Monday, July 06, 2015

East Eats @ Tampines 1!

Because the Journey to the West would entail too many trials and sufferings with Monkey King...

I, the Zhu Ba Jie, decided to head to the East to stuff myself silly. 

With the compliments of Asiamalls management team, I was led on a gastronomic experience around one of their newer malls in the East at Tampines 1.

Our first stop was at Thai Express Bistro (#04-09)



Singapore has been getting too hot to handle these days and what better way to cool off than with a Chiangmai Mango Blend. The smooth and creamy sweet treat came as a cool relief and it whetted my appetite for what was to come.

Starting off with Mango Salad- Yam Mamuang and Prawn Toasts - Kanom Pang Na Kung. The Mango Salad is a familiar starter to any Thai meal for many. But this time, my first bite of the unassuming prawn toast was so crisp and flavourful, I'd definitely order this on my next visit. A simple taste of homemade comfort. 


The items came in succession and all the dishes were made with fresh ingredients and cooked to order daily.

I'm not a usual fan of soft shell crabs but this plate of Poo Phat Pong Kari with the Chef's secret batter changed my impressions of soft shell crab curry. The sweet curry did little to overwhelm the crisp batter and was in fact, an honourable accompaniment to the battered crab. I could hardly resist having some rice to go with the curried crab.


The Massaman Curry served with Thai style pancake, which in essence would be what you and I know as roti prata, was quite the crowd pleaser. This curry contains more than twenty ingredients and spices and takes half a day to prepare and all that effort culminated in a curry that was mild on the spice charts but bursting with a myriad of flavours with fork tender chicken parts. It's little wonder that this lesser known dish of debatable Thai origins, was voted as a winning dish on CNNGo. 



With a satiated belly, we headed over to Awfully Chocolate (#03-21)

We were given three sampling tins of their delectable chocolate trufflettes. 
From L-R (clockwise) Cafe Cacao Nib Trufflettes which are power packed with caramelised brittle of chocolate, coffee and cacao nibs, Cacao Brittle Trufflettes with chocolate brittle and dark chocolate ganache and Hazelnut Truflettes made from dark chocolate smothered with hazelnut croquant. Each retailing at $8.90 and only available at Tampines 1 and Vivocity outlets. 


Forget love. I'd rather fall in chocolate :)



And Sundays are made even sweeter at J Co. Donuts (#01-08/10)

The unmistakable whiff of fresh donuts is a charming allure to shoppers as they walk into the mall from the MRT station.


This lifestyle cafe chain originating from Indonesia serves up clever wit alongside its delicious donuts. With standout puns like Al Capone - a befitting moniker for their Most Wanted Donut, dressed up with Belgian white chocolate and almond silvers, how could you not be attracted to try a piece. 



The Oreology is not their most photo worthy donut but you couldn't possibly resist the pillowy softness of oreo cookie toppings and a deliciously white creamy filling.

But of course, the title of Miss Photogenic would go to their newest offering, the Dazzling Queen donut. Tickled pink with strawberry chocolate and a light strawberry cream filling within, the soft coconut flake sprinkles does wonders to up its razzle-dazzle factor. 

The soft and light dough base of the original donut brings pleasure in every bite. You'd certainly be spoilt for choice when ordering. That's probably why donuts are sold by the half dozen/ dozens. Definitely make it a dozen.
I couldn't possible decide on just 6 flavours now, could you?

In true summer fashion, J Co. is also serving up cool promotions with a one for one promotion till 16/7/2015 on their Coconut Mocha Frappe. Indulge yourself with the rich fragrance of coconut cream while taking your much needed caffeine boost.


And the universal balance of taste would be simply to go back to the savoury after all the sweets. 

At where else? But Pepper Lunch (B1-16)

Go big or go home. 
The Giant was a slab of juicy marbled Ribeye steak served with ginger silvers, mashed potatoes, buttery sweet corn, long beans and rice.
The side dip of brown sauce added notches to its flavour scale but these thick, tender and succulent strips were delicious on their own.
Just to note that they cook pretty quick on the hot plates so get some work done by picking up your chopsticks and flipping those cuts.


               I had an order of a lychee float while Angelus had a mango float. The soft serve was delish in the light of the heated meal plates but the aforementioned flavours were significantly missing from our drinks. My pastel pink treat tasted like an original soda float.


Pepper Lunch is also offering a Seafood Chilli Crab main on a limited offer basis. Just for the months of July and August, they are bringing back a crowd favourite in support of SG50 and what better way to pay tribute to our nation but with the chilli crab that we're famed for? I don't know about you but I love chilli crab and I especially love it when I don't need to get my fingers dirty. Chunks of crab meat in irresistably savoury chilli crab sauce mixed into scallops and prawns on the hot plate. Mmmm!


And of course, after salty comes sweet.
Universal Laws of dietary balance.

Milky sweet, to be exact, over at Milk Cow (B1-K17)
This soft serve hand-made ice creamery originates from Seoul. Because it is 100% natural and made from organic milk from eco-friendly farms, the ice cream on its own, would constitute guilt-free eating.

I figured since I was too stuffed, I might as well just pick one that would be Insta-worthy.
So Snow Drop was an obvious choice out of the fourteen options available.
I was asked if I wanted M&Ms or jelly beans as my choice of toppings.
It was an airhead moment but I just had to ask which would give me a prettier photo.
Unfazed by my blonde moment, the server very decisively obliged me with a mix of both.
He must get this request very often.



And This! was my favourite Sunday Sweets. :)
Forget what I said about being stuffed,
After a whole round of photo takings, this soft serve did not melt into a nasty lukewarm shake.
I was pretty impressed that the ice cream could still hold its own on a spoon.
I'm an overgrown kid who loves her milk so I'm sold on this milky goodness in a soft serve.
This was much better than, say, Honeycreme.
I loved the colours of the M&Ms and jellybeans that ran into the milky white base of the ice cream but to be honest, these were too hard to be savoured.
It might be a different case if I had eaten it immediately.

We ended off the trail just a step and a hop away at Yummi House (#B1-16)
Sweet on sweet does nothing to wake up my taste buds.
So judging by sight, the sleek packaging and clever lighting displays of their sea swallows' bird nest was cause enough to capture the attention of quite a few shoppers during the short ten minutes that we were there.
The promotion in the photo is still ongoing so drop in for a tasting and pick up a bottle if you're one who believes in the benefits of eating bird's nest.



We also went home with a grab bag of assorted Yamazaki breads which included their signature mochi bites. 
I love the cheese mochi that has a delightfully addictive chewy texture and I was hoping the green tea red bean one would be just as nice as pictured in the foreground. Unfortunately, it didn't sit that well with me and I'll be one to stick with my cheese mochi at the back.


And that, brings me to the end of my food trail at Tampines 1. For today, at least. With all the sweet and savoury offerings that Tampines 1 has to offer, I know I'll definitely be back again for more, next time with my family in tow. Thanks to Jennifer from Asiamalls who spent her Sunday with us and thanks to all the participating outlets who so generously fed us with the delicious offerings. 

*All opinions and text are writer's own.


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