The Hungry Bunny

This was the last Saturday lunch with Ernie before he flew off to Hongkong that very evening. I'm going to miss him terribly. He wanted to have dim sum and salted egg yolk prawns as his last Singaporean lunch (yes, really, he still wanted dim sum in Singapore despite the fact that he was re-locating to Hongkong, the land which invented dim sum). So we met at  Crystal Jade Golden Palace at Paragon, the premier fine dining restaurant of the ever-growing Crystal Jade Group. This restaurant recently garnered the Asiaone People's Choice 2009 Awards for the top Chinese restaurant, and it's easy to see why. The food is consistent, exquisite and absolutely scrumptious. Service is top notch, efficient and well-trained. And, prices are very easy on the wallet as well. We started off with the Sauteed Diced Beef with Black Pepper ($26), which was tender and juicy. Loved the sticky garlicky pepper sauce and the golden garlic crisps. I got my favourite ...

There's always good food in my office. My office is not a place for those dieting because there always seems to be someone going around distributing treats. A colleague brought a couple of pound cakes from Flour People  to share. Flour People is a young upstart of a friend of a friend, and they do really amazing cakes and confectionary. The Nutella Pound Cake ($28 for a 9") was divinely good. It was moist, buttery and crumbly. And I loved the generous Nutella swirl. Flour People Website: www.flourpeople.com (it's not up and running yet, but will be soon) Email: flourpeople@gmail.com

La Strada 's still having its 1-for-1 pizza takeaway promotion , and as long as they are having the promotion, we'll keep taking away their pizzas at least once a week. Today, we ordered the Capricciosa ($26), with Italian gammon ham, olives, artichokes and trio of mushrooms (oyster, porcini and white button). We held off the artichokes because we both hate it. The pizza was still piping hot when we reached home, and it was delicious. The Salame Piccante ($26), with lightly spiced salami and black olives was simple but absolutely yummy. Update 18 July 2012: La Strada has closed its shutters.  La Strada 1 Scotts Road #02-11 Shaw Centre Tel: 6737 2555 Email: lastrada@lesamis.com.sg Website: www.lesamis.com.sg

This was the location for our April L.A. Lunch. We haven't had Japanese food for a while, and we've been to Sushi Tei the last few L.A. Lunches, so I thought a change of scenery would be good. Although I'd never been to Z'en Japanese Cuisine , I've been to its sister restaurant, En Japanese Dining Bar, which serves exquisite Okinawan food. So I knew we'd be in good hands. During weekday lunches, they have an ala carte buffet at $42, so most of us opted for that. The more weight-conscious ones ordered from the set and ala carte menus instead. The food at the ala carte buffet was excellent. Every dish was well-executed and of utmost quality. There was none of those crappy, second-rate (compared to the ala carte menu) food served here that you find at some other ala carte buffets. The quality of the buffet food was the same as from the ala carte menu. We started off with the raw stuff, Salmon Sashimi . These were thickly sliced, fatty and full of omega-3 go...

Since I'm house-sitting for Pops and my brother who are holidaying in Europe, the BF and I have had a lot more opportunities to pop by the club to eat because Pop's home is just a hop and a skip away from the Island location. We were feeling snackish so we went to the club for some sustenance. We got the Seafood Mee Goreng ($6.80) to share. It was done Chinese-style, sweetish and subtly spicy. The seafood, chunky fish slices, squid and prawns, were fresh and plentiful. We also got some freshly squeezed juices. From left to right, Carrot Juice ($3.40), Pineapple Juice ($3.40), Watermelon Juice ($3.40). SICC Island Swimming Pool Cafe 180 Island Club Road Tel: 6450 1433 Open daily from 9am to 10pm

The BF just removed his wisdom teeth, so he's been on a forced liquid diet. The Sliced Fish Congee ($6.50) at Imperial Treasure is perfect for his swollen gums. Smooth watery rice gruel delicate yet rich in flavour. The big plus is that the fish is sliced extra thin so that chewing is unnecessary. Just slurp and swallow. 7 June 2010 A quick update: Please note that they've closed this outlet down. The only available Nan Bei restaurants are at Takashimaya and Tampines Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant 3 Temasek Boulevard Suntec City #B1-011 Tel: 6339 3118 Open daily from 10am to 11pm

We probably have dinner at Prego's at least once a week. The portions are hearty, the food's rustic and the prices are reasonable. The BF got the Rigatoni alla Bolognese ($25), short tube pasta with minced beef, veal and tomato ragout. Strong rustic flavours.  I got the Risotto del Giorno ($33) the daily special with prawns and apple. I really liked this, the apple lent a refreshing crunch to the lightly creamy risotto. We also ordered a side dish of Spinaci Saltati con Parmigiano ($13) sauteed spinach with shredded parmesan cheese. P.S. The pictures were taken with an iPhone, which explains the difference in quality to the usual pictures taken with my trusty little Canon Ixus. Prego Level 1, Fairmont Singapore 80 Bras Basah Road Tel: 6431 5156 Open daily for breakfast from 6am to 11am, lunch from 11.30am to 2.30pm and dinner from 6.30pm to 10.30pm

On weekends and public holidays, Peach Blossoms has an ala carte buffet dim sum at $30.80 per person. This makes Peach Blossoms one of the cheapest places for such ala carte dim sum buffets. But, as I've always said, the quality of the food still has commensurate with its price-tag. Ernie and I tried it out one Saturday to see if the buffet was value-for-money or a ripoff. Overall, the buffet was a hit-and-miss affair. There were some memorable items, mostly the fried and unusual dim sum creations. The funny thing was that the more conventional dim sum staples were very very ordinary, to the extent that some of them were a yawn. We'll start off with the better dishes. First up was the Fried Carrot Cake with Chinese Sausage with XO Chili Sauce ($6.80 usual price). The carrot cake was nicely smoked, soft and well-flavoured. I liked that the beansprouts were properly relieved of their heads and tails. The Sauteed Fish Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onions ($24) was als...