Salted Baked Chicken -Chakey's

For those who read my review on Nini Eat First Talk Later, would know that I am on a quest to find salted baked chicken. It is rare in Singapore but I have obtained a couple of addresses to go. Here goes the first one. I do not know whether I have eaten this food but this is the first time I ate from this brand Chakey's. I am not sure whether this is Hakka's version. Anyway, just jiak (eat) lah...

After unwrapping... tadah

Look like steamed chicken with a tint of baked skin at the drumsticks and wings. I was expecting it to be crispy on the outside. Some black sauce with coarse salt pooled at the bottom of the chicken. 

Nevertheless, it was quite tasty, soft and tender, not as saltish as I thought it would be. There is a hint of herb used which somewhat reminds me of herbal chicken. The drumsticks were especially tasty. I was thinking probably I had travelled for a long time before getting the dish on the dining table (it was still hot and steamy when I requested for a takeaway) and hence the surface of the chicken was quite moist like steamed chicken. My family loved it.

The chicken were already packed as above when we arrived. The store assistant would pack the wrapped chicken together with a packet of chilli, which I thought tasted similar to that used in Yong Doufu, in a box.

There are 3 different prices, I ordered the smallest one at price of $17.50 per pack. This was enough for my family of 3. I heard there are several branches but I bought this from the Katong's branch. It's opposite 112 Katong. Address as indicated in box. (see below). 

If I try another brand of Salted Baked Chicken, I would surely blog another post on it.

P.S They only have takeaways.

Linking with :-

Posh Nosh

Well, we celebrated my hubby's birthday a couple of months ago at Nosh Restaurant & Bar a couple of months ago. It was our first time in this restaurant and we were charmed by it. To be frank, this was not the intended restaurant we wanted to go. It was the first time we explored this Rochester Park though I used to stay pretty near. We were having problems locating the intended restaurant.  He used GPS and that GPS led us here instead. Though that GPS is not working too well but we were glad we settled here. 

Nosh (meaning meal or light snack) , located at 9 Rochester Park, serves modern bistro fare in a beautiful historic black-and-white house that is set in lush green surroundings. We hesitated but stepped in nevertheless as hubby says mosquitoes were most active at evening. He feared Little One would be bitten by mozzie since she is very prone to getting mozzie bites. 

Upon entering, Little One saw a 2 seater swing near the black and white house and immediately sat on it. After some short fun, we climbed up the stairs to the reception area. We were greeted by a waiter almost immediately and was led to the air-con area. On the way, I was wowed by the romantic candle lights and lush greenery. Pretty relaxing and romantic if you ask me. Perfect as a wedding venue!

The country decor is extended indoors too. Though there is no candle lights here, the lighting is pretty soft. It is as if we are dining in someone's home at the countryside! 

Enjoying her drink

Our starters came together. After we finished these, our main dishes came together too!

Kurobuta Pork Belly - S$29.  Hubby said this is nice! Like char siew. 

Herb Roasted Chicken- S$28. Rather juicy and tender

With stuffing in it. 

Although the food is expensive (We spent about $$90+), we enjoyed ourselves very much that night with good food and laughter. The waitress who served us was very attentive. She provided kid tableware for Little One. When we were mid way through our dinner, she was kind enough to come over to enquire how the food was. She had certainly made our day too!

Operating Hours:

Dinner:
Tuesday – Thursday & Sundays : 6pm – 10.30pm
Fridays and Saturdays : 6pm-11pm
Last Orders for Dinner: 10pm

Brunch:
Saturday & Sunday: 10.30am – 2.30pm
Last Orders for Brunch: 2.15pm

Closed on Mondays

Address:
9 Rochester Park Singapore 139220 (next to Rochester Mall)

Website

Linking with

Charms of Katong Part 2

A continuation of previous post... our trail continues...

What made up of Katong? 
1) ethnic communities (Malay, Straits Chinese, and Eurasian)
2) famous heritage food and establishment (laksa, kueh chang and tau kwa pau)
3) heritage properties
4) most popular beach in Singapore

Katong is a place where the new meets the old. I would not say this is the only place that has such properties. There are a couple of places in Singapore which has the similar properties.

Left: Nice furniture at Ali Babar, a coffeeshop by day and a hawker bar by night
Top Right : Some new buildings spotted with modern architecture
Bottom Right: Katong 112, a relatively new shopping mall opened in 2011

Charms of Katong Part 1

The history of Katong begin as early as 1823 when Francis Bernard, the son-in-law of William Farquhar, started a coconut estate plantation in the district.This part of the land belonged to the rich and prestige in the past. It started mainly as mainly as plantations, then to a wealthy suburb, and now a residential area.

Katong is the name of an extinct species of sea turtle. It also means the rippling effect of a sea mirage when looking at a shoreline. Katong used to be near the sea. That is before the government reclaimed the land.

What does Katong reminds you of?
It reminds me of a very nice Malay song, Di Tanjung Katong. In this post "Charms of Katong Part 1" and "Charms of Katong Part 2", I would introduce some of these places shown in the video.

Where is Tanjong Katong?
Tanjong Katong used to be a beach stretches from upper East Coast Road to Tanjong Rhu. It is now residencial area. I just found out that there is a Fort Tanjong Katong . It is currently being reburied.

I went for the Katong Trail organised by Read! Singapore with a group of people lead by the very author of Sherlock Sam, Adan Jimenez. The authors behind the Sherlock Sam series is written by a husband and wife team under the pseudonym, A. J. Low which stands for Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low- Jimenez. To be very honest, I have yet to read Sherlock Sam series prior the tour, hence, I was quite surprised when I got to know he was the one leading the tour! No offence but I truly had expected a local born Singaporean to do it because of Katong's rich history. 

Adan introduced himself in the beginning of the tour at Marine Parade Public Library. He was born in California and immigrated to Singapore after he graduated in New York University. He lives here for 6 years. His wife is Singapore born and is a Peranakan! She used to live very near Katong and hence, Katong become the first place for Sherlock's first case. Unfortunately, she had an operation then and was not able to join us for the tour though she very much would like to do so. 

Adan said they have actually did a lot of research before writing the book, "Sherlock Sam and the missing heirloom in Katong." And I was taken by surprised that the author actually gave us an handout with loads of details about the places we were to visit in the trail. The authors (although Felicia was not there) were definitely very well prepared and full of passion about this place. 

Marine Parade Public Library and the Marine Parade Community Centre does appear in the story of the missing heirloom. These were the places Sherlock retraced and suspected Auntie Kim Lian may have lost her heirloom on her way to these places.

Author Adan Jimenez showed us where he and his wife got their inspiration to wrote the first book, Sherlock Sam and the missing heirloom in Katong.

I was so suaku (ignorant). I did not know that Katong is actually very near the library. I had expected a tour bus to take us to the destination! 

Food Review : The Basement Cafe

This cafe is one cafe that I am going to miss. It is listed in one of the 7 things that I miss now that I stopped working. It's last day of operation will be on the 11 Apr 2014. I will definitely go down some day to say goodbye. This Saturday, 22/Mar/2013 (tomorrow), they are opening  for their first and probably the last time for lunch serving 11:30am to 4:30pm.

Located at the basement ,80 Stamford Road #B1-62, Singapore 178901, it is within Singapore Management University (SMU) campus. Not surprising, if you walked through the basement, you would be drawn soon to the oh-so-good smelling aroma that comes from The Basement Cafe.

I was brought here by my ex-colleague when she said we were to lunch at the basement of SMU. As I had never really explore the basement of SMU then except to Koufu, I thought she meant to have lunch at Koufu. What a surprise when I knew of this hidden gem! From then on, I explored other eateries in the SMU campus. Still I couldn't one any other eateries in the region that is comparable to this cafe. Read on to see what I mean?

1. Lovely Ambience

Once you stepped into the cafe, you would soon be wowed by the ambience. Warm lights, comfy sofas and benches that are perfect for gatherings. The cafe is well decorated and has a casual feel. It has a mini stage at the farthest end from the entrance whereby live band could play. By the way, they have a workable typewriter in the cafe too.

2. This cafe serves the best Eggs Benedict I have eaten.

I couldn't resist their Eggs Benedict. I have eaten others but in my opinion, The Basement's eggs benedict taste better than other cafes or restaurants which I have been to. Can you believe I patronised the cafe almost every week ever since I that fateful day?

I had this variation of Benedict when I was still working in that region last year.

3. Value for Money

You will noted their menu is not the same as what you would find in restaurants or cafe. It is actually menu in a clear L-shaped folder, exactly the same way a student would put their own notes in. Choices is not a lot but enough to satisfy your hungry , rumbling stomach. I recommend especially, any of the Eggs Benedict and Chicken Roulade. 

Menu

Hey! Hey! Probably the menu would have given you a slight hint. You could have guessed it! Now comes the interesting part, this cafe is actually a student run cafe, founded by 5 SMU students. I didn't know this initially but I am so obsessed with the cafe that I started to do a google search. In the end, reading almost every blogs that blogged about this cafe and yes, I like their facebook page too! I am totally amazed how they could make it work juggling both business and studies together! Not only they are very successful, these kind souls donates 30% of the profits to charities.

After I stopped working, I started to miss their food so much that I brought my family to eat on Lunar New Year's Eve!

To our surprise, Chief Yi Yi served us bread with olive oil! Yes, their service have been excellent. I was always served with a smile.

Bread with olive

Sous Vide Pork Cheek Ragu

Eggs Benedict Royale, don't they look perfect? 

Chicken Roulade

With these pictures, have I tempted you enough to get down to The Basement?
Their lease would end soon, due to school regulation, they would have to handover by 11 Apr 2014.
I wonder where they would be going after they graduate since this is their final year? Will they still be business partners and set up a cafe again? Anyway, good the bests to them and wishing them success!

The Basement Cafe
(Opening hours: 11.30am to 5pm, last order at 4.30pm)
80 Stamford Rd #B1-62
School of Information System
Singapore Management University

Accessible via MRT, @ Bras Basah Station.

Website: thebasementcafe.com/

Facebook: facebook.com/thebasementcafe

Update:

It is unlikely they would come together to work as a team but some of them will go into F&B services.

Wishing them the best of luck to them in their future endeavours.