Poulet

Teh:

Guess what? Yes you know it! It's another lunch adventure. This time we headed down to Vivo city for Poulet. Prior to heading there at my colleague's suggestion, i checked out on the internet what are the things that i must try. Needless to say, as the name suggest, Chicken. Yes poulet (pronounced as "poo-lay") means chicken in french. Things sound better in french right? Imagine if it called itself "chicken" or "鸡", maybe it'll attract alot less people. How about fish next? Poisson ("Phua-song" with a slient G please). Ok enough of poking fun at the name. Let's poke at the food next.

Poulet's Roast Chicken

I order the roasted half chicken with champagne mushroom sauce. It's one of their signature dishes. Be warned, you will only be half a spring chicken with the mushroom sauce. That's all. No vegetables nor carbo to go along. At first bite, i thought the chicken was a little salty with a subtle nagging sweetness that i couldn't quite figure out why. The chicken was moist (the menu said it was brined in a secret recipe for 24 hrs) and fork tender. But it was lukewarm at best. Why do people insist serving lukewarm food? The mushroom sauce has the same nagging sweetness. What's up with this? I only found out after lunch. Let's continue first.

French fries, mash potato and Duck Leg

We order french fries and mash potato since we need our carbo. I like the how the fries are served. In a bucket. Nice. The french fries weren't exactly piping hot but they weren't soggy either. And i think they used good quality fries. I bet you didn't know there were different grades of french fries. Try to see if you can taste the difference next time you have fries. Some fries just taste better ;)

The mash potato was really rich and buttery. But i didn't like it because i didn't feel like i was eating potato. I suspect it is made from mash potato powder. Have you tried the real mash potato made from real potatoes and from scratch? Powder mash potato and real mash potato taste like 2 totally different things.

Please note that they only serve cold bottled water. Warm water is at $0.50 a cup but refillable. At the end of the meal, i must have had at least 3 glasses of those water. Why the sudden thirst i asked myself. Oh. MSG attack. Hence the weird sweetness.

McDonald's Red Peri Scorcher

Teh:

Lim and i went to Mac to try out their new Red Peri Scorcher. This new burger (before it was revealed) got my attention when i saw the advertisement that McSpicy won (according to a poll) the other Black Pepper McSpicy in the Spicy faceoff. There was a pretty lady in red with a chinese cooking ladle (those big scoop thingy chefs use at the zichar stalls) as the mysterious (for the spice) "contender". On the next night, i saw the advertisement revealing her spicy - Peri peri sauce! We decided to go for it! (Sorry Lim, not Sze Chuan Pepper as you hoped and deduced from the red wearing chinese lady with the chinese ladle.)

At first i was afraid the peri sauce may be too spicy for it. It is a spicy faceoff after all. The normal McSpicy can be a little too spicy for me at times. But the Red Peri Scorcher was not as fiery as it looked and sounded. Naturally, the peri sauce is a little sourish and appetizing. It was more like a spicy version of an orangey looking thousand island sauce. My attention was on the breaded deep fried chicken thigh in the burger. My first thought was, did they change the McSpicy patty? Or is it the same chicken thigh but without the McSpicy seasoning? Either way, i quite liked the chicken thigh. I thought it was a refreshing change from the usual (dubious) chicken patty (e.g. McChicken). Dubious because you don't know what goes inside those patties.

Conclusion: If you are comparing spiciness, the McSpicy is still the winner. But i won't mind eating the Red Peri Scorcher because the spiciness was just nice for me. Lim and I finished the meal by sharing a set of McWings. Yummy!


P/S: Nothing beats KFC's Zinger!

King Louis Grill and Bar

Teh:

We had a lunch outing at King Louis Grill and Bar recently. We took advantage of the weekday set lunch and are pleasantly surprised by the big servings. Most of us had problem finishing the food. It really was a pity to waste them. I think next time we have to share a set. Here are some of the stuff we tried. 

Cream of Mushroom

All set lunches comes with a drink, soup of the day and ice cream. There are the usual array of soft drinks to choose from, ice lemon tea, hot coffee or tea. This cream of mushroom is packed full with bits of mushrooms. While my colleagues liked it, i think they were not aware that the soup lacks mushroom flavour. You may be wondering how can it lack mushroom flavour if it is full of mushrooms? Well, you will need to have had a real decent bowl of mushroom soup chocked full of flavour before you can tell that real thing from the "fake". The real flavour come from within. It is strong and lingering. Nevertheless, i think it is a good attempt at making a cream of mushroom soup. I drank every last bit of it.

Roast Beef

I picked the Roast Beef ($14.90++) for my set lunch. It came with 2 decent sized sirloin steak. Yes 2 pieces! Amazing. Most places only serve one. There were also boiled potatoes, coleslaw, asparagus and a garden green. The beef was moist and tender. Value for money.

Baby Ribs

My colleague had the Baby Ribs ($13.90++, i think). Do not be fooled by the name. It should be called Giant Ribs for its sheer size! This dish came with roasted potatoes, coleslaw and garden green. 3 people ordered this. 2 girls and a guy. Only the man could finish this! Unfortunately the meat was not tender enough. The girls had a hard time trying to eat with the fork and knife. The guy was smarter. He used his hands and teeth! lol. I had a taste of it. If it were roasted for a longer time, i will pick this the next time. I love pork!

Beer Batter Fish and Chips

Someone order Fish and Chips. If my memory serves me correctly, they used Stella Artois beer for the batter. The portion is again, generous.  While i did not try the fish and it's batter, my colleague told me it was quite salty. Maybe too much salt was added.

Grilled Salmon

Lastly, a colleague ordered the grill salmon. The salmon given was big! For this size, it will cost you over $20 if you order elsewhere. I think its $13.90++ for the set lunch. The salmon came with a mix of stir fried vegetables and mushroom. I cannot remember if this came with any potatoes but there is a piece of it at the top right corner of this photo. lol. My colleague praised the texture of the salmon to the type she likes. I think it is not too dry. Cooked just right. But because my mum cooks salmon at home frequently, salmon is not something i will order when i'm eating out.

I didn't take any picture of the strawberry (?)  ice cream. It was a cross between an ice cream and a sorbert. Go figure. You can skip it to save some calories.

Here is a picture of the view you will be treated to at King Louis. I quite like the place. The food is value for money. Try to share the set lunch with someone if you are a small eater. I think we will be back again.

King Louis Bar and Grill

1 Harbourfront Walk

#03-07A Vivocity

Tel : 6276 0862

Opening hours: Daily from 12pm to 11pm.

http://www.thekinglouis.com/ 

Tom Yum Kungfu (Visit 2)

Teh:

In order to satisfy my Thai Steamboat craving (after the unsatisfying trip to MooJaa), i made a trip down to Tom Yum Kungfu (16 Circular Road) on a weekday. Please sms your reservation (highly encouraged) to this no. 9375 5736 with your name, time of arrival, no. of pax, preference for outside or inside seating. I recommend sitting outside as it can be really smokey and stuffy inside once the place gets packed. Please note they are close on Sundays.

My friend and i ordered the $38 set (came with marinated pork, pork belly, scallops, prawns, fish cake, tang hoon, xiao bai cai, golden mushroom, white cabbage, beancurd skin) and an additional packet of thai tom yum instant noodles ($1.80). The seasoning really gave the soup stock a different dimension! This serving is makes a satisfying meal for 2 hungry women. Just like my first visit, the pork is tender is well marinate, the prawns are big and fresh. We added the instant noodle seasoning to the normal soup and it instantly became tom yum soup! The chilli sauce goes very well with the cooked food. It was spicy and slightly sourish, a real treat for the taste buds. We finished the meal by cooking the instant noodles in the soup. It was most excellent! Look at the pictures i took!

Outside seating area

Tom Yum Kungfu Steamboat menu

Tom Yum Kungfu side menu

Tom Yum Kungfu Steamboat

Singourmet - Singapore Curry Sauce

Teh:

During one of my shopping trips to Singapore Food Industries, i can given a free pack of Singourmet Singapore Curry Sauce because i spent over $50 (or $60 i can't remember).

Singourmet Singapore Curry Sauce

I decided to follow the instructions closely and not add any other stuff to see how the original taste like. When i read the instructions, i was puzzled. 60g of potatoes and 80g of chicken (or other meat) are to be added to this mix. In case you were wondering, 60g of potato is how much 1 medium sized potato weighs. 1 chicken drumstick will surely exceed 80g worth of meat. Now, looking back at the serving size, it says 3-4 pax. One word - W.E.I.R.D.

I followed my own good common sense and used 4 medium sized potatoes (cut into 2) and 4 drumsticks because i wanted to serve 4 pax! I first browned the meat and the potato. Next i added the curry sauce and some water. I did not add any other seasoning except for some soy sauce. I let the curry simmer until the potatoes and chicken are cooked.

Although the package also says "Ready in 10 minutes", it is not true unless your chicken and potatoes are already cooked. Please give allowance for cooking time. 30 minutes more like it.

Conclusion: The curry was oily but it was ok after i scooped the red oil out. It's taste is acceptable and the sauce is relatively thick if you do not add too much water. However it is of course in no way comparable to those sold outside. But i suppose if you are staying overseas long term, it can be a substitute for the real thing. If you are looking to fix a quick meal, it is pretty effortless. There is no need to add coconut milk unlike some other brands. Since i have not tried any other curry mix, i am unable to compare the taste. My search for the perfect curry mix will continue!

What's your preferred brand?

MooJaa (Thai BBQ Steamboat) @ 25 Keong Saik Road

Teh:

Yesterday i was out at MooJaa (Thai BBQ SteamBoat) @ 25 Keong Siak Road. We decided to check out that place because Tom Yum Kungfu was not open (now i know they are closed on Sundays) and after seeing some positive reviews of MooJaa online. That being said, i must say i was quite disappointed with the food. Maybe because i was thinking Tom Yum Kungfu standard, but MooJaa did not live up to my expectations.

MooJaa interior

When we got there, we were persuaded to get the buffet at $32 per pax instead of the usual a la carte set @ $39.90. The lady said there won't be enough to eat if we ordered the set. Isn't it strange? There were only 2 of us. I think she was just trying to get us to spend more money. Free flow of drinks if we top up $5. We decided to just stick to 1 drink. The Thai Ice Tea @ $2.50 was quite decent.

Thai Ice Tea, Cheese Balls and Fried Fish Skin

The buffet came with 1 serving of Kurobuta Pork and Angus Beef each. I think there were probably 6-8 strips of each. The rest of the items are free flow. They didn't ask us what we want to order. They served up the fried fish skin and cheese balls (even though we didn't order them) first while we waited for the charcoal to come. Next, they brought out a tray of food, all assembled. Why didn't they ask what we want? We did not complain since we thought we can try the range of food. The pork collar was sliced too thick thus making it tough when cooked. The beef was not marinated. The prawns were really small. Only the chicken was marinated. I think that was the one good thing on the tray. The Kurobuta Pork and Angus Beef was ok but there was too little to feel the buffet was a good deal. I liked it that another lady helped us start the meal off by placing the ingredients nicely in the steamboat.

Placing of ingredients on steamboat

Half way through eating, i heard a staff telling a new table of customers behind us that they ran out of Kurobuta Pork. There were also other items that were out of stock, e.g. Pork belly, prawn balls etc.

Moo Kata @ MooJaa

Unlike at Tom Yum Kungfu, there was no option to buy a pack of tom yum instant noodles to add to the soup for that tom yum taste. Although the place was relatively smoke free (they had those sucking air thingy near the steamboat), my clothes still smelled abit after our meal.

Owners of MooJaa, if you are reading this, I suggest making a few changes (in no particular order) for your consideration:

1) Please marinate all meat.

2) Ensure sliced meat are thin enough.

3) Always have enough food stock.

4) Sell tom yum instant noodles.

5) Always check with the customer what they want to order.

6) Bigger prawns please! More Kurobuta Pork and Angus Beef!

7) Instead of saying the set is not enough for 2 pax, why not suggest we order other a la carte items like your tom yum soup etc for a wider variety of food.

Conclusion: Definitely going back to Tom Yum Kungfu in future.

MooJaa

25 Keong Saik Road S(089132)

Tel: 6536 4780