Food review; 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro

Talking about taiwanese food, how many authentic cafes/restaurants are there in Singapore could actually provide us with such? Let's just leave out the pasar malam & take-away stores. Besides the authentic taste itself, what matters most is still the ambience of the whole place.

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro or famously known as "The Jay Chou Bistro" has the best of both world. Not just the food, even the place itself has a strong Taiwanese ambience as they will be playing mainly Jay Chou's songs throughout. However do not be mistaken that they are affiliated with Jay Chou.

Interior of the bistro is tends to be more modern rather than the oriental style, if you are expecting that. However this little chalk board makes the whole place slightly less modern with the chinese words written on it. The menu itself contains alot of Jay Chou's photos, if you're a fan of his you'd probably enjoy yourself very much while flipping through the menu.

Stewed pork belly rice (鲁肉饭)

Oyster Mee Sua

Century egg tofu with pork floss (肉松皮蛋豆腐)

Scallion pancakes(葱油饼)

Fried chitterling (炸大肠)

Egg roll with pork floss (肉松蛋饼)

Century egg porridge

Salted crispy chicken (盐酥鸡)

Home made XO fried chee cheong fun (XO 酱炒猪肠粉)

Egg fried rice with taiwanese sausage (三蛋香肠炒饭)

Fried oyster omelette (蚝仔煎)

Smoked duck breast with mango salsa (芒果烟鸭)

Fried chicken cutlet (炸鸡扒)

Fish fingers with mango sauce (芒果炸鱼)

Braised beef noodle (红烧牛肉面)

Tomato egg ramen soup (西红柿蛋花拉面汤)

Sakura shrimp fried rice with pork floss (樱花虾香松炒饭)

Cheese mantou (酥炸芝士馒头)

Cold noodle (凉面)

In fact i had tested more than what i've posted however the photos weren't of good quality so i decided not post it up.

Overall the food came in small portions, enough for 1 or to share among 2. The dishes which left me deepest impression were the Egg roll with pork floss & Fried oyster omelette. It reminded me of the days when i was at Taipei having them as my breakfast.

Prices of the food are very reasonable. Appetizers range from $3-$7, main dishes range from $4-$14, drinks(non-alcoholic) range from $3-$5, alcoholic drinks range from $6-$11, desserts range from $3-$8.

In a nutshell, i would go back there again for the food & ambience.

They have 3 outlets at the moment. 

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro @ 359 Beach Rd

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro @ 37 Teck Chye Terrace

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro @ 454/456 Joo Chiat Road

Or you could visit their facebook for more updates.

xoxo,

Queen

Ondeh ondeh recipe

Back to the my younger days, i have always loved the way how my grandma made her ondeh ondeh. The filling instantly oozed out right after the 1st bite, the tenderness of the skin of ondeh ondeh; beyond words of description.

I woke up one day craving for it badly. Checked all the wet markets & coffeeshop for it but to no avail. Feeling so disappointed & then i decided to do it myself & headed back to the wet market to buy all the ingredients. :D

Ondeh ondeh is 1 of the traditional peranakan kueh, either made from sweet potato or glutinous rice flour. These cute small balls are covered with pandan juice & filled with "gula melaka" (palm sugar), then rolled in with grated coconut.

These are the ingredients that you will need for the whole process.

Recipe as follows: (around 20-25 balls)

• 250g glutinous rice flour
• 200ml pandan juice
• 150g gula melaka (finely chopped)
• 100g grated coconut
• A pinch of sea salt

Chop up the pandan leaves & blend it with 220ml. Squeeze out the juice into a bowl. Some people choose to use green colouring as substitute however i would prefer to use panda juice instead. As pandan juice will help to give off a very nice smell & goes off well with the gula melaka & coconut. 

Then combine the glutinous rice flour with pandan juice & knead lightly. 

Pinch a small piece of dough (about 40g) & dropped it into a pot of boiling water. When the dough rises to the top of the water, remove it & shake off the excess water. 

Put it back into the main dough & knead until you get a smooth, soft dough. Leave the dough aside for 15 minutes, use a wet cloth to cover it to prevent the dough from drying up. 

Add pinch of salt to the grated coconut & let it steam for 2-3minutes after which let it cool off completely.
Pinch a small piece of dough, about 15-20g each & flatten it lightly. Fill the center of the dough with the gula melaka then roll them up to form a ball shape. (Note: This step can be left chilled in the fridge, boil them only when ready to serve. Try not to keep those balls in the fridge for more than half a day.)

Boil another pot of water. Place these glutinous rice balls into the boiling water. Remember to stir the boiling water gently to prevent the balls from sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

As you can see some of these balls have small cracks on them & to the extend that the gula melaka was leaked out. I was terribly horrified by them! But it was a good experience. Nonetheless, there were more good ones than the bad ones. :)

Please do not leave it on a plate like me after you remove them from the boiling water as it will stick to the plate. Just coat it with grated coconut & serve instantly. :)

I served it to my best friends & received compliments on it. I was super happy however i know i have to improve on it, like prevent the balls from leaking. Each time after i've completed working on 1 recipe, i feel so good. I didn't know cooking & baking can be so therapeutic. :) 

I'm gonna try different kind of food recipes, hopefully it will turn out good too! And for now, i hope you like this recipe.

Get your hands moving & maybe you can surprise your relatives with this traditional kueh for CNY! :)

xoxo,

Queen

Food review; Little Pancakes

When i was a little girl, i remember how i always pester daddy to bring me for mcdonald's brekky because i have a fanatic liking for pancakes. And every time i will pour the maple syrup all over that 3 slices & eat it while it's hot!

While i've been always trying different places for pancakes, i've been told by a few of there's this place whereby it serves pancakes in miniatures. Just by listening to it, makes me super excited. Where can you really find such interesting looking food around in SG? 

While i've decided that i should go down there to take a look someday & since we're out to celebrate my BB's bday. Oh wait, in this case the term "BB" don't refer to my boyfriend (which i don't have). She's a close girl friend of mine. Since she's a shy girl, i shall keep her mysterious & will only refer her as my BB. :)

So finally we're here.

Cute signage with a boy & a girl. I especially love the slogan, "little pancakes, where everyday is a pancake day!" Now i really wished i actually live nearby so i can have pancakes everyday! 

Push open the door, on the general it looks plain. With their simple concept, everything looks just neat & tidy.

I'm pretty amazed when i found myself to be the 2nd group of customer. Just when i started to wonder, there came in 3 more groups of customers. Eventually, it's still not that bad. 

They have quite a variety of pancakes, catering to different age group.

They are quite creative when it comes to naming the pancakes. And all these flavours you probably not find it at any normal cafes or restaurants. The prices are also relatively reasonable.

And if you would like to add on extra toppings to your pancakes, you could do so only at an additional cost of $0.80 for each topping. Less than a dollar for topping? It is really cheap!!

I was contemplating over Big fan of all day breakfast & Strawberries or me. And when i asked BB what's her choice, she actually told me that she was deciding over the same 2 sets as me! So we just ordered 1 each. And our Mr K ordered Ape about Bananas. 

So while waiting, i was like thinking why didn't the waitress pass us the utensils. Not until i saw this uncle walking over to a trolley & helped himself with the ice water & utensils, then i realized it's self service for that. Hah! Kinda embarassing!

Then there it came, my cafe latte.

I don't really know anything about latte art however it looks perfectly nice to me(as long as i get to see the heart shape *bimbo mode*) Lol! It tastes nice anyway. 

Finally there comes my pancakes. Introducing, Strawberries or Me.

Big Fan of All Day Breakfast

Ape About Bananas

Each plate has about 10 mini pancakes. Honestly, i really thought 3 of us could finish up everything easily. But we definitely looked down on them. Me and BB could barely even finish up 1 set let alone 2 sets! The ice cream definitely played a big part in making us feeling so full. 

When we are like finally done with our food, i looked at my latte with a reluctant expression. For the first time, i dreaded to drink my favourite coffee. =\ 

All these only cost us like $40. Pretty reasonable for 3 pax where all of us actually ordered a drink each. I love the way how they come up with those different flavours for their pancakes. I am definitely coming back for more to try the other flavours. 

The only flaw i would say is their location. They are located at upper thomson road whereby it's pretty inconvenient for those who lives all the way in the east area. It would be good if you could drive there.

Little Pancakes

200 Upper Thomson Road, 

#01-04, Thomson Imperial Court

Singapore, Singapore 574424

t: 6258 8515

http://www.littlepancakes.com.sg

Opening hours

Monday - Friday (closed on Tuesday): 1pm - 11pm

Saturday: 11am - 11pm

Sunday: 11am - 9pm

Open on Public holidays too!

Get your pancakes now! ;)

xoxo,

Queen

Food review; Molley Roffey Irish pub

Molley Roffey Irish pub. Initially i thought this place would be like another pub for happy hours, until i went to google about it then i realized it doesn't only serve alcohol, they serve tapas, lunch & dinner too! I was elated when they invited me over for a food tasting session @ their Bras Basah outlet.

Upon reaching the entrance, instantly i felt like i'm in Ireland (even though i haven't been there before).

Seeing all those soccer clubs' flags hanging/pasted on the window panes, i reckon this must be another place whereby they'll provide live soccer matches telecast. The staffs there were very courteous, i was greeted with a wide smile when i walked in. At the left of the entrance, i saw this..

They have acoustic live band performance on Mon-Sat from 7:30pm onwards. I always have a thing for places with live bands. It's so much better compared to a restaurant which just plays from cd. I like the feeling of while i'm eating, i'm listening to songs which are familiar yet with a different rendition.

As i got seated comfortably after 10mins, food was served. Starting with the appetizers.

Chicken caesar salad - bacon bits & classic caesar dressing topped with chicken & parmesan. It wasn't very cheesy, the bacon & chicken were in bite size. Easy for ladies like me who's lazy to use knife & fork, especially during lunch time where you just want to chillax and have a good, relaxed & yummy lunch!

Creamy blue cheese salad - combination of walnut, cherry tomatoes, mesclun salad & sugar pear with creamy blue cheese dressing. As per the name itself & you could also see from the photo up there, the pear is filled with blue cheese and so the smell is pretty strong even from a distance. For cheese lovers, i'm sure this would be one of the favourite before you go for any main course. It has a distinct smell and to my surprise, the blue cheese actually goes well with the pear! I was expecting the pear to be rather tough, however it isn't! Quite soft to the extend that you could just slice a piece off by just using the fork! Pear & blue cheese melted once i placed them in my mouth! I'm not a cheese lover however i must say this is REALLY GOOD! Love it alot! Worth trying!

Next served was Mushroom medley pizza.

I know it looks super yummy! Indeed it is! I took a slice of the pizza & just within a slice, it's totally filled with mushrooms. It's thin crust hence it's not very filling. This is also suitable for vegetarians as well! I give this a 9/10! Totally worth your penny! :)

After 5 minutes, they served this.

Buffalo wings - Not those typical buffalo wings which you see outside that are categorized into different grades according to their level of spiciness. This buffalo wings still retain the mild spiciness which a typical buffalo wing should be. One thing about it is that, i find that the meat is a little tough for me & the only taste you get from it is just the chilli. I didn't really love it though.

After trying these 4 dishes, i actually thought maybe dessert will come soon. Then the manager told me, main course is coming right up. OMG! I actually thought the pizza was the main course! And here's our main courses.

Irish stew - As you can see from the photo, it comes with 3 slices of garlic bread. In fact i think alot people will think that there is a strong smell but there isn't. Inside the stew there's carrot together with succulent lamb cubes & vegetables simmered to a rich & hearty stew. I love how soft the carrot and lamb cubes are & if you dip the garlic toast into the stew, the combination is heavenly!

Asian flavour weekly promo; Sweet & sour fish - It's the typical sweet & sour fish with rice. 3 big generous slices of fishes together with rice, topped with sweet & sour sauce. I'm a person who loves to eat fish alot hence i've got very high expectations when it comes to fish. The fish meat is very soft & fresh. This asian weekly promo changes every week & it's only available from 12nn - 5pm, comes with a dessert & a glass of drink.

Fish & chips -  Lightly battered snapper, served with fries & garlic lemon cream sauce. I can't describe how happy i was throughout this whole food tasting session. It's fish AGAIN! Squeeze lemon all over the fish, that's my preferred way of eating fish & chips! Alot of times we would get sick of eating a big portion of battered fish, however not for this! It could be because it's only lightly battered & i also feel that the garlic lemon cream sauce actually helps to open up your appetite in a way.

Prawn Aglio Olio - Typical aglio olio, tossed with olive oil, mushrooms, onions with a hint of chilli. This traditional italian dish is well liked by many. The main star of this dish is always the pasta. It's not overcooked & not drenched with heavy and overbearing sauce. Prawns are fresh & they are considered big, not those small kinds which you see at typical coffeeshop. Very yummy and i can't stop myself from having quite a fair bit of this!

Carbonara - Pasta tossed in garlic, cream sauce with bacon, chopped ham, onions & mushrooms.
The name carbonara derived from carbonaro (the Italian word for charcoal burner), some believe the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. I'm actually not a carbonara person because too much of cream sauce makes me sick of it, usually i'll share carbonara with a friend. This carbonara isn't that creamy, portion of the spaghetti is satisfying. Good enough for 1 or to share among 2.

And after all these main courses, i am really very full. Sitting down there trying to enjoy the ambience and without any notice, 1 of the staffs suddenly served me this..

Irish bread pudding - Homemade bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream & vanilla sauce. The bread pudding was topped with raisins, goes especially well with the vanilla sauce. Somehow i tasted whisky while munching on it but it wasn't stated on menu that it has alcohol content. This is like my favourite dish among all. Come during tea break time from 2-5pm, chillax over a cup of well brewed coffee or tea with this bread pudding definitely will chase away all the blues you have, especially it's at an affordable price of $5NETT.

After my experience at Molley Roffey, i like the decorations within the restaurant/pub. It makes you feel very comfortable especially with those helpful staffs, definitely it makes my visit a happy one!

They have 2 outlets.

51 Bras Basah Road #01-02A
Manulife Centre
Singapore 189554
t: 6238 0989

141 Market Street #01-01
International Factors Bldg
Singapore 048994
t: 6222 2671

Or visit their website
Molley Roffey Irish Pub


xoxo,
Queen