Marina Bay Sands

A reader of this blog in Singapore had kindly sent me a guide book on the hawker stalls in Singapore a few years ago, probably to change my opinion that the best food in Singapore is found in restaurants, the more expensive the better, and that the hawker food there can't hold a candle to the hawker food in Kuala Lumpur.

I brought the book with me this trip and my son Wey who reads the book often, marking the things he wants to eat, suggested Chai Chee Pork Porridge (name of the stall) since my stomach was still unwell.Wey had also marked Western Food 85, famed for its crispy pork knuckle, which was right next to Chai Chee PP, at 85 Bedok North St 4. When we got to the stalls (which is in a newly renovated hawker market, and near a stinky birds shop), we found that Western Food 85 had moved away. Dang moment for Wey.

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The pork &century egg congee and the chicken congee were thicker than Hong Kong congee, very smooth and not saturated with msg (as congee in KK are), and we loved it. S$4/RM10/USD3.30 for regular bowl.

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Hub loves wonton noodles and orders them whenever he's not in KK because the wonton noodles in KK are hopelessly soft and bland. We found Singapore wonton noodles pretty good, with a springy el dente bite like wonton noodles should,! but the wonton dumplings had soft pork mince (a no no for us; we prefer crunchy prawns filling) and the soup lacked shrimp roe flavor.

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Singaporean fried lobak (turnip cake) is very different from Malaysian's version and I am partial to Malaysian lobak. This plate of lobak was too sweet, didn't have bean sprouts and lacked turnip flavor.

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The Marina Bay Sands casino and hotel complex looks ridiculous from far, like a ship had somehow run aground on the top of three buildings--but when you get up close, it is stunning. I've had the pleasure of listening to Moshe Safdie, the architect for the building, talk about the Marina Bay Sands project during the e.g. Conference in Monterey in April this year.

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Singapore has an Eye too.

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The lotus-shaped Singapore Museum. Must visit it next trip! .

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This is the pool end of the 'ship'.

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In the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

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The sky bridge connects the hotel and casino to the 2 weeks-old Gardens By The Bay. I love plants and had looked forward to walking in the Gardens but it was too hot and I thought I'd go back some night (when there'll be a lights display) but never did. It's okay because the garden will just get better with time. Trust it to the Singporeans to come up with this fantastic tropical garden, the only kind in the world.

The hotel has many restaurants but the biggest one (I think) is Rise, which has a daily buffet so beautiful that it's hard to resist. I could though, because I was still sick and nothing appealed to me. Hub and Wey decided to eat the buffet (S$57/RM145/USD47, tax included) so I went window shopping. When I came back, they both looked unhappy, too full and regretful and as always with buffets, they both swore they'd never eat another buffet again. Wey said he ! didn't e ven try more than 20% of the spread because he felt so full. Here are just some of the buffet:
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rise buffet
The carrot cake was very delicious (yes, I ate some), with a very light texture. The filling was cream cheese but the top and sides were covered with fresh cream.

To get to view the famous infinity pool on the 57th floor, you have to ! either b e a hotel guest or pay an entrance fee of S$20. A friendly waiter told us that a better deal would be to go to the rooftop bar for a drink, so we did that. And that's when we found an even better deal:Go to the lift at Tower 3 and ask to go up to the bar for a drink. The lady'll give you a card and you can then go up. Once up, you can sit down for a drink or a meal or just walk around. We saved S$60 and felt so clever. Of course, that means you don't get to enter the pool area but the view from the bar is pretty awesome anyway.

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A view of the Gardens By The Bay. The bridge on the lower right of the photo connects to the hotel (I'd be crazy to walk there under the 3 pm sun). Those circular towers are 'super trees' and reminds me of Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia.

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Exciting things are happening to Singapore's skyline and architecture.

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The other end of the 'ship' is a roof top bar called Ku De Ta which I thought was rather disappointing compared to the world's top roof top bars, especially Moon Bar at Banyan Tree in Bangkok and Aer at Four Seasons, Mumbai.

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I had the casanova (I think it was called), a choc upcake, and the raspberry cupcake, both good but not awesome, S$6/RM15.30/USD4.90 EACH.

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After a long walk around the complex (we skipped the casino because minimum age for entrance was 21), I was hungry and Mozza Pizza it was. You'd be a fool to miss Mozza Pizza pizza's if you are in Marina Bay Sands.

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The waitress suggested that I try their most exciting and unusual pizza, the one with nettles, salami, caciocavallo and egg, S$30/RM76.50/USD25. Mozza's pizzas are expensive but totally worth it! This time, the pizza was larger than those we ate last year.

After all that food, Hub and Wey said they'd skip dinner but when dinner time came, we found ourselves back at the hawkers' stalls in Koven where Wey had the mee bok and Hub ordered a claypot chicken.

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I didn't think that I'd like this but after one bite, I couldn't stop eating. The chicken was tender and tasty, the gravy had hints of Sichuan peppercorns and other Sichuanese spices. I enquired and was told by the waitress that the cooking was Chongqing-style. Chongqing in Sichuan was the capital of China in 1066 BC, in 1063 and from 1939 to 1946.

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We had to have dessert on a hot muggy night, and queues are good signs.

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Super smoothsoy bean jelly (taufu fa)and grass jelly (leong fun). Both are jellies, but different in flavors and texture. The grass jelly (black color) was soft yet springy while the soy bean jelly was slippery-smooth and soft. About S$1.90/RM4.80/USD1.55 per bowl.

It was a good food day. And night.


Mediteca Wine Tapas


Many thanks to The Nero Group for this sneak peek at its newest member, Mediteca, which will open on August 13, broadening the horizons of the family of restaurants that includes Nerovivo, Neroteca and Nerofico.

A cross between an Italian enoteca-style wine shop and a Spanish tapas bar, Mediteca showcases the talents of Manuel Lopez, a chef in his thirties who blends the culinary canon of his southern Spanish homeland with contemporary creativity to satisfy KL's fussy eaters.

Liver lovers will know what to order: seared foie gras with caramelized figs and pureed sultanas.

Also fabulous for foie fans: millefeuille of liver with goat's cheese and caramelized apples.

Salad on a stick: tomatoes, mozzarella and basil foam, a tasty twist on the Caprese salad.

Need more skewers? Try the terrifically tender beef tenderloin with red wine reduction.

What's cooking in Chef Lopez's pot? One of KL's creamiest pumpkin soups, coupled with ginger for a fascinating counterpoint and topped with truffle croutons for a fragrant crunch.

And underneath Lid No. 2: a casserole of stewed beef cheeks and potatoes. Poetry in a pot.

Customers who can't wait to check out Mediteca (ten more days!), fear not: there's always something tempting to try nearby at Mediteca's big sister, Nerovivo.

Folks in the mood for beef sh! ouldn't resist Nerovivo's ravioli, stuffed with remarkably soft braised meat and soaked in a rich Barolo red wine sauce.

Nerovivo's kitchen-made tagliatelle with beef ragout, the most satisfying bolognese pasta we've had in a very long while.

Prosecco and red wine, to make the merriment merrier.We'll be back for more soon at both Mediteca and Nerovivo; service at the Nero Group's outlets is a shining example for others.

Mediteca Wine Tapas,
Fraser Place, Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur.

Ramadhan Buffet 2012 Paya Serai, Hilton PJ

** For more Ramadhan reviews click HERE > Ramadhan Buffets Wheres your favourite?

Frankly, this took my breath away as one of the most extensive buffet ever, with so many dishes at each section that I shook my head in disbelief as I kept on taking picture after picture, all the while wondering when it will end so I can finally break fast.

Below: Just the appetisers (tossed raw salads kerabu) section alone offers about 15 different trays of kerabu.


If thats not enough, the good folks at Paya Serai has another station for RAW salads, Malay style with an array of aromatic sambal!

Im starting to think this section of the buffet is starting to look like a vegetable farm. :P

Seeing green, I went in search of MEAT.

And heres my favourite if you dont already know by now the grill and the meats! :d

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LAMB! Come to mamma!

Taste-wise it wasnt much to shout about but tts edible enough with plenty of sauce.

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Chicken wings anyone?

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Here are the BBQ-ed and honey coated ones, sticky sweet and delectable!

Grilled marinated stingray.

Mackerel (or yellow tail?).

Tandoori chicken.

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Dry grilled Ayam Percik.

Grilled fish fillets. Or was it chicken? My memory fails me. ! There we re just too many pots of assorted meats and seafood and I sampled every single one of them! Not in whole portions of course, but I made sure I took a tasting portion from each pot.

Grilled squids. This could have been less rubbery.

For ease of navigation, the sections are clearly separated into Chinese, Indian (one of my favourites) and Malay.

CHINESE.

Dim sum, theres no mistaking how oriental this is!

Whats chinese food without fried rice? :)

And noodles!

Sweet and sour fish and chicken is as chinese as it gets.

Vegetables and mushrooms. An enduring chinese match.

Stri-fry beef.

Chinese lok lok steamboat station.

Hot and sour soup.

INDIAN.

Ghee Rice, fragrant and best matched with the spicy curries.

Fish paste with spices. This was really tasty but replenished with something else after about 1 hour from the time the buffet started. I know because I went for second helpings and regretted not taking a few more earlier!

Deep fried battered chicken.

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Lamb Curry.

MALAY.

Duck eggs in creamy coco! nut milk curry. Rich and luscious!

Sup Soto Ayam.

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Chicken curry.

Something not as common, the local clams and slipper lobster curry with starfruits!

Bubur Lambuk.

Lobster Slipper Masak Lemak Belimbing.

Rendang and lemang and ketupat quintessentials of Raya! :)

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Paya Serai ensures every section has its vegetable dish. :)

Lets not forget the Nasi Briyani.

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Perfect with dry chicken curry.

Catfish in sambal, fresh and sweet.

Tempe. For those who are unfamiliar, tempe is made from soybeans. Throughnatural culturing and controlled fermentation process, it binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty.

Paya Serai has always been popular for its delicious and bountiful buffet spread. And this year it does looks like they are maintaining the standard and quantity. Especially tailored for this spiritual month, Paya Serais brigade of talented chefs led by Chef Noor Hisham aims to spoil diners with choices from authentic local kampung delights and quintessential Malay Ramadhan dishes to Indian, Chinese cuisine and hawker food, as you can see from my pictures in this post!

Prized buffet items such as succulent Fresh Oyster, Fresh Mussel, Boiled Tiger Prawns and boiled slipper lobster are not forgotten. I know regular buffet eaters are sure to hunt for these!

The live stations offers piping hot Nasi Lemak (now this wasnt available at every other buffet I went to!) with fish eggs, boiled or fried eggs, cucumber, sambal sotong, peanuts and chicken/beef in dry curry.

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Another live station for the noodles.

At the Shawarma (kebab) station, Do-It-Yourself and stuff your pita with as much fillings as you wish with the myriad of vegetables and condiments available; including olives, freshly grilled meat (choice of chicken or lamb), capsicums, tomatoes, onions, 5 different kinds of sauces.

Another must the murtabak, roti jala and roti canai/pratha with chicken curry!

Putu piring freshly prepared on the spot.

Familiar but satisfying apam balik. Pick between the normal flour or the pandan scented one.

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Displayed rather proudly right in the middle of the restaurant is the dessert table, positively groaning under its weight of sugar & flour.

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Cosmic selections of Malay Kuih, French pastries, ice creams, jellies and not to leave out the all-time favourite, Chocolate Fountain and Fruit Skewers.

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Ice cold drinks and chendol and ais-kacang, all with more choices of condiments available than any other ramadhan buffets I have sampled this year.Selection includes Soymilk, Air Sirap Bandung, Apple Juice, Barley Water, Ice Kacang, Cendol, andof course, the must-have Teh Tarik.

Ice cream came in 2 forms; one in a nostalgic reminicence of our childhoon the ais krim potong and another with a touch of foreign flavour- Turkish ice cream.

Unfortunately no Turkish hottie to pound my ice cream for me. :(

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Hot desserts includes Serawa Durian (pungently lovely), bubur kacang and nangka (jackfruit) in coconut cream.

Below: I had my serawa durian with pulut. Yums! :d

The Serawa Durian.

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Cleanse your palate after a heavy meal with fruits. Even for the simple fruits station, much elaboration was done. The assortment of fruits displayed were 50% more than the usual, with uncommon additions suc! h as lan gsat, mangosteens, apples, duku, pulasan and buah salak (both a specialty from Sabah).

The snake-skin like buah salak.

The hairy Pulasan Rambutan a hybrid of local rambutan and lychee. Correct me if Im wrong?

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If youre looking to be spoilt for choices as well as quantity (no worries about refills as throughout the night the chafing dishes and every trays remained stocked ), this is the buffet for you!

Theres too much food to elaborate ALL, thus I went section by section. Serving an extravagant spread of over 100 local as well as international delights, this extensive buffet menu is on rotation everyday there is always something new to try!

Venue: Paya Serai, Hilton Petaling Jaya
Time
: 7pm-10.30pm
Price
: RM99+ per adult for first week, RM129+ for following days. Children below age of 12 enjoy 50% discount
Contact
:03-7955 9122 Website:http://www.zestpj.com/

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Browse more if you wish:

  • Dorsett Regency, Kuala Lumpur
  • MayTower Hotel & Serviced Residences, KL
  • The Mill, Grand Millennium Hotel, Bukit Bintang
  • The Lounge, GTower Hotel, KL
  • The Living Room, Westin KL
  • Cinnamon Cafe, One World Hotel
  • Latest Recipe, Le Meridien KL
  • Paya Serai PJ Hilton
  • These are for last year Ramadans. Im running the Beckys 30 Days 30 Giveaways and for coming days it will be mostly Ramadan buffets for 2 pax. So do visit my page RebeccaSawBlog FB here and stay tuned for the announcement. :)

    Heres the round-up for 2012 Ramadan Buffets. Ill include the links once I published the posts this week. Im trying to write as fast as I can! :)

    1. Ramadhan Buffet at Melting Pot Cafe, Concorde Hotel, KL
    2. Ramadhan Buffet at Soi 23, Pacific Regency, KL
    3. Ramadhan Buffet at Fuzion, Sunway Spa and Resorts
    4. Ramadhan Buffet at Checkers Cafe, Dorsett Regency, KL
    5. Ramadhan Buffet at Flavors, Swiss Garden Hotel, Pudu KL
    6. Ramadhan Buffet at Cinnamon Coffee House, One World Hotel
    7. Ramadhan Buffet at Kitchen Art Brasserie, Empire Hotel Subang
    8. Ramadhan Buffet at The Mill, Grand Millenium Hotel, KL
    9. Ramadhan Buffet at JW Marriot, KL
    10
    .Ramadhan Buffet at La Maison, Silka Maytower Hotel & Serviced Residences
    11. Ramadhan Buffet at Paya Serai, Hilton PJ
    12. Ramadhan Buffet at Utara Coffee House, Armada Hotel, PJ
    13. Ramadhan Buffet at Serena Brasseria, InterContinental Hotel, KL
    14. theres more for sure let me eat first and Ill update! :)

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    Leave me a comment if you have any enquiries on Ramadhan Buffets this year ok? :)