McDonald's almost gourmet dinner @ McDonald's Alocassia

You know how Apple likes to keep the lid on their new product launch. When things are kind of confirmed, they will send out an invite to media and associates to attend an event.

Just last week, McDonald's Singapore did something similar. I got an invite to attend a "McDonald's First-ever classy 'gourmet' dinner". It's the most interesting invite from McDonald's ever!

The location for the launch was not Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in California.
McDonald's had it at one of their newest and classy outlet at Alocassia Apartments along Bukit Timah Road. You go and take a look, the new branches don't look anything like a fast food restaurant anymore!



They closed the whole restaurant from the afternoon till evening for this event!




Make it Chicken McGrill. Have you all noticed that their menu display signs have changed over the years? It's kind of different in many countries too, but most are becoming very similar.

I have not taken a part time job when I was a teenager working for McDonald's, so I never had a chance to go walk around their kitchen. Last year, when they had an 'Open Door' kitchen tour, I signed up with my sis and cousin. If you are 'kepo' like us, you could do so too.




The 'almost gourmet' dinner. The folks at McDonald's did quite a fine job making it look gourmet.
Look! White linen on the table! Food served on crockery! Fresh flowers too!




For the night, they prepared a special menu.
Chef Irene Jansen was roped in to prepare a 4 course meal using ingredients that is "very McDonald's"!




The MC for the night was Ms Petrina Kow! If you are about my age, you would be familiar with her voice! How many of you grew up listening to her on radio?




Ms Shirley Foenander, VP of Marketing, Communications and Menu Management, McDonald's Restaurants Pte. Ltd., Singapore welcoming all of us!

Now for the food we had.

Starter: Fish & Corn Quiche

Chef Jansen came up with this dish. Baked BBQ flavoured crust-less quiche with fish and corn.
Made from: cubes of filet-o-fish, Corn, Egg and BBQ Sauce.

I did not really taste the BBQ Sauce. Maybe we usually dunk so much of BBQ sauce with our nuggets or fries. It's only a slight hint of BBQ Sauce in it. It was very unique though.

Appetiser: Fresh Salad Greens

Crisp lettuce, blushing-red tomato slices, Corn niblets and low fat thousand island dressing.

The more I look at this, I am thinking, hey it's a burger without the patty! Served with corns from the kids meal!

I am not a fan of thousand island dressing. I was instead craving for their "Curry Sauce". I would usually have walked to the counter to ask for a pack of curry sauce, but since it is full service today, I asked the restaurant crew. They came back with a nice porcelain saucer filled with curry sauce! 




The beret makes them look very 'French' dont they?
We were told the restaurant crew that night was chosen from the best around Singapore! What they are wearing looks McCafe-ish!





The restaurant crew must have gone through an audition to perform live music to all the guests!
They could dance, sing and serve food at the same time!
The lead singer was Chef Jansen herself!

Main Course: Teppanyaki Chicken McGrill

This was the star of the night. The new Teppanyaki Chicken McGrill that's to be launched on 1 Mar 2011 Singapore wide!

Bakery style sourdough bread, grilled chicken thigh, whole-leaf lettuce, blushing-red tomato slices and chargrill sauce. Looks good doesn't it? It taste rather nice too. Now that all 3 major fast food joint serve similar chicken burgers, go to all 3 and taste which is your favourite.

Fries was served on the side that came in a nice Japanese looking cup!

Dessert : Apple Yogurt Trifle

I think they should just serve this on their regular menu!
"A tangy refreshing dessert with toasted caramel-cinnamon sourdough croutons", quoting the description on the menu!

Let me see. It's made from:
1) McDonald's Apple Dippers
2) Strawberry yogurt (I don't know which product that serves this, someone said Kid's meal? Is it true parents?)
3) Vanilla soft-serve.
4) Toasted caramel-cinnamon sourdough cruotons, probably their cinnamon melts put into the toaster. Caramel sauce from apple dippers?
5) Strawberry sauce - sundae sauce
6) Cinnamon powder - cinnamon melts.

Alamak, you can tell I frequent Big M quite often eh?

Coffee / Tea:

Looking at the cup and tea pot, I think it's from McCafe!

Hey folks, if you want to try the burger, go to http://makeitbetter.sg and download a 1-for-1  coupon on your phone. Go to any branch on 1 March 2011 (only 1 day offer) with another friend and show it to the restaurant crew when you order. You can enjoy the burger (a la carte) at half price.

If you are asking like a few others who asked me, this gourmet like food service was only available that night. It resumes to your usual McDonald's restaurant that you are familiar with.

Lobby Lounge @ Marriott Hotel Singapore

It was a totally impromptu meet-up. I was having lunch at Ion Orchard and I twitted the food I had. I got a reply from Calvin Timo that he was a few floors below where I was. I had a very full 8 course Chinese New Year lunch thanks to Dell. Calvin had a big lunch too, but we always have space for some desserts. Leongraphy was with Calvin, so he joined us briefly before leaving for his appointment.

The idea of having afternoon tea comes from the ladies of our recent cruise. After the cruise, we saw on Facebook that they have been having lots of tai-tai sessions out. They will be enjoying themselves sipping tea/coffee and nibbling and gossiping away and we could salivating looking at their photos. The guys can't be bothered or rather don't have the luxury of time.

Since it is rare that we even meet up, the 3 guys pretended to be male version of tai tais. We pretended to be  'shao ye', having tea and cakes. Since Royal Copenhagen has closed, we can't go there to play pretend Shao Ye. We went to Marriott's Lobby Lounge instead.




Calvin had Tea with honey.
Hmm when we saw the honey, we thought of someone. Some of you may know who we are thinking of.




I had the The Iced Raspberry Tea. Cool and refreshing.




We shared two pieces of cakes. This was the Chocolate Pop Tart Cake ($5).
It looks interesting right? It is quite good too.




The Rich Chocolate Cake ($6.50) was such a delight. Chocolate fans should try this.
Dark and milk chocolate mousse with hints of alcohol in it. Topped with a chocolate macaron, a piece of chocolate cookie like chocolate  and a piece of flat reddish chocolate.

If ladies meet up, they gossip. With guys, guess what?

There was 3 or 4 cameras, an iPad, 5 mobile phones between us. The 3 guys sitting on the couch were holding their phones, texting, checking facebook, tweeting, checking and replying emails. But wait there's more. They were also instagraming, whatapp-ing and downloading of new apps!


Lobby Lounge
Singapore Marriott Hotel
320 Orchard Road
Singapore 238865

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant @ The Central

It was one of those days that I was quite stuffed after having afternoon tea and I have a dinner appointment. We have a once a month company wide TGIF (Thank God Is Fridays) tea sessions at 3:30 PM where everyone in the company gets together for some catered nibbling and drinks. I met Momo for dinner with a very full stomach.

Wondering where to have dinner, we narrow the selection to Japanese food. Momo thought of Watami. We have not eaten at Watami for some time. Watami has been gaining popularity and we had to wait a while before getting out seats. (It was expected since it was a Friday night.)

The wait to get in was long, but food was served rather quickly after we ordered. Our dinner, or rather it was mostly Momo's dinner follows:
(I slowly nibbled everything away though I was full!)

Mixed Sashimi Rice

This was the Mixed Sashimi Rice ($13.80) that Momo ordered. The rice was Sakura flower rice. Quite interesting, but Momo asked, how to sakura flower taste like? We don't know. She said the overall dish was good and satisfying (because of the sashimi).

Looking at the prawns now, I feel like having some as I typed this!

Chashu with Negi

The Chashu with Negi  ($7.80) seems a bit small. It was normal only, nothing really to shout about.

Watami Salad

One of our favourite here. The Watami Salad ($8.80)
Our favourite of the night. We polished it clean and stop short of licking the bowl!



The dressing and the salad with lots of fresh salad, cold chicken, smashed tuna was so appetizing.
I am not turning vegetarian, but the salad was so much nicer than the chashu!


Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant @ The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street, The Central,
#03-82/83/85/102/108/109
Singapore 059817

Tel: (65) 6323 3398
Fax: (65) 6323 3378
Hours: 11.30am to 11pm

Singapore Restaurant Week 2011

The Singapore Restaurant Week 2011 is here again!



Update: an additional 3000 seats have been added on Saturday, 5 March 2011. The additional seats are available at BLU, Bonta, Capricci, Clifford, My Little Spanish Place, Zento, The Tavern, SOM THAI, Restaurant Ten, The Song of India, Jade, Private Affairs, Brasserie Les Saveurs, Senso, La Villa, Brazil Churrasco, Krish, Magma, Bacchus and LaBrezza.  This brings the total number of seats available at the 82 restaurants to 35,000 seats for SINGAPORE RESTAURANT WEEK in March 2011.



Why is everyone excited about Restaurant Week? That's because you get to experience incredible food at a range of restaurants that will be offering special three-course meals from 21 to 27 March 2011.

At a fixed price of SGD25++* for a three-course set lunch and SGD35++* for a three-course set dinner, it is quite a steal! Seats are limited though. This year, more than 32,000 seats at 81 restaurants are up for grabs, you still need to hurry. People in Singapore are going crazy booking them!

*DiningCity Star Awarded restaurants charge a fixed supplement of S$15 for lunch and S$20 for dinner. Singapore has a similar supplement-system as Europe has for participating Michelin Star restaurants.

You will be excited to know that this year, a superb line-up of quality restaurants has come onboard, including many new participants such as Salt Grill & Sky Bar, KU DÉ TA, Stellar@1-Altitude, Boathouse, Le Saint Julien, Oyster Bar, La Villa, Sabai, Table 66, Gattopardo, Kinki, Ivory Kitchen, Matsu, Wild Rocket, One Rochester, 1 Twenty Six, Jade (Fullerton Hotel), Patara Fine Thai Cuisine, Clifford (Fullerton Bay Hotel), Cassia and The Knolls (Capella Hotel), LaBrezza and Yan Ting (St Regis Hotel).  For a full listing, log on to www.restaurantweek.sg.
 




All bookings can be made online from 23 February 2011 via www.restaurantweek.sg, a dedicated website with unique technology for online and real-time reservations.

Last year, Momo and I booked ourselves a dinner at Boulevard Restobar at Red Dot Traffic Building. We booked a bit late, so we could not get seats at many places we wanted to try. So if you already have in mind a place you wanted to dine at, hurry!

Did I hear some of you say, I don't like dining alone. I have no one to go enjoy the dinner with. Hey, hey, read on!

For the first time, SINGAPORE RESTAURANT WEEK will also play host to ‘Eat, Drink, Love’ – in collaboration with Lunch Actually, a premier dating agency in Asia. This singles event is a great opportunity for eligible food lovers to make new friends in a fun, relaxed environment and at the same time enjoy a quality dining experience. On 23 March 2011, Wed and 24 March 2011, Thurs at Brasserie Wolf (The Pier at Robertson) and Chef D’Table (CHIJMES). Diners will swap seats and get to meet a different person at each course.


American Express is the presenting partner of the second edition of SINGAPORE RESTAURANT WEEK, which is also officially sponsored by BMW, Culina, S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Brown Brothers, Chapoutier, Ruffino, Torres, and Time Out Singapore and held in “Your Singapore”.

Bloggerific Tea Party @ AFC Studio (Asian Food Channel Studio)

Just about a week ago, the Asian Food Channel folks invited a few bloggers to a Tea Party at their AFC Studio located at Orchard Central.

If you have been watching Asian Food Channel, you would have seen their show clips about cooking classes conducted by celebrity chefs. Well, for the classes in Singapore, they are mostly held here, right in the middle of Orchard Road!

Last year, I attended a few sessions here. I was here before for a Spain Cultural Experience hosted by Chef Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez and also Taste of Philippines hosted by Chef Bruce Lim. How time flies!

Located on the 7th level of Orchard Central, they have a fully functional kitchen, a cafe, a mini library and also a retail shop!




The next time you are tired after walking along Orchard Road, why not pop by the AFC Studio for a cuppa and cakes!

While you are having tea, you can browse through their mini library. They have quite a good collection of food related books! When there are no cooking classes going on, you are welcome to sit down for hours and browse their books!





Back to the tea party. The tea party was also a baking class! Sounds so exciting ya?
With the heart shaped mold, I am sure you can guess what we were going to bake!





First of all, let me introduce you to the guy who hosted us. The man himself, Hian Goh, the big boss of AFC. Thanks to him and his business partner, we had our first taste of 24 hours of food related show!

(I am sitting in front of the TV tuning in to the AFC Channel as I type this! - Channel 435 on Starhub TV in Singapore)








Introducing the resident chef of AFC Studio, Chef Sue-Ann Lambert who was our baking teacher. She's a skilled pâtissier! If you are a fan of Laura Calder, Sue-Ann and Laura are both Canadians! It seems they come from the same part of Canada if I am not mistaken. If I got it wrong, it's probably Sue-Ann got excited and started blurting out in French! ;-p



She taught us to bake 2 types of biscuits: Sugar Cookies and Chocolate Chip Biscotti.
Here's the recipe for the Sugar Cookies.

Recipe 1: Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups flour
• A pinch of salt
• 85g of butter, softened
• 170g sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla 
• 2 Eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C.
2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and mix to combine. Add salt, vanilla and flour and mix until dough just combines.
3. Chill for 30 minutes.
4. Roll chilled dough and cut with desired cutter. 
5. Transfer to baking tray and bake at 160C for about 8 to 12 minutes or until edges of cookies turn golden brown.

Fast forward the kneading, rolling, flattening, molding and baking process....
The cookies were cooled, and it was play time!

Can you spot and recognize the following people?
Dim Sum Dolly, Camemberu, HungryCow, LadyIronChef, CalvinTimo and BakerWhoCooks.




The icing is so eye catching, isn't it?
If you want the recipe for the colourful royal icing we used, here it is:

Recipe 2:  Royal Icing (Using Egg Whites)

Ingredients

• 2 large (60g) egg whites
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups (330g) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

Method

1. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined.
2. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
3. Use icing immediately or transfer into an airtight container before it hardens.
4. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

I made quite a few sugar cookies! This was one of it!





5 of the above were my creation! Can you guess which ones?





The 7 of us made so many cookies! We are a creative lot aren't we?




When I saw Chef Sue-Ann demonstrate in front of us, everything looked so easy peasy!
When it was our turn, most of us felt our hands had lead bars on it. It's so heavy and we felt clumsy. Why?


Anyway, here's the recipe for the biscotti that we made.

Recipe 3: Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1 cup of white or brown sugar
• ½ stick (¼ cup, 4 tablespoons) of butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Cream the sugar and butter together in a stand-up mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat for a few more minutes, then add the vanilla.
3. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, then add to the mixer. Combine well then stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Shape the dough into a log, approximately 12 inches long and 3 inches wide with lightly floured hands. You may find it easier to divide the dough in half and form two shorter logs. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool until you can handle it. Slice diagonally, into ½-inch slices and return to the baking sheet. Bake again until the cookies turn light brown for about ten minutes. Flip them over and brown for another few minutes. 
6. Allow to cool and enjoy with a cup of espresso!

Yup, in North America they use stick for measurement of butter. The recipe above has the conversion that we can understand.








The biscotti dough on the left was moulded by yours truly, because I was 'volunteered'. The one on the right, Chef Sue-Ann. I did quite ok right?





Just like on TV, when the dough was put into the oven, in seconds it is ready!
Chef Sue-Ann demonstrates how to transform a piece of baked dough into biscottis!





Now, a participant tries. Not bad! Chef Sue-Ann gave an approving look and smile.





Perfect for your cuppa!

Do you know if you want to host a cooking session as part of a birthday celebration, or a ladies day out baking, or even a man day's out flipping burgers, you can contact the AFC Studio. They can work out something for you depending on your budget.

You can contact them at: http://www.theafcstudio.com/





I have a weakness. When I see books, ingredients or gadgets, I am always tempted to buy them.
I asked if there were any geeky books, and was recommended this book: "What Einstein Told His Cook".

Yup, I saw the book and bought it! Another geeky book to my personal collection!

(A special note of thanks to Kimberly and Jannah from Fulford PR for the invite!)


THE AFC STUDIO
181 Orchard Road,
#07-02 Orchard Central,
Singapore 238896
Tel: +65 6834 4829
Opening Hours: 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Celebrity Cafe and Bakery, Universal Studio Singapore

It was one of Momo's best friend's birthday. Momo and I bought her an birthday present in the form of an entrance ticket to Universal Studios Singapore (USS). She was so happy! Big girls do get excited when they are going to a theme park!

Trying to finish every single ride, we were there early. We thought we will just grab breakfast inside USS. The entrance ticket comes with a $5 food voucher anyway.




We tried the food at Celebrity Cafe and Bakery, right near the entrance of USS.

It seems most people have eaten before they arrive. There was only a few persons eating here.
We realise everyone has gone for the rides!




We literally sat on the side walks of Hollywood Boulevard!
Momo and I visited the real Hollywood before and think this is better. Much cleaner!
With the air conditioning, it was quite comfortable sitting on the side walks, just like in Los Angeles!




If you want breakfast, you can have it here all day!
A bit pricey, but if you have a DBS/POSB credit card, use it to pay for your meals. You get some discounts!

We ordered two breakfast sets and an extra drink between the 3 of us.




The Waffle Set. Two pieces of quite large waffles. It was very pretty looking!
I am not a waffle lover, but the two ladies seem to be enjoying it.

Seeing them eat it so happily, I ate some. Pouring the chocolate sauce and honey on the waffles squares does make it taste very good.




The refillable hot drink. We did not ask for refills. We don't want to queue for toilets later while we are waiting for our rides!





The muffin set. I had the raspberry muffin.
The muffin was not bad. It was fragrant and tasty. I can't really remember. We were more excited about the rides than the food!

I finished it all, so it must be ok!




The coffee that was part of the set.
I had a 'black' drink too, but mine was gaseous. I had ice cold coke for breakfast!


By the way, this cafe is halal certified! Not every food outlet in USS is halal, this cafe happens to be one that is halal.


Celebrity Cafe and Bakery
Hollywood Boulevard
Universal Studios Singapore
Sentosa Resort Island,
Singapore.

Chinese New Year Lo Hei @ Singapore Flyer

[This was an invited session to Lo Hei at Singapore Flyer]

Happy Birthday everyone!

Today is the 7th day of the Chinese New Year. Do you know what day that is? The 7th day happens to be Ren Ri (人日 / Human Day). You can consider it Human's birthday!

There are "many things" that different people do during Chinese New Year. They are all part of the customs that each family has and it has passed down from our parents and grandparents. One customs that quite a few family has is to toss the Yu Sheng or Lo Hei (as they call it in Cantonese) on the 7th day!




I was recently invited to a bloggers event by Smith Leong of Innova Communications to have the Prosperity Toss - "Lo Hei" at the world's largest Giant Observation Wheel - Singapore Flyer.

I have been up the Singapore Flyer a few times and have always enjoyed the view.  I usually take the ride with friends and relatives who are visiting Singapore and they always love the view. There's something about being high up that makes you euphoric.

The Lo Hei session up the Singapore Flyer was a different experience though! It was the first time I had food and drinks served inside the capsule! It was also one that was quite fun and very exciting!




The Singapore Flyer has a Lo Hei package where you and your family / friends / colleagues can Lo Hei at 165 metres in the air!

We were all holding our super long chopsticks getting ready to Lo Hei the moment our capsule reaches right at the top! Why start tossing at the very top?

The Singapore Flyer folks tell us that when the capsule reaches the very top, we are ''nearest' to heaven and it's the best time to start tossing the Yu Sheng and at the same time absorb all the "heavenly chi'!

At the organisation where I work, we usually have our Annual CNY Lunch on the 7th day and it's also when we have a Lo Hei session. This year the lunch is on the 8th day for some reason.

Do you want to gather your colleagues and have a Lo Hei session? Get your boss to go along and he or she might be willing to foot the bill for you all. It's a very auspicious amount too!

Here's the package:

Chinese New Year Lo Hei Package with Free Flow Beverages
Dates: 28 January 2011 - 20 February 2011
Time: 11:00am - 9:30pm Daily
Price: $1,888nett (for up to 26 guests)
Our Chinese New Year Lo Hei Package consists of:
        - Singapore Flight (1 rotation of approximately 30 minutes)
        - Express Boarding
        - Complimentary VIP Lounge Access
        - 2 in-flight hosts
        - Prosperity Yu Sheng
        - A selection of oriental canapés
        - Free flow of wines, beers, juices, soft drinks and water
        - Specially decorated chinese new year private capsule
        - Mandarin oranges and red packets (ang pows) for every guest

Optional:
- Moët and Chandon Champagne per bottle at additional $148++.
- Feng Shui Audio Guide (Free of Charge)
- Additional rotation available at additional $888nett.

For the latest update, please refer to:
http://www.singaporeflyer.com/en/event-group-packages/chinese-new-year-lo-hei-package.html


Here's some photos of how it looks like on board the Lo Hei capsule:






The Prosperity Yu Sheng ready for tossing!





Inside the capsule is a big round table where the Yu Sheng is the centre of attraction. Everyone gets oranges and ang pows. Note the chopsticks! There are two pairs and one is extra long!




We were served by 2 in-flight hosts.
One of them prepared the Yu Sheng and we had the honour of him proclaim out loud the auspicious phrases!

The other will be serving you free flow of wines, beers, juices, soft drinks and water.




What about the taste of the Yu Sheng? I found it very appetizing!
It had the right amount of flavours (sweet, salty etc) and texture (crispy, moist etc) that will tantalize your taste buds.

In fact, after eating it, it made me hungry! Don't worry, there was a selection of oriental canapés to fill you up.




If you are wondering, the catering is provided by Megu.



Yes, we went a bit wild at 165 metres above sea level!
We tried to toss our Yu Sheng so that we can reach the auspicious height of 188 metres!

One round, which is around 30 minutes is more than sufficient to Lo Hei.
You have around 10 minutes to take all the photos you want of the surrounding.
You have another 5 minutes to get ready and count down.
After tossing, you have 15 minutes to finish up the food and take more photos!





The Singapore Flyer has come up with something I found quite interesting. For those who are more into the symbolism, the whole Lo Hei event is part of an auspicious trail.

1. You start by capturing the Heaven Chi (天气) at the top of the flyer.
2. You face the east, which is where the "wishing well" above is located. Here you capture the Earth Chi (地气)
3. To end it all and to initiate the Human Chi (人气), you throw a coin at the gong to sound it and let the vibrate to you.





For more information, visit: www.singaporeflyer.com to have the contact details of how to book this package.