful fried chicken in Chir Chir. Service is good and attentive and they provide these little clamps for you to hold the fried chicken so that you never have to worry about dirtying your fingers. Very kind thought! The only downside has to be the queue so if you intend to check Chir Chir out, grab a small snack, get in line and be prepared to wait a long while before your fried chicken feast. 

#B3-04 Somerset 313 (at the basement where all the food outlets are located)

Mon - Thu: 10:00 - 22:00

Fri - Sat: 11:00 - 23:00

Sun: 10:00 - 22:00

Neon Pigeon, Keong Saik

The hippy district of Keong Saik is filled with many fantastic eateries such as The Lokal, Wine Mansion, Muchachos, Tung Ah Eating House and so many others. Lynda and I found another gold near the end of the street a couple weeks ago - Neon Pigeon. My thanks to Lynda for taking me out on that Monday night after that extremely trying week and for the delicious treat. It's amazing what sake and friendship can do to a battered soul.

Frankly I would not know this place was called Neon Pigeon if Lynda did not inform me beforehand. I'm a rather literal person and a sign board with a picture of a neon pigeon is hardly going to lead me to think that this restaurant was indeed named Neon Pigeon. Check out said sign board below. Pardon the lousy resolution of my hand phone camera. It is supposed to be one of the best but I'm routinely shocked by the quality of pictures that come out, especially at night. 

The vibe of the place reminded me of the restaurants in New York. Dark with a warm orange glow, loud pounding music as the night wore on and lots of Caucasians. Neon Pigeon is a modern izakaya serving fusion japanese dishes and drinks. The service staff was incredibly friendly and chatty. The idea at Neon Pigeon was to share the items and there were small plates and large plates. Generally, two people could finish 7 to 8 small plates. 

We had eggplant with lotus chips for starters ($9). I love the deliciously soft and mushy egg plant with the crispy lotus chips. 

Cold grilled squid salad ($15). This salad was awesome. I love the dressing, the crunchy fresh vegetables and the sweet squid.

Yuzu Kosho Cauliflower ($13) for our daily intake of fiber!

Pan roasted grouper ($18) with sweet potato puree and wakame. The grouper was so fresh with an extremely well-grilled skin.

Smoked baby back ribs ($19). This was THE BOMB. So tender, so well-marinated, and so delicious! The meat literally fell off the bone cleanly and I did not have to wrestle with it at all. Many brownie points to this dish.

We had both the Miso Roasted Pumpkin Rice ($15) and the House Smoked Bacon Rice ($16). The rice was served in a pan with a raw egg yolk on top. The waitress broke the egg yolk and smeared the egg evenly throughout the rice so that it tasted soft and mushy like risotto. 

We had Matcha Tartlets for dessert!

1 Keong Saik Road

62223623

6pm to 12 midnight

1. 
   

Cafe Kapok, National Design Centre

I wouldn't have noticed Cafe Kapok in the National Design Centre if not for Lynda's recommendation. You are greeted by racks and shelves of merchandise when you peek through the doors. Definitely looks more like a boutique than a cafe. The boyfriend and I stepped through the doors tentatively and looked around curiously before spotting the cafe at the back of the boutique. Very interesting concept!

After weaving through the rows of merchandise, we arrived at the back where some tables and sofas were arranged neatly. Live music wafted in through the open doors at the back and a small group of people were seated around the band, enjoying the performance. I love the fact that there was live music and it was not crowded at all on a Friday night. There were less than 20 people around. 

Fatigue hung heavy in the air between us. I was just recovering from a bout of flu and was feeling rather miserable and lethargic that day. He was beat after a long day. But we were happy to be there with each other because hey, it's Friday!

The menu was not extensive with only a handful of pasta dishes suitable for dinner. I am a typical Asian who has to eat a heavy dinner. I can't do sandwiches for dinner. I will be cooking instant noodles at 10 pm if I ate sandwiches for dinner. The boyfriend picked the Salmon Cream Pasta while I had the Spicy Chicken Arrabiata. I also added $4 for a dinner set with a Chocolate Tart. 

When the kind waitress brought our food to the table, my boyfriend's first reaction was that the portions were huge! Indeed they were. 

The Chicken Arrabiata ($19 with dessert) was all right. Al dente pasta but the pasta did not absorb the sauce. 

The boyfriend's Salmon Cream Pasta was a little bland.

The Chocolate Tart was only all right too. I like the thick gooey chocolate middle but was not fond of the flaky crust.

Come to Cafe Kapok not for the food but for the experience of hiding away from the crowd in Bugis. Bugis is insane on Friday nights and weekends. The crowd is thick everywhere and there is nowhere to hide. But Cafe Kapok is such a nice respite after a tiresome week. You can sit here, relax, have a cozy little chat in a perfectly sedate environment and enjoy your dinner. Music envelops you gently but it does not overpower. Awesome way to end the work week. 

111 Middle Road

#01-05

11:00 - 21:00

66942943

Day trip to Johor Bahru with the family - D'Shanghai Dimsum Restuarant at Sutera Mall and Bornga Korean BBQ at City Square

We took the Singapore-Johor Express from Queens Street into Johor Bahru, only because the queue was shorter than that for Causeway Link. At City Square Mall, we hopped onto a taxi and headed to Sutera Mall. We spent the night before deciding between KSL and Sutera. Sutera Mall won because reviews online sounded good and my dad's friend recommended it so we went. Our taxi driver raved about it as well on our way there. As usual, the taxi driver refused to use the meter and quoted us RM 30. 

Read some reviews which recommended D'Shanghai Dimsum Restaurant at Sutera Mall so we headed there immediately. The restaurant was situated outside Sutera Mall, in a little hut along a narrow strip of road. We were so hungry when we finally found D'Shanghai that we were very grateful we did not have to queue. 

Sadly, everything was just really average. The dimsum was not very fresh and tasted distinctly like frozen dimsum. It was very pocket-friendly though since our spread only cost us about RM 130.

Sutera Mall was quite meh too. The shops were filled with clothes reminiscent of Far East Plaza. Perhaps I had grown too old for the young, vibrant outfits at Sutera Mall but there was really nothing to buy. We were done walking through the mall in less than two hours and were about to leave when we realised that it was raining heavily. Time for a cup of coffee so we went into Coffee Valley for a cup of flat white each. 

Took another RM 30 taxi back to City Square (taxi driver refused to use the meter again sigh) and strolled through City Square. Eventually, we settled down at Bornga Korean BBQ Restaurant for dinner. Barbecued normal pork belly and marinated pork belly with a large army stew. The marinated pork belly was yummy and the army stew was so deliciously spicy. It was also very pocket-friendly at approximately RM 130. 

I must be getting old but the journey into and out of Johor Bahru made me so exhausted. Bornga at such a reasonable price was definitely worth it but I doubt I would be making the trip again anytime soon. 

The Noodle Place, Orchard Gateway

Town was crazy crowded as usual on Saturday and there were queues everywhere at dinner time. We headed to Orchard Central and darted upstairs to 49 seats (because we wanted to do pasta) but the queue was frighteningly long. So we came back down and joined the much shorter queue at The Noodle Place.

The Noodle Place is known for their Cantonese style wanton and shrimp dumpling noodles as well as their roast meats. The boyfriend chose the dry wanton mee while I took the shrimp dumpling noodle in soup. We also ordered a plate of char siew to share.

Generally, the shrimp dumpling noodle in The Noodle Place reminded me of their Hong Kong counterparts. I had some of the best shrimp dumpling noodles ever in Hong Kong and they were just so fantastic! The bowl at The Noodle Place definitely paled in comparison to their Hong Kong cousins but the noodle was still rather springy and the dumplings were large and stuffed with fresh ingredients. I was also fond of the soup base!

Char siew was good, just the right amount of lean meat and marbly fats. The fats simply melted away in my mouth and was a good mix with the lean meat. Unfortunately, it was not too well-marinated though. I wanted to try their roast pork too but it was not available. Another time perhaps!

I would recommend the Noodle Place if you are craving for Cantonese style shrimp dumpling noodles or wanton noodles. Definitely more expensive than the usual food court wanton mee but still worth the price. 

#01-17 Orchard Gateway (just a few steps away from the MRT exit at 313 Somerset)

67333171

10:00 to 22:00