Unique outlet of 'Astons'

Ever since they have opened their first outlet in the East side of Singapore, the outlets started popping up in different parts of Singapore over the last few years. Therefore, ever since I have knew about this unique outlet of 'Astons', I have decided to give it a try. Hence...

'Fried Fish Dinner Set Meal' At this outlet, all the main courses will come with 'X' and a side dish(either 'Baked Potato' or 'French Fries'). I ended up choosing 'French Fries' since I knew that the 'Baked Potato' of can be pretty filling. And I would really want to leave lots of space in my stomach for 'X'. For a start, I loved the crispy texture of the fish that was covered in breadcrumbs. With a texture that was so crispy, I was hoping that the meat doesn't end up to be too hard and stiff too. Luckily, the chef of 'Astons' didn't fail my expectations and they have somehow managed to prepare it such that the fish would have this crispy texture and the meat itself was pretty fresh, soft and moist. Not only the texture of the fish meat is relatively good, it can blend in with the Tartar sauce pretty good too, which deserves a very big (+).

So what exactly is 'X'? 'X' is actually the premium salad buffet that is included as part of the meal that you have ordered.

Though it's known as a premium salad buffet, but it's much more fanciful as compared to a salad bar. For a start, they have prepared more than 4 different types of soups. There's 'onion soup', 'sweet corn soup', etc... There's a good mix of different types of soup of a different texture and taste. And they have also thrown in one of my favorite side dish at 'Astons', which is the 'Whipped Potato'. You can not only go 1 scope but unlimited serving of 'Whipped Potato' over here, isn't that a good start? :) Note: the sauce and the 'Whipped Potato' are separated hence you can decide on the proportions of the 'Whipped Potato' yourself.

In order to satisfy all the customers, they have also thrown in fried stuff like 'Potato Wedges', 'Onion Rings', etc... into the buffet too. And to some, these ain't as important as the crunchy 'Garlic Bread' that comes with a nice taste and aroma of 'Garlic', that blends in pretty well with the soup too.

They have also provided a good spread for those that couldn't live without pasta or rice dishes, like me. The sauce of the pasta is so rich that I was dipping some of the deep fried finger food inside it too. On top of that, for mushroom lover, the 'Saute Button Mushroom' is a must try. Not only the mushroom are juicy, the chewy sensation is a (+) too.

After having more than 5 rounds of soup, I don't really have that much space left in my stomach for the cold dishes.

However, I still managed to grab a few scoops of the 'Potato Salad', which is also one of my favorite sides at 'Astons'. They have also allocated a small corner for cut fruits, which includes stuff like 'Watermelon', 'Pineapple', 'Honeydew', 'Grapes', etc... And that's not all...

There's always room for desserts. Though it only comes with 1 flavor only, but there's a variety of toppings that you can choose from. I love to have mine with all the small little crunchy bits. Besides for the 'Ice Cream', they have also provided free flow of beverages over here too. Personally speaking, with all the soup choices and the Ice Cream, I didn't even fell like touching the beverages at all. :P

So where can you give this unique outlet of 'Astons' a good try?

It's known as 'Astons Steak & Salad'. It's located on level 3 of 'CentrePoint'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Astons'..
^ Click here to find out more about 'CentrePoint'.
~ Click here for the location of 'CentrePoint' on Google Maps.

A.I.O buffet...

In case anyone has been wondering what A.I.O is, it simply means 'All In One'. So what sort of a buffet is a 'All In One' buffet? That will be something that we will be finding out today. :)

Just for the starters alone, one of my friends have already gone all out placing orders for the different types of 'Cze Char' dishes. Since this is a buffet dinner, I do agree that we should be giving as many types of dishes a try as possible. Therefore, I also go ahead placing a few orders for some ala carte dishes too. :P Over here, not only they are preparing and serving common 'Cze Char' dishes like 'Sambal Kangkong', 'Pork Fried with Dried Chilli', 'Spring Rolls', 'Ngor Hiang', etc... But they have also listed down some other unique 'Cze Char' dishes like 'Rojak Chicken', 'Curry Leaf Chicken', 'Bacon Prawn Roll', 'Assam Sotong', etc... And basically there's a mixture of yummy and normal dishes. As for myself, I'm not comfortable with the 'Stir Fried Kangkong with Fermented Bean Curd'. I prefer the normal 'Sambal Kangkong' even much more and the taste of the 'Rajak Chicken' is kinda funky too. :P But dishes like 'Deep Fried Seafood Tofu' are pretty good. One thing that I have observed would be the generous portion that they are offering over here. At list, it have proven that each individual dish is big enough to feed/share among the 4 of us.

This is the main reason why I wanted to give this place a try. Rather than sharing 1 big pot among a group of people, they are providing each of us a decent steamboat pot. Therefore it means that the more people you have in a group, the more types of soup that you can try in one go. Isn't that great? Basically we ended up trying 4 different types of soup and they are 'Tom Yum', 'Herbal Chicken', 'Fish' and 'Chicken' soup. Being a soup guy, I personally find the taste of the soup to be a little bit too bland. Though it does manage to bring out the unique taste of each soup, but it's just simply not strong enough for my liking. However, I do find the ingredients that they are offering over here to be pretty interesting. On top of the normal stuff like 'Slice Beef', 'Slice Fish', 'Golden Mushroom', etc... they also have stuff like 'Fish Noodles', 'Squid Glue', 'Fish Glue', etc... After a bit of struggling, I decided to give the 'Fish Noodles' a try. (That is the long whitish Noodle that I have shown in the above.) When the waitress pass us the noodles, it was kinda shocking. Rather than giving us a plate of 'Noodles', it was more of a bag of 'Fish paste' with a small opening. The idea behind it works pretty much the same way as the piping bag that you are using to squeeze all the cream onto your cake. But rather than squeezing the 'Fish Paste' onto a cake, you have to squeeze it into the pot. The end product is delicious. The 'Noodles' doesn't have the strange 'fishy' smell and it's pretty chewy too. Not too bad for a 'Fishy Noodles'. :P By the way, remember to set some empty space in your stomach for...

'Ice Cream' They are offering 3 different ice cream flavours over here and it's mainly, 'Vanilla', 'Strawberry' and 'Chocolate'. But that's not all...

'Durian Oozee' No wonder they have limited 1 order of the 'Durian Oozee' per customer. This is fantastically delicious. The idea behind this dessert is pretty much similar to a normal 'Goreng Pisang'. However, the crispy crust is unbeatable and the strong 'Durian' filling is pretty smooth too. :P (To avoid any disappointment, do take note that the 'Durian Oozee' are available on Fridays, Weekends, Eve & on Public Holidays only.)

'Chocolate Fondue' I think that we have ended up trying all the different types of dessert that was listed on their menu that night. As for this dessert, I think that the waitresses over here really know how to tempt the customers. Rather than providing us with a pot of hot chocolate, they have provided us a steamboat pot with a lump of chocolate in the middle of the pot instead. And we are suppose wait for the chocolate to melt slowly... =.=""" Just the thought of it makes me hungry again...

So where can you give the 'A.I.O' buffet a try?

The name of this place would be 'The Rajah Inn'. It's located on level 2 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily
  (Last order at 21:30)
  
  Teochew Porridge Buffet:
  11:30 - 14:30
  Steamboat ala carte (A.I.O) buffet:
  17:30 - 22:00

* Click here to find out more about 'The Rajah Inn'.
^ Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'The Rajah Inn'.

Beyond a Banana...

Being a Singaporean, chances that you have eaten a 'Goreng Pisang'(Fried Banana) before are pretty high. However, have you tried...

'Goreng Durian' As for the texture of this snack, it's pretty much similar to melted cheese hiding inside a pizza crust. The moment you took a bite off this snack, the flesh of the Durian will melt inside your mouth. Similarly, once you took a bite off the snack, a strong Durian smell will burst inside your mouth. Although Durian itself was a type of 'heaty' food, but by preparing it this way, it has definitely push it to a whole new level. I would strongly advise you not to have this too often, else you will regret about it.

'Goreng Pisang' The taste of this snack is relatively good, but I personally don't find it as exciting as the 'Goreng Durian'. The biggest problem that the snacks over here have, would be the size of it. Although most of them are pretty delicious, but the size is too small. >.<

This should give you a pretty good idea of the snacks that they are offering over here. Besides for 'Goreng Pisang' and 'Goreng Durian', the stall owners and also making and selling 'Fried Yam', 'Fried Sweet Potato', 'Sweet Potato Balls', etc...

So where can you give all these 'heaty' snacks a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Si Ma Lu Goreng Pisang'(四馬路炸香蕉). It's located inside 'Albert Centre Market And Food Centre', which is located near 'Bugis Village'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  8am - 5pm (Daily)

* Click here for the location of 'Albert Centre Food Centre'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Albert Centre Market And Food
  Centre'.

Beating the heat, the Cambridge way?

Since Singapore doesn't have the 4 seasons, therefore what we are experiencing in Singapore most of the time is either Sunny or Rainy days. And when it started to become more and more sunny, the same weather can lost for more than 2 weeks. So, what would be a good drink to help you to beat the heat?

'Pineapple Juice' When it comes to eating and drinking, I have set of rules that I have been following the past few years. For example: I would try not to order a drink when I'm dining outside. If there's really a need, I would go for drinks that doesn't comes with a can. Therefore, the first thing that caught my attention would be the big container that contains the 'Pineapple juice'. When it comes to drinks stalls, they will usually sell the stuff that they need to prepare on the fly (Ex: coffee, tea, etc...) or they will sell drinks that involves minimum cost/manpower (Ex: grass jelly, soya bean, etc...). Not all the stalls out there are willing to invest time and money in preparing the 'Pineapple Juice'. The 'Pineapple Juice' here is pretty concentrated and the few pieces of pineapple that was included in the drink are pretty nice too. Oh by the way, looking at the colour of the drink, the stall owners might have soak the slices of pineapple inside the container for a very long period of time, therefore when I took it out from the mug, the colour of the pineapple looks kinda orangish. And I wonder if I wait for another hour or so, will the taste of the drink and the fruit becomes much more thicker? Hmmm, I wonder.

So where can you give the 'Pineapple Juice' a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Cambridge Fresh Fruit Juice'(剑桥鲜果汁). It's located inside 'Albert Centre Market And Food Centre', which is located near 'Bugis Village'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11am - 8pm Daily

* Click here for the location of 'Albert Centre Food Centre'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Albert Centre Market And Food
  Centre'.

It's that season of the year again for....

Durians... In fact I was thinking of writing about another Ramen shop that I had visited last week, but it just so so happen that I had durians for supper yesterday... Hence I writing about durians now since this is the best season for good durians... :D

Before showing you sinful photos of good Durians (猫山王), here's a youtube video that will always reminds me of Durians... V(O.O)V Whahahaha~~~ Upon listening to the song, does it reminds you of Durians also..? Whahahaha~~~

After popping one flesh after the other, I suddenly realised
that I had finished eating 1 big Durian. Whahahaha~~~

Look at the flesh of this Durian so solid and tasty. :D
Yummy yummy... Ittadakimasu~~~

Note:

• Dispite of the fact that it is the Durian season now, please drink lots of water after eating especially when it haven't been raining for the past few days
• One of the best places to find cheap and good Durian would be Geylang Road where it has 1 whole stretch of stalls selling Durians