flat white & hot chocolates

after 祥源记xiang yuan ji, we decided to walk over to chye seng huat – CSHH Coffee Bar for a cuppa. ^^

another of my OPS primary school buddy boguth coffee.

i had a flat white. it was good as expected, very strong & good flavour coffee & velvety smooth.

& my 2 friends had the S$6.50 expensive hot chocolate.

CSHH Coffee Bar

this was the hardware stall turned coffee bar which my daughter introduced 2 years back.

CSHH Coffee Bar

CSHH Coffee Bar

CSHH Coffee Bar

this place quite busy.

the interior was a nice chill-out ambience. at 2.15pm there were quite many customers but not full & we sat at the back wall with a ledge & tall stools.

CSHH Coffee Bar prices

hot chocolate S$6.50

prices not cheap.

my small cup flat white i think was S$5.50, & the hot chocolate was really expensive at S$6.50. something anyone can make at home.

cakes & pastry

cakes & pastry

they sell decent looking pastries but we just had a good lunch & didn’t need the cakes.

nice place, ambience, crowd & nice coffee. if it is taking hot chocolate better have milo at coffeeshop la…lol! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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生煎包 S$5

my OPS primary school buddy bought lunch at 祥源记xiang yuan ji 405 jln besar on 1.12.2016.^^

祥源记xiang yuan ji

祥源记xiang yuan ji 

we were there at 1pm.

we heard a chinese customer at the next table saying the food here more 道地authentic than in china!

haha oxymoron maybe! but guess that means it is really good la…

祥源记xiang yuan ji – menu 

the card menu. very few items, basically both sides of the card.

生煎包 S$5

the 生煎包 the best i have eaten (i haven’t eaten many though…lol!)

there’s a lot of soup inside, & very very tasty soup (better than many xiaolongbao), so eaten like xiaolongbao, just bite a hole & suck.

the pork filling very tasty & the dough not too thick & great texture & taste.

have to say it’s very very good 生煎包!

咸豆腐花savoury bean curd dish S$4.50

& the 咸豆腐花savoury bean curd dish, was impressive too.

the bean curd is smooth, but the savoury sauce is what made it tick…

拌三丝 3 veg salad S$4

the 拌三丝 which looked like carrots, cucumber & 百叶 fried gluten puff.

spring rolls S$4.50

the spring rolls was quite excellent.

unlike usual spring rolls which are quite packed, these ones quite empty in the crispy shell, yet very tasty.

breaded pork chop S$6.50

the breaded pork chop like any good hainanese pork chop, as good as loo’s curry.

breaded pork chop S$6.50

quite unusual really, anyway it was very good.

curry beef tanhoon S$6.50

the curry beef tanhoon a dish i can pass.

but really quite worthwhile trying for first time.

curry beef tanhoon S$6.50

not that it was not good.

in fact it was more than competent, quite a nice dish actually.

maybe the best way to characterise it is that it is a very good curry beef tanhoon dish, just not my kind of dish.

must say the beef (i think just 3 pieces) was excellent. very very tender..i think better than most taiwan braised beef noodles.

the soup is ok, not the style we are used too. would prefer the intense kambing soup.

祥源记xiang yuan ji bill

lunch was S$38 for 3pax.

we all enjoyed it thoroughly.

c.h.e.f andy

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excellent granita

we had 3 citibank 100gourmet dinners this year, and they were all very good.

not to say one is better than the other, but they all offered new surprises & met expectations, which is not easy as each dinner experience is always compared with those previously & that can often disappoint.

100 gourmet menu @ pollen

wife booked 3pax dinner at pollen on sunday 27nov2016, the last 100gourmet for 2016. ^^

wine pairing (6 wines for 6 course!!)

& she took the wine pairing, w0w, 6 wines! 🙂

excellent granita

in terms of fineness & taste, this again easily met expectations, among the best even c/w the other 3 fabulous 100gourmet dinners we had-

1. Superb Sumptuous 100Gourmet Dinner @ Ash & Elm Intercontinental Hotel on 26Aug2016
2. Superb 100Gourmet 6-course Degustation Dinner @ Salted and Hung on 21Jul2016
3. Excellent Citibank 100Gourmet Degustation Dinner @ Lewin Terrace on 24Jun2016

the sorbet starter was quite exquisite!

multigrain & sourdough

freshly baked bread was excellent! low carbs me actually had a second serving.

sour dough was great. mulitgrain was even better!

sesame butter was superb

sesame butter was very good.

but i had a seaweed butter before, not sure if here, & that was really good!

#1 snacks – bouillon of duck (a consomme)

there were 3 snacks-bouillon of duck, toast of beef tartare & mushroom crackers.

the duck consomme was intense yet smooth & tasty. wife found it a bit robust to her liking. daughter & i liked it.

#1 snacks – toast of beef tartare + mushroom crackers

#1 snacks – mushroom crackers

mushroom crackers also tasted great, especially with the cepe mousse & feta.

#1 snacks – toast of beef tartare

toast of beef tartare good too, less wow..

#2 scottish langoustine with cod roe

langoustine was real wow!

#2 scottish langoustine with cod roe

like a botan ebi sashimi, the sweetness & bite were quite “superlative”!

& the sides, the mousse, all incredible combination look & taste.

#3 spiced pork with rose apple shavings

the pork with rose apple shavings & roasted fennel was good too.

#3 spiced pork with rose apple shavings

looked great, tasted good…just more ordinary, more average.

#4 tarte nicoise with basil sorbet

the tarte was quite extraordinary.

#4 tarte nicoise with basil sorbet

the very thin crust pastry, the basil, oil & different flavours.

#4 tarte nicoise with basil sorbet

this must be the best vegetarian dish for a meat eater like me.

#5 confit of hokkaido scallop

the confit of hokkaido scallop was of course great, with the foam & all.

#5 confit of hokkaido scallop

among the best we had in many restaurants.

the one at disgruntled chef was different, but just as wonderful, perhaps even better.

#6 roast pigeon with winter berries

the roast pigeon was superb, & the winter berries just wonderful.

reminded me of the equally superb quail at beulings, amsterdam.

and of course the sous vide pigeon at jaan!

#6 roast pigeon with winter berries

this pigeon dish was prettier! & i think better even…

& the sides were all fantastic (except the beetroot-i’ve tasted much better ones) & overall such a wow dining experience!

pear compote with ricotta sorbet

the dessert was refreshing, & tasty.

pear compote with ricotta sorbet

very smooth white chocolate + ricotta sorbet below & some granita on top.

petit four

the petit four valrhona chocolate was fantastic.

complimentary giftbox (a great gesture)

& pollen gave a complimentary giftbox for every dining guest, a really great gesture. these were good too, but the petit four chocolate was better!

the other attraction of dining at pollen by jason artheton is of course the complimentary entrance to the flower dome.

since the restaurant is located within the confines of flower dome, once you enter the restaurant, you can access the flower dome (bypassing the ticketed entrance), which is what we did. we went earlier at 6.10pm & walked around the flower dome before proceeding to our table at 7.10pm.

looking back at my blog post, the first & only time i came for a set lunch at pollen (though we had been to pollen in london for lunch several times)was >3yrs ago on 22.7.2013.

that was great too of course, but it was like most good set lunches, not the same fineness & wow as this dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

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Pollen

Address:

Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive, #01-09
Singapore 018953

Contact:

+65 6604 9988
info@pollen.com.sg

RESERVATIONS 

Opening Hours:

Main Dining Room – Level 1

Lunch 12pm to 3pm (last order 2.30pm)
Dinner 6pm to 10pm (last order 9.30pm)
CLOSED ON TUESDAYS

Pollen Terrace – Level 2

9.30am to 9pm daily
Muffins and Coffee/Tea 9.30am to 11.30am
Terrace Menu 11.30am to 9pm
Afternoon Tea 3pm to 5pm CLOSED ON TUESDAYS