Prison Break

After last week's 938LIVE lunch recommendation at a hospital, this week's is at a prison. Ok, maybe more accurately, at the outskirts of Changi Prison.

This cow stays near-by but has never tried this place until now when Dad suggested it.


Bark's Specialty Chicken Wings ($10.90 for 6) were a good thing to start off with. They weren't very tasty on their own but some chili sauce and mustard did the trick. What was worth noting was that they were well-fried- hot! not too oily! crispy battered skin!


Dad picked the Char-Grilled Tenderloin Steak ($22.90). I think calling it 'char-grilled' is a misnomer. Anyway, the steak was a bit chewy and it turned out to be a good thing as it became more flavourful with each chew.


My Cheesy Hamburger ($13.90) had a moist beef patty with a mild beefy taste. I like the bits of black pepper in it. The fried egg's runny yolk also added a rich, thick layer of pleasure to each bite. While not outstanding, it was good.

The Bark Cafe has a very relaxing feel to it. Maybe it's the lush greenery and grassy slopes. Or the fact that it's at a fairly off-beat location. Or being neighbour with the Changi Museum brings a sense of history.

Whatever it is, I like the feel of this place.


The Bark Cafe
1000 Upper Changi Road North (beside Changi Museum)
Tel: 6545 4118
Opens: 11am - 2am on weekdays
12pm - 2am on weekends

Chew On This:


There's an ash tray on a barrel outside the dining area. I think it's the smoking point. But don't smoke la. The air and surroundings are nice!

Halloween Birthday

Here's a big Happy 50th to Auntie Petrina (not my real auntie but Jasmine's mum)!!

Got invited to her place together with the League and was really amused at her enthusiasm for Halloween decor. I mean it's not like she has been living for many years in the US. Halloween is not exactly part of Singaporean culture (ok, except maybe clubbing in costumes/outfits) but most don't decorate their homes with ghosts, coffin, skeletons, orange lighting, pseudo-cob webs, witch candy bowl, plastic spiders in the snack bowl etc etc. But I am glad she had so much fun!


Guess the skeleton is out of the closet.

There wasn't any ghoulish dress-ups nor trick-or-treating but the catered food, no matter how un-Halloween, was a treat, especially the laksa.

Laska is the perfect rainy Halloween party food! Hahaha.

Thanks for having us over, Major! I guess we all know how you'll look like at 50. Fabulous. :)

*Group pic courtesy of Neil

Jas' Home
#XX-XXXX
Blk XXX
XXXXX Ave
Tel: 6XXX XXXX

Chew On This: According to her husband, Auntie Petrina is a cake hantu! 'C' is for Cake!

The Magic of Beans

Not many know that I like beans. Call me a closet bean junkie but to me beans are one of those foods that I enjoy in delicious, wholesome silence. So it was with great interest that I RSVP-ed for "Magic Beans"- a lunch featuring the various canned beans from S&W.


While Jack had his beanstalk, I took the stairs to beany heaven.


Held inside cooking school, Palate Sensations, "Magic Beans" featured beans in every one of the dishes! Here's the chef busy over the food. One woman's work is many people's lunch. I'm thankful.


As a welcome drink and prelude to lunch, the Fresh Pineapple Drink was perfect. Made with S&W Sweet 16 Pineapples, canned pineapples, mint and ice, this was refreshingly sweet. I like the subtle minty touch.

Ok, no beans in this drink. But I'm not complaining because the next nine courses all have beans! :D

Starting with the Western selection:


S&W Three-Bean Salad was a protein-packed salad of crunchy cucumbers and beans. This was served slightly chilled here, but I think a warm bean salad would work too.


S&W Beans & Potato Mash was a good idea. Everyone (especially kids) likes mashed potato and the addition of beans into the mash introduces fibre, proteins and vitamins. This is an excellent way of sneaking some nutrients into the kids' diet. For those who want a creamier feel, I would recommend topping this with a good butter or yogurt.


Now comes pasta. I love pasta but oddly, I haven't thought of adding beans to it. The Aglio Olio with S&W Chili & Butter Beans was just the thing to inspire me. It was simple but tasty. Now I have to go and try whipping up some pasta and beans at home.

From the Chinese selection:


Kung Pao Chicken with S&W Garbanzo & Black Beans, anyone? A pity the chicken didn't taste like it was marinated enough and there was a sense of something missing. I think Kung Pao Chicken has to be done over a roaring flame with quite a bit of oil to release the flavours of the dried chilli. The one presented here was probably a healthier version. But yes, beans and nuts in Kung Pao Chicken works.


Sauteed Vegetables with S&W Kidney & Garbanzo Beans was one of my favourite dishes that lunch, despite my dislike for celery. There was a sweetness from veggies and mushrooms that paired well with the starchy beans.


Definitely a twist to the popular Cereal Prawns, the Cereal Coated Fish with S&W Kidney & Garbanzo Beans was interesting. Unfortunately, the dish was too sweet for my liking. Perhaps using the beans in Cereal Prawns would be worth a shot.

And lastly, from the Indian selection:


Generally not a fan of vinegary Achar Achar, I was pleasantly surprised by the S&W Achar Achar with Beans. I guess the sweetness from the pineapple syrup nicely rounded up the tangy flavours.


The last two dishes were Chicken Curry with S&W Butter Beans and Nasi Briyani with S&W Garbanzo & Chili Beans. I love chickpea (aka Garbanzo beans) curry so beans in curry was a, no surprise, good palate-pleaser. By itself, the Briyani was a tad dry for me. It was better eaten with some curry.

So yes, beans can be incorporated into many dishes, including home-cooked ones, across cuisines. And S&W beans are convenient, without one needing to spend time and effort washing, soaking and boiling the beans. Modern day ease with the full natural goodness of beans- high fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, zero cholesterol and saturated fat-free!

S&W range of beans (varying from $2.55 to $3.05 depending on which beans) can be found at various NTUC, Cold Storage and Giant supermarkets. Not every store carries the same items but Giant does have the most extensive selection. Happy bean-hunting!

Thanks to Meiling, Mansi and Kris of Bates141, and S&W for the invitation and hosting this closet-beanie cow.


S&W "Magic Beans" @ Palate Sensations
#03-05
Aden (off Portsdown Road and opposite Colbar)
1 Westbourne Road
Tel: 6479 9025

Chew On This: Just in case some of you might have been worried for me after the bean-packed lunch, I didn't gas to death! In fact, there wasn't as much flatulence as I was prepared for. Apparently, soaking the beans helps to remove some of the gas-causing compounds!

One Smashing Chicken!!

I realise that I still have lots to post on my Aussie trip! So I'll be inserting an entry or two about more local happenings between the Aussie ones...just so to have some balance. Haha.

It's an unusual place to blog about, much less recommend on radio, but it was where I recently had lunch with two good friends. And the Ayam Penyet (literally "chicken smashed") was fantastic!

The place? Singapore General Hospital.


Rahiman Chicken Rice serves up a mean Ayam Penyet ($5). The whole chicken thigh was lightly-battered and deep-fried till golden. Enjoying a freshly-fried one meant that the chicken meat was tender, fragrant and more importantly, hot! The crispy skin was a delight to munch on, with flavours of tumeric and salt.

The rice was flavoured with, what I guess to be, chicken stock, garlic and a bit of ginger.

What was more impressive was the potent sambal- spicy (make that very spicy!), tangy and so very shiok! A shame the Begerdil (potato cutlet) was dry-ish but at least the sambal perked it up.


Eyeing the Beef Ball Noodles ($4), I went for it after the Ayam Penyet. The soup was similar to that of Ayam Soto and the beef balls were a little too soft for me. The taste got a tad boring after a while. Edible but nothing memorable.

I'll rather have another order of the smashing chicken PLEASE. This is a rare moment for me but I have to admit. Chicken 1; Cow 0.

Hospital food's not bad at all! :p


Rahiman Chicken Rice
Stall 5
Kopitiam Food Court
Singapore General Hospital

Chew On This: Kopitiam blue card-holders enjoy a 10% discount here while SGH staff's purple card gets 20%! Time to make more friends with SGH staff. Lol!

The Balance Grocery: Tomorrow's Breakfast and Lunch

The osso bucco was browned on both sides then stewed in red wine with carrots, onions and later on, potatoes. It was gently bubbling on low heat for quite a while but sleepy me cranked up the heat hoping to cut short the time. Alas. I didn't keep a careful eye and the base on the stew got burnt! This left a bitterness to the stew. A real pity. :(

But life is about tasting the bitterness, eating up and gaining strength to start the new day, no?


Mum pan-fried some potatoes and made an omelette which was sandwiched between sliced bread. This later became lunch. And it was a good thing as it was quick, delicious and cheap! Saving us precious time to hop on to the next winery.


Forte Leeuwin Apartments
46 Wallcliffe Road
Margaret River
Tel: +61 08 9757 9332

Chew On This: The Forte Leeuwin Apartments, located right in Margaret River town, are very new, spacious and beautiful. Everything from washing machine, dryer, iron, clothes rack, dishwasher, detergent, toaster, pots, pans, plates and cutlery are all provided. Hey, there's even a tennis court with equipment for use!

Dinner @ Forte Leeuwin Apartments

With the arrival of evening and the winding down of shops and wineries (too early!!), we checked out a supermarket in Margaret River town to replenish stocks of bottled water.

But what caught our eyes were the fresh-looking cuts of beef and chicken and fish and vegetables and huge potatoes!! Prices for the beef and chicken were rediculous by Singapore's standards. 12 chilled drumsticks for AUS$7! 2 chunks of osso bucco for AUS$5! This sparked off a 'cheap! cheap!' frenzy as we showed the true Singapore essense.

Anyway, we bought our groceries to cook dinner as well as the following day's breakfast and lunch, and headed back to the Forte Leeuwin apartment.


Not wasting any time, potatoes were scrubbed, pasta was cooked, salad was tossed and beef was seasoned!


Taking a leaf from Keith Floyd, I took a quick slurp between all the dicing and frying. Never did I expect that two days from this dinner, Keith passed away. Although I haven't been a fan of his seemingly haphazard style of cooking, his shows have amused me through some lazy afternoons and late nights. Goodbye, Keith.


Dinner was a simple pear-and-rocket-salad, pasta marinara and steak. A Peter Lehman Grenache-Shiraz 2007 (AUS$9.90) was the night's wine.

Forte Leeuwin Apartments
46 Wallcliffe Road
Margaret River
Tel: +61 08 9757 9332

Chew On This: Expensive items (when compared to those here in Singapore) at the supermarket include chicken breast, garlic and ginger. But still it's generally so much cheaper to cook here than to eat out! I got good advice from makankakis Alfred and Devi to cook, eat and drink in! :)

Olio Bello

Ok, back to Margaret River!

Wineries weren't the only stop-overs we made in Margaret River....there's also Olio Bello.


Olio Bello sounds like a reference to 'oily belly'. But hey! If it's good quality monounsaturated fats with antioxidants (not to mention loads of flavour), the body will in fact benefit.


Olio Bello has a counter top with small bowls of their many different types of olive oils as well as nuts and spices. Small cubes of bread are provided to dip into them for a taste. With 14 varieties of olives on their farm, Olio Bello churns out a range of olive oils that range from fruity, light and mild to more intense, nutty ones. There are also some flavoured with chilli, citrus, rosemary and other herbs.

The Dukkah was also very nice and exotic-tasting. Essentially a Middle Eastern item, it boasts nuts, seeds and spices like cumin that are grounded into a mix for dipping breads or sprinkling over salads and marinates.


Since we don't have olive bush shrub trees in Singapore, I took a photo of one as a souvenir! It was also my first time seeing one. :D

Olio Bello
36 Armstrong Road
Cowaramup, Western Australia
Opens: 10am - 4.30pm

Chew On This:

This small vegetable patch outside the tasting room had huge leaves! See them juxtaposed with human thighs. Monster salad, anyone? Lol.