600 calories or less meal: Laksania Express @ Vivocity

This was an invited food tasting session courtesy of the Singapore Health Promotion Board. 

Here's Destination No. 2:
Laksania Express at VivoCity.

If you ask me have I heard of Laksania? I have not until this invited food tasting by HPB. The other 3 food bloggers who was with me, le keju, lembu lapar and 1/2 blog makan also thought they were quite good.



I just did an online search on Laksania and realise it's part of the Secret Recipe 'empire'.
I also read that they help people who are usually shun by most people an opportunity to work. They hire mentally ill from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to work in their central kitchen.



So many kinds of laksa they have here. Did I just see Laksa Chicken Rice on the menu?
I wonder how the Myanmar Laksa taste too!




Anyway, those are not the lower calorie (less than 600 calories) meals that we were suppose to taste.
We were there to taste the Special Laksa ($4.20)

We were met by Ms Josephine Tan from Laksania. She's such a chirpy happy lady! We asked her how they did it? They did not skimp on the dried shrimps or other spices needed to prepare the gravy. They have been doing research and experimented with different kinds of coconut milk alternatives. Evaporated milk and other alternatives did not go well with many taste buds during taste tests. In the end they settled on UHT Milk. We did not ask how many percentage of fat content in the milk they used or brand. :-)

The noodles used were also different. The rice noodles had 10% of brown rice content. Healthier choice. 



We were surprised when we saw the laksa. It's quite a big bowl! The soup spoon's there for a purpose. ;-)

Can it really be only 600 calories? I asked the Health Promotion Board folks, how can I be sure it is 600 calories? They said, HPB collaborates with them and helps them count the calories.

Do you know a normal bowl of laksa this size usually has about 900 calories?
By shaving off 300 calories, it's like a 5 km run?



The above was the 'sampling size' bowl of laksa we had. HPB nutritionists' counting on the go! We were to take meals from 5 places. By giving smaller servings, we can keep to our 1800(F)/2200(M) calories requirements.

We were there for taste test, so we asked for the normal version of the same laksa. The original version with coconut milk was thicker and the laksa gravy was creamier. But comparing the two, the healthier alternative is quite promising.

I really liked the bowl of laksa. I rather eat this than other healthier alternatives. I get more satisfaction from these calories. Cockles lovers take note, this lower calorie version has no cockles ;-)


Laksania Express
VivoCity Basement 2 Kopitiam
1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-117
Singapore 098585


Note: The healthier version I was told is currently only available at the Vivocity branch.

600 calories or less meal: Swensen's

This was an invited food tasting session courtesy of the Singapore Health Promotion Board.


Has the Health Promotion Board folks been counting my calorie intake? They probably are. What makes me think so, you might be asking. Well.....

I got an email recently to join the Health Promotion Board Corporate Communication folks and 2 of their nutritionists for a food tour to 5 different eating places. They are on a mission to educate me, (and probably all you readers too) that lower calorie food can taste good too! I did a short post here few days ago.

Here's our quests for 600 or less calorie meals.

Here's Destination No. 1:

Earle Swensen's at VivoCity.



Swensen's has introduce this low calorie dish that is healthy and yet tasty.
This is their Grilled Cod Fish with Wild Rice set. ($25.90 with a choice of freshly brewed coffee or tea)

They had mixed the white rice with black glutinous rice (pulut hitam). (At home we mix white rice with brown rice, but I had never tried white rice with black glutinous rice before. This combination does taste good.)

The whole dish had a very clean clear look. It does look plain, but what they have done is to make the clear broth very tasty. So this dish tasted rather delicious.



The cod had been grilled so less oil was used. Cod's already an oily fish.
Can you believe the dish above together a cup of coffee or tea was about 600 calories only?

Most guys need about 2200 calories a day and ladies 1800 calories. So 600 is just about nice for 1 out of the 3 meals you eat a day. For the guys, if you divide 2200 by 3, you get 733. So that entitles you to try the following low calorie ice cream!



One scoop of ice cream is usually about 300 calories. Swensen's has come out with a slightly lower calorie ice cream that still tasted ok! The above are the 200 calories ice cream. I personally liked the chocolate better than the vanilla or strawberry. ;-)

The 200 calories a scoop ice cream only comes in 3 flavours, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

*** Christmas Commercial Break ***

The Swensen's folks decided to let us try their Christmas Log cake.
The HPB nutritionists were around! Oh Oh.. How? Can we try it?



The HPB Corp Comm folks are the nicest folks around. They agreed but stressed that we must emphasize that this is not part of the low calorie diet. This is a special treat for Christmas ok?

The log cake is called the Chendol Jubilee.
Calories unknown, but price that I saw on the way out on the fridge counter was $52.45 with GST.



Frozen chendol and palm sugar. What an indulgence. It was good!

Since all of us was in the company of the HPB folks, we behaved and showed some restraint. Most of us did not touch the fresh cream layer that surrounded the cake. *laugh at us if you want*


The Grilled Cod Fish with Wild Rice is available for Dine In only at all Swensen's till 31 December 2010. This set does not includes the Buffet Salad Bar.


Earle Swensen's
VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-117
Singapore 098585

Tel: 6272 3306
Hours: 10.30 am to 10.30 pm

Gong Cha @ City Square Mall

I had my first try of Koi last week. Over the last weekend, I tried Gong Cha!
We tried it because there was no queue!



The branch we went to was at City Square Mall.

We went at 7 plus in the evening, when most people are having dinner. We wondered if that's the reason there was no queue.



There was 7 or 8 of us who got interested in having Gong Cha. We were having super 4 hour long super slow healthy lunch earlier. As it was a long lunch, we talked about all sorts of things. Koi Cafe and Gong Cha were one of the many topics!




We found out there are healthy and non healthy drinks. It all depends on what you choose to have. We got to know some 'health freaks' and they told us that.

If you choose the 'pearls', it has actually the same amount of calories as a bowl of rice! Woo hoo! Does that mean it's a meal replacement? LOL



As we were with our new health freak friends, we got influenced. Honey Milk Tea. That means it has no sugar added. Only honey to sweeten it! No pearls too, this other friend opted for Herbal Jelly!




For me, I had the Alisan Tea!
Instead of pearls, I had Ai-Yu Jelly. I have no idea if Ai-Yu jelly is really healthier. ;-)
I had 30% sugar. So it's not that sweet.




I think it's not bad. The Alisan Tea is similar to the ones that my colleague brews for us almost everyday in the office. (Such a nice colleague eh?) It was very refreshing!

Instructions on how to drink it. (The red sticker on the last photo)
- Take a sip of the frothed milk
- Take a sip of the tea below
- Mix them all up, then drink.


Gong Cha
Available at:
1. City Square Mall
2. Novena Square2
3. Vivocity Shoppping Centre
4. Plaza Singapura
5. RafflesCity SC