We have moved!

We have moved!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

We have moved to www.thehalalfoodblog.com

Hi everyone!

If you're reading this, you've probably come looking for updates on makan and you've come to the right place! Well, almost anyways :P

The Halal Food Blog Team now has its very own domain!
This means more space for us to bring you all the best makan around!

Come visit us and update your bookmarks - www.thehalalfoodblog.com


Sunday, January 4, 2015

SunMoon Fruits Cups (DC Edition) & Sazzy Juices

We're sure you remember when we featured SunMoon Fruit Cups last year during Ramadhan right? Those cute and convenient little cups of fruit remember?

Well, guess what? There are back! And this time with something that's sure to get the kids to eat their fruit cups without much fuss!!


That's right! Special Edition DC Fruit Cups! Kids love superheroes right? Well Batman says "Eat your fruit cups!" LOL

We think this is a great way to get kids to eat their fruits! Healthy living is always good and it's important to start when we're still young. SunMoon is definitely a healthy choice!! As in they literally have the 'Healthier Choice' certification!!

The fruits are in pure 100% apple juice! This means no added sugar and no artificial preservatives, colourings or flavourings! Great source of Vitamin C too!

 


SunMoon has got 3 different DC Edition Fruit Cups for us!

The ones with Superman, Flash and Supergirl are Mandarin Orange.
The ones with Batman, Robin and Catwoman are Mixed Fruit.
The ones with Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Green Lantern are Peach.

Sounds power right! They are all really good and delicious when served chilled! But if you're on the go, this is a great snack! Bring em for picnics or to the office for a quick and healthy snack!

Mixed Fruit Cup
Mandarin Orange Fruit Cup
And as an added incentive, there are some collectible DC stickers for the kids too!
All their fave superheroes are here! There are 9 designs to collect! Gotta finish your fruit cups before you get your sticker! (Or am I being too strict?)


And we guess the next question on your mind is "Where can I get these??!!".
Well fret not dearest readers! You can get your SunMoon Fruit Cups at NTUC FairPrice, FairPrice Express, Cold Storage, Sheng Siong or you can also order directly from SunMoon!

And all at the special low price of $1.90 for a twin pack! That's great value!
You can of course buy by the pack or carton to enjoy more savings!

Go to their site at www.sunmoondirect.com for full details and also take a look at the other great products they have too! (They also sell fresh fruits too!!)

And speaking of other great products from SunMoon... we almost forgot!!

Sazzy Juice

They also have a new range of fun juices too!
They come in Mango, Grape and Lychee juice flavours and all have juicy bits of Nata De Coco!

The best thing about these juices are they taste great but are also certified with the 'Healthier Choice' seal so they're not overly sweet like other such 'juices' in the market. This is the real deal and a great choice for the kiddies!!

PS look out for a special giveaway contest only available on our Facebook page!!
Be sure to check it out and stand a chance to win SunMoon products!!

SunMoon Food

www.sunmoondirect.com www.facebook.com/SunMoonDirect

Friday, January 2, 2015

So Pho - Delivery

Let me just start by saying that I'm gonna try and use as many 'Pho' jokes as I can in this post. That's right. They're gonna be super corny but I told myself I'm gonna try and challenge myself in 2015.
And I have to say that it's been So Pho So Good <<< That's Pho Joke #1

Anyways we're trying something a little different this time. This actually happened one rainy day in the last week of 2014 (which was just last week lah no need to count so far). It was too rainy to step out for lunch so a few of us in the office decided to order in. I suggested we use Foodpanda.com (which we featured before) and see what we could come up with.

Because of the rain, quite a few places would not deliver because of the bad weather but after much hubbub and fuss, we finally managed to order from So Pho. That's right - we were gonna have Pho Pho lunch <<< That's Pho Joke #2

Yeah a few of our readers and even our friends had mentioned So Pho before which actually has an actual restaurant at Nex in Serangoon so I though since can't visit there yet might as well try out the food via delivery and then can compare with when we actually visit there.

Prawn Cakes with Sugar Cane ($7.50)
ALWAYS wanted to try this when I see it at other restaurants but always end up having something else instead. Finally!!

Well, for all my excitement, it ended up being quite a disappointment. The prawn cake was actually pretty hard. It was even tougher than fishballs or fishcake which is kinda weird now that I think about it... And it was kinda bland so thank goodness for the sweet chilli sauce there.

And in case you were wondering where's the sugarcane in all this, it's what they use as the skewer.
See it there? I'm not sure if that's supposed to make any difference to the taste of the dish? Anyways it's quite a medium size so you'll get about 3 pieces instead of Pho <<< That's Pho Joke #3

Grilled Beef with Mango Salad ($11.90)
This was actually a very tasty and refreshing salad to have. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was not that bad to be honest.

I was expecting those young green mango type of salad you know but this was actually those yellow mangoes in the salad. Mixed that in with some tender slices of beef, red onions and a (very) few strips of lettuce. The dressing was a sesame and peanut kind of dressing. Had a bit of a sour tang to it which really gets your tastebuds going.


But as tasty as this salad was, it's definitely a bit too pricey. It costs more than the main dish! That is Pho-nomenally <<< That's Pho Joke #4 high for something that takes up only about a quarter of the plastic bowl am I right or am I right?


I ordered a noodle dish for my main and it came with a broth. Just wanted to show you all that they will pack everything separately for the delivery. Noodles in one pack, extras like taugeh in one pack and the broth in a plastic bowl which is pretty well-sealed.

So what you can do it combine everything in the bowl and then stick it in the microwave for a bit if you want it to be steaming hot.

Vietnamese "Pho", Sliced Beef, Brisket and Beef Balls Noodle Soup ($10.80)
Yep that's pretty much everything all combined. Looks not bad right??

So I ordered the triple threat combo of Sliced Beef, Beef Brisket and Beef Balls. I know it sounds like a lot but not really lah if you love beef. Plus I'm the meat guy remember?

Sliced Beef
Beef Brisket
Beef Balls
Yep that's the whole gang there. The Beef Balls has a nice bite to them and quite tasty actually especially when you slurp then down with the beef broth.

What's the difference between the Sliced Beef and the Beef Brisket actually you might be asking?
Well, the beef brisket is one of the most favourite cuts of the cow but it has a lot of connective tissue (I think they call it 'urat' right??) so must be cooked properly so it's super tender. This one was not bad I guess but hmmmmm we've had better.

And to be honest I was super disappointed with the beef broth. It was not as tasty or 'beefy' as I was expecting. And I was expecting a lot from a place which supposedly specializes in Pho because the broth is a super important part Pho sure <<< That's Pho Joke #5


Just thought I'd give you guys a look at the noodles while I'm at it so please check out the Pho-tograph <<< That's Pho Joke #6 above to see the Pho.

Adam's Verdict:
Prawn Cakes with Sugar Cane 2/5 -- Grilled Beef with Mango Salad 3/5
Vietnamese "Pho", Sliced Beef, Brisket and Beef Balls Noodle Soup 3/5

I really think that the food will definitely be better when eaten at the restaurant instead of delivery  most probably because it will be fresh and steaming hot. I guess a certain element is lost when you have such Pho-od <<< That's Pho Joke #7 delivered.

Well anyways they have so many items to try on the menu so we're still looking forward to dropping by one of their 3 restaurants (Nex, Paragon or Jem) soon. In fact, I might even order the exact same things for myself to compare how it is.

So Pho

Food in this review was delivered but you can check out their restaurant at

NEX
23 Serangoon Central 
#B1-15

www.katrinahldgs.com/restaurant/Sopho
Tel: 6636 8195

Operating Hours:
11:00am - 10:00pm

Monday, December 29, 2014

The Prata Place - The Ultimate Murtabak & Murtaburger

You all remember the time we reported on The Prata Place participating in Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 right? Remember that awesome Prata with Poached Egg and Indian Hollandaise Sauce?
Yeah! That's the one!

Well, while we were doing research on that dish, we found out that The Prata Place had also created 2 special dishes for the previous editions of Ultimate Hawker Fest in the past years. And the best news is that those dishes are still available when you visit their joint!!

Let's start with something that is as awesome as it sounds.
Let's start with... The Ultimate!!

The Ultimate Murtabak ($12.00)
That thing is so huge that it can barely fit onto the tray!! Whoa!
Well, when you call something Ultimate, it's gotta be something amazing am I right?

So what's in The Ultimate Murtabak anyways?


We've got specialty premium ingredients like Tandoori Chicken and Portobello Mushrooms in there! Top it all off with Mozzarella cheese!!

Quite surprising because these are not usually things you'd get in a murtabak. The murtabak was crispy on the outside but nice and steaming on the inside with all those yummy fillings.

And I know some of you might be saying that $12 seems like a lot to pay for a murtabak. But think about it, this price is not much different from what you'd be paying for an average mutton or chicken murtabak elsewhere but here you are getting super premium fillings!

Plus, it REALLY is a big as it looks in the picture!

Murtaburger ($7.00)
If you're looking for something a little smaller in size but still big on flavour then you might want to try taking on the Murtaburger! (Who comes up with these great names anyways LOL)

So is this what you get when you combine a burger and a murtabak? It would seem so!


ZOMG just look at that and tell me you're not drooling like us now!

Oh yeah our favourite friend Mozzarella Cheese makes a very important appearance here (guess it's a Cheeseburger after all) along with a special chilli/mayonnaise sauce concoction specially mixed up for this special dish.

The meat filling is actually a lamb patty that is made on-site which means it's not those ready-made meat fillings stuff. This is the real deal so you know that they are gonna make it extra tasty!

Adam's Verdict: The Ultimate Murtabak 2.5/5 -- Murtaburger 3.5/5

Call me biased but the more meat there is, that's probably gonna be what I'll lean towards. LOL
But hey, where there's cheese, I'm still okay!

Anyways check out the skills of the prata guy!



Anyways don't worry they still have your expected spread like all kinds of prata (OVER 40 TYPES in all kinds of combinations!!), Thosai, all the Mee Gorengs and the gang so you're gonna be spoiled for choice for sure.

But don't forget to wash it all down with a Teh Tarik okay!

GREAT NEWS! The 2nd outlet at Jalan Tua Kong (Siglap) is now open!! 7am til 11pm!


The Prata Place

1 Thong Soon Avenue

Tel: 6459 5670
www.theprataplace.com.sg

Operating Hours: 7.00am til Midnight Daily

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Amani Weddings - Tulang Merah (Bone Steak)


That's an example of how I look when I eat Tulang Merah aka Bone Steak.
Yeah I like to get down and messy and really have a go at the dish even though it's actually just bones... And I know that you're just like that too!

And it's because that's the true way to enjoy Bone Steak, I always have an issue with having it outside in public! Because you've gotta get messy to enjoy it!! Bone Steak at Beach Road? I always end up buying bungkus instead so I can go home and eat it without the fear of looking like a lion who's just feasted on a gazelle on the great planes of Africa.

Well the good news it that now, can have sedap Tulang Merah in the comfort of my own home! No need to worry about the mess! No need to worry about going all the way to buy. Now can be delivered to home some more! Just need to THAW! > HEAT!! > SERVE!!!


That's right! The same people who brought us the sedap giler and super convenient Sambal Goreng Pengantin are back with a new easy-to-prepare dish which is already cooked and frozen for storage so you just need to thaw it when ready and re-heat it before serving!

I don't know how it can get any simpler than that okay. I know for a fact that this is quite a difficult dish to cook and even harder to cook it WELL. So we're super happy that Amani Weddings has decided to bring us such a great product!

So after already thawed and after already reheated then do what eh?
MAKAN LAH APA LAGI!!!


That's right. Tulang Merah FTW!!

And that was prepared all in the comfort of our own home and super simple too! It took us less than half an hour to get it done from freezer to table! I think it took us longer to go to the shop and buy the french loaf to enjoy the Bone Steak with!


These are no low quality ingredients either okay. Check out the meat on those bones!
Some places we have bought from in the past have little or no meat at all on the bones so it's really nice to have something to bite into besides the roti perancis!

The gravy is really tasty too! Not too spicy in case you were worried but it definitely has a very strong and distinct flavour. Perfect for mopping up with the bread.

I classify Tulang Merah into 2 categories. The type you get at the shops (like Beach Road) and the type you cook at home. Normally the ones you buy in the shop tend to be more watery, pretty standard, quite a bit of food colouring and even though it's tasty, you know there's a little something that's lacking. But the ones that you cook at home have that little extra something... The meat is a little more tender, the gravy is a little more tasty. You know what I mean right?

And even though the Tulang Merah from Amani Weddings is technically a dish we bought (as opposed to cooking from scratch at home), it is still closer to the version you would cook at home. You can see the gravy is not so watery and you can tell they went through a lot of trouble to make sure quality ingredients go into making this dish power to the max.

I guess the best way to put it is that this is the closest you'll get to a home-cooked Tulang Merah without going through all trouble of making it from scratch.


And we almost forgot the best part... The SOM-SOM (aka marrow)!! :P

In each packet, there are 4x ketul (pieces) of tulang for your enjoyment and they sell them in sets of 2 packets. That means you get 8x ketul of tulang for $15! Believe it or not but that's still cheaper than some of the stalls you might buy from outside!! Ready to makan some more!!

There's no minimum order but don't forget that a $10 delivery charge (islandwide).
So make sure you order plenty-plenty one time! Ask your family and friends tumpang at once!!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR
THE HALAL FOOD BLOG READERS!!

You can order a combo set at a very special price!!!
Remember the Sambal Goreng Pengantin we featured awhile back?
(If cannot remember, you can refresh your memory and tastebuds HERE)

Well, you can have 1kg of Sambal Goreng Pengantin + 1 set of Tulang Merah at $38!!
Normal price is $30 for the Sambal Goreng Pengantin and $15 for the Tulang Merah so you're automatically already saving $7!! MEMANG BERBALOI!!!

Place your orders via the Amani Weddings FB page, email them at sales@amaniweddings.com or just SMS/WhatsApp to +65 9836 4164! Remember to tell them that you read about it on The Halal Food Blog so you can enjoy the special promo bundle price!!

Can't wait to see what other genius dishes they will come up with at Amani Weddings!
Watch this space!!!

Amani Weddings

https://www.facebook.com/amaniweddings
Email: sales@amaniweddings.com

Tel: 98364164


Monday, December 22, 2014

Mushroom Cafe

So the team was at Sengkang Riverside Park yesterday morning for a secret project (which we are too shy to reveal here) and after it was all done, we decided to stop at a nearby cafe situated in the park itself.

Mushroom Cafe is the one place at Sengkang Riverside Park you can stop by to have a coffee on a relaxing morning or even for some makan after a workout in the park. The only other nearest makan place we saw as a McDonalds so you might as well try something else for a change right?

They have a quite an array of dishes to choose from but just our luck (as usual) that quite a few of them were not available. So we decided on some classics instead.

Mee Rebus ($4.50)
Nothing like a big hearty serving of Mee Rebus to get you going in the morning sometimes am I right or am I right? And it is a pretty big serving here at Mushroom Cafe.

Turned out to be quite a standard bowl of Mee Rebus. Mein Brudder thinks it has a little bit of a weird taste (which I tend to agree with him on that) but it's not a big reason not to enjoy the dish. Well, the girls obviously enjoyed it.

For me, I can respect a bowl of Mee Rebus which has the traditional (and not so often used) garnish of Udang Geragau!! Old school and traditional!!

Laksa ($4.50)
Unfortunately the same can't be said of the Laksa though...

This dish definitely had a very distinct taste and it was not the taste we'd associate with Laksa.
Yeah sure you can get hints of it but maybe it was too much of the rempah or something that gave it an extra salty kind of flavour

Everyone kept saying it was as if they used a few packets of Maggi Kari seasoning inside!!
Anyways it's got some prawns and tau pok and egg but no cockles FYI. Plus no coconut milk was used in this dish so it's on the 'healthy' side if you wanna put it that way.

Chicken Stew ($5.50)
If you're looking for another hearty dish it's gotta be the Chicken Stew.

You've got chicken stewed in a tasty broth with veggies like potatoes and carrots. Give you a nice rich flavour which you can choose to enjoy with either bread, rice or noodles (not sure what type of noodles though)

CHILD FRIENDLY FACTOR

You're probably gonna go to the park with your kids so you'd expect them to be a little bit more kid-friendly here. They have baby chairs available but they have only TWO chairs!! So if you have kids yeah they can play around the cafe area since it's in the park but if it's infants then you might have to hold on to them while you eat.

Child Friendly Rating - 1.5/5

Adam's Verdict:
Mee Rebus 2.5/5 -- Laksa 1.5/5


Maryah's Verdict:
Mee Rebus 3.5/5 -- Laksa 1.5/5


Azlan's Verdict:
Mee Rebus 3./5 -- Laksa 1.5/5 -- Chicken Stew 3.5/5


Yana's Verdict:
Mee Rebus 3./5 -- Laksa 1.5/5 -- Chicken Stew 3.5/5


Well, it's not like there's much choice there but in the end it wasn't too bad. I guess there could be worse places to relax after a day out in the park.

PS here's a fun fact - Mushroom Cafe is actually a brand owned by the famous Old Chang Kee! :)

Mushroom Cafe

Sengkang Riverside Park
50 Anchorvale Street

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mushroom-Cafe/162021857332582?fref=ts

Operating Hours:
11.30am til 9.00pm Weekdays
7.00am til 9.00pm on Weekends
Closed on Mondays

Thursday, December 18, 2014

KL Sedap 2014 Part 6: Dip N Dip

So this place was recommended by a good friend of my Darling Wife who says we simply had to visit here if we were in KL.

The place is situated in Bangsar so it was a little out of the way from where we were staying (Berjaya Times Square) but we happened to go nearby for a little shopping one rainy afternoon and the opportunity was ripe for us to finally drop by!

Dip N Dip is primarily a dessert place so you can expect plenty of sweet treats here.
Prepare yourself... for the... Chocolate Overdose!

Brownies Crepe (RM28.50)
Yeah it is pretty nice to look at right? Wait til you eat it!

The Brownies Crepe is not to be trifled with I can tell you that! This crepe is completely bathed in chocolate so all you choco-holics must be jumping for joy right about now. And it's not just covered in just one type but THREE types of chocolate! Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate make up this fantastic treat.

Errrr.... but why do they call it Brownies Crepe? Where's the brownie???


Ask and ye shall receive! The brownie lies within!!
Oh yeah. That means the entire size of the crepe actually has a carpet of brownies inside. Yes. Literally a carpet of brownies as you can see from that picture.

Tell me that's not enough chocolate for you!!
To be honest with you, this thing is enough to share between 2-3 people. Seriously.
But hey everyone really enjoyed this!

Plus, depending on who's the artist, your design might be different!
We had a 2nd masterpiece!


By the way, they've also got other crepes like the Dip N Dip Crepe (fruits), Cinnamon Crepe (Apples, Banana and Cheese), Tripple Chocolate Crepe, Cookies Crepe and Mallow Crepe to name a few.
Well, more than a few anyways.

Chocolate Waffle (RM17.00)
Well, if crepes are not your thing then maybe you might consider the waffles!

They have the type with fruits and stuff but chocolate lovers will surely go for the Chocolate Crepe.
It's pretty straightforward. It's a waffle and it's drowning in chocolate. LOL
And comparing to the crepe, I guess this was a much simpler presentation to prepare.

Pain Perdu (RM17.00)
So here are are having all the typical desserts so we thought we would try something a bit different and we had never heard of Pain Perdu before so we ordered it.

So the Pain Perdu is basically a slice of thick toast which has been soaked in milk and then they pile on goodies on top. And by goodies, I mean a scoop of ice-cream and then they drizzle chocolate all over the thing!! You could also choose caramel and cinnamon by the way (but I think you all will still chocolate right!!!)


If you leave it long enough, the ice-cream will melt so feel free to use a straw if you must LOL

To be honest the whole idea sounds so tempting. I mean, milk-soaked toast already sounds so spectacular but in the end, everything is pretty much going to be overpowered by the chocolate.

Dip N Dip Eclair Pyramid (RM34.00)
Okay this is what I ordered as well because the idea sounds really promising.
We've got 11 mini-eclairs and then you top it up with (LIKE DUH) CHOCOLATE!!


So here's something where you can get involved in the creation of the dish. You can choose to dip the 'eclairs' into the chocolate or, like us, shower some chocolate love all over. Sounds kinda wrong but tastes kinda right LOL

BUT.....
Firstly, I consider these more as cream puff than eclairs. I mean, yeah, Choux pastry but this is just what I get when I see these little nippers.

Secondly, I do have an issue with the filling...


Yeah some of the 'mini-eclairs' came up empty. Literally.
I'm not sure if this was done on purpose or not but I expected every single one to have some filling.
To be honest, the pastry on its own was actually very dry and kinda hard too as opposed to the nice and fluffy texture you'd expect.

Full marks to the staff though. When he was clearing the dishes, he actually asked me why I didn't finish my dish and if anything was wrong. I explained to him and I saw him bring the dish to the managed behind the counter and he was explaining what I had just told him. I didn't stick around after that but I was quite happy that the staff was so proactive.

Anyways, it's quite obvious that the star of this dish (and pretty much all the dishes here) was the...

Strawberry Milkshake (RM14.00)

Guess what? The Strawberry Milkshake tasted like Chocolate too!!
Just kidding...

It was good! Thick and creamy and a nice change from all the chocolate we'd had that meal.
They've also got Banana, Oreo, Vanilla, Coffee, After Eight and also.. Chocolate. LOL

Adam's Verdict:
Dip N Dip Eclair Pyramid 1.5/5 -- Pain Perdu 2.5/5 -- Strawberry Milkshake 4/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Pain Perdu 2.5/5 --  Brownies Crepe 3/5

Razali's Verdict:
Brownies Crepe 5/5

Fateha's Verdict:
Chocolate Waffle 4/5

Azim's Verdict:
Brownies Crepe 3/5

Pak Busu's Verdict:
Brownies Crepe 4/5

This was a nice place to visit although it's more of a cafe than anything. A great dessert place especially if you're looking for chocolate and more chocolate. In the end, it proved to be too much chocolate for us so be sure to order sparingly.... Try and share if you can... Unless you're really the chocolate monster.

Dip N Dip

Bangsar 5900 Jalan Telawi 3,
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia


Tel: +60 3-2201 5052
www.dipndip.ca

Operating Hours:
11:00am - 1:00am Daily