[Media] Lovely Pies @TheFoodPan3

Was blessed with a box of pies recently from TheFoodPan3. Thank you Winnie and Kris for the pies! It was well packaged and the sturdy box protected the pies during the trip from town back to my home.

box of pies

When you think about pies, what comes to mind? For me, it's the chicken pie. I had a childhood phase where I'd grown to dislike chicken pies, so I tend to avoid those whenever I could. The more recent delicious pie that I had, was in Melbourne and those were the beef pies. Read more about Melbourne experience here.

The box came with handy stickers to identify the pies, ingredients used and not forgetting, the reheating instructions! Wow, all inclusive so that everyone can enjoy the optimal taste of the pies as intended by the chefs. That is, if we chose to follow the instructions... hehe!

box of four

I understood from TheFoodPan3 team that the pies are baked on the day of delivery, so these can be eaten fresh once you received it. Of course, it's always good to check with the friendly team at TheFoodPan3 if you have any further queries. 

Classic Chicken Pie

Classic Chicken Pie @$7

potato, carrots, chicken, egg, onions, peas, seasoning

Am surprised that I liked the Classic Chicken Pie. It tasted a bit of a light peppery stew kind of sauce in there and the root vegetables were adequately soft. Nice.

Red Wine Chunky Beef Pie

Red Wine Chunky Beef Pie @9

Usually, I'd halved the pies to share with my brother and by chance, mine so happened to contain largely beef tendons while his contained meat. Hmm. Nevertheless, the mushroom in this pie carried the dish well and the sauce was mild with savoury sweetness.

And if you're wondering whether there are pies with local flavours, then the answer is Yes! There's Ayam Kari Kapitan and Beef Rendang for now.

Ayam Kari Kapitan Pie

Ayam Kari Kapitan Pie @$8

spicy shiok

The Ayam Kari Kapitan pie has a spicy kick to it. I enjoyed the hardboiled egg in this pie as egg and spicy kari, pairs well.

Chunky Beef Rendang Pie

Chunky Beef Rendang @$9

chunky beef indeed

One gets to enjoy the aromatics (prominently of kaffir, lemongrass, galangal) in the beef rendang before it mellowed down into a mildly sweet flavour. The chunky beef was fork tender and lovely to eat.

Overall, I liked all the flavours that I've tried. The pies were of a good size and one pie would be adequate for a meal. The pie pastry holds well and I think it'll still be good even if the pies had a bit more sauce in them.

Thank you once again to TheFoodPan3 team. Looking forward to more local inspired flavours in the future!

Interested parties, please send direct message to TheFoodPan3 team via Instagram, or Whatsapp.

TheFoodPan3

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefoodpan3

Whatsapp: 97965460

Email: thefoodpan3@gmail.com

[Tasting] H&C halycon & crane @ Paragon Shopping Centre

Was invited to H&C at Paragon to try some of the items from the new menu. Thank you Kris and Eugene for the invitation. This time round, we went during dinner time. 

cosy interior

nice seats to watch the world go by

some nibbles before getting the mains?

how about some fancy teas?

Fancy Teas

Since weather was hot and humid, I opted for "Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea". This was the only cold tea from the fancy tea series. Staff informed that the tea is steeped daily and in limited volume. Ok, let's try it.

Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea @$10.90

cheers~

Loved the deep amber hue of the Pu'erh tea. It was indeed refreshing and enjoyable.

For teas prepared via the siphon pot, one could watch the tea preparation at the coffee/tea/bar area. These would be the "Beau-tea-ful You" and "Tea-rriffically Healthy".

aesthetically pleasing

Once the tea is ready, staff will bring over the brewed tea to your table (minus the siphon). Staff informed that the volume of water served is optimal for the tea-leaves used.

"Tea-rrifically Healthy" (Buckwheat and Chrysanthemum) @$14

"Beau-tea-ful You" (Mixed Dried Fruits, Rose, Strawberries, DragonFruit) @$14

Buckwheat tea was nicely nutty with toasty notes (unsweetened) while the one with the mixed dried fruits and rose, was mildly sweet and lovely rose fragrance.

Nibbles

Let's nibble on some appetisers while we sipped the teas. 

Crispy Squid @$18

Crispy squid was lovely as the squid was nicely tender. It actually doesn't pack any heat although menu listed it as '1 chili' spicy level. More sweet than spicy.

Hot & Sour Gyoza Soup @$14

Chicken gyoza was decent and the sauce is similar to 酸菜鱼 (sour vege fish) albeit less on the sour scale. Tangy and appetizing.

Sticky Pork Ribs @$15.50

The pork ribs had some crisp bits on first bite with overall flavours from the classic sweet vinegar glaze. Longan was nicely plump and sweet.

Tomato Beef Stew (served with sourdough) @$19.50

Oh, I might have found my new favourite nibbles and that's the tomato beef stew. Hearty, tangy plus beef with some fats? Bring it on! Plenty of tomatoes and potatoes in there too.

Pasta

For the mains, there are noodles and there are grains to choose from. Let's try a few.

Low Cal, Avocado Scallion Capellini @$22.50

Important thing to note is that keep the photo taking moments (if any) to a minimum if you had ordered the pasta.  We took a tad too long and the capellini had begun to dry out a little. So we made the most of the onsen egg to moisten it again once more, before we tucked into it. Hehe.

The scallion capellini had yummy mushroomy flavours that I liked. And, towards the end, I added some beef stew to the noodles to change it up a bit and I enjoyed that too!

Hot Sauce Prawn Pasta @$27.50

But my favourite pasta that night, was the prawn pasta. The prawns were cooked the way I liked. Moreover, it was served with deep fried kale. I'll gladly eat this vege.

that perfect bite

Grains

Squid Mixed Grains Rice Stew @$26.50

First time seeing squid mixed grains rice stew. Have you tried one before? It was a novelty for me. 

interesting

Salmon and grains were served with slightly charred/roasted romaines, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, sprinkling of nori and of course, a piece of well cooked salmon. I'm all for the salmon skin. Crisp and packed with flavours.

Salmon and Grains @$34

But who would've guess, that I'd fall for the stone bowl grains. Same mixed grains as the rest but there's a slight smokey flavour from each spoonful of this. Besides mixed grains, there's potato, mushrooms, chickpeas and fried kale.

Humble Grains Stone Bowl @$16.50

Special thanks to Chu Chu who took care of our table that night, and Chef Eugene for recommending us the dishes.

Read more on our past brunch experience here.

H&C halcyon & crane

Address: 290 Orchard Rd, #03-09 Paragon Shopping Centre, Singapore 238859

Website: https://linktr.ee/halcyonandcrane

Contact: 97275121

Business Hours:

Daily: 9 am–8:30 pm

千両 sen-ryo @ ION Orchard

Located at Level 3 of ION Orchard, this was my first time to this restaurant. Thank you Kris for making the reservation.

The restaurant gave off a slightly grand vibe with its dark themed decor. Greeted at the entrance and was brought to our table after waiting for a few minutes as the staff was also attending to walk-ins.

menu

Opted for the Oyako Don Set and the Premium Bento Set to share.

Oyako Don Set 親子丼セット

Oyako Don Set @$16.80++

Was amused by the Oyako Don Set where the egg and chicken were served separately from the rice.

Nevertheless, the set came with side dishes such as pickles, seaweed, miso soup (these 3 components are also served for the Premium Bento set) and chawan mushi.

closer view of the egg and chicken

smooth steamed egg with a piece of firm prawn

loved these pickles

yummy seaweed salad

Premium Bento Set プレミアム弁当セット

Premium Bento Set @$25.80++

The Premium Bento Set has mini barachirashi don, tempura (1 prawn, 1 thin sliced pumpkin), braised beef, saba, cream croquette, tamagoyaki, ebi maki and warabi mochi. Served with side dishes of pickles, seaweed and miso soup.

braised beef

The braised beef tasted sweet savoury similar to those in gyudon (ぎゅ丼). 

mini bara chirashi don ミニばらちらし丼

One has to request for wasabi separately as it wasn't provided within the bento for the mini bara chirashi.

tempura ebi and pumpkin

cream croquette

I do like the cream croquette. Well fried and tasty. The prawn tempura was of a good size.

ebi maki, tamagoyaki and warabi mochi

The staff almost took away the bento when I haven't had the dessert on the tray. Probably the warabi mochi square was too small to be noticeable. Hahaa.

The place is popular during lunch hour. The ambiance was definitely nice while service was mainly perfunctory. Food was decent and price, considered pretty reasonable at this part of town.

Thank you Kris for the treat!

千両 sen-ryo 

Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #03 - 17/18, Singapore 238801

Website: https://inline.app/booking/-MQjry-X9jTsm5p4QyFA:inline-live-2/-MQjry8em01tWBhLQSga

Contact: +6569746782

Business Hours:

Daily: 11 AM–10 PM

The Line Restaurant @ Shangri-La Singapore

Blessed with colleagues who wanted to have lunch during my birthday month. Working from home meant we actually don't meet unless we are on-site for meetings with clients.

Shangri La is my colleague's favourite staycation spot as he likes to bring his kids there for some family bonding time. Hence, he brought us to The Line for lunch after our meeting at client's place.

table for 3

My first time at this place, hence I asked him what are the must tries. He told me "Laksa". Ok and to attest to that recommendation, he actually started with a bowl of laksa. Haha!

For me, the cold stuffs first. It's been a while since I had any sashimi.

sashimi

snow crab leg, prawns

The chef at the sashimi counter, I think he had a mission to fill-up my entire plate. He gave like 6 slices of fish for each type. Luckily, I only chose salmon and tuna! =P

thick cut is best cut

Ok, am not a big fan of cold crab. Too much of a hassle to get that little bit of meat which didn't taste of anything and it definitely needed a squeeze of lemon.

plethora of things; roast beef brisket, pork trotters, fried ee-fu noodles, seabass, fried rice

Next plate was a mish-mash of East and West, cooked food. Trotters was nicely tender and collageny as it looked. The noodles and fried rice were ok. Fish was nice, especially with its skin on. Brisket was so-so.

closer view of trotters

chicken from the Indian cuisine section

The chicken was nicely tangy and can't go wrong with thigh meat. Next, of course need to try the recommended dish.

Singapore Laksa

with thin beehoon

The laksa rendition here was nicely fragrant with the spices but not much heat from it. Not too rich but adequate. One can elevate up the standard bowl with meat or seafood of their choice from the other counters.

Last, I felt the need to try their dessert because it did looked lovely from where I was seated.

key lime pie

durian cake

cheesecake

The must-eat from the dessert section, was the durian cake. So good, so yummy! Wished I had the stomach space for another slice! Key lime pie looked the prettiest on my plate and it was nicely sour and not overly sweet. Cheesecake paled in comparison to the durian cake.

Lastly, I went to try some ice-cream. Asked the staff over there what's good and she said, "Try everything." And she promised to make smaller scoops. Her colleague was rather taken aback by how many scoops she was placing onto my bowl.

And that was how I ended up with vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, coconut and mango ice-cream/sorbet. I think there were a lot more flavours but it wouldn't fit into the bowl. Hahahaha!

"Try Everything" ice-cream

Thank you Mien Ta for the treat, and Wendy for the company!

The Line Restaurant

Address: 22 Orange Grove Rd, Lower Lobby, Tower Wing, Singapore 258350

Website: https://www.shangri-la.com/singapore/shangrila/dining/restaurants/the-line/

Contact: +6562134398

Business Hours:

Daily - 12–2:30 PM, 6–9:30 PM