Naughty Nuri, Capitol Piazza

From a small street side restaurant in Bali to chi-chi Capitol Piazza in Singapore, this humble restaurant serving barbecue ribs has come a long way. Naughty Nuri has been opened for close to 3 weeks, but there still teething issues:

• Save for 1 girl (Jasmine), a couple of wait staff were raw and not the most service-oriented people around
• The kitchen was not ready though customers were seated so the wait for food was around 30-45 minutes 
• Several dishes were not available e.g., Corn Fritters, Soy Glazed Chicken Wings

Despite so, we all enjoyed the food, which was loaded with punchy aromatic seasoning. This is probably the reason why Naughty Nuri is easily the most popular restaurant where other restaurants were struggling to fill up 50% capacity.

I thought I would kick off the list of dishes we had with their signature ribs, as many of us have the attention span of a fruit fly. Oh wait, you have scrolled through the rest of the post? I loved their signature barbecue ribs! Even when I was left with the scorched ends that my dad wouldn't go near with a 10-foot pole. 

The ribs were definitely fork-tender, but I would highly recommend having a go at them with your fingers and canines. I am not exactly sure what the seasoning consisted of (am going to Google as soon as I am done writing this) but I have been dropping not-so-subtle hints to KW to try out this recipe.

We had three starters and I would recommend two to get your guys started on your meal. The baby squid calamari were crunchy, chewy, and severely addictive. I love how they serve lime slices to cut through the richness of food.

I like the Bali/Indon take on buffalo wings, as the original is a wee bit too one-note for me.  

The crispy pigs ears though crunchy had little else to offer. 

The fried tofu was rather uninspiring too as I had hoped for something similar to tahu telok. They were good to have around as we had our little one with us.

Sambal prawns with petai was a heavy knocker, thanks to its fieriness and pungence. 

Carbs-wise, there is the Nasi Goreng and Nasi Maggi Goreng. I can't say which is better as it really boils down to preference. KW liked the Maggi Goreng version though I like the mix of brown and white rice within the Nasi Goreng.

Both carb dishes came with keropok, a very sunny side up, shrimp and satay - make for a hearty well-rounded meal. We ordered seconds and the satay were much better (less burnt) the second time round, perhaps due to less stress on the kitchen.

Indian Fried Chicken, Far East Square

Indian fried chicken holds a special place in the hearts of my colleagues and I, so imagine my delight when I found a makeshift nasi padang and and biryani place at Far East Square, just opposite the original Ya Kun.

One Friday after team call, a bunch of us trooped down for our fix of Indian fried chicken. Armoured with a thick amber coating, the Indian fried chicken was satisfying hearty and juicy, but the marinade was surface-level and hadn't yet permeate through the chicken. Still, it provided for a good bonding time with the colleagues.

Lucas' First Month Party + Sedap kecap manis chicken

In typical second child style, Lucas' first month celebration was a relatively modest affair. Remember Russell's Mexican fiesta? Link here if you are keen to re-live the party.

KW and I didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen or behind the grill all say - or running around about the evening, for that matter - and we decided to cater the food.

The day before the party, mummy guilt hit for keeping things too simple and I decided to order a bunch of alphabet balloons to add to the festivities. Love them!

Truth of the matter is, Russell has been rather sensitive of late and we need all hands on deck to mind the not-so-little munckin. Oh yes, the terrible threes are real, my friend. very real.

We had a nasi lemak party with food ordered from Bali Nasi Lemak. Honestly, I had no idea this place even existed till I googled "Nasi Lemak Singapore" and my eyes almost popped out when I saw how delicious the food looked.

For a minimum of $100, they do free delivery (woohoo!). Note: This is not an advertorial nor did I receive any monetary compensation from them.

Our guests loved the food, we loved the leftovers and everyone thanked the PAP for creating a multi-racial society. Amen.

Otah

Onion omelette 

Sotong ball

Lady's finger with sambal

Deep-fried chicken wings

The winner for the night was undoubtedly their signature kecap manis chicken. Deep-fried and tossed around in a finger-lickin'-good sweet sticky sauce. MUST MUST MUST ORDER!

Unpictured were some very fluffy coconut rice, sweetish samba chill and addictive ikan bilis.

And of course, the little man slept through most of his party.

Though it's been 48 hours since the party, we still have not taken down the decorations and are looking for another reason to order those ridiculously sedap kecap manis chicken. 

Penang Seafood Restaurant, 76 Geylang Lorong 25A

Between work and family time, there really isn't any motivation to sit down and blog properly about meals. However, I thought it would be doing Penang Seafood Restaurant serious injustice if I procrastinated any further.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fog on your monitor is not a technical error. Do not wipe your screens.

The salted egg yolk squid is, by far, the best salted-egg-yolk-something I have ever had! That's some tall order, I realise.

The chewy calamari bears a light breaded coating that poses little resistance to the creamy, slightly spicy salted egg yolk sauce. This dish absolutely calls out to the calamari-loving dork in me.

It seemed as if we each had a favourite that afternoon and KW loved the samba lala that was a saucy, slurpy treat if you are into that suck-on-shell kind of thing. 

The prawn paste chicken was marvellous too. Thickish unctuous batter encasing juicy insides. I have no idea how some people featured on Sunday Times under the Hot Bod section "eat only fried food once a week" - I can't live without at least one serving of something deep-fried everyday.  

For my selectively health-conscious and fish-loving dad, the Assam fish head was gloriously piquant and satisfying. That meant the rest of us didn't have to hear him complain about it for the upcoming weeks. Double bonus.  

The only dish we would not order again is the Neptune fish maw. Goopy, starchy and slimy, it was not fantastic. I am personally not a fan of fish maw to begin with but I didn't hear anyone call out for it either. 

Just in case you are wondering where the "Penang" in Penang Seafood Restaurant is...

The Assam laksa and Penang prawn mee are both very competently done. 

Another goopy, starchy and slimy dish but far less offensive was the san lor hor fun. My mum ordered this for Russell, who inherited kway-teow-loving genes from me.

However, if you are pressed for stomach space, skip this and order the Penang char kway teow instead.

KW and I had a quick chat over this Penang char kway teow - he think the one we had in Penang was better and I thought, Maybe but the plate we had in front of us was absolutely delicious and I wouldn't drive across the causeway with this around. A serious contender for one of the best Penang char kway teows around.

My mum's "birthday cake" - a lovely lemon cream meringue tart from Carpenter & Cook.

On board for Pantone's Color of the Year - Radiant Orchid. Heehee...

A postcard from my childhood - Penang buffet at Princess Terrace

When we finally got around to cashing in some credit card points, one of the things we redeemed were Millennium and Corpthorne dining vouchers. Naturally, one place popped into my mind: Princess Terrace Cafe at Copthorne King's Hotel (http://www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/copthornekingssingapore/dining/restaurants/princess-terrace-cafe.html), the First of His Name, Stalwart of Penang Buffet.

The last time I came to Princess Terrace on a weekday, there were lots of  corporate dwellers gathering, celebrating birthdays, farewells and whatnots. This time round though, the restaurant was surprisingly 60% full during lunch on a Saturday - then again, prices have stealthily increased over the past few years and it is hard to justify paying $40.80++ a pop for hawker/ street food.

Anyway, I zoomed in on the stuff I really liked plus a few others that looked positively tantalizing. Good thing there weren't hordes of people dashing for the Penang char kway teow when it was brought out. The braised pork belly and spicy braised chicken were pleasing but the prawn paste chicken was woefully mild.

Shades of auburn and autumn

Apart from the sketchy turmeric curry fish, the other stuff I took were tasty enough. Love the pork satay! After a couple more runs of satay and char kway teow, I pulled myself away from the savoury section for desserts.

Got to admit Bengawan Solo has ruined us for kuehs, especially our favorite the kueh salat. The tau huay is smooth enough but shades off Lao Ban Beancurd and pretty 'holey' for some reason. Almost wafer crisp and warm to the fingertips, my peanut and kaya mee chang kueh was oh-so-terribly tasty!

Chicken and pancake from Maxwell

(In case, this post sounds confusing, I had this meal just before Chinese New Year)

Thanks to the disturbingly warm weather over the past couple of weeks, I wasn’t in the mood for anything hot and soupy at a hawker centre. As more than half the stores at Maxwell Food Centre were closed for Chinese New Year, I suddenly felt inspired to eat something non-Chinese.

Taking full advantage of my adventurous mood, I had a Malay fried chicken from Aspirasi (#01-63 Maxwell Food Centre). This is one of the rare moments when risk-taking served me well.

The chicken was incredibly juicy, especially for something that had been out on display. The crispy chicken skin yields easily in your mouth and doesn't scratch the roof of your mouth. The folks at Aspirasi even upped the crunch (aka yum) factor with a sprinkle of brittle batter.

The chicken was let down by a watery sweet chili sauce but it was good enough on its own. I've got to say it was quite bony but this was one helluva grease bomb (albeit a very satisfying grease bomb) and I was happy with what I had to deal with.

I didn't get any rice as I wanted to save my carbs for something esle.

Ta-dah! A soft but chewy peanut pancake fresh out of the pan and warm. This is of course from the very creatively named store - Pancake (26 Maxwell Food Centre).

These days, most of the peanut pancakes out there are sold lukewarm so having a warm baby is quite something to be very happy about.

There was a mild but pleasant pandan aroma of the pancake filled with sweetened crushed peanuts that makes lapping up the fallen bits so very unglamourous. So good! I just had to get another (warm) slab as soon as I was done with my first.

Come to think of it, my meal sort of resembles a Southeast Asian chicken and waffles, no?

She's got the rempah

I had an awesome cannot-be-beaten (happy to be proven wrong anytime) Wednesday and it was all because of this:

My mum, younger sister and I had scheduled a cooking class with our (ok, my ex) neighbour Rosalind Soon, who specialises in Peranakan and Penang cuisine, and I had been super excited about it since a week ago.

But before that, we needd to fuel up and I enjoyed a Korean lunch with mum at Ko Ryo Jeong Korean Restaurant. Ko Ryo Jeong is one of those old timer Korean restaurants that existed way before K-pop and Hallyu crashed upon our shores. I have seen tour groups from Korea here - not judging, just observing.

We shared their spicy beef soup and barbecued saba, and a modest array of tasty banchan that made for a very satisfying lunch.

Back to the highlight of my day.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was majorly excited about this cooking class. The 3 of us have not participate in one since our trip to Chiang Mai and that was a gut-busting trip that we all still remember till this day.

There are pre-scheduled classes that you can join but Mrs Soon would do her best to accommodate customized classes at long as there is a minimum of 3 people. More details can be found here.

Based on Mrs Soon’s repertoire, we picked out dishes - nasi lemak, beef rendang and char siew - we love from the bottom of our hearts. Speaking of hearts, did you know that latest research has proven that coconut oil is actually good for your heart? *Heart*

It was a demonstration class which was great because Mrs Soon had a lot planned for that afternoon, and chances are I would be the one slowing the class down, much to the chagrin of my younger sister.

Before we started, we sampled some rending which she had prepared earlier. Mrs Soon used the shin which made a heck of a difference. I took a bite and my knees went weak. No need for those beefcakes from Abercrombie & Fitch; I will take you home like, right now.

Mrs Soon’s char is siew is slightly darker in colour as she didn't add cochineal aka red food colouring. Oh my effing god, I could smell it cooking in the oven, caramelizing its way to sweet, sticky deliciousness. Was it good? Is China rich and southern Europe on need of a colonial master? Hell yeah.

You say “char siew”, I say “meat lust”.

And you are going right into muh belly ...

In the midst of all this, Mrs Soon also starting preparing components of the nasi lemak. She worked like a seasoned cook and with the help of her help, Mary Lou, whipped up these dishes within the two and half hour class. The best part if we could pick at the food fresh out of the deep fryer, oven or grill. I can’t help it if I’m easily distracted and some help staying focused.

Deep fried ginger fish.

Aromatic otah with mackerel chunks.

Deep fried boxing chicken done 2 ways.

Sambal Udang (prawns) with incredible kick.

As well as freshly fried plan bilis that were seriously addictive, archar which I thought could do with more heat and twang, and the fluffiest coconut rice that I could demolish buckets of.

Add a generous dollop of homemade chilli and I am set for life.

I’m not kidding when I say I’m low maintenance. Give me some crunchy ikan bilis, rice and chilli and I won’t disturb for you for the rest of the day.

Something sweet to end our afternoon - pineapple tarts Mrs Soon had made since Chinese New Year was just around the corner.

We packed up our achievements a bunch of stuff back for dad and kw, and the pugs wouldn’t leave my mum alone while she was prepping dinner for the men.

Funny how they like to line up after one another.