The Hungry Bunny

Uncle Sam's Claypots have come quite a long way since they first set up shop along Robinson Road back in 1995. They now have 3 outlets, at City Square Mall near Little India and the Clementi heartland, in addition to the original at AfroAsia Building. The menu's now a lot more extensive, as they've included crab specialties in their repertoire of claypot dishes. I've also noticed that their prices have risen significantly since my last visit almost 2 years ago . While I don't think their food has improved as much as their prices have increased, their portions are generous and there's air-conditioning, always a plus in our heat and humidity. A warning to the wise though, be prepared to leave the restaurant smelling of lunch, the ventilation here is quite a throwback to the past. The Seafood Claypot Rice ($9) was loaded with head-on shelled prawns, crabstick, fishcake, mushrooms and greens. Seafood was generally fresh, and the rice had a nice charred element t...

I've reconciled with the sad conclusion that it's impossible not to put on weight during the festive period. Every single social event revolves around food so you invariably end up eating several times a day! Anticipating the amount of eating we'd be doing over the Chinese New Year festive period, we've had to go to the gym almost everyday prior to the festive period to combat the potential weight gain.  We usually end late at the gym so eating at the club makes more sense as it's convenient to go straight home after dinner. These were just some of our meals eaten at the club after our gym sessions. The Pan-fried Cod ($21) with char-grilled asparagus served on a bed of truffle scented risotto with forest mushrooms, chervil sauce and lobster and saffron oil reduction was just okay, not bad but not impressive either. The risotto was a overcooked but the cod was done well, with a lightly caramelized crust and moist fleshy insides. The Chicken Satay ($6.30 ...

Lips and I met up for dinner at Patara, our first monthly meet-up for 2012. I miss the food in Phuket, and Lips was trying on a vegetarian diet, and Patara Fine Thai fit the bill. The high-end Thai restaurant's dedicated a section of their menu just for vegetarian options. We were led to a booth seat, super cosy for us gals to yak the night away. Per "standard operating procedure", we ditched our other halves for dinner, but they were due to join us later for dessert. I love going out with Lips, we always have a blast and we never seem to have enough time when we're together. As usual, the food was pricey, but authentic. Ambience was kept relaxed with warm low lights, but somehow the restaurant was, as before, quite noisy. The restaurant was a full house and diners were using their "outside voices" instead of their "indoor" ones. It didn't help that there was a fussy baby screaming his lungs out on the next table, so much so we had trouble he...

I've always thought Singapore was quite the deserted forsaken wasteland whenever Chinese New Year rolls around, all the malls and restaurants are closed, and there's really nothing to do or eat on our little island except visit your relatives or stay at home. If you wanted to do anything over the first couple of days of the Lunar New Year, you could do little other than catching a show at the cinemas. If you wanted to eat out, you're relegated to prata (Indian food), mee rebus (Malay food), Macdonalds (fast food) and the like. It's changed though. I've noticed a lot more restaurants and shops open, even during the first day of Chinese New Year.  On a hunch, we hit Raffles City on the second day of the Chinese New Year, hoping to get some breakfast. We figured that even if the shops weren't open, the hotel's in-house's restaurants would at the very least be open for business. As it turned out, most of the eateries at Raffles City Shopping Centre were op...

We had our family reunion dinner this year at Paradise Inn . The Hubs and I alternate between our families every other year, and since we spent time with his family on Chinese New Year's eve last year, we decided to have this year's reunion dinner with my side of the family. Besides, my sister was back for the first time since she moved to Germany 5 years ago, and she brought along her newest addition, her adorable 5-month old son, Sammy. As with any other Chinese restaurant on CNY eve, there were 2 dinner sittings, and we got the first. Dishes arrived in quick succession, the restaurant was operating at a full capacity and so, service was inevitably choppy and harried. Still, the food was not bad (mostly hits and not many misses), considering the dishes were pretty much mass produced (only set dinners were allowed, no ala carte orders) and the kitchen was obviously bursting at the seams. We started off with the Salmon Yusheng , generic but otherwise a refreshing way to sta...

We had our firm's Annual Chinese New Year Dinner to kick off the CNY festivities at Tung Lok Classics earlier last Friday. Tung Lok Classics serves traditional Sichuan, Shanghainese, Cantonese and Hubei cuisine, 4 of the 8 regional cuisines of China. The 8-course sit-down dinner ($888 per 10 persons) was, as usual, packed with laughter, joy and good food. While the firm may not be part of the "Big Four", or pay the highest salaries, the biggest draw for me here is the people. My team has, over the years, become part of my family. And that's the primary reason why I love my job. I always think that the most important aspect of a job is the people in your team, which of course includes your boss. Remuneration is really a secondary consideration, as long as you can afford a comfortable life. Of course, what's defined as comfortable is relative and differs widely, depending on who you ask. Afterall, what's the point of going to work in a superbly paid company b...

While Canele is known for their decadently scrumptious desserts, they do serve up a small selection of French comfort food. We were craving some homestyled French stews and macarons, and so, we made a beeline for Canele. We were at the supermarket doing groceries anyway. Although the Portobello & Beef Ragout ($11) was, in my opinion, really quite pricey, especially in light of its minscule portion, it (sort of) made up for the price point by being quite delicious. A rich and full-bodied stewed beef was layered upon a juicy grilled portobello and topped with melted mozzarella. The Provencal Chicken Stew ($14) was, compared to the portobello starter, surprisingly priced very reasonably. I've always loved stews, and this didn't disappoint. It had a comforting chicken stock base, sweetened with celery and carrots, and chunked up with large pieces of succulent chicken. Oh and the crusty bread served alongside the stew was wonderful for wiping up any remnants of th...

Casserole is 1 of 3 restaurants housed together on the third floor of Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort. While the other 2 restaurants serve Cantonese noodles and congee, as well as an international buffet spread, Casserole serves European and Asian stews. The concept's a little novel, I know, but somehow the menu spanning the gamut of Indian curries, Morrocan hotpots and European stews makes sense. Every single culture has at least a classic stew recipe. Stews are simply one-pot meals that are a combination of a basic stock, a meat, and several types of vegetables, resulting in a variety of flavours depending on the ingredients and cultural influences. We happened to be in Sentosa attending a Beeps' baby boy's 1st birthday party, and decided to have dinner afterwards at Casserole . I've heard good things about this place and been wanting to try it out. The reviews were right. The food here is amazingly good, very wholesome, and with large portions to boot. T...

The Tung Lok group, together with the Crystal Jade and Imperial Treasure chain, make up the "Magic Circle" of Cantonese restaurants in Singapore. I've always felt that while Crystal Jade and Imperial Treasure tend towards the classics, Tung Lok sets itself apart by being a little unconventional. This is made most obvious at Tung Lok Signatures, their fine-dining arm of restaurants. Most of their dishes here are made inventive with a slight twist of the typical Cantonese favourites. We recently had dinner at Tung Lok Signatures , and discovered that they'd just revamped their menu. I like that there's some "rotation" in their menu so we don't get bored with their dishes, but I do miss a couple of their dishes. Tung Lok Signatures now pairs the Sauteed Star Garoupa Fillet ($38) with asparagus and lily bulbs, instead of the one on the previous menu , which used sugar snap peas. Strictly as a matter of preference, I prefer the previous version. I...