Cafe On Kohi, Kohimarama, Auckland

This place was amazing! I was so impressed.

We stubbled across Cafe on Kohi whilst on a design trip to New Zealand. The Cafe/Restaurant is located in Mission Bay.

We were there for Brunch and the large variety of food on offer was only bettered by the excellent quality of ingredients and impeccable service.

I had the Eggs Benedict, with spinach and grilled portobello mushrooms.

If you are ever in Auckland it is a must!

Not a bad view too!

Ice Cream Tasting

Ice Cream Tasting at a client meeting in New Zealand, it's a tough job sometimes.

Don't worry it's not hazardous, we had just come off the building site we were designing.

Pasta Brava, Tanjong Pagar

I had heard mixed reviews about Pasta Brava, Craig Street, Tanjong Pagar.

It didn't get off to a great start as I was reminded of the dress code as I sat down. I was wearing shorts (strange that in 34 degree heat!) they are not allowed in Pasta Brava, so take note. They did kindly make an exception.

Thankfully they did, because we had a great meal, I thought the food was excellent.

Classic Italain Food, with not a Pizza in sight.

I went quite classic with my choices apart from the main. I chose the home made large Tagliatelle pasta, with King Prawn and Scallops, in a Saffron cream sauce.

Indian post dinner mouth fresheners

Whilst on my travels I have noticed at the end of many Indian meals a selection of what looks like 'salt, herbs and spices' is brought to the table. I have frequently discarded it, until I was out with a Indian client the other day and he explained what it was. They are a selection of very fragrant, fresh flavored nibbles, that you take a hand full of at the end of the meal to freshen your mouth to prevent that stale taste you often get after Indian food, leaving you with fresh breath.

ITC Gardenia, Bangalore, Indian Restaurant

Whilst staying at the ITC Gardenia, Bangalore, India. We visited their India Restaurant. We had a selection of their curries, which were all excellent, followed by Shahi Tuhra.

Shaha Tuhrais made by pouring delicately reduced milk over crisp home made bread sweetened in saffron syrup, garnished with silver leaf and pistachio. So it's like a India bread and butter pudding. It was very sickly, but I had to eat it all!

Finished with a plate of fresh fruit.

Indian Breakfast 2 - Masala Dosa

My new favorite breakfast when visiting India, Masala Dosa. It's a pancake made from rice batter and black lentils, served with different pickles and curry sauce. This particular one had some potato mix in the middle.

Chinese Tea Pouring Performance

At my recent visit to Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant I drank White Tea and this is how is was served...

Holding a kettle in one hand, a waiter can pour boiling water into a teacup 50 centimeters away without spilling any on the table. There is a teapot that originates from Chengdu teahouses, usually made of brass and having an absurdly long spout, servers use these teapots to refresh customers' teacups without interrupting conversations. it also adds great theatre to a usually mundane task.

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant, Parkroyal Hotel

On Friday, (slightly hungover!) I was kindly taken out for a fantastic Chinese meal. We had a extensive selection of dishes, such as Vegetable and Fish soup, Hot plate Chili Beef, Noodles and Fish Curry.

A highlight was trying Abalone. Abalone is a large mollusk, much like an Oyster. They are an expensive delicacy and they served a lot in traditional Chinese Restaurants, so I have always been intrigued to try them.
The Chinese colleague I was sat next to whispered to me, "I don't really like them, they are like chewing on rubber bands", he wasn't wrong! I did enjoy it though. They taste similar to Scallops, but with that rubbery texture so nicely described by my colleague.

(pictured with the Broccoli if you want to see what it looked like)

The Duck course had a slight twist from what I am used to. The Duck wasn't crispy, but delicately cooked to a pink finish, an it was served with steamed buns instead of pancakes.


Here is a bit of bumph from the Parkroyal Website regarding the Resturant.
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant originated in Beijing, China. Its serves authentic Si Chuan dishes and was patronised by top government officials. Master chefs prepare an exquisite menu of authentic Si Chuan, Cantonese and Hunan cuisine, served in a sophisticated, elegant ambience ideal for even the grandest celebration.

Senayan City - Urban Kitchen, Indonesian Food

On a recent business trip to Jakarta, my work colleagues treated me to some traditional Indonesian cuisine.

Sop Buntut - Oxtail Soup

Buntut Goreng - Fried Oxtail

Iga Bakar - Grilled Spare Ribs

Sate Ayam - Chicken Satay

Nasi Timbel with tempe - Fermented Soy Bean

Ikan Asm - Salted Fish

Sayur Asem - Tamarind Soup

Ayam Goreng - Fried Chicken

Nasi Timbel - Rice wrapped in Banana Leaves

Gabo Gabo - Vegetables with Peanut sauce

Sagu Rangi (Grilled) - Tapioca Dessert drizzled with melted brown Sugar (Yum!)

As I mentioned, it was a feast! And the food was fantastic, I would recommend any of the dishes, but my favourite was the Iga Bakar.

Stingray and Gluttons bay

Gluttons bay is a Makansutra sponsored Food Court. Makansutra publishes food guides and celebrates Asian food culture and lifestyle. Subsequently, this is meant to be one of the best food courts in Singapore, so I took the opportunity to try Stingray... and... I thought it was delicious!

Apparently the seasoning and marinade helped, but I thought it tasted great. Tasty, meaty, not very fishy and no bones, all things I look for in fish dishes!

I had a portion of White Carrot cake on the side, not that great, check out an early post to find out more about carrot cake.

Definitely worth a trip.

Whilst visiting Gluttons Bay I was lucky enough to catch the end of The Trees & The Wild playing at the Mosaic Festival.

Tin Tine

Chicken Tikka Pasta from one of my favorite restaurants, Tin Tine (Herbs and Spices Group)

This place does Indian, Italian and an Indian/Italian Fusion, a bizarre concept, but it works.

Both nations love their food with a passion and they are both one of the most popular cuisines in the world, so why not marry them together?

If you don't agree with the concept, it's worth trying Tin Tine for their Italian dishes alone. I have really struggled to find good Italian food in Singapore, but these guys do a great job.

No. 2 Pahang Street, Singapore 198604

Shrove Tuesday

In the UK, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, is Shove Tuesday or Pancake Day! A tradition of eating and celebrating before the fasting that (is meant to anyway!) take place in for the 40 days of Lent.

We celebrated here in Singapore. It was a feast of sweet and savory pancakes, my favourites being, Cheese and Tomato, and Vanilla Ice cream, Sultanas, and Baileys!

Sunday Lunch - The Dubliner

The Dubliner Sunday Lunch, this place has got a reputation for doing good Sunday Roast dinners and it didn't disappoint.

Choose 2 out of the 3 meats on offer, I chose beef and Lamb, (the beef was actually frying steak, but you can't have it all!)

Someone in the party din't like Yorkshire puddings! What is that about?! So luckily I had 2!

Chicken Feet and the Singapore Food Trail

This is a new Food court that has opened under the Singapore Flyer. It is a retro 1960's theme, based on classic Singapore street food.

We had Hong Kong Dim Sum, and tried Chicken Feet for the first time. Hmmm, what can I say about them? Not great, not much meat, a bit slimy and lots of bones.

Salta - Argentinean Steak

This is a really good Steak place that is under our flat!

Lumo Steak, medium rare, with garlic roasted potatoes, roasted Vegetables and a bottle of Argentinean bottle of red wine, incidentally with a very interesting label.

Sea Coconut and Lychee dessert

A popular dessert amongst Chinese culture, fruit on a bed of crushed ice. This particular dessert contained Lychee and Sea coconut, which is the Coco de Mer species of Coconut that has been soaked in syrup/sugar. I was told it was good for the respiratory system.

Pappa Curry Laksa Special with Foo Chok - Pappa Rich

Whilst in KL I tried my first Laksa. Laksa is a popular spicy, coconut based, noodle soup from the Peranakan culture. This one included, Chicken, fish sticks, cockles and Foo Chok.

We had Lunch at PappaRich, a chain restaurant serving Malaysian delights.

313 Food Court

313 is a new shopping centre on Orchard Road. The Food Court on the top floor has a wide variety of food stalls. I opted for the 'Mini Wok delights' Hor Fun Beef Noodles. All good. The biggest highlight from my visit was the fact the drinks were sold on Segways.

CNY tossing the salad

Our Chinese New Year Celebrations included 'Tossing the Salad'. This is when everyone puts their chopsticks into the salad and tosses it together. The action of mixing the 'yu sheng' is called ‘lo hei’, and hei means ‘to rise’, again symbolising prosperity.

So throwing it up in the air should hopefully bring you prosperity.

Mr Bean - Bean Curd

A local favourite... why I don't know. It is bland, it has a slippery jelly texture, with a unpleasant after taste, there is a reason why it is $1.50 for a bucket of it!