Burger Bench & Bar @ Cineleisure Orchard

Last month we have our 1st Blogger's outing at Chef Daniel's Kitchen @ Illuma (click HERE for post) where everyone of us share some great time together. And this month, we have organised a Burger Hunt on 14 August 2010 as our 2nd outing event. Initially we have planned to try out different burgers from 3 places along Orchard area but end up we only managed to set our taste buds for 2.

This post I will share with you the 1st stop of our Burger Hunt which is at Burger Bench & Bar opened by ex-lawyer Willin Low, owner of Wild-Rocket, Wild Oats and Relish. This store was located at level 1 of Cineleisure Orchard since last year December and it has another name known as "B3" which derived from "Burger, Bench & Bar".

They have 8 different flavour of burgers that you can choose from the range of Beef, Pork, Poultry, Fish and etc. And if you feel like having something extra, you can also try some of their yummy snacks such as russet potato crisps and golden chicken wings. For this outing, we have ordered 6 different burgers and 2 snacks from their menu to try out.

I am sure if you like Japanese Food such as Sashimi you would have tried Wasabi before. This is "Sasame Wasabi Butter-Fish Burger", deep-fried fish fillet which is cripsy is crispy and burst with juicy flavour when bite. The fillet sits on top on some some shredded cabbage and top with chef special wasabi sauce which is combined with some addition of mustard and roasted sesame seeds. And according to one of stuff, they adjusted the original level of spiciness after feedback from some customers which cannot take the "spicy kick" from wasabi so this burger is still manageable for kid who can take a bit of spicy food to consume.

Soft-shell Chilli Crab Burger is a new items on their menu which cost S$8.20 with a rather huge piece of soft shell (from the photo) sitting on some shredded cabbage and top with some paste. From a glance the paste look like sort of similar to normal tomato paste but it is actual chilli crab sauce but some of us who tried it comments that the sauce is actually too overpowering which covered that taste of the soft shell crab.

The look of this "Saute Mixed Mushroom & Cheese Beef Burger" seems to tasty and juicy from the photo. When Alice and I tried it, we find the beef patty taste rather ok with it's seasonings and mushroom topping. But it is not those kind that you will go "WOW".

I have tried a few Curry Chicken/Pork Katsu Don before, but the idea of combining a Japanese dish into burger this is the 1st time I have saw and tried. The "Japanese Curry Chicken Katsu Burger" at B3 cost S$7.90 each which is pretty reasonable for the price to have the same ingredients sandwich with 2 slices of bread inside of rice. But you might be surprised with the taste of the sauce which is not what you usually have in your Katsu Don dish.

Compared to the above Mixed Mushroom & Cheese Beef Burger, this "Cheese Burger With Mayonnise & Sundried Tomato Relish" taste much better with it's sundried tomato relish. This is slightly cheaper which costs only S$7.80 but the overall taste is much better if you love "Beef Burger".

Amanda wish to try this "Grilled Chicken Burger With Relish & Jalapeno" which look pretty healthy due to the grilled chicken breast meat and Jalapeno toppings that makes it look less greasy and light, this cost S$8.50 each. Each mouthful, you can taste the tender and juicy chicken meat chew together with the tangy relish and spicy jalapeno.

This is one of their signature side dishes that are freshly made from their kitchen instead of those usual pre-packed potato chips. Their hand-cooked russet potato crisps are surprisingly crunchy and filled with an authentic potato taste that you can’t resists on nibbling more on those chips.

Snack number 2, we ordered two plates of this "Golden Chicken Wings with Chef Gino's Deadly Chilli Sauce" that comes with 6 pieces serving per plate at S$5.00 each. The wings taste a bit spicy itself so if you cannot take spicy food then don't go with that dipping sauce. But with that extra chilli sauce, it will definitely enhance the taste more.

After the meal, we tried this "Gourmet Dark Chocolate Soft Serve Ice-Cream" for dessert. According to their poster, this is the 1st Home-made soft serve Ice-Cream available in Singapore. A cup of this will cost you S$3.00 and it's pretty worth it for it's rich chocolate taste too.


BURGER BUNCH AND BAR
8 Grange Road
#01-02
Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
Singapore 239695
Telephone: 65- 6737 9947
Website: www.wildrocket.com.sg

Opening Hours:
Mon - Thurs: 12:00pm - 11:00pm
Fri - Sat: 12:00pm - 2:00am
Sun: 12:00pm - 11:00pm

Note:

1. You can read more related posts on this outing at Misstamchiak, Amanda and Lobsterpaints site too. Stay till for part II on "The Handburger" post soon.

2. Or you wish to take a look at more photos on Cuisine Paradise Fan Page Album HERE.

Homemade Kiwifruit and Apple Jam

Recently I have posted a "Blueberry & Banana Jam - 蓝莓香蕉果酱" (click HERE) over at my "Omy blog" which is written in Chinese. And since I have some extra Kiwifruit in the pantry which mum bought it from the recent kiwifruit promotion at the supermarket, I decided to use it to make this jam.

Spreading some lovely homemade jam on warm toasted bread is definitely a wonderful things to start off the day for morning breakfast. My mum loves to have jam on either toast or plain cracker for her morning breakfast so whenever there is extra fruits in the fridge I will make some lovely jam for her.

To start with we will need some fresh kiwifruit, apple and lemon together with caster sugar. There are a few types of kiwifruit available from the fruit stalls or supermarket depending of which countries they are from. I am sure you have tried the green kiwifruit and golden kiwifruit which is yellowish after removing the outer skin.

You might like to take this photo as reference to shows the steps and changes that took place while cooking the jam.

Ingredients: (make about 1 cup)
2 Medium Size Green Kiwifruit, about 150g
1 Apple, about 150g
220g Sugar
Rind of 1 Lemon
Juice of Half Lemon

Method:
1. Bring a pot of water with jam bottle in it to a boil and boil them for 5 - 8 minutes or so to sterilize them, removed and invert for them to dry.
2. Peel off the skin from the kiwifruit and apple and chopped them into fine cubes.
3. Place all the above ingredients in a heavy-duty saucepan(choose a slightly higher saucepan as the mixture will rise as it boils) and bring to boil over medium high heat and stirring occasionally.
4. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam as necessary.
5. Cook about 10 minutes, until mixture begins to look syrupy and thickens slightly.
6. Once the mixture is stiff enough with a glossy outlook remove the pot from the heat and start filling the jam bottle.
7. Fill the jam near to the rim, screw the cap on and leave it to cool.
8. The jam needs to be refrigerated to prevent mold from forming and it can be kept in the fridge for 2 - 3 weeks.

Note:

1. The jam will look rather watery when done, but don't worry it will thicken up when it cools down to room temperature.

Kiwifruit consists of twice as much vitamin C as there are in oranges so in fact you need one kiwifruit each day to get that amount to replenish your daily intake. But if you or your kids don't prefer to eat the fruit as it's own, perhaps you can consider to some kiwifuits to make some smoothie or jam like what I have shared above.

Sakae Feast

Last week, I organised a simple "Japanese Cuisine Dinner" for to share with our weekly cell group members. Instead of the usual home fellowship session, we held a short and simple one at a Sakae sushi outlet near our area. These are some of the foods that 14 of us ordered during the dining/fellowship session.

While everyone was busying flipping through the menu and thinking of what to order, I was attracted to their August Oyster Theme promotion. From the menu, I ordered this "Golden Oyster Maki" which is shown above. This comes with two deep-fried breaded crispy oyster resting on top of the maki and top with some fish roe and most of us love this new item and it's attractive presentation too.

As some of the cell group members rarely tried any Japanese Cuisine so I have to take the lead to order most of the dishes for them. To begin with any main course sushi, I am sure they will prefer something warm and smooth like Chuwanmushi which most of us prefer. Normally, my choice is always surrounded with " Sakae Chuwanmushi" but I would still prefer their Pumpkin Chawanmushi which is already no longer in their menu list.

For quick bite before the Teppanyaki sets are ready to be served, we have some assorted Temaki. These two are "Ebi Tempura" and "Unagi".

Soft Shell Crab and Salmon Mango Temaki.

"Golden Crispy Oyster" is also one of the item under the August Oyster Theme menu. Instead of Oyster and rice maki like the previous one above Gold Crispy served together with yummy deep-fried mashed potato Patty instead of rice.

Esther, together with her kids and helper ordered two bowls of the Teriyaki Chicken Ramen to share among themselves.

While Monica prefer this Teriyaki Chicken and Hotate Mentaiyaki Bento which served with rice and miso soup. This set comes with four yummy baked cheesy scallop other than the teriyaki chicken.

Since the outlet we are in also provides Teppanyaki menu, I decided to order a few sets for them to try too. And the way the teppanyaki chef prepares the dishes really captured some of the kids attention too.

I ordered two premium seafood sets and one premium beef set which all comes with stir-fried assorted vegetables, rice and miso soup. Most of us loves this stir-fried bean spouts with mushrooms which is just nicely done and not over fried.

Premium Seafood Set consists of Prawn, Cuttlefish and Bamboo Clam.

While Premium Beef Set consists of Beef, Foie Gras (made of the liver of a duck or goose) and Half Shell Scallop. Although we ordered medium rare for the beef but when served we find that the beef cubes are rather too tough to bite.

The half shell scallop is infused with lovely stir-fried garlic which make it so delicious to go with either steam rice or their special garlic rice.

Everyone enjoys themselives happily with the yummy sakae dishes and we are too full to have any dessert by the end of the meal. Other than Ramen, Hand Maki, Chuwanmushi, Teppanyaki sets, we also have a few plates of their fresh Salmon Sashimi.




p/s: We would like to thanks the lovely staffs and friendly outlet managers in North Point for their prompt services and cheerful attitude towards all the customers too.

Hotel Re! ~ Re!Plenish 923 International Brunch Buffet

Recently Hotel Re! which is located uphill at 175A Chin Swee Road has launched their revised Buffet Brunch menu which inclusive of wide selection of Seafood on Ice & Sashimi, Roasted Duck with Mango Crepe, Abalone, Ben & Jerry’s Ice-cream and MANY MORE!

They are having this Re!Plenish Brunch promotion on their Weekends & Public Holidays Buffet Brunch which 1 person gets to dine free with 3 paying adults at the rate of S$38.80++/pax.

The ambience around the restaurant is great for family as it is spacious and children friendly. It also has that classic European design of ballroom, complete with chandeliers that makes dining stylish, inviting and comfortable.

These are some of the appetiser such as pasta, salad potato, mixed fresh fruit salad and egg crepe roll.

The buffet lines also have some interesting main dishes that cooks in their unique way such as salmon, roasted duck, lamb chop, pineapple fried rice, braised noodle etc as well as their soup of the day. And as a soup lover, I find that their soup is full of flavour with generous amount of ingredients used.

From the main dishes buffet line, there is at least 2 - 3 fish cuisine that are cooked in different preparation methods such as deep-dried, steam or braised which is a good catch for fish lover.

At the side, they have a few stand alone stations where the guests can filled their tummy with either Dim Sum (such as chee cheong fun, steam bun, siew mai), Japanese Sushi & Sashimi or some assorted Tempura with deep-fried Ebi and vegetables.

As for local delights, they provided one of my favourite local dishes which is Laksa. I love their Laksa in terms of their gravy and chilli which makes this dish a great steal. The gravy itself is not too thick or dilute and the coconut taste blend well with the gravy which did not make it appears creamy or greasy.

These are some of the items that I have tried:- Pineapple fried rice, Grilled Sausage with mashed potato, Lamb Chop cutlet, Roasted Duck and Seafood Kabab.

This is the highlight of their Brunch Buffet which is the Braised Abalone with mushroom and broccoli. (limited to 1 abalone per guest only)

After finishing all the yummy savory dishes, it is time to relax yourself with these assorted array of fresh cut fruits and desserts with a cup of premium hot coffee/tea to re-charge your energy.

Here are some of the desserts that mum choose, but I am rather disappointed that they don't have Durian Creme Brulee and Thai Desserts available on that day. And Rey was also upset with the Ben & Jerry’s Ice-cream which they only offers one flavour and the texture of the ice-cream is so soft that it almost melted before eating. Perhaps we have drop-by on a wrong day/timing (we went on Monday, National Day holiday) as most of the items might not be available after the weekend dash. But I hope the management can make some improvements on their desserts and ice-cream counters in order to blend well with their interesting savoury dishes.

Overall this is still a cosy place for gathering with friends/family members while enjoying some good varieties of appetisers and main dishes then follow by some coffee/tea to go with the assorted desserts and fruits.


Hotel Re! @ Pearl's Hill
175A Chin Swee Road,
Singapore 169879
Reservation: 6827 8221
website: http://www.hotelre.com.sg/


Weekends & Public Holidays Brunch Buffet:
11.00am - 3.00pm

Price:
S$38.80++ (Adult)
S$18.80++ (Child)

Nearest MRT Station: Outram Park MRT Station (Exit B), click HERE for more details.