Make Your Own Omelette @ Beanstro

No, that is not a typo. Beanstro is an upscale and sit-down version of the coffee shop, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I was at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands this morning and was looking for a place to grab breakfast. The  Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Beanstro was the only cafe or restaurant I could find. 

I had their make-your-own omelette. You don't really have that much of a choice for the filling. If I remember correctly, you choose any combination or all of the following: cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham and onions (I feel I'm forgetting something else...). I had one with mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes. It comes with a side salad and potato-filled tomato on a skillet.

It was good. They used a lot of porcini mushrooms but for basically a simple omelette for $15 bucks? Not really worth it. Good ambience though - nice place to hangout.




Beanstro
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
10 Bayfront Avenue B2-20
Singapore 018970
www.coffeebean.com.sg


Opening Hours:
Sunday to Thursday 10am to 11pm
Friday to Saturday 10am to Midnight

Mushroom Risotto - Home Cooked

Okay, this photo does not make the dish look very appetizing when it really was. I've finally succumbed and tried my hand in making risotto.

I simply followed this recipe here. Of course, I substituted the mushrooms since I don't really have all that available on hand.

Ingredients:

• Sliced button mushrooms
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 350g/12oz arborio rice
• 1.2 litres hot vegetable stock
• 25g/1oz butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated parmesan, to serve

How to cook:

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until browned.
2. Stir in the rice and coat in the oil. Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring again, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender.
3. Add the parsley, butter and salt and pepper, stir into the risotto. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

This is really more like a poor mans (or womans) risotto since I'm using easy-to-find, affordable and canned button mushrooms and nixed the wine.

Filipino Desserts @ Bonifacio

Turon: banana and jackfruit wrapped in springroll wrapper

Palitaw: small, flat, sweet rice cake topped with sesame seeds, coconut shavings and grated cheese

Saba Con Yelo: sweetened banana slices topped with shaved ice and milk

On Friday night, we ended up at Bonifacio, the latest/newest Filipino restaurant in Singapore, for some authentic Filipino-style desserts. I ordered their saba con yelo or hielo and the group shared orders of palitaw and turon.

I was disappointed with their saba con yelo because the bananas were tough to chew. It might have been frozen before served. Some of my friends also ordered their mais con yelo, which is basically the same dish but with corn substituting the bananas. The complaint was it wasn't sweet enough but the servers were nice enough to give us some sweet syrup to well, sweeten the taste.

Despite the thumbs-down for the saba con yelo, their turon and palitaw were delicious. One order of the turon consisted of 5 (small!) servings. The size of the turon was not what you'd usually expect. It was as small as regular spring rolls. Turon back home is usually one entire or whole banana and slices of jackfruit inside the spring roll wrapper. Despite the miniature turon, the taste did not disappoint.

The highlight of the night for me was their palitaw. It was freshly made with a generous serving. One order consisted of 3 pieces of palitaw the size of a cup saucer. One piece is good enough for one person because it is very filling. The grated cheese and sesame seeds blended perfectly. I would go back just for this dessert.

Other than the desserts I mentioned above, Bonifacio also serves: leche flan, sans rival, halo-halo, buko pandan and more I cannot recall right now.

I will definitely go back to Bonifacio and this time not only for desserts but for their main dishes as well.

Bonifacio Modern Filipino Cuisine
35 Kreta Ayer
Singapore 089000
(opposite Kreta Ayer Community Centre)
T: (65) 6222 6676
www.bonifaciogroup.com


Operating Hours:
Lunch 11am to 3pm - Dinner 6pm to 10pm (last order)
Open Tuesdays to Sundays - Close on Mondays

Egg Mayo on Wheat @ Subway

Before I committed to a new healthier eating lifestyle, my favorite Subway sandwich was their classic Subway Melt. Now that I've given up non-seafood meat, I usually have their Tuna on wheat. This day however, I opted to have their Egg Mayo.

I ordered an egg mayo subway on a toasted 6-inch wheat bun with cheese, sliced tomatoes, pickles and no dressing/sauce but with a dash of salt and pepper. I nixed the dressing because their egg mayo already had, well... mayonnaise. So didn't really need anything more than that.

Delicious as always.





Subway
8 Shenton Way
Singapore 068811
Tel: 65-6220-1715
www.lioncitysubs.com
www.subway.com.sg


Hours of Operations
Mon to Fri - 7am to 8pm
Sat - 9am to 3pm
Sun - CLOSED

Good Food @ Marks Bistro

Mac & Cheese

Open-faced Chicken Sandwich

Oriental Duck

In case you're wondering, I had the Mac & Cheese. My friends had the chicken and duck.

Marks Bistro
4916 Underwood Ave
Omaha, NE 68132
T: (402) 502-2203
www.marksindundee.com


Open Monday through Saturday
from 11am until late in the evening.
Closed Sunday

Provence Herb Baked Fish @ Josh & Joey's Rotisserie Grill

I had planned to grab lunch at Aglio Olio but at the last minute decided to try Josh & Joey's Rotisserie Grill which was just along the way to Aglio Olio.

They have a pretty decent selection of seafood dishes -- several salmon dishes, fish & chips and baked fish. For my first try, I ordered their Provence Herb Baked Fish. It was a good-sized fillet of fish that had herbs encrusted on top served with baked potatoes and vegetables (tomatoes, onions, string beans). The dish was also served with a slice of lemon and tartar sauce.

This particular dish was one of the four set lunches they offered. A set lunch comes with soup and iced tea. That day their choices of soup were minestrone and cream of mushroom. I opted for their cream of mushroom which was surprisingly good. It was creamy and velvetty (almost like Soup Spoon's mushroom soup). For a $1 upgrade, you can change your iced tea to a canned softdrink.

Josh & Joey's Rotisserie Grill
8 Shenton Way #B1-19
Singapore 068811
T: 6327 9818

Opening Hours
Mon–Fri: 11.30am – 8.00pm

Puto Bumbong @ Cafe Laguna

Cafe Laguna probably has one of the best puto bumbong dishes in Cebu. What's "puto bumbong"? According to PinoyRecipe.net:

Puto Bumbong, Traditionally made from a special variety of heirloom sticky or glutinous rice called Pirurutong which has a distinctly purple color, soaked in salted water and dried overnight and then poured into bumbong or bamboo tubes and then steamed until done or steam rises out of the bamboo tubes. It is served topped with butter or margarine and shredded coconut mixed with sugar.

I've always had this thing about purple-colored foods but puto bumbong is definitely an exception. I always try to have some whenever I go home to Cebu. If you happen to pass by Cafe Laguna (Ayala Cebu and SM North Wing Cebu), you should go in and order it!

Tangy Tomato with Basil @ Soup Spoon

Soup is always best served hot and on a rainy day. So with the very windy rainfall this morning, I headed to the nearest Soup Spoon and had their Tangy Tomato with Basil soup in pot pie serving. According to their website:

Concocted by Souper Chef, Anna Lim. It is a vegetarian puree of roasted tomatoes and basil. Orangey hue with a tinge of red, this soup is creamy and has the smell of freshly roasted tomatoes blended to perfection. On first taste, it slides down the throat with smoothness, first tasting tangy and then slightly spicy…leaving a warm tingling after taste.

This is one of my favorite soups in Soup Spoon. I love its spicy flavor and it's easy on the belly. When I first discovered Soup Spoon, I always had their Velvetty Mushroom soup. While it was delicious, it's also very filling with it being so creamy and full of mushroom bits. Their Tangy Tomato with Basil soup is really perfect during rainy season with the its heat -- both temperature-wise and spiciness-wise.

You can order their soups in a regular bowl (regular & large sized), bread bowl or pot pie like I did. If you order in a regular bowl, you get a piece of bread. When you order the soup as a pot pie, you get a side salad.

The Soup Spoon
Tanjong Pagar MRTBasement 1 Unit 31
(Alight at Tanjong Pagar MRT station)
T: 6222 0272
www.thesoupspoon.com


Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10.30am to 9.00pm
Sat: 11.00am to 4.00pm
Sun & PH: Closed

Garlic Butter Prawns with Mashed Potatoes - Home Cooked

Dinner last night was another home cooked meal. It was garlic butter prawns with mashed potatoes.

For the garlic butter prawns, you need:

• Prawns, deveined
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Garlic

First you heat the olive oil and butter then saute the garlic. Drop in the deveined prawns and cook until they turn pink. I usually try to squeeze the prawn heads with my wooden spoon to bring out the juice. It adds flavor to the "sauce".

For the mashed potatoes, I used instant this time. I saw this brand called Idahoan Baked Flavored Mashed Potatoes in the grocery earlier. It was a good discovery. Very easy to cook and tastes so good, almost like the real thing.

To cook the mashed potatoes, you just heat 1 cup of water. When it boils, add half of the 28g packet. Use a fork to moisten all potatoes. Stir and let stand for 1 minute. If you want it creamier or thicker, add more or less water.

Oreo Double, Double, Double, Double Stuffed

Just for fun.

Butternut Squash & Cheese Quiche

This is what was for breakfast today: Butternut Squash Quiche with Cheese. Gifted by a co-worker and really, really yummy. Will have to find out where she got them.

Pan Fried Dory and Grilled Shrimps @ Hot Tomato

This is what was for lunch today. I was out of my usual lunch area for errands and after all those were done, I ended up at Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill.

I first discovered this cafe at their Plaza Singapura branch in Dhoby Ghaut. I usually have their Salmon with Mango Salsa (which is delicious by the way) but today I felt like I've had too much salmon in my diet already so I ordered their Pan Grilled Dory with Grilled Shrimps.

The dish had 2 fillets of dory and 2 pieces of shrimp served with mashed potatoes and a simple salad. The serving size of the fish was okay but the shrimp could have been bigger. Overall though, with both fish and shrimp plus the potatoes, it was a good enough serving for one person.

The mashed potato was pretty good but a bit dry. Thankfully there was enough sauce that was drizzled over the fish to give it some flavor. The dressing for the salad was also very good. It was kind of like a lemon-y vinaigrette. I actually ended up mixing the mashed potatoes in with the sauce from the fish and dressing from the salad, turned out to be delicious.


Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill
313 Orchard Road 
#B3-35/36 313 @ Somerset 
Singapore 238895
T: +65 6884 6631


Opening Hours
Daily: 11am – 10pm

Chili Crab Sub @ Subway

I didn't have this for lunch. I had my usual tuna sub on wheat but saw this on their window. Hmm... would it taste as appetizing as it sounds? Should I try this?

Ceasar Salad @ Soup Spoon

One of my favorite Ceasar salads in Singapore and probably my default lunch when I don't know what to have or where to eat for lunch. This is from Soup Spoon. They also have an excellent Asian Tofu Salad and lots of soup choices like Tangy Tomato and Velvetty Mushroom Soup.

Their Ceasar Salad comes with romaine lettuce, 1 sliced boiled egg, bread crumbs and sun-dried tomatoes with ceasar salad dressing of course. I usually tell them to nix the sun-dried tomatoes but sometimes they forget. I've already picked out the sun-dried tomatoes out of the salad when I took the photo. You can see it at the upper right corner of the photo.

And for this day, since I was starving (thanks to just having popcorn for dinner, boo!), I got myself an order of their Spicy Potato Wedges:

I always over order so 3/4 of this, I had packed and wrapped in a to-go bag. Maybe for dinner later.

The Soup Spoon
Tanjong Pagar MRTBasement 1 Unit 31
(Alight at Tanjong Pagar MRT station)
T: 6222 0272
www.thesoupspoon.com


Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10.30am to 9.00pm
Sat: 11.00am to 4.00pm
Sun & PH: Closed

Food Photodump from US Trip

Salmon Eggs Benedict @ Le Peep, Omaha

Seafood Lahvosh @ M's Pub, Omaha

A plate of sushi @ Makino, Las Vegas

Le Peep
559 N. 155th Plaza
Omaha, NE 68154
T: 402-408-1728
www.lepeep.com


M's Pub
422 South 11th Street
Omaha, NE 68102-2806
T:(402) 342-2550
www.mspubomaha.com


Makino
775 S. Grand Central Pkwy
#1301 Las Vegas, NV 89106
(Premium Outlet Mall)
T: 702.382.8848
F: 702.382.8849
www.makinolasvegas.com

Double Crunchy Shrimp @ Applebee's

Applebee's was already a familiar brand to me although I haven't tried it out before. All I knew was that it was an American brand with a menu like Chili's and Friday's. It recently opened in Singapore but unfortunately in a not very convenient location (from my perspective or area I guess). So when we happened to be in the area one day, we tried it out.

I ordered their Double Crunchy Shrimp. It looked pretty appetizing on their menu but when it got to the table, let's just say it was a let down. It looked more like an appetizer dish rather than a main entree.

Taste-wise it wasn't bad nor was it amazingly yummy. Not entirely sure where the "double crunchy" bit came from. It was just like deep fried breaded shrimp. Good but nothing new.

It is served with tartar sauce, coleslaw, fries, and of course a wedge of lemon. I really think this is more suited to be an appetizer or pica-pica for drinking sessions.

There were other interesting items on their menu so I'll definitely go back but probably won't order this again unless to share with friends.

Applebee's
111 Somerset Road
#01-11/12 TripleOne Somerset
Singapore
T: 6735 9671
www.applebees.com


Opening Hours
Sun–Thu: 11am – 10pm 
Fri–Sat: 11am – 12am

Tempura Ramen @ Sakae Sushi

I have been seriously craving for Japanese ramen noodle soup since having it at Suki Sushi last week. So off I went to Sakae Sushi, the nearest Japanese place from my office, and had this for lunch: Tempura Ramen.

Basically, it was a plain ramen noodle soup with two pieces of ebi tempura at the side. The tempura was good but wasn't served with the tempura sauce, though I don't know why I didn't ask for some anyway.

As for the ramen, it was a bit on the bland side. Not as tasty as the Seafood Ramen at Suki Sushi. Maybe because it didn't have a lot of ingredients in it? It only had some greens, sliced mushrooms, fish slices and half a hard boiled egg. But I think not, the soup and the noodles were bland. And with not much in it, most of the dish you'll be eating are the noodles and soup.

So even with this ramen, my craving has not been fulfilled. I may just end up going over to Suki Sushi for the actual Seafood Ramen I liked in the first place.

Sakae Sushi
CPF Building (Robinson Road)
79 Robinson Road
#01-05 Singapore 068897
T: 6227 0323
www.sakaesushi.com.sg


Opening Hours:
11:00am - 9:30pm (Mon - Fri)
Closed on Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays

Crispy French Toast @ Silk Road

The Best French Toast Ever.

That was the unanimous vote among my friends and I when we had a taste of this perfection at the Silk Road Restaurant in Las Vegas' Vdara Hotel & Spa.

The dish had 3 circular toasts that was crunchy on the inside but deliciously soft and chewy in the inside. I really don't know what made it crunchy, bread crumbs maybe or crushed cornflakes? 

The toast was topped with small cubes of caramelized apples and if I remember correctly, applesauce. Maple syrup and butter was also served on the side but you don't really need it.

Vdara Hotel & Spa

2600 West Harmon Avenue

Las Vegas, NV 

89109, United States 

T: (866) 745-7111

www.vdara.com

Tuna Fusilli In Golden Honey Mustard Sauce - Home Cooked

Another home cooked meal on this blog! I was looking around for canned tomato sauce in the market when I came across the section for different kinds of sauces, that day I bought two. One was the Bertolli Mushroom Alfredo Sauce featured here and the second one was for this recipe: Chicken Tonight in Golden Honey Mustard.

Now, I know -- Chicken Tonight sauce for a pescetarian? Believe me, I read that label up, down, circling the jar over and over in my hand, trying to figure out if this was okay. As far as I've read on the label, all ingredients were "safe". No chicken. I was intrigued with the Golden Honey Mustard part and figured I could substitute the chicken with tuna. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself and as always when I cook at home, it was simple and very easy to do.

What you'll need:

• Chicken Tonight sauce in Golden Honey Mustard flavor
• Canned tuna in oil or water
• Pasta, fusilli
• Pepper to taste

(1) Boil pasta as instructed in the package
(2) On another burner, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. This is if you're using canned tuna in water. However, since I was using canned tuna in oil, I just heated the pan and directly poured the tuna cooking it in its own oil. Sprinkle some pepper to put some flavor in the tuna.
(3) Pour the jar of Golden Honey Mustard sauce, as much as needed. For me, I used two cans of tuna with 1 jar of sauce which is probably good for 2 persons.
(4) Stir and mix. Turn burner to low and simmer until pasta is cooked.
(5) Place pasta in serving dish and pour the tuna with the sauce over it.

And you're done! Simple and hearty meal for you.

I personally loved this sauce because it had onions and carrots which was great with the tuna and brought some color to the otherwise bland looking dish.

Note: I suck at plating!

Le Wrap with Emmental Cheese and Avocado @ Fou De Fafa

Lunch for today was from one of my favorite cafes near the office: Fou De Fafa. I had my go-to sandwich. They call it the Le Wrap but this actually comes in two versions, one with chicken and another without meat.

The non-meat wrap (I hesitate to call it vegetarian because it has cheese in it) is composed of a lot of greens, avocado slices, emmental cheese slices, tomato cubes, some pine nuts and drizzled in some olive oil.

The wrap is grilled so the sandwich is hot and melts the cheese a little for that gooey bite. The serving size is also good enough for one hungry person. For this particular day, I was only able to finish a third of the wrap. Priced at SG$12.50.

This particular ingredient combination actually also comes as a regular sandwich. They call it the Good Sandwich because it is very good. The Good Sandwich's serving size is a lot more compared to the wrap and with more greens on the outside rather than in the sandwich.

One other favorite of mine at Fou De Fafa is their veggie pizza. The exact name escapes me now but it will definitely be featured soon.


Fou de Fafa
#01-05 Capital Tower
168 Robinson Road
T: 6327‑9418
Mon-Fri, 8:00am-10:00pm
www.foudefafa.com