Singapore&JB food post: Cedele, Llao Llao, Marche and Hiap Joo Bakery!

Our visit to Singapore and Johor this time around consisted of a fair amount of food as well, considering how the two of us do not settle for bad tasting food, so I decided to just compile everything in one post.

One of the top cafe’s on my Too Visit list when we decided to go Singapore, was Cedele! I’ve been hearing plenty about it from my Singaporean friends and on my instafeed, I dragged Bee there right after we finished USS, to the branch in Resort World.

It was meant to be an early dinner, so I settled for a salad from their salad bar, overjoyed that I found quinoa on the list of pickings.

But my main focus to visit Cedele was their curry pumpkin soup! Everyone raved about this, so I simply had to try it.

 I have to say, the texture was divine. It was super smooth and creamy! But maybe because of the curry, the whole thing in general reminds me of dhal. Delicious dhal, but still dhal.x D

Bee got himself the triple sandwich, with chicken, beef and bacon on wholemeal bread, and it was wholesomely satisfying too!

Our first night in JB, we were brought to 7Spice by a friend of ours who was a local there, and we were served northern indian food. Their tandoori was delightful! Not as tender as the one at Pak Putra, but not too bad in general.

Bee shared a tomato naan with the friend, and I took a bite before concluding it tasted like pizza. xD

I honestly cannot tell the difference between this two dishes, but I do know that one is Aloo Gobi, which is curried cauliflower, and the other is a lamb dish. Both were equally delightful.

But the star of the night had to be the palak paneer. All of us loved it! It was silky and smooth and so delicious you wouldn’t believe it!

I also made it a point to visit llao llao in Singapore, and stood in line to wait despite the amount of people because of… instafeed again.

I ended up  not being able to manage the classic Sanum everyone orders at llao llao though, and went for a single topping one. Despite so, llao llao’s frozen yogurt is delicious! Bee complained that it was a little too tangy for him, but the tanginess is what makes froyo, froyo!

The food highlight of our trip had to be Marche at Somerset@313 though. Bee was super excited to go, as he loves Marche, its food and its concept, and the one in The Curve here is shit.

This however, was my first time in any Marche at all, and my heart was immediately taken by the cute decorations and set up that reminded me so much of Scotland!

The food was scattered everywhere too, and for a long while I just was stunned and didn’t know what I wanted.

In the end, I ended up with one of their Christmas specials, a tuna and cheese savory crepe. It came out huge, and I couldn’t even finish half of it! It was good though, cheesy and deliciously seasoned. Shared it with Bee!

Also got a side of roasted veggies, and it was a good thing I asked for a small bowl, as we were so full after that!

Bee got himself mushroom soup and some unpictured roasted chicken, and those were amazing too. I think generall Marche in Singapore has amazing food! Making a note to try the rosti the next time we’re there, as the line then was loooong.

Ended up so full I couldn’t even manage dessert! It was a sad thing, as I was very captured by all the Christmas desserts available. So sad! T_T

Ended our trip with one last tapau from JB: Super fluffy banana cake from Hiap Joo Bakery. They are famous galore, and it isn’t for nothing. We had one bite and our eyes popped out, because they were that fluffy and moist! Almost wanted to u-turn to buy up more boxes, but our logical thinking came to play. xD

All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I already miss the Marche in Singapore. ):

Rondaevoo at Ativo Plaza

I have to say, Rondaevoo at Ativo is quickly becoming one of my favorite go-to places for brunch and to get work done, if only it wasn’t so far away. We’ve been going there quite often lately for work, and at the same time get some sustenance in us.

We headed there on one of the mornings we had no dance, to finish up our stack of papers to mark at somewhere that’s not stuck in the office, and we had our coffees! Well, mocha for me.

I particularly like how they add soy milk as an optional swap in for beverages. I ordered a soy milk mocha, and the chocolate was clearly pronounced in each sip, together with the mild taste of soy milk and coffee.

Bee opted for their hawaiian pizza, and it came on a board, thin crusted and smelling heavenly. The portion is just right for a semi-large eater, and the crust was wonderfully crispy and delicious

I went for a wrap instead, filled with their signature mama meatloaf, with a side salad and baked potatoes. Rondaevoo is another cafe that focuses on healthy food, so they serve roasted instead of deep fried, and wholegrain instead of white. This meatloaf was made by them with chicken breasts, and it was wonderfully seasoned and wrapped, with amazing flavors.

On a separate occasion we went, I opted for the same wrap again because I was craving it, but Bee went for the breakfast platter. It came with an option of 2 eggs any way you like it, salad, tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, a slice of toast and a slice of their homemade chicken meatloaf. The meatloaf tasted delightful, and their roasted potatoes were amazing as usual

We ended up working there all day, so about halfway through I got peckish and got two tarts. Their cheese tart was okay, wasn’t amazing. But their chocolate tart was good! The ganache in the middle was soft and flavorful, and complemented the buttert tart case very well.

The enviroment and the place in general, plus the above average food, makes Rondaevoo a place I’d return to without a second thought! :3

Good Friends Cafe, Part Two.

Good Friend’s Cafe in SS15 is a cafe in which I patronize fairly often, and I’ve even written about it before here! So when Bee needed a place to host his year end celebration dinner, I naturally thought of Good Friend’s. Because there was a fair number of us though, this ended up being a private affair, with half the cafe reserved for us.

They were a little late in setting up, as my alotted time was 7PM but everything wasn’t ready till about 7.30PM, but since my guests were a little late due to an unforeseen meeting anyway, it wasn’t a big issue.

We had already pre-determined the menu when we did the booking, and paid a deposit then. They were kind enough to accomodate my requests to omit or separate nuts from any dishes containing it, as a few of my colleagues were allergic.

We had a few appetizers from the night. The star of the appetizer slew was the smoked duck on a skewer, superbly fragrant and deliciously tender!

The standard bunny food to make people feel less guilt. Because I know most of my colleagues are very healthy eaters, we opted for a balsamic dressing instead of your usual mayo.

We also had a very innovative started that came as a crumble, specifically a curry chicken crumble. It’s made like a typical dessert crumble, except the filling is curry chicken. Interesting idea, but the filling was a little sparse, and I ended up with a mouthful of pastry. It has a bright future if it is tweaked a little more though!

Last of our appetizers was an organic tofu with dressing, which I didn’t get a chance to try, but looked appetizing!

Moving on to our mains, a crowd favorite, and mine, was the poached salmon. It was unbelievably tender and delicious poached. The sauce itself was great too! I couldn’t help but use it as a dressing for my salad instead. 😛

The roast chicken deserves a mention too, as it was moist and tender, with deliciously roasted and flavored potatos at the bottom.

We also had aglio olio and japanese mixed mushroom rice to complement our dishes, but those were just okay, nothing much to shout about.

With dessert, we had two choices. One was the brownies, which I specially requested for the nuts to be omitted. I have to say though, without nuts a brownie is just essentially a moist chocolate cake. Nevertheless though, it was deliciously chocolatey with just the right amount of moistness.

This dessert was a special order, something the cafe calls The Elvis. They apparently used to sell this regularly, but because it was a lot of work, they stopped production. It was recommended by the chef, and essentially a banana cake with peanut butter topping.

The combination is mindblowing! It’s like my morning peanut butter and banana sandwich breakfasts, but in cake form. So good!

All in all, it was a great experience and a memorable night, and the cafe played its part in ensuring all my colleagues were well taken care of. We even had mushroom soup served individually to us! Service was amicable, and food was amazing. Definitely going back if there ever be a need!

Good Friends Cafe, SS15

Good Friend’s Cafe has been hanging around SS15 for awhile now, their green sight quite distinctive as one drives down the road leading to the iconic Asia Cafe in the busy business area. I was raring to head there, and one afternoon as Bee and I were looking for a place for brunch, it was there that we ended up.

Feeling quite hungry at that point, he went straight for the cream lamb stew, served with rice and steamed veggies. I loved the veggies, as they were tasty and healthy, and the stew (which I stole a bite of) was delicious too, albeit a little too oily.

 

 

The coffee addict in him also of course, went for one of their single origin cold dripped coffee. Served in a wine glass, it amused me because it seemed as if he was indulging in alchohol before it was even noon! Either ways though, the boy said he liked it, so I’ll take his word for it.

My order was the grilled miso chicken served with the same vegetables as above, and cold soba sesame noodles. The chicken was delicious! Super tender, and the flavors from their marinade was amazing. I couldn’t pick out what was in the marinade, but either ways it was amazing.

I had a major dessert craving that day, but cause I was too full by the end of the meal, Bee suggested we bring back our dessert. So from the display counter, I picked out one of the more unusual desserts I could find, a chocolate mousse construction they dubbed ‘The Monster’. Maybe because my fridge wasn’t cold enough, but by the time I ate it, the mousse was too watery, despite a not too bad taste. The base wasn’t firm enough either… but I do love the jar! xD

On a separate occasion, Bee and I headed back there for dinner, and to confirm our booking for our year end function there. I opted for a light dinner, so went for the smoked salmon salad with miso dressing. It was garnished with seeds and was delicious!

We also shared a mushroom soup, which was a little diluted we thought. The taste was fine, but the texture not as much.

Bee went for the smoked duck pasta, which came with tagliatelle, and was delciously fragrant and creamy. He loved it!

The chef also recommended us chamomile tea infused with lemon, something that was off the menu, but made for us because we made a booking for a function at his cafe. It was something new, and I loved the taste combination. Definitely something I’d try again!

We have our function with them tomorrow, and so far I’m loving the menu we’ve laid out. Will update on how it is soon!

chocolates (mostly tim tams) from australia!

 

I have a great love for chocolates, dark chocolate especially, but Tim Tams even more so. During my six month overseas exchange student program in Australia, I was enraptured by all the different flavors of Tim Tam available there, so much more then Malaysia! So this time round, when my parents went to Perth for a holiday, I asked them to bring back some chocolate, Tim Tams were my special request.

And boy did they go all out. I think they came back with half a luggage bag full of chocolate! I was most excited when I saw these three, the Adriano Zumbo collaboration special edition Tim Tams!

I broke open the raspberry and white chocolate one first, and I did not regret a single bite.

It was delicious! The raspberry tinge beautifully contrasting, both in color and in flavor to the white chocolate coating of the biscuit.

The chocolate brownie one was normal, like any other tim tam, but the turkish delight one was interesting. My friends mom who loved Turkish Delight, loved this one, but I found it so so, probably because i never liked turkish delight in the first place.

I was ecsttatic when I saw the Red Velvet special edition too! This one was the best of the lot.

She also brought back the vanilla flavored Tim Tams sandwiching vanilla creme, but the Red Velvet edition still triumphed. The red biscuit plus cream cheese middle was gorgeous, tasting exactly like a red velvet cake!
She also brought back a selection of truffles from Danvers Chocolate Confectionary in Perth, and each had one flavor. The chocolate truffle in the middle of the harder chocolate coating, complimented each other perfectly.

I especially loved the strawberry one!

Now I’m left with my final Godiva bar, but I’m refusing to open that just yet. Savoring! xD

Santouka Ramen, Tokyo Street @ Pavilion

One of the weekends me and Bee headed to Tokyo Street in Pavilion just to scratch my itch in wanting to go out, we ended up in Santouka for dinner. Now, people usually choose restaurants based upon their famous reputation or their good food… me and Bee chose food based upon whether or not it was halal. 😛

When we saw the ‘non-halal’ sign on the restaurant, we immediately headed in! We only noticed their awards after we were done with dinner. But the moment we saw the awards, we immediately knew why, because they were so good.

Our definite order everytime we headed to a Japanese food place, is sashimi. And their sashimi was so fresh and so delicious! Perfect ratio of fat to salmon meat, and so deelish!

Bee ordered the set with their Miso Ramen, and he got the large size. It came with four pieces of chasiu, and was deliciously fragrant with the soup and all!

It also came with 3 pieces of sashimi sushi, one chawan mushi and some corn salad. Their chawan mushi was so smooth!

I ordered the small of a Kara Miso Ramen, which is essentially the spicy version of his ramen. Mine had only two slices of chasiu, but what really blew me away was their hand made ramen! I loved the texture and the fresh taste, tastes nothing at all like the instant ramen! ❤

The restaurant itself was wonderful, not too overly packed, with efficient service and delicious food. Santouka has ruined me for any other ramen, and I’m eager to go back there already!

Maps Cafe, Bandar Sunway

Cafe’s are popping up everywhere! And the little bit of hipster in me cannot help but check them out, or at least try to get to as many as I can. I rarely get to the more famous/hipster ones in KL or further, but I do get to as many PJ and Subang cafe’s as I can

Map’s Cafe is one of the newer ones in the Bandar Sunway area, fighting alongside the likes of Garage 51 and Upstairs Cafe. But it has its own prowess! Map’s Cafe was originally That Latte Place in Ampang, but its owners has soon decided to shift here, and even incorporated pork in to their new menu!

Bee and I headed over there one late morning after a swim session and before a meeting, just to grab some brunch before we headed to work. I took my usual Earl Gray, which was nothing to shout about. I think Bee ordered their Macchiato, which I remember him commenting was fairly good, well bodied.

The guy needs his food! So presumably, he ordered the big breakfast. This came with buttered homemade toast, roasted potatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, back bacon and some chicken sausages. The chicken sausages in particular was absolutely delightful, as were the buttered homemade brioches!.

I got myself the bacon and mushroom omelette, which came with the brioche too. I polished the brioche, and while the omelette could be a little more fluffier, it was delicious just the same.

While we were there, we noted that the cafe was indeed a fully family run business, with the parents, siblings and possibly family friends helping out. It was all in all a fairly cozy place for a meal or just for a chat, and I would go back there anytime!

 

chai latte countdown in KL!

My love for Chai Latte is pretty known among my friends, especially cause I don’t drink coffee. With the proliferation of cafe’s in Klang Valley and KL these days, its reminding me more of Melbourne… which was where I first developed my love for Chai Latte in the first place.

Back then, my friends and I often went to cafe’s to try out the cakes they have there. By default, they would order coffee, latte’s  and the like. I can’t drink coffee… so I end up with chai latte, and before long I developed a love for it much like coffee lovers love their caffeine.

So imagine my horror when I first came home and discovered my home was devoid of Chai Latte! The only one I could find was in Coffee Bean, and it tasted… meh.

The cafe’s that’s been popping up around lately though, have chai latte! I was incredulously happy when I found out, and its been my mission ever since to try as many as I could. This list is only of what I have had so far, maybe to help my fellow Chai Latte lovers in Klang Valley. Coffee is overrated, tea is the way to go! 😛

Coffee Bean | Everywhere

Not so good. I would’ve drank it back then cause it was my only choice, but it’s overly sweet, too diluted and not spiced enough. I couldn’t even finish it, and I haven’t went back since, especially not since I have much better choices now.

Coffea Coffee | Sunway Pyramid, SS15, Jalan Telawi 2, The Curve

Not too bad, the second outlet I found which served chai. The second I found out about Coffea, I all but abandoned Coffee Bean, so I have fond memories of the chai here. It’s not too bad, spiced and delicious, but just a tad bit too sweet and a little imbalanced in terms of the tea to milk ratio. Not the best, but passable.

Jac’s on the 8th | Ara Damansara

Mmmm, not exactly my favorite. It’s called ‘organic chai latte’ on the menu, and while it gets plus points for being healthy I guess, it’s not exactly my cup of tea. Luckily it wasn’t too sweet, but it was too diluted, and not well mixed. I had dredges at the end of my drink, powdery bits which were getting caught in my throat.

Urbean | Avenue K

One of the best pours of chai latte I’ve had in KL so far, barring the fact that it’s a little too sweet for me. The spices were perfectly balanced, and it wasn’t diluted at all! In fact, it was thick with just enough froth, and balanced in terms of flavors. Just the right ratio of milk and tea, this is the one I would go back to… if Avenue K wasn’t so far from me.

Rekindle | SS2

This was a balanced one, that was just the right amount of milky and frothy, but just simply wasn’t sweet enough. While Urbean’s was leaning a little on the sweet side, the chai latte from Rekindle just tasted of milk and tea, with not enough spices, and barely a hint of sweetness. The health nut in me liked it, but if you’re looking for an indulgence, Rekindle isn’t the place for your chai latte cravings.

Chilla Cup | Subang Avenue, Solaris Mont Kiara, IPC Shopping Centre, Setiawalk, The Mines

Not exactly the best tasting cup of Chai Latte, and to be honest, I’d pick Coffea Coffee over this if I wanted a quick chai latte fix. It tasted over diluted, not spiced enough, and I was drinking more milk then tea. The taste got a bit cloying after awhile, and the small piece of chocolate chip cookie was not enough to help the taste at all.

It’s a Grind | Subang Jaya, SS15

One of the best I’ve had nearby my house! If I don’t feel like driving to Urbean, It’s a Grind in SS15 (faces Asia Cafe) is a pretty good choice. It was light enough to not feel cloying, but just enough spice for you to recognize the familiar taste of Chai Latte at first sip. It’s not overly sweet either, and is just right.

Homemade | Nescafe Dolce Gusto

If I don’t feel like going all the way to Urbean in the city centre… quite honestly, my own coffee machine at home is my best bet. Sadly, the Chai Latte capsules have been found in Singapore so far, and while the website says they can be found in Malaysia, I’ve yet to find it commercially sold. So your option is to buy from their online store. That aside though, while it may be seen as somewhat ‘instant’, the chai latte capsule is surprisingly good! You add your own sugar, so you can control your sweetness level. The fragrance of the spices can be smelt the moment you start making it, and it is quite full bodied as well. The fact that you can control how sweet and milky you want it makes it easy to customize this to make your own perfect cup of Chai Latte. 😀

Brunch at Upstairs Cafe, Four Seasons at Empire Gallery & Flat White Cafe at SS15

With Bee’s recent conjunctivitis infection, we had to go back to SDMC twice for his doctor’s checkup. The first one was tense, considering both of us were busy with work and worried for his eye, but his last one was super fun! Partially cause we got the green light for his eye, and cause we didn’t have work at all day!

Seeking breakfast after his green light from the doctor, it was to my joy that I discovered Upstairs Cafe was once again opened for breakfast hours, after being closed for awhile, and quickly yanked him there. He got himself the Egg’s Benedict with turkey ham, which was good despite being a little cold. The poached eggs passed the test!

I got my long awaited mushroom and bacon risotto! I’ve yet to see another cafe which serves such delicious risotto for a low price of RM12.90, and it was perfectly textured and delicious too. Creamy but not overwhelmingly so, it was perfect, albeit a little heavy for breakfast.

Since it was his first day free from self-confinement due to conjunctivitis, we pretty much spent the whole day out. Went over to Empire Gallery after that for some chore shopping, and sat down at Four Seasons for a late lunch when we got hungry. The double boiled soup of the day was amazingly flavorful!

I also finally introduced the boy to the roasted duck there. We got the mixed platter, which also came with char siew. After Meng Kee char siew though, nothing could compare. But  the duck as usual, was phenomenal.

On a separate occasion, we had some chores to run in SS15, so ended up in Flat White Cafe for breakfast before completing them. Bee commended their coffee, but was a little dissapointed cause he didn’t see the single origins they were offering and as such, couldn’t try them.

He also got the eggs benedict again, this time served much warmer. The eggs were smaller though, and not as well poached as the ones from Upstairs.

I got the salmon scrambled eggs! So fluffy, and the toast was super soft and buttery too. Deeelish!

 

long weeks ahead!

Its the end of the year, so things are winding down as we go through the last few events in school, as well as input all the information and get the kids ready for their final exams/IGCSE. As a result, we’re all super busy, and by the end of the week I just vegetate at home, so much so that I don’t even think of blogging. But because we make the best of our weekends, quite a bit happens!

Had to go through maths intensive training with my teachers, and Bee bought pizza for everyone. Because I had a sore throat though, I opted for a Greek salad instead, which I love cause of the feta cheese they give along with it!

The pizza at the end of the day. I love how it looks like a pie chart! Sarpino’s serves the best pizza, as always. xD

One of the weekends, we decided to splurge on Bulgogi, especially because its been super rainy these days. When we get a choice to choose what to have for dinner, we usually go for some BBQ or steamboat or shabu shabu, something that goes with the storm that rains down like clockwork everyday by 5PM at least.

I also managed to get myself in to an accident, where this woman rear ended me in a jam. I was going at 20km/h! How that managed to get me rear ended, I have no idea. Luckily, the woman was pleasant and we managed to settle it. Sad part was, my car was rendered out of order for a couple of days, as the bumper was mashed in and rubbed against the tyres. Couldn’t be driven, so Bee had to send me home that night. It was a good thing we had Deepavali holidays the following day for the rest of the week.

He got me dimsum that night, a nice little perk me up after that annoying car mishap. I haven’t had dimsum in so long! D:

Been eating a lot in the office too, because so much good food comes in! Especially all the muruku after Deepavali, I’m developing a sore throat now. xD

We did some cafe hopping during the holidays, and covered some of the new (quaint too!) cafe’s in Subang and around SS15.

Got ourselves new headphones too! Sony headphones that played at 3 hertz, because we went for some brain activation study that tested our brains. Sounds a bit silly, but I think it’s quite accurate! The study managed to identify parts of myself I never said anything about, and the person in charge suggested to make this voice recording and merge it to be heard by me at 3 hertz, so that my brain could be recalibrated. It’s fascinating, and may sound fairly far far fetched, but there’s nothing to lose by trying!

Friday night we joined our colleagues for dinner at Klang, Boston Baru! Our favorite place, but this time with so much more people and so much more food!

Also celebrated Brandon’s belated birthday at the same time, and the Fluffy was so happy.x D

Saturday was super busy! Morning we had to attend Rebecca’s wedding at Kajang, which was super far from our places. Had to fix Bee’s car windshield at the same time, so we left the car at the place and drove my car to Kajang. Right after the lunch, we rushed back to get his car and take a break for a bit.

Because we had another dinner to attend at night! This time, it was my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We also invited all the family, aunts and uncles from Melaka to come down for the dinner to make my grandmother happy, so it was a fairly big affair. I loved the pau’s they served! There was a big pau, surrounded by regular sized pau’s around it, and then had tiny paus hidden underneath the big pau’s!

It was a vegetarian affair for my grandmother’s sake, but for a vegetarian restaurant, it was such an art to see the soy-made mock meat look so real, even the abalone! Tasted fairly good too.

Baked the cake for my grandmother’s, my standard banana sponge cake because she rarely eats any other form of cake. Spent quite a while making the deco for the cake too.

Made 3, because the whole family together came close to 30 people, and even then it wasn’t everyone there. Big families ftw!

Highlight of my Sunday! We decided to take a break away from the family and be alone for awhile, so we ended up in 1utama for dinner on a rainy Sunday night. Maybe because of the weather and stuff, not many people were around 1utama considering the fact that it was a Sunday night. But because of the lack of people, we managed to grab a cake from Uncle Tetsu! I mentioned it in the previous post, but it was deelish!

Now I just can’t wait for the end of the year!<3