Geláre

Here's one that I know many of you have been looking forward to!
Not just this post, but for Geláre to be certified Halal! And finally, the time has come!

I'm not sure about you guys but when I was in school (many many many years ago), the only place we could get waffles and ice-cream was A&W. And since they went out of business in SG (many many many years ago) it has been pretty difficult to get your waffles and ice-cream fix unless you crossed the Causeway.

And then Geláre comes along (many many many years ago) but unfortunately it was not Halal. And since then, so many ice-cream joints have opened up but also none Halal. So many 'Waffle Tuesdays' have gone past :(

Well, no more of that! Now we can all enjoy Waffle Tuesday (or waffle ANYDAY) too! LOL

But then some of you might be thinking... "So nice meh Geláre waffle?"

Super Tutti Frutti Treat ($15.60)

The one thing we noticed is the variety of Waffles you can choose from.
Firstly - you can have half a waffle or a whole waffle. And then you gotta decide which type you'd like. Classic? Chocolate Chip Treat? Tutti Frutti? Churro? Rocky Road? And then you gotta choose how many scoops of ice-cream and which ice-cream flavours.

Sounds like a lot of work? Don't worry because it all pays off in the end!

We went with the Tutti Frutti Treat with 2 scoops of ice-cream. It comes topped off with some peaches, strawberries and fresh cream. We opted for the maple syrup instead of the chocolate sauce but somehow it was left out :\

The waffle itself was really good! Nice and fluffy and tasty too! But we think the pairing of the ice-cream is what makes it all worthwhile.

We chose a 2 scoop option and decided on the classic flavours - Chocolate and Strawberry.

Strawberry Ice-Cream is one of my favourite flavours and how I determine the quality and type of ice-cream being served because it's easily decided. There are 2 types of Strawberry ice-cream - 1 tastes like strawberry milk and the other tastes like strawberries.
The one at Geláre tastes like strawberries which means natural flavours!

Geláre prides itself on serving "Au naturale premium ice-cream" and we can really taste it too.
Fresh flavours that taste great and a pretty wide variety too. (Sorry we didn't list down all the flavours because we were too busy whacking the waffle!) And if 1 or 2 scoops is not enough,,, have 3!!

And in case you were wondering, Geláre serves more than just Waffles and Ice-Cream!

Mushroom Soup

We were a little peckish so we had the Lasagna Meal ($15.90) which comes with soup and a drink.
You could also have a Pasta, Salad, Sandwich or Pie meal too!

The Mushroom Soup was a bit bland though. Add a little salt and pepper to help it along but we'd classify this under the "don't have also never mind' category.

Lasagna

I have to say 2 things.
Number 1 - The Lasagna was surprisingly good. Number 2 - that's a damn good photo! LOL

We didn't expect much from the Lasagna but somehow it was actually really good! The tomato sauce was not too sour and there was quite a fair amount of meat in between the lasagna sheets. Overall it made for a pretty satisfying bite.

If the Lasagna is not bad, wouldn't mind giving the Pasta dishes a go too actually!

Adam's Verdict:
Super Tutti Frutti Treat 4/5 -- Lasagna 3.5/5 -- Mushroom Soup 1.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Super Tutti Frutti Treat 4.5/5 -- Lasagna 3/5 -- Mushroom Soup 1/5

They have all sorts of waffles at Geláre. They even have pancakes for breakfast and a whole range of foods like Sandwiches, Pasta, Pies and even Salads. But I think that in the end, we will all be heading down mainly for the Waffles and Ice-Cream am I right?

They have Geláre outlets all over the island namely AMK Hub, Causeway Point, The Star Vista, SAFRA Jurong, NUH Medical Centre, Suntec City, IMM and Tampines 1.

And don't forget TUESDAY IS WAFFLE DAY!! 50% OFF WAFFLES!!

Geláre

10, Tampines Central 1
#04-K2/K3, Tampines 1

Tel: 6789 0603
www.gelare.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10:00am to 10:00pm daily

Hee Kee Desserts

Our tastes and sense of adventure when it comes to food nowadays knows no bounds.
We used to stick to what we knew and what we were familiar with. Even if something new came along and was  Halal, it might take awhile for an idea to catch on. But now, anything is possible.

One particular thing that we all seem to fancy is dessert!
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't take at least a little enjoyment when indulging in their sweet tooth every once in awhile. Traditional Chinese-style desserts that are Halal is definitely a rarity in Singapore.

Well, finally we have somewhere to go to enjoy such delicacies!!

Hee Kee Desserts is located in Jurong Point which is quite a ways away for us East-siders so we made sure to cover the whole lot since we made the trip!

Traditional Steamed Milk Pudding ($3.50)

I know a lot of you are going "It looks so... boring..."
Well let me tell you - some of the best tasting things ever are the ones you least expect!

As plain as this looks, it was one of our faves! The milky flavour was divine and so smooth. It was not overly sweet so you can really taste the milk in the pudding. A lot of you might compare this to beancurd and it's pretty close but I'll prefer milk to soy milk anyday!

But if you REALLY insist on adding something to it, they have a Red Bean variation. Also, try the Almond Milk Pudding, Ginger Milk Pudding or the big one - Egg Yolk Pudding!
All traditionally steamed of course!

And just how smooth is the pudding?

Really smooth!!

Mango Cheong Fun ($6.00 for 2 pieces)

When we heard 'Mango Cheong Fun' we were a bit wary. The only 'Cheong Fun' we were familiar with was Chee Cheong Fun and we could not imagine any mangoes being associated with that. But oh boy were we surprised (in a good way).

The Cheong Fun skin was actually infused with coconut that you can actually taste!
And what awaits within the delicious white skin?

A nice big juicy piece of mango awaits you within! And what a combination when you eat the mango with the coconut-infused skin. You can really appreciate it if you're looking for a sweet and fresh flavour in your desserts.

I have to say that I was really surprised with this one. Not only was it something I didn't expect but I was very impressed with the innovative nature of the dessert. Damn creative right!

And speaking of innovative...

Durian Pancake ($3.30 per piece)

Hee Kee seems to be teasing us a lot by offering us stuff that is wrapped up.
First was the Mango Cheong Fun and now this. But we are not complaining! Far from it!!

Behold! The Durian Pancake! I actually nicknamed this 'The Golden Pillow' but then I realized that name was already taken... So instead... I shall call this... 'The Golden Cushion'!!

It's basically a coconut-infused crepe (that's oh-so-fluffy) that envelopes what is probably the favourite fruit of so many people. DURIAN!!! Oh yeah! The King of Fruits is ready to be devoured at Hee Kee and we recommend you enjoy it by ordering the Durian Pancake.

Now look at that. Super generous serving of durian all wrapped up within the crepe!
And just so you have a bit of variety, there's some whipped cream in there too but don't worry you durian lovers will still get to savour every single morsel.

And if you're looking for more durian, Hee Kee also has Durian Pudding and a few dishes that incorporate Sago with durian too!

Personally for me - as long as got durian means confirmed power!

Hee Kee also has other desserts with fruits as the main attraction by the way. They have a whole series called 'Manog Mania' and other desserts feature fruits like Rock Melon, Papaya and Watermelon too!

Durian Sauce with Sago ($5.80)

You all probably know we have a couple of obsessions here on The Halal Food Blog.
(I'm talking about obvious ones!) One of them is Poached Eggs and the other is... Salted Egg Yolks!
Maybe it's something about the 'runny' nature of the 2 but there's just something about them...

And the reason we mention this is because.. There's Salted Egg Yolk at Hee Kee!!

Salted Egg Yolks Glutinous Rice Balls in Osmanthus Sweet Soup ($3.80)

So here are these golden orbs of goodness... Dumplings made from glutinous rice containing some of the most delicious fillings ever known to man... Salted Egg Yolk! In fact you can see some already seeping out from the side there LOL

Okay so it's more of Salted Egg Yolk custard paste but it still counts and the salted egg yolk flavour still prevails when we take a big bite of those balls.

I don't know about you but I'm going ZOMG right about now...
And as always, we try to capture the perfect video of the oozing salted egg yolk but again we FAIL!!

But trust us. If you like Salted Egg Yolk, then try this dessert. Before this, we only had salted egg yolk for dessert in the form of a pau so this was a new experience for us. And the glutinous rice balls were not too thick so they had a good bite to them. Plus, they're swimming in a bowl of sweet Osmanthus broth which gives it a nice balance because it's really light.

Whole Coconut with Coconut Ice Cream & Peanut Crush ($8.80)

 If the first thing that comes to your mind when we say "dessert" is ice-cream, well they have it too!
And it's not going to be those sundaes that are over the top and too sweet... this is the natural stuff!

So you get a whole coconut complete with shell which they have hollowed out for you and fill it up with with really tasty coconut ice-cream! You can really taste the coconut flavour and the sweet flavour was just nice. They even have the coconut flesh which the scrape off the sides for you! Topped off with some crushed peanuts and you're all set!

And as an added bonus, they will serve you the coconut water from the coconut itself!
Nothing goes to waste here!!

Curry Chicken Ball ($3.80)

If you're like me and you need a little something else before you start on your desserts, fret not because Hee Kee also has something special in the form of their curry!

You can choose from the Chicken Ball (it's actually Chicken Luncheon Meat! ZOMG so good!) or the Curry Fish Ball. They both come with some really tasty curry and some tau kwa too! Perfect small bites to get you started on the road before your desserts!

And I have to say I was quite surprised by how tasty the curry was! To be honest it looked to be on the watery side but boy oh boy was it packed with curry flavour! Apparently it's a take on the popular Curry Fish Ball which is really popular in Hong Kong. Well, it made me wanna have prata after that!
LOL

Hee Kee really gives us the chance to sample and enjoy some traditional desserts because it's quite rare to find the ones that are certified Halal in Singapore. I'm talking about special desserts like Almond Paste, Taro Paste, Black Sesame Paste, Glutinous Rice Balls, Steamed Puddings and even Beancurds.

If you really wanna go all-out, they also have Birds Nest which is prepared traditionally in many variations like Red Date Soup, Rock Sugar and even Coconut Soup too!

If you're ever in the area, you should really drop by. In fact, it might even be worth making the trip all the way to the West because to be honest, the desserts here are pretty exceptional and we're glad that such a place exists that we can enjoy such desserts that we don't normally get to enjoy so often.

Hopefully they open one in the East or Central soon! *hint hint*

Hee Kee Desserts

JP 2, Jurong Point
1 Jurong West Central 2, #03-54/55

Tel: 6743 8480
www.facebook.com/heekeedesserts

Operating Hours:
11am til 10pm Daily

Catch 'N Bite

So we received a message via FB to come down and try a new grab-and-go type joint.
The only thing was - it was all the way at West Gate Mall which counts as good as a world away for us here located at literally the other end of Singapore!

But believe you me - Catch N' Bite was always on our mind because we saw the pictures on their website and boy oh boy were we excited to try! And eventually, the day came when we had to venture all the way to the west for a project which meant finally getting to visit West gate Mall!!

The Catch 'N Bite menu is made up mostly of seafood.
Some come in sandwiches, some come in rice bentos and some even come as mini-tartlets.
But we had some items already 'targeted'!

Ultimate Lobster Roll ($12.90)

Ever since I started watching Food Network on cable TV, i kept seeing Lobster Roll this and Lobster Roll that and I really wanted one. So can you imagine how excited I was when I found out that Catch 'N Bite had Lobster Rolls?

And it's the real thing too because we saw a whole pan of the lobster sitting waiting to be enjoyed.

We noticed that the lobster was mixed up with a few other ingredients which kinda took away from the lobster a little bit. To be honest, it pretty much ended up becoming an Egg Mayo sandwich with some lobster meat in it instead of being an actual Lobster Roll.

You can see the lobster meat there is no doubt (see the pink morsel on the left?) but you you can also see more egg than anything else which was kinda disappointing. I know lobster is a very expensive and premium ingredient and you have restaurants serving Lobster Rolls ate 5x the price compared to here but I guess maybe a little less of the egg filler so we can enjoy the lobster itself would be nice.

We actually also felt the bread choice for the Lobster Roll was a little off. We're not saying it's bad bread but I guess it was more about choice of bread.

Lobster Rolls normally come served in a soft bun kinda like a hotdog bun and the Ciabatta bread used here was kinda hard especially when toasted (albeit lightly). Maybe a slight change in bread tactics might help?

But the bread they used was perfect for another item on the menu.

Crunchin' Shrimp Po Boy ($7.90)

Another temptation courtesy of Food Network - The Po Boy!

The shrimp has a nice coating so it gave them a nice crunch when you chomp down and the sauce went really well! But... missing the pickles which are supposed to be in there... Oh well...
But I actually found this more satisfying than the Lobster Roll.

They also have Fish and Chicken Po Boys too.
Actually they have one that we also wanted to try...

The Soft Shell Crab Po Boy was sold out!!
Oh well, at least we know what we're gonna try for the next time we visit!!

Anyways, we had some other stuff too! Went all the way so better try as much as possible!

Clam Soup ($4.90)

It was a bit more watery than we expected but then we realized that it was a Clam Soup and not really a Clam Chowder so less cream would be included. But it was still pretty tasty though! Probably because they used fresh lobster stock in here.

The clams were nice and plump and fresh too. Potatoes, carrots and celery thrown in like any good clam soup and you get a nice flavour of the ocean in a bowl. Wish they would have given small sachets of seasoning like salt and pepper for the benefit of those who might wanna tweak it a little.

Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream Tart

Crab Salad Tart

Garlic Mayo Shrimp Tart

Egg Mayo Ebiko Tart

The Seafood Tarts were these little mini-tarts with a baked shell and filled-in with an offering of seafood paired with some extras to make it a fulfilling bite. In fact, it's literally 1 or 2 bites to finish a tart so you and order a few if you'd like.

It's $2.50 per tart and they also have tarts like Shrimp Salsa, Pineapple Sauce Fish, Wasabi Mayo Shrimp and Mango Chutney Shrimp just to name a few.

Adam's Verdict:
Ultimate Lobster Roll 2.5/5 -- Crunchin' Shrimp Po Boy 3.5/5 -- Clam Soup 2.5/5
Seafood Tarts 1.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Ultimate Lobster Roll 2/5 -- Crunchin' Shrimp Po Boy 3.5/5 -- Clam Soup 0.5/5
Seafood Tarts 2.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Ultimate Lobster Roll 2/5 -- Crunchin' Shrimp Po Boy 4/5 -- Clam Soup 2.5/5
Seafood Tarts 3.5/5

Definitely something I might visit if I am ever in the area but I'll probably get a Po Boy.
PS this post is dedicated to one of our readers @Signora Su! Promised you we would visit the west!!

Catch 'N Bite

West Gate Mall
3 Gateway Drive #B02-K16

Tel: 64959935
www.catchnbite.com

Operating Hours:
10.00am to 10.00pm Daily

Ramadhan Special 2014: Jurong West Bazaar

So we asked our readers for some tips on where we could find some Ramadhan Bazaars this year.
And one name seemed to pop up a lot! "Jurong West Avenue 1!!" the people said...
So okay let's go check it out.

And this is what we found!

Tahu Telor - Convenience Packs!

Popiah Sambal

Goreng Pisang

Kuih Muih

Roti Kirai

There was this stall called S Kitchen. Their banner boasted Nasi Lemak and something called Mee Gombak (anyone has any idea what that is??) plus the usual favourites like Mee Goreng/Kway Tiow Goreng Kerang, Roti John and even Carrot Cake.

And just beside it was a stall called Pondok Abang with more crowd faves.

Chee Cheong Fun

Tahu Telor

Here's something interesting... and a little weird to be honest.
We saw a stall selling Popiah Basah but it wasn't the usual fillings...

So instead of the usual stewed turnip, they've replaced it with a turnip/cucumber/carrot salad instead.
Plus something that looks like fish crackers for added crunch perhaps?

Well, I'm not sure about you but I like my Popiah Basah to be the traditional type.

 

Saw a kebab place with a long queue. Popular choice?
Including dishes like Butter Rice and Sabsuka too!

The one thing that our readers kept recommending was the nasi campur at this bazaar.
There were a lot of stalls selling Nasi Campur but one was apparently more popular than the rest.
Well, our readers could not recall the name but there was this one stall with the longest line and also the most dishes on display...

Hati Ayam

Bagedil

As you can see - lots of dishes on offer at RS Supreme Foodlink!
So many more dishes but there was such a crowd that I couldn't get close enough to snap more pics!

But make no mistake, this was not the only stall selling Nasi Campur and all the lauk-pauk everyone loves so much!

But of course if Nasi Campur is not your thing...

Saw the sign but didn't see any Churros :(

So Jurong West is one of the bigger bazaars we've been. I guess it's comparable in size to the Tampines one when it used to be at the block near Tampines Stadium a few years ago.

I guess it does have quite a bit of stuff and it's useful if you're staying in the area.
There's not really anything here that would make me travel all the way to Jurong just for the bazaar I guess.

But definitely one of the bazaar with the MOST Nasi Camput stalls ever!!

Jurong West Bazaar

Blk 425 Jurong West Avenue 1

Operating Hours:
Around 2.30pm til 6.30pm