[Media] Perfect Earth Organic Instant Noodles

First time trying Organic Gluten-Free Instant Noodles from Perfect Earth. I've tried their pasta before and was excited to try these instant noodles. 

Product of Thailand and available in Singapore e-commerce market; foreveryoung.com.sg, RedMart, FairPrice Online, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee and Amazon.sg.

Garlic Pepper, Kimchi and Tom Yum

Perfect Earth Organic Instant Noodles (Tom Yum) @$2.75 (one) / $12.35 (5 per pack)

I have tried reduced calories Korean instant noodles before and can't say I like them. Hence, it was with some trepidation of the outcome for this one. I love Thai mama noodles, so that's a good start!

organic noodles and seasonings (other ingredients such as egg, vegetables and fish tofu, please supply on your own as per your liking)

The noodles came in a smaller square than expected. It is made from organic brown rice, non-fried, gluten free, GMO free and no MSG. What's interesting is the height of the square noodles is taller than the other instant noodles. This messes up with the water proportions since I only have a one size cooking pot. 

Cook until the noodles softened or when its colour turned off-white. There are actual cooking instructions on its packet, but I'm a lazy cook, so did whatever that I wanted since it is going into my stomach anyway.

organic instant noodles

To my surprise, the Tom Yum seasoning was nice. Nicer than those soup cubes. Flavourful and quite shiok. Noodles, tasted healthy as expected and it is a thinner version of instant noodles. Or perhaps, I am too accustomed to the Korean instant noodles thickness. 

If you're not sure which flavours you would like to get, there's a taster pack for one of each flavours for just $8 (Taster Pack 3 Packs).

Thank you Hence and Tracy for the noodles!

Forever Young Enterprise (S) Pte Ltd

Address: Blk 9 Kaki Bukit Road 1, #03-08 Eunos Technolink Singapore 415938

Website: https://foreveryoung.com.sg

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

[Tasting] Basdban @ 51 Telok Ayer Street

Accessible via Telok Ayer MRT, this place oozes happening vibes in the evening. Think neon lights, attractive cocktails and tasty food. Great for nearby office dwellers, whom are looking for a place to unwind after a hard day at work.

Was invited for a dinner tasting at Basdban, so let's have a look at what's good there. Come with me!

entrance to Basdban

let's eat spicy then

all sorts of flavours

nice bar, let's get some drinks!

Flower in My Gin @$25

That's right, I go for the pretty ones. Hahaa, safest choice because it's Gin, Elderflower, Cucumber and Tonic. Not much of the cucumber taste. Volume is good and I can drink it for looong.

one more shot, because it's pretty!

Take a sip of Kyoho, and you'll find it very very familiar. Pretty sweet, easy to drink, vodka based.

Kyoho @$23

Negroni @$28 (HH: 1-for-1)

One could be childlike with Kyoho, but definitely adulting with Negroni. Smokey, bitter...herbal.

smoke gets in your drink

Negroni, ready and sexy

Drinks such as Kyoho, Oriental Flare and Sichuan Sour have their mocktails version as well.

 

Let's feed the bellies! First up, some slices of salmon sashimi swirled up in funky dressing. Contrary to its name, it tasted of good 'ol soy and nothing quite funky about it besides the catchy name.

Funky Fish @$18

Sticky Pork Ribs @$18

Fashioned after 糖醋排骨 , the sticky pork ribs with Sichuan sweet vinegar glaze were lip smacking good. Meat was firm to bite and decorated with crunchy pistachio. Housemade pickles were delish too.

The first two dishes were non-spicy, so we were eager to let our tongues tingle with the "Lalalalalala Fried Chicken" (why the name so long ah?). Served on a retro looking plate/shallow basin (?) and sprinkled generously with toasted white sesame. The Sichuan green chili looked dangerous.

Lalalalalala Fried Chicken @$28

lala (clams) and fried chicken

Pro-tip: White rice with Lalalalala Fried Chicken equates to ooh-la-la kind of euphoria.

white rice

Was it spicy? For sure! For me, it was like level 7 out of 10. But I think there could be some chilies in there that wasn't as spicy. My friends said so. I had my doubts because every bite of mine, it was super shiok spicy! What I liked about Sichuan green chili, is that the spiciness was sharp and strong at the front and eventually fades away after a short while. If it gets too much, I had Flower in My Gin to cool me down.

Next, was a vegetable dish. Wok-fried broccolini, caulini and minced tofu. Strong flavours of savoury salty. The leaves were juicy and sweet though.

Two to Tango @$23

BB Prawn Aglio Olio @$28

If you're wondering what does Sichuan style Aglio Olio tasted like? Hmm.. it is unlike a classic aglio olio. Definitely saucier, and slightly sweet. Prawns were of a good size, and juicy.

slurp it up

If you want to eat 烤鱼 (grilled fish), order up the 'Wholey Fish'; Barramundi in mala broth.

Wholey Fish @$48

Was super duper full by this time but let's eat some Unagi Donabe! Portion was meant for 2-3 pax.

Basdban Unagi Donabe @$45

Sichuan waxed meat, Spicy sausage, Unagi, Dried Sole, Morel mushrooms, lard, special shoyu

Must must eat the scorched rice. Good stuffs!

precious scorched rice

And of course, we'd wrap it up with dessert.

Glutinous Rice @$15

Let's talk about Glutinous Rice done three ways; fried, pudding and boiled. Glutinous rice pudding was interesting. It has the aftertaste of 红糟 (wine lees).

Pick Me Up! @$15

Pick Me Up! is actually somewhat of a deconstructed tiramisu. There's sweet, bitterness from cocoa, crunchy, soft, coffee flavours, mascarpone and yes, contains alcohol. I like!

Thank you Kris for the invite and Basdban for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to Chef Eugene for feeding us! And Sharon, for taking care of our table. See you again.

Basdban

Address: 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Website: https://www.facebook.com/basdban.sg/

Contact: 9755 1058

Business Hours: 

Sun: Closed

Mon-Fri: 11am–3pm, 5–11pm

Sat: 11am–11pm

Whisk & Paddle @ Bukit Gombak Park

There's one at Tebing Lane which is somewhere around Punggol area and now this outlet at the North West area. 

The cafe was nicely spacious and it was fairly relaxed at 530pm on a weekend, on the day of visit. The place only got noticeably busier at around 730pm.

interior

There's a QR code placed on each table, so one could scan it for the menu and order through the website. The service staff will then bring the food/drinks to your table once it is ready. Payment as per normal at the payment counter after the meal.

Latte (iced)

coffee cube

ta-da!

The iced latte was nicely mild with the milk not too overpowering. Just wished that there was more of the coffee cube.

Bar Bites

Masala Cauliflower Bites

The masala cauliflower was fragrant and we definitely could smell it first. The batter was nicely crisp but the seasonings seemed to be on the batter itself. Not much flavour from the cauliflower. Still enjoyable nonetheless.

We were in a party of 5 pax, so we ordered 4 mains to share.

Mains

Prawns Macaroni and Cheese

closer view

The Mac & Cheese definitely tasted milky and liked that each bite could get some of those shrimps.

big bite

Come to think of it, we ordered plenty of carbs that day. The pizza was interesting as it had lychee as toppings.

Duck and Lychee Pizza

Thin crust pizza, smoked duck was good and adequate cheese. What's there not to like? Oh ya, if you hate pineapples on pizza then you might not like lychee as well. The lychee didn't do much for the pizza except to add some sweetness to the bite. I still prefer pineapples though.

wished there were more smoked duck slices

And yes, the pizza was indeed greasy but it makes a good hearty bar food! I do see some tables ordering beer. A pint of beer during HH is cheaper than a milkshake.

cheers!

My request for the group, is that we order meat dishes too and not just carbs. Little did I realise, that the meat/seafood dishes that we ordered, came with a baguette, Hahaa! Carbo loading!

French Onion Chicken Leg

Seafood Pan in Tomato Cream Sauce

But of course, the baguette was extremely useful to mop up the delicious sauce from the French Onion Chicken and the Seafood Pan. Both sauces were likeable. It would be better if the corn in the seafood pan was actually sweet. The ones that we got was lacking in flavour.

All in all, it was a nice cosy cafe in the West/North-West region, to gather with family and friends. Staff were efficient and we could sit for hours there since it was not overly crowded. Food portion was good and no one left feeling hungry.

We spent between $32 to $44 per pax.

Whisk & Paddle

Address: 816 Bukit Batok West Ave. 5, #01-01, Singapore 659089

Website: http://whiskandpaddle.com.sg/

Contact: 6550 2330

Business Hours:

Closed on Tues

Wed - Thu, Mon: 12–10pm

Fri: 12–10:30pm

Sat: 9:30am–10:30pm

Sun: 9:30am–10pm

Together for Christmas @ Oscar's (Conrad Centennial Singapore)

The group has decided on buffet for this year's Christmas gathering, so we descended on to Oscar's at Conrad Hotel.

Now that buffet is back in full swing, let's see how's the experience compared to before. Was there for Festive Brunch and most of us got the $108++ per adult and $54++ per child, with free flow Soft Drinks, Chilled Juices, Coffee and Tea. A few in the group went for the $148++ per person with free flow Rosé Sparkling Wine, House Wines, Gin & Tonic, Draft Beer and Soft Drinks.

Buffet timing is 12:30–3:30pm (Last order at 3:15pm). However, there was no staff at the front even at 12.20pm. Is this the norm? Not sure.

entrance to Oscar's

let's talk a tour

Classic Western Mains

roast turkey

Local Seafood Station

Local Flavours

Compound Salad

Sashimi Counter

Assortment of sushi

The Ice Bar

Drinkers of Change (partnership with Little Ripples)

Dessert

Dessert

eat, drink and make merry

dessert

The oysters looked good and what's more, there's Japan oysters and there's USA oysters. Let's do a taste test!

starter plate

Japan oyster

The visuals for the oyster from Japan looked better. Smooth, plump and mild flavours. Very little muscle (that scallop like thingy) hence, it glided off smoothly from its shell.

USA oyster

The visuals for the USA oyster seemed a tad fierce, no? But it packed bold flavours. Loved this in terms of flavours but texture wise, preferred the ones from Japan. It has strong and big muscle, so it was a bit of a hassle to dig out the flesh in comparison.

The Foie Gras Live Station have two Chefs at least, one to setup the base plating and another to place components onto the plate. They made it pretty.

Pan-Seared Foie Gras and Raukal Smoked Duck

The gingerbread crisp added a touch of Christmas magic to the plate. Preferred a thicker slice of foie gras, but otherwise, it was lovely.

plate of classic western mains

Hmm, what type of buffet eater are you? I noticed my style is to gather everything onto one plate because am lazy to go round and round so many times. Of course, I wouldn't mix hot and cold food together. I have friends who did individual plates separately for most of the items...

Gammon Ham

Turkey with Roasted Pumpkin – Cranberries Sauce and Gravy

One could not go wrong with Gammon ham. Texture was lovely, flavours was as expected. The turkey (Chef gave me center breast meat) was not and flavours mainly from the sauce.

skinny asparagus for the vegetables

chicken satay from the Grill Station

Chicken satay was nice as well as the Sambal Tumis Sotong Bakar. But the sambal not spicy, so that was a surprise. 

The biggest letdown was the Grilled BBQ Lobster. The meat was mushy. For the beef yakiniku, it depends. One piece was very well done hence it was tough, but another was nice as it was grilled just nice.

Grilled BBQ Lobster

Ended up eating dessert earlier, as the foods didn't seem to excite.

Yule Logs Galore (front to back); Matcha, Chocolate, Cassis

small bites

best of 3; Chocolate/Hazelnut Yule Log

Seemed like there were multiple tables who were celebrating their loved ones/friend's birthday, and we did one for Tiara too. Sorry, but it was too funny! Hahahaa!

All in all, it was a joyous get-together with foodie friends. We have stuck around each other for like, 7 years now. Cheers and here's to good health, good food and good company!

Was I a good buffet eater? Definitely, no. Hahaa, it's called ageism.

Oscar's

Address: 2 Temasek Blvd, Singapore 038982

Website: https://eatdrinkhilton.com/oscars/