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

Bali Thai Restaurant @ Velocity

After a super long hiatus, I have decided to return to one of my earlier passions – Halal Food Blogging! So here is my latest food escapade at Bali Thai Restaurant. Fatma, Hui Chuan and I decided to try the Indonesian & Thai buffet, so that we could try as many food as possible and as cheaply as possible! (For me at least! ) I forgot to note down which dish came under which menu but there was basically about 8-9 dishes for the Indonesian buffet menu and Thai buffet menu, and we tried them all except for the Soto Ayam Madura that was unfortunately unavailable! :C

First, we have my all time favorite dish, Fried Fish Fritters in Sweet Thai Sauce! The lightness of the crispy skin encapsulates the flaky texture of the fish. 

Next, we have the Beef Rendang! This was delicious because the rendang was spicy without being too sweet. I know there are some versions of rendang which I personally feel are too sweet!

The Chicken Green Curry was also one of the best I have tasted. The curry was not too heavy, with the right amount of spices and curry that brings out the sweetness of the pieces of chicken in the curry itself. This is a definite must try for those who simply love green curry!

The Sambal Sotong wasn’t fantastic in my personal opinion because the sambal seemed to lack the added punch. Coupled with the fact that there seemed to be more vegetable than the sotong itself also made this dish not as good as it can be.

The Nasi Kuning was part of the Indonesian menu. We also had the Pineapple Rice which was part of the Thai menu but I forgot to take a picture of it. The rice was light and moist and was a great accompaniment to the various buffet dishes for both Indonesian and Thai menus.

I did not even know what to expect when we got this dish, Ayam Tum, when I opened the little dumpling-like leaf wrappings. The taste of the Ayam Tum reminded me a little of otak-otak, although this was chicken based whereas the otak-otak is usually fish based or seafood based. It was nice but not entirely memorable.

This was called the Combination Platter! I guess this dish was for those who would not be able to finish every single dish and would rather only taste a few that was available. The chicken satay can be ordered separately as a dish in itself. The fried vegetable popiah and the “chicken-nugget-thing” after the satay were both simply tantalisingly crispy and definite must try for those eating the buffet!

The Tahu Telor was not entirely good. Both Fatma and Hui Chuan felt that there was something wrong with the tahu itself and it did not taste as good as the other tahu telor we have eaten at other Indonesian restaurants.

This was one of the dishes I was really looking forward to BUT it was quite a disappointment because I had expected the pandan chicken to be be crispy and savoury. Instead the chicken does not seem to be fried but is covered with a paste-like substance that was spicy and delicious as well. But I was quite disappointed since it was not similar to other pandan chicken I had tasted previously before.

The Sambal Kangkong was quite good actually. It was spicy, mixed with the right amount of belachan and chilli, creating a perfect taste for the sambal fried with the kangkong.

The Chicken satay was comparable to those you can get from the Hawker stalls around Singapore. There was a lot of chicken on each stick and the peanut gravy was smooth and delicious as well.

The Seafood Tom Yum soup is also one of the better tom yum I have tasted. You can really taste the authentic tom yum spices and the lemon grass that was used in the soup. There was also a generous serving of seafood in the soup and a waitress was there to help us scoop the individual potions of soup for each of our bowls!

My least favourite dish – Phad Thai. It is not my least favourite because it was not delicious I just don’t like Phad Thai in general. According to Hui Chuan and Fatma, the Phad Thai was quite good and the peanuts and chilli flakes added a new sensory dimension to the Phad Thai noodles!

 

As you may have seen, I seemed to have lost my flair for describing the sensory tastes of the food in great detail. One of the reasons is the fact that I have been so out of touch about writing about food that I think my brain needs a little more time to start waxing lyrical again about all my favourite food. AND I also felt that I was not entirely inspired by the food at Bali Thai. Some of it was delicious – like the Fried Fish with Thai Sauce and the Chicken Green Curry, but as a whole the buffet wasn’t the best that I have tasted. But its definitely worth the money since you can have about 19 dishes which only cost $19.90 without service charge and GST. The ambience of the restaurant is also quite good since it was not very crowded and it was tastefully decorated.

For those who would like a taste of both Indonesian and Thai Cuisine, this buffet would be for you!

Bali Thai Restaurant
238 Thomson Road
#03-61/64 Velocity @ Novena Square

The Malay Identity, or lack thereof?

I recently attended a dialogue session with Mr Hawazi Daipi, a Member of Parliament, and Mr Nawab, who was the Vice-President of Young AMP, entitled, “What is the role of the Malay/Muslim Youth in the Globalised World?”. What struck me as most surprising was the lack of pride in being identified as a Malay in the Singapore Society, and the general emotional vacillation between an absolute sense of helplessness or an almost apathetic dismissal of the Malay Community as only having progressed infinitessimally vis-a-vis the other races. When Mr Hawazi Daipi asked the audience of undergraduates to vote on which they identified first as who they are: a Malay, a Muslim or a Singaporean, less than five voted for being a Malay or Singaporean, whereas an overwhelming majority voted as being a Muslim first.

I am here not to discuss about the rising Islamisation of our youth or the increased awareness among youths of the need to counter Islamic Terrorists who abuse the religion to suit their own ends. Assuming that there were only a handful of Indian/Chinese Muslims in the audience and the fact that Singapore’s brand of National Education has a long way to go into inculcating a deep sense of patriotism among the youth, what struck me was the fact that many of whom were Malays did not raise their hands to identify as being Malays. One even suggested to drop the Malay out of the Malay/Muslim label, in an effort to be more inclusive, since being is Muslim is much more important (in the afterlife) than being a Malay.

Why is there a total lack of faith amongst the educated Malay elite in identifying themselves as Malays first? Is it because of the sense of alientation, as identified by Dr Lily Zubaidah Rahim of the professional middle class Malays from their community, having pulled themselves out of the cycle of poverty? Or is it the overwhelming sense of frustration over the snail pace speed of progress of our community, measured primarily through high divorce rates, teen pregnancies and juvenile delinquencies?

The sense of alienation arises once the educated Malay elite measures his socioeconomic standing based solely on his educational qualifications and economic success with the community at large. Once he affirms this, his first question would be to ask the rest of the community why can’t you? This narrow mentality absolutely disregards the socioeconomic and structural problems faced by the Malay families of the lower income groups and underestimates the level of difficulty in earning a sustainable source of income in Singapore. As most sociologists and social anthropologists would attest to, such socioeconomic changes within a community takes generations at least, as the community matures and takes stock of past mistakes. Rather than to ask why, the educated Malay elite should appreciate the immense difficulties faced by the government, as well as numerous Malay and Muslim self help groups, in trying to nip such problems in the bud, by either directly going to the children of broken families, or dealing with the consequences, through counselling and fiscal education with the parents themselves.

The assessment of progress through the breakdown of statistics among the races should not only include divorces, pregnancies and juvenile delinquencies, but also education attainment, from passes in PSLE to the increasing number of undergraduates, and economic achievements in all sectors, with many Malays entering new professions, professions not explored by Malays once before. Granted that the pace of progress is not as high as we can hope, the existence of progress is undeniable, and the changes can be seen through the Malay educated elites themselves, having achieved what many Malays could only hope to achieve 10 years before.

I was once a cynic. I think I still am in some aspects. At times, I also felt alienated and frustrated. But, I do know that we must not loose hope in our community in its ability to reinvent itself.

Being a Muslim is important to me, but that is not what I am only. I am also a Malay, and always will be.

(If anyone is curious to know, I saw myself first as a Singaporean. I guess National Education did work for me at least! )

Cavana Lemon Chicken Rice @ Marina Square

This was what I had for dinner today, Cavana Lemon Chicken Rice @ Marina Square. In my personal opinion, this was a tad bit overpriced, looking at the quantity of rice that was given as well as the chicken. And there wasn’t any soup that came along with the chicken rice. The fact that it was served in a big circular green plate simply emphasizes the lack of food thereof. The chicken was thoroughly drenched with the lemon sauce, which I thought was good, and was also quite tasty but I was not thoroughly pleased with the overall meal.

This was my first time trying though. My friends who bought the hotplates thought that their dishes were quite good and worth the money. Maybe one day I can try them too.

Cavana Pte Ltd
Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard
#02-205 Marina Square
Singapore 039594

Emicakes Premium D24 Cake

Happy 24th Birthday Kakak!

After such a wonderful orgasmic experience during Mother’s Day 2006, my dad made a special request to have this cake for my sister’s birthday! I had nearly forgotten the taste of a deliciously crafted durian cake after one long hard year of absence. But the sweet creamy taste of the durian, nestled between small slices of cake sponge never ceases to titilate my senses to a new level of sweetness! Other than a Chocolate Etoile from Temptations Cakes Pte Ltd, or a Chocolate Fudge Cake from Royal Cakes and Puffs Pte Ltd, the Premium D24 cake is sinful as all calories-fearing extremists would testify against! This is a cake that all durian lovers should try once in their lifetime. I’m definitely sure that my whole family truly enjoyed eating the cake.

Emicakes
Blk 264 Tampines St 21
#01-110
Singapore 520264