It is all about Southern American Cajun seafood boil on our sunny island these days and we checked The Boiler, a gem tucked in the ulu and industrious Tai Seng estate. It's a queer location for a seafood spot but we absolutely dig the cavernous space and their delicious offerings. I guarantee that The Boiler is certainly worth your trek!

Here's the menu. It made perfect sense for us to order the Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag ($139) since there's a huge group of us (we had 3 bags of that). Each bag feeds more than the recommended 4 pax (that or we are small eaters). Dungeness or Brown Crab, prawns, mussels, clams, sausages, and corn are tossed with a sauce of your choice.

Our food were delivered in plastic bags placed in big metal buckets. You can only imagine the excitement at the table when the food was poured over the grease-proofed table mat. Don't worry, plastic bibs are provided to protect your clothes but try not to wear white yea?

For the sauce, there's garlic butter (for the kiddos), pepper butter (for amateurs), mild, medium and raging spice. Of the lot, i thought that the mild worked the best. It was more savory than the bland and boring garlic butter, but not too spicy to give you a heartburn or mar the taste of the seafood. You really don't wanna be eating chili alone (my bad experience at Cajun Kings taught me that. Read review here).

Of the ingredients in the bag, I loved the succulent and juicy prawns, the salty chorizo style sausages, and not to mention the sweet corn! The juicy kernels provided a respite from the spices after a while.

Get a lobster ($49) to go with your meal! Same price as Pince and Pints but without the queue (just make a reservation)! I liked this better than the crabs. Lemon butter was a good choice as the sauce is lighter and simpler, which allowed the freshness of the lobster to come through. The pepper butter can be rather overwhelming with spice in my opinion and not quite suitable for this meat.

Have some sides to go with the seafood. The bags come with fried man tous (buns), which were great to mop up the sauce a la chili crab style. We enjoyed the Cajun Fries ($5.90) with crispy thin batter and substantial filling. On hindsight i would have tried the sweet potato fries ($6.90). The onion rings ($7.90) were made with real onions and gave the meal an added crunch. Luncheon fries ($7.90) are well, luncheon fries.

If you're not up for a seafood feasting, you could also do smaller meals such as fish and chips, chicken and waffles, and hot dogs as well. 

For desserts, we had the Molten Lava cake ($9.90) which remained fairly decent even after all the photo taking. The almond (mocha?) ice cream with Oreo crunch was a hit with us. 

Skip the fried banana and durian fritters ($7.90) with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. It sounded way more exotic than it tasted and certainly not quite worth the price for fried pisang. Plus it had a stale oily taste.

We really enjoyed our meal while it lasted. It was fun passing food around with our bare hands and letting loose at the dining table. However, the gastric reflux was pretty severe and the garlic aftertaste lingered long after the meal concluded. In fact, it's pretty nauseating thinking about it right now. So yes, it's a once in a blue moon indulgence for us.

That said, I'd certainly recommend The Boiler for a gathering with family and friends! What's your favorite seafood boil? 

The Boiler
18 Howard Road
Tel: +65 6635 1285
Sunday - Thu: 5 - 10.30pm

Fri- Sat, Eve PH: 5pm - 12am

Closed Mon

I've been recently informed of a hidden gem in my hood which I've been too blind/distracted to notice. Yummy salted egg yolk steamed buns right under my nose? No way! And located next to my dinner/supper haunt along Upper Serangoon Road, Heng Long Teochew porridge, you gotta be kidding me!! To correct all my wrongs, I trooped to Yi Dian Xin Hong Kong Dim Sum with my mama for a dimsum brunch. 

I've honestly never noticed Yi Dian Xin in the very same coffeeshop as Heng Long because it's overshadowed by the corner store. Well I only visit at night when they're closed so I guess that's how I've been missing this. Prices are very affordable with the most expensive item only costing $3.50. Rice Roll with Prawn ($3.50) uses pre-made rice rolls but the texture is QQ enough and the prawns flavorful. For the more traditional and freshly prepared Chee Cheong Fun, head to the Punggol Nasi Lemak coffeeshop down the road, there's another hidden gem that does this. 

I had to have their Signature Salted Egg Custard Pau ($3.30) as it was raved about. The bun was kinda dense but fluffy enough and the filling was well balanced with milky sweet and savory notes. I loved that it's really flowy! Eat it fast! While the custard doesn't really coagulate when cooled, the bun doesn't retain the same texture as when it was warm.

Another pau to order is the Steamed BBQ Pork Pau ($2 for 2) which looks like any other decent Cantonese dimsum restaurant types. Dark sauce, chunky meat, flowered buns. What's not to love?

The Steamed Carrot Cake ($2.20) was another of my favorite. It's amazingly melt in your mouth with small chunks of radish and chinese preserved sausage. I'm usually more the pan-fried carrot cake girl but this won me over with the texture and that special soy sauce. I could easily finish the whole thing on my own.

The Prawn Dumpling ($3.30) had a rather thick skin but the filling was adequate. Siew Mai with Mushrooms ($2.80) was packed with juicy pork meat that wasn't too fatty. I actually like this one. Steamed pork ribs with bean sauce ($2.50) comes in the regular small metal dish and was rather tender. I do like this dish but always found it overpriced at dimsum places. 

From the deep fried section, I'd go for the shrimp dumpling (sold out). My Mama liked the Deep Fried Red Bean Paste with Banana ($2.50) which featured a light filo skin with a slightly coarse paste. I thought it was on the sweet and oily side though. Well obviously not my generation's kind of dessert.

Here's the menu for your reference.

The ladies in my family headed down on a Public Holiday again but this time we were too late! At 1230pm, they were only left with 1/4 of their items! It was a bad day for us because many stores were closed and hence everyone decided to eat dimsum. Heard from the owner that their dimsum typically sells out on weekend afternoons so do go early! 

So glad I found this place! No need to travel down to chinatown for my favorite Tak Po when dimsum craving kicks in! 

Yi Dian Xin
1012 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534752 

Tel: +65 9168 5587
Daily: 7am - 6pm

(Closed Alt. Tues)

Absolutely loving the cafes popping up in my hood and the latest addition is Sunday Market at Lim Tua Tow Road. This cool spot serves up an Asian-inspired fare of Sirloin Rendang Toast ($15.90), Roasted Duck Pancakes with garlic hoisin sauce ($12.90) which gives diners something other than the usual Eggs Benedict for brunch. 

We had to get ourselves the famous Bangkok Toast ($10.90) which was a cinnamon thick sweet brioche toast with Matcha Green Tea custard, served with Thai milk tea ice-cream. This is the first time i've had Bangkok Toast and i had absolutely no idea what to expect. 

Well, it looked pretty much like a regular french toast. That is until you cut it through and bite into it! 

The fluffy brioche was soaked in a sweet milky liquid (probably condensed milk) which would satisfy any sweet tooth. I love every component of this dish, be it the intense matcha custard or the candied exterior of the toast. It also comes served with a Thai Milk Tea ice cream. Sadly, that was a little more icy than milky. Anyway, LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. 

Another stellar dish was the Pulled Duck Sandwich ($13.90) which is a shredded duck confit paired with creamy slaw, orange brown sauce and crispy duck skin. The serving was damn big and we were stuffed by the end of it. 

Even though the toast looked really heavy and huge, it was actually very airy and i found the meat to bread ratio to be perfect. This brioche is more buttery and savory compared to the Bangkok Toast and the meat was juicy and very savory. Another must try at Sunday Market. 

Other savory dishes that i may consider trying would be the Waffles. They have it with Fried Chicken ($11.90) and also Smoked Salmon and Avocado ($14.90). The latter is served with a cheese ice cream! Interesting hur! 

Sunday Market also does other homemade ice-cream with Asian inspired flavours such as Honey & Fig, Yubari Melon Gelato, Yuzu Sorbet, Kyoho grape, all at $3.50 per scoop. You could do it with waffles too ($6).

Adequate coffee, nothing fantastic. Give their milk tea a shot instead. But whatever you do, make sure you at least get yourself a Bangkok Toast!

Sunday Market

22 Lim Tua Tow Road Singapore 547772
Tel: +65 6287 8880
Weekdays: 1pm - 11pm
Weekends: 11am- 11pm

A japanese food craving had me set out looking for some under the radar joints in Singapore. Thanks to V and her recommendations, I checked out The Flying Squirrel, a hidden laneway restaurant off Amoy Street that does a fusion Japanese cuisine. Oh I shudder at the fusion/mod tag but well no prior judgment. Ultimately it's the taste of the food that matters.
Look out for TFS signboard when you're walking along Amoy Street. You may simply miss the entrance which is in the left fork. The half-a-shophouse space is narrow but cosy. Reservations certainly required as they only sit about 30 diners max. The bar seats didn't look that comfortable and I saw no place for precious bags to be placed. The good thing is that you'd get to see your sushi being prepared behind the counter.

Chef Kannu helms the kitchen and he used to work in a defunct sushi restaurant, Inagiku, at Fairmont hotel. I'm going to do things a little different by showcasing the highlight first because i can't wait to share it NAO. 
Do not leave The Flying Squirrel without eating the TFS Chirashi ($25)! To set expectations right, it's not a true chirashi but more like an Anago don with sashimi sides. Just look at the proportion in comparison to the different sashimi! The anago was one of the better anago I've had in Singers and the pillowy texture with that light sweet sauce was amazing on its own. I also liked the combination of sweet sauce on the heavily vinegared rice but the rice could be more moist on its own though. The other standard sashimi included salmon, maguro, hamachi, octopus, shrimp, hotate, salmon roe and tamago.

There are mains available like Wagyu Burger ($36), Miso Gindara ($26) or Curry rice ($18) but nothing quite like the TFS chirashi.

We also ordered other sides such as the Mini Charcoaled Udon ($6) with soba jelly. Chewy noodles these were but the dipping sauce was on the bland side. I guess all the flavors went into the cool jelly.

The soba jelly paired a lot better with the Onsen Egg ($6), which had an amazing gelatinous and translucent yolk. I do not recommend sharing, you'd thank me for this.

Back to the sushi (well TFS seems to do this better than the cooked items), you have to order at least 3 sushi or sashimi in one order. Again, go for the Anago ($7.90), which IMO is really cheap. We weren't too impressed with the Salmon ($1.50/$2.20) mainly due to the rice (again a little too dry for sushi). Makis ($12 onwards) and handrolls ($5 onwards) are available too or if you wish, sashimi platters ($45) or the omakase ($125/pax).

It's a good thing that we weren't quite impressed with the beer variety at The Flying Squirrel because that led us to the super cool speakeasy bar opened by the Oxwell & Co. dudes, Operation Dagger. More on this hipster cocktail bar in a bit!

Overall, i liked the vibe at The Flying Squirrel and of course their TFS Chirashi. Certainly where i'd head back when a fusion chirashi craving strikes!

The Flying Squirrel
92 Amoy Street #01-02, Singapore
Tel: +65 6226 2203
Mon - Thu: 11am - 11pm
Fri: 11am - 12am
Sat: 3pm - 12am

Here's another unassuming petite cafe that I'm in love with and it's tucked in a corner of the Old Badminton Hall near Old Airport Road. Introducing hipster yogi hangout, Brawn &Brains! This hole in the wall is just around the corner for the super mod Yoga Inc. and right next to some rock climbing gym. They're so cool they don't know why they're even cool and that's totally cool, geddit?

It's a really small spot that seats probably only about 15 pax so be prepared to wait for a bit for a seat.

I was immediately drawn to the colorful display of cakes and drinks on the counter. My heart was racing as i tried to decide on what i wanted to savor after a terribly disappointing brunch at another cafe somewhere in Little India (thou shalt not be named but actually i can't remember the name anymore). 

Nothing is more mood lifting that a good cup of latte. Brawn and Brains uses single origin Brazilian beans but they also have other beans. There were plans to do their own roasting but i'm not sure how that panned out. 

I had the Costa Rica Tarrazu coffee. Tarrazu supposedly produces the most desirable coffee bean in Costa Rica. Tasting notes were chocolatey and nutty with a mild acidity smooth. Great coffee for only $3.50 a shot? Yes you have my heart and tummy!

Earl grey tea cake was a little on the dry side. I'm not sure if tea cakes are meant to be like that but it released a light perfume when toasted/heated.

The carrot cake and chocolate cake looked damn amazeballs. Certainly moist and rich tasting. Couple next to us were going on about the chocolate cake. Prices are reasonable too, i don't think they're more than $5.50?

On another occasion, i had the Orange Vanila and Flaxseeds Tea Cake ($3.50) which was a lot more moist than the Earl Grey and the vanila perfume with the light citrus was simply amazing. The chocolate croissant was also very buttery and flaky and the rich chocolate coat was melt in my mouth deliciousness.

Brawn & Brains also does sandwiches in their really small/ non existent kitchen by the counter. Make sure you get your hands on one of those (be prepared to wait for 15-20mins). Sandwiches are about $7 which imo is really cheap even though it's on the petite size. I'd certainly go for the Grilled Bacon open-faced sandwich which is served with a single molten egg. You can never go wrong with that option! 

S had the pressed Panini with pepperoni and cheese and had some spice in it (maybe paprika). It may look really simple but the flavors were robust from the thin spread of tangy tomato puree, cured meat and melty cheese. Essentially, it's a pizza panini. :) Met fellow yogi friend Ruth at the cafe and she highly recommended the Mushroom and Cheese panini. Next time!

So yea, Brawn & Brains is added to my favorites list for a quick bite. They're practically faultless. Well maybe just feed me faster? :)

Brawn and Brains
100 Guillemard Road #01-07 Singapore 399718.
Tel: +65 6348 8892.
Weekdays: 9am - 7.30pm
Weekends: 9.30am - 7.30pm
Closed Mon

It was a tapas calling recently and i suggested a gathering at Morsels, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it eatery tucked away in a shop house along Mayo Street. In fact, you wouldn't even know it's there because no one would randomly walk past this spot in Little India. Morsels serves morsels of food (really small plates) that are largely influenced by Japanese ingredients but it also incorporates a variety of cultures in their dishes.

Ingredients are sourced from local farmers and sustainable sources if you are big on that sorta stuff. Here's what we sampled.

Must Orders

You should definitely start with the Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche ($17/25). This is what spring/summer taste like. Cubes of  tangy compressed seasonal plum, salty tobiko and sweet scallops were tossed with cilantro, onion and a refreshing yuzu. It's even more awesome with the homemade tortilla chips which is a cross between a super buttery curry puff pastry and wanton skin. Super love! We ordered a second portion immediately upon tasting this.

If you do not wish to have morsels, then the following 3 mains should satisfy your tummy. Ume-sake Braised Short Rib ($30/38) was delectably tender and flavorful. Certainly umami. We especially enjoyed the Okinawan Sweet Potato mash that had a light sweetness to it and wasn't too starchy. Served with crunchy baby Bok Choy, Ume and koji wasabi. Another 2 portion dish!

The Firecracker Pulled Pork Conchiglie Pasta ($16/24) was also voted as a top favorite with our group. There's something about the sourish and spicy habenero pesto sauce with the caramelized pulled pork. Neutralize the zing with the dollop of sour cream or just mix it all in. They could do with more meat though. Again, the boys demanded that we order another plate!

The Grilled Hungarian Mangalican Pork ($28) wasn't too bad either. Mangalican Pork is really growing in popularity hur! The meat had a very clean un-porkish taste in fact and the cauliflower purée was a great healthy alternative to any cream sauce. We thought the Asian ginger sauce was just a regular BBQ sauce though.

The other dishes..

Now to the ok and not too fantastic dishes. The steamed clams in fig broth ($22) was on the sweet end. I only caught a hint of the kimchi flavor. The highlight was more the broth than the clams and it went quite well with the crusty bread. But would i pay $22 for soup? Not really.

The Squid ink Risotto ($25) is supposed to be a a signature dish but we all found the dish too salty for our liking. The risotto was lacking the smoky squid ink flavor and the salted egg sauce failed to elevate the excitement of this dish. The grilled poached octopus was delicious however and had the right amount of charred ends.

The Pan seared fish with buttermilk miso broth ($24) was just MEH. The bland tasting fish had a slight muddy taste to it and the foamy miso broth failed to cover that up. Portion was really small too.

All decent successful adults! Our teachers would be proud! :P

So yea. Hits and misses at Morsels. The group consensus was that we may come back for the top dishes instead of giving a go at all the funky morsels. We were at 70% stomach capacity at the end of the meal (probably less for the boys) and it was about $35/pax. You'd probably feel more satisfied if you stick to the bigger meals.

Morsels

35 Mayo Street, Singapore 208316

Tel: +65 6396 6302

Tuesday to Thursday: 6 pm to 10 pm

Friday & Saturday: 6 pm to 10.30 pm