Hungry birds
As I was enjoying a smooth and spicy Chai Tea Latte in one of The coffee Bean & Tea Leaf branches (on Orchard Road) the persons at the table behind me picked up their belongings and walked away. No sooner had they left that a flock of birds flew onto the table and fought for the reamining bread crumbs in the plate.
I had lunch at Balestier Bak Kut Teh at Food Opera (part of Ion Food Hall).
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Set-lunch: Bak Kut Teh (means meat - bone - tea)
Pork ribs soup, salted vegetables, braised peanuts served with a bowl of steamed white rice |
The pork ribs soup contains herbs and black pepper and is cooked in a clay pot.
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I also ordered fried dough strips (You-Tiao - means oil and strip).
I soaked the strips in the spicy soup. It was so yummy! |
We had dinner at Paradise Dynasty (also in Ion Orchard) upon one of my friends' recommendation. They serve colorful dumplings (xiao-long-bao) which she said were worth trying (if only for fun and pleasure for the eyes).
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| Paradise Dynasty setting |
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Basket of 8 colored dumplings - signature dish of the restaurant
8 flavours: garlic, crab roe, cheese, ginseng, truffle, foie gras, Sichuan, and original. |
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| Sichuan style noodles |
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| Cold appetizer: Silken tofu with thousand year old egg |
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| 2nd cold appetizer: Cucumber salad with garlic |
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| Kitchen staff busy folding dumplings |
I enjoyed the experience of eating the colorful dumplings more than their taste. I personally prefer the original flavour (pork or crab) of xiao-long-bao a lot better than the fancy-flavour varieties.
The following day I tried the famous Singaporean laksa dish for lunch. And in the afternoon, tired after a lot of walking, I went to Oriole Cafe & Bar, one of the best cafes in Singapore according to
ladyironchef 's blog, where I had - I agreee with
Brad - a very good coffee {with a couple of muffins!}.
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| Laksa: noodles in a rich coconut and curry broth. Yummy! |
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| Cappucino and muffins at Oriole Cafe & Bar |
For dinner we went to the Newton Food Centre where we enjoyed a few simple dishes, the best being the bbq sambal stringray.
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| Shellfish (kind of sea snails) |
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| Stir-fried water spinach in chilli sauce |
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| Fried-rice |
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| Grilled king prawns |
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| Bbq sambal stringray on a banana leaf |
