The Hungry Bunny

Wah Lok's another one of our favourites to have a languid weekend dim sum brunch. Admittedly, the quality of the food has gone down over the years but I still like this place for its memories (I used to come here for dim sum with my extended family when I was very young) and warm friendly vibe. As with most Cantonese restaurants, Wah Lok is unstuffy, bustling with activity and relatively noisy. You'll occasionally have to raise your voice to be heard over the din. Most customers come here in large groups, whether with their extended families or friends, so you'll usually get a table faster if it's just the 2 of you. I've always liked eating Jellyfish , it's springy, chewy and usually served refreshingly chilled. I like its clean palate-cleansing flavours, simply seasoned with a little chili and soy.That said, this could have been more chilly, it was a little tepid and limp. The Fried Beancurd Skin with Prawns is plump, juicy and succulent. I love the inte

I caught up with one of my best men, Long, over dinner at Uncle Leong Seafood recently. I remember the first time I brought Long here, and we just ate crabs from 5.30pm all the way to 11.30pm.Yes, we actually sat there for 6 straight hours chatting and shelling the crabs. He's probably the one friend that loves crabs as much as I do. Apparently, they've gotten so popular that they've decided to open another branch in Punggol. I hear from the proprietor that the Punggol outlet will open on 15 April. The Chili Crabs ($40 per kg) here hold their own against the Jumbo and Long Beach heavyweights. Crabs are sweet and succulent, whilst the finger-licking good gravy is rich, spicy eggalicious and thick. Their specialty, the Shimmering Sands Crabs ($40 per kg) is one cooking style that isn't available anywhere else. It's a mix of creamy butter sauce, and a combination of sliced chili padi and fried curry leaves for fragrance and some heat, topped off with

Both Di and I met up for our monthly get-together, but instead of a long leisurely lunch to catch up, we opted for a quick lunch. I had a hearing in the afternoon with Mr J, and Di had an appellant's case to submit by the end of the day. Ocean Curry Fish Head is one of the more popular places to find good Chinese-style curry fish head, a local favourite of cooking a whole head of a red snapper fish in curry, lady's fingers, tomatoes and brinjals. If the idea of eating a fish head sounds icky to you, you may wish to consider eating the tail version of the curry. However, as we both were in a rush and didn't want to get back to the office all sweaty, we skipped the claypot curry fish head this time round. This place offers a variety of ready-cooked dishes, mostly delicious, which you can pick from and they will serve it to you. Our entire meal comprising 5 dishes, rice, a bowl of curry gravy and drinks cost only a mere $20. It was a very good and cheap meal. That's t

As Ms PR's dear hubby was away on one of his frequent business travels, we decided to have a girls' night out and indulge in Cantonese food at Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant at Takashimaya . I realize many people confuse this fine dining outlet with the other fine-dining branch of the Crystal Jade Group, the Teochew-influenced Crystal Jade Golden Palace at Paragon. Apart from the similarity in names, they serve different cuisines and are located at different shopping malls. The one at Taka serves only Cantonese food, whereas the one at Paragon serves both Teochew and Cantonese cuisine. There you go, easy-peasy. We started off with something Ms PR likes, scallops. The Sauteed Scallop with Cashew Nut ($28) was very commendable, scallops were cooked just right, bouncy, succulent and delicate. They paired well with the crunchy peppers and cashews for a slightly nutty and peppery accent, but what gave this dish a salty fermented flavour was the pickled radish (chai poh). I real

It'd been a crazy day and I needed comfort food. My latest crave is Italian and I'd been hankering to try Cugini for a while now. This charming little place is on the fringes of the CBD area, so it's really convenient to head to after work. We had one of the more enjoyable and memorable meals to date. Cugini, the Italian word for "cousins", serves Southern Italian cuisine and is run by 2 close friends who have garnered an impressive resume in Europe before setting up operations in Singapore. The vibe here is romantic but casual, with its warm candlelit tables and seaside-inspired turquoise furnishing. We gobbled up the Raviolo di Ossobuco con Verza e Riduzione al Barolo ($24.90), Italian pasta dumplings filled with minced veal with a drizzling of Barolo wine reduction and topped with freshly shredded lettuce. The refreshingly crisp and palate cleansing taste of the lettuce lifted the heaviness of the red meat. We shared this as a starter. I don't know how

Cedele prides itself on serving wholesome healthy food, so it was a natural dinner choice after a gym session. The Citrus Lemon Salmon ($22.90) grilled salmon fillet with lemon butter sauce, a sprinkling of lime leaves, set atop a potato patty was such a waste of calories though. The salmon was too fishy, and I didn't like the potato/carrot/parsley patty. It was dull and lacking in flavour. The mesculine salad was the only passable thing on this dish, fresh and crisp. I indulged in a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream ($3.50), where real vanilla pods were evidently used. It had a comforting, wholesome and refreshing feel to it. Cedele Restaurant 391 Orchard Road Takashimaya Shopping Centre B1-37 Tel: 6235 2380 Open daily from 10am to 10pm Website: www.cedeledepot.com

We had brunch here over the weekend. We'd woken up late in the day and decided on the spot that we felt like some dim sum for lunch. That's the thing when you aren't bogged down with kids, you get to do things on your own time and whim, without the somewhat autocratic routine that's part of the package of having kids. Which is why I always tell my friends who are yet to have kids to enjoy their "freedom" as much as they can, because all that is moot when the kids come along. That's the single biggest thing that changes your life. Marriage doesn't change a couple's life as drastically as when the kids come along. Suddenly, it's not just about you 2 anymore, because everything centres around the kids and everything you do is for the kids. It's amazing how one tiny little tot decides your entire life, doesn't it? This is why we're really indulging in ourselves, watching all the TV we like, waking up as late as we do and taking all th

Peach Garden Sichuan is the fifth outlet under the Peach Garden group of restaurants, and marks its first foray into the world of Sichuan cuisine, known for its tongue-numbingly spicy food. They've kept their beloved Cantonese classics on the menu here, so you get a mix of both delicate Cantonese food and robust Sichuan cuisine. We had our firm's Chinese New Year Dinner ($908++ per table) here recently. As usual, the dinner was highlighted by the various comedic talents, and dance and song recitals put up by the staff. Hey, lawyers can do more than just argue, you know. Overall, the food was unusual and quirky, in a sense that I wouldn't have thought to pair ingredients the way Peach Garden Sichuan did. But they did it sufficient skill and finesse, so although the dishes were unconventional, they still tasted good. First up was the Prosperity Yusheng with Salmon and Ikan Parang . This was one of the better yushengs around, vegetables were fresh and crisp, and fish w

I don't know about you, but I generally don't enjoy the food served at a wedding dinner. Really, the ang bao you give to the wedding couple is not so much about paying for the food, as it is to wish them well, because the quality of the food served is usually not worth the ang bao value. Unless you're a miserly cheapskate. A wedding dinner that I recently attended at the Shangri-La was no different, very run-of-the-mill and relatively unspectacular. I'd expected better, considering that the food was catered by the award-winning in-house Chinese restaurant, Shang Palace. The only exception was the dessert, which I shall start this post with, although it was served last. I'm not a fan of chocolate, but the Chocolate Tart with Raspberry Sorbet and Berries Compote was a dazzling creation of pure decadent indulgence. The chocolate tart was rich without being overwhelmingly so. The use of semi-sweet cocoa, coupled with the tart frosty sorbet, controlled the sugar co