Monday, July 27, 2009

PS. Cafe

I’ve never been a big fan of dessert. I’ve always felt that the main course should be...well...the main course and that the dessert should be a pleasant afterthought.

That said, though, I would never say no to visiting a dessert place, since I, like most of my peers, have an immensely sweet tooth (although sugar consumption has dropped considerably since those candy-filled adolescent days).

When I met up with my BMT buddies after our ORD, we felt the occasion was big enough to warrant an after-dinner visit to PS. Cafe at Palais Renaissance, long known for its desserts, to splurge on expensive cakes and fatten ourselves up after having endured two years of (supposed) slimming down.

And, while the desserts were pretty costly (we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that we were helping to lift the sagging economy), they were nonetheless delightful, if terribly filling, sinful indulgences.

I had the steamed banana pudding with vanilla ice cream and it’s every bit as lip-smacking as it sounds. The pudding was warm and soft but chewy, the gravy thick and aromatic while the vanilla ice cream was a surprisingly light dairy “topping” whose coolness complemented the heat of the pudding perfectly.

Another of my friends had the double chocolate blackout cake with vanilla ice cream, a monster-sized slice of intensely black chocolate that gave us a shock with its sheer size. The slice, which could easily be meant for an entire meal, was, while unbelievably tasty, so filling that it took all three of us a lot of effort to work through it.

My last friend had a ginger and lemon cheesecake. While the sweet lemon taste was cloying and the cheesecake was solid and delicious, the ginger was a tad too heavy for me. But then again, I’ve never liked ginger-anything so I probably wouldn’t be a good gauge of its true quality. It was decidedly tasty though, ignoring the ginger.

The cakes we all had were unbelievably filling and should be taken only after small dinners. For those who are seeking something sweet and good, and don’t mind the slightly frightening price (each slice cost about $15, although it could admittedly feed families), PS Cafe’s list of desserts are guaranteed satisfaction.

Just remember to brush your teeth afterwards!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

ps. Apologies for the dark, grainy photos. The lighting at the cafe was really dim and all I had was my phone camera.

PS. Cafe is located at Level 2. Palais S.C, 390 Orchard Road Singapore

For more info, head to http://www.pscafe.sg/. 

Monday, July 13, 2009

Curry Favor

I have to say that, despite my love of Japanese food, which I’ve crowed about here ad nauseam, I’ve never really been very fond of Japanese curry dishes.

Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up on a steady diet of the “localised” version of curry with dishes like curry fishhead, laksa, curry chicken etc., but I could never see the appeal of the thick, stew-like Nipponese curry style.

Surprisingly, though, when my friend recommended we try out this Japanese curry restaurant at Stanford House, Curry Favor (which is, admittedly, a cute wordplay pun of a shop name), I had a pretty good dining experience.

Ok, so I cheated and had a teriyaki chicken rice with scrambled eggs. But, I did try some of my other friends’ orders, which include the restaurant’s signature curry beef rice, so I can actually say that the curry was pretty delicious.

While (justifiably) different-tasting from the usual local curry fare, the curry was packed with flavour and, while thick (which is apparently how it’s supposed to be, due to the vegetables being used), the texture complemented both the soft rice and the chewy beef cubes. The ingredients used were pretty high standard and, while dishes like these tend to be on the heavy side, it didn’t leave any of us feeling bloated.

I have no idea what real authentic Japanese curry tastes like but, if this isn’t it, it’s at least much closer to it than any of the usual dawdry fare that the food court Japanese stalls or the conveyor-belt Jap restaurants serves up.

My teriyaki chicken rice was great too. While the eggs were a little tasteless and not the best complement to the meat, the teriyaki sauce was tasty without being overly salty and the rice was mouth-wateringly fluffy. While this dish was a little heavy on the stomach, it was nonetheless a satisfactory bite.

My friends and I also shared a cheese bites side dish, made of battered flour rings containing oozing cheese. While not the best fried dish ever, it was pretty tasty and the cheese wasn’t overpowering or overwhelming like it has a tendency to be.

While the prices there might be a tad more than people might be willing to fork out for Japanese curry during these financially-strapped times (each of us spent close to $20, including service charge and GST), but the good quality of the dishes make up for it.

Plus, the service was pretty good too. The staff were friendly and vigilant.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Curry Favor can be found at 39 Stamford Road, #01-08/09 Stamford House (opening hours: Mon-Wed, Sat-Sun: 12pm-10pm, Thu-Fri: 12pm-11pm) or at #03-26/27 Velocity @ Novena Square (opening hours: 12pm - 10pm daily).

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

K Box Safra Jurong West

I don’t know about you but I find that, at times, there’s nothing more fun than heading to a karaoke joint with friends, stuffing yourselves into a room and then proceeding to sing your heart out, safe with the knowledge that all that happens within the room stays within the room and no one outside the place will ever hear your heart-wrenched caterwauling.

Well, there’s a chance that the little safety bubble won’t be there anymore in the K Box at the newly opened Safra Jurong West but it just makes it even more fun.

Located a stone throw away from the Boon Lay bus interchange and MRT station, the K Box (which, in Singapore, is ubiquitous with karaoke) at Safra is a clean, relatively unvisited little treasure of a karaoke treat. This outlet, furbished to reflect the retro, old-school look of the 1940s Chinatown (I assume), has some of the niftiest features I’ve ever seen in any karaoke outlet.

The rooms here are much more spacious (not to mention cleaner) than the usual claustrophobic booths and, maybe due to the fact that my friend and I were there on a weekday afternoon, the room we got could easily have fit six to eight people.

Other than the by-now-prerequisite dual screens that most of the higher end K Boxes have, the rooms also come equipped with a wall-mounted song controller (which lets you modulate the pitch of the song and, rather cutely, lets you insert cheers and applause into your performances) and a touch screen song selector.

The touch screen song selector is quite remarkable. Not only is the screen large and bright, the touch feature is sensitive and comes with the ability to save your favourite songs for easy access next time around on a dedicated playlist.

The screen even has Chinese handwriting recognition software, for those who’d rather write out the names of the artistes they’re looking for.

The most exciting feature, though, to me, is the ability to save your performances and then send them over to your phone or laptop through bluetooth. The system lays down the actual karaoke backing track, overlays your vocals through the microphone onto it and combines the two into an actual mp3.

This definitely gives a kick to those who want a souvenir of their adventure with the microphone or for those who just want to hear how they actually sound like, since most know that what we hear through our own ears is never actually what others hear.

The prices at this K Box are the same as at any other outlets (a five hour marathon on a weekday afternoon, together with two free drinks and a bowl of snacks, cost me about S$20 after including all additional surcharges) but I’ve heard that anyone who has both a K Box membership card and Safra membership can enjoy a price of S$10 for a session.

For more info like opening hours and price packages, please head to http://www.kbox.com.sg/Home.aspx