Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Boiler @ Tai Seng Industrial Estate

Here in Singapore, Louisiana inspired seafood restaurants are popping up and one of the latest opening is The Boiler. If you have grown fond of the various cajun-style preparation of seafood, you can add this place to your place to go.

Crab and shrimp boils or a more generic label, "seafood boil" is a Louisiana Cajun tradition and you can find them here. You can prepare these boils yourself at home, or you don't like cooking, just eating or don't like to clean up, just pay them a visit.

The Boiler, Singapore

One difference The Boiler has to other similar restaurants is their location. They are located at the Tai Seng Industrial Estate. No, it's not that 'ulu', it's just a short walk from the Tai Seng MRT. One thing about being in an industrial building is the high ceilings! Coming in here just gives you a nice airy feeling of space, something that many other restaurants in Singapore can only wish for.

The Boiler, Singapore

This visit was an invited session and the things featured here are what most of us thought is good or interesting.

If you just coming for drinks, they have some crafted beer here plus a selection of Louisiana Crafted Beers as well. You can take a look at what they have here.


If you want something different, try their Beerita ($11.90). It is a glass filled with Margarita and a bottle of upside down Corona that flows out of the bottle into the glass as you sip your drink.

The Boiler, Singapore

If you want something non alcoholic drinks, The Boiler's Lime-Mint Freeze ($5.90) is quite addictive and you will probably need 2 because you will finish them very quickly. I like this drink.

The Boiler, Singapore

It's a place where you can safely wear your whites because they provide transparent bibs, or it's more like an apron because it's so big to protect your clothing. I laughed at their wordings because they sure are as corny as me on Instagram. LOL

The Boiler, Singapore

While waiting for your mains, dig in to some starters. We had some Fish and Chips for starters. The fish are are crisp outside and moist not oily inside. I forgot to ask what fish it was, but they have done it pretty well here considering because it's in an industrial building, they have limitations in what they can do in their kitchen.

If you order this, I recommend that you save some of the chips, so that you can dip it with the sauces of the seafood.

The Boiler, Singapore

Another starter we had is an absolutely sinful dish. Southern Fried Chicken with Waffles! Crispy chicken with crispy waffles that had maple syrup on it.

Nothing healthy at all, but everything so addictive.

The Boiler, Singapore

Another sinful starter. Prawns wrapped with bacon! Bacon Shrimp with Hickory BBQ sauce.
With these starters, I said you need more Lime-Mint Freeze.



The Boiler, Singapore

This is also a place where it's a very communal kind of place. You share the food and you eat right off the table. They lined the table with fresh clean grease proof paper, so don't worry. The food's poured on the table and you dig in!

They way to order the mains are simple:
1) You can pick your seafood, either Live Dungeness Crab, Live Brown Crab, Live Boston Lobster (all seasonal), or if you are on a tighter budget more of the Prawns, Mussels or Clams.
2) Choose your sauce: The Works, Garlic Butter or Peppa' Butter.

The Boiler, Singapore

Oh hi! Handsome Boston Lobster! This guy was having a sauna and has been drenched in Peppa' Butter sauce.  Their sauces had been formulated to have quite some uumph. If you like it a little peppery, try the Peppa' Butter sauce.

The lobster are $75 per piece, when we had this earlier in September, they were having an offer of only $49 per piece, if you went followed me on Instagram, you would have seen it. Hope those of you who saw it went and got to enjoy the deal!

The Boiler, Singapore

If you like garlic, the garlic butter sauce might be your choice. It's not too difficult to whack the flesh out of the lobster shell. Get a few friends to go along and you can order a few to taste it all and share too. Looks good doesn't it? The lobster above.

The Boiler, Singapore

If you are here with 3-4 friends, you can order The Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag ($139).
We were looking out for the guy with the big bag. A few went to other diners and when he finally walked over, we were ready with our phones!

Let me warn you, keep your mobile phones when you are ready to eat, your hands will get really yummy with the sauces and you don't want to be tempted to hold your phone!

The Boiler, Singapore

What you get in The Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag: Dungeness/brown crab, prawns, mussels, clams, sausages, corn and bun. (The bun doesn't get served in the bag, it comes separately)

The Boiler, Singapore

We were eating in quite a big group, so we had 2 The Boiler's Bombdiggity Bags. The sauce for this bag was "The Works", they have different heat levels for "The Works". I prefer the mid level spice because it's more balanced to me.

I also recommend that you leave the food in the bag when it's served because it keeps the food warm longer and it's easier to scoop up the sauce using the clam shells.

The Boiler, Singapore

Well, if you wanna take photos of your food, then by all means, spread it on the table! It's easier to pick your food this way too if you have a bigger group. It's really up to you. This was the garlic butter sauce. Having tasted all their sauces, my personal preference for the night was the mid level The Works sauce.

They have a more different style of food lunch menu, it's a more burger, sandwiches, ribs kind of place in the afternoon. I want to try out the ribs, as I am a ribs person.

Thanks to The Boiler folks for the invitation to try out the place.

The Boiler
18 Howard Road,
#01-06, Novelty Bizcentre
Singapore 369585
 

Tel: +65 6635 1285

 



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Monday, November 17, 2014

Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 - 22 November 2014 @ Suntec City Convention Centre (Plus Giveaway)

Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014

The Ultimate Hawker Fest is back and if you have not planned this coming weekend's brunch, why not consider visiting Suntec City this Saturday for some food and at the same time support the over 32,000 beneficiaries of Touch Community Services. The beneficiaries are from all races and religions.

UltimateHawker

To help navigate what's going on at the Hawker Fest, it will be divided into 3 zones:

1) Ultimate Original Recipe - where stalls have been around for multiple generations.

Here's the menu:
Menu1
2) Ultimate Pursuit of Happiness - where young folks who have left their cushy jobs in other sectors to come into the food business.

The menu:
Menu2

3) Ultimate Ingredients - featured hawkers who will replace their usual ingredient with special ones to make their dish more extraordinary.

The menu:
Menu3 Menu4

Now introducing the folks who are curating this year's festival.

Curators

My friends and Singapore Food Bloggers that you are all probably already following,  Maureen Ow (www.MissTamChiak.com), Derrick Tan (www.SgFoodOnFoot.com) and Ian Low (TheSilverChef.blogspot.sg) have been working tirelessly to talk to the 20 over hawkers, visited farms to check the ingredients and many more.

The hawkers are also taking taking time off from the usual business and coming to Ultimate Hawker Fest to bring you the food and for them and you to help support this charity.


Date: Saturday, 22 November 2014
Time: 11am to 5pm
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre Halls 401 and 402

Buy your coupons at www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg



But wait... what about a Giveaway:

For the giveaway, 2 persons will get 1 set of $50 coupons to spend at the Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014.
  • Look for my Instagram post on this giveaway. Share it with your friends and say how you will spend your $50 based on the menu above on Instagram.
  • Hashtag your post #ultimateHawkerFest2014 and #keropokmanGiveaway and tag @keropokman in your post so I can browser through it easily.
  • Contest is for readers who will be living in Singapore only.
  • Closing date is 2359 hours, Wednesday 19 November 2014.
  • The winners will be randomly picked and informed via Instagram.
If the winners do not reply within 24 hours, new winners will be picked.

Terms and conditions:
The curators of the Ultimate Hawker Fest is solely responsible for contacting the winners. No refunds are allowed and the prize is not exchangeable for credit, cash or in kind. If unclaimed after the redemption period, the prize will be forfeited, and the winner shall have no further right to claim it thereafter.

Winners of the Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 Giveaway are not eligible to win the same prize in similar contests hosted by any other person or organization on Facebook, blogs, magazines and online publications.



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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

A for Arbite, A for Amex's #30liciousAmex deals

If you have not read about the American Express #30liciousAmex deals, you probably have been having a nap for too long. Well, it's not too late to find out.

American Express and HungryGoWhere jointly present 30licious - S$30++ culinary treats for 30 days from 3 November to 2 December 2014. It's their little treat for Amex card holders. I have tried the  #30liciousAmex meal at A for Arbite and it's pretty good!

(If you don't  have an Amex, you top it up to S$35++)

I recently went to A for Arbite with the Amex and HungryGoWhere folks to try out their $30 dinner deals. This is my report of the place and I think I will be back for more of their other food. I see things in the regular menu that the different family members at home will love.

Back to their #30liciousAmex deal here, the set dinner consists of a Starter, Main, Dessert and a drink as well. Quite a good value if you have been eating out. The set meal is for at least 2 persons, so you can get to taste everything you see here!


1) Starter (Soup of the day or Duck Roll)


A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex
The Soup of the Day we had was the seafood soup. I personally love tomato based soup and this was nice. It had a nice viscosity and it was quite rich and hearty. It reminded me of a French bouillabaisse. A version without all the loads of fish and seafood required in a bouillabaisse, but excellent enough for such a deal.

A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex
If you are not a soup person, try the Duck Rolls. They have done this version rather well. It's like a Ngor Hiang that is made from duck. Rather interesting I would say. Duck rilettes with dried mushrooms, water chestnuts and grapes!

Nicely crisped on the outside and they have pickles to counter balance the rich taste of the duck. The chilli gastrique is where the crispy duck rolls are resting.

2) Main (Salted Egg Crab Pasta or Beef Stew)

A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex

Salted Egg Crab pasta sounds like what you like? It that sounds utterly sinful, it's not that 'strong' in the saltiness scale. I will say it's the healthier version. The pasta they use is Zita pasta and it has salted egg, crab meat, chilli and hints of curry leaf flavour all mixed in. It's also served with a  piece of deep fried soft shell crab.
 
This is the lighter of the two mains.

A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex

If you like a bowl of hearty stew. Try this. The Beef Daube. I personally love this dish more as I love the flavour of it. Beef Shin with celery, carrots and red wine. Braised till it is just tender and not too soft and mushy. It's so pretty how they plated the dish with fried onion rings stacking on top of each other.

(I took a peep at the usual menu and this dish already cost $25 and the crab pasta $24.)


3) Dessert (Edith's Mess or Honey and Date Crème Brûlée)

A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex

Edith's Mess is a very interesting and beautiful mess indeed. It has the slight tartness from the passsionfruit jelly, the sweetness from rock melon ice cream. If you want some crunch, the honey comb brittle gives you time to chew while your dinner companion talks! I love the honey comb brittle and the rock melon ice cream!

A for Arbite @ American Express #30liciousAmex

Honey and Date Crème Brûlée is for those who likes a twist to the usual Crème Brûlée. This version enhanced with dates and honey. Quite a good combination.

The meal also comes with a non alcoholic drink that you can order from the menu. Quite a good deal, if you have tried this place, I think I will be back for the other regular food on the menu. It's looking very tempting and the chef is pretty good.

So if you think it sounds like a good deal and you want to know what other restaurants and where you can book this meal, head on to http://book.hungrygowhere.com/30licious There are over 30 places where you can book.


30licious is the newest culinary celebration by American Express Selects® - American Express’ way of bringing exceptional deals to its Card Members.
 

A for Arbite
28 Aliwal Street
#01-01
Singapore 199918

Tue - Fri: 11:30 am - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Sat - Sun: 11:00 am - 10:30 pm
Closed on Mondays.

Tel: +65 8321 2252



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