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Monday, April 29, 2019

[PROMO] Café Lodge Mother's Day Buffet @ YWCA Fort Canning

Café Lodge has lined up a special lunch and dinner buffet to celebrate Mother's Day on 11 and 12 May 2019.

Start from appetizers that include Seafood on Ice, Smoked Mackerel with Condiment, Roast Beef with Gherkins, then proceed  with some DIY action at the live station for Lor Mee, Pork Rib Curry, Braised Soya Chicken and Yam Rice with Dried Shrimps. and a wide spread of tempting desserts such as Chicago Cheese Cake, Brownie Marshmellow Cake, Bo Bo Cha Cha and more.

On 4 and 5 May 2019 slots for Lunch and Dinner, book and dine and receive a 25 percent discount for Mother’s Day Buffet.

For Purple Taste readers, quote "ThankyouMom" to enjoy the discount on 11 and 12 May 2019 as well!

Here is a preview of the Mother's Day Buffet items. To start, I'd recommend the Avocado Crab Meat Salad. It was creamy and tasty, with ample crab meat!

Apple and Celery with Walnuts Salad
Avocado Crab Meat Salad 

Then, nourish the soul and body with a bowl of pork ribs Sichuan soup with radish and wolfberries. 

Sichuan soup with radish


For the main course, look forward to the garoupa with salsa and the roasted chicken. The roasted chicken was really good with thin crackly skin and moist flavourful meat. Served with a small plate of peppered salt and lime. Old school style and so likeable!

Garoupa with mango salsa (may change in actual menu)

Roasted Chicken Chinese Style 
lime, salt and pepper

The other mains listed in the Mother's Day Buffet Special are Sauteed Beef with Bitter Gourd, Sauteed Potato with Salted Egg, Braised Beancurd with Seafood and Fried Yu Mai with Garlic.

For dessert, there's Mango Mousse Cake, Chocolate Pistachio Mousse Cake, Brownie Marshmallow Cake, Bo Bo Cha Cha, Sea Coconut with Jelly, Assorted Ice Cream, fruits and nonya kueh.

fresh fruits 


Mother's Day Special Buffet Information


Lunch Buffet  -  11.30am to 3.00pm
Dinner Buffet -  6.00pm to 10.00pm
Price: Adult at $38++ per pax and Child (6 to 12yrs) $15.80++ per pax

Promo: Quote "ThankyouMom" to enjoy the discount off the buffet price on these dates 4, 5, 11 and 12 May 2019

Reservation: Call 6333 0487 or email cafe@ywcafclodge.org.sg



Happy Dining and Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Saturday, April 27, 2019

[Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel] "The Influencer Takeover"

For the first time, 5 Singapore based Influencers have been invited to take over  Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel’s social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram  from April till September 2019 as part of the hotel's 20th anniversary celebration.

These Influencers/Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) will have freehand to post their experiences while staying at the hotel.  This initiative is part of the celebration for the 20th birthday of Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel which falls on the 1 October 2019. The selected Influencers are Bino Chua (I Wander), Darren Ang (Darrenbloggie.com), Ivan Teh (Ivan Teh-Running Man), Hazel Lam (Hazeldiary.com) and Ai Ling (Purple Taste).

We will be like any other regular guest who checks-in to the hotel for a 3-days 2-nights stay during any of the dates in each of the month starting from April till Sept 2019.  We can critic the hotel’s services, facilities as well as outlets in the most honest and transparent manner without interference from the hotel and to post our experiences on the hotel’s social media pages together with a review on our own blogs.

The public will also be able to read about things to do around the hotel and tours available from
within the hotel from the well-established DMC and daily sightseeing tour operator - Tour East
Singapore from experiences gathered from these KOLs.  Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel,
General Manager Mr Farid Alain Schoucair said, “20 years is a huge milestone for this great
property & we are celebrating it in a way no one ever did, which is to allow 5 influential
individuals to give unbiased opinions on what Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel is all about.”

Want to find out more on what we will be saying about our Grand Copthorne Waterfront's experience? Subscribe now to our social media platforms and follow us to the take over!


Grand Copthorne Waterfront

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrandCopthorneWaterfrontHotel/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandcopthornewaterfront/

Follow our hashtag: #influencertakeovergcw 


Meanwhile, you could also catch us in radio interviews this month!

A big thank you for your support if you had caught some of us on air on 25 April 2019 during 938NOW "The Breakfast Club" and Money FM 89.3.

Do join us when we take over Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel's Facebook and Instagram for 3-days each month, from April till September!


Saturday, April 20, 2019

[Media Invite] NO MILK Bistro @ 18 Pahang Street

Located at 18 Pahang Street, the closest MRT would be Bugis or Lavender. The shop has two levels. The first floor houses the Fish Soup Boutique while second floor has a cool bistro with all the happening vibes and a bar. One could do their chillin' at the rooftop, yo!

signage

Fish Soup Boutique

Available daily from 11am - 10pm (Mon-Sat), order up your favourite bowl of fish/seafood soup and enjoys the comforting taste of the nourishing Teochew-style fish broth. My favourite is the mackerel fish slices as one could taste the fresh sweetness. For the fried fish, they are using seabass. This means one could get two types of fish in two styles!

Mixed Fish Soup (sliced and fried) 双鱼片汤 @$7

Just right next to the Fish Soup Boutique is a small door that opens up to a staircase. This would lead diners up to the No Milk Bistro at Level 2 (rooftop) for some drinks, chillax vibes and interesting foods. Opens from 5pm to 12am (Mon-Sat).

let's go up
feelin' it
and the fun begins~

Started off with a beer. and the owners have carefully selected Singapore craft beers that pairs well with the food. I got a "Sunday's Brew Pilsner" even though it was not a Sunday but hey, why not yo!

Sunday's Brew Pilsner @$13 (Check out that 照才猫 ~)

The craft beer is from Rye & Pint Brewery, which was started by 3 Singaporean brothers as a hobby. The cold pilsner is refreshing in our hot and humid weather and with ABV 5%, it was a good slow start to the long weekend. Ahhh...

Tasted of citrus with a touch of floral, it finishes with a malty smoothness. Liking this beer. Now that we have our drinks, let's get some food in our bellies.

The menu is an eclectic fusion of the East and the West. There are the usual bar food like fried chicken wings, potato wedges and at No Milk Bistro, these are fused with an Eastern influenced-take. It could be in the marinade, the sauces etc. No Milk Bistro emphasizes on heritage preservation while adding a touch of their individual identities to the foods.

Homemade Meats - Black Charsiu, Secret Recipe Pork Belly and Ngor Hiang (not actual serving size)

The Black Charsiu, Pork Belly and Ngor Hiang are three separate items on the menu with the Charsiu and the Pork Belly priced at $12.80 per plate while the Ngor Hiang goes for $2. My personal favourite would be the Black Charsiu served with a tangy sambal belachan sauce. Nice caramelization on the skin for that sweet smokey taste. Would have been awesome if the slices of meat was thicker!

For finger food (or the usual bar grub), the fried chicken wings had a nice crispy batter and moist meat. The meat was well marinated and flavourful. But do dip into the chili sauce for added oomph. The various chili dips are made from scratch in the shop.

Deep Fried Chicken Wings @$14.80 (8 pieces)

A big sip of beer and a bite of those crunchy wings. Mmmm, now we are talking. No carbs? Nah, just No Milk. There's carbs and they are in the form of delicious freshly made tagliatelle and egg noodles.

Tagliatelle - Thai Red Curry with Tiger Prawns @$18.80
Tagliatelle - Beef Rendang @$16.80


The tagliatelle are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettuccine and its texture is slightly rough and porous, making it ideal for meat sauces. At No Milk Bistro, they made this pasta using just flour and egg. No water. End result was a more eggy version of the pasta with a delightful bouncy chew.

Both the Thai Red Curry and Beef Rendang sauces shared the similarity of having that familiar Asian spices, providing a rich fragrance and satisfying complement to the pasta. I find the Thai Red Curry lemak and appetizing while the beef rendang has a sweeter start with a hint of spicy finish.

All these talk are making me thirsty (again). Let's get some cocktails for a sweet finish. Tried the gin-based cocktail; Hendrik's Elixer and Blueberry Cucumber Gimlet. While I had my initial apprehension about blueberry and cucumber cocktail, it turned out to be a hit! It's a pretty good ladies drink. Do give it a try and let me know if you liked it.


Hendrick's Elixer @$15 - with elderflower, citrus, mint
Roku Gin based - Blueberry Cucumber Gimlet @$15
If a sudden craving for Chinese noodles hits you, why not try a bowl of the spicy fragrant egg noodles with grilled pork belly/fish belly. Fashioned like mala noodles, one could opt for its spice levels of 小辣,中辣, 大辣 (low, medium, high spicy).

香辣手工鸡蛋面与烤三辰肉或炸鱼肚 (干) @$8

The lowest level of spice, was barely there hence, you might want to opt for mid and above level of spicy. Ours was a bowl with the deep fried fish belly and it was belly-good! However, the salt quotient is high on this one (on the meat).

If you'd like to sober up a tad after all the drinks, you could still order up a bowl of hot, hearty, comforting fish soup. Yes, the menu is interchangeable between the Fish Boutique and the Bistro.

comfort food


Thank you Danielle for the invite and No Milk for hosting the tasting session.


No Milk Bistro

Address: 18 Pahang St, Singapore 198615
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/pg/nomilksg
Contact: 6291 5854
Business Hours: Mon-Sat
No Milk Fish Boutique (Level 1): 11am - 10pm
No Milk Bistro: 5pm - 12am
Closed on Sundays

Monday, April 15, 2019

[PROMO] Café Lodge Easter Sunday Special 21 Apr 2019 @ YWCA Fort Canning


Looking for a spacious space for a lunch buffet on Easter to celebrate with your family? Cafe Lodge offers buffet of Asian flavours, special activity of egg-painting and chocolate gifts for the kids. Available on 21 Apr 2019 and from 11am to 4pm.

Easter Sunday Lunch Buffet Price

Adult at $32++ per pax and Child (6 to 12yrs) $15.80++ per pax

Promotion

1 Child Dines Free with every 2 Paying Adults!

Sampler from the Easter Lunch Buffet Menu


Appetisers and Salad


Smoked salmon
Marinated octopus

Main Course


Stew duck with Chinese Mushroom and sea cucumber

Dessert


Fresh Fruit Platter

Besides the above, the other dishes in the buffet menu consists of:

Appetizer 
  • Prawn cocktail 
  • Oriental Roast Pork 
  • Marinated octopus (photo above)
  • Smoked salmon (photo above)
  
Soup 
  • Fish Maw soup with mushroom 
  
Live station
  • Kong Bak Pau with braised pork 
  • Loh Mee with condiments 
Salad 
  • Garden salad with 7 condiments 
  
Main course  
  • Steamed seabass fillet with teo chew style 
  • Sautéed prawn with celery and xo sauce 
  • Braised spinach with trio eggs  
  • Fred beef with black pepper 
  • Fried crispy chicken with prawn cracker 
  • Stew duck with Chinese mushroom and sea cucumber (photo above)
  • Fragrance rice 
  
Dessert 
  • Honey melon with sago and fruit 
  • Bo bo cha cha 
  • Chin chow and longan 
  • French pastries 
  • Assorted ice cream 
  • Mango mousse cake 
  • Double fudge chocolate cake 
  • Nutella tea cake 
  • Fresh fruit platter (photo above)
  • Ruby orange mousse cake 
  • Assorted nonya kueh 

For enquiries and reservations, please direct them to Cafe Lodge.

Café Lodge

Address: FORT CANNING LODGE, 6 FORT CANNING ROAD, 179494
Website: https://ywca.org.sg/cafe-lodges-easter-promotion/
Reservation: 6333 0487 or email cafe@ywcafclodge.org.sg
Online reservationhttps://reservations.hungrygowhere.com/cafe_lodge/?s=arwoibw

Sunday, April 7, 2019

[Tasting] 13 Stages @ Kallang Wave Mall

13 Stages has two outlets in Singapore; Kallang Wave Mall and Tanjong Pagar Centre. It is famed for its steamed whole chicken leg rice dishes as well as delicious kopi brewed by barista. Opened by local celebrity Mark Lee (李国煌), 13 Stages at Kallang Wave Mall is into 20 months of operations (since August 2017), while the one at Tanjong Pagar Centre is its second outlet.

We sampled some of their bestsellers and is delighted to know that come May 2019, they are expanding the menu with more flavours for its chicken dishes.

13 Stages at Kallang Wave Mall is huge and able to seat a group of 20 rather easily.

shopfront

menu

Walk right up front to the coffee counter and notice the 13 bottles of kopi powder from the 13 states of East and West Malaysia. How to choose from so many? Fret not, its menu had listed out the profiles for each of the kopi so you may want to decide based on that. Otherwise, one could also do the "Best of 2" or "Gems of 3 States". "Best of 2" means guests could order up a mix of two kopi while "Gems of 3 States" allows a tasting portion for 3 selected kopi of the day.

13Stages kopi

I opted for a taste of my hometown, Selangor (雪兰莪州). Did not know what to expect from the Malaysia Barista Kopi actually. Was pleasantly surprised to see it being served in a clear glass with a tag.

After one sip, I can proudly say that the barista kopi here, hits the spot, especially the kopi from Selangor, The barista made it less sweet to bring out the kopi profile and to me, that was perfect. Adequate, and enjoyable. Thank you!

Malaysia Barista Kopi - Selangor (medium, rich, less sweet)
Gems of 3 States

And if you are ever there during breakfast (10am to 12pm) or kopi-break (2pm to 5pm), do yourself a favour and order up the delicious butter toasted mantou. We had it with kaya but there was an option for condensed milk too. Salty sweet treats that goes well with the freshly brewed kopi.

mini butter toasted mantou @ $4.20/$4.80 (4/6 pieces)


with a good dollop of kaya

We also tried the curry chicken chee cheong fun from its Snacks/小吃 menu. The chee cheong fun was silky smooth and one need not chew too much on it before it disintegrates. The chicken shreds added a tiny bit of contrast in texture. Now, if only we have some yong tau foo items to complete the meal.

Curry Chicken Chee Cheong Fun @$5.50

Oh, I need to tell you about their steamed egg. Now, this is parked under the Sides/小菜 menu. Served in a small rice bowl, its portion is larger than the usual chawanmushi. Tasted homely and eggy. The chicken floss added a bit of savoury sweetness to this light tasty dish. Perfect when you feeling peckish but doesn't want anything too heavy.

Steamed Egg Chicken Floss (肉松滑蛋) @$3.20
sluurpilicious~

Now, let's look at what one could get for lunch/dinner. How about some aromatic chicken rice? It's current bestsellers for its steamed chicken leg rice are the Imperial Ginger Chicken, Sesame Chicken and Curry Chicken. For customers who prefer seafood, there is an unusual 'Steamed Fish and Chips' or one could opt for the Tom Yam Seafood or the Sesame Fish done in the same manner as its Sesame Chicken dish.

All of its Imperial Chicken dishes are priced at $9.50 nett while the Fish/Seafood option goes for $9.90 nett. Each set comes with aromatic chicken rice or plain rice, soup and sauces (chili and dark soy).

menu
let's eat~

All of us unanimously voted the Imperial Ginger Chicken as the best tasting dish!

Imperial Ginger Chicken (姜蓉皇帝鸡) 

The ginger was so good that I do not need to have it with chili. But then, the chili was tangy and did its job to elevate the taste further. The chicken meat was perfectly tender, moist and tasty with the toppings.

The curry chicken here is the lighter version and of very mild spice level.

Curry Chicken (咖喱鸡)
Dang Gui Chicken (当归鸡)
lovely aromatic chicken rice


The assam chicken here is pretty interesting and tasted unlike of the assam dishes that I've ever had. The mala chicken has the numbing spices right but it was oily as well.

Assam Chicken

Mala Chicken (麻辣鸡)

The fish dishes were good too, especially the Sesame Fish. This would rank right up behind Imperial Ginger Chicken, in terms of flavour. Overall, the Sesame Fish leans a tad towards the sweet side.

Sesame Fish 芝麻炸蛋鱼

Appearance-wise, the entire dish was off-white except for the deep fried egg floss topping which was golden brown in colour. There's tofu in the dish as well.

Sesame Fish
tofu
vege sticks with sesame sauce
Steamed Fish and Chips


The Steamed Fish and Chips is actually similar to Teochew styled steam fish dish. There's salted vegetable, tomatoes, sour plum and mushrooms. The fish fillet is wrapped within the thin beancurd skin and is super tender.

Overall, the food was tasty and the freshly brewed barista kopi was fantastic. Would recommend the Imperial Ginger Chicken, Sesame Fish, Butter Toasted Mantous and of course, the kopi.

Thank you Ivan for the invite and Steven for hosting the dinner. Kudos to the barista for the kopi brewed with love.


13 Stages

Address: No. 1 Stadium Place #01-41 Kallang Wave Mall Singapore, Singapore, 397628
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/13-Stages-100404353942702/
Contact: 6384 0502
Business Hours:
Daily 10am to 9pm