Thien Kee Steamboat @ Golden Mile Tower

This place is so popular that the seats have spilled over to the corridors of the basement of Golden Mile Tower. If you've never been there before there really isn't anything else there. And the only reason you'd probably go there would be to eat here!

The place offers set steamboat and you can order other dishes a la carte such as Satay, sweet and sour pork chops, Horfun (stir fried rice noodles), chicken rice and the white chicken that goes with it. 

If you like this kind of stuff it's probably worth while trying it out once. Personally it's not my kind of place. My in laws like to go there because it feels healthy to them (they like bland food). But for me, the place is just too crowded to make you feel comfortable during your meal.  Maybe if you are going with a group of 4 it's still comfortable but not for a party of 10! There is just no elbow room. 

I dont really think there's anything particularly outstanding about the food. Standard chinese food if you ask me. The thing about a good steamboat for me is good dipping sauce....this place had none except soy sauce, vinegar,  ginger chilli sauce. Sure the chicken rice is nice but so is the one near my house! Service was fast and even the cooked food gets served fast so I'll give them that.

Anyway that's my two cents. If you want to go to try it out then go for it..and if you like it then hey good for you! I don't recall seeing them have any menu...

Ramen Champion at Changi Airport T3

The Ramen here is super slurpalicious. The broth is rich and aromatic, and the accompanying noodles were springy and just plain old delicious. It really took me back to our time in Tokyo a few years ago.

The concept is interesting with 4 different 'stations', each representing the ramen creation from each chef.

Seafood Ramen

Sorry I can't remember what this was. I love the eggs!

The last one is the Spicy RiKi Ramen with miso broth. This was our favourite.  The broth was really flavourful. Plus the noodles were the thicker kind and had the consistency of udon. Double thumbs up as the spiciness didnt over power the soup but thumbs down for too much garlic, I didnt know that mound on the top was garlic, I though it was miso! Entirely my fault for not realising and mixing it all into the soup.

$1.50 sushi plates at Nihon Mura, City Square Mall

I guess since Sushi Express at Somerset opened their $1.50 sushi deals it wasn't long before someone else would copy the concept. 

It is dirt cheap to sell sushi at this price and most people would probably think that the quality wouldnt be good. I've made a blog post on Sushi Express previously here and the verdict for it was extremely worth going.  Nihon Mura one however sadly can't compare...at... all....

What's wrong with it you might be asking,  well I'll tell you. First of all we had gotten to the place at about 2pm and the first thing we noticed was the variety on the conveyer wasn't much. And secondly there isnt any free green tea like at Sushi Express, drinks are all charged at $1.50 (which ok is reasonable and nice that there's other drinks apart from green tea), and 2 packets of green tea is $1.50.  The sushi quality also isn't there. And more shocking was when I saw a plate of the red colour octopus...there was only 1 piece for $1.50!! What a rip off!!

Below is a poster they've put up outside the restaurant.  Unless you read the fine print you'll be thinking it's false advertising.  They show a plate of sashimi with 6 slices but what you get is only 3 slices and other sushi like the Ikura Gunkan or Salmon roe one wasnt even on the belt.

What is nice and different is they had cold soba and cold udon which you dont get at Sushi Express. But it's not enough of a reason to go back for me.

IMM kids playground

This is one of the biggest outdoor free playground in a Singapore shopping centre. The treehouse slide is the most impressive one, have not seen any like it in other malls.  In addition therea a wet play area and an additional dry play area. Great for the school holidays!

Macaron fillings, what we like and don't like.

We all know that Macarons are sweet, too sweet sometimes, what I don't understand is why do they put a sweet filling into what's already a really sweet cookie! I even did the white chocolate ganache with added salt as it's a common filling, but argh it was just really really sweet.

Perhaps I say this because I don't have a sweet tooth, but I would much prefer a tangy or not sweet filling. So after testing out a few fillings, I finally realised which one my family prefers. 

Cream cheese it turns out is one of the best filling and is the most preferred by my darling daughter. It makes you feel like you're eating a mini cheesecake as the cookie is just like the cheesecake crumb base! I use it straight from the tub, no sugar added, so it's not a cream cheese frosting, just cream cheese straight up! 80% less fat baby!

Lemon Meringue marshmallows. This I discovered at a recent trip to the supermarket, it's so tangy and lemony, works great with the sweet macarons, just like you're eating a lemon meringue pie! I microwaved a few marshmallows to make it spreadable and voila, instant filling! And marshmallows are also Fat Free!

This is the white chocolate ganache (tinted pink).....one bite and I felt like my teeth were gonna fall off...

On a side note, how cute is this? I had some cupcake containers left over and realised I could pack macarons in this to give to friends! One container can fit 3 macarons, just nice. 

As important as the filling is, the macaron recipe is just as important. I tried this recipe: 

Though this recipe is super easy and gave perfect macarons, see here, it was just TOO sweet. I couldn't taste the almonds, so it just tasted like a sweet meringue, rather than a cookie. But I was really thrilled that these gave really great feet.

I found that the recipe from Bravetart is so far the best tasting and this will be my go to recipe from now on. The 'feet' weren't as big as the one from above, but oh well, maybe it'll get better with more experimentation. You can find her recipe here: http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons

Starz Restaurant @ Hard Rock Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa

The restaurant is a bit on the empty side, perhaps because the Hard Rock Hotel is situated a little out of the way and is not so easily accessible unless you park your car directly at the hotel (but of course the parking is very expensive).

The buffet spread is not a whole lot, but I'm ok with what they had on offer, there was enough to try and go back for seconds and thirds. And there was also a section where selected restaurants from the Resorts World Sentosa group featured a couple of their dishes. My personal opinion is that the food is ok, a little over priced so it's unlikely I'd go back to try it again for a second time.

I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking and tempting.

Wagyu Beef Burger

BBQ Ribs

Fried prawns, so delicious!

Indian section, good but oh so spicy!

Tandoori

Smoked Salmon and Salmon Tartare

Fresh Sashimi

Sushi

More Sushi

Cold Seafood Section included Oysters, Prawns, Lobster (not so good). A little underwhelming.

Salad Bar

Dessert Bar

Dessert Bar

Not so good macarons

More desserts

Chawanmushi with Foie Gras

Delicious Crispy Prawns

Various fruity Gelato. I loved this because it tasted like sorbet.