Five & Dime

Add: 297 River Valley Rd (free parking!)
$$$: $20-$50/pax
Website: http://www.fiveanddime.com.sg/ (add them on facebook too)
Cuisine: Western/Fusion
Type: Restaurant/bar/coffee/bakery/desert place
Opens from: 12pm-12am (Mon-Fri, closed on Tue), 10am-12am (Sat), 10am-10pm (Sun)
Phone: 9236 5002


" When you know what you want, the whole world conspires you to achieve it" - Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)

Just 2 weeks ago, I was driving through the River Valley region when I caught sight of a resplendent white-washed shopfront - the only eye-catching building sitting juxtaposed against a row of dimly lit traditional colonial-style shophouses. The full glass frontage allowed me to take a momentary peak into the interior, which had a brick/wood finishing and was filled with late-night diners. I was drawn to it for that fleeting instance - "Definitely need to drop in one day!" I thought to myself. Alas, just like many other transient moments in life, the once-gleaming image in my mind faded into oblivion as time passed by... Also, my zonked-out goldfish memory didn't help much, I couldn't for the life of me recall the name or the exact road/location of the eatery which I chanced upon. The one that got away.

Fast forward 2 weeks.

A belated birthday meet-up for Wq saw J wrecking her brains the whole of Saturday as our original plan of munching at Club Street Social was unfortunately foiled by a private event. Further iterations of dining suggestions proved to be uninspiring until a Whatsapp message by J in the late afternoon "Booked Five & Dime at 830pm, 297 River Valley Rd" closed the issue.

Five & Dime. Hmm. Sounds familiar.

830pm - Saturday, saw me staring wide-eyed as I rolled into the free parking spot just adjacent to the charming shophouse I passed by a fortnight ago.
Five & Dime. That was it! Serendipity :)

...............

Five & Dime is a gastrobar owned by chef Teng Ei Liang from Truffs (which I should really check out soon). The center piece of the restaurant was the wooden-top bar which was lined with jars of icing biscuits (you know those little biscuits topped with oh-so-sinful coloured icing from our yesteryears?) and delish baked goods. A clever mix of brick walls, colonial-style mosaic floors, wooden table tops and pastel-toned chairs gave a really warm and toasty feel as I settled in. The smartly-dressed service staff who all came with a friendly disposition and an eagerness to serve as they pranced around the cafe was also definitely a plus. Loved the vibe of this place!

...............
Wq and I were famished while waiting for queen J to arrive so we started our night with the Mac & Cheese and Salmon Rocket Salad. Waiting time was not too bad considering the fact that the restaurant was packed. We were tucking in to the Mac n Cheese just 10 minutes after we placed our order.

Mac & Cheese: with creamy lobster sauce under melted mozzarella, parmesan & cheddar.
Our first reaction: "huh? $16 for this? " However, it was not long after that we begin to realize it was worth every single dime (no pun intended).
The Mac & Cheese was served in a stoneware dish that measured no more than 5 inches in diameter (which explains our initial disappointment). Disappointment soon gave way to delight as we ate our way through the little shell macaroni soaked in the rich cream sauce ladened with tiny bits of lobster. The best part was the melted cheese. Heaven.

Salmon Rocket Salad: flamed salmon on rocket with wasabi marin dressing.
The flamed salmon was done to perfection. Cooked half way through and raw on the underside. We were satisfied with the portion. There were 6-7 huge rolls of salmon placed along side with the salad. Marin dressing was also tweaked just about right.


After much effort (about half an hour worth of it) in restraining ourselves from licking up J's portion, she finally arrived.. and things went crazy from there. We ordered another 2 main dishes + 1 appetizer + 1 desert! Gosh, just the thought of it is making me feel sick already.

Fish & Chips: mini battered fillets and hand-cut fries
Brit's pub grub done pretty well I must say. The smaller than usual battered fish (Japanese Sutchi - shark catfish) was juicy and flakey. The batter layer was crisp on the outside but really spongey on the inside. Interesting texture! The tartare sauce that accompanied the dish however, was watery and not that great.

Mentaiko Pasta: pasta in creamy mentaiko sauce and chicken yakitori
What is Mentaiko? Beats me. Googled response: marinated roe of pollock and Chubbyhubby has a write-up on it if anybody is interested: http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=465
I wasn't really wow-ed by this pasta even though it was apparently Five & Dime's signature dish. The yakitoris lacked the flame-grilled fragrance and the pasta sauce tasted almost like a more concentrated version of your typical carbonara. Was hoping for more of a distinct taste from the Mentaiko (even though I had no idea what on earth it is when i ate it).

Wings: 1/2 dozen of 9-spiced chicken wings
You could sense the amount of effort taken in 'spicing-up' these wings. Like your har-cheong-kai, but 10 x better and juicier. Another 1 of the restaurant's signature starter dish. But I wasn't exactly in the wings mood yesterday, so i gave up after eating after 1 1/2. Give me BBQ chicken wings at Lagoon Hawker Centre anytime!

Pandan Creme Brulee
I am not typically a Creme Brulee person but since the desert menu was limited and it was recommended by the staff, caved in and agreed to give it a shot. The fragrance of the pandan permeated the entire smooth custard base. It was served with a handful of raspberries at the side, which I found a tad bit too sweet and failed to complement the star of the show. But of course, the fun part of Creme Brulee always lies in breaking the burnt caramelized top - and feeling it all crunched up within your palette.


In all, i would definitely head back there for brunch, cocktails and some dishes that ran out when we visited (meatballs and braised pork belly). The priciness is more than outweighed by the impeccable service from the staff, effort put into the food and the charming ambience. Of course, to us Singaporeans, free parking always helps too.

Corn Muffins

Recipe from: Baking Illustrated

Been a long time. 5 + months since my last entry and much has happened since then...

I have decided on a grand plan in any case. Its called Project Run+Bake (i know, my lack of sophistication pains me). It is a weekly goal to run at least 10 km (i am 40% done for the week, yay?) and bake or cook twice.

Point is... look out for more posts on this site!

First up, fans of Kenny Rogers corn muffins...look no further! Baking Illustrated's rendition of it is as good as it gets - might just need to add a little corn nibblets into the mixture to make it more authentic.

I had great fun looking for cornmeal at our local NTUC. The closest I could find was corn grits (aka Polenta) in the Organic section. But... fret not, a little spin in the kitchen blender and you would get finer bits resembling cornmeal. Cold Storage apparently sells the real deal itself, will check it out soon.

Ingredients:
2 cups (10 oz) plain flour
1 cup (5 oz) fine stone-ground yellow corn meal (or blended corn grits)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup sour ceam
1/2 cup milk

Steps:
1.Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 dC. Grease a standard 12-cup standard muffin tray
2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Whisk the eggs in a second medium bowl until well-combined and light colored (about 20 sec)
4. Add sugar to the eggs; whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous (about 30 sec)
5. Add melted butter in 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition.
6. Add half the sour cream and milk , whisk to combine. Add the remaining portion and whisk some more.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mix gently with rubber spatula until batter is combined and evenly moistened. Don't overmix.
8. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, dropping it to form mounds. Do not level or flatten surface of the mounds
9. Bake for ~18 min until muffins are light golden brown and skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
10. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

enJOY!

Tong Shui 糖水

The weather has sort of been crazy the past couple of days and I have just the remedy for it!

Inspired by the Tong Shui outlet at Thomson that I used to frequent with my gal pals. Easiest recipe ever. Do try it out.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Red Dates

1/2 cup Dried Longans

1/2 cup Chrysanthemum tea leaves

50 g of honey rock sugar (amount at your own discretion)

2 L of water

Method:

1. Bring 2 L of water to boil in a large pot

2. Add in all the dry ingredients

3. Boil gently for 1/2 an hour

4. Cool

5. Place in the fridge for an hour

6. Serve chilled

Steamed Chocolate Cupcake 蒸巧克力杯子蛋糕

Modified recipe from: Magic Steamed Cake by Alex Goh


Found a great recipe book featuring steamed cakes while sauntering around NTUC with the mum, aunt and grandma 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, in my fervent attempt to build up my (+ mum's) stash of recipe books, I bought it ($10 only. cheap cheap).

Since it is a date-less lonely Friday evening at home, I decided to attempt the easiest looking recipe I could find that had ingredients which were stocked up somewhere in the kitchen. The Chocolate Cupcake fit the bill perfectly and thus, the peace & tranquility of the night was subsequently broken by the whirring 1980s Kenwood Chef mixer and my desperate pleas for help from mum - thanks to the silly + user-unfriendly Bosch steamer that she got for the new kitchen (why can't we just use the simple wok steamer??).

Some tips about steam cakes:
1) Remember to beat the eggs + sugar really really well. And by that, i mean more than 10 minutes of high speed whipping.
2) Heat up your steamer before putting the batter - filled moulds in.
3) DO NOT open the steamer half way through the steaming process (prepare to dump your products if you do not comply ;)
4) Fill the moulds all the way, don't worry about the batter spilling over during the steaming - it won't.
5) DO NOT let water get into your batter. not even a drop. They are really sensitive and won't 发 as nicely if that happens.



Serving Size: About 10 muffin size moulds. I used individual chwee kueh size moulds.

Ingredients:


A
1. 3 eggs
2. 140 g sugar
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 100 g corn oil

B
100 g orange juice

C
180 g flour
20 g cocoa powder
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate
2.5 tsp double action baking powder

Method
1. Whip A until sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes pale white + expanded. (About 8-10 minutes of high speed mixing)
2. Add in B, mix well.
3. Fold in sieved C, mix until well-combined with no flour clumps
4. Pour into lined moulds
5. Steam for 20-25 minutes

Enjoy!

Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant

Add: Blk 662 Buffalo Road (Tekka Market), #01-16
$$$: $4-$10/pax
Cuisine: South Indian
Great for: Thosai, Bryani Rice and some say, chicken masala

Paid a visit to Sri Kamala Vilas one Saturday with an intention to introduce spicy Indian cuisine to Sha - a Chinese-Canadian-wanderer friend of mine who decided to check out the Singapore scene mid last year and has stayed here ever since. -waves to Sha-

My original plan was to gallivant around the entire Little India neighbourhood within 2 hours, popping by stores that have been featured on cyberspace for their fabled Indian cuisine. However, grand plan failed due to the sweltering weather and people who were still in bed 1/2 an hour before our meet-up time. -glares-
Anyways... I ended up picking Sri Kamala Vilas Restaurant as our one and only stop for the Indian food "hunt" as its location was convenient, which means no wasting of precious eating time winding through the intricate maze surrounding Serangoon Road.


I have done my research on this place and have heard people raving about their thosai and chicken masala. These 2 dishes naturally made it into my order list. Besides that, I also ordered the masala thosai and chicken bryani set. On hindsight, I should have just stuck to the (n-1) rule as the food that was piled onto the table afterwards would have been enough to feed an army! I am of course exaggerating, but you catch my drift..

Chicken Bryani
This was one surprising dish. It was not brought up in many of the sites that I visited, but it turned out to be a pleasant experience. The texture/wetness and the flavourings of the rice were done just right. I love bryani rice because of the thousand and one spices that go in there. Cumin, garlic, saffron, corriander, bay leaves...just to name a few. Its just magical how these spices come together to bring you the end result. I shall leave my comments about the chicken to the next section.
Chicken Masala
This was one of the most exalted dishes that reviewers claimed was a 'must-try'. Maybe the bar was set too high- the chicken masala was one of the few dishes that did not meet my (and some of the dining partners') expectations. The sauce/coating was great -crazily spicy (please have some ice cold Coke on stand-by) and aromatic. The meat however, was simply too dry and tough for enjoyable human consumption. The flavorings also failed to penetrate into the depths of the poultry. That being said, i am not expert at Indian cuisine, so if there are any readers out there who has tasted a good Chicken Masala before, please let me know so I could have a benchmark!
Paper Thosai and Masala Thosai
The paper thosai was awesome. Just the right thickness, and very large. The accompanying coconut chutney, sambal and curries complemented the dish really well. It was the biggest paper thosai i have eaten. Enough to feed 2 grown man!
The Masala thosai was also another popular dish. After a couple of bites though, you get very 'jelah' or 腻 ( someone enlighten me with proper english words to describe this phenomenon please). Masala thosai fyi, is simply thosai stuffed with spiced mash potatoes. It was a bit of a carb overkill. Thank goodness we had a 'rotation' system to prevent getting really sick after the meal.

Overall, I would recommend a visit to this stall...but definitely not just because of their Chicken Masala. It has a great atmosphere, popular with the Malays & Indians, good thosai and most importantly, very affordable! The above dishes + 2 masala tea at only $20.90. And..as mentioned, these 4 dishes would be enough to feed 6 grown adults (okok, not an army..).I went with 3 others and there were so much leftovers I felt bad about it.

Do recommend great Indian food if you have any in mind:) drop a comment!

干炒河粉 Fried Hor Fun

Tried out this dish on a boring Sunday at home. Easy, yummy and tasty! Remember to give the kway teow/hor fun a quick run through the hot water though otherwise it will be too greasy! You will be surprised at how much oil there is in that little packet of uncooked kway teow from the wet market.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

200 g kway teow/horfun (shouldn't cost you more than $1 at your lovely neighbourhood market)

2 tsps chopped garlic (more if you are a big fan of garlic, i am)

pork slices (at your own discretion)

shrimps

bean sprouts (grumpy aunty wont sell you anything less than 10 cents in any case)

onion

2 crab sticks (sliced)

1 egg

Seasoning A:

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy suace

Seasoning B:

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce (depending on how dark you want your hor fun to be)

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

pinch of pepper

Garnish:
Spring Onions, red chilli & sesasme seeds (totally unnecessary)

Steps:

1. Heat up about 1/2 tbsp of oil, fry half the garlic till fragrant, add noodles and stir well. I would fry it until they become a semi crispy but NOT burnt. Add seasoning A. Set the noodles aside

2. Fry remaining chopped garlic in oil till fragrant. Add beaten egg. try to scramble it up. Put in the remaining ingredients in this order (pork slices, prawns, crab sticks, beansprouts/veg), making sure each ingredient is cooked before adding the next.

3. Stir in the noodles from step 1, add seasoning B and mix them well (bicep muscle cramps are a given especially if you are cooking for more people)

Enjoy.

Bac Ha Market

Bắc Hà （北河）is a district of the Lao Cai province in the Northeastern region of Vietnam - 80km from Sapa.There is a fabled Sunday market there that I have been yearning to see after reading about it on Lonely Planet and I finally did it last December! (yes, i know, i write with an approximate lag of 1 year. but hey, better late than never right?)

Vege sellers outside Bac Ha's temple

My first and only travel experience in Vietnam was an eye opener and the experience at Bac Ha market definitely took prime spot in my "things to do in Vietnam" recommendation. Of course, this day trip to Bac Ha would best be tied in with your visit to Sapa, another legendary 'must do' town to visit when in the northern part of the country. In fact, i wrote about it (well, partially) earlier this year, read about it here.

The trip to Bac Ha was an epic one. W and I took a midnight sleeper train (Pumpkin)from Hanoi to Lao Cai. 2010 fees are about USD 33/pax. Was squashed in a little bunk bed and kept half awake the entire night with the screeching of the train wheels on the track. Memorable part of the journey was poo-ing onto the tracks (could see the rail through the latrine hole) as the train sped through the night. Pretty cool.

The train pulled in rather early at Lao Cai. I remembered stumbling out of the carriage, dazed, onto the platform at 6am in the morning. Was led to the Et Pumpkin hotel (just beside the station) and provided with a breakfast (Pho, again) to start the day. After about 2 hours of waiting and wandering around Lao Cai, we were packed into a van with 8 other strangers from around the globe and started our nauseating 2.5 hours drive up the windy roads towards Bac Ha. Nauseating because I am not great at car rides on mountain roads. (Too bad all the interesting places are tucked in obscure corners of this Earth)

Pho... AGAIN?

Notwithstanding the nauseating car ride part, i had a pretty good time peering at the little towns that we passed by on our way to Bac Ha. It was my first encounter with tribal people in N. Vietnam and was simply intrigued by the colorful outfits (all personally handwoven) that they don. Trivia:There are more than 50 indigeneous tribes living in the region, and each can be distinguished by their traditional dresses (colour schemes, head scarves, etc.)

The touristy section of Bac Ha market. Walk through it, fast.

After what seem like eternity, we were dropped at the southern end of the Bac Ha market area where we were free to roam for a couple of hours. My initial response upon disembarking was "what? i sat a blistering 2.5 hours ride ..for this?" and this = a wider version of your Lady's Night Market （女人街） in HK. Where's the authenticity? I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked past stall after stall of handicrafts and clothes that were obviously targeted at the tourists. Was feeling a little dejected until i caught sight of a crowd congregating at the top of the knoll situated at the end of the street that we were walking on.

Finally. the REAL Bac Ha market.

erm...Pig's head anyone?

It was a surreal experience walking through the maze of stalls at Bac Ha. Besides your usual wet market grub, there were more bizzare items like horse legs, horse innards, pig's head and home made alcoholic brews like cassava wine, rice wine and corn liquor (smelt intoxicating). Tribal sellers (dressed in their finest) fervently promoting their goods (in a language i can't fathom), Vietnamese men sampling the alcohol (contained in jerry cans and served in bottle caps), cooks stirring their cauldron of innards from some unknown animal - with the furry skin left beside the pot basking in all its glory, a Vietnamese fishmongeress (is there such a word?) waving her chopper at an aggressive customer.... the walk through the market was simply bewildering!!

Horse stew. hmm..still not up for it yet.

Walking further north and out of the crazy maze-like market, we stumbled upon an opening where (dog-lovers, you might like to stop reading right now).... little puppies and dogs were for sale. The yelping furries which were caged up in ratten enclosures were a depressing sight. And i don't really want to know what become of them after they are purchased. But I do know for a fact that dog meat is one of their specialities.

We saw the tribal ladies gnawing on sugar canes wherever we go

Venturing deeper into the market, we climbed up a flight of steps onto an elevated ground where we took in the scenery of the surrounding countryside and hills....in the company of water buffalos and chuckling Flower Hmong tribal ladies. Turns out that the highest point in Bac Ha market serves as a Water Buffalo trading ground.The animals were roped (through their nostrils) to a huge rock on the ground and traders will move amongst them to survey the size and robustness of the creature before haggling with the owners. As one might know, water buffalos are probably the most important animal in Asia (in my opinion) as they contribute crucial manual labour, and thus, to the economy of the agriculture/rice-farming societies in this region. This is their physical SGX!

Water bufflos for sale

After exploring the final section of Bac Ha market, W and I walked down the hill and got ourselves lost for awhile before stumbling onto an open road which led us to a temple. Surprisingly, it was no different from our typical Chinese temples in Singapore with its stone carvings and tiled arched roofs. Althought it was pretty unimpressive, it provided us with a serene place to unwind and zone out of the hustle and bustle that we have unwillingly left behind at the bazzar before taking our ride back towards Sapa.

The view from the top

The great thing about this travel experience was the fact that the tribal villagers and locals were so immersed in their trading and socializing activities that we (the tourists) blended into the background. To the locals, the Northface-clad aliens with Canon-DSLRs dangling round the necks were on the other side of the screen. Sure they could see us, but we were inconsequential to their agenda for the day, and thus faded into oblivion. Love it.

Flower Hmong ladies on the hill top

Do pop by Bac Ha during your visit to Northern Vietnam. March to May (dry season) is apparently the best time to visit the region. Day tours (leaving from Sapa or Lao Cai) can be signed up at both towns or at Hanoio's old quarter. Hurry before the area gets invaded by mass tourism and the Hmong ladies start selling you Bacardis instead of their homemade moonshine.

Master brewers and their jerry-canned whiskeys

Body Shop's Rainforest Moisture Shampoo

Ladies who have dry/damaged hair...i just might have the remedy for you.



Ok firstly, a disclaimer. I know this blog's initial aim was to share my interest in food+travel+photography with you, so whats this out-of-place hair shampoo recommendation doing out here? Well, I decided that its preposterous to keep a good find to myself, so I have decided that the generic theme for this blog would be to write about the cool things/events i have come across, be it a travel experience, restaurant, food or in this particular case, hair shampoos!

好事分享吗。。。

Anyways, people who have know me a long time have given me a few nicknames over the course of 2x years (the x is because a woman's real age is sensitive issue..heh heh)

1. mop head
2. lion king (thanks Jean, thanks)
3. 爆炸hair

so yes, evidently, i have had some issues with my unruly+wiry keratin extensions my whole life (mum blames it on the 'hot temper'. to her, bad temper = wiry hair. hmm.). till i started on this Rainforest Moisture Shampoo thing.

well, i was attracted to it initially because it was marketed as an "eco-friendly" product and yes, being the tree-hugger i am, i was convinced one fine day (after multiple visits to the Body Shop over a course of 2 weeks) to capitalize on the Buy 2 for $29.90 offer and finally got my hands on it!

The 'ingredients' that go into this concoction of a shampoo are:
1. Pracaxi oil
2. Manketti nut oil
3. Community Trade honey

(sounds so yummy!)

and The Body Shop boasts that it does not contain:
1. silicones
2. sulphates
3. colourants
4. parabens

This made me study the chemical make up of the shampoo i was using before and yew, lets just say that I (or we) have been been soaking our hair with those noxious looking chemicals we have been preparing for A level chemistry practicals.

Anyways, again to keep the long story short , this shampoo really really works (sorry,i am not a very creative-descriptive writing kind of person and shall not attempt to be one). Its as though i have waited 2x years for this serendipitous moment!

Also, the entire "No Animal Testing" thing that The Body Shop has going and its partnership with Fair Trade programs lent support to my willingness to part with $15 for a bottle of shampoo.
(By the way, like the flip side to a coin, there are many opposing views on Fair Trade programs - a quick google might land you on some anti-Fair Trade sites that would give you a more balanced view. i happen to take a stand that programs like this have positive impacts that outweigh the negative ones)



Yes, I am pertty wowed by the marketing effect of this product but the truth is that it really works for my 'dry damaged hair'.I can feel my 'fiery temper' heading a few notches south already, pretty sure it has something to do with the smoother hair ;)

炒米粉

This is just going to be a simple post on my latest cooking project.

Yes, I understand that the above-mentioned dish is seen practically everywhere in Singapore. From your neighbourhood hawker centres to home-catered buffet. But have you tried cooking it before? Its really hard to get the texture right!

My mum has always been very picky about the chewiness of beehoon, she absolutely hates it when it still has that crunchiness left over from not boiling it well. So, it was with great delight 2 Sundays ago when I whipped up a simple dish of Fried Beehoon and got her approval. (by the way, no complaints whatsoever equates to approval) Dad kept repeating "did you really cook this? serious? i don't believe this" in between mouthfuls of beehoon. I didn't know whether to feel flattered by his sudden praises or upset at his sudden realization that yes, his daughter does know a thing or two in the kitchen. hmm.

Anyways, promised this would be short (i aim to be less rambly..). so here's the recipe (modified from Jimmy Chua's cookbook - the one that i have been quoting the past few times).

ps. sorry the photos don't look as appetizing as it should be ;)

炒米粉

Serves 5

Ingredients A:

1 pack Rice Vermicelli (my mum swears by Chilli brand. i have no idea why)

3 eggs (beaten)

2 tbsps chopped garlic

Ingredients B:

50 g shelled prawns

100 g charsiew ( i used sliced lean pork instead)

50 g ben sprouts ( i substitued this with Chye sim)

1/2 carrot (cut thinly)

1/2 onion (sliced thinly)

Ingredients C:

2 Red chillies (shredded)

2 Spring onions (cut into little 5 cm sections)

Seasoning:

500ml stock ( i used water, turned out fine)

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

pinch of pepper

Steps:

1. Blanch the vermicelli in hot water for a minute, drain it and set aside

2. Fry the garlic in oil till fragrant

3. Add eggs and ingredients B. Keep stirring and flipping it so the eggs can break up

4. Add seasoning and bring it to boil

5. Add rice vermicelli and stir fry till the sauce thickens and turns dry. Give it a taste and see whether you need to add anymore sauces

6. Sprinkle your garnishes (C) on top. Serve! :)

Bumbu Bali

Add: Jl. Pratama, Tanjung Benoa,PO Box 132, Nusa Dua 80363, Bali - Indonesia

$$$: $15-$30/pax

Cuisine: Balinese

Great for: Cooking School, Bumbu, Sates, Rijisttafel (Dutch for Rice Table) or Nasi Campur Set

Website: http://www.balifoods.com/

"Aerial View" of the Nasi Campur Set Lunch

It was the penultimate afternoon of our 6-day trip to Bali - an enjoyable 2.5 hours flight from Singapore (thumbs up for KLM btw). W and I were running out of ideas on what to do/feast on and we ended up spending a good part of the morning researching on affordable Balinese restaurants on the island that we could visit for lunch and Bumbu Bali seems to be one of the hot pick on travel review pages.

Since it was situated on the southern peninsula's (a.k.a Bukit Peninsula because of its hills) luxurious resort strip of Tanjung Benoa/Nusa Dua, we decided that it would be a good area to explore after lunch as we have not covered that part of the island before. Also, we definitely do not have a legitimate reason to be there since it is filled with 5-6 star resorts - think Conrad, St. Regis and Club Med. Bumbu Bali thus provided us with a perfect excuse to mingle with the erhem, up-town tourists.

After a pretty long ride down from Kerobokan, we entered the Balinese gates flanking the entrance of the restaurant and were ushered to our seats in the pavillion (wayyy too hott to be sitting out in the open). The cosy little compound felt like a microcosm of Bali itself, with little fountains, minute ponds with water lilis in it, wooden pavillions, hand-woven table clothes, distinctive Balinese tatch roofs, wooden carvings...and the fragrance from fresh herbs & spices wafting from the open kitchen.

Sweltering day in Bali. Diners hiding in the pavillion.

We were first served some shrimp crackers (more affectionately known among Singaporeans as "keropok") with some mind-blowing Balinese sambal as an appetizer while we flipped through the laminated menu. Since we wanted to try a little of everything, we decided the the Nasi Campur set lunch (190, 000 RP ~ SGD 30) would be just the right choice. We also ordered the Tum Bebek (Minced Duck in Banana Leaf) to supplement the meal. On hindsight, the side order was totally redundant since both of us were seen struggling to finish the Nasi Campur set towards the end. Should have saved the Bebek for another time!

Best sambal ever!

While waiting for our food to arrive, my order of Bumbu's Balinese home-made specialty alochol - Brem Bali (Fermented Rice Wine) arrived. Was expecting a strong alcoholic fume when i picked up the glass (like the crazy one i had at my Sapa homestay) but the wine turned out to be pretty mild and surprisingly sweet. There was also a red tinge to it and I never did figure out why that was so. It was served on the rocks, which proved to be really forgiving on a sweltering day.

Brem Bali

Being the restless soul I am, I picked up my camera and started prancing around the front of the restaurant where the kitchen was. There were also shelves of Chef Heinz von Holzen's (owner of Bumbu Bali) cook books on Balinese cuisine. Had a field time flipping through them before I caught sight of the man himself sitting in the corner right next to the kitchen door sipping on a cup of coffee.

Chef Heinz von Holzen

(yea. you can say I was pretty star-struck at that point in time)




He walked into the kitchen next and started putting on his apron before politely dishing out orders to his Balinese sous chefs who were all busily grilling fishes + sates and pounding herbs + spices. Felt like a total papparazzi when I turned into a trigger-happy photographer trying to take in as much as kitchen action as possible through my camera lens. This, was the absolute highlight of my visit there.

Food on the open kitchen counter waiting to be served.

After the major invasion of Chef Heinz's kitchen privacy, I decided to head back to my table as I was starving by then (i blame the sun). Was more than happy when the entire tray of minature dishes finally arrived. The waitress took pains to introduce every single one to us and left us to enjoy our meal after that.

So, it turns out that the Nasi Campur Set Lunch (called Rijisttafel by night - more quality dishes, and a little more pricey) was a dazzling array of 9 minature Balinese dishes served with rice topped with shallots. The misconception about Balinese food is that it is no different from those sold on the streets. Big no no. Street food in Bali came from the neighbouring island of Java. The Javanese were the ones who brought their Baksos, Padang and Nasi Campur when they migrated over to Bali (more on those in a latter post). Balinese food is completely unique to Bali itself! It is a melting pot of the cuisines from eons of migration and interaction with the regions around and the foreigners who sailed halfway around the world to trade or erm, conquer them. Portugese, Chinese, Dutch, Indian, Malaysian.. you can find traces of them in all the dishes.

Our Feast!

The nine dishes were served in cute little ceramic dishes placed on a wooden tray decorated with lemon grass and red chillies. The Nasi Campur set not only smells good.. it LOOKS good. Out of the 9, my favourites were the Sate Ayam/Babi/Lillit. Although both the Balinese Sates and Singaporean Satays share the same family tree, the Balinese ones were definitely a little more refined in both presentation and taste than those we have here. I guess the difference lies in the ingredients used for the marination: lemongrass, shallots, chilli, palm sugar, lime, coconut milk, galangal (ginger)..i don'ttttt think we have that in our regular satays at our Lagoon Hawker Centre. The fresh spiciness and fragrance of the mashed up herbs certainly brings some punch to each bite. Love the fact that it is served on lemongrass stalks too!

Sates

The Be Celang Base Manis (Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce) was surprisingly nice too. It is a sweeter version of our "Lor Bak" with a lighter + more fragrant sauce. Another favourite would be the Siap Base Kalas (Chicken in Spiced Coconut Milk) - a more intense version of our chicken curry. The other memorable dish was the Tum Bebek (Minced duck wrapped in Coconut leaf), that looked and tasted very much like a more chewy fish otah. However, as mentioned, please exercise some self control and not order it on top of your set lunch - its really too much to handle for 2!

Tum Bebek

The only gripe about my experience at Bumbu Bali was that the food was served luke warm and the charcoal fire for the Sates were out. I don't really know if that was the intention but that did dampen my expectations by quite a bit. Not to worry though,I am sure a friendly reminder before the food is being serve would solve that.

If its your first time in Bali and your itinerary doesn't allow you to stay for more than a few days, then a trip to Bumbu Bali is a must to experience authentic, fresh Balinese food.

Authentic? How can it be since the chef himself is a Swiss! Yes, he is Swiss but after settling down in Bali more than a decade ago, Chef von Holzen has gone around the entire island to collect traditional recipes from the Balinese themselves since Bumbu Bali's doors open in 1997 + he has an army of Balinese sous chefs in his kitchen!


Fresh? Are you sure? Well, I dare not vouch for that but I am pretty sure the hundreds of cooking enthusiasts who have attended Bumbu Bali's cooking classes at the crack of dawn each day (first stop: wet market visit to purchase ingredients/poulty/seafood) would attest to it.

Bebek Betutu shall be my motivation to visit Bali (and this restaurant)again for the upcoming year.