A for Arbite

Nope I was not kidnapped by aliens or being murdered. I declare the owner of this blog is still alive. Although the past few weeks felt like I went to hell and back. After being slammed at work for weeks, I finally redeemed my soul. And what's a better thing to do than having a feast at a nice place? And to pen my thoughts at this blog is therapeutic. This is the place where I can just be who I really am - a happy girl who just loves to laugh and eat.

Therapy started at A for Arbite. Housed in Aliwal Arts Centre near Arab Street in Bugis, the restaurant was the size of a basketball court and the tables were spaced well apart. A for Arbite caters to big groups with its communal tables and smaller groups with its bar tables and smaller tables. 

Loved this quote on the wall. Actually life need not be as tough as you think.

A refreshing and fruity lychee & mint magherita ($8 for non-alcholic/ $14 for alcoholic) and ice lemon tea ($4) to start off. Lychee and mint combination always work for me.

Small plates are priced from $8 to $17, while big plates ranged from $18 to $34. For two pax, we ordered two small plates and one big plate which were sufficient, leaving enough room for one dessert too.

White bait - deep fried and tossed with lemongrass and chili salt )($8++, below). It was an addictive deep fried fish dish which we could not stop going for. I would recommend to have this with beer which will wash down the deep fried mouthful. However, I didn't really like the accompany greens which had a sourish dressing.

Our other small plate was lobster thermidor ($17++, below). It was a thick creamy soup which comprise of lobster, crab, mushrooms, mustard, brandy and Parmesan cheese. It's a challenge to classify this under one of the four basic flavors (aka sweet, sour, bitter, saltiness) that our taste buds can recognize.. I can only say this was something extraordinary. It had the sweetness of the ocean, fragrance of mushrooms, mild pungency of mustard, slight bitterness of the brandy, cheese flavor, and had the texture of a thick chowder. It was so flavorful and tasty that we licked off every single drop in the bowl. In my opinion, this is the signature of A for Arbite and I would return to order again, except that I would not make the mistake of agreeing to share it :p

Our choice of big plate was the Tri pepper spaghettini with snow crab ($27++, below) which had green, pink and black pepper pasta with snow crabs. The dish was slightly spicy. We thought the pasta was special, and we felt like we were eating ramen that's cooked al dente. The pepper was not overpowering, but very subtle. And not forgetting the main character- delicious and juicy snow crab. 

Ending off with a sweet dessert- sticky date pudding ($10++, below). The moist and airy chocolate sponge cake was wondrously drizzled with ultra sweet caramel sauce and topped with refreshing vanilla ice-cream. Too sweet for me. Strictly for those with a sweet tooth.

Service was attentive, right from the moment we entered till the end of dinner. The serving speed was well paced and commendable given the crowd. Place was empty when we visited at 8pm but packed when we left at about 10pm. Overall, an amazing place which I will certainly return again. So happy to find a secret gem!

Address: 28 Aliwal Street, #01-01, Singapore 199918

Flor Patisserie @ Siglap

Hidden in the private Siglap neighbourhood, this outlet of Flor Patisserie is a respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. Great for those who want a secret date. 

I love the spacious layout, blue and white decor, as well as the large number of seats available. 

Topped with fresh juicy strawberries, the Napolean ($6.95, below) is a quarter milky flaky crepe cake, three-quarters sponge cake, that ends with a sweet crunchy base. It was really sweet and for a moment I was in a diabetic rush. Not for the faint-hearted. 3.75/5

To balance out the sugar rush from Napolean, get the Mango pie ($6.75, below). The sour zesty mango cubes on top of the moist pie would surely offset the sweetness of Napolean. The tart was more gelat than I would have preferred. 3.5/5

Love this quote - Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Address:

42 Siglap Drive

Singapore 456167

Swee Choon

Swee Choon is always the first on my to-go list for late night supper. After all, it opens till 6am. The Jalan Besar location isn't friendly if you don't own four wheels. We took a bus and still had to walk along dark corridors of shophouses before we reached Swee Choon. I don't like dark places because they are haunted. But still, we will bravely flock to it for its cheap and good shanghainese style dim sum. 

A visit at 11pm - we had to wait if we wanted to sit in the restaurant but they had tables available immediately if we sit at their back alley. No surprises for what an impatient person like me had done - take the back alley. Makeshift tables occupied the unglamorous back alley and we were seated at a table against a grey concrete wall that looked like it had been there since I was born. Can't help but I kept imagining that a toilet was behind it.

The regulars would know that Swee Choon is famous for its signature yellow egg yolk custard buns. I was dining with a friend who doesn't take the yellow gooey stuff so we skipped it. But I had tried it on another occasion and loved it. So would highly recommend it. 4.5/5

Another signature dish would be the Mee Sua Kueh ($2 for 2). Or translated into English, deep fried vermicelli rice cake. Writing about this now makes me want to go back and eat it again. An innovative dish which achieved a balance between crispness and softness (crispy at the top and softness towards the bottom). 4.5/5

The Xiao Long Bao (or pork minced meat dumpling with hot soup broth) ($4 for 4) is pretty decent. But sorry I have given my heart to Din Tai Fung's best Xiao Long Bao in the world. Compared to Din Tai Fung, Swee choon's has thicker skin which is less than perfect. Swee Choon's minced pork is also less tasty than Din Tai Fung's. But both have similar savory scalding soup broth. 3.5/5

We found the Char Siew baked pastry ($2.20 for 2) surprisingly delicious - the sweetness of Char Siew filling was just nice and matched the crumbly golden baked crust well. 4/5

We also ordered some Siew Mai ($1.80 for 2) which in my opinion, was so-so and nothing to shout about. 3/5

One thing I like the place about was the service speed. Before we could get our seats warmed, the food was streaming in non-stop. They also have a takeaway shop next to the restaurant which is very popular. 

Address: 185 Jalan Besar

Sakura International Buffet

I don't usually go to buffets because it's difficult to find really good quality ones that don't make me feel ouch when I pay.  Nevertheless, there would be days when I am in a "i-want-to-eat-till-i-burst" mode or the fickle monster's "I want laksa but also sashimi" mode. Even though my wallet might not agree with my mood. So on my mission to search for a budget buffet, I came across Sakura and decided to give it a try since:

- it's probably the cheapest international buffet in Singapore ($26 ++ for weekend lunch). 

- it has 8k fans on Facebook. So can't be that bad right?

- it serves Ben & jerry ice cream. If the food cannot make it, at least we can still "piah" the ice cream to redeem the ticket price.

There are quite a few outlets in Singapore (Dhoby Ghaut, Pasir Ris, Admiralty Park, Clementi, Jurong, Tampines, Yio Chu Kang). I visited the Pasir Ris outlet. I didn't take pics of all the food but I thought the variety was quite reasonable. 

Sushi & sashimi counter

BBQ station.. Just need to clip the binder clip (found at our table) to the meat sign we wanted and the chef grilled it and served to our table. 

Pizza and Western food

There was a Asian counter serving scallop congee, crayfish, dim sum, noodles.

There was a local delicacy station serving Hainanese chicken rice and cooks laksa on the spot. Laksa was good!

There was a fried food station containing chicken wings, tempura prawns, fried dumplings. Tempura was nice!

Hot station serving chawanmushi, herbal chicken and soups (mushroom, "shark fin", radish)

Drinks station

Ice cream station

Fruits station

Desserts station serving the usual suspect durian puff, chocolate eclairs, fruit pudding 

The good:

- tempura prawn

- crayfish

- sashimi

- BBQ chicken satay 

- grilled Thai sauce prawns

- laksa

- durian puff

- ice cream

- lychee and mango puddings

The rest are not worth the calories. 

Overall rating: 2.75/5

Overall, I think it is an average buffet with excellent price. Don't go there expecting hotel standard. Don't "hiam" so much and you will find that it is actually "can eat lah". Set the expectation correctly to avoid disappointment. I don't mind going back during weekday which is even cheaper ($23++).