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I can always count on Nassim Hill for that comforting meal no matter what time of the day or week. Recently, we found ourselves craving for a place to dine, without the fuss and crowds and some decent grub. Didn't help that they were having a corgi meet up there too! Too cute to ignore, though I wish I remembered to take a snap of those gorgeous dogs.   Chilli Crab Pasta ($25) Jumbo Crab, Chilli Crab Sauce, Spaghetti I'm always sold on chilli crab pasta, not just chilli crab because this is my favourite crustacean in a dish without getting my fingers dirty at all. And boy was it a legit gamble. The spiciness was just right and infact, close to my idea of a potent chilli crab dish. Loved the generous crabmeat chunks as well and slurpworthy noodles. In my opinion, best interpretation of chilli crab pasta on our island! Seabass ($25) Seared Seabass, Shitake Mushrooms, Sauteed Spinach, Edamame Beans Despite a fresh and delicious start with the pasta, the seabass had a nosedive with

Mention Winifred Kriste and her gorgeous customized wedding cakes come to mind - and since getting married only happens once in a lifetime, the only non-wedding confectionery that I could sample were her macarons. And even then, these come with a stoke of chance -they only do preorders at pop ups for these treats. Seven of these top 7 flavoured colourful babies made their way into my cart - putting my fastest fingers first skills to such great use. Sold out in just 24 hours of posting too.   So how they they measure up? Cassis Salted Egg Yolk Pistachio Praline Caramelised Cookie Raspberry Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake Lavender Earl Grey Chocolate Beautiful sounding flavours in beautiful hues - except they were not uniformly shaped. Some ended up larger than the rest and fitted oddly into their macaron box. Delicate crumbly shells sandwiching their flavoured innards. I won't say I was blown away (and truth be told, to topple the bar set by Pierre Herme is mission impossible) though

National Art Gallery somehow found a place in my food-tionary and I have been checking off their food and beverage establishments one at a time. Yan, belongs to a completely different section of NAG, infact the extreme end from Odette but super near Gallery and Co. Specializing in Cantonese fare, Yan offers ala carte and omakase options. Prawns cooked in dual styles deep-fried with thousand island sauce and wasabi-mayo ($36) Crispy battered prawns in two styles and while wasabi mayo is the preferred choice most of the time, both versions tasted similar. No clear favourite here. Sautéed scallops with fresh mushrooms and asparagus ($36) Bouncy scallops in such countable quantities, I always have a love-hate dilemma ordering scallops at a chinese dinner. Sweet and sour pork with fresh pineapple ($20) Deep fried pork nibblets doused in a tangy pineapple and tomato sauce which made for a super delicious dish that I can never resist ordering. Loved the wok hei and flavours put together -

~Invited Session~ By now, it is no secret that two timed Michelin starred Kam's Roast has swam its way up our shores and invaded Pacific Plaza with their award winning roast dishes. The appetizers of chilled cucumber and black fungus were actually tasty and mildly spicy too.  Suckling Pig   Roast Pork Teething problems may have got in the way of serving up a piping hot platter but that said, both still retained that crunch when teeth was sunk into the skins. Roast Duck While the famous goose is nowhere to be found, the management has promised discussions with NEA are underway and in the near future, fans need not flap all the way to Hong Kong for the legendary. Well, one can only hope and keep calm right? The roasted cousin, the duck was perfected after rounds of blind taste tests and even their regulars could not tell them apart, it seems. I would beg to differ on this, however.  Though same, but there are differences somewhat. The chef certainly nailed that signature crisp

Butter is the sole reason behind Buttergrill. Who'd have thought that their assortment of handcrafted flavored butters are created from special recipes which include Spicy Salted Egg Yolk, Lemon Chilli, Orange Ginger, Spicy Miso, Classic Red, Spicy Laksa, Truffle, Foie Gras, Red Wine and Figs, Mustard and Classic White. In short, wow. Truffle Mushroom Cheese Fries ($12) Straight Cut Fries served with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and Truffle Butter, Topped with Melted Cheese The oil smell was too strong and fries overcooked with oil dripping. A letdown already though visually tantalizing with that drippy cheese but well, I was deceived. Chicken Lolli ($14) Deep Fried Chicken Drumlets Tossed with Sauteed Onions, Capsicum and Lemon Chili Butter Once again, the frozen chicken smell was very obvious even with the batter, deep frying and lemon chili butter. Duck Breast ($16) Grilled Duck Breast Served with Sambal Butter Finally, a tapas course that deserves some serious mention. I'm not

I never got enough of Rachel's lychee chiffon but the opportunity opened up for cookie slots and then I landed myself my first bag of cookies straight from her kitchen! Almost half a kilo of salted egg yolk kisses and I was secretly wondering if this bag would end up all in my tummy or I'd have to share the love. Piped so beautifully though they were slightly crushed from the tight packaging and crumbly texture. Be a butter fan and get enslaved to these babies, or never hop on this bandwagon of no return. I am possibly a convert for crumbly butter cookies because suggee cookies are my nemesis and I usually prefer my cookies crunchy. Salted egg and curry leaves are so beautifully woven into each cookie, the flavours are just so spot on - I would imagine this to be the dessert version of a salted egg dish and the best to date. Leave it on the tongue to dissolve into an addictive creamy mess. I lost count of the number of cookies I had over a single seating, probably enough to s

"A woman without her sister, is like a bird without wings." How cheesy, but that pretty much sums up my relationship with my sister. Love-hate and it blossoms into one that sees me doing the most romantic things which her husband is grateful for (since I take it off his back!). Drip cakes are all the rage these days, and are the only fads that I follow so eagerly. I mean who can say no to a pretty cake? I had my drip cake customized by the lovely team from Mysisterbakes. And to be fair, I was apprehensive - afterall instagram worthy creations have at all times if not most times been a let down. Ordering was so simple, just a checklist of my top 3 toppings and choice of colours and flavour and my cake was on its way to me. Cannot get easier, can it?   Chocolate salted caramel cake it was with lilac and pink ombre sides topped with macarons, kinder buenos and fruits. Despite all the sugar piled on, the cake itself was hardly sweet, infact just the right balance and that cake

My expeditions to EXPO hardly end on a gourmet note, mainly because the crowds put me off waiting for food during a fair and the ghost town situations only beckon when the food establishments make the trip to the east worthwhile. Akai Fune it was then one fine and dandy day, even at lunch hour it was empty. Gyoza These pot stickers had a skin too thick and fried with too much oil so much so lifting it left an oil drizzle behind. CP would have done the job, much much better. Garlic Pork These char siu slices were overcooked, fell apart from overcooking and was given a jolt of overseasoning with just too much soya sauce and fried garlic. Curry Udon And for Waraku that kickstarted my interest in beef curry udon, I say this was a pathetic far cry - sweet gravy that a Daiso premix would have fared better, clumpy udon noodles, pickled bamboo shoots off a packet, a clearly overcooked onsen egg (where is the runny in this?) and a clump of sweet beef. Sorry, not impressed with this sugar overlo

Once upon a time, these custard mooncakes were a whole new world to me. Up to this year's Mid Autumn where flying to Hongkong was not suffice to land a box of them babies. Aye, Hongkongers are really hardcore when it comes to eating up a storm and they were sold out way before the festival proper. By a strange stoke of luck, I bumped into them at Bangkok's Mooncake fair! Except this time, they were under a different restaurant name. Mei Jiang restaurant is Peninsula Bangkok's chinese restaurant and surprise surprise, mooncakes are very much celebrated in Bangkok as they are everywhere else! The packaging definitely lost some points for grandeur and pomp, but these are easily a third of the price in Hongkong. Visually these looked half baked and that motif was barely discernible.   Yet these were really delicious, almost the same as the memorable first though not 100%. Melty mooncake skin encasing a blend of sweet and savoury. Good enough to satisfy those cravings till the