Late Plate @ NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House.

How time flies! The food in today's post was eaten almost a month ago!

My colleagues and I wanted something different and decided to try out a place that is different from the usual canteen fare. We read that there's a new place that serves all day breakfast in the NUS Kent Ridge Campus. It's headed by an Australian Chef Roland Graham, who's worked in a few countries and few top hotels too. We thought we shall try it out.

For those familiar with NUS, this dining place is at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House. The last time we were here, it was a cafe that was a subsidiary of a local catering firm that all of us probably eaten before. It's a nice chance to have a new tenant at the Alumni House.


As you can see, the view outside is quite pleasant. It's near to the modern looking NUS Business School as well. Why is it call Late Plate? It's because they serve all day breakfast! No matter how late you go, you can still get breakfast!


A colleague, HY tested out the Cappuccino. ($4.50 hot / $5.50 cold)

I am not a coffee drinker, but the aroma was wonderful. She quite enjoyed it. You can tell a coffee drinker who likes their coffee when it perks them up suddenly! (oh these caffeine addicts!)


HY ordered the soup of the day which was interesting!
It's "cream of broccoli, corn and ham hock". We were too curious and we asked our colleague if we could try it. It was good! Really good!

The broccoli cream was blended, however to give it a nice texture, they had tiny little bits of broccoli to give it a nice little crunch. Interesting eh?



This is the Pot Pie. It comes as a special when we visited it with the Soup of the day above.
(Pot Pie and Soup of the Day was $15)


The Pot Pie here was not covered with the usual pastry, but the bowl was topped with mash potatoes. The top layer according to colleague A was a little cheesy crusty. The potato sure doesn't taste like those instant ones, so it's probably made from fresh potatoes.

The beef bolognaise was hidden below and she said it was good. Looks really tempting doesn't it?



I ordered the Red Snapper Fillet. It was served on top of roasted dutch tomatoes. ($16)
The snapper was wonderful. Not overcooked and it was succulent. The dutch tomatoes roasted was good too. As a person who loves tomatoes, I wished there were more of it!


On the side was black endive and basil mash topped with I think tasted like sweet potato crisp. Very pleasant flavour and I mix it with the olive oil and fish jus that was from the fish.



Another colleague, DP ordered the Corned Beef Hash ($15)
When it arrived, he was going to say, I did not order this! A bowl of eggs for lunch?

It is really his order. The menu says Onion and Gruyere Cheese Baked Eggs with Scorched Sourdough Caper Gremolata. He or rather all of us did not read the description above when we ordered it. We were too busy talking about work in the office.

Beneath the layer of egg and cheese is a layer of mash potato. Below the mash potato is the corned beef. According to DP, it's very rich and quite an indulgence.



HY is a dessert girl! Desserts were all $5 ($3 if it an add on to your mains), so we were game to try it with her! This was the Vanilla Almond Tart & Ice cream with passionfruit puree.

It's not a huge dessert. We wished it could be bigger. The tart about the size of the mini macarons that we usually buy in Singapore. The taste was quite good though. The ice cream was very good too!



We saw the first dessert was not that big, so we thought we can fill up more calories! We ordered the Dark Chocolate Pistachio tart with toasted marshmallows and white cocoa sauce. The tart was filled with dark chocolate that has been melted into the tart shell. Very thick and sinful. We thought the white cocoa sauce tasted like thick condensed milk.
 
Total bill costs us $54 for 3 persons.

Late Plate 11 Kent Ridge Drive #01-03 Shaw Foundation Alumni House Singapore 119244 Tel: +65 8328 3127 Web: www.lateplate.sg Hours: Mon-Wed: 10am-6pm,  Thu-Fri: 10am-8pm, Sat: 10am-4pm

1 Caramel Dessert Boutique @ 1 Rochester Park

This was an interesting visit to an eatery!

The address says Level 2, 1 Rochester Park. It's located at one of the conserved 'black and white houses' or colonial building that some prefer to call it.

For your first time there, you might probably be like me, walk around the building trying to figure how to get to the 2nd level. You won't find any and soon realize that there's a staircase in the middle of the 1st floor restaurant called One Rochester. You would gingerly walk right in and see if that's the right place. It looks about right and walk upstairs.

When you are on the upper floor, you are further confused! You see a glass door and it says 'kitchen'. There's no entrance or any other doors that seems to lead you to 1 Caramel.



You get curious and sort of frustrated and decide to peep in the kitchen, and it's really a kitchen!

You see the fridges like the one above and below. Beautiful cakes, tempting delights, a place that negates all your work out! How do I get in? Should I just walk into the kitchen?



Just push the glass door that says 'kitchen' and walk in! It's the only entrance in!
They operate a truly open kitchen concept! You see how the food's being prepared! Walk in and beside these fridges is another glass door that leads you to the balcony of this black and white house! That's where the seating area is.

It's a very nice and cosy place whether day or night! Trees slightly covering your view of the Ministry of Education building opposite. It's like a nice hideaway and it's air-conditioned too!

I walked in the 'kitchen' and saw Yuen and Fen from SgDessert! Always a comfort to see some familiar faces. They told me to walk towards the glass door to the balcony and that was where I was greeted by two lovely ladies from the 1 Rochester PR Team. Nice folks and I was asked if I wanted any drinks.

It was after work and a day before my birthday. I look at the menu (which is available online with prices listed too) the Specialty Tea range. They have a tea called Happy Birthday Tea! It's as if the menu was printed for me! I ordered it! A mild black tea which with red berries and hint of vanilla. Perfect!

All day breakfast!

It was dinner time at nearly 7pm, but I am having Brunch!

This was the Traditional Eggs Benedict. Very delicious poached eggs on toasted English muffin with hollandaise sauce. This version I had included the Smoked Salmon.

Note: It's one place that you can come for ALL DAY BRUNCH! Brunch hours are from 11:30 am till 10:30 pm on weekdays and 11:30 till 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.



I like how they prepared the potatoes that was part of the egg. It was soft inside and there's a slight crispy feel to it.



This photo is to tempt you! If you like runny egg yolks, drool!
The fish roe was a nice touch! Love it when it pops in your mouth while you have the egg, salmon and muffin.

The Posh Platter

If you are here with your date or friends, try the platters.They have a few, refer to the menu.

This was the Posh Platter, which has smoked salmon tart with creme fraiche and ocean trout caviar, asparagus wrapped in basil and proscuitto, truffled brie and cherry tomatoes on a toasted brioche.



It was all beautifully plated and each piece seemed so delicately crafted. They all tasted very delicate and had unique flavors. The asparagus wrapped in basil and prosciutto was probably the one I liked the most.

Souffle

Love souffles? The few of us were tempted by them!

Souffles are meant to be eaten straight away! See what happens when food bloggers take more than the required time to take photos! The ice cream melts and the souffles flattens!




There have very unique flavors here. They have:
- Hazelnut souffle with chocolate ice cream
- Chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream
- Miso souffle with yuzu ice cream
- Vanilla souffle with strawberry ice cream
- Passionfruit souffle with banana-passion sorbet



We tried 3 different ones and the Miso souffle was something really different and hey, it's worth a try if you are adventurous! Very Japanese influence in it. The yuzu ice cream was just so ideal!

A nice shot at last. This last souffle arrived in front of me and I got to take first shot of it! Look how tall and handsome it is!

Desserts

With a name like 1 Caramel, you know this place is a definite Desserts Heaven!

If you are alone, take a pick by looking at the menu or simply walking to the fridge and pick the one that calls out to you.

If you are here as a group, order the 1 Caramel Assiette to share! Probably the best way to try out everything! You get to choose from the menu 3, 4 or 5 desserts of your pick!
 



Presenting the 1 Caramel Baked Alaska!
Just oogle at this gorgeous little thing! A work of art don't you think?

The menu describes it as: "Combination of homemade chunky strawberry and vanilla Madagascar ice cream coated with rhum Italian meringue on top of a nutty chocolate brownie."

Are you tempted? It's for the sweet tooth!




Death by Chocolate.
We did not die, but this valrhona sofiato molten cake with dark chocolate sorbet was really fabulous. I especially liked the dark chocolate sorbet! That was something I could not resist. I finished it all off after 2 other diners sharing with me said they had enough!



The name's already a mouthful and it describes it all!
Raspberry lychee rose pannacotta, lychee-lemon compote.

It's something of a contrast to the other desserts. It's to me a very feminine dessert. Rose scented pudding, lychee. Ladies, tell me what you think after trying it.

In my mind, I thought of Crabtree and Evelyn or Laura Ashley! haha...




Tropical Vodka Trifle.
It's Pineapple gazpacho jelly, pineapple sponge cubes with crystallized baked almonds topped with coconut sorbet.





Earl Grey creme brulee
An unique creme brulee. Earl Grey infused custard dessert.
Earl or Lady Grey to me is an acquired taste. Either you like it or not. Probably my youngest sis kind of dessert, she's an Earl/Lady Grey tea person. I am sure if she's here, she would have enjoyed this.

To some of you, you remember this place as the cool dessert place at Handy Road. That was sometime back. They are now at Rochester area. I was told it is like a home coming as they started off here! They are located just minutes away from the Buona Vista MRT.

They also have customized cakes that you see on the first photo. Check out their website at http://www.1-caramel.com for more details.

I realized that the organization I work with is part of their Corporate Boast Program. That means when I show my staff pass, I get 10% off. A few organization around this area like the Biopolis are part of the program. If you work for A*Star or NUS, just present your staff pass for the discount! Ask your HR if your company is part of it.



1-Caramel Dessert Boutique
1 Rochester Park,
Level 2,
Singapore 139212

Tel: +65 67741302
Hours:
For cake collection: 11.30am -9.00pm
For dine in: Mon-Fri:1130am – 1030pm / Sat & Sun:10am -1030pm (Brunch is available till 4pm)

Alcove Asian Restaurant Bar @ NUS University Cultural Centre

Colleagues and I got curious recently and went 'all the way' to the NUS University Cultural Centre to have lunch! We heard there's a new 'zhi char' style food eating place in NUS.

It was a very hot and bright afternoon, it's no wonder no one sits at the outdoor seating area! The outdoor area is most probably for those who come for drinks at night. We don't know if anyone will go there except maybe during performance nights at the University Cultural Centre?




"Alcove. Asian Restaurant. Bar" has taken over from KR50. We notice something when we got there. It's another Pines Catering food outlet! The staff uniform has the Pines logo!

But we like the Filipino service staff here! They were so helpful and when we said we were cold (yes, the aircon was blowing so strong!) they offered us another table and came back to check if we were still cold 2 to 3 times after!




The place as you can see look quite modern. But looking at the menu, I was reminded of my student days in Melbourne! It's the kind of menu that has nice border, super simple with just the dishes and the price.

If you know what I mean, it's the kind of menu used in Malaysian / Vietnamese or Singapore restaurants in Melbourne that sells food to students!

This was the express lunch menu. ;-)




A colleague tried their congee and found it pretty decent. $5.50
It's a huge bowl and it was served very hot. Taste was OK and ingredients not too stingy too.




Another colleague had the beef stir fry with rice. $5.50
He's a big eater so he found it a bit too small the portion.




I also had the rice dishes from the menu. I picked Mongolian Pork Ribs and Rice. $5.50
I found the pork ribs rather tender and quite a few pieces too.

Portions are OK to last till 4 pm before you need to snack. ;-)




Another colleague had the Claypot Noodle $5.
We all think hers is the most 'worth' it. Portions are bigger than ours, she said it was delicious too, and the food stays hot because it's a claypot.


NUS Staff and Student producing identification gets discounts too. They serve plain water FOC too. So we thought it's a place we can come back. We want to try their a la carte dishes one of these days.


Alcove. Asian Restaurant. Bar.
University Cultural Centre, NUS.
50 Kent Ridge Crescent,
Singapore 119279.

Burger King Tendergrill @ NUS Deck Canteen

Since I am doing all burger posts these few days, I might as well blog about this burger craze today.
I am sure most people would have seen the $1 Tendergrill advertisement by Burger King.

Colleagues and I decided to join the queue today!

Time is precious and why waste it by queuing for burgers?

Well, if you have been working hard the whole morning, giving presentations (I was) or sitting the whole morning, it's ok! You deserve doing something totally different and enjoy it as well. Your eyes needs rest, you need to laugh and chat with your colleagues or friends. It really brings sanity back.

But if you have already been wasting time the whole day, then don't waste your time queuing. You can't afford too because you have not been a good steward of time ;-p





Colleagues and I went to the nearest Burger King outlet that we know of. The Burger King at Singapore's 1st Eco-Food Court! At the Deck Canteen, NUS.

BK is on the 2nd floor, but the queue went all the way to the 1st floor!




People do know how to queue. No fights here, they are a civilized lot here!

In fact, as you queue, you notice there are students or academics reading (academic) papers!
No wonder in today's newspaper, NUS is ranked 27th in the world and 3rd in Asia! (read the news here)




So many people? No, not everyone was in the queue for Burger King. The rest of the stalls also have queues. If you visit this canteen like colleagues and I sometimes do, the queues here are always long.

But the longest queue for the day was at Burger King. You add around 20 minutes more to your normal waiting time if you queue at Burger King today.




Finally at the upper floor.
When you are at this canteen, you can tell which faculty the students are from! It's as easy as ABC!

(A)rts, (B)usiness and (C)omputing students hang out here and you can tell by their dressing!
No prize for guessing where the nerdy ones belong to!




Hmm. Why is the girl scratching her head? (She must be an Arts student!)
There was only 1 burger to order for the day! Tendergrill.





One of the early birds who got his burger.
He seems to be really enjoying it. He was on that pose for some time!
Some more he is 'kiao-kar-ing'! (crossing-his-legs)




Colleague and I finally got our burgers.



Wow, the burger today had a big piece of meat! It's protruding out of the bun!
It was well worth the $1. The only complaint was that it was not warm enough. The kitchen staff must be rushing like mad today, cutting a few seconds off the grilling over the flame timing?

I had this burger few weeks ago with normal queuing and waiting time, it is nice and warm. Today's version is definitely a rush job.




Overall, it was a fun and a bit silly queuing for the $1 burger. But colleagues and I had a good time!

Try the burger another day when it's not so busy. You will enjoy it more.

The University Club Lounge and Dining Rooms @ Shaw Foundation Alumni House

We have gotten quite bored with the same food near our office. It's always the same few stalls we go to. One colleague had been "very bored" with our "boring lunches" suggested that we venture out somewhere unknown places. Somehow, we ended up the NUS Alumni House. We have not been here for some time.

When we got there, we found nothing interesting in the building. We noticed a cafe by Pines. (by one of the food catering companies.)  We remembered reading in the papers about a new place to eat in the Alumni House, we walked around the first floor and we can't find anything. We decided to asked the receptionist (who has been looking and us, waiting for us to ask her something haha) and she said, oh, that's on the 4th floor. Take the lift up and you will see it.



We got out the lift and was surprise to see such a cosy and classy place in the University! White table cloth dining at the University, what a difference from the Arts canteen nearby!

The University Club Lounge and Dining Rooms is run by The Prive Group.



This is the "Dining Room". A cosy dining room where we can even see the chefs preparing food via the 'one way' mirror. The "Lounge Room" is next door where they have an impressive 600 bottle wine cellar!

We had the set lunches. The 3 course set costs $28 and the 2 course set costs $25.
The serving staff told us the menu changes weekly, so we should come back again if we liked the food.

What impressed us was that the service staff knows what they are talking about when we asked about the food.You know fanciful restaurant have fanciful names for their dishes. We asked her what some dishes were, she knew exactly what we were asking and she replied with tact and eloquence too!

We took some time to look at the menu. So much choices. We wanted to try everything! We finally settled on our choices of Starters, Mains and Desserts. Here goes:

*** pain ***

A basket of warm loaves was served shortly after we placed our order. Three white loaves and three wholemeal loaves with raisins.



We really like the warm raisin loaves. It came with salted butter and it gently melts as we spread it on the warm loaves.

*** amuse-bouche ***

After the bread basket was cleared, we were waiting for the starters to be served. The service staff surprised us with this amuse-bouche for each of us. Arugula that's rolled with smoked tuna. It went into our mouth and it sure was nice! The magic in the mouth: slightly crunchy arugula mixed with the slight saltiness of the smoked tuna and when you bite, the bursting of the black fish roe! Wicked!

Those are not the design of the serving dish. It's balsamic vinegar. Fanciful!


Our three starters:

*** Boston Lobster Cannelloni *** 

HW ordered the Boston Lobster Cannelloni. It's too pretty to be eaten! Boston Lobsters with chopped coriander leaves, salted black fermented beans all stuffed inside the cannelloni pasta with Mornay Sauce. It's all about tantalizing your taste buds!

*** Baby Spinach and Portobello Mushroom ***

THY ordered the salad. It looks so healthy and light! Mini tower of stacked baby spinach layered with sliced portobello mushroom and sprinkled with sun dried tomatoes with bits of crispy shallots and raspberry shallot vinaigrette. Looks like a mini Christmas tree! The dressing is light and slightly tart. Nice!

*** Bay Scallop Carpaccio ***

I had the scallop carpaccio. Look how pretty they had 'carpaccio'-ed the scallop. So thinly sliced, the texture is like chee cheong fun. It really soaked up the black sesame and ponzu vinaigrette.


Our Three Mains:

*** Braised French Duck Leg ***

HW had the braised duck leg. We knew he really liked it. Why? We saw him smile at himself a few times! We have been colleagues for so long, we know his mannerism! LOL. The duck leg was served on top of pearl barley risotto with pink grapefruit segments and duck jus.

*** Pan Roasted Lamb Rump ***

THY has the lamb rump and it was good too. It was served with edamames, roasted heirloom tomatoes with thyme, garlic chips and lamb jus. We all gave bits of our mains to each other and this lamb was good!

*** Crispy Skin Barramundi ***

I had the barramundi. Yes, the skin was really crispy. The fish below the crispy skin was juicy as if it was steamed. I got so amused, that the Holland baby carrot puree was served like a carrot! Nice baby food! I like the sauteed baby spinach. The vine of san marzano tomatoes that was roasted till the vine was crispy was good!

(Anyone knows where I can get vines of san marzano tomatoes in Singapore? I want to try it at home!)


Our three desserts:

*** Cinnamon Apple Crumble ***

We were recommended the apple crumble. It was spot on. The warm apple crumble went well with the honey and fig ice cream. Oh, the plate was really hot, so the apple crumbled stayed warm. The honey and fig ice cream had this acquired 'fig' taste.

That sugar deco makes it looks grand eh? Queen of the desserts?

*** Bourbon Madagascan Vanilla Crème Brûlée ***

Balsamic Marinated Berries with oh so yummy crème brûlée. Do I need to say more?

*** Sticky Date Pudding ***

One bite into the sticky date pudding makes you want more! Oh the vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce with walnut. Yummy! If you think it looks familiar, it's the famous sticky date pudding from Prive. (Same company remember?)

A nice cosy place, with great food. Not that expensive too!
We will be back! The restaurant is open to public.


The University Club Lounge and Dining Rooms
Shaw Foundation Alumni House
4th Floor
11 Kent Ridge Drive
Singapore 119244

Tel: 6779-8919
Hours: Closed on Sun and Public Holidays.
The Dining Rooms: Mon-Sat, 12:00 pm  - 2:30 pm, 6.30 pm - 11:00 pm
The Lounge: Mon-Sat, 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm