The Hungry Bunny

The year-end festivities have begun!!!!!! I was reminded of the commencement of my favourite time of the year when a friend brought over a bunch of Twelve Cupcakes' Halloween edition cupcakes; left to right from top row: a bandaged rainbow-vanilla-ed Yellow Mummy; a red velvety Ghosty emoji; a minty chocolate Green Monster aka Oscar the Grouch's cousin; and bottom row right: a pumpkinned chocolate Mr Scary Face. Almost too cute to eat! Twelve Cupcakes B1-01 Orchard Gateway 277 Orchard Road Tel: 6509 1255 Open daily from 10am to 10pm Website: www.twelvecupcakes.com

Basque is a coastal region in Spain that flanks the south of France. A subset of Spanish cuisine, but heavily influenced by French inclination, its cooking is characterised by, amongst other things, smoked paprika and roasted peppers. These, together with a typically full-bodied Spanish red like a tempranillo, form the core flavour profiles of a classic Basque Beef Stew . I didn't have a tempranillo on hand, so I substituted a cabernet sauvignon recently scored on my travels to wine country Down Under. Ingredients (feeds 4): 1 kg stewing beef chuck, cut into 1" cubes 250 gm carrots, diced 400 gm white button mushrooms, sliced 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 3 large potatoes, cut into 1" dice 1 large yellow onion, chopped finely 5 cloves garlic, minced 300 gm roasted bell peppers, sliced roughly 1 cup full-bodied rich red wine (tempranillo, pinor noir, or cabernet sauvignon will do just fine) 4 cups beef stock 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves only 1 tbsp smok...

A decade ago, when Putien was an unassuming low-frills restaurant at the fringes of Little India, I would never have thought it would expand to the mega empire it is now. Its brand of humble, peasant fare wasn't exactly a winning formula for success, I thought. Luckily for them, the locals love the simplicity of Heng Hwa cuisine, and their kickass chilli which goes with just about everything. Now with 10 branches scattered all over the island, (and a good number more all over Asia), Putien is a lot more accessible than ever. But, with reports that the mothership is still the best of the lot, we made a trip down for dinner one night, all the while braving the nightmare traffic. Because Putien is located along a 1-lane, 2-way carriageway, a tip is to make reservations to dine early, or park at City Square Mall, and walk over. The food was indeed better than at some of the other outlets, but marginally so, and service was frenzied at best. After taking into consideration the ho...

It's funny how irony pops up at the most inopportune of times. I'd veto-ed Ernie's suggestion of Cherry Garden's ala carte buffet brunch earlier, citing dietary constrains as a reason, and steered him towards Jiang Nan Chun , another pre-eminent Chinese restaurant that's just as distinguished as Cherry Garden. So.....we were taking our seats the restaurant, all the while Ernie was lamenting to the waitress how I always curtail his food intake, the waitress inquired if we would be taking the buffet or the ordering from the ala carte menu. Fortuitously, Jiang Nan Chun also offered an ala carte buffet brunch on Sundays ($78 per pax). After Ernie peeled himself off the floor laughing, he insisted on making the call for the buffet brunch. It also dawned on me that...no wonder, when I made reservations, the hostess had asked which of the 2 seatings, the first at 11 am, or the second at 1.30 pm, I wanted for lunch. I was a little bewildered then, that, for a restaura...

I recently went on a salad bender. All day, everyday, for almost two weeks, my diet comprised an arugula base dotted with cherry tomatoes, pinenuts, and dried cranberries, dressed simply in EVOO, and finished off with roasted chicken breast. The odd thing was, I wasn't on some kind of fitness regime, weight-reduction plan or anything of the sort. As incredulous as it sounds, I just really really really loved my salads. (if you know me personally, you'll understand why it'd be quite the shock that I, the biggest junk food-lover, was suddenly "eating healthy") My girlfriends, well-aware of my salad binge, brought me to Paik's Bibim , in an effort to change up my routine, but still stay within the category of salad-esque grub. Paik's Bibim , a self-serviced bistro serving up modern renditions of Korean bibimbap, is the Asian answer to western salads. Choc-a-bloc with fresh vegetables galore, Asian-styled proteins, atop a steamed rice layer, and tossed with ...

The Bark Cafe is probably the most obscure restaurant I've ever reviewed. It's like, at the east end of our little island, and since I rarely venture out of a 20-minute-drive-long radius from the city center, I would never have known of this place if not for a celebratory birthday lunch organised here. The entirely alfresco restaurant serves coffeehouse-type fare, so you get a hodgepodge of local classics like nasi goreng and seafood hor fan, as well as western mainstays like beef stew and cheeseburgers. The food was generally up to snuff, but if I had to take into account the 40-minute drive in heavy traffic, I wouldn't think The Bark Cafe was yelp-worthy. That said, this would make a worthwhile visit IF you're already in the area and looking for sustenance in a chilled-out spot with lots of quiet and charm. The Tangy Calamari Rings ($9.90) was thinly battered and deep-fried to a delectable crisp, but what impressed me was that the squid encased within was perfe...

I can't decide if I like Candlenut Kitchen . On the one hand, I loved the exceptional food. Familiar favourites and modern interpretations, given equal billing, are executed with both polish and flair. And, the very wallet-friendly price-points further bolster the Peranakan restaurant's appeal. On the other hand, I find Candlenut 's restaurant policies lacking in sense and sensibility. For starters, there is just ONE multi-course set for dinner, with no exceptions for ala carte orders whatsoever. To compound matters, tap water is not served at all, only bottled water is available, so even though we had ourselves a glass of wine and lemongrass ginger juice, we still had to purchase a 500ml bottle of mineral water at the exorbitant price of $4. Honestly, it's a major turn-off that a restaurant is as rigid as this. Dinner was a Set Tasting Menu ($50) of 12-courses, refreshed seasonally. Even if each course was considerably petite, 12 courses added up substantively to ...