Xi Yan喜宴
this is the long awaited post hahaha ok i am gonna blog bout Xi Yan!
so i heard about this place through friends and the internet! always wanted to eat there cos its not like any other restaurant but a private dining restuarant. there are only a few tables in the restaurant so if u wanna dine there, you'll have to book and order beforehand. i was told that i had to order beforehand as they wanted to ensure the freshness of the food and only cook enough for the guests on that day. Wow! have never eaten anywhere like that before.
so here's an excerpt from their website
" Xi Yan was first started by Jack Yu, a designer-turned-celebrity-chef In Hong Kong in year 2000. In 2005 Xi Yan Singapore was started, the private dining restaurant transcended the ordinary to champion creative cooking, and epitomized what private fine dining should be. Since then Xi Yan, meaning "banquet of joy" or "happy and joyous banquet" has continued to be rated top among the private dining restaurants in both Hong Kong and Singapore.
While Xi Yan boasts a long list of guests of who-is-who from all over the world, it attracts anyone who seek to enjoy quality good food. No matter who the guest, Xi Yan home setting makes every of its guests feel comfortable visiting.
Xi Yan private dining is strictly by reservations-only, it adheres to a philosophy that only what's fresh of the day at the market will be served, and the 12 course menu would be plan by the chef daily. Xi Yan will also cater to guests special advance request whenever they require an even more elaborate menu for their dining pleasure. Only one sitting for lunch and dinner will be served to ensure quality and consistency. "
Let's start with the decor and ambience of the place. well, i think it was a good place to eat and chat with your friends and family mbrs becos its a small place and quiet so u wont be disrupted if u want to have quality conversations! and the whole restaurant is decorated like a art gallery. there are paintings all around and you can pretend to gaze or admire at the paintings if your friend or family mbr is boring you out. hahaha! the lightings were rather dim but they were nice enough to brighten it for us to take photos of the food. very comfortable ambience to have a nice dinner.
okie lets move on to the food! armed with a budget of $500 for 6 people, we ordered the $68++ per pax meal through email beforehand and still had no idea what to expect. kinda excited as to what we will be served! we only knew that it wld be a 7 course meal.
First up, the appetizer. Greenhouse Tomatos in wasabi sesame sauce
these tomatos are no ordinary tomatoes. these are Momotaro tomatoes! im told that Xi Yan gets their tomatoes directly from a farm in Japan and these are absolutely delicious! im not a big fan of tomotoes and will never eat more than 1 or 2 pieces at a time. however, these babies are so sweet! a check at Cold Storage showed that two of these tomatoes cost around $4.50! well, big price to pay for these delicious tomatoes. haha anyway yes i bought 2 at cold storage last week! so back to this dish, i couldnt really taste the wasabi in the sauce but the sesame sauce goes so well with the sweetness of the tomato. i was really full of praises for this dish. it proved to be my most memorable dish of the day!
next, Ginseng Chicken Soup
ok this dish had no chicken in it. just soup. hmm i wasnt too impressed or blown away by this dish because im not a huge fan of ginseng. but my sister, who's a huge fan of ginseng related products, gave her thumbs up for this dish. all i can say is that i could taste the ginseng and the chicken.
Deep Fried Shishamo with XO sauce ( served separately )
shishamo is something common in japanese food and it is readily available at most supermarkets. you can get them frozen in a pack, ready to be fried. but what's different bout the ones here are that the fish is much more fat and juicy. it was not dry and flat like some i've tried at those japanese buffet. these ones were a joy to bite into and the XO sauce paired really well with it. i would say the XO sauce was the main star in this dish. the shishamo, albeit nice, did not rlly shine. afterall, its still deep fried shishamo.
Stir fried Spicy Beancurd Prawns
this dish was delish! the sauce in which they coat the prawns in, were made using spicy fermented beancurd which is also known as 'dou fu ru'. it is commonly available in Singapore and normally eaten with porridge as it is very salty. the idea of cooking the prawns with the beancurd really piqued my interest! i will try out the recipe one day! even the ginger tasted good in the sauce! ( fyi, i hate ginger) only thing bout this dish is that its a teeny bit too salty by itself. prolly goes well with rice!
Pagoda Dongpo Pork with Preserved Vegetables
another dish that i really liked! i loved the presentation as well as taste of this dish. they used the thinly sliced Dongpo pork to form into a pagoda and stuffed the preserved veg inside. the pork was sliced so thinly that you didnt really have to bite it at all. plus the sauce alone made me ate a half bowl of rice. Dongpo pork is a famous Hangzhou dish and its named after famed poet, Su Dongpo. legend has it that he cooked this dish after being banished to a life of poverty in Huang gang, Hubei. u have to try this dish! the unveiling of the pork was fun to watch too!
Steamed fish with pickled chilli and black bean paste sauce with rice noodles
the steamed fish they used was cod and i love cod! who doesnt? its expensive haha. anyway, this dish had a very mellow taste. not too overpowering although it had black bean paste sauce and chilli. personally, i felt that the rice noodle had no taste prolly because the cooked the fish and noodle separately and then put it together. the sauce only coats the surface of the noodle but not cooked into the noodle. my grandma had to ask for some XO sauce from previous shishamo dish to eat with the rice noodle. the noodle was more like hor fun than noodle and i admit, it was much better after the XO sauce came. overall, the noodles were not impressive.
Chef's milk ice cream with butter shortbread
honestly, i was expecting much more than this. i was taken aback when the desert came. after all, we were so impressed with the food so far. however, this ice cream tasted so rich and creamy after the first bite! it was not too sweet and definitely not commercially made. i had an extra serving thanks to my grandma who didnt fancy ice cream. but i must say that ice cream somehow was not a good end to the dinner. prolly some kind of double boiled chinese sweet dessert甜汤 like white fungus soup or glutinous rice balls would be more appropriate. also, the butter shortbread felt and tasted like store bought wafer.
all in all, i enjoyed the dinner very much and would love to go back there. the food tasted above average and service was exceptional. they dished up portion by portion for all of us and we did not even have to move a finger. haha ! also, the server patiently waited for my dad, my sis and i to take photos plus adjusted the lightings for us to do that. and the best thing was that they printed a copy of the night's menu for all of us so that we can rmbr what we ate? haha
Xi Yan 喜宴
Location: 38A, Craig Road Singapore 089676
Xi Yan Singapore is tucked away in a quiet spot in convenient down-town Tanjong Pagar area (Craig Road). It’s located on the 2nd floor of a lovely conserved three story building away from the crowd. Ample parking is available diagonally across Xi Yan at the Craig Place multi-storey car park and the surrounding Duxton area.
Cost: Lunch menu ranging from $68++ per pax to $28++ per pax
Dinner menu ranging from $128++ per pax to $58++ per pax
Tel no.: 6220 3546
Website: http://www.xiyan.com.sg
Ratings: hits and misses, 3.5 stars
edit
forgot to add in the promotions! here it is!
joy
Kim's Family Restaurant
hehe hi im back! actually back long ago just that i was busy with different things and lazy too. heh, i will repent! anyway i want to recommend this korean restaurant that is one of my fav place to eat at! its called Kim's Family Restaurant.
when u order any main dishes, they will serve more than 10 side dishes ( banchan ) together with ur mains and u can keep on refilling it, as much as u like. i've been there a few times and i never get sick of the side dishes cos they got many diff varieties!
it is really value for money becos u can order just one main dish and get to try all the side dishes! normally we will order just a hotpot and share among 4 ppl and then have all the side dishes too! and that will cost like less than $10 per person! u just have to go try it!
Kim's Family Restaurant
Location: 17 Lorong Kilat #01-06 Kilat Court Singapore
Cost: dependent on what u order but i advise on not ordering too much and trying all the side dishes
Opening hours: Mon–Sat: 11.30am–2.30pm, 5.30pm–9.30pm Sun: 5.30pm–9.30pm
rating: 4.5 stars
Be back soon!
Will be back to update on a review for Xi Yan! Going for a short trip to Bandung and Jakarta!
Liquid Kitchen
I love chilling out with friends and just catching up with them, so i am constantly on the lookout for good places to chill! Few days ago, i went to Liquid Kitchen in Serangoon Gardens to chill with a few friends. It was quite a nice place to chill esp with their on-going House pour promotion! I did try out their food as well! tried the slow roasted spring chicken but was terribly disappointed ): the chicken was too dry, not only the breast meat but the thigh as well! its either the over cooked the chicken or left it in the fridge for too long and the meat dried up! didnt try their finger food like potato wedges but will try their other finger food next time, as they have a big variety!
the best part of the whole experience there was the drinks! the promotion was house pours for $5 nett! i had whisky dry, which was whisky and ginger ale. ( am i right? correct me if im wrong! ). My dear friend, guangs, picked the drink out for me and i was so grateful! haha it was a good drink! i tried the vodka cranberry as well but i felt that the cranberry taste overpowered the vodka.
sorry, blur pics cos the place was very dark!
On-going Promotions !
also, they have promotion for a pint of Erdinger for $11++ ( cant really rmbr the price ) and a pint of tiger for $8++ ( also cant rmbr heh ). i will definitely go back for more of the house pour promotion before it ends!
Liquid Kitchen
Location: 28 Maju Avenue
Cost: drinks- $5 onwards
food- $ 6-7 onwards for finger food
Quick and Easy Ramen!
Nowadays, we have everything instant. Instant noodles, instant coffee, instant cash, instant messaging etc.. So today i want to introduce to you, quick and easy ramen! The best parts of this ramen is the taste and the convenience! It is basically like a chim or high class version of the instant noodle.
Quick and Easy Ramen ( Serves 2 )
One pack of ramen ( easily available at all leading supermarket. this brand has awesome soup base and is cheap)
Two packs of soup base, any flavour u like ( inside ramen pack )
1 piece sea weed
Spring Onion
Roast pork
( basically add whatever ingredients u like. i just throw in whatever is in my fridge )
Cook Ramen noodles in boiling water for 3-5 min. Do NOT overcook noodles! immediately drain water and rinse with cold water when noodles are done, to prevent the noodles from cooking further.
Add soup base into boiling water and throw in all your other ingredients. Once the other ingredients are cooked, serve soup with noodles.
Garnish with spring onion and seaweed.
Sorry i cant recall the name of this brand of ramen i like to buy! but u can take a look at the pic above and look for it at the supermarket! they have shoyu soup base, miso and tonkotsu (pork bones soup base). my fav one is the tonkotsu. Very very acceptable to satisfy ramen cravings and weird hours or if u think ramen takes too much effort to cook. Also, very good to impress friends or family members! u can fake that u took like hours to boil the pork bones for the soup base! hehe but of cos cannot be compared to those that i had in Japan.... ooohhhhhhh **drools***
quick go stock up ur fridge with this brand of ramen NAO!
Oreo Cheesecake!
My aunt loves cheesecake so i decided to do a baked version of the Oreo cheesecake for her. Today's recipe will be a baked version of the Oreo cheesecake. Will do up another post for non bake version!
Have fun baking!
Oreo Cheesecake
For cake base:
2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter
For cake:
3 pack of cream cheese softened
1 can Sweetened condensed milk ( try to get the low fat one, it will make u feel better haha )
1/4 cup sugar ( i omitted this )
1 tbsp flour
3 eggs
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 pack Oreo cookies squashed (but not crumbs)
Oreo cookies for garnish if desired
Method:
Preheat oven to 150° C. Grease 9-inch springform pan.
Fill an oven tray 3/4 full with warm water. Set on bottom oven rack while oven is preheating. This is to prevent the cheesecake from cracking when it is baking in the oven.
beat up Oreo cookies to crumbs. my fav tool : rolling pin
In a medium mixing bowl, combine Oreo crumbs and butter, stir to combine. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove and increase oven temperature to 175 C.
In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add sugar and flour, beat to combine. Add eggs one at a time beating only to combine after each addition. When adding the third egg, also add the lime juice and vanilla extract; beat until combined.
Using a spatula, gently fold in squashed Oreo cookies.
Bake in preheated oven for 50-65 minutes or until edge is set and center moves slightly.
Shut oven off and allow cheesecake to cool for 1-4 hours. Run a warm knife around edge of cheesecake after 1 hour. Place in fridge to cool completely.
Poached Eggs!
Have you ever had eggs benedict? I absolutely love it! its a poached egg served with bacon on an english muffin with hollandaise sauce. so basically poaching eggs is like cooking the egg in a pot of water without the shell. well, sounds easy right? haha
Egg poaching is awesome because u dont have to use oil and its very eggy! a perfect poached egg consist of a runny yolk, a thin layer of eggwhite over the yolk and no raw eggwhite parts left. You might run into some difficulties at first but just keep trying until u get the perfect poached eggs!
Poached eggs
2 eggs ( or how many u wanna eat )
3 tsp salt
1 shallow pan ( or thick pan but i prefer using a shallow one)
water to cover more than half of the pan
vinegar (optional but i dont like using it as it spoils the taste)
Fill the pan with water and bring to boil. Once it is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and swirl the water in the pan to a smooth circular motion.
Crack the eggs into a small saucer or ramekin and slip the eggs in one at a time into the centre of the whirlpool.
Allow the eggs to sit in the water until the whites around it begin to firm up and form a crust around the yolk.
Remove eggs gently with slotted spoon or ur steamboat ladle and gently tap out excess water.
Plate them straight onto your muffin or toast and enjoy with salt and pepper or hollandaise sauce.
Enjoy!
Joy
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