The Hungry Bunny

Mr J, Mr Harvest-The-Crops, Ms PR and I went out for lunch. Ms PR had just recovered from a terrible bout of food poisoning and she wanted something light and soupy to slowly ease her still sore tummy back to normal food. We passed by this quaint, hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant opposite Amoy Street Food Centre and it was just perfect. Vietnamese food is very delicate and light. Exactly what Ms PR needed. Pho 99 is run by Vietnamese so you know the food's bound to be authentic. It's a very tiny restaurant but the turnover's quite fast so you don't really have to wait very long for a table in the cramped little restaurant space. A Set Meal ($11.90 nett) consists of a noodle dish, 2 pieces of their fried spring rolls ( cha gio ) and a drink. Mr J and I got the Chicken Pho , clear, subtle and slurpilicious with a generous topping of shredded poached chicken. I love how the slurpy smooth flat noodles went down like silk. The Cha Gio (Vietnamese fried spr...

Going to Tiong Bahru Market is like stepping back in time. From the walk-up art-deco shophouse apartments gazetted for conservation, to the sleepy neighbourhood vibe and the generally slower pace of life felt here. Tiong Bahru Market boasts some of the more famous culinary hawker finds, and it's always packed to the brim on weekends with locals hankering for their favourite prawn noodles, lor mee, chwee kueh and/or chicken rice. Please note that Tiong Bahru Market is predominantly a breakfast and afternoon market (i.e. a fair number of the stalls open only in the morning and afternoon and are closed at night). Jian Bo Shui Kueh arguably serves up one of the best, if not the best chwee kuehs around, a steamed rice cake topped with diced preserved radish ( chye poh ) and chilli sauce. The Chwee Kueh ($2.50 for 10 pieces) here well deserves its reputation, the plainess of the soft rice cakes was balanced out by the saltiness of the chye poh, with sweetish, dri...

CC, Mr J, The Professor and I went out for lunch today for some "fresh air" and because we thought a change of scenery away from the unforgiving concrete jungle that is the CBD was "good for the soul". We headed to one of The Professor's favourite lunch spots for some Southern Deep-Fried Chicken at Popeyes . We all got the 2-Piece Set Meal ($7.40) served with a regular side dish and soft drink. I got the Spicy Chicken , (both thigh meat because I'm really not a fan of breast meat). The meat was juicy, succulent, moist and tender. Even if the portions have shrunk, the chicken here is still notably better and bigger than KFC's miserly portions. But The Colonel has one thing Popeyes doesn't. The "secret recipe" original flavour marinade. Popeyes' chicken skin is crispy and flavourful, but it just can't beat the "11 herbs and spices" used in The Colonel's "secret recipe". Popeyes' Mashed Potatoes with...

I've mentioned before that Seafood Paradise at Defu had an atrocious waiting time, lacklustre seafood BUT admittedly good cze char fare . So when the BF and I visited the restaurant's Singapore Flyer branch on a weekday night, we stuck to their cze char offerings and gave their seafood dishes a miss. We ordered their Stewed Ee-fu Noodle with Crabmeat ($12 for small), which was as yummy as ever. This is easily one of the best versions of this braised noodle dish around. I love the generousity of the shredded crabmeat and scrambled egg white oyster sauce-based gravy, plentiful straw mushrooms and oodles of softly braised egg noodles. We also got the Sauteed Scallops with chef's XO Sauce ($20 for small). The BF recently learnt about the existence of XO sauce, from the claypot mushroom dish at Crystal Jade Kitchen at Holland Village , so he was keen to try this dish. This was aromatic, spicy and bold. I loved how succulent and sweet the scallops w...

We stopped by Australian chain Gelatissimo for some Italian-style gelato. Their gelatos are generally less guilt-laden than the usual ice-cream offerings from Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Daaz because they use less cream. A perfect icy treat on a balmy evening. We got the Large Cup ($8.50) with rich and creamy Mint Chocolate (green), Hazelnut (brown) and Toasted Almond (white). My favourite's the mint chocolate, it's refreshing yet comforting at the same time. The myriad of gelato and sorbet offerings is really quite an inviting sight. How do you say no to a view like that. Gelatissimo 30 Raffles Ave #01-14 Singapore Flyer Tel: 6338 7133

I like going to Ristorante Bologna for dinner. It's peaceful and quiet, I've never seen a screaming child here. Hmm, in fact, I've never seen a child dining here, period. It's romantic, the restaurant is never very full and it's always dimly lit with the warm inviting glow of candles. And it's unpretentious, I never feel like I have to act or eat daintily here (I'm not one of those prim and proper feminine girl types. In fact, my parents had to send me to ettiquette school to learn how not to sit at the dinner table with my legs propped up on the chair. Obviously, I didn't learn much, hahaa!). We shared the starter of Insalata Di Capesante Al Forno Con Le Olive Taggiasche E La Salsa All'erba Cipollina ($30) Sea Scallops with Olives and Cold Chive Sauce. I love scallops and these were plump and succulent, seared just right so it was nicely caramelized on the outside but all its wonderful juices were still retained on the inside. I'm a sucker...

Prego's our fail-safe, go-to restaurant for hearty and rustic Italian fare. It also serves one of the best risottos around. I was craving some good ol' risotto so we headed there after work. The BF wanted some pasta so he got the Agnolotti Brasato in Salsa Leggera di Funghi ($28), a variety of ravioli filled with braised beef shank tossed in a porcini mushroom sauce. This was surprisingly less heavy than we expected. We love the flavourful rich beef in the soft dumplings and the delicate mushroom sauce. I got the 2-course set dinner at $76, with Saffron and Prawn Organic Arborio Rice as my main. The cheerfully-hued risotto was creamy yet pleasantly light, with peppery red and green capsicums cutting through the starch and rich cheese. Succulent cubes of prawns added crunch and texture. The Dessert-of-the-Day was the Sugar-Free Chocolate Delight , with Sicilian orange and almond milk gelato. The gelato was very airy so you almost don't feel like you're eati...

Marks & Spencer finally brought back their Raspberry Viennese ($4.90)! I love the buttery, airy-fairy biscuits sandwiched with rich vanilla cream and tartish-sweet raspberry jam. These heavenly sandwiches were so crumbly and light, you almost don't feel any guilt eating the biscuits. Please note that this runs out really fast, so be sure to buy a couple more than you think you want. This is the toffee variation, Toffee Viennese ($4.90). The buttery biscuits are topped with a layer of decadent caramel and then covered in premium milk chocolate. This isn't as sickeningly sweet as most caramel-based confectionery. I love how the burnt sugar edge of the toffee cuts through the rich sweetness of the milk chocolate. Please be cautioned that this gets all over your fingers when served at room temperature, which the BF likes. I prefer it refrigerator-cold, so there's no sticky mess. Marks and Spencer 252 North Bridge Road #02-01 Raffles City Shopping...

Pontini's one of those candlelit, private, grand piano musically accompanied restaurants that's perfect for romance but bad for food photography. We like it here. The ambience is quiet and peaceful so you can be assured there's no loud boisterous idiot yakking away. Service is warm and friendly (seriously, everyone from the pianist to the cooks at the oven greets you with a big big smile) but still discreet and unintrusive. The BF wanted something light and healthy so we ordered the Pan-Fried Barramundi in Onion Broth ($32), a fairly large chunk of firm, white-fleshed fish balanced on a few king oyster mushrooms in a pool of rich onion broth. I liked how the earthy mushrooms cut through the sweetness of the onions. I got the Saltimbocca alla Romana ($38) of veal with parma ham atop a bed of prosecco risotto. The rolls of parma ham wrapped veal was very full-bodied and meaty, something The Professor would like. I would have liked the risotto to be cooked for a lit...

We'd originally ordered from Siang Hee , but there was such a long waiting time that we decided to order from the other shop selling curry mixed vegetable rice in the same coffeeshop instead. I liked the Spicy Prawns , stir-fried in a tomato and chili sauce-based gravy. Although the prawns were a little small, they were succulent. The Stir-Fried Spinach was also very good, the emerald green vegetables still retained a little bite and was delicately seasoned. Very similar to the way my maternal grandmother used to do it. The Fried Fish was also pleasantly fresh, it was sweet, flaky and moist, with still crispy skin. We also got everyday staples like Fried Eggs , with dark soy sprinkled for flavour. We also ordered another staple, Fried Pork Luncheon Meat . Curry Mixed Vegetable Rice Blk 89 Zion Road Open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 2.30pm.

Old Airport Road Food Centre is one of those perpetually crowded hawker centres where you wait to get a free table, and then you wait some more to order your food, and wait further to get your food. But, the freedom of being single and childless is that the BF and I can go have lunch at 3pm in the afternoon. Which meant that the hawker centre was only filled with teenagers and retirees, i.e. people who have as free a schedule as we do. We ordered a few dishes from a stall that sells cooked economic rice dishes, Ali Shan Curry Fish Head , which has another branch at Bedok Interchange Food Centre. It usually has a ridiculously long queue. Not today! The Sauteed Spinach had a comfortingly familiar home-cooked feel to it, exactly the way my grandmother used to cook it. The Chicken Cutlet was moist and tender, with a crispy bread crumb coating. The Steamed Egg with Mince was also wonderfully homestyled, the egg was smooth and custard-like, with minced pork lending textur...