alexis blogs: 2021

Food Review: Trying Burger King's new Plant-based Whopper

June 19, 2021

Vegan food review: Green Common Singapore at #01-169/170 Vivo City, Singapore 098585

June 03, 2021

Dine-in has to be allowed eventually, right? And when that happens, check out the Green Common Singapore at Vivo City! It's the world's first plant-based vegan eatery and grocery concept store which serves up some of the most realistic plant-based meals out there that you can try in Singapore. As you know, I've been trying to eat less meat since Feb 2020, and this year even though I'm back on the meat wagon, I am still very interested in the plant-based meat-free movement. Because food can and should be innovated upon, especially in how we can be less environmentally greedy with what's being farmed. And it definitely takes less to raise plants than animals.

The place is nicely done up and quite spacious and has a bit of that premium food court feel because diners can order at the counter and also get groceries. However there is also table service and a dine-in menu.

Here's some of what's on their menu which I got off their website (desserts and kids meal not included). Prices are quite standard cafe-bistro prices, but everything on it is MEAT-FREE!

Good selection of appetisers.

So between me and a friend, we got the Omnimeat Luncheon Fries (S$8) which comes with a chilli sauce dip. Oh wow, I was totally blown away by how similar it tastes to the real thing. It was crispy and yet had that 'fatty' taste inside. 4/5

The omnimeat also makes an appearance in these spam omni musubi, (S$9) which is a Hawaiian invention. Unfortunately this one was not as good largely because the sushi rice was quite mushy. The black pepper marinade and the omni-spam was good though. But skip this and get the fries instead! 2/5

We also tried another plant-based beef called Unlimeat from Korea, in the form of this Happy Beef Horfun (S$15). The dish itself was good, but the unlimeat was too thinly sliced and didn't taste of anything, much less beef, in this instance. I would rather have zero meat than to pay for something not really tasting of anything. 3/5

Get the Beyond burger black (S$15) instead! I'm glad we got this to try because it was my first Beyond Meat taste. I'd say it's pretty similar to Impossible food, but this one had a slightly grainier texture. And perhaps even more nutty.

You can see the protein structure is also different to the Impossible version. Regardless, the patty was well-seasoned with the black pepper sauce which was not too much to distract from the patty taste. It felt quite clean tasting overall as well despite the delicious bun and side of fries.

In conclusion, Green Common is THE place if you wish to explore plant-based meat options that is rocking Asia currently such as Omnimeat and Beyond. Props to them for introducing it to Singaporeans, and I hope to be back again when dine-in reopens!

🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby
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Green Common Singapore
VivoCity, 1 HarbourFront Walk, #01-169/170, 098585
Daily 11am to 10pm
Reserve on Google

food delivery

Food Review: Trying TANOKE's new vegetarian portobello rice bowl

May 26, 2021

invited review

French Wine Review: Moulin de Gassac and Pont du Gassac wines in Singapore

May 23, 2021

For those who might not reside in Singapore, FYI we've been placed in sort of a Circuit Breaker Lite called the Phase 2 Heightened Alert since 16 May until June 13, to curb the spread of the more infectious COVID strains. The biggest impact to me was the no dining in rule, which basically spelled the end of my social life for the next one month, and will also be the reason why all the blog posts I have lined up reviewing restaurants have to be on hold. HOWEVER, now's a good time to try out food delivery or takeaway from places you might not have had the chance and also to support local fnb. And now is also the perfect time for wine consumption at home, which is why I thought these wines sent to me by the winemaker of Mas de Daumas Gassac in France would come in handy!

To clarify, the wines are from France but the co-owner of the wine estate, Basile Guilbert, is in Singapore for the moment, which is lucky for us. That's also why some of their wines are easily available on Amazon.sg and The Vintage Club for delivery to consumers, other than being in top French restaurants here. These are also wallet-friendly, easy table drinking wines retailing at S$29.80 for the rosé and white, whereas the red's at S$39.80. A couple of the Mas de Daumas Gassac wines are also on The Vintage Club for over $120+ but those are more serious. I was perfectly happy to try the more accessible Moulin de Gassac and Pont de Gassac brands!

First up, the Pont de Gassac red of 2018 vintage. It's made using a variety of grapes - cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah and a classic red wine. I brought it to a friend's and she made steak cubes with peppercorn as a dinner appetiser, and we also ordered Wolf Burgers. Upon my first sip after uncorking - it was shy, light and quite smooth. However, after 30 minutes it began to warm up and the flavours deepened into one that's quite intense with a more tannic aftertaste. "Tight and hot" was how someone described it on Vivino and I have to agree. To me this is an easy dependable French red wine to accompany any steak or red meat dinner. Get it on Amazon.sg here.

Next up, the Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rosé and Sauvignon. I brought them to another friend's house to go with the seafood feast that I ordered from The Boiler. It's typical cajun style seafood bag, along with some clam stew and fish and chips. They were the perfect accompaniment to our meal. It was such a pleasant surprise but they hit it off with each other right off the bat. Both were refreshing and light, with acidity to help cut through the spice.

If I have to nitpick, I'd say the Moulin de Gassac Sauvignon was quite normal. It was an easy peasy lemon squeezy type of table white wine, more of a foil to the food than an actual component. I liked it as the start to our meal, easing us into conversation but as the night wore on, I wanted something more. No fault of this white - in fact, its so easy drinking, you could consider getting a case of it so you can have it for lunch, for dinner, for any time. Buy it from Amazon here!

If I had to choose, the Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rosé has to be my favourite. Straight away compared to the white, this had a more fruity scent, yet carries the same light and citrusy taste that encourages more sips. Easy and uncomplicated but so addictive. I'm typically not a rosé person but this would be my new go-to! Get it from Amazon here.

A disclaimer - these 3 wines were sent to me for review, but all the opinions are my own and unsponsored. I genuinely wanted to share these with you all because I think we all need a bit of wine during our time in this semi-lockdown and these French wines are the perfect ones. I hope you found this review useful!

Merci Basile for sending over these wines!

bubble tea

Bubble Tea Intel: Liho Singapore menu 2021

May 05, 2021

cocktail

Food and cocktail review: Yum Sing! at Blk B at Clarke Quay, Singapore 179021

April 30, 2021

Disclaimer: I was only intrigued by Yum Sing!, a trendy local food gastrobar that recently opened up at Blk B of Clarke Quay because I read it was by the Putien founder. It's quite risky, opening a restaurant in the sort of midst of a pandemic, especially in the suppressed Clarke Quay area due to the 10.30pm drinking curfew and social distancing in place. But they were confident enough to stake their bets on it, so I thought I'll give it a try with a couple of ex-colleagues on a Friday evening. The best part about Yum Sing! is the ambiance and decor, hands down. I'll get to the food in a bit. But for now, enjoy the interior pics in all their glory. They no doubt spent a lot on the renovations to capture the "New World" parks of the 80s feel.

Horsies on the ceiling! Big tentage! Huge murals!

There's even a huge stage for when hosting events or performing live is possible again. Maybe someone might want to hold a wedding here?

Here's the drinks / cocktail menu to start off with. One thing for sure - Yum Sing! is not lacking in creativity when it comes to their cocktails. Prices are also on par with what other bars are charging at the $15-20 range, though for sure the $20 cap is appreciated. As you can see from the wine selection of erm, Cloudy Bay and Casillero.. they are appealing more to the mass drinking crowd.

My friend ordered an Avocado Milkshake (S$8) which I would too if I wasn't saving space for food, since this is super filling. By the way they don't serve tap water here, so.. yea. We are getting into why this restaurant is a conflicting one for me...

I did get the Kaya Toast Set (S$18) cocktail to try also because of .. *sheepishly* Instagram. I mean look at the super authentic kopi cup with saucer! The wafer biscuit representing the toast above had Kaya infused cream, and the cocktail itself was a sweet, pandan flavoured one with possibly egg white foam. Pretty novel and not a bad cocktail with the local spin, even if it was quite sweet. 3.5/5

On to the food, here's their one-page ala carte menu. There's a couple of tasting sets behind this page which MIGHT be good value (we weren't sure so just went with the ala carte). As you can see, this is like the Greatest Hits (remember NOW! That's What I Call Music album compilations??) of local fare. I wouldn't say it's a full zichar menu since there's items like Chicken Rice, Prawn Noodles and Laksa in there. But there are definitely favourites from that such as prawn paste chicken wings, salted egg prawns and Moonlight hor fun. There's even Black Pepper and Chili Crab, if you're feeling festive! And ok, this is where I start my erm, tiny rant.. if you look at the prices.. they might seem ok for a gastrobar in Clarke Quay. But upon ordering.. please scroll down.

This is the $10 Laksa. The kopi cup behind is the scale for comparison. The egg you see in there is a quail egg. As you can see, it is a TINY bowl. That's where my tiny disappointment lies as well. Granted, it was a good bowl of laksa - the laksa gravy was quite rich and the ingredients are all decent. But this portion.. I don't even think this is enough for 1 pax. I guess it's just that laksa to me is a go big or go home type dish so I wish they will increase the portions (even if they had to raise the prices, since it is actually not cheap to make). If it's just for the taste, I'll rate it a 4/5. Minus a point for the portion.

The next dish is the normal sized eggplant with special pork floss (S$8) sharing dish. It was quite shiok with the fried eggplant contrasting with the sweet floss crunch (err but nothing really special?). 3.5/5

Ok this is weird but this Satay (S$10) also pinched a little in the value aspect. 6 sticks, a side of peanut sauce, some cucumbers (no rice). -_- is the face I would make. Granted it was a good dish to go with my Tiger beer (I ordered it after my cocktail to cleanse the palate a little) but the satay wasn't amazing, especially after sitting there for a while. 3/5

The moonlight hor fun (S$10) with dried beef was better. Am not sure how I feel about eating raw egg after some egg scares recently but overall this was decent with a tinge of wok hei popping through. The beef though were non-existent. Just lots of oil and beansprouts, as you can see. 3.5/5

My friend got a Kopi-O Gao (S$20) signature cocktail as well. It was surprisingly not sweet, and I think either bourbon or whisky was the liquor used.

Next, because 3 of us were like totally not full, we got the carrot cake (S$8) to share as well. This was probably the best dish of the night for me. It's more like a grilled egg with carrot cake cubes encased inside, which felt sturdy and wholesome. I can taste the tradition but also the reinvention, just a little bit. The others felt like the cooks were following a Best of Singapore recipe book. 4/5

Oh I forgot, we also got the salted egg fish skin (S$8) at the top corner of the photo here which was super moreish and well-made with the salted egg just at the right level. I would say it's one of my favourites too and goes well with drinks. 4/5

Lastly we got two desserts to share. The chendol (S$6) and cheng tng (S$6) were more palatable in pricing. Both were good, pretty standard fare again, and nothing innovative or new. 3/5

Ok we were stuffed by the time we got to the desserts with our cocktails and the various erm, 'tapas' style dishes. The service was pretty good though with the servers being quick to get to us. Food also didn't take too long. So I guess this place has its pros and cons. The cons is the food could feel out of place considering the ambiance and location, and portions/pricing could be improved, but the ambiance, service and theme of the place does work well in creating a fun dining atmosphere. I wouldn't rush to go back, but this might be a good place for gathering next time when drinking is allowed past 10.30pm.

🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby ✔️
💁 Bookmark this

Yum Sing!
3 River Valley Road, #01-06/07 Clarke Quay, Block B, Singapore 179021
Daily 4pm to 10.30pm
Reserve on Inline.app

cocktail

Sri Lankan food review: Kotuwa at Wanderlust Hotel, 2 Dickson Rd Singapore 209494

April 29, 2021

First up - this Sri Lankan restaurant by Chef Rishi called Kotuwa at Wanderlust Hotel is fully booked for the next few months. So this blog post is probably not very helpful for you in going here for dinner. However, I do quite like the food and my dining experience, which is why I'm still going to write about it. Also because Sri Lankan food is not something that you will find commonly in Singapore. Having visited Sri Lanka before (ah when travel used to be possible!), I do find their cuisine rather intriguing because it can be a mish-mash of the region's cuisines like India, but it is different in some ways. Kinda like Australian cuisine. The restaurant is nicely sized by the way just adjacent to the hotel's wonderful smelling lobby.

The decor's a sight for sore eyes (yearning for travel!).

The dark, lush surroundings with a bit of that colonial chic is very on point.

Here's their drink menu. A surprisingly large selection of wines from Europe, which is welcome.

They also serve wine by th glass, ranging about $18-22 for one, or beer for $12.

I was given a choice of 6 cocktails as well, which is more interesting in my opinion since they utilised Sri Lankan influences like Arrack and Coconut. I had the "Negroni" variant, the Udaya Devi (S$26).

Quite a stiff drink, but well-balanced so nothing sticks out!

Then on to the food! In contrast to their wine menu this one-pager was a bit of a contrast. Perhaps intentionally kept small by chef, seeing how most people won't know how to choose with a larger menu.

We had the Lychee Achcharu (S$8) which saw lychee pickled in mustard, apple cider and chillies. I think we are all familiar with the Southeast Asian achar, so this was a variant that tasted familiar using a fruit we wouldn't have come across. It was sour and spicy and all sorts of appetising. 4/5

Then we also tried the Gova Mallum (S$12) which was shredded cabbage tempered with fresh coconut and turmeric. Very flavourful and acted as a salad for our meal. However it got a bit tiresome after a while. So it was just alright. 3/5

We each also had one of their famous Egg Hoppers (S$6) so we could dip it in some of the Dhal (S$8) which had red lentils with black mustard. Very simple but delicious dip 4/5 perfect with the hopper which is a must-try! 4.5/5.

Our main protein dish was the Yellow curry of sea bass (S$26) which was in a deep coconut gravy. Even though the gravy was great, unfortunately I am not such a big fan of the fish. It had a very heavy mouthfeel and was a bit dry/hard despite all the gravy. So maybe skip it and try the mud crab instead which I heard good reviews for! 3/5

After all that I got a second plain hopper to share, just so we could finish up the various dishes!

Dessert was a watalappam tart (S$16) with coconut custard with jaggery, pistachio, candied orange and spices. This was fun but a bit too sweet for my friend. I don't recall having such a dish in Sri Lanka, as well, haha.

Overall Kotuwa was an interesting culinary journey with the exotic flavours of Sri Lanka and South Asia, transformed and elevated by Chef and his team into what we could enjoy. It's no wonder word got out and everyone wanted to try, so if you are interested.. plan ahead and wait for it. Don't raise your expectations too highly - its not fine dining or anything - but it is worth the try.

🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby
💁 Bookmark this ✔️

Kotuwa
Wanderlust Hotel, 2 Dickson Rd, Singapore 209494
Wednesdays to Sundays 6pm-10pm, Saturdays and Sundays 11am-4pm
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
Reserve on Chope.co (1-2 months in advance)

food review

The Purest Co. Birds' Nest Review: Great gift for Mother's Day

April 25, 2021

So I was contacted by The Purest Co. on Instagram recently and just when I thought, not another dodgy bird's nest company (I tend to view those mass market ones as dubious and likely unethical, which is why I would reject them usually), they mentioned that their products are ethically sourced and fully transparent in the process. That's how I decided to give it a try, to support a local Singaporean brand and to support better practices within the industry. I was pleasantly surprised to receive this sturdy box set of 4 of their signatures (S$209) with 2 flavoured bird's nest and 2 snow hashima bottles. They have other flavours and also without flavouring which you can see on their website.

As we could see, the bottles are STUFFED with 9 grammes of pure authentic bird's nest in each bottle, which is an industry best. That means more bang for your buck and no rubbish fillers like gelatine and such. I like that the nests are collected after the younglings have left the nests, and then thoroughly cleaned by hand instead of with bleach and glue and then cooked in small batches. There's also lots of scientifically proven health benefits to bird's nest. In Asia we believe it will help with our skin and also to boost immunity and recovery.

I could tell it's good production quality when I popped open a bottle and tried it for myself. I also did a live taste test on video. Overall, the first thing that hits me was how clean tasting it was, and secondly it wasn't too sweet. The bird's nest was soft and not gelatinous or hard, but requires a bit of a chew. It was recommended a tablespoon every morning, and then it goes in the fridge and a bottle will last a week. So that's what I'll be doing!

I haven't tried the rest, but I'm pretty sure they will be similar to the one I've tried except with different flavours. Overall I feel good about The Purest Co. and would definitely recommend people looking to get authentic, ethical and healthy bird's nest to check them out and also to buy it as a gift for their mum. FYI just till today 25 April 23:59 you will get $20 off if you buy 2 sets, for their Mother's Day promo so click here if you're interested.

Thanks to The Purest Co. for sending over the bird's nest and snow hashima! Me and my mum will be enjoying them with peace of mind :)

Here's the video taste test if you're interested to see.