Dian Xiao Er 店小二 @ Lot 1 Choa Chu Kang

Located at B1 of Lot 1 Shopping Mall at Choa Chu Kang. The set menu prices seemed to have gone up, so this time round went ala-carte instead.


Decided to try the scholar-rose wine 状元红. Smells a tad like shaoxing wine (绍兴酒). Could taste a bit of sweetness.

状元红 @$2.60++

Dad's favourite would be the dong po rou (东坡肉). A Hangzhou dish of braised fatty pork belly.

东坡肉 @$13.90++

The taste of chinese five-spice was quite subtle, and the pork belly could've been braised longer.

Healthier choice for mom, so we got sauteed lettuce in oyster sauce, hotplate tofu and fish slices.

sauteed lettuce 耗油西生菜 @$7.90++

hotplate tofu 铁板菜香豆腐 @$11.60++

HK fish slices 港蒸生鱼片 @$11.90++

Ordered all small portions. Adequate for a family of 4 pax. White rice was charged at $1.10++ per bowl, while jasmine tea (refillable) @$1.60++ per cup.

Food was tasty, and service was good. The staff even brought out extra chairs for us to put the bags. Nice.

The meal costs about $66.

Ramen Santouka 山頭火 @ Cuppage Terrace

It has been a long, long while since the last visit to Cuppage. Must have been a few years, at least. Was wandering around that area looking for lunch place, and chanced upon Ramen Santouka. Had always wanted to visit the one at The Central but didn't.

menu

Ramen Santouka and pork cheeks seemed to be an inevitable order, so we did the necessary. Service was friendly, and the place was rather relaxed since it was already past the usual lunch hour on a weekday.

Toroniku Miso @$22++

Sis ordered a Kara Miso Ramen, and me dad and myself had small rice bowls.

Kara Miso Ramen @$14.50++

Added eggs for the noodles. Not quite flavourful.

Komi Tamago @$1.50++

The miso was thankfully, not too salty. However, the spice level of the kara miso was a tad disappointing.

pork cheeks to share @$12++

sake ikura gohan @$8++

The salmon ikura rice bowl, has flaky salmon. Was ok only. Dad's order of fried rice looked more moist.

The green tea here is served in a small pot, and priced at $4++. Otherwise, one could request for the FOC iced water.

The restaurant is rather small and compact, and could probably seat about 20 pax.

A meal for a family of 4 pax, would costs around $80.

The Square Restaurant @ Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay

For the uninitiated, if you know where's Liang Court, then you can find Novotel Clarke Quay. The Square Restaurant is at Level 7 of Novotel.

Was recently invited to try its Christmas Buffet. Dinner buffet is currently priced at $58++ per adult. This price is not valid on eve and on Public Holidays.

comfy seats

 The place has a nice ambiance, and Christmas'sy feel to it. Food is a mix of International and local fares.

holiday mood

Buffet with oysters? I like, especially those plump ones. Prawns and oysters. Double the happiness.

oysters, prawns and mussels

Canadian oysters yum

For sashimi, we spied tuna.

to start: salad, chuka idako, tuna sashimi, seafood salad and smoked chicken salad

 The Square offers roasted lamb and turkey at its carving stations. These ought to satisfy the carnivors in us.

lamb at carving station

roasted lamb with pepper sauce and mint

Cooked food has items such as carbs (fried rice, char kway teow), vegetables and meats (beef, fish and chicken). There was soup kambing (mutton soup) as well, but did not try.

fish dish

chicken in BBQ sauce

 If prawns is not enough to satisfy the seafood cravings, how about some crabs?

Indonesian styled chili crab

black pepper crab

The Indonesian chili crab was spicy but the sauce was oh-so-shiok! The only thing missing, was the deep fried man-tous.

glorious sauce

There is a live cooking station as well, and one could request for mee-siam, aglio-olio or risotto.

chicken cheese risotto

Cheese section was interesting. The Irish Porter Cheddar looked as though it has nuts in it, but it doesn't. The texture was semi-soft, like a jelly or a slightly drier and not so soft konyaku. Saint Morgon seemed to be the most pungent of the lot. The rest were pretty mild, and nice to be eaten with the sweet relishes and crackers.

cheeses

Irish Porter Cheddar

Lanquetot and Saint Morgon

yummy condiments

Desserts are aplenty here. Cakes, ice-creams, puddings etc. For festive season, there are even log cake, and gingerbread men cookies. Too stuffed to try all!

Christmas is coming!

log cake (back)

Pecan pie

brownies

rainbow cake to brighten your day

The chocolate log cake was good. Moist and sweet.

ice-cream

If your stomach has only a single slot left for desserts, then do try the durian pengat before you leave. Unless, you have a major dislike of durians.

durian pengat

Durian pengat was definitely not a looker, but it sure was darn tasty! Just the right amount of pulp too. Thumbs up for this.

Special thanks to Spencer and Fara, for your hospitality and also to HGW for the invite.

Oh, Le Bar Rouge beside The Square, has a 1-for-1 offers on house-pour and Tiger draught beer daily from 6pm tp 8pm, so do check it out.

Eat, Drink and be Merry!

The Square Restaurant

Address: #07-00 Novotel Clarke Quay, 177A River Valley Road, S179031
Website: http://www.novotelclarkequay.com/restaurant/the-square/
Contact: +65 6433 8790

Ichiban Boshi @ Jurong Point

Located at the Shokutsu Ten area, which is at B1 of the shopping mall. Pretty near the bus interchange side. Brought the family there for lunch.

ocha @$1.20++

Both my bro and sis had the Chirashi don. May look small, but had quite a bit of rice in it.

food in a lacquer box

Chirashi don @$15.90++

All of us liked the yellow pickled ginger. Eventually, the bottle had to be refilled.

yummy pickled ginger

Was in the mood for some sushi, so had a plate of Tokusen Aburi Sushi. Liked the fatty fishes and sweet scallop. Prawn was midling and lacked the fresh seafood taste.

Tokusen Aburi Sushi @$19.90++

fatty salmon, tuna., octopus, hamachi, scallops, prawn and unagi

Liked the clear kelp soup that came with the sushi. Tasty.

clear soup (part of sushi set)

Teriyaki don came the last. Smelled great due to sauce caramelization, but as a result, the skin became a tad too tough.

chicken teriyaki don @$10.90++

Ours was a late lunch at 4+ pm. The restaurant was quite big (though not packed since it was way past lunch)  and service was a bit slow.

Travel | Seoul 28 Oct - 2 Nov 2014 | Day 1 - Gwanghwamun Square | Namdaemun Market

After breakfast at Tosokchon, walked around the area and headed back to Gwanghwamun. Gwanghwamun 광화문 is the main and largest gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, but Gyeongbokgung Palace remained closed on that day (every Tuesday).

getting our bearings right

passing by Gwanghwamun gate

Nearing Gwanghwamun Plaza, we saw white tentages and some banners. Perhaps some festival was on-going? Realized that we had stumbled upon the 2nd Korean Food Day Festival, and it was their opening day. So lucky!

2nd Korean Food Day Festival

live-broadcast?

tail-end of performance

Exhibitors were showcasing their produce, and there were some display on food and culture related items as well. Most of the exhibitors spoke only in Korean.

related to weddings

 

cakes

intricately carved

There was a bibimbap making as well, participated by over a hundred chefs probably.

chefs awaiting to participate in bibimbap making

Some tents offers sampling of their produce. The one offering Korean beef wasn't ready, so did not have a chance to taste any.

pounding rice cake, traditional way

duck meat is not that commonly found in Seoul, don't you think so?

beautiful view

vibrant colours of early autumn

Nearby, are the landmarks of Gwanghwamun Plaza.

statue of King Sejong, with Gwanghwamun in the background

closer view of King Sejong statue

Admiral Yi Sun-Sin statue

a shot of its vicinity

Nearby King Sejong's statue, there is an entrance to the underground where it is like a mini-museum for information related to King Sejong's and Admiral Yi Sun-Sin's history. Without King Sejong, there would probably be no hangul, or it might've been introduced much later?

walls in the lift

Went back to hotel to check-in, before heading out to Namdaemun. One word of caution. Namdaemun stuffs are more expensive as compared to Dongdaemun.

taiyaki

plenty of food

Dried goods such as gingko, sliced sweet dates, seaweed packs can all be found here. Seaweed packs are around 5000₩. Though the one that I got from an ahjushi seller was 10,000₩. Hmm. Bought a hoodie from Namdaemun Market for 20,000₩ (~SGD25). It is probably double of its price elsewhere in Dongdaemun.

Past 630pm, the makeshift stalls begun to line-up in the middle of the streets. Made a mistake of sitting down at the first one that we saw. A small plate of stir-fried eel, cost 12,000₩. If you need to eat at these places, at least ensure that the seafood are kept in chillers. The vendor that we had, didn't.

spicy stir-fried eel

 
Walked around and saw fresh ginseng. Didn't get any but bought one big pear from an elderly man. Written price was 1500₩ but he tried to charge us 2000₩ for it instead. Tsk, tsk. Other places, the same type of pear sells for just 1000₩ per fruit. Shopping on Day 1, has its risks.

fresh ginseng

 
My friend had all sorts of snacks while going around Namdaemun. I was adamant on trying Jokbal and Namdaemun Market does have a stretch of street where 3-4 vendors were selling those.

One offered take-away for just 4500₩  but upon enquiry, realised that it was just skins for that price. Tourist must do what tourist must do, so opted to dine-in. Requested for the smallest medium-sized jokbal possible.

jokbal from this shop

  
The shop looked as though it had been around since the 80s.

dining table

pork trotters, greens, spring onions, beansprouts soup, dipping sauce, beanpaste sauce, green chili and garlic cloves, radish

jokbal @ 25000₩(~SGD32)

So much food for just the 2 of us. Haha! The pork skin was actually pretty chewy. Nice but nothing to shout about.

Lady boss (whose face is printed on the banner), was friendly and taught us how make the wrap. She even fed my friend. Haha!

wrap it all up

Too much food, and of course, we couldn't finish. The shop packed the meat and sauce for us to take-away, back to the hotel.