FRESH Thai Green Fish Curry and Sweet and Sour fried fish

Boxing day usually consists of a hangover, a bloated stomach and a cold turkey buffet... Not this year! This year I visited Phi Phi Island, Thailand, for the Christmas break. On Boxing Day we hired a fishing boat in the morning, with the aim to catch our lunch.
After a successful catch of a few snappers and what I think was a Pompamo or Permit, we returned to a little shack where the fish was transformed into the most amazing Thai Green Curry with lots of fresh Basil and a Sweet and Sour with Tomatoes and Bell Pepper. Overall it was a fantastic experience.

Japanese Udon Noodle Soup and Tempura Prawns

I visited a new Japanese restaurant, called Bento Box, on Baghdad Street. We were given a complementary starter, which I don't know the name of, but it was a Mushroom jelly, with a few pieces of Chicken in the bottom of it. For my main I had Tempura Prawns and a Udon Noodle fish soup, with Seaweed and kamaboko, which is japanese fish sausage.

Carrot Cake, "Chai Tau Kway" 菜头粿

You may be thinking, "this ain't no Carrot cake fool!", but it is Chinese Carrot Cake, well, Hong Kong Carrot cake actually from Luk Yu, in the Food Opera, Ion Centre. I am still not sure what the exact ingredients are??? After a bit of research, it looks like it is a baked cake, which the main ingredient is a root vegetable, such as White Carrot, Turnip or Radish, with fish added, something like dried shrimps. Once baked it is cut in to chunks and fried with noodles. The end result is something that I think tastes and feels like slice fried scallops. It tastes great!

Design Bridge Christmas Dinner

Venue: Novus, Singapore's National Museum.

Menu: See picture.

Great Food!

Lor Mee 鹵麵

Lor Mee is very popular in Singapore. Lor Mee refers to the thick yellow noodles in this thick starchy gravy. I particularly like this dish, because of the variety of ingredients. Wontons, fish, fish cakes, eggs, squid, beef, it's all thrown in there! Chili's and Vinegar are added for that extra kick.

Kangaroo in Australia

A 7 hour flight from Singapore and I am in Sydney! So, I had to be a typical tourist and try a Kangaroo steak. Very enjoyable, it reminded me of Venison, tender beef with an irony taste.

I had the steak medium rare, on a bed of mash potato, topped with asparagus, courgettes, charlottes, garlic cloves and a red wine sauce.

In between bridge climbs, catamaran trips, gigs and chilling on the beach I also indulged in some familiar western treats, such as beef pie, mushy peas and gravy and a full english breakfast or 2.

Durian!

Regarded as "the king of fruits" in Singapore, I had to try it!

First of all, the smell. Some people love it, they smell a very sweet sickly smell, whereas there are some people that say "it smells like the armpit of a corpse!"

The husk has very sharp jagged points to it and you have to hack through it to access the fruit.

So, you will see my reaction to the fruit on the video, but here it is in writing.

It has a consistency of butter, with fibrous flesh running through it. You are meant to pick up the large stones and suck the flesh off, whereas I opted for a spoon! The smell changes from it's lingering sickly smell to a more spicy smell as it gets closer. The texture is creamy, with occasional firmer nutty parts. Finally the taste... It taste like a sweet garlic butter, it has a spicy feeling to it that the locals describe as "heaty".

We unfortunately only managed about 1/4 of it, which is a shame for it's $20 price tag. We gave the rest of it to the locals in there. They said they couldn't believe it when they saw a couple of Westerners eating Durain, describing us as brave but still managing to laugh very hard at us as we walked away.

Cheese and Wine at the Wine Connection

To Celebrate Rachel's Birthday, a group of us went to Wine Connection, Robertson Quay and enjoyed a variety of Red wines, cheese, meat and dips platters, all polished off with a chocolate birthday cake and couple of bottles of sparkling pink. Great night.

This place is also very good value, we averaged $25 per bottle of wine and the platters were about $20 each.

Herbs and Spices

In a tiny, little Hawker Centre near where we are living at the moment, Joo Chat Place, there is Indian Italian fusion stall. Random as it sounds, it is fantastic. I have eaten Curry, Pizza, Naan, Okra and this Slow Cooked Beef Risotto. Great value too. They won't be there long though, they are moving to the Arab quarter in the New Year. Definitely one to watch as they move out of their little hawker centre into a restaurant.

Brunch at Melt, Mandarin Oriental

The best brunch I have ever been too!

The variety was awesome, the quality was exceptional and the Champagne and cocktails was free flowing!

Japanese Supermarket

Stumbled across this in Clarke Quay. A Japanese supermarket stocking a wide variety of weird and wonderful Japanese brands. I particularly like Collon and Pocky!

Satay Street

At night fall, the street behind Lau Pat Sat Hawker Centre comes to life with dozens of Satay Stalls, all claiming they do "the best Satay in Singapore" if not the world! So once you get over the hustle of every stall wanting you to sample their Satay, and take a seat on a table in the busy closed off street, you realise they all do exactly the same. Choose from 5 or 6 set menus, varying from enough Satay for 1 person, up to enough for a small country. We chose Set C, between 3 of us, which was about 60 pieces, plus, compacted rice, cucumber and of course the sweet nutty Satay sauce.

Black Pepper Crab

Another Singaporean Classic. I preferred it to the Chili Crab, mainly because there is less sauce so you can really get stuck in! The sauce resembles a peppercorn sauce that you would traditionally have with a steak. Also, this crab was particularly meaty, so I recommend a visit to Jumbo Seafood, East coast Park, for any of their Crab dishes.

Halia Restaurant - Botanical Gardens

Excellent quality Food and a beautiful setting. Nestled in the Ginger Gardens of Singapores Botanical Gardens.

Seafood Chimichangas, Pork and Portobello Burger and a glass or two of Prosecco to wash it down.

the garden slug

We visited The Garden Slug, eat drink don't think, 55 Lorong L Telok Kurau.

Amazing dessert! Poached Pear, Cinnamon ice cream, Chocolate Brownie (on a stick!), and Tiramisu. Don't worry I shared it!

Main was Chicken Kebabs, Salad with a Lemon infused olive oil dressing and a mashed jacket potato, (Bit random, but tasted great).

Singaporean Chinese Wedding

It was an honour to be invited to a Singaporean Chinese wedding, we were warmly welcomed into their family home, encouraged to indulge in a huge spread of food from all walks of Singaporean origins from curry, to Duck, to Sushi, plus several desserts. We were even lucky enough to witness the traditional Tea Drinking Ceremony.

Mushroom Dumplings and Fried Green Spaghetti

LivinGreens, Beach Road, is a Vegan café offering a delicious variety of innovative, vegan dishes. You can choose from a menu of Asian and Western favourites.

I had Fried Green Curry Spaghetti, "Semolina Spaghetti stir-fried with fragrant, mildly spicy green curry sauce", plus Mushroom Dumplings, which are described as "Succulent Mushrooms enclosed in beetroot-flavoured whole wheat flour wraps"

I highly recommend the dumplings!

Tom Yum Noodles

Thai Dish.

Out of a choice of 3 types, I chose Mee Noodles.

Prawns and Squid in a red curry coconut soup, with a delicate balance of sugar and fish sauce.

Fish Head Curry

Yes, it's the head, not the body, what do you need that for when you can eat the head!?

I was a bit of a cynic before trying this, but it was actually really good. The curry was full of fresh ingredients, like Tomatoes and Okra, with just the faintest fish flavour. The fish head itself was a Red Mullet, which has a lot of meat on the neck area and the flesh was very meaty and tender. I even tucked into the head, to pull out the cheek meat, apparently it's the second best bit... after the eyes!

Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant

Peranakan Beef Noodle and Lime Juice

This was my first Peranakan cuisine. Peranakan is the term used for descendants of Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian area in the 15th and 16th Century Colonial era. Locals in Singapore seem to describe Peranakan as a cross between Malay and Chinese. Perankan people were traditionally the middlemen for trades between British and the Chinese, so it seems apt that was taken there by a Chinese friend!

The Beef Noodles were fantastic, the Beef was very tender, slow cooked stewing steak, which I was not expecting.

Add to that 1 Egg! Every local dish has an Egg! Poached this time, for a change.

Lifestyle Nyonya Bar, Pahang Street

Moules and Frites

A fantastic meal, Mussels and fries, at Brussel Sprouts, Robertson's Quay, Singapore.

The Mussels were cooked in Black Pepper, Butter, Celery, Onion and Parsley. There was that many flavours to choose from I could not decide! I had to just go for the House Special in the end. I am sure I will be back to sample the rest.

They also stock 120 different beers, whilst we were there a friend had a Rose Beer.

Korma Vegetable Roti Mariyam

Went for lunch in an Islamic Restaurant on North Bridge Road. Stubbled across it really on the way to another place. Great find though. Downstairs was full so we were taken upstairs to a very quaint, traditional room, heavily decorated with elaborately embroidered material draped over the walls, that also homed some oil paints of Islamic figures, it even had cheesy Indian Music!

I had the Roti Mariyam Set Menu, with Chicken Korma and curried Potato.

A Roti is another form of flat bread, in-between a Naan and a chapatti in terms of thickness and density, but it has a slightly flaker structure to it. I think this one had been fried too.

Curry Puff

Curry Puffs come a variety of forms. This one is the most traditional one that I have found, the most common ones resemble cornish pasties. They originate from Malaysia, but they are a typical breakfast or afternoon snack for Singaporeans and Taiwanese . They are pastry parcels filled with curried potato, chicken and vegetable.

Lebanese

Good falafel, really light and crispy with a lot of sesame seeds.

Gulf Beach, Arab Street.

Masala Dosa

Unsure which Marsala Dora it was, it had what I recognise as Bombay potato in the middle and quite a lot of chili and black pepper. You can probably guess why I chose this... I saw an Indian guy with something spilling off the side of his tray and in a 'Little Britain' stylee, I just pointed and said "I want that one!"

We were visiting Lau Pat Sat Hawker Centre. It is a Victorian building with dozens of food stalls, with origins from all over Asia. Hawker centers are dotted all over Singapore and many are open 24 hours. This is the best one I have been too... so far! Lots of choice, cheap (but they all are) and the Architecture is great, they also have live music on a pavilion stage in the evenings.

Vietnamese Restaurant round the corner from our flat

Gỏi cuốn - Summer Roll - Mixed Salad Roll

Oc len xao ot sate - Snails

"Beef Noodles"

My lasting memory of these dishes will be aniseed, which I am guessing will be from fennel... The rolls and the noodles had a lot of it in. Need to try some more Vietnamese to see if this is common.

The Oc len xao ot sate, was a little weird, they didn't really taste of much and they were very chewy. The fact they were green was a little off putting too! This must be because what they live off...

Claypot Chicken Rice

Rice, Chicken, Bacon all slow cooked in a Claypot, with soy sauce. Topped with lettuce and dried shrimp.

Marriott Brunch, Singapore

11:30 - 3:30

Free flowing Champagne and a fantastic range of top quality food. Calling it a buffet doesn't really do it justice. Put it this way, there isn't a mini scotch egg or vol-au-vont

1st course - Lobster and scallops with mango salsa

2nd course - Fresh duck pancakes

3rd course - Roast beef, mash and veg, my first roast since being here and it was amazing, although there was a lack of Yorkshire puddings!

4th course - Dessert, bread and butter pudding with vanilla cream, black forest gateau with a strawberry macaroon, plus a almond and chocolate baked moose, it was like chocolate marzipan, loved it!

Singapore Cricket Club

After the Marriott, we were kindly invited to Singapore cricket club for a few more drinks.

Abak Biryani

This was friday lunch! All they serve is Chicken or Mutton Biryani and they do it sooo well!

Abak Biryani Dam

Indonesian Food

Rumah Makan Minang Restaurant, Kandahar Street.

KangKong - Water Spinach

Ikan Goreng - Fried fish, served with peppers, onion and chilli

Ikan Billis - Small, dried anchovies, fried with peanuts

Beef Rendang - slow cooked beef curry

Jackfruit curry - a common fruit in Singapore.

Tahu Tolor - Tofu Omelette, moulded in to a large round ball shape, with Kicap Manis, Garlic and birds eye chilli sauce.

Hot Plate and Cash Fire

Hot plate teriyaki steak, but what followed was more interesting. On the walk home, we stumbled across a Chinese festival. We are going to head there on Saturday to find out more, but in the meantime I spoke to one of the guys burning what looked like brand new napkins. We were wondering why? Turns out they are brand new, ornately patterned paper sheets, produced to represent Money and by burning the “money” then they believe the God will bring them wealth.

Century Egg

Legend has it that these eggs used to be boiled in Horse urine...

Century Egg, also known as hundred-year egg, (or Pidan in Mandarin), is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving a egg in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rich hulls for several weeks/months. The yolk turns dark green with a creamy texture, with a strong smell of sulphur and ammonia. The white becomes a dark brown transparent jelly with little flavor.

It is served with ginger, which helps disguise the taste!

I ate the first piece so quick I couldn’t really taste it, but the texture was very unusual. So once I had gotten over the initial shock of actually eating a piece I took my time over the second piece to really experience the taste, texture and aroma. To be honest, it’s not for me, I think I will stick to Chocolate as a delicacy!

Indian Lunch

This is one of my most favorite places to eat at Lunch. I usually head there by myself and sit with some random Indian guy eating my food with my hands. It is all Veggie and it changes every day. Unfortunately I don't know the names of any of the dishes, I just point at which ever takes my fancy... my favorite is Fig curry. The Chapattis are made fresh with each order.

All this for $5 (£2.50).

Murtabak

I love these! It is a folded pancake. Murtabak, means "folded" in Arabic. Stuffed with Mutton/Chicken/Beef, with curry sauce on the side.

tempora vegetable and chicken teriyaki

Japanese Set Lunch Bento Box. Sangokai Japanese Restaurant, Beach Road.

Ice Lemon Tea

Ice Lemon Tea, with mini limes. Very cool and refreshing in 34 degree heat and high humidity!

The Banana Leaf, Little India

The best place to get Indian food in Singapore is, of course, Little India and one of the best is the Banana Leaf. Curry served direct on to a banana leaf.

Chocolate Research Company

Over 100 Chocolate Flavours under one roof! Amazing!

I purchased 1 Belgium block (as a control bar) plus Maple Syrup from their Autumn/Winter 2009 collection, Strawberry with dried strawberry from their Double fruit series and Lychee, from their fruit series.

I really like the design of their bar too, great brand. I now have loyalty card, 6 more bars to buy before I get a free one.