All about food!

Been indulging in good food quite a bit these past few days... *groan* feeling kinda sinful (which is why I've also been bugging Hubby for more ping pong workouts :p) but am glad I had the chance to sample some of the dishes...

Owen Seafood Restaurant @ Turf City

Met up with HZ and Jess last Saturday evening for a fabulous seafood meal here. It's the first time Hubby and I visited Turf City cos it's so outta the way for us since we don't drive at all. But at least we had fun just taking the shuttle bus all the way in from Clementi Interchange. :)

Unlike what its website claims, Turf City really doesn't offer much in terms of entertainment or shopping. In fact, when Hubby and I got there, our first impression of the place was how much it resembled a really 'ulu' shopping centre, not unlike those found in some parts of Malaysia. Even the Giant supermarket there doesn't seem enticing to even a supermarket fan like me. :p

I guess it's only saving grace is the interesting range of restaurants that are located there...and of course, there's this seafood place that we patronised that evening, thanks to HZ and Jess, who'd decided to give Hubby and me a birthday treat there! ^_^

Even before we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by this huge display of live seafood that were quite fascinating to look at. What especially wowed us was this tank of gargantuan crabs -- the Australian king crabs -- which weighed an average of 1.5kg, according to one of the waitresses at the restaurant. This means that feasting on one average-sized creature of that species would cost close to $300, based on the $19.50 per 100g calculation. The price is one thing... imagine staring at it once it's cooked and served on the dinner table... my, what a sight that'd be!

Well, although it was interesting to think of, we didn't order the gigantic crab. Instead, we chose the drunken prawns and 2 normal-sized crabs (one's buttered and fried while the other's cooked in yummy chilli gravy) for greater variety. Also ordered the fried man tou to go with the chilli gravy... *both thumbs up*!!! Doesn't seem like a lot of dishes, does it? But the great thing is that the food's oh-so-tasty yet what we ordered didn't make us feel uncomfortably bloated at the end of the meal. We just felt nicely contented, which is even better. When it comes to food, quality should be more important than quantity! :)

Besides the great food served at the restaurant, the price deals are also something worth going all the way there for! Some dishes at apparently going for half-price when orders are placed by a certain time (think it's 4.30pm) while the seafood's going for 40% off what it normally costs! Woohoo! Hehe, these are why Hubby and I are going back there again this coming Saturday, this time with Papa, Mummy and Beebee for an early Fathers' Day feast. Heehee. That's another meal to look forward to! ;D

Coffee Club Express

Another place that I enjoyed good food at recently was Coffee Club Express -- went there twice in the past three days. The restaurant's not new to me, but its recent menus were pretty appealing to me, more so than what I've tried there before. Was there first on Saturday evening with HZ and Jess for supper, after the early seafood dinner and some shopping at Ngee Ann City. Loved the 'obsession with sandwiches' menu they had, and the meal I selected from there -- this cheesy yet light sandwich with smoked chicken breast and apricot dressing.

Thank goodness I tried that then, cos when I went back again, this time to the outlet at Paragon and with Beebee after a day of shopping yesterday, they'd changed the menu! This time, it's something called "bowled over" or what. Beebee was so looking forward to trying the sandwich that I had last Saturday after I showed her the pic of it, so imagine the look on her face (she really looked like this: =.=) when we realised that she'd just missed it.

But never mind... fortunately there're other good stuff to try there. I had the new stewed chicken with loads of mushrooms course upon the personal recommendation of the manager there (nice!), while Beebee had some salmon pastry thingy and a slice of her favourite black forest cake. I also bought home something that Hubby was tempted to try last Saturday but didn't -- the hazelnut caramel tart. It looks literally sweet! Will present it to him tonight when he returns from work. :)

Ebisbashi @ Iluma

Beebee and I also went to Iluma shopping mall opposite Bugis Junction for the first time yesterday as part of our shopping day. It's such a nice place to visit! Many stores are already open, and the whole of level 4 looks really inviting with the range of restaurants there, some of which can't really be found elsewhere. The whole area is also well-designed and decorated, with each restaurant sporting a signature look and feel.

This Japanese restaurant really captured our attention because of its authentic Japanese feel. Check out what it looks like! There're three different menus catering to different varieties of dishes, and each menu is for a different section of the restaurant (so it's like a huge restaurant divided into three mini restaurants). What's fun is also the way we could order our food. Upon being seated, we were taught by a waiter how to use an electronic pen to order what we wanted directly off the menu. Each time we used the pen to press one button next to a food item, we'd hear a cute Japanese female voice from an automated recording stating our selection. Kawaii ne! ^_^

It's a pity the food wasn't much to rave about though. I had a mini ebi don, which was a tad too salty for my liking, while Beebee had a set of a mini kani fried rice, which she claimed she could cook an even better version of, and a mini ramen, which we both agreed wasn't as good as Ajisen Ramen's. Maybe we just didn't pick the house specialties, which might have been more delicious. But I certainly give full marks to the ambience! ;)

Spaghetti @ Home Sweet Home

Heehee, after talking so much about food sampled outside, I figured I might as well be a little thick-skinned and feature my own recent creations too. After all, if my in-house food critic could gimme an 'ok' or 'up to an 8.5 outta 10', they can't be too bad right? ;P

Ta-da! Been cooking spaghetti in tomato paste these days. Won't be cooking that for quite some time next lest Hubby gets sick of eating it! But so far so good...the first one on the extreme left is spaghetti with pan fried cod fish, asparagus, baby carrots, lettuce and shitake mushrooms. The middle one's pretty much the same ingredients, except that in place of cod fish, there's a pan fried chicken patty. The third one's what I specially cooked for lunch today as a little 'special 16th' treat -- spaghetti with grilled tiger prawns, yellow capsicum, lettuce, baby carrots and grilled tomato. This was the one that won me an 8.5 outta 10! Yippee! So happy... hee. ^_^

Wowee... just realised what a long post this is, and all on FOOD! Yum... sigh, but now gotta get to work. Haven't been working much at home -- loads to catch up on. Tata!