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/

Marché Mövenpick @ Suntec City

It's been ages, Marché. Visited the one at Suntec City Tower 3 on a weekend, for a lunch gathering with university friends. The place is kids friendly, with a small play area where children can climb up and down the treehouse, except that it was not really a treehouse. The queue was quite daunting at about 1230pm.

If you have small children, then it will quite worth it to get the kids meal. For just $10.90, there's a main course and one glass of juice. There's also a free paper mask that the kid can colour. Nice.

kids meal

free mask with color pencils

The place is not very big but it does offer quite a good selection. For example, plenty of greens for healthy eaters, pizza made upon order, paella, the all-time-favourite rosti counter, savoury and sweet crepes, grilled meats and seafood, soups, oysters, cakes, drinks etc.

Being market style concept, just bring the Marché card issued upon entrance to the food stall that you are interested in. Make your order and pass them to card to swipe. Collect food, cutleries and enjoy.

vegetable counter

salads

savoury crepe

Finally decided on roast beef for lunch. The beef is sliced upon order. The staff was pretty generous with the meat, but the table was aghast when the plate was brought back. "It's raw!" Everyone protested. Hmm, actually quite true. Hence, to be safe, decided to bring it back to the grill station.

roast beef @ $24+

The beef was then grilled for about or minute or two on each sides. Was a tad worried that it might become too tough. Fortunately, the meat was still good! Meat was still tender and the slightly charred area was really flavourful. Liked the portion of the meat. Carnivorous cravings, satisfied. The meat was served with salad leaves, a dollop of mash potato and brown sauce. Liked mine with mustard.

grilled beef

thankfully pink

As the children were busy at the play area, the adults chit-chatted. Was considering desserts and coffee. The coffee counter do have a limited selection of cakes, pastries and bread. The staff recommended to get a set for just $4.90. The set has coffee/tea and a cake. For more pricey cakes, a top-up is required. For this coffee counter, one need to pay in cash instead. I think that's fine as one cup of coffee is already $3.50.

cake and coffee set @$4.90

insides

Actually, the cake tasted quite good. Dark and rich, yums. Good value.

Real Food 真食 @ Novena Square 2

Located at basement of Novena Square 2, this place is popular as it serves food suitable for vegetarians and vegans in a cafe setting. And, for the record, the food tasted good. Concept is simple: Queue, Order and Pay at the counter. Get a basket containing the cutlery with a number tag and food shall be served to you at your table.

A drink that I quite liked is the Daylesford organic carbonated drink of the Lemon Lime & Bitters flavour. Nice and refreshing.

Daylesford Organic Carbonated Drink - Lemon Lime & Bitters @$5.80

The wait for food, did take a while. But the place had stocked up on magazines and books, so feel free to browse. During the time of visit, saw copies of Monocle magazine too.

dumpling soup (vegan, soy) @$7

The dumpling soup looked good with those plump dumplings and with some leafy vegetables for a dose of green. Ingredients included tofu, mushrooms, carrots, french beans and chestnuts.

Mine was from the All-Day-Breakfast menu; the Rise-n-Shine Breakfast. It has a side of potato salad, lots of salad leaves, sauteed mushrooms and two sunny-side up eggs buried underneath the greens, and half a grilled tomato, served with bread. What a lovely warm crusty bread to go with the eggs. Would've been perfect if the eggs were runny.

Rise-n-Shine Breakfast @$9.80

Old Hong Kong Kitchen @ Novena Square 2

Was in the mood for some dim sum. What's my current must-have for dim sum in a non-buffet setting? Simple steamed cha siew bao (叉烧包). Its centre must've burst forth to reveal the delicious lustrous fillings of sweet cha siew. The darker savoury variant is preferred but nowadays, most are of the reddish variant cha siew.

At Old Hong Kong Kitchen, this week's cover charge was the braised sweet beancurd skin.

cover charge

For our drinks, the service staff recommended the rose tea with goji (枸杞) berries. Ok. But it was such a tiny pot with equally small dainty cups, that we had to have it refilled multiple times since there were four of us sharing this. Very light tasting, slight sweetness but missing the fragrant rose smell.

rose tea with goji berries

Let's roll out the dim sums! Ooh, we ordered 7 baskets of stuffs to share amongst the four of us.

boluo (菠萝包) bun

If bo luo bun means pineapple bun, then how come it doesn't contain any pineapple? 'Coz it just look like a pineapple with the baked cruncy top, that's all.

Those crunchy bits at the top, what are they made of? Recipes indicated that it's made of cake/bread flour, caster sugar, butter, egg yolk, milk powder, evaporated milk, condensed milk and baking powder.

The above Q&A was just to satisfy my own curiosity.

deep fried prawn beancurd roll

The deep fried item was crunchy and served piping hot. The sauce does enhance the taste. Quite nice.
Next, serve me a soft fluffy cha siew bao with delicious moist savoury sweetish pork fillings. Yummy.

cha siew bao

pan-fried turnip cake (萝卜糕)

3 treasures chee cheong fun (三宝猪肠粉)

The turnip cake and cheong fun were pretty run-of-the-mill. The turnip cake lacked the chinese sausage fragrance. The cheong fun sheet was nicely chewy and not too thick but the fillings distribution was not quite even. This version has scallops, prawns and cha siew in its own strips.

Alas, by the time I remembered about the har gao, the dumpling skin had already hardened. =(
Nevertheless, this har gao was packed tightly with firm prawn in it.

har gao (虾饺)

Just when we thought that was the end of lunch, out came the deep fried yam puffs. Oops, everyone had forgotten about this order.

deep fried yam puffs (芋头角)

The yam/taro dumplings were nicely done with adequately crispy outershell and biting into this dumpling yielded a very nice prominent yam taste to it. But, since we had so many items prior with the same cha siew fillings, this was unfortunately rendered towards monotony.

The meal cost about $76 for 4-pax. The dim sum items ranged from $5+ to $6+ each.

GastroSmiths Bistro and Bakery @ Tan Quee Lan Street

Been curious about this place for a while now. Blame it on the postings by myfoodsirens. Reservation was via SMS and response was pretty quick. Staff would do a verification on that day itself and we are all set. Located at 103 Beach Road, Tan Quee Lan St., this place is very near the Downtown Line MRT exit.

First impression of GastroSmiths, was that its indoor seating area was rather small and compact. Lovely wall art. Suits the mood.

interior

The menu can be found online. For drinks, we had the umeshu and yuzu vodka soda. Guess which one was mine?

komasa umeshu with soda @$8.50++

Yuzu Vodka Soda @$12.50++

Yuzu really goes quite well with soda water! Haha, yup. Had the yuzu vodka and I liked it. Maybe will recreate this at home, one day.

For appetiser, we had the Scallop Ceviche. Cubes of raw Hokkaido scallop, marinated with citrus juice and dressed with olive oil, salt and corriander. Hmm, it was less tasty than I imagined. Slightly bitterish aftertaste from the marinade. The scallop unfortunately lacked its natural sweetness.

Scallop Ceviche @$14.50++

My friend, Flo, ordered the Cast-Iron Grilled Chicken. When the dish landed on the table, the first thought that struck, was of its serving size. Felt like something was missing from the plate. Perhaps a side of greens would have compensated for the space on the plate? This one is for breast meat lovers. The sear on the chicken was nice and the taste was simple and light. Loved the sauteed mushrooms and the smoked yoghurt potato mash was something different.

Cast-Iron Grilled Chicken @$24++

Next, was my main course. The 150 days grain-fed Angus Striploin. Ok, both plates were pretty minimalistic. How do you like your beef to be done? If it is not a French restaurant, then medium-rare would be my option. Pink at its center, please. The cauliflower was roasted with salsa verde sauce. Tasty as there were concentrated sprinkles of salt at the cauliflower's head. The angus has a good beefy chew and loved the thin layer of fats at its side, especially with the charred bits. The pomme puree was rather lovely with its buttery creamy scent.

220gms Angus 150day grain-fed Striploin @$33.50++

lovely medium rare

Lastly, was dessert. Went for the Valrhona Lava Cake. A waiting time of at least 10 minutes would be required. Perused the coffee menu and saw an item called 'Magic'. Curious, so enquired from the staff. Oh, it's a ristretto and since it is extracted with half amount of water, then its flavours would be more concentrated. Didn't try that, but the Shoyu Caramel Latte looked interesting. Went for my usual piccolo.

Piccolo Latte @$4++

The plating of the dessert was lovely. Manjari chocolate was delightful, with a good balance of sweetness and bitter. However, was there essence of banana underneath the ice-cream?

Valrhona Lava Cake @$15.50++

Manjari 64%, vanilla ice-cream, banana

Expect to spend about $67 per pax for a two-course dinner with an alcoholic drink.