Jeffery, the boss, personally serving customers with warmth and sincerity. This is a candid shot, I took with telephoto lens.
Dropped by Lemon Tree again because I like old style Western food places that reminds me of my school boy days. Back then, such joints were "aspirational" food that we can only afford with weeks of pocket money savings.
When Moonlight Cake House asked me if I would like to follow their team participating in the Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) Culinary Challenge which was held in Singapore 8-11 Apr 2014, I jumped at the opportunity.
As a blogger, it was a great learning experience for me and a chance to get an insight into the industry.
Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) is a huge international expo held every two years in Singapore involving over 3,000 exhibitors from 64 countries . FHA is a Must for F and B as well as hospitality professionals. For me, it is an eye opener to see the amazing energy and innovation in the food and hotel industries.
The Moonlight Cake House team participated in the competitions to learn about the best and latest in the pastries and cakes industry.
Teams from many countries like Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore participated in the FHA Culinary Challenge held in conjunction with Food and Hotel Asia.
Competition was intense.
The entries were scrutinised and judged by an international panel of well qualified and experienced chefs.
The Moonlight team faced an unique challenge.
While the other teams were still in bed at home or in hotels, the Moonlight team set off from Johor Bahru for Singapore at 3:00am to beat the infamous early morning jam at the Causeway.
But, it was all worth it.
The team not only did Moonlight Cake House proud, in my humble opinion, they brought honour to Johor's F and B industry too.
The team came home with a haul of 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals from the FHA Culinary Challenge. It would not be an exaggeration to describe this as a "massive haul".
Ryan's 3-D creation won a Silver Medal. Ryan from Ulu Tiram had been with Moonlight Cake House since he was 19 years old, starting as an apprentice. Now 24, Ryan heads Moonlight's 3-D cake department.
Siew Guan 晓君 won the Silver Medal at the "Dress the Cake" competition. Siew Guan, age 21, is from Kulai and had been with Moonlight for just 2 plus years.
Chun Hong, age 23, from Taiping, Perak clinched the FHA Culinary Challenge Silver Medal for his creation at the "Dress the Cake" contest.
Pontian boy, Ang Hian Thuan won the Bronze medal with his music themed creation.
Ryan bagged a second Bronze Medal for his Pastry Showcase creation "Savior of the Realm".
My heartiest congratulations to Moonlight Cake House!
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Leng, the boss of Tangs Market invited Johor Kaki to visit the recently opened food court located at Basement One of Tang Plaza along Orchard Road.
The idea is to bring traditional hawker food from Singapore and Malaysia to Orchard Road, Singapore's premier shopping belt.
The owners try to keep the food as close to the original as possible under present Singapore conditions. All the staff are from Malaysia and Singapore, who are familiar with the tastes and flavours of local street food.
I chose to try the 85 Redhill Teochew Fishball Noodle stall because mee pok tah 面薄干 is my kind of comfort food.
Leng told me that 85 Redhill Teochew Fishball Noodle was his grandfather's stall which started it all. Today, the stall has grown into the Fei Siong Group which owns diverse food businesses like Malaysia Boleh! food court, EAT, You Tell, Hong Kong Egglet and other interests.
The Teochew fishball noodle set costs SGD4 which is only a slight premium over heartland hawker centre prices. For an additional SGD2, we got a delicious fried fish cake made with 100% yellowtail fish.
The noodles were coated with a savoury, slightly spicy sauce with traces of lard and fish sauce. The texture and flavour of the noodles were comforting and likable.
The basic SGD4 set comes with a bowl of soup and 5 fish balls - 3 are 100% yellow tail fish meat, and 2 are a blend of yellow tail, pork and cai poh (preserved radish).
The soup is made from water used in making the fish balls and flavoured with cai poh. It is clear, mildly savoury with slight cai poh flavour.
When I am at Orchard Road and need my mee pok tah and fish ball fix, it will be here at Tangs Market.
Here are some of the other stalls which I shall be coming back to Tangs Market to try.
The Penang style fried kway teow.
Sungai Road laksa.
There is also Hainanese chicken rice, Penang fried oyster omelette, KL Hokkien mee, and satay.
The Penang chendol stall.
The pau and dim sum stall which are convenient take away snacks.
Traditional Chinese snacks like soon kueh, chui kueh and chee cheong fun.
The deep fried stall features fried you tiaw, curry puff, nian kau, cempedak and the famous Wah Cai fried durian from Johor Bahru.
Penang apom stall (crispy pan cakes).
With the wide variety of snack food here and hot kopi or teh, I think Tangs Market is a great pit stop for shoppers to cool their heels. The reasonably priced food is also a good option for the office crowd in the area to tuck in for lunch and dinner.
Restaurant name: Tangs Market
Address: Basement One, Tangs Plaza, 310 Orchard Road, Singapore
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/4CU4Z
GPS: 1.304894,103.832650
Hours: 10:30am to 9:30pm | 10:30am to 8:30pm on Sunday
Non Halal
Date visited: 12 Apr 2014
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William and I were on a whole day Skudai-Kulai food trail since 6:00am in the morning. We were dead tired by the time we arrived to check out the famous Yellow Corner Nasi Lemak in Kulai.
Today, I joined the Moonlight Cake House team taking part in the Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) Culinary Challenge (FCC) 2014 held in Singapore.
No, this is not the queue to clear immigration at JB - it's the queue to enter the exhibition hall at Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) 2014.
The Moonlight Cake House team led by Pastry Chef Ryan competed in the Pastry Showpiece contest where competition was extremely fierce, much like these fighting cocks.
(These fighting cocks were one of the other teams' entry for the pastry showpiece contest. Some of you might be wondering, "This is a cake!?" The contestants really pushed the creative boundaries to the edge.)
Ryan, age 24, joined Moonlight Cake House at 19, after SPM ("O" levels) as an apprentice. Today, the talented Ryan heads Moonlight's 3D Cakes department and is a veteran representing his company in pastry competitions.
Modest and friendly, Ryan is the reigning national champion pâtisier, winning the Cake Challenge Malaysia in 2013.
Ryan's entry is entitled "Savior of the Realm". Inspired by the Transformers, all the characters are originals created by Ryan.
Ryan applying the finishing touches to his beautiful beast. Every detail takes an amazing amount of focus and precision.
Fearsome monster beasts on a wild rampage. Made of sugar and flour, we shall eat them all after the competition hehehe :P
The merciless, mystical, mythical slashing golden Transformer on a charge.
The intricate street battle scene reminds me of the final battle of my favourite war movie Saving Private Ryan (co-incidentally sharing the same name as Ryan, the champion pâtisier).
Innocent humans caught in the terrible clash of Titans.
Have no fear. The "Savior of the Realm" is here to put his foot down on all the chaos.
Some tense moments, moving the cake into final position for judging.
Here is just a small sampling of the many amazing works of the other teams.
Some of the other contestants at work. Everyone is a model of intense focus and concentration.
The participants were mentally and physically drained and exhausted after the intense two hour competition.
The panel of judges scrutinising the entries.
While the judges do their work, the Moonlight team toured the FHA exhibition.
There were many interesting new concepts and technologies on show at the exhibition.
Congratulations to Ryan and the team from Moonlight Cake House for winning the Bronze medal at FCC 2014.
Date: 8 Apr 2014
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Went to Sin Kimdo BBQ 金都海鲜餐馆 in Taman Sentosa last night because I had sudden cravings for their signature one bone chicken wings 一支骨鸡翅.
Roslina of Berjaya Waterfront Hotel invited me for lunch at the hotel's Chinese Restaurant.
Inside, Berjaya Waterfront Hotel Chinese Restaurant, it is spacious and the decor is relatively simple. I was briefed that the restaurant can seat 380 people.
We were joined by Elaina and we lunched at one of the four private rooms which has a nice view of the waterfront (Johor Straits) - I also liked it because the large windows let me take food pictures with good natural light :D
I met Chef Wong who heads Berjaya Waterfront Hotel's Chinese restaurant. Chef Wong is originally from Ipoh, and has over 30 years of experience in many fine restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.
Wong is still an old school chef who insists on good fundamentals like creating and preparing his food from scratch i.e. from basic ingredients rather than succumb to the convenience of factory or central kitchen pre-mixes.
Double Boiled Chicken with Chinese Herbs Soup RM10+ per serving
Chef Wong started us off with Double Boiled Chicken with Chinese Herbs Soup. The tonic soup was light-tasting, gently savoury, and mildly herbal with delicate ginseng flavour and aroma. The soup nourishes and strengthens our body while we enjoy a tasty broth. This herbal soup was a very appetising start for our lunch.
Boneless Crispy Chicken in Salad Sauce RM20+
Next, followed the Boneless Crispy Chicken in Salad Sauce. This is a common "cold" starter dish at Chinese wedding banquets of old.
The salad sauce was sweet with refreshing crunchy fruits fruits like rock melons, apples and grapes together with savoury golden brown fried chicken. This was a very nicely executed old school Chinese classic - brought me memories of the wedding banquets that I had attended in the long past :D
When the "cold" dish first arrived, the exquisite food carvings made with ginger and carrots were the first things that caught my eye.
Whenever possible, Chef Wong indulges in intricate food carving - an art that requires a lot of patience - something not often seen in today's "rush paced" lifestyle.
While we don't eat food carvings, the intricacies do give us a hint and insight into the Chef that made these art pieces and the dishes that he serves.
Home-style Minced Chicken and Fresh Bean RM18+
This Home-style Minced Chicken and Fresh Bean is just like what mum made at home, albeit with a little less finesse than Chef Wong. Hand picked beans and chicken meat chopped to a mince. Skilfully wok fried with mildly savoury sauce - all the natural crunch and flavours of the chicken and beans were retained.
Pan-fried Prawns with Cheese and Garlic RM38+
Pan-fried Prawns with Cheese and Garlic is another another familiar classic.
Beautifully executed. Fresh crunchy, juicy, plump shrimps fried golden brown tossed in a sauce of cheese blended with garlic, onions and button mushrooms. Nice mouth feel and a good blend of sweet and savoury.
Durian Puff RM12 for 6 pieces
We wrapped up our scrumptious lunch with Chef Wong's durian puff.
The batter was much finer than that found at hawker stalls. The durian filling was more like a paste, more grainy and less runny. I like this too.
It was a delightful lunch of simple dishes.
Perhaps, Chef Wong's food carvings best sum up my impressions of Berjaya Waterfront Hotel Chinese Restaurant. The food is simple yet sophisticated because of the refined skills and detailed attention that went into it's preparation; familiar yet still surprises, ordinary yet artful.
Overall, I also found that the prices at Berjaya Waterfront Hotel Chinese Restaurant reasonable.
Restaurant name: Berjaya Waterfront Hotel Chinese Restaurant
Address: 88, Jalan Ibrahim Sultan, Stulang Laut, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/SSuXh
GPS: 1.470895,103.783448
Hours: 11:30am to 2:30pm | 6:30pm to 10:30pm (Closed on Monday)
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 18 Mar 2014
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