Coffee Club

we had lunch at coffee club and they have a new menu.. i have no idea how long ago the change was made but i was disappointed to find that they had removed their sun-dried tomato salmon dish for i was looking forward to a healthy light lunch.

 

mum's honey mustard chicken ciabatta is a safe and delicious bet for those overwhelmed by the wide selection of sandwiches.



on a heartier side, dad's mushroom and parmesan cheese baked rice set lunch includes dessert and regular coffee. the dessert materialized in the form of a berry compote and mascarpone sable tart. the chilled berry compote was delectably tangy and it reminded me of the berry gelato i had from gelatissimo at shaw yesterday. the mascarpone tart consists of fresh blueberries and mascarpone cheese, sandwiched between two thin sable-like biscuits. though it was dad's dessert, jie and i circled around it like a couple of pesky vultures

 

smoked salmon caesar salad. well, i was definitely wrong about the light lunch aspect as i marched into the food hall of takashimaya and munched on pineapples and popiah.

being typical singaporeans, the topic of dinner surfaced promptly as we were almost done with lunch. seeing how convenient it was to obtain japanese ingredients from the supermarket, we decided on japanese sukiyaki.



i think we got a little carried away with the mushrooms.. there were at least four different types of mushrooms. enoki mushrooms which are those with long thin stems and tiny white caps. two types of hon-shimeji mushrooms which have shorter stems and are sold in clusters.



i am a big fan of fishcakes so must-haves despite the lack of true nutritional value include kamaboko (japanese steamed fish cake) and chikuwa (ring of japanese fish cake, shaped into the form of the bamboo). i know to foreigners they may look utterly unplatable and even intimidating since it bears zilch resemblence to its original source.. and furthermore, the unnatural highlighter pink swirl in the middle of the kamaboko does nothing to appease your nerves. called me 'weird' but there's just something gratifying about chewing those squeshy stuffs. haha..

it was a relief to find that those mushrooms were free of the pungent scent that accompanied other mushrooms such as the portobello mushrooms. i stayed clear of the shitake mushrooms (dark brown caps and white gills) though.. and lavished much attention on the clams instead.

while in copenhagen, i never craved for local food such as char kway teow or laksa. in fact, i have been home for two weeks and i haven't even had chicken rice yet.. but home-created steamboats were one thing i sorely missed especially during chinese new year.

another reason why i am glad to be home.