An Evening at Multi-Concept Restaurant SOCIEATY by Les Amis Group @ One Farrer Hotel

This is a one-stop dining space where guests could order from a collection of brand names like Mui Kee Congee, Peperoni Pizzeria, Nam Nam, Tenjin, Sushi Jin, Tarte by Cheryl Koh, Lemak Boys amongst others.

Conveniently located at One Farrer Hotel lobby level, it is within walking distance from Farrer Park MRT. For us, we saw that the restaurant was perpetually busy during dinner time and reservation is encouraged during our 3 days 2 nights at the hotel. 

The staff there are really friendly, and thus, we decided to give it a try. Remember to sign-up and use their webapp for new user's 15% discount.

sign-up and order via the SOCIEATY webapp

We ordered congee from Mui Kee, beef donburi from Sushi Jin and a dessert from Tarte by Cheryl Koh.

First time trying Mui Kee, and its congee is typical of the smooth Hong-Kong style that cannot see the rice type. Added side dishes of century egg and sliced amberjack.

Mui Kee Dace Fishball Congee @$10.80++

close-up

Soft-centered century egg with pickled ginger 糖心皮蛋 @$2.80++

Sliced Raw Amberjack @$12.80++

Wanted to see if the century egg has similar molten center as the one I had in Yung Kee 鏞記(Wellington Street HK) many years ago, but it was not. The taste and texture of the century egg in Yung Kee is still etched in memory.

2017 Pasqua Chianti @$13++

I did enjoy the red wine at SOCIEATY, as it was smooth and pleasant. Wine and porridge？ That works too!

The Steak Don from Sushi Jin uses Australian Angus beef, served with a healthy dose of truffle oil, and topped with onsen egg and pickled radish. All served in a pretty lacquer box with a side of miso soup.

Sushi Jin Steak Don @$29.80++

closer look

I was surprised that we could still eat rice at 830pm after the last meal intake at about 430pm where we indulged in Nasi Kandar and Tandoori dishes. But then, we were legendary once... so shouldn't be surprised actually. Hahhaa!

For finale, we tried the blackforest that's made of lovely dark chocolate, morello cherries and decorated with a single snowflake. I didn't have any expectation for the tart as am not a fan of cherry. But wow, I loved it. It looked gorgeous too.

Blackforest Tarte by Cheryl Koh

inner piece

We enjoyed dining at SOCIEATY as service was good, and staff was friendly and efficient. Just be sure to make your reservations.

Staycation eats with Ivan, Hence and Tracy.

SOCIEATY by Les Amis Group

Address: 1 Farrer Park Station Rd, #01-01A One Farrer Hotel & Spa, Singapore 217562

Website: https://www.socieaty.net/menu

Contact: 9662 8697

Business Hours:

Daily 11:30am–3pm, 5:30–10pm

Journey to the West for Good Food @ 155 Bukit Batok Street 11

Our 西游记 to suss out good food. Many prolific bloggers had been reviewing the west side story, so it is now our turn to just makan! First destination was to 233 Bukit Batok East Avenue 5 and we had enjoyed good plates of chicken feet, 牛腩面 beef brisket and also Cantonese porridge (粥). Full? Nah, that's just starters. Now let's go for Part 2, we'd say.

Hence, Ivan, Kris, Jennifer, Tiara and myself managed to land ourselves in 155 Bukit Batok Street 11. Each of us went and ordered for the group. It was pretty amazing how we didn't end up with the same foods! (but that's because we comms'ed each other prior, keke)

Fatty Weng 肥仔荣食摊

We felt like having meat that day. Lots of it. So Ivan went to get these substantial looking meat platters. A quarter roasted duck and double-meat of roasted pork and char siew. These slices of meat fed the 6 of us very well.

Fatty Weng's roasted meats

The roasted duck looked nondescript but it was good. Each bite was tender and flavourful. Some of its skin parts came with a layer of fats. Would it be jelak? I'd thought but still, it went into the mouth. Wow. That feeling where the oil oozes out and just gently greases the tasty meat with added texture was simply amazing. Definitely impressed.

Roast Duck 烧鸭 @$15

Actually, the first bite went to the siu yuk 烧肉 (roast pork) to test the crackling. Still crispy even after 15 minutes. I can say that I've been eaten roasted pork since I was a kid. Maybe since I was a 3-year old? Chunky bites always worked for me. Unfortunately, the char siew was too lean for most of us. It gives a good workout for the jaw.

叉烧烧肉 (double roasted meat platter) @$15

Ah Lipp Famous Penang Prawn Noodles 槟城虾面

For first timers, we tried the big prawns noodles. The soup looked potent with its dark red hues. Sip it while it is hot and one would have been transported into umami-land. Such bliss! All the goodness of seafood is in that bowl of soup. For photography purpose, we got the dry-version. Personally, I'd much prefer a soupy version of Penang prawn noodles, anytime.

大虾面 Big Prawn Noodles (Dry) @$10

The prawns were huge, and firm to bite. Very 扎实 (solid). My favourite combo for prawn noodles would be pork ribs and regular sized prawns. But, the soup must be good. If the soup is no good, then it is a no go for me, regardless of what ingredient the noodles came with.

Another taste test for Penang fare, would be its assam laksa. I still remembered my first time when I had a taste of it. Probably around age 6 or 7? I thought it was horrible. But as they say, our taste buds change over time and I learnt to appreciate it better.

Ah Lipp Assam Laksa @$4

The chunky white rice noodles seemed right, the ingredients abit too well laid for a hawker fare but on first sip, I was disappointed. The soup was too light. There's plenty of fish in the bowl though, and that was a plus point. Since the broth makes or breaks a dish, my preference went to the prawn noodles.

Fried Baby Squid Prawn Mee

Fried Baby Squid Prawn Mee (minus baby squids because they ran out of it!)

This is one very popular stall. Plenty of customers and people kept coming up to order. But they worked fast. The zhao pai 招牌 seemed to be the baby squid prawn noodles but ran out of baby squids by the time we ordered. So one regular plate of hokkien mee would have to do.

The noodles were moist and plenty of sliced pork, some seafood and topped with pork lard, and a dash of sambal on the side. For any good plate of hokkien mee, pork is one of the important ingredients besides the broth. I think the meat gave the dish some depth in flavours. Yummy and recommended!

It was a fun day, exploring our hawker centres/coffeeshops with this group of foodies. Thank you Jen, Kris, Tiara, Shermaine, Hence and Ivan for a full-filling day. 你吃饱了吗？

camera eating already!

[Media Invite] BurgerUP Express @ Northpoint City South Wing #B2-113

Did you know that there is a homegrown label for gourmet burger/sliders? BurgerUP may be familiar to some (especially those who frequents Punggol Waterway) and perhaps to many of us, the name may yet to ring a bell. BurgerUP is a local player in the fast-food market specializing in gourmet burgers/sliders.

So what maketh a gourmet food? Wikipedia defines gourmet as

"a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, often quite rich courses. The term and its associated practices are usually used positively to describe people of refined taste and passion. Gourmet food tends to be served in smaller, more expensive, portions."

Smaller portion is definitely correct, and gourmet is often associated with premium ingredients and a somewhat laborious processes in getting the final product.

At $9 and $10 nett respectively, BurgerUP Express at Northpoint City South Wing is serving customers the White/Black Series Value Meal. A single gourmet slider (ala-carte) is priced at $4.80 and $5.50 for the White burgers and Black sliders. Hence, the value meal will get you two sliders (White - Fish/Chicken, or Black - Lamb/Beef), a drink and a fries.

White and Black Series Burgers, with sides of mushroom and fish

Though gourmet, do not expect cutlery like fork and knife and plates for the burger. It is still served in paper boxes typical of burger takeaways. As all sliders are made upon order, so one will need to allow about 15 to 20 minutes of wait time before the order is ready.

ingredients are listed on the sticker

Was excited to see lamb on its menu, and that'll be the first target. The sliders are about 3 inches in diameter while a normal burger would be around 4 to 4.5 inches. Basic ingredients in all of its sliders would include melted cheddar, coral greens and a slice of tomato. For Black series, the handmade buns are charcoal buns while the White series, has handmade sesame buns.

65gms of lamb patty slider (Black series)

lifted to reveal fried emmental cheese

easy handling with one palm

The patty was thick and jus was oozing from the burger. Do eat it while it is hot, as that'll be the best time to get the crisp of the fried emmental cheese contrasting texture with the juicy lamb patty. A hint of bitterness from the fried cheese. Not much gameyness in the patty and that made it tough to discern whether it was lamb! Liked that they had kept the sauce to a minimum, and the flavours in the slider matched well.

thick, juicy lamb patty

If you don't like red meat, how about white meat then? Fish slider that's made out of the best part of the fish (no, not the cheeks as the yield is low) but the mid-part of the fish. Dory that's deep fried to a brown crisp, and one that was able to maintain its crispyness even after 15 minutes. The fish slider is the only slider that does not have the fried emmental cheese.

Fish Slider (55 gms) with sesame bun, mayo, tomato, coral greens, cheddar, tartar sauce

lovely fillet

The chicken patty is made up of minced chicken thigh meat, kneaded with cheese and cooked till a moist juicy center is formed. The chicken patty has an interesting texture and a nice flavour.

Chicken Slider with cheese center

Also tried the sides such as fried mushroom and fried fish bites. Liked the fried mushrooms as it was a huge juicy mushroom goodness!

Fried mushrooms

lovely shrooms

fried fish bites

Last but not least, the beef slider which is said to be the favourite amongst many. Expect nothing but thick meaty patty made of the fine cuts where Chef Alvin has mastered the art of lean to fat ratio. The chuck meat gave it a firm enjoyable bite.

Beef Slider (Black series) with its creator, Chef Alvin in the background

BurgerUP Express counter

The Black and White Value Meal series offers good value. With just $10, one could enjoy not just one gourmet sliders but two! (plus a drink and a side). BurgerUP Waterway is halal certified and BurgerUP Express at Northpoint will be following suit. They are also expanding into our neighbouring country so look forward to BurgerUP overseas!

Thank you Beth and Freda for the invite, and Chef Alvin and BurgerUP Express for hosting the tasting.

BurgerUP Express

Location: Yishun Northpoint City South Wing #B2-113

Website: http://www.burgerup.com.sg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BurgerUpSG/

Kopi Tiam 咖啡店 @ Swissôtel The Stamford

Nearest MRT would be City Hall, and from there head on towards Raffles City. Go up to Level 2 and follow the signs to Swissôtel. You will notice Cafe Swiss first, and Kopi Tiam is just round the corner after that.


Kopi Tiam simply means coffee shop. Here it offers comfortable environment and convenience, where one could taste local fares of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian flavours, all under one roof.

entrance

The ambiance was a bit of ecletic and some bits nostalgic.

local brand

It has been ages since the last visit to this place but I do remember what I ate then. That was before the food blogs era. Hence, for this tasting, I must taste its satay, once more. For old times sake.

menu

table for large group

For starters, we had the satay and rojak. The satay consist of a choice between chicken, beef or lamb. With a mixed plate, one gets to try all three meats all at once. Flavour was good, with the meats well marinated and most importantly, it was deliciously tender. Only lament? The meat skewers were skinny. Could have eaten two plates of these babies. Eh, we did...

beef, lamb and chicken satay @$16++

Now, the rojak. Menu states it as local Chinese salad. It has cucumber, beansprouts, turnip, water spinach, prawn paste, peanut and chili. I liked it. Well balanced and well mixed. The addition of those crispy fritters that remained crispy throughout, was a winner. This was good for sharing between 4-6 pax as appetiser.

Local Chinese Salad - Rojak @$16++

Craving for fried carrot cake and fried oyster omelette? No worries, Kopi Tiam has it. Good for sharing. If you asked, what's the difference between these and those found at the hawker centres? For one thing, the version at Kopi Tiam was less oily. The prawns used in the carrot cake was of a good size and one plate could have feed two as main course, or feed 4 as appetiser.

The oyster omelette had a good flavour going for it, loved the crispy starchy bits but I was let down by the tiniest of oysters. For this price, the expectation would be of plump juicy oysters.

(white) Fried Carrot Cake @$17++

Fried Oyster Omelette @$22++

Moving on to main courses. For noodles, one could opt for laksa or hokkien mee. Bearing the name of Signature "Kopi Tiam" Laksa, the expectation mounts. The colour was good, noodles cooked till just right and the spicy broth was rich but mild in the spice factor. The accompanying ingredients included the usual suspects of fish cake slices, tau pok (beancurd), prawns and shredded chicken. To amped up on the spice, one could request for the sambal. This versatile sambal could be enjoyed with the radish cake as well.

Signature "Kopi Tiam" Laksa @$20++

Braised Hokkien Mee “Singapore Style” @$18++

The Braised Hokkien Mee "Singapore Style" could have been great. The noodles were likeable. Its smooth  texture that glides down the throat and served hot but not burning. The serving size for this plate was rather generous and it can feed two small eaters comfortably. If the broth was infused more with those yummy seafood umami'ness, it would have been better.

If you are dining in a group, then perhaps, you might want to try the Fish Head Curry and some other small dishes to share. The fish head curry is served with pappadum and steamed rice. Its curry spiciness was of a comfortable level and perhaps might come across as mild for locals. Huge fish head with enough meat to go around for a group of 6 pax. Quite shioks to douse the rice with the curry.

Fish Head Curry @$55++

For beef eaters, try there's two styles to choose from with its own distinctive flavours.  Wok-Fried Beef with Shaoxing Wine and Soya Sauce or the Beef Rendang. The wok fried beef was of a smaller bite-sized and cubed. Surprisingly tender. Simple ingredients of New Zealand beef, rice wine and soy sauce. Yums. Give me this, a bowl of rice and I'm happy.

Wok-Fried Beef with Shaoxing Wine and Soya Sauce @$22++

For more robust flavours and beefy chunks of meat, try the beef rendang. Tasted of kaffir leaves, lemakness from coconut milk and macho beef with a bite. Wonder if they sell those yummy spicy rendang sauce in a jar.

Beef Rendang @$20++

To complete the experience, we went loco with the desserts as well. Memories of childhood surfaced with an order of hot bubur cha cha. Cubes of sweet potato, yam and tapioca jelly swimming in a bowl of milky white sweetened coconut milk. Ahhh....those were the days.

Bubur Cha Cha (hot) @$8++

For the modern Singaporean, orh nee (yam paste) seemed like a favourite. Many years ago, one of the ways to enjoy this dessert (short of making it yourself) was to wait for someone's wedding dinner and it might appear as the preferred dessert.

yam paste with gingko nuts (orh nee)

How about something that is slightly modern? The Pisang Goreng, or also known as fried banana fritters. Using pisang emas, and deep fried till golden brown. Served with a drizzle of maple syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Simply lovely.

Pisang Goreng @$9++

hi there, sweetie~

Enjoyable local fares in a comfortable air-conditioned environment. If you are around that area and gotten tired from shopping, why not have a break at Kopi Tiam and try its yummy smooth (and strong) teh-tarik and sweet pisang goreng as tea-break snacks?

Special thanks to Adora, Medwin and Wendy for hosting the session and HGW for the invite.

Kopi Tiam @ Swissôtel The Stamford

Address: Level 2, Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882
Website: http://www.swissotel.com/hotels/singapore-stamford/dining/kopi-tiam/
Contact: +65 6431 6156
Reservations: http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/kopi_tiam_swissotel/

The Prata Place @ Upper Thomson Road

This place is somewhere near Springleaf Garden at Upper Thomson Road and definitely needed a car to get there. Remember the Ultimate Hawker Food Fest that was curated by Ian, Maureen and Derrick sometime in October last year? On its 'Ultimate Ingredient' menu, The Prata Place had showcased its Prata with Poached Egg w/ Hollandaise. It's called the Blaster Plaster! But the sauce seemed to be different...

Blaster Plaster

perfectly runny yolk

The Blaster Plaster really tasted like an angmonized prata. It was more of a regular egg benny but on a crispy pancake instead. Didn't really go well with the curry though. It was like a novelty to eat this with teh tarik, but I prefer the usual pratas with strong curry. Speaking of teh tarik, it's almost customary to have it with pratas, don't you think? Or Nescafe tarik. That works too.

teh tarik less sweet

If weather is too hot, have a glass of teh-o-limau ais (iced tea with lime. That's a thirst quencher!

weather too hot? Or, if curry was too hot

The Ultimate Murtabak is on menu, so we got ourselves that. Ultimate anything, should be worth trying, right? This murtabak has tandoori chicken, mushrooms, onions and cheese. Came in a good size for sharing. Loaded with ingredients and tasted so good with the chicken or fish curry. Personal favourite was the fish curry. Yums and spicier.

Ultimate Murtabak

loaded with ingredients

For munchies that doesn't fill you up, there's pappadum. But I'd think pappadum goes better with rice that's drenched in curry sauce, and with some delicious fried chicken.

snack

Then, the latest on the menu would be Umami 50 which has chicken luncheon meat, chicken floss and mayo. Glad that we ordered this, as it was really tasty! Ate it with fish curry and the combo was just wow. Spicy, savoury and sweet at the same time. Lovely and definitely recommended. Don't forget the fish curry sauce.

Umami 50