The Hungry Bunny

Because I live on my own, my personal time is strictly for myself. And the BF, of course. This means that, on weekends, the BF and I get to do things on our own timetables and whim. This also means having lunches at 4pm, dinners at 9.30pm or going to the gym at 12noon or 7pm. Today was one of those days, we got out of the gym at 4pm, and had lunch at 4.30pm. We originally wanted to go to Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant but unfortunately, it was closed. We headed for the next best alternative one floor above, at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant . We were famished by the time we sat down and immediately placed our orders. First up was the BBQ Pork Noodles ($6). The noodles were disappointingly portioned for stick-thin models on a diet. It was good enough though, the noodles were al dente, the pork was suitably sweet and smoky, and the vegetables were crunchy and fresh. But we still felt that Crystal Jade Kitchen does a more satisfying version of this dish. We also got 2 soup...

If there's ever a time to really work out, the year end holiday season would be it (okay, Chinese New Year is also another big pig-out marathon). The countless parties, lunches and dinners, and the amount of food (and alcohol!) involved in each of them! After stuffing our faces continuously and consecutively for 3 whole days without any exercise, the guilt finally got to us. This led to a 2-hour cardio session in the gym. And after all that huffing and panting and eventual crawling off the treadmill, the BF and I decided to reward ourselves by surprise, surprise, eating! We popped by our default after-gym location, the Bukit Cafe. We got freshly squeezed fruit juices to rehydrate ourselves, Watermelon Juice and Pineapple Juice ($3.40 for each large glass). These were unsweetened, which is always good. Here's a little information on the aforementioned fruits. Watermelons promotes weight loss, protects the prostate, lowers cholesterol, prevents stroke and controls blood p...

Remember the "Rotiboy" food fad? You couldn't walk a hundred metres without passing by a Rotiboy or Rotipapa or Rotimom or the whole jing-gang family. Then, the shops selling the coffee bread confectionery suddenly died off. That's the thing about food fads in Singapore. As I mentioned before, Singaporeans have very fickle taste buds, but somehow F&B businesses don't seem to get it. When a newfangled food idea hits Singapore, many business owners just jump onto the bandwagon without a second thought and start expanding their businesses. In a short span of a month, they end up opening 3 or 4 outlets! Their excuse is always that such a food fad is sustainable because Singaporeans are still queuing up for it. But the queues shorten and demand goes down, even as more shops selling the same thing sprout up. Inevitably, the shops start having to slash prices, and they die out due to a lack of demand. Or else, some other food fad has taken over the city. Nowadays...

I'm crazy about the Country Pie from Coffee Club ($10.50). It really is an ultimate comfort food. Warm creamy mash, chunks of marinated chicken, root vegetables braised till denture-required softness, topped with sizzling melted mozzarella cheese. What's there not to like? I brought two of my colleagues here while taking a break from some last-minute Christmas shopping (for my colleague, not efficient ol' me, of course). My colleague concurs with my opinion as well. He really liked the scrumptiousness of the Country Pie! Coffee Club 290 Orchard Road #03-02K, Paragon Tel: 6733 3595 Open daily from 10am to 10pm Website: www.coffeeclubworld.com

Sometime back, the BF and I were wondering where to go for our Christmas eve dinner. We generally try to avoid any restaurant that has any "Christmas promotion", because that usually indicates ridiculously astronomical prices and substandard food. Then we came across the club's guide to the year end festivities. On Christmas eve, a buffet dinner at Windows on Bukit costs only $55 per member. The price point made our choice a no-brainer. We immediately made reservations for two. Overall, the buffet, albeit limited, was commendable. There were a number of high points but some unmemorable but satisfactory dishes. We started with the Brown Lentil Soup with Chorizo , which was served with assorted breadrolls. The soup was perfectly creamy, redolent of mashed creamed peas. Unfortunately, peas are not my thing. The addition of the chorizo was a plus point though. There was an assortment of sushi and sashimi as well. These were fresh enough, but ordinary fare. Clockwis...

The BF and I were fighting off an intermittent flu-induced fever so running became a choppy and inconsistent affair. It was a good day, so we decided to go for a short run after work from home to Suntec. We've been to Crystal Jade Kitchen so often that we decided that a change of scenery was in order. So, we popped into Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant, which is a hop and skip away from Crystal Jade Kitchen. There are many reasons why the Imperial Treasure group of restaurants has become a formidable competitor of the Crystal Jade chain of restaurants in a relatively short span of time. The food is consistently good, there is a good selection of Cantonese and Shanghainese food, the staff are well-trained and unfailingly polite and accommodating, and the price points are competitively similar to its contemporary. The BF got the Dry Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle ($6), perfectly al dente noodles lightly drizzled with oyster sauce gravy, served with juicy soya sauce chicken brea...

I saw this promotion when we were having dinner one night at Crystal Jade Kitchen. As a token of appreciation to their customers, Crystal Jade Kitchen is selling their Roasted Duck with Plum Sauce for the offer price of $28.80 for a whole duck, and $15 for half a duck. Please note that this offer is only valid for takeaways. As The Godfather says, "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse", this really was an irresistible offer.  I got half a duck to supplement dinner one night. The succulent duck was aromatic, juicy and tender, there was no gamey taste at all. This was served separately with plum sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, and roasted duck drippings. Crystal Jade Kitchen 391 Orchard Road Ngee Ann City, #B2-36 Tel: 6238 1411 Open daily from 11am to 10pm Website: www.crystaljade.com