Badoque @ Simpang Bedok

I have been so eager to try the food at Badoque ever since I saw the review in Berita Minggu and reading about it in Putri Berendam, which has become my Halal Food Bible of sorts. This was where I found Sakunthala’s, after my friends and I agreed that the criteria for the Indian restaurant we were going to in Little India must include Tandoori Chicken, Garlic Naan, Air Conditioning and must be full of people eating as evidence of its popularity and great food. I absolutely forgot to take photos of the food since I was too busy catching up with my friends from various universities, both local and overseas. BUT I digress.

I have been trying to persuade my family to go eat at Badoque for a few times – First for Mother’s Day, which was later cancelled due to the fact that my mother wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day with her mother, my grandmother, and we went to eat at Delifrance Bistro at Changi Airport (I know! What is it with me and eating at the airport?!?). Second was for Kakak and Mak’s Birthday Meal, which was at Fresh Bulggogi as blogged about previously. Finally, after telling Fatma and Hui Chuan about Badoque during our meal at Bali Thai, I managed to persuade them to join me for a meal at Badoque (Although I must say it was not difficult being fellow foodies and all!)

Since there were so many delicious sounding things on the menu, we decided to order a few dishes so that we all could try each other’s dishes. I must apologise for not having the exact spelling of the dishes, or even the names when I list them on my post. I absolutely forgot to note it down from the menu! I must add that it was an interesting menu, full of corny and cute names for the food!

For the starters, I ordered the Turkey Ham and Cheese Bruchetta. Having heard of Bruchetta from a TV show, I have always wanted to try a Bruchetta. But to my surprise it was simply Sliced Roti Perancis or French Loaf with a piece of Turkey Ham, a slice of tomato and Cheese! Although the simplicity of the dish astounded my wallet (Having to pay so much for a dish I could make myself at home, which i did for breakfast today by changing the turkey ham with tuna), it was quite delicious to say the least. The bread was soft and the cheese literally melted in my mouth! Now I can add this to the list of things I can cook, alongside eggs and maggi.

Fatma order the other starter called Gambas Ala Pil Pil. It looked vaguely like sambal udang to me, but with less sambal. Upon eating the first prawn, Fatma claimed that she could easily have cooked this at home and proceeded to list down various ingredients, all of which I cannot remember. This Italian (I am assuming that this is since this is an Italian restaurant) dish was spicy but not overwhelmingly so like most Malay dishes. Next time if we were to ever cook for each other, Fatma can make this while I make the Bruchetta. HA!

This was what I ordered – the Margharita! No not the alcoholic drink. I have always wanted to try pasta with stings stuffed inside it. If my memory serves me correctly, there is a type of cheese and hazelnuts inside the pasta. I was quite happy with my dish simply because it was cream based, although it reminded me vaguely of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom I had just a few days ago. But I felt somewhat dissatisfied after the meal which I later rationalised to be the fact that my main course did not contain any meat! Being an avid meat eater, having no meat in the dish leaves me somewhat dissatisfied. This is not a criticism against the dish itself. I didn’t fully realise there was no meat in the dish, until after I finished eating and left the restaurant. :C 

I have no memory of the name of the dish except that it starts with a letter P? Omg. If anyone reads this and knows what dish is, please tell me! You have done a great service to me and to all those halal foodies out there by who simply must know the name of this dish! As seen in the picture, this pasta has a tomato based sauce. The pasta itself is also filled with a certain type of cheese which I cannot remember and some other things. According to Fatma, it was quite a nice dish, although she, like me, prefers the cream based pasta rather than the tomato based one.

[Edited - Fatma has graciously reminded me that the name of the dish is Panzarotti. Thanks Fatma!]

“This” was ordered by Hui Chuan. I call this “This” because I can’t remember the name of this dish! This was specially recommended by the waiter serving us, who had also recommended the other dishes we had ordered. Upon the first bite, Hui Chuan immediately said that this reminded me of a dish she used to eat at her neighbour’s house during Hari Raya. I was like Rendang? Ayam Masak Merah? I took a bite of it and confirmed that it had a vague sensory resemblance to Ayam Masak Merah! I must also justify this by saying that this dish fell into a part of the menu where the dishes did not seem to be Italian but more suited for the Malay palate. It was quite delicious though according to Hui Chuan. She finished everything and left only the bones.

[Edited - This is not an Italian dish according to Fatma but a Spanish dish, like Gambas Ala Pil Pil. And according to sj, this dish is called Chicken Khuzee. Thanks sj!]

Last but not least, we have dessert! Being seated right in from of the glass refrigerator displaying all the cakes, we knew we simply had to try them to complete the full Badoque experience. Of the eight cakes that were available, we ordered six, since the menu stated that it came in six or twelve (If my memory serves me correctly) I like cakes that are moist, or in the case of chocolate cakes, fudgy. But the cakes did not meet to my expectations. I thought most of the cakes I tried were a little dry. Maybe the cake is supposed to be dry. Then this critique of the cakes would just be a reflection of my particular taste preferences, as I am sure most of you have as well.

Overall I must say that Badoque was a pleasant experience, not because of the food, but because of the service. He was extremely attentive to our needs and questions, and actually knelt down beside us while we sat at out table, explaining to us the dishes and how they were prepared! Although I must confess we were the ONLY customers in the restaurant then (Therefore, he did not have to serve anyone but us!) other people who have went to Badoque have also positively commented on their excellent service.

I hope that their restaurant would remain sustainable in the long run, and remain as one of the few halal restaurants I can count on for great food and excellent service!

 

Badoque (S) Cafe Pte Ltd.

298 Bedok Rd (aka Simpang Bedok)

Bedok Shopping Complex

Singapore 469454

Fresh Bulggogi @ Changi Airport

Is blogging a phase I go through, like some teenagers do? Or am I the kind of person that gets passionate about something at the start and then loses interest somewhere along the way?

Hmm. I am beginning to think I fall into the latter category, sometimes not having the motivation or inspiration to wax lyrical about all things halal (mostly food and not other halal-related issues), or ruminate over the issues facing the Malay community. 

But there are the rare moments when I do feel inspired, especially when I have a relatively good or exceedingly bad experience while eating.

Before I start my review of Fresh Bulggogi, I must add a disclaimer that my sensitive senses cannot stomach anything remotely connected to table barbeque food (like Seoul Garden, Hans River etc). This revelation could not have come at a more inopportune time when I nearly projectile vomitted on the lawyer I was working for before I matriculated, in the middle of a table barbeque meal (I shan’t say where!). This has nothing to the with the food being served at the restaurant itself, but due to the fact that the food I was cooking and eating were either undercooked or burnt. Although I ordered something that was already cooked in Fresh Bulggogi, the smell of the table barbeque was nauseating in itself causing me to make a premature exit, even before Ayah had paid for the meal.

The first thing when I asked myself when I read about the restaurant in Berita Harian was What in the world is a Bulggogi? So when I saw that there was a Chicken Bulggogi Rice dish on the menu, which was cooked and ready to eat, I immediately told the rest of my family that this is what I was ordering. 

And if you are wondering why I would have agreed to torment myself to such misery knowing the probability of me projectile vomitting in the middle of the meal, this restaurant was chosen by Kakak and Mak who were both celebrating their birthdays! And the meal was being fully sponsored by Ayah, since we both had a consensus that he would settle the food while Abang and I would settle the gifts for Kakak and Mak.

Although I am a soup kind of guy, I thought the dryness of the rice were compensated by the different tastes in the dish itself – from the spiciness of the Kimchi, to the sweetness of the Chicken Bulggogi (which I am assuming that it is the sauce that is used to cook the chicken) and the natural tastes of the tauge and vegetables. To all those who cannot stomach table barbeque food but have to accompany friends, family or loved ones to this place, this is a definite must try, and would appease your sensitive senses, as it did mine.

This was another cooked meal that I dared to eat – Fried Mushrooms. I must say that this was better than the ones I had in ZingDo, simply because they offer a wide variety of mushrooms, not only one type. I wish I could list you the names of the mushrooms that are available on the menu, but between eating my food and trying to prevent the nausea from causing me to projectile vomit on my brother sitting across me, I did not had the chance. The mushrooms were crispy, yet chewy on the inside, just the way I like it. YUM!

The only unique thing about this restaurant is that you must specifically order what you want to cook and eat. This is different from Seoul Garden or Hans RIver where you pay a certain amount for the buffet that allows you to take as much as you want (which does not mean that you have to finish them). And another cool thing about this place is that you don’t have to call a waiter to order your food. You simply order it through the computer located at your table as you can see on the top right hand corner of the above photograph. Which would explain the rather unresponsive service staff who seemed to forget that my mother wanted a glass of plain water, or that we wanted to refill the soup in the middle of our table barbeque. 

All I can say is, if you would like to experience the novelty of ordering through a computer, please go right ahead.

 

Fresh Bulggogi

Changi International Airport

Terminal 2 No 2 Airport Boulevard

Viewing Mall South

Unit No 036-059 at Level 3