Tis the Season for Buffets

With the big R looming ahead, there’s been a reasonable amount of belt tightening and clinging on to wallets. Many still crave good food despite dismal prospects, and here I am providing some solace in the form of buffets. If you can’t splurge, the next best thing would be to stretch your dollar right? The following is a compilation of some places I’ve been to, as well as some places that are highly recommended by relatives and friends. Mouseover and click on the names to access each restaurant’s website. Happy feasting!

1. Cafe Vic

Situated at Carlton Hotel along Bras Basah Road, Cafe Vic is a familiar buffet spot for many a Singaporean. They are open 24-hours, dishing out international and asian cuisines to whet your appetite. |$$-$$$| 76 Bras Basah Rd, Tel: 6311 8195

2. Rajah Inn Restaurant
   

For those residing in Tiong Bahru or the west, Rajah Inn is an affordable fix for a simple dinner with the family. |$$| 302 Tiong Bahru Road #02-13/14/15, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Tel: 6835 0080

3. Jade Room Restaurant

Known for their Peking Duck, Jade Room is little known as a buffet place I’d think. Great for a leisurely lunch with the colleagues or friends. Weekday lunch: $14.80++/Weekend lunch: $17.80++ |$$| 36 Newton Road, #02-01, Hotel Royal, Tel: 6251 8135

4. Kublai Khan Mongolian Restaurant


For as long as I can remember, Kublai Khan has been at Park Mall. Mongolian food is perfect for meatlovers because meat’s pretty much a staple in their cuisine. Start piling those plates already… |$$-$$$| 9 Penang Road, #04-01, Park Mall, Tel: 6334 4888

5. The Tent


Another great place for mongolian cuisine! Owned by the people behind Ras Essence of India, the Tent is conveniently located next to Marrakesh in Clarke Quay. Love their unique sauce counter with instructions for mixing & matching with meats and veggies. |$$-$$$| #01-02, Blk 3D Clarke Quay, Tel: 6339 0200

6. Pete’s Place

One of the few places that offer an Italian buffet, Pete’s Place offers buffet lunches Mon-Sat at $26++|$$$| 10 Scotts Road, Hyatt Hotel, Tel: 6732 1234

7. Yuki Yaki

Popular with families and teens, this Japanese buffet under the Suki Group of Restaurants at Marina Square offers the usual Japanese fare at great prices (better than Sakura too according to some) |$$| 6 Raffles Boulevard #03-210 Marina Square, Tel: 6338 9680

8. Kuishinbo

For the uninitiated (fret not), Kuishinbo serves value-for-money Japanese food with periodic bell-ringing during your meal. Ladies rejoice for it’s ladies night every wed! Check out their website for more promotions… |$$-$$$| Suntec City, Jurong Point, Great World City

9. Ellenborough Market Cafe (Swissotel Merchant Court)

Swissotel Merchant Court is a popular buffet place because of their yummy Peranakan spread and famous durian pengat (pudding)…love their nonya food! |$$$| 20 Merchant Road, Swissotel Merchant Court, Tel: 6239 1848

10. Bombay Cafe Xpress

Bombay Cafe’s vegetarian cuisine is something I’ve wanted to try for the longest time…it’ll be 1 of my attempts to embrace the hidden vegan in me. You should too especially with a tempting $10 Lunch Xpress promotion over at their Suntec outlet |$-$$| #B1-020 Suntec City Mall, Tel: 6345 0070

11. Spice Brasserie

Craving a simple meal of traditional porridge? Spice Brasserie has an ongoing promotion for their teochew porridge buffet! A more affordable alternative would be Oasis Taiwan Porridge (formerly from Stadium Walk) over at Toa Payoh Park. |$$$| Parkroyal on Kitchener Road, 181 Kitchener Road, Tel: 6428 3160

12. Quality Cafe


This is 1 place where you might have to call for a reservation. Known for their laksa and other asian fare, Quality Cafe is another hit with Singaporeans. |$$| 201 Balestier Road, Quality Hotel, Tel: 6359 6856

13. Paulaner Brahaus

Paulaner has a great executive lunch special with freshly brewed beer for those who work in the vicinity…for $19.90++ you can get an appetizer, entrée and drink. Mmm…german food.. |$$-$$$| 9 Raffles Boulevard, Time² at Millenia Walk, Tel: 6883 2572

14. Carousel Restaurant

Not forgetting my muslim readers, Carousel over at Royal Plaza on Scotts and Hyatt’s Straits Kitchen across the road are 2 great places for lunch/dinner. Expect a wide variety of fresh seafood, desserts, local and international cuisine to whet your appetite. |$$$| Royal Plaza on Scotts, 25 Scotts Road, Lobby level, Tel: 6589 7799

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)

/the images above were taken from goodfood-goodmood, quality hotel & the tent’s websites.

Daddy’s Guilty Pleasures

The way to your dad’s heart is through his tummy. Or so they say with most men…While some of us may be feeling experimental enough to whip up something in the kitchen, why not bring daddy dearest out for some of his hawker favourites from the good ol’ days? I’d venture to say that most dads have fond memories of lard-laden unhealthy food but won’t admit it for fear of being chided by mum or you. So do make the first move to let him know you’d like to indulge his food cravings. It could be a simple bowl of mee pok from the stall he grew up with, or sinful char kway teow piled high with batu ham (cockles). Here are some of my recommendations to jog your dad’s trip down memory lane…or perhaps introduce newer guilty pleasures for his diet:

• Zion Road Fried Kway Teow [****]/ No. 17-18, Zion Riverside Food Centre, 86 Zion Road 

/image taken from 88DB Service Portal

• Noi’s Bak Chor Mee (prev. known as Shun Lu Bak Chor Mee) [****]/ 588 Jalan Datoh off Balestier Road

/ image taken from the travelling hungryboy

• Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodles (fr. Cuppage Centre) [*****]/ #01-06, Blk 22 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh 

/ image taken from dancing blue seal

• Geylang Lor 9 Beef Kway Teow / 237 Geylang Lor 9
• Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee / No 2 Jalan Ayer (opp Kallang MRT) Closed on Tue
• Whitley road big prawn mee / 18 lorong telok: 7am-9pm
• Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette / Blk 22, Toa Payoh Lor 7 #01-25, 3pm – 9pm (closed Tue)
• Hai Sheng Carrot Cake / Bendemeer Road Food Centre: for no frills plain black/white carrot cake

• Singapore Hokkien Mee / Whampoa Hawker Centre
• Nam Sing Fried Hokkien Mee / Old Airport Road Food Centre, #01-32

Remember, these are just some ideas from my own forages in various hawker centres. If your dad’s tummy or memory serves otherwise, do indulge this once and have fun along the way. Charlinary.com wishes all dads out there a HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!

An Ideal Breakfast.

I woke up this morning after having a really bad dream, and all I could think about was having a good breakfast. I started thinking about breakfasts from all over the world, because my tummy’s really imaginative…it gets this way when I’m really hungry. And so I’ve come up with the ideal breakfast for different people. Introducing…French breakfasts…

Eggs Benedict or Eggs Florentine: Benedict consists of buttered toast, poached eggs, bacon & Hollandaise sauce. Florentine includes spinach and Mornay sauce is occasionally used to substitute Hollandaise sauce. The Eggs Benedict you see below is from Choupinette.

Prata/Murtabak/Naan: Different Indian flour pancakes served plain with curry, or with meat or fish fillings. For awesome Naan (garlic or butter), head down to Khansama Tandoori Restaurant. Yassin Restaurant 786 over at 945 Serangoon Road (a short walk down from Boon Keng MRT) has fantastic Chicken Murtabaks that come in huge portions…their prata’s great too. 24-hr place. Famous prata-serving areas in Singapore include Thomson, Casuarina, Jalan Kayu, and Little India.

Roti John/Nasi Lemak: Roti John is baguette loaf topped with egg, minced meat, onion & tomato-chilli sauce, while Nasi Lemak consists of coconut rice with ikan bilis, vegetables, and meat. Both are Malay favourites and come in different variations. I’d recommend the Roti John at Serangoon Garden Market Shukor Stall. As for Nasi Lemak, try Changi Village, Bugis, Bedok, Far East Plaza, Geylang Serai…there’s plenty. And every machik (malay for auntie/aunty) serves up a different home-cooked version so it’s tough to decide.

Bee Hoon/Congee/Dim Sum/Chee Cheong Fun/Half-boiled Eggs: Bee Hoon with popular side dishes such as luncheon meat, fried egg, otah or otak-otak (Mackerel paste wrapped in banana/pandan leaves), meat, and vegerables can be found in many hawker centres, coffeeshops, and food courts in Singapore. It’s a popular breakfast among the Chinese, and comes in numerous oily variations – a filling guilty pleasure I must add. Congee, on the other hand, is a healthy Cantonese favourite that’s commonly served with dim sum. Maxwell Food Centre, Hong Lim Hawker Centre, People’s Park Hawker Centre and the other hawker centre next to Smith Street in Chinatown has reasonable to yummylicious congee. Maxwell in particular has 2 stalls competing for customers…and I’d suggest starting your search for congee here.

For affordable and droolworthy Dim Sum, check out Red Star (Blk 54 Chin Swee Rd, #07-23, Tel: 6532 5266 / 6532 5103) or Victor’s Kitchen (91 Bencoolen St, Sunshine Plaza, #01-21, Tel: 9838 2851). I’d say go early for Red Star…as early as possible if you can manage it. Chee Cheong Fun (heavenly steamed rice rolls with meat or seafood fillings) is easily top 5 on my favourite breakfast list. Tuck into the ones at Freshly Made Chee Cheong Fun (Old Airport Road Food Centre, #01-155, 8am to 10pm daily), Shun Tuck Cheong Fun (People’s Park Cooked Food Centre, #01-1100), and Alexandra Village Hawker Centre.

Another local favourite that many a Singaporean loves in random kopitiams, hawker centres or chains like Ya Kun or Killiney Kopitiam is….Half-boiled Eggs! Simply drooled with dark soya sauce and pepper…this simple pleasure can cause your cholesterol to shoot sky-high if you don’t stop yourself from ordering seconds or thirds. But who cares? We only live once.

See? There’s more to life than a MacDonald’s breakfast. So get out there and have a good breakfast or brunch…be it savoury crepes, korean pancakes, bacon & eggs, or croissants…try something other than a Mc-anything.

Some images were taken from http://putri-berendam.blogspot.com

Mother’s Day Ideas

If there is one thing we should all know about our mothers, it’ll be their penchant for sweet things – be it nonya kueh, ice kachang, cheng tng, chendol, “tim ban” (cantonese desserts), chocolates or pastries. Most would vehemently deny any associations with this liking for fear of expanding waist lines, or cite diabetes and high cholesterol as a reason to avoid these sweet treats like the plague…but deep down inside, they crave it. Believe me, they do.

The minute you tell them things like, “Mum, you really should indulge yourself once in a while…it won’t hurt. Besides, I bought this for you…”, whatever will power or resolve they have will melt into a puddle. So to help everyone out, I’ve come up with some gift ideas for Mother’s Day (11 May) - an occasion you should remember to observe religiously, failing which you’ll incur the wrath of your mother who will no doubt tell your aunts/grandmothers/family friends etc. what a unfilial child you’ve been.  

For starters, if your mum is traditional and likes nonya kueh or tau huay (beancurd)…you should head down to Glory Catering at East Coast Road (they’re halal) and

Rochor Original Beancurd (7 Short St), which is diagonally across the road from Peace Centre along Selegie Road. If your mum (like mine) is crazy about egg tarts or onde onde (glutinous rice flour with grated coconut & gula melaka), I’d suggest Tong Heng egg tarts from the outlet next to Maxwell Road Food Centre/Jurong Point, and the famous onde onde stall at Maxwell Road Food Centre. If you intend to get the onde onde do try to get there around 9.30am before the queues start to form, and note that they’re closed on Sundays. Rainbow Hot & Cold Desserts (Blk 11 Telok Blangah Cresent Market & Food Centre) is reputed for their ice kachang and such, so do check them out if you’re in the vicinity.

Since it’s the one day of the year (other than birthdays) that most people splurge on their mums, do be a little extravagant if you can. Indulge her chocolate cravings with Prestat fine chocolates (located at Raffles City) - if their chocolates are fit for the Queen, they’ll definitely make your mother feel like one. I’d recommend their Rose & Violet Cremes, Heart Box, or Marc de Champagne Chocolate Truffles.
Other high-end gourmet chocolate brands you might want to consider include Hediard over at Tudor Court (next to Tanglin Mall), or Teuscher at Palais Renaissance. There you have it: High-end ($$ to $$$$) English, French & Swiss chocolates that are guaranteed to make your mum feel all happy inside. On a special occasion like this, commercial brands like Cadbury will not do.

I’ve saved the best for last: Pastries! The following is a list of places to get awesome cakes/cupcakes/brownies/muffins/tarts etc. – the following is in alphabetical order, so mouseover or click on their names to access their websites (this applies to all places mentioned prior to this too).

• Allanbakes: Strawberry Cheesecake
• Bakerzin: Opera, Scarlet, Coeur Noir
• Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie: Macarons, Meringue and others
• CCÛP: Gourmet cupcakes
• Cedele: Blueberry Maple Cake, Carrot Walnut Cake
• Centre Ps (78 Guan Chuan St #01-43, Tel: 6220 1285): Grand Cru Royal, Mont Blanc, Douce Fraise 
• Food for Thought: Banana Chocolate Malteser, Nutella Cupcakes
• Gobi: would you believe me if I said everything?
• Laurent Bernard Chocolatier: Flourless Cake, Chocolate Tart
• Nectarie le’dessert Patisserie: Chocolate Raspberry Gateaux, Granny Smith Apple Crumble,
• Obolo: Cheesecakes, Le Cassis, Belle
• Pasticceria da Valentino: Authentic traditional Italian tarts
• Perfect Fairy Cakes: Customise pretty little gourmet cupcakes that look too delish to be eaten
• Rive Gauche Patiserie: Guanaja Cake
• Room for Dessert: Ultimate Indulgence Chocolate Cake, Choc-A-Lot Cake
• Swissbake: Champagne Cake, Oreo-Brownie Cake
• The Cheesecake Cafe: Blueberry, Rum & Raisin, Strawberry Oreo
• The Patissier: Marquise, Lactee Cherry, La Mere
• Tiramisutra: Berry-misu, Choco-misu

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)

/some images were taken from Obolo & Prestat’s websites

The Chill-out Special.

Here’s introducing my best 25…simply because I couldn’t bear to leave any of these little gems out. Mouseover or click on the names of these places to access their websites. The following is listed in alphabetical order (no ranking involved):

1. 25 Degree Celsius ($$-$$$): Fall head-over-heels in love with their wide array of cookbooks while you browse & eat 
2. Blu Jaz Café ($-$$): Strike a pose with funky decor, sip a cocktail, grab a chimichanga or unwind to live music in an alfresco/indoor dining area
3. Café Domus ($-$$$) now-defunct: A hidden treasure nestled in Little India where droolworthy desserts (Tiramisutra’s fabulous tiramisu) and alcoholic concoctions await the discerning
4. Colbar ($-$$): Appreciate the rustic charm of colonial houses while you tuck into their popular Chicken Merryland or Chicken Curry
   (9A Whitchurch Rd, Tel: 6779 4859)
5. Corduroy Café ($$-$$$) now defunct: Experience the grand literary cafés of Europe as you let your tongue linger on sweet crepes and other tempting treats…
6. Essential Brew ($-$$$): Gather a group of friends and have some tea-infused drinks with an interesting selection of appetizers
7. Food for Thought ($-$$): Tantalising desserts with a cause – Butterscotch Apple Raisin Crumble. Banana Chocolate Malteser Cake. Nutella Cupcakes. and so much more…
8. Fren(s)h ($-$$): A quaint french café that serves up a slice of Paris with mouthwatering tartines (Rue Mirbel & Rilettes amongst many others) and great desserts
   (Vivocity #01-163, Tel: 6376 8005)
9. Gone Fishing ($-$$): Ponder philosophy and wax lyrical about life’s little things every 3rd Wednesday of the month, or organise a private function with your friends and family in this quiet café in Hillview
10. Ice Cream Chefs ($): Grab a cone or cup and have some fun on FREE Mix-In Day every Tuesday!
11. Icekimo ($): Spaghetti ice-cream. Affagato. familiar local flavours like Dino Milo, Cempedak,Teh Tarik, Bandung and D24 Durian…(see earlier entry)
12. Little Part 1 Café ($-$$): Neither home nor workplace but somewhere in-between – quaint little nook in Thomson
13. Mint Café ($$-$$$): Visit a 5-storey museum of collector’s edition toys and head downstairs to the café for tea or dinner (see earlier entry)
14. Myke’s Oven ($): freshly-baked croissants and great tea sets that will leave you wanting more (see earlier entry)
15. Paisley & Cream ($-$$): Dine against a backdrop of classic Audrey Hepburn photographs in cosy corners and try their double chocolate cupcakes and Indian wraps
    (The Central @ Clarke Quay #01-09/10, Tel: 6534 7962)
16. Pluck ($): For the nostalgic sentimentalist who wishes to indulge in ice-cream while they shop
17. Privé ($$-$$$): Spend a lazy Sunday afternoon on Singapore’s only private island (Keppel Island), and try their delectable Blue Swimmer Crab & Prawn Wrap as you admire the boats docked at the marina
18. Provence ($): Great Japanese bakery & cafe for brunch with the family – try their chocolate twist, raisin bun and blueberry cheese or grab a sandwich to go.
19. PS Café ($$-$$$): Catch a glimpse of the occasional local celebrity, or marvel at Project Shop’s ability to successfully expand themselves into the F&B realm with yummy favourites like the turkey cranberry sandwich and sticky date pudding as you dine in a private enclave of lush greenery.
20. Tea Cosy ($$-$$$) now defunct: Ecclectic furnishings transform this cosy nook in Ecclectic Attic into the perfect place for tea & scones, or a romantic dinner for two (foie gras tasters, duck omelette parcels, pasta)
21. The Book Café ($$-$$$): Perfect for curling up with a book on rainy afternoons and a cup of tea (see earlier entry)
22. The Cheescake Café ($-$$): Scrumptious cheesecakes such as their blueberry, strawberry oreo, rum & raisin ones…and a sweet chocolate truffle. I’d recommend ordering a few to share with friends.
23. The Daily Scoop ($): Funky ice-cream flavours like chilli choc or lime & black pepper for the adventurous / lychee martini, kahlua or bailey’s for the closet alcoholic
24. The Garden Slug ($$-$$$): With a quirky name like that, word will get around fast. Especially word about their zesty beef salad and hearty broths that will remind you of home
25. Whatever Café ($-$$): Sign up for yoga classes and embrace delicious organic or vegetarian food without feeling guilty…their cakes are gluten, sugar & wheat-free!  

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)

/ image of colbar taken from Stomp + images of café domus taken from ice cream chefs website