Dinner is delivered!

Ordering was a hassle-free affair. Their website is easy to navigate, and the menu clearly lists the food items — illustrated with photos — and prices.

We were told that our order would arrive in 60 to 90 minutes, but it arrived in about 50 minutes. The food was packed in microwaveable containers, with the soup container tightly sealed in cling wrap to prevent spillage. But our food was still warm, so there wasn’t any need to heat it up.

Everyone's Favorite Pineapple Rice, S$5.50

As the pineapple rice is a Chef’s Recommendation, we decided to try it. Sorry to say, it was our least favorite dish.

What was most disappointing was the overly sweet and clumpy rice grains. There wasn’t much ingredients, except for some frozen mix vegetables, cashew nuts, and chicken floss. Hubby said the overall taste was rather artificial.

Tom Kha Seafood, S$6.95 (small)

Thankfully, the other 2 items were much better! We enjoyed the Tom Kha Seafood soup very much. Think of it as tom yum soup with a light addition of coconut milk.

The silky broth was a good balance of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors. It was very mild, which suited us fine. But those who like it hot might find that it doesn’t have enough kick.

In this portion was 2 prawns, 2 pieces of squid, 2 pieces of fish, as well as some tomato wedges, onion, and straw mushroom.

Stuffed Chicken Wings, S$4.00 (2 pieces)

We liked the chicken wings very much, too! The exterior wasn’t too oily and remained delightfully crispy. Within was a tasty stuffing of minced chicken meat and glass noodles. There seemed to be a citrusy hint of kaffir lime leaf infused in the meat paste.

2 out of 3 — well, that wasn’t too bad. We might give Thai To Go another go. The food is just average, but it’s an affordable alternative to the usual delivery pizza and fast food.

Take note: Portions are on the small side. There’s a flat S$3.00 delivery charge. Depending on location, the minimum order ranges from S$10.00 to S$35.00.

Thai To Go
Order hotline: 63 96 96 96
URL: www.thaitogo.com.sg

Open daily: 10:45am to 9.15pm
Go to their FaceBook page for updates.

Sausage McMuffin with Egg breakfast set (S$4.00 during McValue Breakfast hours)

Hubby took a day off to trek the KTM railway track, starting from Bukit Timah Railway Station all the way to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. The total distance covered was 10 km!

I didn’t tag along (no way was I going to walk 10 km!), but accompanied him for breakfast at King Albert Park’s McDonald’s outlet before he started his adventure.

On weekdays (Mon to Fri, excluding public holidays) from 6am to 9am, McD’s breakfast set meals are on average about S$2.00 off the usual price. Prices start from S$4.00.

Not sure when this McValue Breakfast promo will end, as I couldn’t find any info on McDonald’s Singapore website. It’ll be nice if they could extend this promo to weekends as well.

Mee rebus is an immensely popular Malay dish in Singapore. It might not seem fanciful, but a lot of work goes into making an excellent mee rebus gravy, which is the soul of this comfort dish.

Read this installment of Tried & Tested to find out where are some of the best mee rebus in Singapore!

Summer Choice (10" regular, handtossed crust)

Managed to squeeze in some light cooking, but for times when I got too tired, we fell back on pizza delivery.

Summer Choice, sliced

Sticking to our tried-and-tested brand Rite Pizza, here’s one of our all-time favorites — Summer Choice (cheese, ground beef, shredded chicken, beef pepperoni, onion, chicken ham, tomato, green pepper, mushroom, pineapple). The combination of these toppings resulted in a very tasty and juicy creation!

Winter Special (10" regular, handtossed crust)

On the recommendation of fellow Rite Pizza fans, we tried Winter Special (cheese, turkey bacon, chicken ham, cheesy sausage, pineapple, mayonnaise, lettuce/cinnamon).

Winter Special, sliced

This sounds like a rather dubious combination, but surprisingly, it was delicious! The sweet, tangy pineapple dices and creamy mayonnaise went exceedingly well with the meat toppings.

And don’t be fooled by the droopy-looking lettuce. Although the lettuce leaves were slightly wilted by the steam of the hot pizza, they retained some crunch and provided a nice, refreshing edge. Next time, I shall ask for the lettuce to be packed separately so that they arrive crisp and green!

Both Summer Choice and Winter Special are from the premium range, so they cost S$23.00 for two 10-inch pizzas.

So far, we’ve tried three out of the “four seasons” pizza flavors, and they’ve all proved to be big hits. The only one we haven’t tried is Ocean Spring, which is a seafood pizza. We’re not really fans of seafood pizzas, but we just might try it out next time to complete Rite Pizza’s “four seasons” experience!

Click here to read my previous post on Rite Pizza’s Pepperoni Plus and Autumn Classic.

Rite Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6899 3838
URL: www.rite-pizza.com

Operating hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily (last order @ 10.15pm)

Available outlets:
Jurong – Blk 253 Jurong East St 24
Choa Chu Kang – 206 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1
Woodlands – Blk 325 Woodlands St 32
Ang Mo Kio – Blk 338 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Hougang – 1017 Upper Serangoon Road
Bukit Merah – Blk 133 Jalan Bukit Merah
Tampines – Blk 445 Tampines St 42
East Coast – 328 Joo Chiat Road

Rice with fish, chicken, and veggie (S$4.00)

Behind the famous Golden Mile Food Centre aka army market at Beach Road is this coffee shop in an HDB block. The main attraction is a highly popular nasi briyani stall. Unfortunately, I was there after 1.30pm that day, and they were already sold out.

Luckily, I remembered reading this forum thread that its neighboring nasi padang stall — a split from the popular Nasi Bawean at Desker Road — is also worth checking out.

Likewise, many dishes were already sold out. No more fried chicken. No more bergedil. Boo hoo.

From the limited selection left, I picked:

1. Ikan assam pedas (tangy & spicy fish): The fish steak was fresh and rather thick. The chunky sauce — a blend of freshly ground chilli and aromatics — tasted vibrant and lively. It delivered a strong, spicy punch, but stopped short of overwhelming the tastebuds. But I thought the assam (tangy) part could have been bolder.
2. Opor ayam (?): Not sure if it’s opor ayam, but it was a very mild chicken curry. The gravy was pleasantly smooth and fragrant. I like!
3. Stir-fried beansprout: Lightly stir-fried, the beansprouts were tasty and still crunchy. A refreshing accompaniment to the spicy dishes.

Total damage: S$4.00. Very reasonable pricing by nasi padang standards. Portions were generous, too.

Will certainly swing by again if I’m in the area. The only problem is that seating here is very limited, and it gets very crowded at lunchtime. Forgot to ask for their operating hours, but it seems their main business is lunch, with most of the good stuff unavailable by around 2pm.

Nasi Padang Boyan Beach Road Power
Blk 17 Beach Road
Ground floor coffee shop, facing back of Golden Mile Food Centre
Singapore 190017

Hungry for Indonesian-style smashed chicken? Here are some of the best ayam penyet in Singapore, tried and tested!

The Rite choice

When it comes to pizza delivery, we alternate between two of our faves: Domino’s and Rite Pizza.

I like Domino’s for their crust and sauce. Overall, their pizzas are also delicious. Plus, they have a 30-minute delivery guarantee, which is great for times when we’re starving (most pizzerias quote about an hour to deliver).

For Rite Pizza, they win in terms of variety — they’ve got more than 30 pizza flavors to choose from. Also, their pricing is very attractive. Prices start from S$21.00 for two 10-inch pizzas, or S$23.00 if you choose from the more premium beef/chicken/seafood toppings.

Pepperoni Plus (10" regular, handtossed crust)

This time, we tried something different — Pepperoni Plus (cheese, pepperoni, chicken ham, mushroom, onion, green pepper, oregano).

Pepperoni Plus, sliced

Though the green pepper and onion were on the skimpy side, overall, it was satisfying enough. There could have been more tomato sauce too, but at least they were generous with cheese. The dough — soft, moist, and chewy — was neither too thin nor too thick, just right!

Autumn Classic (10" regular, handtossed crust)

For the other pizza, we stuck to our usual fav — Autumn Classic (cheese, beef pepperoni, turkey bacon, onion, tomato, mushroom, basil).

Autumn Classic, sliced

We preferred this over Pepperoni Plus. Perhaps it’s because we like the tomatoes in Autumn Classic. The fresh tomatoes made the pizza extra juicy, and their mild acidity offset the richness of the bacon and pepperoni.

Another flavor we enjoy is Summer Choice (cheese, beef, chicken, pepperoni, onion, ham, tomato, green pepper, mushroom, pineapple). Mayo Chicken and Winter Special sound interesting too, perhaps we’ll try those next time!

Click here to read my previous post on Rite Pizza!

Rite Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6899 3838
URL: www.rite-pizza.com

Operating hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily (last order @ 10.15pm)

Available outlets:
Jurong – Blk 253 Jurong East St 24
Choa Chu Kang – 206 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1
Woodlands – Blk 325 Woodlands St 32
Ang Mo Kio – Blk 338 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Hougang – 1017 Upper Serangoon Road
Bukit Merah – Blk 133 Jalan Bukit Merah
Tampines – Blk 445 Tampines St 42
East Coast – 328 Joo Chiat Road

Concorde Hotel mooncake box

Though I’m not a big fan of mooncakes, I look forward to seeing new flavors of mooncakes every year. It’s amazing how the hotels, restaurants, and bakeries manage to come up with so many creative inventions year after year.

One of the more interesting selections I tried this year came from Concorde Hotel, Singapore. The mooncake box looks like an imperial treasure chest. Very regal-looking, indeed!

Individually boxed mooncakes

The interior holds 4 golden boxes, resembling gold ingots. Each box holds a mooncake that’s sealed in plastic wrap to maintain freshness.

Traditional baked mooncakes

I was given two traditional flavors to sample — Low Sugar White Lotus Single Yolk and Mixed Nuts.

Low Sugar White Lotus Paste with Double Yolk & Mixed Nuts

Both hubby and I liked the white lotus paste for its smooth texture and low sugar content. However, we’re not fans of Mixed Nuts mooncake, so we didn’t go nuts over this one.

Contemporary baked mooncakes

For contemporary-style mooncakes, they often come in snowskin. Hence, it was a refreshing change to see baked mooncakes without the traditional crust for once.

Charcoal Baked Yam

This Charcoal Baked Yam was our unanimous favorite! We both like yam paste, so this combo of lotus paste (mixed with edible charcoal) and yam paste (center) was the best of both worlds. The sweetness was also just right. In fact, it was less sweet than the Low Sugar White Lotus Paste.

The white crust was soft and not as rich as the traditional crust, so on the whole, this was a very light-tasting mooncake.

Chocolate Omochi

Rick didn’t like the Chocolate Omochi because of its sticky texture. That’s good news, cos I got to eat all of it! Hee!

I didn’t mind the mochi centre at all. In fact, I enjoyed the plain chewy mochi paired with the sticky, bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate flavor was really rich. I like!

The best thing about Concorde Hotel’s mooncakes is they are halal-certified, so they can be enjoyed by Muslim friends as well.

If you’re interested, do call Concorde Hotel’s mooncake hotline: 6739 8370 to check if they still have stocks. Prices are listed on their website here.

Here’s wishing everyone a joyous Mid-Autumn Festival! 祝大家中秋节快乐！:)

Many thanks to Evelyn and Vivien of Concorde Hotel, Singapore for the delicious mooncakes.

MIL hinted that she’d like Indonesian food, so we made reservations at Tambuah Mas. This was our first time at the Paragon outlet; previously, we used to go to Tanglin Shopping Centre, which we remember as being good and consistent.

Tahu Telor, S$8.00

First to arrive, the dish that everyone orders at Tambuah Mas: their signature tahu telor. It didn’t disappoint.

Tahu=beancurd, telor=egg. Very simple ingredients indeed, but in the hands of a master, they can be transformed into a magical dish.

Some places have a tendency to over-fry or make this dish too oily, but Tambuah Mas’s version was relatively light. The egg batter was crispy and airy, while the large tofu cubes remained warm and soft. A light drizzle of kecap manis (dark sweet soy) added sweetness without being too cloying.

Sate Ayam (1/2 dozen), S$10.90

Another crowd-pleaser was the chicken satay. Loved the tender meat (they used chicken leg) and the spice marinade that was aromatic without being overwhelming. The accompanying peanut dip was deliciously rich and nutty.

Kepala Ikan Istimewa (1/2 fish head), S$22.90

I never fail to order this at Tambuah Mas — fish head simmered in sweet-spicy-tangy assam gravy. The gravy is very distinctive, with exceedingly well-balanced flavors. Somehow, that piquantly wicked gravy just whets your appetite for more. The fish head was fresh and meaty with no hint of fishiness.

Perkadel Ayam, S$6.00 (2 pieces)

So far, the main stars were impressive. What about the supporting cast?

Perkadel aka bergedil aka potato croquette with minced chicken. Nice, but not particularly memorable. Rather pricey too, but then, each croquette was nearly as big as a fist!

Sayur Lodeh, S$6.00

The sayur lodeh (cabbage, long bean, and beancurd simmered in coconut gravy) got the thumbs up from MIL for its gentle scent and mildness. The aromatics were warm and fragrant, while the gravy wasn’t too lemak (coconutty), resulting in a light and pleasant vegetable curry.

Kailan in oyster sauce, S$8.00

Another vegetable dish, cos it’s good to eat more greens! This stir-fry is actually more Chinese than Indonesian.

Ayam Goreng (1/2 chicken), S$10.90

Hmm, we really regretted ordering the ayam goreng (fried chicken). The meat was SO dry and tough! It was a very small serving, but even then, we couldn’t finish it. So hard to chew!

Soto Ayam, S$5.00

Because the soto ayam (chicken soup) arrived barely warm, it got cold really fast. The broth was fairly tasty, with a mini perkadel and generous amounts of shredded chicken and glass noodle. But once again, the shredded chicken was tough and chewy.

Sweets for my sweetie!

Time for mouthwash! Hehe, that’s what “pencuci mulut” literally means. In Bahasa Indonesian, the term for dessert is “pencuci mulut”, or literally, “mouthwash”. What a colorful saying!

Actually, we were already stuffed, but we couldn’t resist dessert, so we ordered 3 items to share. Can you spot Melissa, our niece, in the background? That was one of the rare moments during the meal when she was very well-behaved. LOL

From left: Es Kachang Cendol, Es Teler, Es Apokat (S$4.90 each)

Thank goodness we didn’t pass on desserts, for they were absolutely fabulous! All three items we tried were all rich without being overly sweet or heavy. The Apokat (avocado shake), which can get rather cloying, was creamy but refreshing.

Restaurant entrance

Our unanimous conclusion: Hits and misses for the main courses, but on the whole, they were decent. I haven’t been back to the Tanglin branch for some years, but I remember standards there were higher.

On the other hand, desserts were awesome. We wanna come back just for the desserts!

Each person was charged S$1.00 for plain rice. Together with miscellaneous charges and taxes, total bill was $125.70 for 5 adults and 1 child.

Tambuah Mas Indonesian Restaurant (Paragon)
290 Orchard Road
#B1-44 Paragon
Singapore 238859
Tel: +65 6733 2220
URL: http://www.tambuahmas.com.sg

From Korean fried chicken, we go on to another fowl and spicy dish! It’s widely available in Singapore, but a lot of work and care goes into making a good pot of briyani. Who will emerge champs in our briyani battle? Click here to read the full review!