Weekend breakfast at Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf

Work have been pilling up like nobody's business. Especially so since i was given a new assignment. Work have been tough but fullfilling. Nothing like proving the others wrong and make them look at you in a different light.

As usual on every sunday morning, we made it a point to have breakfast together. Usually we have breakfast at Tiong Bahru Market or at the coffeeshop near her place or mine. However this , actaully last, sunday was one hellav hot day and we decided not to venture to non-aircondition places. GF wanted Mac for breakfast but i managed to convinced her to try Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's breakfast sets.

I couldn't really remember the name of the sets but both were equally good and fulfilling. Definately much better than Mac's. I had the normal breakfast set which includes lots of scrambled eggs, sausages, toast and my choice of beverage.

GF had some sort of egg benedict set which i must say was quite good actually. There were cheese, a sunny side up on top of a piece of toast. I actually prefer hers to mine. The only thing that GF comment was that the sauce ( the yellow stuff ) was a tad too salty. But then again, i did saw her sprinker sparring her packet of salt on top of it all even before she starts eating. Lolz.


A very fulfilling breakfast indeed. Especially so when you spend quality time with your love ones, having breakfast, sipping tea/coffee, watching time passes by. What more can i ask for. She's in a middle of her exams preparations while i'm fighting head-on with the most heart-wrenching task every since i step out into the working life 3 years ago. Deep inside i know i can perform but the situation does not permits me to fully exploit my fullest potential.

All i know is that this big monster is not going away and i have the reputation of my company in my hands. Fighting between right and wrong have never been so difficult. Especially when u recieved a substantial increament from your boss. Anyway, the only way they ( as in "them"
) is going to get me is to put me down so hard that i'm not going to get up again. If not, i'm going to keep coming at them.

I hate irresponsible people!


Oh and to round it all up, breakfast at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was an enjoyable one and it sure beats Mac's or Delifrance. Just a little more SGD will get you better quality food so what are you waiting for? ;) Total damage was around SGD$14.00 for 2 pax.

Botak Jones at Ang Mo Kio

After reading much rave reviews on Botak Jones, we decided to give it a try. One thing to take note is they closes at 2200hrs so any time after that, you can treat yourself to the satays sold at the same coffeeshop at Blk 608 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5.

Frankly speaking i don't really know the history to Botak Jones except that he was formerly at helm at Bernie's and Bernie Goes to Town. Apart from that i have absolutely no clues as to how he got himself there in Ang Mo Kio.

Anyway that night we reached Ang Mo Kio pretty late at around 2207 and they were closing. Thankfully the assistants there were very welcoming and they offered the very last order of the day to us. Pretty novice to Botak Jones, we were recommended Cajun Chicken which i gladly accepted. GF went for the safe choice, the Fish and Chips.

Promptly bottles of sauces were served to our table. Malt vinegar, Mustard and the usuall chilli and tomato sauce. This really built up our expectations.

GF's Fish and Chips was the first to arrive. We really love these thick fries and Botak Jones are pretty generous with the serving as well. The piece of fried fish fillet was quite good too. The meat is still fresh and juicy but we really thought it will be even better if a thicker cut was used. Overall a pretty decent Fish and Chips.



Then came the finale. The much acclaimed Cajun Chicken arrived at our table. This is getting weird. We have never had "western-food" in neighbourhood coffeeshops that serves anything other than the usual "chops", Cutlets, chips etc etc.

First taste of the Cajun sauce reveals a slight hint of spiciness and a tad bitterness. However what amazed us was the piece of chicken breast. It was cooked to perfection as the meat was so juicy. Eaten together with the sauce and the melted cheeze makes it a even weirder experience for both of us.

Anyway since you ain't getting any usual "western food" which we could find in almost all HBD estates, dun expect the usual "western food" prices ya. Just a little more for something special. Give it a try if you arein the area ;)

Ikoi Japanese Restaurant at Hotel Miramar

Ikoi Japanese Restaurant,

401 Havelock Road,

#01-01 Hotel Miramar, Singapore

Tel : 68873788 Fax : 68870079

Dear, being the huge Sashimi fan, brought up the topic of dining at Ikoi ( Miramar Hotel ). On the other hand, I'm not into putting raw meat into my mouth ( with only exception for oysters ). Keyed "Ikoi" into Google and found several great reviews on it.

Checked with GF on the dinner date and she's concern whether i could enjoy myself. Unknowingly to her, I have already did my research on the items available and pretty much decided that i could always stuff myself with the Yakitoris, Griled Salmon and Saba.

So our dinner date was set. I called Ikoi up and made a reservation for a table ( there are tables, and seats infront of the sushi bar ) for 2 on 1st April ( April Fools Day ). It was a saturday. An unfortunate incident happened the night before ( or should i say early on the April Fools Morning ) shattered my mood for anything else and even GF suggested giving Ikoi a miss. However as much as i was affected y the incident, i decided against letting that bugger who kapok my stuffs spoilt the lovely evening that i had planned for GF and myself.

We reached Miramar at around 1845 and the place was already packed. Lucky us for there were a group of couples outside Ikoi, who didn't made reservation, and was turned down. Staffs were generally friendly and helpful but dun expect much. Apparently there are 2 groups of staffs there. One group are in charge of taking orders from the guests, the other group are in charge of clearing the table, getting you more tea etc etc so dun be unhappy when some of the staff says they can't take your order. Which in any case, they will inform those who can and direct them to you.

Another thing to note is they take orders in individual servings. So like tempura, if you order one, one will be all that you will get when it comes to your table. So try to order, especially for ebi tempura, a bigger serving like for GF and myself we ordered 10 per time. They take quite a while to arrie so in the meantime keep yourself busy by ordering some other stuff available on the menu and enjoy the complimentary dishes they served.

This is the Stewed Fish with Raddish which i throughly enjoyed. The sweetness form the Japanese soy, mirin and natural wholesome goodness form the chunks of fish in the dish, i could down a couple of bowls of rice with that. This is complimentary.

Also complimentary is this salmon sashimi. As much as i enjoy the presentation of the dish, i decided to let GF have my share of this dish. And though she didn't say much, from the empty plates i know they must have been good.

This, also complimentary, is a Mixed Veg Salad. Nothing fantastic but just that the vegetables are fresh and sweet.

The complimentary Chicken Soup from Ikoi. As you can see in the picture above, there's a tiny little piece of white meat ( chicken ) lying comfortably at the bottom of the pot. A sliced of lime was given, presumably to add the extra zing into the soup. Somehow i dun really fancy the soup as it has a fishy smell to it.

This is yet another complimentary dish. Sort of like a steamboat with generous amount of fresh salmon and vegetables in it. Understandably Ikoi used fresh salmon for this dish, the parts used are the belly, the bony areas. Our take was that the fresh was already used for sashimi and since they have these parts available ( sashimi grade ) , might as well make a dish out of it and serve free to the customers. Very good.

As it is a buffet dinner, we are free to choose from their extensive menu of dishes ranging from sashimi to grilled meats, to tempuras. If you're the sort that can down plates after plates of fresh sashimi, den Ikoi is the place for you. At SGD$30+++ per pax, i reckon if you could finish up 2 plates of mixed fresh sashimi, it would have already been very worth it.

I think this was the Swordfish sashimi. This serves one pax. We also had the mixed sashimi but we were so busy with our hands and mouths at that moment that we pobably forgot to take a shot of it. But GF was clearly satified with the sashimi there.

This is the mixed tempura. There were sweet potatoe, huge shitake mushroom, lady finger, and yam. The mushroom tempura was so goood. The batter was fried to a crisp and the inside (the shitake mushroom itself) was huge and juicy). This Shitake Mushroom Tempura blew my mind away. Awesome. The rest were probably as good but i'm unable to register any other favours of the tempuras at this moment.

These are the Ebi Tempuras. Be mindful when u order this, it's gonna take quite a while before you see it appearing on your table. We had 3 orders of Ebi Tempuras ( 8 - 10 each time ). This is addictive. Served hot and fresh, the prawns inside were screaming to be eaten. The batter was just right, giving the tempura the right amount of crispiness and retains the natural sweetness of the prawns, but yet generous enough to impart the right amount of crunchiness to the tempuras. This is very very good.

We also had the Yakitori. The pic above shows 4 sticks of Chicken Yakitori. The meat was slightly chewy ( the cut perhaps? ) Nothing worth mentioning.

GF had several helpings of the Katsu ( pork chop and chicken ). Personally i find the meat too dry for my liking.

This is carb stick wrapped in bacon. The bacon was undercooked ( soggy and oily ) and the crab stick was soggy as well, was like biting in a lump of dough. Give this a miss ya.

Grilled chicken wings, bad. Too dry and tasteless. Not a hit of chicken taste present.

The cold soba was very good. Pity was the serving was quite small. One sip is all i took and the soba was all gone. But it was good. The stock was light and fragant and the soba just the kind of texture i like.

We also had the udon which is equally as good as the soba. GF probably don't know cause she was busy trying to finish up the 3 Californian Handrolls which she ordered. Which reminds me that we didn't take a picture of the handroll as well. They are generous with the ingredients and this makes the handrollhighly addictive. You have been warned.

The fried tofu dish was very nicely presented. Being the big tofu fan i am, this was a must try dish for me. The tofu is smooth and the accompanying sauce compliments the tofu very well. Take note, the tofu is only 1/4 mouthful but it's the quality that counts. Otherwise you may order additional servings.

Chawamushi, or steamed custard egg is another eatfatfat favourite. Ikoi's version can be a little too generous with the ingredients that the steamed egg becomes the supporting cast. Personally i could do without that much chicken, fish cakes and peas. Alternatively i wouldn't mind if the chawamushi is served in a 2-litre bowl.

If you love fish, and dun like them raw, i recommend Ikoi's grilled Salmon and Saba. The ones we had were grilled to perfection with the skin being crispy and the meat still juicy. Apparently the fish must have been extremely fresh and fatty and this makes a excellent grilled fish.

If you do go Ikoi, please remember to try their grilled salmon and saba. You will not be disappointed.

MIA

Have gone thru a bad patch these days. to make things simple, i lost my laptop, my work, my everything in a car breakin. Have been, and will be fire fighting to salvage my work so when i'm done i'll be back.

Sincerest Regards
Damien