Canele Pattisserie Chocolaterie

Even after the heavy dinner at Waraku, I was still set on dessert at Canele. We walked down Orchard Road to burn off the calories whilst admiring the Christmas decorations before making a u-turn back to Paragon.

I use 2 words to describe the pastries at Canele - RICH and SWEET. I could almost imagine my blood thicken to a sluggish crawl by the time I was through with the desserts.

FT ordered the 66%. It's an indulgent dark chocolate ice-cream with chocolate shards. It was a huge potion that came and we quickly got down to the business of eating. The ice-cream was smooth, dense and very chocolatey.

 A Chocolate Fondant with Chantilly Cream was ordered for JT. Now this was one extremely dense and gooey cake. The closest definition I can think off is a brownie and cupcake rolled into one. And I loved the thick chocolate that poured out from the middle.

I wanted sometime lighter to balance the 2 chocolate dishes and so ordered the Critus Tart, which is basically a Lemon Meringue Tart. It was zesty and little strips of lemon zest for that extra oomph. The lemon custard based, however, was a little too heavy and it tended to overwhelm the delicate meringue at times.

Canele Patisserie
Paragon, Basement 1

Waraku Heeren - Oishii!

Waraku @ Heeren is tucked away on the 5th storey of the building. The menu is extensive and the prices are reasonable. The food quality is not bad but the dishes tend to be rather salty. When I was there with my eating buddies on a rainy Thursday night, the restaurant was only half-filled. The weather was dismal and with Heeren going through a majoy renovation, it was no surprise that the crowds were staying away.

Anyway, the restaurant had a nice, modern contemporary decor and the waitresses were attentive, friendly and enthusiastic. JT ordered his usual Chicken Kaminabe (I wonder if the Japanese realise how obscene sounding this soupy dish is...) and FT decided on the kid's Ramen Set. As for PT and myself, we decided to go a range of ala carte items.

JT's Tori Kaminabe ($8.80) was the first to arrive. There was a good-sized portion of chicken in the flavourful though slightly salty dashi stock.

According to FT, her Ramen was fantastic. It was also quite a generous portion and she couldn't finish the rest of the fried items. The presentation of the food is so attractive it just tempts you to gobble up everything (which we did).

I decided on a mini Tonkotsu (Pork Bone) Ramen ($7.80). The weather was cold and I just wanted some comfort food. Now, the secret to a good ramen is the broth. Japanese chefs train for years to master the art of achieving that perfect bowl of soup and preparing a good pot of soup can take as long as 1 to 2 days.

When my mini ramen arrived, it appeared to be a normal sized portion to me. Until I saw the regular sized portion. "That's not a bowl, that's a pail." commented PT. So you kinda get the idea how huge that bowl was.

The ramen broth was milky and fragrant, the result of hours of simmering.  When I took a sip, the soup tasted a rich as it looked, except it was a tad too salty. The Chukamen (wheat) noodles were springy and the pork slices were tender.

PT's Beef Yakiniku Don (Beef Rice) ($11) was delicious. The thin slices of beef were cooked just right in sweet barbecue sauce.

Instead of the usual hot plate beef cubes, we ordered the Beef slices on Hoba Leaf ($9.80). Large slices of beef were placed on a thick spread of miso and left to grill on top of a Hoba Leaf. The result was a highly addictive piece of miso-marinated meat whose flavour was further enhanced by the smokiness of the leaf.

I wanted more meat. Having remembered on episode on Japan Hour where the host was exclaiming "Oishii! Oishii!" at various permutations on tonkatsu, I decided to order one serving for us to sample. The deep fried pork cutlet ($9.80) was juicy in the inside and light and crispy on the outside. It tasted so good dipped in the tonkatsu sosu and the spicy yellow karashi (japanese mustard).

The best dish of the night was the Hotate Kushi (grilled scallops in teriyaki sauce) ($4.80). Hotate is the scallop from the well known fan-shaped shellfish. These were grilled on a skewer to quivering tenderness and each bite yielded a little burst of sweet/salty flavours.

The last dish we ordered was Potato Mentai ($7.80). It's one of Waraku's signature dishes. Made with cheese, potato and fish roe, it's super cheesy. Either you like it or you don't and some, like FT, are put off by the slightly fishy undertones.

The total bill came to about $90. A very satisfying and reasonably priced dinner.

Waraku
The Heeren
#05-04

Batam Boomz - Cafe Lunch

It's the last day of my stay at the Holiday Inn Batam and we're all stuffed. When you finally take a step back and review what you ate during a trip, the amount can be rather shocking. Almost every meal is a gastronomic spread. After enjoying 2 days of feasting and several rounds of the buffet breakfast that very morning, we decided to have an early and light lunch before taking the ferry back home.

However, when we sat at the hotel cafe and began browsing through the menu, our initial intention of having a light meal kind off dissipated. PT ordered Nasi Goreng and it was a huge portion that arrived. The satay was tender and the rice was tasty with the smokey flavours of belacan and kecap manis.

I opted for a Grilled Vegetable Sandwich to compensate for the meat and seafood binge that I had enjoyed over the past few days. It was a tasty and refreshing meal. Psychologically (at least) I felt healthier.

Since it was our last meal before we headed home, we decided to order one more pizza for the road. As we were in Indonesia, the natural choice was (what else...) Rendang Pizza. On hindsight, it wasn't really a good choice. Rendang and cheese don't really go hand in hand.

Holiday Inn Batam
Coffee House

Batam Boomz - Thai Food

Imagine going all the way to Indonesia and eating Thai Food. How ironical! We had little choice though as Holiday Inn was a 30 minute drive from town and a heavy downpour threatened. With huge potholes, dim street lamps and no traffic lights in sight, driving at night in Batam was not even an option.

Noticing that the Thai Restaurant next to the hotel spa was fully booked the night before, we decided to make our way there for dinner. I've only been to the spa once. Service is great and each customer enjoys the privacy of having a hut all to himself or herself. Unfortunately, like all popular tourist spots, prices have risen significantly. After studying the spa brochure for a long while, I decided to give it a miss and spend my money more gratifyingly on food instead. Take a look at the night shot of the spa. Doesn't it look inviting?

Anyway, back to the food. We began the meal with a serving of prawn keropok. Seems to be the usual practice here in Batam. It was a nice start to tickle our tastebuds. I like the chilli sauce provided. It tasted like a cross between maggie chilli sauce sans the sugar, tabasco and garlic.

To wash down the flavours of the Thai dishes, I decided on a glass of Lemongrass. It was cool, refreshing and subtlely flavoured with Lemongrass.

The appetizer platter was, well, appetizing. The spinach crepe with mushrooms was something unique and I throughly enjoyed the rice cakes with the basil chicken dip. I was certainly looking forward to the rest of the dishes.

FT was ready the pounce when the Pineapple Rice arrived. She was grumbling with impatience as we took this scrumptious shot. The rice was moist yet firm and delicately infused with the taste of pineapple and saffron.

The Otak serving was quite generous in size. We each had one to ourselves. A nice lemak cupcake.

JT, unfortunately for him (but fortunately for us) does not like Thai Food. So we ordered a plate of Oyster Sauce Ginger Chicken and a plate of white rice for him. Check out the rice pyramid.

The Ginger Chicken was pretty good. The Oyster Sauce was light and fragrant, the chicken tender and cooked just right.

There were other dishes such as the Peanut Chicken and my all time favourite, Nam Prik (Vegetable with Belacan Dip) but I was too busy eating to take any more shots. Do note though that prices here are pretty steep with small portions costing about S$15.

Holiday Inn Batam
Thai Restaurant

Batam Boomz - Crab Dinner

In Batam, one has to try the seafood. The catch is fresh from the sea and the chillies, zinging hot. Best of all, the prices are one-third that of Singapore's.

Just a stone's throw away from Holiday Inn is Delima Seafood Restaurant. It's a open air eatery by the sea and most interestingly, the kitchen is across a small road from the restaurant. Throughout your meal, you'll see the waitresses running across the road taking your orders or carrying large platters of food.

JT and FT were extremely hungry. As they weren't really into seafood, I ordered a large plate of fried rice for them. A simple yet delicious dish. The glossy grains of rice were well tossed with light soya sauce, egg and chicken.

We ordered an assortment of familiar dishes - Sweet and Sour Fish, Nestum Prawns, Hot Plate Beef - but the highlight of the meal was the crabs. Fresh succulent crabs, cooked to perfection, with firm flesh bursting from the shell.

PT opted to have one crab steamed for us to savour the sweet, original flavours. It was a fantastic decision. The crab, cooked in its shell and steamed in its own juices, was a pure, unadulterated delight.

What's a seafood meal without Chilli Crab? The sauce was light and sweet at first taste and then pow! the chilli kicks in. I peeled off the meaty flesh, still briny with the taste of sea, swirled it around the eggy chilli sauce and slowly enjoyed every single bite.

Delima Seafood Restaurant
Near Waterfront Terminal

Batam Boomz - Ayam Penyet

To all Ayam Penyet fans out there, Ria Restoran at Megamall Nagoya Hill is the place to go for your fix. At Rp12000 or $1.80, you'll get one of the best Ayam Penyets you've ever eaten.

First, the Avocado Juice is out of this world. Blended to a smoothie and mixed with gula melaka, this sinfully fattening drink is worth every single calorie.

Next the Gado Gado. The peanuts were ground to a fine paste and cooked to a fragrant gravy. Take a crunchy prawn keropok, dip it into the nutty gravy, swipe it in the belacan and pop it into your mouth. Then sit back and savour the explosion of textures and flavours. The sambal belacan gives this dish a real kick. One thing about this restaurant is that evey dish comes with its unique sambal. For a Sambal Queen like me, it's a gastronomic, tongue-burning delight.

The Ayam Penyet was deep fried to mouth watering juiciness. This is definitely not your usual steroid injected chicken. The chickens here are kampong born and bred. Eaten with mint leaves and a fat dollop of sambal, every mouthful was pure bliss. The accompanying tempeh and tauhu goreng disappeared quickly too.

If you like chilli, then the Milkfish Goreng with Sambal Bali is a must. Marinated with exotic spices and coated with a sambal that gave a sweet barbecue aftertaste, this fish keeps you going for more.

Finally, the Catfish Goreng came, also with its own sambal.  Those little fellows taste very good and the flesh is so fine that it seems to just glide down your throat.

Restorant Ria

Megamall

Nagoya Hill

Batam Boomz - Breakfast @ Ferry Terminal

Despite its perpetual state of haphazard stalled developments, widespread lawlessness, dust and heat, Batam has found its way into my heart. I love the food in Batam, the great bargains and the genuine friendliness of the locals.

Sitting at the food court  while waiting for the rest of my travel companions to arrive, I ordered one of my favourite breakfasts -Kopi O and Kaya Toast. Somehow, everything tastes better when a fun-filled adventure beckons.

The coffee was thick and fragrant. As for the Kaya Toast, it could give Yakun a run for its money. Two slices of brown crispy toast held a thick spread of lovely kaya. Every crunchy bite was lemak satisfaction.

I'm a Kopi O addict. There's no way I can function without my daily poison.

Singapore Cruise Centre

Foodcourt (Level 1, near Lobby C)