Orchid Live Seafood Garden

Orchid Country Club is located near the outskirts separating Yishun and Yio Chu Kang. More known for its golf courses and expensive membership fee, this place also houses a small albeit relatively well-known Zi Ca restuarant by the name of the picture you see below.

Address: No.1 Orchid Club Road, (Off Yishun Ave 1), Singapore 769162 Ph : 6755 9811; Fax : 6755 8874
Email : PR@orchidclub.com
Website : www.orchidclub.com

Price Range: $ 45 - $65 per pax. The meal you see here served 20 people and the final bill totaled to be $728.

Dish 1: Deep Fried Chicken Wings with Sweet Sauce

This dish looks very simple but is special in the sense that it consists of only the portion of wings which contain the most tender meats. If you look closely, you'll find that you can eat the meat very easily without fussing too much about the bones due to the special care taken in preparing this dish. This is a great starting dish. The meat was tender and juicy and sweet at the same time with a tinge of sour. Its a hit with the kids and adults in the family alike. Definately try it.

Dish 2: Abalone with Spinach

This is abalone with some spinach hidden beneath. The taste here is awesome. Being the second dish, it really serves to whet your appetite. Minor gripe about the dish is on the abalone. It tasted fake for some reason or maybe i've had too many whole pieces to like sliced pieces now. The veggie and sauce was well done though, not too salty and quite crunchy even under all that thick tasty sauce.

Dish 3: Fried Tofu with Top Shell Clam

This is fried tofu with some top shell clam thrown together. Very delectable dish. The tofu was crispy and the accompanying clam and veggies totally decked out the dish. There's a little sour and sweet taste making it taste a little thai. The tofu was nice and hot throughout and was finished very quickly. A good 3rd dish.

Dish 4: Lobster Porridge

Shots of the lobster in the porridge.

More shots of the lobster and porridge combination

The star of the day. Lobster Porridge. This is a must try dish @ this place regardless of your budget. The serving we had was HUGE. We couldn't finish it. I counted and found there were 6 full sized lobsters thrown into this pot. The soup tasted superb and the lobster was fresh and simply delicious. I personally gulped down 4 bowls of the porridge and 2.5 lobsters. My dear girl also had a great time with this dish and had in excess of 3 bowls of the soup. Everyone else in the family also ate at least 2 bowls each. Its that good and even better, if you can't finish, bring it home. Heat it the next day, and it'll taste as good as it is now. Must try this dish.

Dish 5: Stir Fried Venison

This dish came after the porridge. So what this means is that everyone is pretty much stuffed by then. This dish is very normal tasting not unlike most run-of-the-mill stalls that serve the dish. The meat is tender and very chewy, a little too chewy perhaps. I felt it was acceptable but nothing special.

Dish 6: Sambal Sauce Mussels

Mussels in sambal sauce. The mussels were very fresh and very tasty but given the fact that we were too stuffed, we couldn't give it much attention. I only managed to get 4 down before i stopped on this dish. Still, the sambal was nicely done. I figured it wasn't too spicy nor too salty. Thus its a good dish IMHO.

Dish 7: Steamed Grouper

This fish came last. Its an awesomely big fish. You can practically see the freshness and the meat is just oozing out of the fish. Note: this is only half the fish. The other half was on another plate. My uncles had gripes about the fish being overcooked and thus making the meat very springy and less tender. Basically, they wanted fishes that melt (literally) in their mouth. So this failed according to them. To me, its a FISH! I love fish! And the meat tasted good enough for me. The salty base soy sauce enhanced the taste considerably as well. So i liked it.

Dessert was normal red bean ice cream. Uber retro but a good dinner nonetheless.

Score
Food: 7/10
Ambience: 5/10
Service: 5.5/10
Value for money: 7.5/10

Overall: 6.75/10

Last Word:

I forgot to mention service and ambience in the above. Actually, its located next to a golf driving range. So unless your like me, who loves golf. Its not much of a view. The service isn't up to par either. You gotta scream and shout and remind for them to remember but it gets to you either way. Food is what this is all about and good seafood is what you get. If you prefer posh stuff, check my previous blogs. I'm still looking for a better posh eating establishment and the search will go on. For beer garden, please try it for the porridge. I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

Eden Cafe (First Visit)

The following is a reminiscence of my first visit with pictures taken from my friend's blog and thus the watermarks. Do pay his site a visit as well since it currently contains much more then mine.

For a view of my second visit, please go to this link. http://newfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/06/eden-cafe-revisited.html

The Signboard

The Heavenly Dessert Counter And Interior

Shorts of the signboard and interior. As you can see, its not necessarily big but its not the size of the restuarant that matters, its the food, service and also, for this particular restuarant, its spirit.

Starters: Jumbo Prawns Wrapped In Bacon

As a starter, this was rather disappointing if attention was focused on the prawn and bacon alone. The prawns were rather small and the bacon was quite salty when both were paired together. I also detect a slight powdery texture in the prawn which does not bode well for this dish.
The tomato salsa salad on the other hand is a wonderful starter. Everything inside is totally fresh and very appetizing. This would have sufficed as a starter if paired with something other than the prawns we had.

Main 1: Saffron Cream Sauce Salmon

As I've already said in my "Eden Cafe Revisited" post, this is a must try dish no matter what the situation. The freshness of the salmon and the combination of the mushroom with saffron sauce and salad. Its a great dish that everyone can enjoy.

Main 2: Beef & Mashed Potato in Red Wine

As the second main course of the day, this was excellent. I myself am an avid lover of beef and meat. Thus this hit the spot for me just right. General complaints for this dish from my friends were that the beef was too raw. This is actually a very valid complaint since the dish was cooked medium rare but maybe due to the thickness of the beef, the middle portion was essentially still rare and might turn off people who prefer their beef more cooked.
However, I liked the dish the way it is and as Clement would educate before the meal, he only uses the freshest beef and cuts where i remember would be top side and tenderloin. He also said that this beef could have been eaten raw without any worries.
My impression of the meat is that it is thick, succulent and although i could not taste any form of marinating, tasted good.
The mashed potato and red wine combination is a first and is excellent. The mash potato compliments well with the red wine concoction and simply spurs you on to in indulge in more of it. Definitely a good thing and a dish worth trying out. Be wary of how raw it is though and advice Clement before the dish to ensure maximum satisfaction.

Dish 3: Rosemary Chicken

Unfortunately, we do not have photographs of this dish. However, this is also another dish i have to recommend heartily to all you readers. Essentially a floral dish, this chicken is excellent. You can detact strong traces of rose with each bite and the texture of the chicken is excellent. Its not too hard and tears easily without being overly soft. Overall, everything was balanced just right and is unique enough to warrant a try from everyone sick of the usual taste of chicken offered elsewhere.
I liked the fact that the chicken could be shared by up to 3 people and that we received 3 servings of half a chicken which meant the portions were adequate and very satisfying.

Dessert 1: Crème Brûlée

The first dessert of the day came with a performance all its own. Clement personally did the melting of the sugar on top as he informed us that his Crème Brûlée is made of pure vanilla beans instead of essence or extract which is available elsewhere. The melting was done evenly and resulted in a nice layer of sugar on top which was just right, neither too thick nor too thin. This is a very nice dessert to start with and makes the visit worthwhile in my opinion. Do try but note that if Clement does not do the melting himself, results may vary.

Dessert 2: Tiramisu

The Tiramisu is available easily outside but i find that Clement's rendition packs more 'Oomph" for the buck. The top layer is made of chocolate which is very unusual and gives it a very dense taste. The cake below is soaked in rum and that could be either really good or really bad depending on how you like your tiramisu. I liked it strong even though my friend's think otherwise. Try and discern for yourself but do note the mxing is different with each rendition thus you might get a thicker or less dense version depending on your luck.

Dessert 3: Brandy Chocolate

Our third dessert was essentially brandy chocolate. This is another very flavorful rendition by Clement and the chocolate is really thick and dense. However, i really couldn't taste the brandy so i'm not sure why this was called brandy chocolate. I wasn't really impressed with this particular dessert but its still better than average.

Dessert 4: Hisbiscus Cheese Phyllo

The fourth and last dessert for the day is something unique to Eden Cafe at present. The Hibiscus cheese phyllo is looks a little like folded prata with cheese inside but it tastes totally different. As it is made during the visit, it tastes fresh, crispy and warm. The filling of hibiscus gives the cheese a unique sour taste. Take this in moderation as the taste of cheese begins to overwhelm after a time.

Score:

Ambience: 7.5/10
Food : 7.5/10
Value for Money: 8/10
Service : 7.75/10
Overall: 7.75/10

Last Word: Food and value is consistently good at Eden Cafe. Thus, it is highly recommended. As per my previous introduction, do call up early for MTO meals instead of walk-ins as the place is now usually packed.

Eden Cafe Revisited

(Work In Progress: Dessert names pending)

Eden cafe is located along the chic little alley of 54th club street. Nestled in a small inconspicuous corner is a little culinary treasure that is helmed by an equally inconspicuous and unassuming man by the name of Clement Ronald Ng. Incidentally, he is also the head chef and owner of Helio cafe located at Marina Square.

Price Range: $40 - $60 per pax depending on made to order meals (MTO) and the number of people. The following meal worked out to be $35 per pax before service charge.

Address: 54th club street

Website: www.edencafe.com.sg

Contact: 65361181

The following is a made to order meal designed by Clement for my group of 8.


Appetiser: Mushroom Soup with Otak
Simple as this dish may sound and look. It actually contains a blend of 5 different mushrooms and contains no cream at all. The result is a surprisingly fresh concoction that fills your tastebuds with all things mushroom. Before my tasting i'd already heard good things about this dish from friends but i have to say, it does underwhelm a little maybe because i'm too used to cream mushroom soups. This is definitely the healthier choice though.

The accompanying otak is very nicely done. The
bread was toasted beforehand and was nicely crisp. The otak was not too spicy and had just enough 'oomph' to its taste to set it apart from normal run-of-the-mill otaks. The only complaint was that there was too little of it.



Main Dish 1: Lavender Rosemary Pastry Wrapped Seedless Grape Chicken















The first dish after appetisers to grace our table. This is actually one of chef Clement's Signature dishes and i've been pining to have a taste since the previous visit because my initial impression with Clements other chicken creation was very positive.
The chicken was very tender and you can definitely taste the lavender and rosemary albeit a lot less significant then before.
The lemon which was inside the chicken along with the grapes kinda gave the chicken a very uneven sour taste but i understand from my friends that the parts like the wings and breasts had the taste spread more evenly and was very good. Personally, i got the sour parts so i cannot speak for the rest.
The pastry was surprisingly hard but had soaked up the taste of chicken and lemon and lavender pretty well. The verdict on that was that some liked it and some didn't. I liked it though.

Main Dish 2: Dory Fish Potato Gratin
The second main dish to appear on our table. I've tasted various potato gratins before but never a dory fish melded version. This dish disappeared within seconds of its appearance as everyone quickly took a piece. The greens were superb with their salad dressing, as is with all the greens in Eden Cafe, i'll make a statement: "All greens in Eden Cafe are fresh and taste totally great!"
Paired with the gratin, i'd say most of the taste was solely on the potato more then the fish. I couldn't really tell where the dory fish taste came in but the gratin was good nonetheless. It was cooked just right which gave it a nice texture of being soft on the inside and firm on the outside.




Main Dish 3: Pork Wraps In Wild Pepper Leaves
This is one dish i can easily recommend. Clement was introducing it to me before we dug into the dish and apparently, the way to enjoy this dish is akin to having Peking Duck. And yes, its wrapped with the pepper leaves. This is a totally enjoyable dish because everything complements so well.
The pork is nicely cooked and there are faint traces of spices in it. The leaf is surprisingly tasty. The four other ingredients you see here are actually, sugar syrup, sliced lime, i think its ground nuts and little dried salty shrimp.
To enjoy this dish, put all the ingredients and wrap it with the pork and leaf. You can control how you want this dish to taste by moderating the portion of each ingredient.
Comments from my friends include it having a slightly thai taste to being simply delectable and light. A side note is that the shrimp was used as turtle food sometimes but thats beside the point. Its great enjoyment to have this dish since everybody has a great time eating and having fun with this dish. Of course, its also simply delicious and light.

Main Dish 4: Saffron Cream Sauce Salmon and Portebello
Undoubtedly the star of the day in the main course department. This dish was simply great.
The saffron sauce does not overwhelm and complements well with the salmon and portebello mushroom accompaniment. For people who do not like salmon for its fishy taste, please rest assured that you will have no such problem with this dish. As Clement would reiterate during the meal, he uses only sashimi grade salmon for his dishes and it shows.
If you were to just enjoy the salmon, you would be missing out on one of the best things about this dish, the portebello mushroom. I say this with much conviction because EVERYONE including the previous group i came with loved the mushroom to bits. It is succulent, juicy and oh so tasty its a must try even from reviewers in the Today paper on June 18th Monday 2007. Definitely a must-try dish at Eden or Helios if they offer it.

Main Dish 5: Tomato Based Spaghetti With Fresh Mussel
As Clement puts it, this dish was meant as a backup dish if our group was not full after the delightful dish before.
The tomato base is specially made and blended by Clement himself and if my memory does not fail me. He quoted using mushrooms in his concoction as well for the base.
The result is a well balanced base that does not overwhelm the taste buds and is just right. The accompanying spaghetti is well cooked and easily palatable, complementing the tomato base well. The mussel is fresh and sufficiently marinated by the base while still retaining its very own wild freshness. For lack of a better term to describe the feeling, you can actually taste the freshness of the sea from that one single mussel. A good ending to the main course department though not exactly spectacular but worthy nonetheless.


Dessert 1:
This is a delightful dessert. Its also one of the more difficult ones to make according to Clement due to the fact that the prunes you see on top had to be soaked in some concoction for at least one month before it is ready for consumption as you see here. This is a warm dessert and the sponge chocolcate cake is very springy and full bodied.
Taste wise, the prunes definitaely take the crown for this dish. The prunes were sour and sweet at the same time and complemented well with the chocolate cake.
A good start in the dessert department.






Dessert 2: Hibiscus Cheese Cake
A star dessert and best seller at Eden. This Hibiscus cheese cake is specially made so its much lighter on the tummy then regular cheese cakes sold outside.
The cake had a smooth texture that allows it to easily melt in your mouth. Its not too sweet and the hibiscus gives it a slight sour taste from the layer above while the other cheese layers contain a distinct sweetness that offsets and balances everything.
I've heard nothing but praises for this dish from my friends and even the newspaper reviewer of Today took to this dessert with nothing but delight. Add to the fact that it is Eden Cafe's bestseller dessert and you know you gotta try it at least once. Be warned not to expect flavors that burst in your mouth as i've already said, this is a light dish and the taste is balanced, not overwhelming.

Dessert 3:
I'll just call this a layered chocolate cake with what i believe are hazelnuts. Simple as it sounds, this dessert was one of my personal favourites.
I'm a sucker for chocolate and this one has it in spades. The layered chocolate is very thick. This is a dark chocolate cake and so it contains just enough bitterness to deter some of my friends. I however, liked it because it was strong enough for my tastes.
However, it does get overwhelming with more bites because the bitterness overpowers the sweetness of the sponge accompaniment.
Eat in moderation or share this for better enjoyment.




Dessert 4:
Another bestseller in Eden Cafe.
This is another really nicely done dessert. I'm sorry but i can't remember it enough to comment because my friends lapped it up before i could get my spoon there. The best i can say about it is that Clement commented that its very popular and judging by how quickly it disappeared from the plate, i have to say its true. I did get one consolation taste of the blueberry paste on top (i think) and it tasted sweet and refreshing. Please try this and leave comments of your own if possible. =P







Dessert 5:

Another dessert that has chocolate in it. This one i did get to try. Its very strong yet again and so it comes under my favourites category.
There's no sponge in it so it is pure chocolate. I remember Clement saying something about his cocoa being imported and obviously of better quality than the ones found outside. I'm not good enough to tell the difference myself but it does taste very strong compared to the weaker chocolate i've had outside.
On second thoughts, i think it is on par with the chocolates i had from Go Diva in terms of texture and cocoa strength.
As usual, if you don't like your desserts to be overly strong. This is still better off shared with friends.




Score:

Ambience: 7.5/10
Food : 7.5/10
Value for Money: 8/10
Service : 7.75/10 (Clement is a great host)

Overall: 7.75/10

Last Word: As my second visit to this little cozy cafe, i can honestly say i am quite impressed and delighted by the surprises Clement has given me for this visit. The initial arrangement was for only 3 mains and 3 desserts which he changed at the last minute promising me surprises. Along with the rest of the press which Eden Cafe has been getting recently, i can only say i have only good things for this place despite it being rather small. Its a nice place to bring friends and chill out over a great meal. Do visit and judge for yourselves.

First Blog!

First of all, a warm welcome to all who have fallen prey to my new blog.

I hope you all enjoy your stay here and i do hope the blog will be as educational for you as it is for me as i struggle to fill it with all the wonderful, delicious food and wine that my title suggests.

Please stay tuned as i bring you further information and pictures on my gastronomical endeavours.

Till then, Au revoir and happy hunting!