Bollywood Veggies @ Kranji, Singapore

A farm in Singapore? Well, I get this statement whenever I say that I went to a farm in Singapore :) Went to Bollywood Veggies a LOHAS centric farm. There is an organic restaurant in there called Poison Ivy that I mentioned previously here. Entrance fee is SGD 2 but if you dine in Poison Ivy, you get to go in for free :)

There were all kinds of fruit trees and vegetables like bananas, fig tree (first time in my life), eggplants, bitter gourd, tapioca, various herbs and spices and many many more! Even for banana trees itself, it has more than ten different species of banana trees.

Welcome Sign to the Farm

Banana Tree Fruit

Beautiful Banana Tree Flower

There's even the Singapore's first eco toilet (named Jack-a-loo) where you cover your own dump using soil. So it's actually a dry toilet. Erm..not sure anyone actually used it.

Singapore is not just about shopping :)

Hortpark @ Singapore

Instead of the usual shopping in Singapore, I was brought to Hort Park to enjoy some natural and green surroundings. Really appreciate the hospitality. Hort actually stands for Horticulture and as the name suggests, this place is actually a one stop gardening hub with small plots of themed gardens by certain companies to showcase their landscaping styles.

One of the more catchy garden concept is the Recycling Garden whereby recycled materials are used for landscaping. Plastic bottles and shoes as pots. A compost bin. Save the environment and it looks cute and unique all at the same time!

Recycled Materials

More Recycled Materials

So Cute!

A shot of the Water Garden

There's this fun "toy" where there is a maze and you are supposed to slide the ball to the middle portion of the maze. It would be a group activity as you need at least two person to move the whole thing.

One of the Fun "Toys"

Organic Spice

There is even a Climbing Garden with large trees all over. On certain days, there will be a tree climbing demonstration but need to check when they have it. Interesting right?

One of the Large Tree at the Climbing Garden

They even have a part where they have walls of different species of plants.

Wall Garden

It's a nice place to walk around as there are different themes of gardens. There's even a roof garden, fantasy garden that is based on the Wizard of Oz and many more!

Ding Tai Fung @ Jurong Point, Singapore

Having tried Ding Tai Fung (from Taiwan) in Midvalley at the Malaysian outlet, wasn't really looking forward to the food at Ding Tai Fung in Singapore. Anyhow, ended up there and perhaps it differs from one country to another.

Stewed Beancurd with Honey was an interesting appetiser with bits of mushroom, black fungus and garlic. It was pretty tasty in my opinion and this is my first time trying something like this. Well since it is cooked in honey, it is sweet.

Stewed Beancurd with Honey

The hot and sour soup was pretty good and thick but not overly. Loaded with plenty of ingredients like shredded black fungus, tofu and mushrooms with a sourish tinge and just a little spicy. Very appetising.

Hot and Sour Soup

The Stir Fried Sweet Pea Sprout with Pork was lightly fried and tasted nice.

Stir Fried Pea Sprout with Shredded Pork

This simple dish of fried rice and egg was really good. It was really fragrant and tasty with bits of spring onions. One of the better fried rice I have ever eaten. Simple yet delicious!

Egg Fried Rice

The Deep Fried Wantan was just normal. Nothing really special.

Deep Fried Wantan

The famous Xiu Long Pau was pretty nice and juicy. Prefer the Dragon I version in Cititel Midvalley though. There's plenty of soup in each package!

Pork Xiu Long Pau

Overall it was a very good experience. Really like the hot and sour soup and egg fried rice. We waited quite a while to get a seat during lunch and that is how good business is.

Address:

63 Jurong West Central 3

#B1-68/69 Jurong Point Shopping Centre S648331

Tel: 68611811

Outram Park Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha @ Tanjong Pagar, Singapore

The version of Bak Kut Teh in Singapore is more of a peppery taste rather than the black herbal soup version in Malaysia. One of the more famous Bak Kut Teh shops around Singapore would be the Outram Park Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha where I hear Singapore celebrities actually stop by here for a nice hot meal of bak kut teh :)

Seating was a breeze as it was early in the morning.

Braised Tau Pok, Fried Cruellers, Tong Ho(Garland Chrysanthemum) in Soup, Braised Salted Vegetables, Bak Kut Teh Ribs

The soup is refillable and it is very tasty pepper soup. The meat is very lean. Would prefer it with a little more fat :p

A Closer Look

Braised Pork Trotters

Overall I still prefer the Malaysian version of bak kut teh as it has a more rich and herbal taste. For me, this is just like pepper soup.

Manhill Restaurant @ Pasir Panjang, Singapore

Singapore have good food if you know where to find them. A place I remember clearly would me Manhill Restaurant. I heard that this place is frequented by Japanese diners and for me, I think Japanese people places a high priority in the freshness of the food.

Pan Fried Pork Chop was pretty good. The pork pieces are succulent and tender. Some places tend to serve tough and dry meat but this one if good!

Pan Fried Pork Chop

The Mixed Vegetables in Claypot was just so so. Not very special.

Mixed Vegetables in Claypot

As for the paper wrapped chicken, the chicken pieces was very well marinated, fragrant (from the sesame oil) and it even contains some really tasty sauce (I think that they added some sesame oil) that goes well with rice. This is one of their more popular dishes here.

Paper Wrap Chicken

Roasted pork is always good and this time it is in this sea cucumber in claypot. The sea cucumber absorbs the flavourful roasted pork flavour and marinade. One very tasty dish!

Sea Cucumber and Roasted Pork Claypot

Shallow Fried Prawns was really good. The sweet and salty black sauce and the prawns goes together very well and wished that there would be more sauce to go with the rice.

Shallow Fried Prawns

Definitely a good experience and is one of the more tasty places out there in Singapore :)

Poison Ivy Bistro @ Kranji, Singapore

Poison Ivy Bistro, part of Bollywood Veggies that is located in the farming area of Kranji in Singapore. Many birdwatchers, people who likes fishing or even people who just want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city will come to Kranji. The vegetables served here are from the farm and if not mistaken, it is actually organic.

The Curry Chicken tasted really good. Went really well with the prata but I would definitely prefer white rice. Gravy is thick and flavourful.

Curry Chicken

Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry is a simple vegetable dish that tasted good. The vegetables were really fresh and there were assortment of vegetables that I could not tell. Overall, it tasted good.

Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry

Didn't really fancy the Banana Curry because I find it a bit plain. Or maybe fruit curry is not my cup of tea.

Banana Curry

The Moringa Leaves Tempura was nice and crunchy. It didn't have much taste but nice texture wise plus it comes with a salty dip and some crushed garlic to lend it some flavour. It is supposed to be a healthy as it contains four times the amount of calcium and seven times the amount of vitamin C in carrots!

Moringa Leaves Tempura

The Fig Tea is something nice and refreshing. A lot of times, when a drink is served, it tends to be overly sweet. The Fig Tea was just nice!

Fig Tea

A free entrance to the farm will be given to diners who dine in Poison Ivy. Instead of just going to the farm, enjoy the meal and a walk after that :)

Braised Pork Pau @ Westlake, Singapore

Westlake Takeaway Kiosk

Chanced upon this Braised Pork Pau aka "Kong Bak Pau" in Hokkien while walking in Jurong Point Shopping Center. Couldn't stop peeling my eyes off from the delicious looking braised pork even after a heavy brunch previously at Ding Tai Fung. Thus, bought it and snacked on it even with a full tummy.

A Close Up

A sliced of half fat half lean, soft and well marinated meat in between a flat piece of fluffy pau and a crunchy lettuce! So tasty!

Takeaway Kiosk

Jurong Point Shopping Center

#03-85

Fong Seng Nasi Lemak @ Bencoolen

After hearing some positive comments about this place, I decided to try it out during lunch. Apprently, this is a fast food style of nasi lemak and affordable too. For S$8, I get a big portion of mutton curry, chili squid, fried cabbage, a piece of hash brown and a glass of drink. They do not have the normal condiments that is usually in nasi lemak like the sambal and peanuts. You can choose a variety of dishes from curries to fried stuff to go with rice. Anyway, I still prefer nasi lemak in Malaysia anytime. The delicious sambal, fried peanuts, fried anchovies, sliced cucumber, hard boiled egg and steaming coconut rice with an occasional chicken rendang is still the best!

A Plate of Boutiful Feast

Soup Spoon @ Bugic Junction

I have been eating too much lately and decided to have a light dinner by having soup and salad. Was interested when I came upon this soup place called The Soup Spoon and we don't have this in Malaysia.

All soups are served with a bun. If not mistaken, you can choose eitehr the normal plain bun or the sunflower seed bun. Chose Mushroom Stragnoff soup (S$6.80) as I saw the person in front of me ordering that and it looks good. The soup is cream based, chunky and have a bite to it. I always like soups with a bite to it as I feel that I am really getting good ingredients in there rather than just watery or diluted broth. It is very filling on its own even with just a small bun to it eat it with. It was a good choice of soup.

Mushroom Stragnoff

Asian Tofu Salad (S$6.70) was not really my cup of tea because I find that they put too much tofu and not enough greens. The sauce is pretty light and it is similar to Thai chili sauce. However, I did enjoy the fried wantan skins they added.

Asia Tofu Salad

The Soup Spoon
Bugis Junction
Basement 1 Unit 04/26(Alight at Bugis MRT station)
Tel No: +652 6238 8601

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar @ The Esplanade

Max Brenner is a special place for chocolatiers or chocoholics :) We have chocolate cafes in Malaysia namely Theobroma and Cocoa (there are more that I don't know :p) Since we do not have a Max Brenner here in Malaysia, off we go to Max Brenner.

What's going to a chocolate cafe if you don't try their hot chocolate drink. Although we were very full from dinner (this is supposed to be dessert but wait til you read the rest of the entry), we couldn't resist trying their Venuzelan Chocolate Drink. It comes in a hug mug. What's a hug mug? It is a mug shaped like a dew drop. The reason for its shape is to enable the chocolate drinker to hug the mug with both hands (not very practical in Singapore as it is already very hot here, normally in cold countries this would be practical because it is cold and one wants to warm their body up with a cup of good ol' hot chocolate).

Hug Mug

Hug From Here

Ordering the Chocolate Fondue (Small size and large size - we chose the latter). They serve three types of chocolate dip. He he..looks cute and pretty colourful. Milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. However, the melted chocolate that they serve is too little as we had a lot of stuff to dip. The best is the milk chocolate dip. Second comes the dark chocolate and last, white chocolate. I am normally alright with white chocolate but this one is too milky and I just don't like it.

Tri Colour Fondue Dip

The fondue comes with marshmallows, banana cake cubes, fresh sliced bananas and huge strawberries. Isn't this too much for three for dessert? :p The fruits were fresh, the cake good too and marshmallows :) I wish they could provide more chocolate dip as it was not enough for all these. You can even treat it as a light meal for three people. We were stuffed to the brim as we had a very filling meal earlier.

Fondue Ingredients

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
8 Raffles Avenue,
#01-06/08 Esplanade Mall,
Singapore 039802
Phone number: +65 62359556

Waraku @ Marina Square

Finally I am able to access my hard disk in my almost-dead-but-managed-to-revive desktop computer. Thus, the continuation of the Singapore series. Waraku is a chain of Japanese restaurants in Singapore. They serve good Japanese food at moderate prices. Usually it will be crowded but due to the economic slowdown, there were ample places to sit. Now let's focus on the positive and talk about the food instead :)

Geso Karaage (S$6.80) which is deep fried squid in light batter was ok. It was crispy and tasty but a little on the salty side. An appetising appetiser.

Geso Karaage

Fancy some minced raw tuna (toro) with plenty of spring onions and shredded seaweed on a bed of rice? Doesn't really sound appetising? Negi Toro Don (S$10.80). Well, it does taste good! I was pretty surprised at how this turned out but one must like raw fish to start with this. The fish was fresh and pretty tasty in my opinion. It does taste a little bland but you can always dip some wasabi and soya sauce or just let the natural fresh fish taste mingle with your tongue.

Negi Toro Don

A Closer Look

Tried the kimchi based hot soup called Chige Nabe (S$14.80). Plenty of vegetables and meat. Soup was spicy at a bearable level. Moreover, there's a stove to keep in warm the whole time so that is stays hot. The soup is pretty addictive and portion big. Suitable during rainy days to fire up your body on a cold day.

Chige Nabe

Let's Stay Warm!

It is indeed delicious yet affordable Japanese food. Don't convert to Malaysian Ringgit la. In one-to-one terms, it is!