Shake Shack - Candlenut Collab: Buah Keluak Burger

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Shake Shack is partnering with Malcolm Lee’s Michelin-starred Candlenut to serve the Buah Keluak Burger and Curry Fries! You can get this Saturday 5 November from 11am until sold out, available in-store only at Shake Shack 89 Neil Road.

Apparently this is Chef Malcolm Lee’s first chef collaboration! who runs the only Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant in the world, so it’s pretty interesting to see how it will turn out. 

• The Buah Keluak Burger ($12.90) features a 100% all-natural Angus beef patty covered in buah keluak topped with Chef’s Mum’s Chicken Curry sauce, crisp cucumber, a fried egg, American cheese, diced pickles and ikan bilis sambal, all served on a potato bun toasted with garlic butter. Originally created as a Candlenut staff meal, the burger has become the stuff of industry legend.

 

• Curry Fries ($5.20) are seasoned with a secret blend of curry powder and salt, and was created in tribute to one of Candlenut’s signature dishes, Mum’s Chicken Curry.

This is also a nice return to Neil Road for Malcolm as Candlenut started life there. 

Singapore Fintech Festival 2022: F&B Solutions?

I'm excited to see if there are any innovative solutions to help the F&B sector, especially with regards to online payment and transactions. Small businesses and hawkers, especially those who aren't tech-savvy really could use a simple and streamlined way to plug into the world of digital orders. 

Even if it's just a way for people to place orders for pickup (and skip queues), it would help both sides - business and customer alike. 

And seriously, in this day and age, if food businesses are still only taking cash, they are missing out customers who don't carry that much cash around (like me). 

My time in banking compliance has also shown me how dubious cash businesses can be. Money laundering? Yeah, you don't want to be sus that way and get extra scrutiny. Haha. 

Gobbowl: Japanese-Inspired Hearty Rice Bowls in Bukit Merah

 Hearty rice bowls in the heartlands? Yes, try Gobbowl's Japanese-inspired creations. These are also quite wallet-friendly compared to the rice bowls you get in the CBD. If you're working from home or near the Bukit Merah area, you're in luck. Let's check out the choices they offer.

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Saigon Chic - S$7.90
Mixed Grains, Char-Baked Chicken Thigh
Spicy Bean Sprouts and Carrots
Onsen Egg, Spicy Green Sauce

We liked this one a lot, especially the juicy chicken thigh char-grilled with Vietnamese influences. It went so well with the beansprouts, onsen egg and spicy green sauce. I love how they get every egg perfectly executed and topped with tobikko.

 



Chicken Katsu Curry - S$8.90
Mixed Grains, Chicken Cutlet
Cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw
Onsen Egg, Japanese Curry with Vegetables

This was one of our favourites. It's a sure winner with the kids.

 



Something Fishy - S$9.90
Japanese Udon, Char-Baked Teriyaki Salmon
Char-Grilled Chinese Cabbage and Spinach
Onsen Egg, Black Pepper Sauce

I liked the salmon but somehow feel this would have been better with rice, even though udon seems a natural pairing, and I've already had so much rice in the other dishes. And I even usually prefer noodles to rice. Very odd. But I do like their rice - plump short grain white mixed with brown rice.

 



Yes! Sir-loin - S$10.90
Mixed Grains, Grilled Beef Sirloin Steak
Roasted Medley Vegetables
Onsen Egg, Black Pepper Sauce

Mmmmh, this was our other top favourite. The steak is absolutely tender and done medium style. The roasted vegetables were the perfect complement too.





Belly Good - S$7.90
Mixed Grains, Braised Pork Belly
Char-Grilled Chinese Cabbage and Spinach
Onsen Egg, Donburi Sauce

Oh the pork belly is seriously good, per its name. I didn't care much for the Chinese cabbage but the pork is something you would want a full portion of!

 



Suki-Gyu - S$10.90
Mixed Grains, Donburi Sliced Beef
Sweet Corn, Edamame, and Charred Carrots
Onsen Egg, Donburi Sauce

This was okay. Slightly on the sweet side.

 



Garden Salad - S$7.90
Garden Mixed and Mixed Grains, Tempura Beancurd
Char-Grilled Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Sweet Corn, Edamame and Charred Carrot
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

This is quite a pleasant choice for vegetarians. Maybe even vegans since it has no egg. Loved how the agedashi tofu provided satiation. 



Mala Pork Lah - S$7.90
Mixed Grains, Grilled Sous-vide Mala Pork Coral
Sweet Corn, Edamame, and Charred Carrots
Onsen Egg, Szechuan Mala Sauce

The only dish that we would tweak would be this one. The mala seasoning can be too intense when slathered only on the pork. I would mix it all up with the rice first, so the flavour is more evenly distributed and pleasant to eat.

You also can Create Your Own (CYO) bowl. Here we have a pasta with mixed vegetables, onsen egg and sausage. Very nice. My girls slurped this up in no time.

I'm glad to see more affordable Japanese-style bowls popping up. These should prove quite popular with the working crowd. While I don't see options for CYO on their own website, you should be able to customise your own orders on Grab and Deliveroo. 


GOBBOWL
3791 Jalan Bukit Merah 

E-centre@Redhill #01-03 (within WinCafe)

Singapore 159471
Tel: +65 6974 7551
Operating hours: Mon-Fri 11am-8pm



Many thanks to Gobbowl for sending over the delicious bowls!

Deliciously Royale Tofu Bagedil with Kick-Ass Kicap!

 You know what was one of my top most-liked Instagram posts of 2021? The one featuring Deliciously Royale's insanely divine tofu bagedil. And I'm so glad to note on their Instagram lately that they have started bottling that fiery kicap soy sauce dip. 

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Ahhh...so delish. The spiciness of the kicap varies depending on the chillies used. The one I got? Pretty strong! 



These ingenious tofu parcels stuffed with potatoes come in three flavours - vegetarian, king prawn, premium beef - and you'll never be able to stop at just one.



And can you believe the packaging? Anyone getting these as gifts would be blown away.


Here's the pricing and how to order.







I still remember how awesome these were. You can really taste the care that went into each of these little bagedil stuffed tofu puffs. Kudos to the folks behind them dedicating themselves to making small batches of these parcels of marvel. 

HoneyPeachSG Bakery Singapore: Custom Cakes and Whimsical Desserts

HoneyPeachSG is a boutique bakery that began in 2019 but has won hearts quickly with their customised cakes and whimsical designs. The creations not only look pleasing but taste good. I found the quality much better than most commercial cakes. 

 
The tall Sea Salt Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake (from S$59) is our favourite of the lot. It was almost too pretty to cut. These burnt candied lemon slices are really tangy, by the way! We added them to hot tea, which complemented the cake perfectly.

 


The cake was so easy to cut. My knife just sliced right through the super soft and fluffy chocolate cake sponge. Embedded within the layers are crunchy chocolate balls adding fun textural contrast. We also loved the lightness of the buttercream frosting. 

The Baby Pink Mermaid Cake (from S$75) is perfect for a themed birthday cake. The decorations are just so gorgeous. I've seen various mermaid cakes but the art on this is really nice. 

That's a lot of cream for a little cake, but I'm sure that will please frosting fans. You can choose from different cake flavours. This was Double Chocolate, I think. 


HoneyPeachSG also has macarons, cupcakes, tarts and cookies (including CNY cookies). I decided to try the cupcakes.

The Assorted Gourmet Regular Cupcakes (S$41 for box of 12) gets you two flavours to share with lots of people and brighten their day! Each cupcake is so delicious though, and it's hard to stop at one. 

HoneyPeach can custom create cakes for birthdays, weddings and corporate events. Delivery is S$9.90 but free for orders above S$150. Check out their website and Instagram for even more stunning designs. Please note that some cakes require 2-4 days notice for making.

You can choose to pick up cakes as well at this address, by appointment only.

The Promenade @ Pelikat
183 Jln Pelikat #B1-64
Hougang, Singapore 537643

HONEYPEACHSG
Whatsapp tel: +65 9088 4932
Email:  info@honeypeachsg.com

Many thanks to HoneyPeachSG for the cakes!

The Durian Bakery: Best Durian Cake Delivery in Singapore

The Durian Bakery is a local online bakery dedicated to all things durian, and these are absolutely a wonder to behold. These are made with 100% Grade A Mao Shan Wang (MSW) durians from Pahang, and freshly baked with no preservatives. The durians are made into signature MSW SilkyGold™ Durian Puree – dense, creamy and delicious.

I recently picked three of my favourite kinds to try and here's how they went.

Eclipse: Fusion Fine-Dining in Chinatown by Singapore Chef Samuel Quan

Casual fine-dining espousing modern east-meets-west fusion fine dining in a gorgeous setting - this isn't quite what I would expect to find atop the Chinatown Yue Hwa Building. Shades of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon come to mind with the similar red-black hues and later on in the food presentation.