My Christmas Eve

So not only has our living room been halved in size for renovations, our christmas tree has shrunken considerably. Despite the immediate instinct to complain about the lack of space, somehow a smaller home feels cosier and more christmassy. Who needs chestnuts roasting on an open fire or snowflakes falling poetically on your window pane when you have a table full of good, hearty food? 

Mutant ham leg studded with cloves 

And to balance the insanely huge ham with something nutritious: 

Apple and walnut salad dressed with olive oil, walnut oil, honey and balsamic vinegar

Oregano lemon potato salad

medium rare argentinian beef

Mummy slicing the ham 

homemade pineapple apple chutney to go with the ham

 

Prive log cake

fruit cake from a friend 

SINGAPORE: Artichoke cafe + bar

I was never much of a lamb person to begin with but I have to say, this is lamb at its pinnacle.

What draws me to Artichoke is the genuineness of it's food. They have no fixed menu - it changes according to what's fresh in the market. As comforting as familiar dishes can be, new flavours, or even a quirky combination of old ones, can be just as satisfyingly delicious. 

Why stick to the same menu when you can experiment with all the different flavours of the season? That to me is what cooking is all about. Artichoke is, therefore, the very essence of what a restaurant should be: no fixed menu, just whatever the ingredients of the season inspire them to cook. 

Beetroot tzatziki: garden beets, homemade yoghurt cheese, pistachio dukka & garlic breadcrumbs, $15

smoked carrot and walnut dip

I love dips. Whether it's hummus or some kind of butternut squash puree, the subtle blend of natural sweetness and mouth-watering savouriness in a healthy dollop of creamy dip is pure joy to me. These dips were refreshingly different and went beautifully with the freshly oven-toasted bread.

Moorish dips with delicious, oven toasted breads imported from Australia 

Wagyu Beef - Persian mince meat skewer, grilled tomatoes, blistered pepper and dirty onions, 150 grams

As much as I try to resist it, I'm a dessert person through and through. Every mouthful of each one of the desserts below was a burst of sunshine on my taste buds.

their all-famous sticky date toffee pudding soaked in smoked milk custard and caramel

Definitely one of the best in Singapore, but my heart still belongs to the sticky date toffee pudding at Prive Bakery Cafe.

Freshly baked, luxuriously banana-ey banana cake 

One thing I never tire of baking is banana bread. If I could steal the recipe for this one, I would. 

Artichoke cafe + bar

161 Middle Road

Singapore 188978

Inside Sculpture Square

LONDON: Tiffany & Co. SKATE

I won't lie, sometimes it's fun to indulge in a bit of blatant consumerism. Tiffany & Co's skating rink may not have been large but their skates were extraordinarily well-cushioned (coming from Nike) and the ice deliciously smooth to glide on. Walking over to Somerset House after my tort tutorial, it was a joy to see the place bathed in baby blue. Pastel blue hues of the preciously sunlit sky melded seamlessly with the happy bright blue of The Tiffany Shop. 

 
The best time to get Tiffany & Co. mochas or Tiffany cupcakes is just before the end of one cycle of skaters (they rotate on an hourly basis) so you get a seat before the queue of post-skating customers line up. 

mince pies! 

Christmas is pervading the streets of london, right down to the reception downstairs. With extravagantly endowed Christmas trees and mesmerizingly sparkly fairy lights popping up everywhere, how can anyone be expected to get any serious work done? 

Chloe and I outside the rink, enjoying a warm cup of coffee after an hour of skating.

I'll be home for Christmas in four days (:

LONDON: Japanese Special - Koya and Yoshino

I have developed a certain predilection for Japanese food, and even more so because of the abundant sushi and ramen places back in Singapore. Then I come to London, land of rushing workaholics and sandwich eaters, and weeks can go by without my having a single piece of sushi or bowl of miso soup. Last week, however, Jinx visited from Singapore and we had the most intensely Japanese-foodie day. 

First was sashimi lunch at Yoshino (see below), then we had an udon dinner at Koya. I've always loved my ramen, and udon's never really registered in my mind as something to order for some odd reason. Needless to say, Koya has changed my impression of udon. My hot udon came with a small side dish of a thick walnut miso paste, studded generously with walnuts, which went perfectly with my mushroomy udon. I couldn't have been happier on a cold winterish-autumn night. 

Kinoko: mushrooms with walnut miso

Prawn tempura udon - with the beef from Marc's udon included. 

I love poached egg.

Yoshino

What was supposed to be a quick lunch before ice-skating at winter wonderland (pictures on facebook) turned into a much longer affair when the dishes at Yoshino turned out to be surprisingly good. If you're ever struck with a serious sashimi craving and you're willing to splurge, I highly recommend the Chirashi Sushi platter - it comes with 7 varieties of sashimi, including my favourite yellowtail.

Curry Tempura Rice

It's always a good idea to order something as simple as curry and rice at a good restaurant because chances are, they're going to do it extremely well. 

Fatty Tuna Sashimi

Wagyu Grill - this was fantastic. 

California Spicy Tuna Rolls, California Organic Salmon Rolls,
Crispy Jumbo Tempura Prawn Rolls, Calamari Tempura Rolls 

Koya

49 Frith Street  

London W1D 4SG

Yoshino

3 Piccadilly Place

London W1J 0DB

Lunch & Dinner
Mon ~ Sat - 12:00 to 22:30 

LONDON: Euphorium Bakery

Banana tart with mashed banana filling (: 

In my quest for a replacement guitar along Islington (don't ask, it's a long story), I chanced upon Euphorium Bakery. I came back the next day with Bong and we ended up having lunch and tea there. Turns out the Islington branch we went to was the main bakery that supplied all their other branches. In fact, the bread was so fresh and so intensely bready, I daresay it was comparable to the french bread I had in Paris. 

Despite it's popularity with mothers and crying babies, the bakery turned out to be strangely conducive study-wise when I went back again on a friday afternoon. Somehow cafe sounds -of coffee being made, orders being taken and lilting conversation-  fade into a placidly calming white noise when you're completely absorbed in something. I've come to find that the remedy to a mounting stress outbreak over seemingly indecipherable coursework is the simple joy to be found in a good sandwich or a satisfactory tart. 

Our lunch...

pull-apart pork with apple sauce

apple, walnut, brie and grape sandwich 

I don't care, someway somehow I'm going to make these work as the light fittings in my future house. 

Bong's creative powers at work: potential new trademark for euphorium bakery? 

...and tea after

Euphorium Bakery
202 Upper Street Islington
London N1 1RQ
t: 020 7704 6905

Opening Times:
Monday - Friday 7.00 am to 10.00 pm
Saturday/Sunday 8.00 am to 10.00 pm  

AMSTERDAM: Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

I may have stopped eating potato chips and drinking soft drinks, but I could never give up chocolate. Whether it's coco powder in hot milk (or blended avocado and milk) and honey, or chocolate bits in my cereal or just chocolate cake, it pervades the segment of my life that revolves around food. We came across this stall set up in Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam in all it's happiness-inducing chocolatey glory and, though most of the trip was a rush to explore the city in the little time we had, we spent an abnormal amount of time here mulling over which chocolate pieces to get. 

Truffles at Albert Cuyp Market 

"I don't know which ones to get!" - Sue Wei 

Last day in Amsterdam 

Metropolitan Deli: Not particularly dutch a cafe, but we were drawn to it like moths to a flame. Before even stepping into the cafe, the familiar bittersweet smell of chocolate consumed our senses and resistance was futile. 

Milk chocolate pistachio cake - so good we melted at the first bite

There were literally humongous chocolate blocks sitting on the counter and a fondue fountain behind it - no wonder it smelled so heavenly.