Halal Beef Ribs @ Badoque Cafe

I am aware that typing this at close to midnight is detrimental to my waistline with 2 bags of potato chips staring back at me should I be tempted to open them. But this I must share. Because sharing is caring and I must share the joy (and the calories).

So. A few months ago, I had the chance to step into this hipster halal cafe- Badoque; along Upper Thomson Road. We heard much raves about beef ribs and initially we had wanted to order 2 mains to try but after some peeks at the humongous portions sitting at neighbouring tables, we decided to stick to just 1 main dish.

Now this mushroom sitting here has a story. Story goes like this...

After waiting for close to half an hour, our ribs were finally served. While the bf dived straight into the meat, I attacked the fries, expecting piping hot and crisp fries but to be totally disappointed with cold and soggy ones. We politely requested for a change of fresh batch of fries only and the serving attendee was very apologetic and swiftly cleared our plate. 

Knowing that we had to wait again, the serving attendee was kind enough to serve us complimentary mushroom soup while we wait for our fresh fries. It was totally unexpected and to be honest, it was a small but very impressionable gesture. The mushroom soup was not out of the world WOW, but it's creamy and well seasoned. Very light on the palate.

Beef Ribs - $24

Back to the ribs. Even though we requested for a change of fries only, they changed the entire set including the ribs for us! I was ravenous at this point in time to take another shot of the ribs, but I kid you not that they replaced with an entire new rack of beef ribs. 

The ribs are very flavourful from the long hours of stewing and roasting process and though some parts were a tad tough and dry, the beef was quite tender overall and the BBQ sauce is a must-have to go along with the ribs! 

I also like that the friendly and super helpful service crew from Badoque Cafe! Their service is impeccable and I think it's really rare and hard to get some level of customer service nowadays. I shall go another day and try other mains with my Better Batter kakis. ;)

Badoque Cafe

246 Upper Thomson Road 

Singapore 574370

298 Bedok Road, Simpang Bedok 

Singapore 469454

Badoque Cafe FB | IG

Taiwan 台湾 2014 Day＃3 － Taichung 台中 Strawberry Farm 牛奶草莓园 + Sun Moon Lake 日月潭＋ 18 Degree C 巧克力工房

Hello Foodies, long time no see!

This marks the last entry for my Taiwan 台湾  travelogue! I would love to cover Taipei 台北 area as well, but somehow I don't think I will be as honest because I'm totally in love with Taichung 台中!

Our itinerary for Taiwan 台湾 Day ＃3:
Ino Home -> Strawberry Farm -> Sun Moon Lake -> 18 Degree C -> Taipei


If you land yourself here for the first time, you can go to my previous entries for Day #1 and Day #2 Taiwan Travelogue:

Aspoonfulofsoul Taiwan Travel Diary:
Day #1: Taichung 台中 Ino Home minsu 民宿 + Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

Day #2: Taichung 台中 Flower Market 中社花市 + Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林 ＋ Ah Ming Shi Tai yang Biscuits 阿明师太阳饼 + Miyahara 宮原眼科

Not your average Joe at Joe & Dough

I've been meaning to upload my Day #3 Taiwan photos! But I need some more time to edit them to be sui sui, so while we wait for Taiwan, here's a recommendation for a cafe that I patronised recently - Joe & Dough.

It's not hard to find coffee in Singapore nowadays, with cafes springing up almost everywhere (except in the North though) and it's even more common in town area. I settled on Joe & Dough on a Sunday afternoon, just because it occupies a larger area with more seats. I didn't expect though, to find myself to nodding and smiling to my partner after tasting the first sip of the latte, going "Hey this coffee is not bad eh!"

Taiwan 台湾 2014 Day＃2 － Taichung 台中 Flower Market 中社花市 + Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林 ＋ Ah Ming Shi Tai yang Biscuits 阿明师太阳饼 + Miyahara 宮原眼科

You may read my previous entry here!

When I was planning my itinerary for this trip, the 2 activities that I looked forward to the most was visiting Flower Market and Lavender cottage! I think flowers have this magical spell to lift up our mood and remind us that the world is a beautiful place indeed. 

I managed to hire a driver for our Day #2 and Day #3 in Taichung 台中 and he's our trip-saver because his warm and humorous personality kept my family trigger happy throughout the journey!

Itinerary for Taiwan 台湾 2014 Day＃2:

Ino Home -> Flower Market 中社花市 -> Lunch at Miaoli 苗栗 -> Old Train station 勝興火車站 -> Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林 -> Ah Ming Shi Tai yang Biscuits 阿明师太阳饼 -> Miyahara 宮原眼科

Taiwan 台湾 2014 Day＃1 - Taichung 台中 Ino Home minsu 民宿 + Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

It had been 2 years since I last travelled to Taipei 台北 and I'm glad we ventured out of Taipei this time and landed my parents, brother, Fit and I in Taichung 台中! Although it was a short 3 days in Taichung 台中, we got more than what we bargained for and I highly recommend you guys to consider this state if you plan to head to Taiwan 台湾 for holidays!

Our first day was simply R&R because we would be landing at Taoyuan Airport at noon and take Taiwan's High Speed Rail (HSR) to Taichung. I planned to check into Ino Home, which was the minsu we stayed in Taichung 台中 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市 for dinner/supper. 

Our itinerary for Taiwan 台湾 Day ＃1:
Singapore Changi Airport -> Taoyuan Airport -> U-Bus #705 -> Taoyuan HSR -> Taichung HSR -> Ino Home -> Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市

Baking 101 with Fathiscakes

What do you get when you mix a loving baking-extraordinaire/mother/wife with an aspiring/half-baked baker? You get a jolly good baking session! (That wasn't too hard right?) Well, in fact, I (the aspiring baker) got more than what I hoped for during a baking session kindly sponsored by Fathiscakes. Read on to find out what you can expect from a baking session at Bake With Fathis.

Tak Po Dim Sum @ Chinatown Smith Street

What I love about Dim sum is that I can try a variety because of the small portions. The usual suspects that will be on my table would be har gow (steamed prawn dumplings), lotus leaf with glutinous rice, carrot cake and a must-have for me has got to be chicken feet in bean sauce.

I was introduced to Tak Po eons ago and as fate had it, I was in the vicinity one Sunday morning and decided to go back to have dim sum for lunch! My expectation was definitely raised when I saw the small queue waiting to get a table, not forgetting to mention the bustling restaurant was filled to the brim with hungry and hearty patrons.

(LICK) Little Ice Cream Kafe - Crispy and Fluffy Waffles!

Tanjong Katong Road is home to a lot of small eateries, one of them include Little Ice Cream Kafe, also known as LICK for short. If not for the dental visits in this area, I really wouldn't have ventured this far out for food glorious food in this area. I must admit that it's a good mix of food choices here - Punggol Nasi Lemak, Wanton mee, a few ice cream parlours, Peranakan Food Village, and even a fruit stall selling king of fruits and the likes. 

I was attracted to LICK because of the photo pasted on the glass door - DJ Chong Qing with a pleasant looking lady whom I assume is the ladyboss? Well, I am ashamed to link this photo to good ice cream but in I go!

Mansaku's Chicken Teriyaki at Golden Mile Food Centre

Japanese food are almost always available at food courts, hawker centres and even the canteen near my office have a Japanese stall that has the shortest queue. How many of us had tasty Japanese food at these food centres? Sadly, the standard of Japanese food at such food places is so average that I rather queue up with the rest at economic rice stall. Mansaku Japanese Food located at Golden Mile Food Centre changed my perception and taste buds after I tried their Teriyaki Chicken Set.

49 Seats - Wallet-friendly Western Food

With Chinese New Year just 2 days away, I bet most of you are scrambling to get last-minute CNY shopping done! When it comes to 办年货 (buying Chinese New Year goods), most of us will think of Chinatown and after a whole day of tasting mochis, crackers, pineapple tarts, cookies etc., I don't know about you but I will usually be craving for non-Chinese food at the end of the day. If you are craving for western food with a twist, go check out 49 Seats at Kreta Ayer Road, which is slightly off Keong Siak Road and just a few minutes walk from Chinatown central area.

Tze Char Gem in the West - 2 Chefs Eating Place

And so you would have noticed that I started this post with some ham (hokkien for cockles) that were swimming in soya sauce and garnishes like garlic, spring onion and freshly cut chili. Friends would know that I'm not a cockles kinda person, I can't pry open cockles and poke it with toothpick and dip it into chili or sambal and eat it with blood and all still intact on the shellfish. But this cold dish totally changed my mind!

No MSG, GST & Service charge at Rochor Thai Bistro

I vaguely remembered coming across 'Rochor Thai' on some food blogs before and thought of giving it a try since I happened to passed by Joo Chiat Road one Saturday evening. The folks were kind enough to serve us at 5.25pm even though they are only open at 5.45pm for dinner.

It wasn't when we sat down that I saw 3 lines of words plastered on the glass doors:

NO MSG
NO GST
NO SERVICE CHARGE

"No MSG" struck me the most because I hate the thirsty feeling at the end of a MSG-laden meal and I must say that the taste of the food didn't disappoint!

Skyving at Skyve Elementary Bistro and Bar

If you like me, are too spoilt for choices when it comes to having brunch on a weekend, you have to check out Skyve Bistro & Bar near Newton Circus. Just minutes away from Orchard Road, Skyve captured my heart and stomach for it's quality food and classy ambience.