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I raved about this perfect caffeine stop and food market in my previous London trip in Borough Market 2008.
I should know.
We travelled outwith London where we tasted coffee that should not be served.
A pregnant woman should not waste her quota of one previous cup on bad coffee. And with Monmouth, I didn't get the bloated acidic upset in my tummy that I got with other coffee. That's how I know it is good.
   
It was a Saturday morning and a queue was snaking around the shop with people waiting for their shot. Bernard knew the perfect way to beat the system: buy take-away beans and order coffee to go at the same time. The queue was WAY shorter. Bless him!
 David Lim, the actor in Growing Up, can be seen behind the counter.
The Borough Market sure is crowded on a Saturday. If you don't mind braving the crowds (& cold) for great cheap food, the market is a feast for the eye as well.
I got an Ultimate burger at the burger stand with bacon, onions, sauce and leaves in it. I think it was the best 5 pounds that I spent.
 Yes it was THAT good.  
Some random shots at the market:
   
Here's a funny one with the 3 of them looking in different directions
Discerning coffee drinkers will also tell you about this other gem, Älgerian Coffee Stores Ltd. If you're a black, drip coffee or expresso drinker, you'll love the coffee served here. I happen to like my coffee with milk which sadly doesn't deliver the punch at this joint. Tea drinkers, fret not - they have a fair selection as well.
 
When you step in, it feels like a curio-retail-medical hall rolled in one. People queue up, get their fix and out they go: reminds me of an Italian bar.
 The sign says it all
Älgerian Coffee Stores Ltd.
Opening Hours:
Monday - Wednesday: 9 a.m to 7 p.m
Thursday and Friday: 9 a.m to 9 p.m
Saturday: 9 a.m to 8 p.m
52 Old Compton Street
London, W1D 4PB, United Kingdom
Website: http://www.algcoffee.co.uk
Borough Market
Opening Times:
Thursdays: 11am - 5pm
Fridays: 12pm - 6pm
Saturdays: 8am - 5pm
Website: http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk
Monmouth Coffee
1. Covent Garden, 27 Monmouth Street, London WC2H 9EU
Monday-Saturday 8am–6.30pm (closed Bank Holidays)
2. The Borough, 2 Park Street, London SE1 9AB,
Monday-Saturday, 7.30am–6pm (closed Bank Holidays)
Website: http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk
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While the Tans were soaking up the F1 atmosphere at the pit grandstand, we were having a simple dinner and watching the F1 race infront of the telly.
Pan fried chicken marinated in basil leaves, soya sauce, golden syrup, sesame oil, pepper, fried in shallots and garlic
Thai salad with cherry tomatoes, Jap cucumber and onion.
Hope you all enjoyed the race, wherever you were.
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What a difference an (extra) day makes.
And I just loved the fact that it rained quite a bit as well.
Wei spent the most of the Hari Raya holiday tinkering away at the pc; I watched re-runs of Gilmore Girls, did some chores and cleared away some stuff.
I felt like cooking yesterday and we whipped up 'claypot' chicken rice except that we didn't cook it in the claypot nor is it filled with black sauce.
As much as I like wet rice (as opposed to grainy ones) I wish it wasn't like 'mui fun'. It smelt lovely though - I felt like running my tongue to the bottom of the rice pot. This is a great one dish meal worth repeating.
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Last night was a great way to end the much stressful work week.
Headed with Connie to Six for gin tonic and then to The White Rabbit for dinner with Linsey.
We've not been there before. I didn't know what to expect save to say their website was enough to pique my interest. The home page is a pop-up story book replete with pull-outs for information. I loved those story books and I guess I still do.
When I stepped inside, I was sold. The restaurant and bar is housed in a restored chapel -- the placed looked beautiful. We got a table in one of the booth and it was cosy & intimate.
We kick-started dinner with the oysters au naturel . I don't normally eat oysters and it was great -- big, succulent.
Connie, who is lactose intolerant, opted for the Scallop Linguine. Lindy and I, great minds that we are, went for the Braised Seabass.
When the Braised Seabass showed up, I said to Lindy,"I think we'd probably have to order another main. Wanna share?" The dish is perfect for someone abstaining from starch. The fish was done nicely, the Matsutake mushroom broth did not disappoint but it wasn't enough. "Let's go for the Scallop Linguine,"I declared halfway through our meal.
When we tucked into our second main, it wasn't great. It was ABSO-FRECKING-EXCELLENT! The scallops were seared well, golden brown on the outside, juicy on the inside. The linguine, man-oh-man, tasted the right kind of aglio olio and it was tasty, like I imagined the seafood stock in it.
What else I loved about the place:
1. The staff wore white shirts which is different from the usual black;
2. The cushy booth seats and "great for people-watching while maintaining a certain amount of privacy";
3. The waitress kept replacing our glasses of water with fresh servings --without being asked;
4. The spacious powder room.
I was busy first catching up with the girls and then tucking into my food so I only got this on camera:
Read Chubby Hubby's Review.
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It was our best of intentions, Mama Ho & I, to fast today.
She had a cup of coffee and saved her sandwich for lunch. I had my usual b'fast and we gave our interpretations on what it means to fast. Father Fred said, "Eat one meal, no meat".
By the end of the conversation, we left each other, our eyes cast skywards to be given inner strengh to achieve our task for today.
At about 1435hr, Mama Ho dropped a line saying she's faltered and had her second cup of coffee. Don't worry, I consoled, the main thing is He knows you're trying and an attempt is better than none.
At 1545hr, I walked out of office like a zombie looking for food to pacify the monster within. And I made me a cup of coffee. Bad girl, you.
It was a good plan: an ambitious one, no doubt but noble. Fail!
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I was stoked to be invited to Aunty Pat's for Lo Hei dinner last week.
 More here
Like Ash always does:
 "Good-good"
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I finally had dinner with a couple of my colleagues after bailing them out a couple of times. I gave them a list of venues and one excited girl chose Old School 'cos it was her old school.
She took us on a tour around the school grounds and breathed some life to the buildings by telling us stories from yesteryear. We'd settled on Timbre for dinner and drinks but they were closed for a private event. We then went across to a restaurant called, Chalk.
Chalk had an outdoor patio. It was the year end, we decided to live it up...and ordered champagne. Then we opened another bottle -- a gift from a Banker.
We got introduced to Marcus, a co-partner to the joint. He is first a chef, a manager second. His prices are net, doesn't believe in charging for service and wants the place to be casual, chill and family-friendly. ChaIk had been in business for 2 months. Marcus refuses to do interviews until he feels the team is ready.
I told him the Vongole was as good as Peperoni from Greenwood, if not even better. The clams I got were big and generous. He smiled cheekily; apparently the chef from Peperoni had followed him, together with the chef from Sebastian's and some of the other Les Amis group chefs.
He sent a panna cotta our way plus a glass of white wine for Wei who joined us at the tail end. The service was satisfactory despite his great hospitality.
The girls and I would definitely make a trip back for their duck confit.
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I wrote this in October last year on the Lawry's date between Bern & Wei. We were probably over-optimistic when we first set the date for Jan -- the time we had hoped Wei would've gotten his taste back-- then subsequently pushed back again to March.
So today is probably the cherry topping on the mother of all recovery cupcakes (I am better with food).
 I present to you: The party of four
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I think the hubby & I haven't been this excited about a date for a while.
We'd waited a month for our reservation tonight at Buko Nero.
The place is just as it had been, if not better. It still has a black & white theme; they've amassed more decorative items, made their lounge area cozier.
I like the element of surprise when eating there-- some tapas hat are not on the menu would be served, compliments of the chef.
I had the set dinner while Wei ate a la carte: he had the mushroom soup with truffle oil that was really yummy. A little heavy but I couldn't stop at one spoonful. His main course was the double cooked pork chop.
I would probably go a la carte the next time I'm there. Really happy with the Moscato wine that I had a second glass. Thank goodness he enjoyed his meal a whole lot better than Saturday's.
 
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We were at Raffles City SC & wanted to try some place different. The usually long queue at the Shokudo Jap Food Bazaar was really short & we decided to give it a go.
As expected, it is a Japanese version of Marche. They give you a plastic card for each pax; you can order your food & pay after.
I was longing for something soupy & went for their mushroom & vegetable ramen in spicy soup. I was immediately disappointed. The soup was not piping hot. I think the noodles was cold & they didn't mix it well enough. This is something I can't condone. For $8.80 (excluding gst & tax, mind) I think my meal is overpriced. A few bamboo shoots & leeks comprised of the 'veg' portion. The mushroom was of enokitake & buna-shimeji variety. I wish I had the option of adding a piece of char-siew to it.
Wei took a while to get his unagi rice. He wanted an egg on top of the rice, only to realise it is not offered with the rice. To the staff credit, they did one specially for him. The rice was Japanese but was overcooked. The unagi was dry. We were both unhappy with our meals that we didn't want to linger to have dessert there.
We scooted next door to OChacha for Matcha Panna Cotta and Azuki Freezzue, a blend of imported Azuki red beans with matcha. More satisfying & placed some balance back to our soul.
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I wanted to try something new for dinner. I am a creature of habit when it comes to food & just once in a while, I like to get out of my skin & walk around a little.
So I called the hubby & said, "Let's go try something new for dinner. Google "Crazy Ang Mo" & check out where the place is.
We trooped to the wrong side of the island. Wei was quite skeptical of the outcome. It made him nervous when the food court wasn't crowded. But the beef steak he ordered pleasantly surprised him. I ordered the Crazy Burger that had pineapple, bacon, beet root, fried onions. The beef patty was tender & tasted of herbs; it wasn't factory-made.
The fries were nicely fried too.
The Crazy Ang Mo himself appeared halfway through our dinner. It turns out that Aussie Paul Crinis had coached the tennis team at the club back in 2000. Hubbs, the good marketing person that he is, found out that Paul will be expanding his business. Crazy fans will be happy to know that there will be 2 more outlets coming up soon.
Will we be back for more Crazy food? Wei says unlikely just 'cos the current place is out of the way for us. But the speed with which he polished the Banana Pudding (with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream by the side), I bet my bottom dollar this ang mo has not seen the last us yet.
Name: Crazy Ang Mo
Place: Bishan Street 24 Blk 279
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I've been going to this kopitiam for a while now for my fave 'bak chor mee' (mince meat noodle). I go there at least once a week for my fix; previously on my off days but these days, when I'm lazy to cook lunch. I don't mind the 10-20 min wait 'cos it's the best of the best along the stretch. The mince meat is nice, the fishball is firm & bouncy, they give 2 crunchy shrimps, fish cake and the vinegar in the sauce is just about right.
Since the time I started patronizing the stall, my challenge has been to get the stall lady to smile or maybe exchange some pleasantries with me. I gathered that after seeing me once a week for about a year, she'd recognise me, give me a hint of acknowledgement. Wei succeeded a few times (for the smile), which goes to prove (again) he is an 'aunty killer'.
Her husband is quite an opposite of her. A good-looker at his age, he's recognised me, struck up conversations with me & I call him whenever he's around.
Just the Wednesday that passed, my bowl of treasure came just after a couple of minutes. So I exclaimed to the lady, "Today so fast!" And she said yes, it was a quiet day. Yay, first base!
With my bowl of noodles, I always order a carton of Peel Fresh Mango drink. Yes, I am a creature of habit. The new helper (then) of the drinks stall got my orders wrong the first few times. He twice gave me a different brand. Thanks to him, I now know how to say 'carton' in mandarin to help him along with my order. Either that or he'll give me the orange flavoured ones. I guess my annoyance showed after the numerous mix-ups. I then realised that not being able to read English, the only way for him to recognise the various drinks were by the pictures. At one glance, the mango and the orange can look similar. I chided myself for not cutting him some slack. It altered my perceptions on reality & taught me to think a little bit before letting me emotions get the better of me. So after those initial kinks, all I had to say was "Mango" and he'll know which drink I want.
Today, I waited for him to come take my drink order. The drink just showed up by the side of the table. I was pleasantly suprised and terribly touched. I wanted to give him my biggest of bear hugs. He's got it! He knows me! I slowly have my mark on the kopitiam now.
Now if only I can get the lady to flash me her pearly whites. It can only start with me first.
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Last night for dinner, Wei gamely ordered himself a bowl of beef noodles at the Vietnamese restaurant. He didn't finish the whole bowl....I am happy that he has got the urge to eat normal food again.
Tonight at our family dinner, he got a small serving of rice & helped himself to pork ribs sioh, chap chye, ngoh hiang....popular Peranakan dishes, with a glass of barley drink on the side (which he said had a tiny hint of sweetness). He ate what he could, which was probably max. 5 spoonfuls.
He is not repelled by the aroma of food these days. He'll say, "Whoa, Raju's curry is smelling quite good!" or he'll put his nose to his food & start eating.
So guys, the signs are good. He experiments with food & taste...even if it's all bitter & sour at the moment.
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Wei had plans to go play tennis tonight to work up a sweat & maybe have deeper sleep tonight. It's "Member's Night" on Tuesdays at the club. The players who generally turn up are more matured. The pace is slow and steady (according to Wei) as well 'cos it's a doubles game.
Alas, the weather was fine but no one turned up. Poor Wei waited at the courts for a while before heading to the gym for a light work-out.
By the time I was done with my swim, I was hungry like a hippo.
We went to a nearby Spizza for my dinner. Wei finished half my Minestrone soup (done really light) & ate a slice of Donna pizza (artichoke, ham, mushroom, olives). I was really happy he finished them with minimal discomfort. (He was just saying it was a tad dry for him 'cos his salivary glands are not operational yet). On top of it, he drank up 5 bottles (instead of his usual 4) of Fortisip today. The boy really needs to put on weight fast.
The title of this post? It was for me. His slice of that pizza tonight was my slice of heaven. I tried not to make a big deal out of this baby step but I think he surprised himself too. Good stuff man.
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OH MY GAAWWD!
Fattening greasy food....FINALLY!
BURP!
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gilagirl's journal
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