Astons Prime

Our unexpected dinner at Astons Prime as the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed, turned out to be a delicious one. After hearing all the rave comments by our friends about Astons Specialists, we decided that we should try the higher end of Astons.

Here at Astons Prime, the queue was not as bad as the Specialists. Probably because of the steeper price, but this doesn't stop the crowd from coming. We were lucky to get a seat early as the crowd started to come in around 6 plus -7pm.

Marky started off with a decent cup of coffee.

















We shared a bowl of mushroom soup which is very normal & it was served with a warm bread roll & tasty garlic spread.








Actually the highlights of the meal seem to be the side dishes which came at a separate cost ($3 for 1 side dish)

The potato jackets were sinfully covered in what seems like cheese (but being someone who don't really eat alot of cheese, the cheese was really subtle) & bacon bits. I like the sauce so much that I kept dredging my potato in the sauce. The potato jackets were baked to the point that it was really crisp. Totally love this!!!!

The sauteed french beans with garlic & tomato was a hit with me too. Very tasty indeed!










We ordered the sirloin & some herb crusted baked chicken. My chicken was rather tender & even my least favorite part, the breast meat, was tender too. But taste wise, it's nothing to rave about.

Marky's sirloin was a tad overdone but the char-grilled taste was perfect!

We spent around $60+ for 2 & since our experience was pretty good, I would say it was quite worth the money.

We had the chance to try the Astons Express at Bedok the other day & although it was coffee shop style (similar to Botak Jones & e-blackboard), the food maintained a pretty decent standard. Their steak had the familiar char-grilled taste & my dory fish was delicious.

We were most impressed by their service as a guy even came over to ask if the food was okay (Remember that we're in a coffee shop).. So we told him that they mixed up the doneness & gave us well-done instead of med-done & he told us politely that we could have asked for an exchange as they will definitely do an exchange with no questions asked.

This is exactly how customers should be treated!
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Astons Prime
467 Joo Chiat RoadS(427678)
Tel: 63442447
Opening hours: Wed - Mon 11.30am - 11pm, Closed on Tuesday
http://www.astonsspecialties.blogspot.com/
Astons Express (Bedok)
Bedok North St 1 Blk 205 #01-357 Stall 2
(Kopitiam Coffeeshop)
Tel: 6443 8058
Opening hours: 1100-2200hrs

Soup Spoon

I must say that Soup Spoon really serve some fantastic soups! I ordered the Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff which is the thickest and most 'mushroom-y' soup I've ever tasted. It is definitely good but imagine drinking such a big bowl of the rich mushroom soup and you will be able to see why I can't finish their smallest bowl of mushroom soup.

Marky on the other hand, ordered the Beef Goulash which comes with generous portions of tender beef pieces that simply melts in the mouth.

All soups are accompanied by a warm bread roll which is very white and soft.. Just how I like my bread rolls to be like!

As we ordered the "SouperValue Combo meals", they come with either a salad/sandwich & a choice of either a pack of chips or apple.

Price range: S$9.50 – S$12.10.

For me, I had the Asian Tofu salad which is made up of tofu, mandarin orange, snow pea sprout, carrot, sunflower seeds, wanton crisp and topped with Asian vinaigrette. I enjoyed combination of the fruits & veggies with the vinaigrette but fried hard tofu simply doesn't work for me...

Marky's Roast Beef Wasabi sandwich is made up of roast beef (but of course), red onion, gherkins, cheddar cheese, green salad and dressed with wasabi mayonnaise. Can't really comment on that as I'm not a fan of the combination.
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On our 2nd trip there, I had Tokyo Chicken Stew, which is my current favourite. This complex soup contains many ingredients like lotus roots, shitake, enoki mushroom, white radish and bamboo shoots. Not to mention, the chicken was simply delectable and melts in my mouth too! Somehow, the soup reminds me of my mum's chicken stew...

Marky's Boston Clam Chowder was very 'jelat' and even he couldn't take it towards the end...

This time round, I had the Indochine Prawn Wrap while Marky had the Herbed Chicken Caesar
sandwich. The refreshing taste of the Kaffir lime in my wrap & the delicious herb dressing in Marky's sandwich totally won both of us over!

Thumbs up for these 2!

Finally, we also ordered Breaded Buttons with Garlic Aioli to try.

Imagine button mushrooms stuffed with Mozzarella cheese and breaded before deep frying. The garlic taste in the Aioli is pretty mild & adds a lot of taste to the mushroom. Be careful when eating this as biting into the mushroom causes the melted mozzarella cheese to flow out --- A gastronomical experience!

However, this must be eaten when it's hot as the taste is not as good when it's cooled.

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We've only been to the Tanjong Pagar MRT's branch & they haven't failed us in terms of food & service. So I foresee us going there again very soon..

Oh by the way, they sell their soups in sealed packets for people who wants good soups & are lazy to cook their own/have no idea how to cook.

The Soup Spoon

Website: http://www.thesoupspoon.com/
Branches' Location: http://www.thesoupspoon.com/aboutus_where.asp

Curry Omu Rice

Another of my favourite Japanese dish...Omelette rice with Japanese curry. The mild spiciness & sweetness of the curry is what makes Japanese curry unique. However, I have not found out how to make the egg omelette as soft as what Ma Maison does. But this is sufficient to curb my cravings =)

Curry Omu Rice

































Ingredients:

1. Japanese curry mix with vegetables (Available at supermarkets)
2. Japanese rice
3. 2 Eggs
4. Additional meats/vegetables (I used meatballs & hotdog)

East meets West Pizzas

My craving for pizza made me run out to buy a pizza crust to make my own pizza. Although the crust wasn't anything to rave about, I do enjoy putting my favourite ingredients on the crust.

















With 2 crusts in a packet, I made 2 pizzas of different styles -- Japanese Style & Western Style Black Pepper Chicken pizzas. Both pizzas have the same base ingredients but they have different sauces for coating the crusts.


East meets West Pizzas


















Ingredients:

1. Pizza crusts
2. Chicken thigh meat
3. Black pepper sauce (Singlong brand)
   
4. Capsicum
   
5. Tomato
6. Shiitake mushrooms
7. Crabsticks
8. Tomato Paste for coating the pizza crust (Western style)
9. Okonomiyaki sauce & Mayonnaise for coating the pizza crust (Jap style)
10. Furikake (To sprinkle on the Jap pizza)
11. Mozzarella cheese
    

The process...

Japanese Baked Pasta

I totally love this recipe and it's rather easy to make too... As I do not have any oven safe bowls, I molded my own bowls out of aluminium foil & they worked great too!

Japanese Baked Pasta























Ingredients:

1. Any pasta of your liking (I used the seashell type)
2. Any meat & veg that you like in your pasta. (I used frozen mixed vegetables & my usual hotdog and crabsticks)
3. Minced garlic
   
4. Light & dark soy sauce
5. Black pepper
6. Okonomiyaki sauce (For topping the pasta)
   
7. Furikake (For topping the pasta)
8. Mozzarella cheese (For topping the pasta)

The 1st picture below shows the pasta after being stir-fried & the 2nd picture shows the pasta after adding the three toppings.

Healthy Vegetable Barley Soup

Thinking of losing some weight and so I came up with this vegetable soup which has lots of vitamins and fibre.

Healthy Vegetable Barley Soup















Ingredients:

1. Dried Ikan Bilis
2. Peanuts
3. Barley
4. 1 Corn
5. 1 Carrot
6. 1 tomato
   
7. 1 Onion, sauteed
8. 1 piece of tofu
   

Healthy Miso Vegetable Soup

Healthy Miso Vegetable Soup



















Ingredients:

1. Miso paste
2. Tofu
3. Shiitake & Shimeji mushrooms
4. Assorted vegetables, stir-fried with sesame oil & sesame seeds (I used asparagus, carrots, corn)
5. Sautéed onions
6. Water

Close-up of the final product...

Cornmeal raisin cookies

I found this recipe from The Lazy Chef and since I have leftover cornmeal, I decided to bake this for my friends & family. If you like cookies that have coarse textures, similar to shortbreads,
you'll love this recipe. The added orange rind adds a fantastic citrus flavour to the cookies. Thumbs up for this!

Cornmeal Raisin Cookies















Recipe from The Lazy Chef.

Note:

• I reduced the amount of sugar to 90g & it is still reasonably sweet.
• I only used 50g of raisins as that was all I have left.
• Also, to make it easier to mold your dough, you can mold them in batches & keep the rest in the fridge.
  
  

Ingredients:

1. 170 g butter, softened
2. 135 g white sugar
3. 1 egg
4. 190 g all-purpose flour
5. 60 g cornmeal
6. 1 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1/4 teaspoon salt
8. Grated rind of 1 orange(about 1 teaspoon- 1 1/2 teaspoon)
9. 70 g raisins

Method:

1. In a large bowl, blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and beat well.
2. In another bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Add orange rind and blend thoroughly. Stir in the raisins.
3. Form dough into ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
4. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball between your palms. Place 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheet, then flatten slightly.
5. Bake in 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 15-19 minutes or until edges are golden. Store in airtight container.

Lastly, you can place these cookies in gift bags & they make great gifts for your loved ones!

6 Treasure Salad

Due to time constraints, I'll be posting all the pictures & ingredients of all the food that I've experimented with and only add the recipes one at a time whenever I'm free.

So in the meantime, FEAST your eyes!

6 Treasure Salad
Perfect filling for sandwiches, pitas and any other types of wraps when you are faced with leftover veggies.

Ingredients:
Cucumber, diced
Tomato, diced
Corn nibblers
Hard-boiled egg, diced
Hotdog, diced
Crabsticks, diced
Mayonnaise
Black pepper
A pinch of salt
A squeeze of lemon