Yummy Ventures

Alexandra Village Food Centre

Posted on April 29, 2017April 29, 2017 by yummyventuresco

2016 | 23 Bukit Merah Lane 1, Singapore 150123

We love hawker centres in Singapore. There are simply so many great and cheap selections! We actually visited Alexandra Village Food Centre twice during our short trip here. All prices are in SGD (1 USD ~ 1.4 SGD).

Format is as follows:
Stall Name
<Plate Colour>: Dish name – Dish description (price) [comment] – rating

Clockwise from top left:

Nasi Padang
<black plate>: Sotong – cuttlefish marinated in spices ($3-4) [The cuttlefish has eggs inside it which gives it an extra boost of flavour.] – 8/10
<black plate>: Otak – fish cake grilled in banana leaf ($1/piece) [The Singaporean Otak has spices mixed into the paste so it appears reddish (as opposed to Indonesian Otak, which is white). Lynn loves this.] – 8/10

Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice
< 3 red plates>: Set meal for 1 – hainanese chicken rice with soup ($3) [Singapore’s national dish! We love this! The hainanese rice is very fragrant and the chicken is moist and flavourful. We found this to be better than the famous Tian Tian Chicken rice] – 8.75/10

House of Desserts
<white bowl>: Durian chendol – pandan leaves, coconut milk and durian dessert ($2.90) [This is our favourite dessert here. The combination of chendol, coconut milk and durian is just perfect!] – 8.5/10
<white bowl>: Pear fungal – dessert with snow fungus and pear ($1.80) [This is very mild tasting and we couldn’t really taste much of the pear or the snow fungus] – 6/10

Teochew Braised Duck Rice
<2 white plates>: Duck meat with rice ($3) [Average. The meat is on the dry side.] – 6/10

Yong Kee Famous Fish ball noodle
<2 blue bowls>: Mushroom minced meat mee pok – dry chinese style flat noodles with soup on the side ($3/4) [Average. The pork flavour seems to be lacking and the meat is dry.] – 6/10

Clockwise from top left:

Jin Pai zi Char
<on banana leaf>: Sambal kang kong – stir fried spicy water spinach ($6/8/10) [This is amazing; the sambal tastes homemade and well balanced. The kang-kong is cooked just right and we like that they provided more of the leafy part.] – 8.5/10

Star Yong Kwang BBQ Seafood
<hotplate>: Sambal stringray – spicy banana leaf stingray ($16/20) [Another one of Singapore’s must-try dishes. This dish is the main reason we came to this hawker centre. The stingray meat falls off the bone, they also put in a generous amount of sambal sauce] – 8.75/10
<bottom left white plate>: Cereal prawn – fried prawns with butter and cereal (wheat germ) ($26/38) [One of Lynn’s favourite dishes! We love how buttery and crispy it is] – 8.5/10

Hainanese Chicken Rice
<2 yellow plates>: Steamed chicken rice – hainanese chicken rice with soup ($2.50/3.50) [Average.] – 6.5/10

House of Desserts
<blue bowl>: Grass jelly attap seed – dessert made with Platostoma palustre plant and mangrove palm seed ($1.70) [Average, they used canned attap seed instead of fresh ones] – 6/10

Soon Lai BBQ Fish
<red hotplate>: Black pepper crayfish – stir fried crayfish with black pepper($24/36/48) [The texture and taste is very much like a giant-sized prawn. They used a lot of black pepper (which we love!)] – 8/10

Old Punggol satay
<white plate with brown wax paper>: satay – 3 different types of skewers (chicken, lamb and pork) ($0.60 per stick) [We don’t really like this. They are all chewy and overcooked] – 4/10

Jean Georges

Posted on April 24, 2017April 24, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7/10 | 2016 | 1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023

Jean Georges is a 3-michelin starred restaurant in New York as well as the most disappointing restaurant we’ve been to. We spent over $300 here (with no alcohol), and we expect the taste rating to be at least a 8/10 for this kind of price.

+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend

IMG_20170415_172435_606 — – – – Amuse bouche

IMG_20170415_172651_717 — **+++** Toasted egg yolk, caviar and herbs ($69) [We felt that this was the only amazing dish. It literally tasted perfect; the salty caviar went really well with the lightly-seasoned soft yolk and buttered toast…. but look at the price for a two-bite appetizer.]

IMG_20170415_172956_484 — Sea trout & oyster tartar, chive, lemon, horseradish ($29) *[Lynn liked it but Jeff found the oyster to be too fishy]*

IMG_20170415_173641_495 — Yellowfin tuna ribbons, avocado and spicy radish, ginger marinade ($29) *[Average. The sauce was on the sour side.]*

IMG_20170415_173400_993 — **– – –** Foie Gras terrine, strawberry granola, aged balsamic ($37) *[We are huge foie gras fans and this is the worst foie gras dish we’ve had. Every part of it is infused with sweet strawberry. If you like your foie gras as a dessert, this might be for you.]*

IMG_20170415_173516_654 — +++ Diver scallops, caramelized cauliflower, caper-raisin emulsion ($37) *[This was great, and is what we expect from a 3-michelin starred restaurant. The scallops had a crispy golden crust. The caramelized cauliflower was delicious and didn’t have much of a burnt taste.]*

IMG_20170415_173904_339 — **– – –** Tenderloin of beef, heirloom carrots and fingerling potatoes, hibiscus mustard ($54) [We’re trying not to exaggerate here, but we believe most people that cook at home can make better steak than this. It’s ironic how chewy this tenderloin was and the flavour was simply not there. The steak also wasn’t meaty enough and tasted like those cheap $10 steak diners serve.]

IMG_20170415_173742_203 — Salt and pepper sweetbreads, sweet chili emulsion, pea shoots, golden garlic ($29) *[This was well fried, but we prefer our sweetbreads pan-fried so that we can actually taste it.]*

IMG_20170415_174201_956 — **Chocolate –** dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate ganache, passion fruit gelee, mini chocolate cake, hibiscus sorbet, crystallized rose, peanut caramel, olive oil powder, fraises des bois and macadamia nut milk ($12) *[Average]*

afterfocus_1492293771287 — **– – – Strawberry –** vanilla tapioca pudding, strawberry sorbet, enchanced strawberries, gelee and crisps ($12) [This is undoubtedly one of the prettiest desserts we’ve had, but also one of the worst in terms of taste. The so-called “enhanced strawberries” were soaked in sauces that simply do not go well with strawberries, unless black pepper strawberry is your thing.]

IMG_20170415_175219_222 — Complimentary chocolate *[Average]*

IMG_20170415_174320_949 — Complimentary desserts *[Average]*

Royce’ Chocolate

Posted on April 20, 2017April 20, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 9/10 | 2017 | 251 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02116

We’re going to start off by saying Royce’ Chocolate is our favourite chocolate store. We were stoked when we found out they opened a branch in Boston.

They are on the pricey side, but after trying them, you’ll think twice before buying chocolate from anywhere else. If you have to pick one to try, we highly recommend their “nama chocolate” ($18 a box) – similar to truffles but waaaay better.

afterfocus_1492197605087 — **Nama chocolate “maccha”** – white chocolate with herbal aroma and bittersweet finish of real green tea leaves ($18) *[The best green tea white chocolate ever! They melt in your mouth and have a really addicting green tea flavour.]*

afterfocus_1492193120164 — **Prafeuille chocolat maccha** – fragrant green tea sandwiched between delicate green tea-infused chocolate ($18) *[These chocolate are paper-thin and when you apply a little biting pressure, the refreshing green tea syrup gushes out. We’re so in love with this.]*

IMG_20170415_154033_385 — **Amande chocolat “milk”** – roasted almonds in smooth milk chocolate ($15) *[We’ve nothing much to add, except that we’ve never tasted a better chocolate almond than this.]*

IMG_20170415_133651_965 — **Nama chocolate “champagne”** – nama chocolate with fragrance of pierre mignon champagne ($18) [Most of their nama chocolates contain alcohol, but it’s extremely subtle. This is our favourite out of all the chocolate in this review. It is rich, creamy, and not overly sweet. We do recommend eating it within 3 days as the taste and texture change pretty quickly after opening.]

Azul@88

Posted on April 15, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 8/10 | 2017 | 88 Wharf St, Milton, MA 02186

+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend

We were invited here for a complimentary meal, but we remain objective in our review.

Although it’s located in Milton, it’s less than 20-minute drive away from Boston. The view is great and the restaurant has a relaxing atmosphere. Most of all, we really love their tacos! We feel that their tacos are slightly better than the ones from Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar.

afterfocus_1492218442880 — **Guacamole** – made to order, corn tortilla chips, smoky salsa ($13) *[We like that it’s made to order! Jeff hates cilantro and would like the option to have guacamole without cilantro.]*

IMG_20170414_104926_942 — **Chorizo with melted cheese –** chorizo, melted oaxaca & chihuahua cheese, fresh tomatillo-serrano salsa, hand pressed corn tortillas ($12) *[Jeff loves the cheese. He pretty much ate the whole thing!]*

IMG_20170414_105049_574 — **+++ Tacos baja –** beer battered fish of the day, jicama slaw, black sesame seeds, salsas fresca, cliantro garlic aioli, chipotle aioli ($8) *[This is our favourite taco. The fish was fried to perfection and went so well with the accompaniments.]*

20170414_160139 — **Taco de papa y champinones –** potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, chile poblanos, raisins, pumpkin seed salsa ($8) *[For a vegetarian taco, this was pretty good, but not something we would personally order since we L O V E meat. haha]*

20170414_170357 — **+++ Guisado de puerco o carnetaco** – braised beef, roasted tomatilla salsa, crispy sweet potatoes ($8) *[The beef was moist, tender and meaty. We also like the crispy sweet potatoes on top!]*

20170414_174021 — **Beef taco azul –** deconstructed slow cooked beef brisket, jicama slaw, pickled red onions, limes, corn tortillas ($8) *[This is quite similar to the taco above, but we like the combo above more.]*

IMG_20170414_173244_361 — **+++ Tacos al pastor –** grilled achiote marinated pork, pineapple, bacon, pickled red onion, soft corn tortillas, salsas fresca ($9) [This is our 2nd favourite taco after their fish taco. We don’t particularly like pineapple in savoury food but the chef managed to make it work here. The pork was also extra yummy and had the right amount of fat.]

IMG_20170414_174540_245 — **+++ Camarones enchipotlada –** shrimps, chipotle-garlic olive oil sauce, mexican rice, black beans ($22) *[The picture shown here is the sample portion, not the $22 portion. They were prepared well and were really fresh and plump!]*

IMG_20170414_174834_608 — **Tamal –** corn tamales, chipotle shredded pork, mole colorandito ($5) *[We are not huge fans of Tamal in general. This reminds us a lot of an Indonesian dish called “lontong”]*

IMG_20170414_175214_672 — **– – – Enchiladas suizas –** chicken filled tortillas, creamy tomatillo sauce, chihuahua & oaxaca cheese ($18) *[We found this kind of average and we both never liked chicken breast.]*

20170414_181543 — **+++ Churros –** cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce ($8) *[We both liked to eat it by itself instead of dipping it in the chocolate sauce. They were still warm when they served it and it was one of the better churros we had.]*

IMG_20170414_180307_411 — **Boca negra –** chocolate cake, sweet tomatillo sauce, lime custard sauce ($8) *[This was good but we felt that the interior could have been more moist.]*

20170414_181044 — **– – – Flan de caramelo –** custard, rich caramel sauce ($8) *[We didn’t really like the taste and texture of this flan.]*

Tasting Menu

Regular Menu Front

Regular Menu Back

Click menus to enlarge.

Lady M Cake Boutique

Posted on April 14, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.75/10 | 2017 | 304 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02115

This Lady M boutique is take-out only. There’s even a no eating sign in the store. I found that the cream melts very quickly and you should definitely eat it as soon as you purchase it.

Pictured Above: Checkers ($8) [This is my least favourite out of the 3 cakes I’ve tried, but it wasn’t bad. The sponge cake was fluffy and the cream was light and not overly sweet. My favourite part was the chocolate ganache layer.]

IMG_20170412_234309_331 — **Green Tea Mille Crepes** ($8.5) *[Most people seem to like their green tea the most. I personally found that the matcha taste wasn’t strong enough and was a little too sweet.]*

IMG_20160728_203058 — **Signature Mille Crepes** ($8) *[Their signature crepe was my favourite! If you’ve never had crepe cake and don’t understand what the hype is about, try this at least.]*

Cochon555 Boston

Posted on April 13, 2017 by yummyventuresco

April 9, 2017 | 540 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118

We received complimentary tickets to attend this event, but we remain objective in our review.

What is Cochon555? In short, it’s a pork-themed feast with free-flowing cocktail, spirits, and wine. Regular tickets are priced at $125pp and VIP tickets are priced at $200pp. We personally do not recommend the VIP tickets. It’s a lot more expensive and the only difference is you get to go in one hour early. A lot of the stations were also not ready at that time.

There were a lot less pork than we expected. We felt that it was more of a cocktail heaven. There were a lot of selections and efforts were made to make it fun . There were dry ice, test tubes, pipettes, neon light, & for one of our drinks, they let a burnt wood sit in the cup for a few second to create a smokey flavour. We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

As for their food selection, not only were there less pork than we expected, the variety was also lacking. There were simply so much pulled pork. We would prefer if they had more interesting cuts of pork (e.g. tail, feet, ear, pork jowl) and more creative preparation methods. Here’s some of the food selection: (from top left to bottom right) head cheese (one of our favourites), deviled egg, soup with pulled pork, pulled pork on bread, pulled pork taco, pulled pork burger, accompaniments (tomato, artichoke, toast), cured meat (salami, prosciutto), chocolate.

Quality-wise, there’s definitely room for improvement. For example, some of the bread was rock hard. As for the burger, the buns were straight out of the fridge,

Here’s our highlight of the day: (from left to right) foie gras pate, pork skewer and truffle butter (and no, we’re not referring to the urban dictionary definition). The foie gras pate was amazing and it was comparable to the ones served in expensive french restaurants. The pork skewer was moist and meaty and was very similar to Chinese char-siu. We also loved the truffle butter! It was silky smooth and had the perfect amount of truffle and salt.

All in all, it’s a very fun event to attend. However, we think it’s more suitable for alcohol lovers than pork lovers.

Urban Cupcake Co.

Posted on April 10, 2017April 11, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 8/10 | 2017 | online order only

We hit 11k followers (for the second time) on instagram today! Feel free to participate in our giveaways: https://www.instagram.com/p/BSuM-TBFFcZ/

We received 2 complimentary boxes of cupcakes, but we remain objective in our review. Urban Cupcake Co. currently delivers within 10-mile radius of Boston.

We love that these mini cupcakes look soooooo adorable. We also love their golden wrapper as well as their their classy and beautiful presentation.

We are not huge fans of cupcakes in general because the frosting is usually awfully sweet. While these cupcakes are also sweet, they’re definitely a LOT milder then regular ones and we really enjoyed them! They are priced at either $39 or $43 for 24 cupcakes depending on flavour.

We had the opportunity to try the following flavours:

Strawberry shorty [our favourite! see more below]

Get hyped – coffee cupcake infused with fair-trade organic coffee, topped with coffee frosting & an espresso bean

Just chill – dark chocolate cupcake topped with french chocolate chips

Make it rain-bow – vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla frosting & 100% natural sprinkle

Nuttin’ betta – dark chocolate cupcake topped with rich peanut butter frosting and a french chocolate sauce

Main squeeze – lemon cupcake featuring fresh whipped lemon icing & sugar crystals

Bromance – dark chocolate cupcake topped with mocha frosting and fair-trade organic chocolate shavings

You fancy huh? – rich chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate ganache & an artisan pretzel. You can’t even tell it’s vegan!

Strawberry shorty – vanilla cupcake topped with vanilla frosting, fresh strawberries & sweet pastry chip [We feel that this is sooo good that it deserves it’s own section. By itself, we would rate it a 9/10. The tart strawberries complemented very well with their sweet vanilla cupcake and frosting. The sweet pastry chip is also delicious either by itself or with the cupcake.]

It’s perfect for parties or events since there is a minimum order of 24 cupcakes. We personally purchased a box of strawberry shorty for our anniversary!

Morse Fish Company

Posted on April 9, 2017April 9, 2017 by yummyventuresco

Overall taste: 7.5/10 | 2017 | 1401 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

We walked by this place by chance. We didn’t actually try any of their hot food and only bought some stuff from their market section. It has a huge seafood selection (mainly deep-fried). We’d love to come back to order from their restaurant menu in the future.