Pies & Coffee (II) @ Rochester Mall, Singapore

Before I start this post, I want to wish my readers GONG HEI FATT CHOY, may you huat a lot in this new year.

I've been to Pies & Coffee more times than the number of fingers I have, well, mostly to mug before my examinations with a couple of friends. If you still have no god-damn idea where is this cafe located at Rochester Mall, which is just literally a stone throw away from The Star Vista. Okay, since this is not my first post on Pies & Coffee, I won't bore you with more descriptions of the place. Recently I was there again, with my love of trying new things (including girls, just kidding), here are two more food items that you should try out.

Wo Peng Cuisine @ Furama Hotel, Singapore

Helmed by Platinum award-winning Hong Kong chef, Julian Tam, Wo Peng Cuisine aims to deliver authentic flavours of Cantonese cuisine in Singapore. Moreover, Chef Julian Tam is the pioneer of introducing traditional poon choy as a festival new year delicacy. Wo Peng opened its doors in Furama Hotel in the year 2010, albeit slightly run-down, the place reminded me of the typical Chinese restaurants (such as Red Star), with dull carpets and tinted lights. But.. it's usually these places that serve the most authentic food.

Food Tasting: IPPIN Cafe bar @ Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore

Nestled along the stretch of Mohamed Sultan Road, IPPIN cafe bar serves unpretentious home-cooked Japanese meals along with imported teas and alcoholic drinks. The interior is cozy and home-styled with a touch of industrial design and simplicity, and even house a beautiful sake bar and kitchen. Besides meals, IPPIN is also a small, atas Japanese mama-shop, which you can get your Japanese essentials at one place. 

This cafe bar was first introduced to Singapore by Ayumi Fujishiro with the intentions of helping her father set up IPPIN in October 2014. We had a short chat with the lady herself, and was astonished to find that she actually speaks Singlish despite the short exposure. Uh uh siol, not bad sia.

Merry Men Kitchen and Bar @ River Valley, Singapore

Opened by four unlikely friends, who came from different career backgrounds (lawyer and physiotherapist? Wow.), the concept of their brainchild - Merry Men Kitchen and Bar is fairly simple, and that is to provide a platform for friends to gather, relax and unwind after a long day of work. Of course, the act of unwinding is not unwinding without good and affordable food, accompanied by a few jugs of good imported beer at the river-side. Sounds like a perfect place to hang out on a Friday night? It sure is. If you're there on a weekend morning or afternoon, do expect leng lui's jogging with their dogs, but obviously that is not the main focus. If you know what I mean.

Just the Place @ Punggol Settlement, Singapore

Punggol is a beautiful place, in fact, it is well-developed now (although a bit ulu la) as compared to other coastal areas such as the east coasts. Besides newly-built HDBs, Punggol now boasts several entertainment spots, like cycling/jogging tracks, prawning facilities and a hell lot of cafes and restaurants. We were there cycling one Sunday afternoon and we decided to pop by some of the cafes to try them out. Just the Place might be just the place you are looking for a quick break to have some bites, or simply just to chill the shit out on a hot weekend afternoon with some brunch... or well, beer on a Friday night. Albeit being just a year old, this cafe has already gathered a steady stream of followers.

"Our food is wholesome like German cooking with French finese and always served with the warm hospitality of the Italians."

5 Brilliant Food Inventions

From cookie shots to ramen burger, these ingenious food creations are set to take any given city by storm. You see, that's the thing about food. Ingredients have no boundaries, and it's all up to the maker to bring a brand new identity to the ingredients put together, how they are prepared, garnished and then served in a certain way.

Food is not just food, it embodies a culinary form of art. And these food inventions are nonetheless, the artist's creations. Without further ado, here's my compilation of the 5 top brilliant food inventions of the 2010's.

1. CRONUTS

Named as one of the 25 best creations by TIME magazine in 2013, cronuts has taken New York by storm, sparking yet another food craze.  Personally, I haven't tried one of these gorgeous, trademarked creations by renowned pastry chef, Dominique Ansel. But hey, this does seem like a crazy-ass invention which has gotta be in everyone's must-try list. I mean.. a hybrid between croissants and dough-nuts, who would ever thought of this?

Image from: crainsnewyork.com

13 MUST-TRY Street Food in Taiwan

Taiwan. The moment you hear this word, three things would inevitably popped into your mind - Shopping, food, and girls (and not regularly girls, they are 台妹). Well this post is not about shopping and girls, but well, there's always room for discussion for that. Food, probably Taiwan's national language as well, can be found in almost all nooks and crannies in the streets of this beautiful city. Well, for starters, Taiwan has more than 40 official night markets, including the famous Shilin night market (士林夜市) and Miaokou night market (廟口夜市) to the lesser known ones, like Luzhou (蘆洲夜市) and Ningxia night markets (寧夏夜市).

Well, without further ado, try this, or don't say you have been to Taiwan.

13 recommendations not enough? Read more about Taiwanese food at My Top 30 Taiwanese Eats.

1. FEN YUAN  (粉圆)

The epitome of desserts. A typical bowl of this famed ice dessert consists of grass jelly cubes, taro balls, red beans and an optional drizzle of milk. If you love Singapore's ice-kacang, I swear you would dig their rendition of shaved ice desserts.