Shelter in the Woods Brunch at Greenwood Avenue Singapore JK1105

I was invited to a preview tasting of the brunch menu at Shelter in the Woods at Greenwood Avenue in Bukit Timah, Singapore. Available only on Sundays, Shelter in the Woods' brunch is officially launched on 19 Apr 2015.



Stepping into Shelter in the Woods, we are greeted by a good sized bar. Shelter in the Woods stocks a good range of fine wines.



Further inside is the huntsman's "wooded" section with the birch lined forest in warm autumn colours.



Shelter in the Woods comes complete with a mock brick lined fire place, and even a deer with a crown of antlers staring at headlights you.......

ok.

But, hey, many charming, rustic places and homes in Europe and North America really sport these things... ok.....?

:-D

Let's eat.



Shelter Eggs Benedict SGD22++

Every brunch menu must have eggs Benedict, right?

I like the colours in this dish. It's looks like a mini garden to me.



Two runny poached Japanese farmhouse eggs set on lightly toasted bagels. Served with crispy smoked bacon and blanketed with house-made hollandaise sauce.

The chef has insisted on fresh Japanese farmhouse eggs because they are less runny and fuller in flavour.



Oven-baked Chorizo Eggs SGD22++.



Two Japanese farmhouse eggs served with baked savoury Chorizo sausage slices, roasted baby potatoes and caramelised onions.

Sunny side up always cheers me up.



"Vol-au-Vent” Chicken-Mushroom SGD24++.

Flaky house baked puff pastry with creamy mushroom, pan-fried diced chicken, smoked bacon, pearl onions and fresh herbs. Served with mesclun salad on the side.



Croque-Monsieur SGD18++.

Toasted “pain de mie” (bread loaf slices) with bechamel sauce, slice of smoked ham, tomato and gratinated Gruyere cheese, served with mesclun salad.



Croque-Madam SGD20++.



Smoked ham, tomato and gratinated Gruyere cheese with bechamel sauce sandwiched between toasted “pain de mie” (bread loaf slices) served with a sunny side-up egg on top.

I love all the Sunday brunch items at Shelter in the Woods and each one of them is in itself a hearty satisfying meal.

The flavours of savoury, sweet and the ingredients' natural tastes were all well balanced. All complemented each other with non overbearing. The mix of textures from runny, soft, tender to crispy and crunchy was interesting too.

Besides eggs, bread and pastries, there are also pasta and meat options for Sunday brunch.



Clam Chorizo Spaghetti SGD26++.

Meaty fresh clams and slices of Chorizo sausage with al dente spaghetti in savoury sweet classic white wine sauce.

Simple and good.



Shelter Sunday Roast Beef SGD38++.



Whole slice of USA Nebraska Black Angus grain-fed ribeye beef with sides of house made Yorkshire pudding, glazed Spring carrot, buttered Kailan, garlic confit and a splash of gravy (made of veal jus, caramelised onion).

I love the house made brown sauce (not in picture) which adds another flavour dimension to the already great tender juicy roast beef.

Finally, it's time to activate our dessert stomachs.



Shelter French Toast SGD17.50++.

Egg pan-fried French brioche topped grilled cheese, berry compote, and vanilla ice-cream.



Warm Fluffy Pancake Stack SGD16++.

Fresh pancakes served with French butter, maple syrup, berry compote and chocolate sauce.



Vanilla creme brulee SGD9.50++.

Eggs, milk and vanilla with torched caramelised brown sugar top.



Chestnut Tiramisu.

Tiramisu with confit chestnut, topped with chocolate "soil".



My cuppa of Arabica (Americano) to go with the sweet desserts.

I enjoyed every bit of our sumptuous meal today and the company was great too :-D



The man behind the wonderful food today is Shelter in the Woods' Consulting Chef Masashi Horiuchi.



Chef Masashi's unassuming, friendly demeanour belie his eye popping credentials.

Grounded in French cuisine at the Tsuji French Cuisine College in Osaka, Chef Masashi worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Switzerland, France and the UK for more than 20 years.

He has worked with the whose who of Europe's culinary pantheon including Chef Philippe Groult (**), Chef Adolf Blokbergen (**), Chef Gerard Rabaey (***), Chef George Blanc (***) and Chef Antoine Westermann (***). 

Before coming to Singapore in 2014, Masashi was Chef at the 2-starred L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London, UK, for 5 years.



Yet, Chef Masashi remains a grounded, humble and hands on type of chef; passionate about his art, not just in words but also in action.

Looking at Chef Masashi hand make pate, I saw a childlike glee in his eyes as he lovingly kneaded, squeezed and massaged the mushy ground meat like a child enthralled with Play Doh ;-D



Observing Chef Masashi at work, I noticed that precision and respect are his trademarks. I feel that with Chef Masashi at Shelter in the Woods, we will be getting the European classics made with a heart set on authenticity and truthfulness.



Chef Masashi is assisted in the pastry department by Tammy who makes all the pastries in house at Shelter in the Woods.

I highly recommend the Sunday brunch at Shelter in the Woods.



Next time, I shall come back for this roast suckling pig.

Drools ;-p

Please note that this is an invited tasting.



Restaurant name: Shelter in the Woods
Address: 22 Greenwood Avenue Singapore 289218
Map: http://bit.ly/ShelterintheWoods
GPS: 1.331793, 103.806332
Hours: Monday - Saturday 6:00pm - 10:00pm | Sunday 11:30am - 2:30pm (Sunday brunch), 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Phone: +65 6466 6225

Non Halal

Date visited: 18 Apr 2015

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Limoncello Pizza & Grill Mothers Day Singapore

I was invited to a tasting of the Mothers Day menu at Limoncello Pizza & Grill Italian Restaurant at Robertson Quay.

Limoncello is located right across the scenic Singapore River from Riverview Hotel.

Eco B&B Bed & Breakfast Homestay Johor Bahru JK1103

Where to stay in Johor Bahru JB?

Besides the wide range of all classes of hotels in Johor Bahru, JB now has the bed & breakfast option at Eco B&B in Taman Setia Tropika. Setia Tropika is about 15 minutes leisurely drive from the JB CIQ (via the EDL or Eastern Dispersal Link).

Eco B&B is the first and the only bed and breakfast in Johor Bahru, at the moment.



Eco B&B is located in a 2-storey corner terrace house in Setia Tropika estate. Setia Tropika is a sprawling landed residential estate with several precincts, all with their gated and guarded communities. Eco B&B is 5 minutes slow drive from the entrance of the estate (at the eastern corner).

Eco B&B is in a relatively new section of Setia Tropika, so some of the neighbouring units are unoccupied and some are undergoing renovation (during our visit in Mar 2015).



The private car park and entrance to the unit.

I could park my car within the compound and inside the gates. There is space for at least 2 cars, or 3 cars in a squeeze.



The simple reception/ front office.

Keith and Jewel are the owners of Eco B&B.

Keith and Jewel are friendly hosts, and Keith in particular is a great resource about where to eat, play, shop and relax in Johor Bahru.

The reception is manned by a live-in staff when Keith and Jewel are not at Eco B&B.



The lounge area at the ground level is bright and cheery. I enjoyed spending time here. The entire unit is air conditioned and clean.

The decor is white themed and eco friendly, hence the name Eco B&B. Natural and recycled materials are used in most of the simple furnishings. For example, most of the furniture here are handmade using discarded wooden planks.



The four bedrooms are on the 2nd storey, up the stairs. Two of the bedrooms come with attached bathrooms.



Each bedroom features it's own unique rocking bed.



This is the King size rocking bed in the master bedroom.



This queen size bed had a very slight, slow rocking motion while I slept soundly on it. (We can lock the bed, if we are uncomfortable with the rocking motion.)

My room came with attached bathroom and toilet. Basic toiletries like shampoo/ body wash and towels were provided except for toothbrush and toothpaste.

The water pressure of the shower was a little low.

There is no TV in the room. Which is fine for me as long as I have good wifi ;-D



Each bedroom is provided a water flask but no kettle. We can fill up our flask here at the pantry on the ground level. Complimentary coffee, tea and Milo are also available. 



The house rule is to keep our room unlocked when we leave our room. We can keep our valuables in these metal lockers at the reception. You may want to consider bringing you own padlock.

As Keith and Jewel are cat lovers, there are a couple of cats in the house.



Breakfast is at the adjacent lawn which is great in the cool of the morning.

Keith is trying his hand in a little bit of organic gardening in the small green space.



These are some of the fruits from Keith's little organic garden.



Our freshly made organic vegetarian breakfast prepared by Jewel and Keith. The Belgian style waffle was made from scratch. Topped with a mushroom omelette, caramelised apple, raisins, almonds and a drizzle of chocolate, the waffle was delicious and filling.



Overall, we enjoyed the Eco B&B homestay experience. The night stay was comfortable and refreshing, and we started the morning with a great breakfast.

Places of interest and good JB food are a short drive away, so Eco B&B is ideal for a short driving holiday. Keith is very accommodating, so transport and other needs can be arranged.

Disclosure: My stay was hosted by Eco B&B.



Eco B & B

Address: No. 42 Jalan Setia Tropika 9/6, Taman Setia Tropika, Kempas 81200, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
Map: http://bit.ly/EcoBnB
GPS: 1.540075, 103.729058
Phone: +60 7-2446499

Free wifi available.

Date visited: 6 Mar 2015

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Lei Cha at Taman Johor Hawker Centre 招妹咸茶

We were food hunting at the old Taman Johor food centre, when the sight of these freshly made yong tau fu stopped me in my tracks.



When was the last time you have seen freshly made yong tau fu with such bright natural colours and bulging with minced pork and fish fillings like these?

Singapore 9 Goubuli 狗不理 at MBS Marina Bay Sands Shoppes JK1101

I was invited to a tasting at 9 Goubuli 狗不理 Restaurant at Marina Bay Sands Shoppes in Singapore.



The quirky, attention grabbing name Goubuli 狗不理 comes from the legend of Gouzi 狗子; 狗子 or "Little Doggy" is a common affectionate nickname in Chinese communities.

As was common in old China, village boy 狗子 began work as a child apprentice with a bun maker in Tianjin 天津 city. 狗子's buns became so famous that he was overwhelmed by customers all the time. 狗子 was so busy that he had no time to greet or engage his customers in banter. Hence, he became known as 狗不理 which translates literally as "Little Doggy doesn't talk".

The first Goubuli 狗不理 restaurant opened in Tianjin in 1858. There are now over 100 restaurants in China and overseas under the restaurant chain that bears the Goubuli 狗不理 name.

9 Goubuli 狗不理 at Marina Bay Sands is the chain's first Singapore outlet. The number at the front (in this case, 9) is a numeric identifier to differentiate between the numerous Goubuli 狗不理 branches.



9 Goubuli 狗不理 is well appointed, in contemporary Chinese style. Lighting is warm but bright in the usual Chinese restaurant way.



There are a couple of private rooms.



Chefs from Tianjin demonstrate the technique of making Goubuli buns 狗不理包子.

Chef Wang (right photo) is from Tianjin. She is the seventh generation Baozi Master Chef with 30 years of bun making under her belt. Chef Wang is now the Goubuli head trainer imparting her skills to baozi 包子 chefs at Goubuli restaurants in China and around the world.



We tasted a combination of signature Goubuli 狗不理 steamed buns.



The pork and vegetable bun (SGD2.60++ per piece).

The style of Goubuli buns is unique. The skin is thick, felt a little damp and pasty but lacked fluffiness or bounce. The fillings were moist but not drippy or soupy. Flavouring of the fillings was light handed.



Wagyu beef bun (SGD3.50++ per piece). 

The buns were filled with juicy, coarsely chopped, savoury sweet, beefy A3/A4 (standard to good grade) wagyu beef.



Vegetable bun (SGD1.90++ per piece).

We next had an appetiser combination with tasting portions of wood ear fungus, Szechuan style chicken and pork terrine.



Vinegar marinated wood ear mushroom fungus (SGD8++).

The nice flavourful, soft crunch makes this wood ear fungus an excellent appetiser.



Chinese style pork terrine.

Skin and roughly chopped bits of pork barely held together by jellied fat and collagen.

Soft with layers of savouriness.



Saliva Chicken 口水雞.

So named because of it's ability to make people salivate.

The name is actually quite apt. No exaggeration at all.

The poached chicken meat was tender. It was flavoured with a savoury, spicy, and aromatic sauce. Yet behind all that layers of flavour and slightly tongue numbing sauce, we were still able to discern the natural chicken taste.

Saliva chicken, indeed.



Braised fish maw in superior broth (SGD18++ per serving).

This smooth, rich broth was well received by all of us. We like the layered savouriness from the combination of chicken and duck stock. Carrots added natural sweetness. The gelatin from the fish maw gave the broth a full, round body.

The result is a savoury sweet full bodied broth.

The large piece of fish maw had that unique slippery smooth, bouncy jelly-like texture.

This is a must order signature dish, if you are at 9 Goubuli 狗不理.



Szechuan style poached fish slices.

Chunky slices of white flesh fish in tongue numbing chili oil, peppery aromatic spices and sesame seeds.



Fried diced chicken with Chinese red peppers.

Small pieces of tender chicken with crispy batter tossed in a savoury spicy slightly numbing sauce with peanuts and dried chili peppers.



Lobster with stir fried dry noodles.

In house hand pulled wheat noodles in the famed Lanzhou city style. The noodles were thick and dense, with slightly chewy bite. The sauce was savoury.



The boiled lobster was bathed in a type of savoury sweet "superior" type gravy.

Fresh lobsters and superior broth is always a winner.



Chocolate banana filo spring roll with dark chocolate (SGD14++).

Sweet soft chocolaty filling in crispy wrap paired with coconut ice cream.



9 Goubuli 狗不理 is a higher end Chinese restaurant with an extensive, wide ranging menu. It is part of a large chain restaurant anchored on the Goubuli bun 狗不理包子 brand/ legend.

Please note that this is an invited food tasting.

Restaurant name: 9 Goubuli 狗不理 Restaurant
Address: B2-02, Canal Level The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Map: http://bit.ly/Goubuli
GPS: 1.283497, 103.860237
Hours: Daily 11am to 11pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 30 Mar 2015

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