No Signboard Seafood Restaurant @ Vivocity

Porridge with Century Egg and Pork 皮蛋瘦肉粥

[below left] Steamed Prawn Dumplings or Har Gow 蝦饺

[right, below] Steamed Minced Pork Dumplings with Crab Roe
or Siew Mai 烧卖

Steamed Rice Roll with BBQ Pork or Char Siew Cheong Fun 叉烧肠粉

Steamed Spicy Chicken Feet or Fong Zao

Sharksfin Dumpling Soup or Poon Tong Gow 鱼翅灌汤饺

Standard dim sum dishes my family orders when we explore a new Chinese restaurant for dim sum include all-time favourites like Century Egg Pork Porridge, Steamed Prawn Dumplings, Steamed Pork Dumplings, Steamed Pork Ribs, Steamed Chicken Feet and Steamed BBQ Pork Buns.

To beat the usual traffic crawl into the carpark this Sunday, we set out early and stepped into the restaurant promptly told by a staffer that it was 3 minutes before 11am - perhaps a sign that they were not quite ready for customers. Does 3 minutes make such a difference - couldn't they just seat us first? The restaurant was empty when we arrived and as per normal practice, they directed us to a table at the full glass panels facing the rooftop of Vivocity. Not my favourite place considering the glare of the sun if you are facing the panels. I quickly settled with my back against the glare.

We recently found that this place has Sharksfin Dumpling Soup for dim sum but as it takes 30 minutes to be ready, we ordered it soon as we sat down. It was worth the wait, arriving after we finished everything else.

The verdict:           

Century Egg Pork Porridge          

- Satisfactory [but my 3 teens prefer Crystal Jade's porridge though  nothing has taken the place of the one they loved at the now defunct Charming Garden]

Steamed Prawn Dumplings

- Dumplings stuck to each other and the skin tore when taken out of the bamboo baskets [at Crystal Jade, we would have ordered at least 3 baskets]

Steamed Pork Dumplings

- Good texture, colour and taste

Sharksfin Dumpling Soup

- Unanimously, this was the only dish that brought us to the restaurant for dim sum as many other places including Crystal Jade doesn't have this. Served 30 minutes after order @ $6 a bowl. The seafood and sharksfin flavours come through satisfactorily and the dumpling skin is just right.

Ding Tai Fung [Paragon]

When the family feels too fatigued by Sunday, lunch is usually Chinese dim sum or in this case, at Ding Tai Fung for dumplings - our comfort food.

The typical food fest on the table [which even 13-year-old Shairel confidently pre-orders before her daddy arrives from the carpark!] begins with the starters to dumplings and noodles.

Japanese Cucumber Pickles

Cold Braised Beef and Cold Drunken Chicken

Plain Dumpling Soup

Spicy Dumpling Soup 

 My comfort food -

Stewed Chicken Soup [Dun Ji Tang] with Handmade noodles

Family favourite Xiao Long Bao

Revisiting the New Chatterbox

Someone recently reminded me about the sharp crystal shapes of the lighting fixtures in the old Chatterbox that hung precariously over the tables. It brought me back to adolescent days when I had long hangouts with friends there. Those were the days before coffee chains invaded!

Revisiting the Chatterbox where my husband too used to hang out with friends, we naturally expected much. Even my mum had her own reminiscence with my dad there! So the whole troop checked into the new Chatterbox for dinner.

So we ordered what would help with the road down memory lane. The verdict: the totally overhauled Chatterbox holds nothing to lure us back for food or sentimental reasons. The old is completely gone - food quality, atmosphere, prestige, glam.

I ordered Nasi Lemak

Kenny had Kway Tiao

Mum had to retry Chicken Rice while Krystle and Shairel

[born only in the last 2 decades] tried this famous dish for the first time.

Tessa had the Lobster Laksa

Four Seasons [beachfront cafe in Nhatrang]

BBQ in Nhatrang, Vietnam

Breakfast at Nhatrang Yasaka ends at 9am every morning. That means a mad dash out of bed just to eat every morning! Happy to catch a bowl of Beef Pho [rice noodle with beef and soup] and settle in the cool garden surrounded by bonsai horticulture of all kinds. 

By the third morning, I was awake enough to discover my new favourite [below]  - somewhat like cheong fun with beef. [Don't know what it's called cos I was too busy chatting with the servers about their holidays and forgot to ask!] The rice skin is extremely tender and delicate. Dipped in a sweet and spicy sauce ... [pause to breath]... it's takes my breath away! It's a dish that encapsulates the character of the Vietnamese spirit - gentle in substance, genteel in presentation, gratifying in its simplicity, and eaten with a generous dose of fresh herbs that include mint leaves [mint leaves are served with almost all dishes], it's a recipe for gastronomic revival in the morning!

A very attractive and petite Vietnamese 'chef' also makes a mighty ham omelette that has the longest queue each morning. One of my daughters said very frankly, "Not the kind you can make, mummy." Yep, I'm not in the running for any kind of omelettes. We didn't see the pretty chef on our fifth morning and I actually felt her absence! Glad she came in with a big smile and the garden buffet was happy again.

Jurong Hilltop Restaurant

When you see the viewing tower, the first instinct is to ascend it when in fact the restaurant is located at the basement of the tower. Nevertheless, it offers dining with unobstructed wide angle view of the Jurong indistrial area. There's something about being above it all that takes you away from the ordinariness of life and gives some respite from the buzz of work. [No pictures taken of the view though.]

 Thumbs up for the salmon.

Everyone is given a bright orange apron to don.

This place has not changed since I last visited about 2 decades back which explains the lack of good kitchen ventilation or whatever you call it. Expect to smell of teppanyaki when you step out and into your car. However, for us, the fragrance of our courtship days brought meaning to the family at this visit.