Joie by Dozo - Value-for-Money Fine Dining

Quality food with good ambience typically comes at a premium. Rarely do we find a fine-dining restaurant deal that can be considered value-for-money. Hence, we were delighted to find a truly value-for-money deal in Joie by Dozo, a meatless fusion fine-dining concept situated on the rooftop garden at Orchard Central.

Credits: Joie Restaurant

Lunch is served as a customizable 6-course set menu. Unlike most set menus with limited choice, Joie offers a variety of at least four options per course (except for one course). Hence, we sought recommendations from the service staff, who helpfully provided us with a comprehensive description of each of his recommendations based on dietary needs.

Strips of pasta crisps were served at the side. There were two types: the thicker, orange strips are mildly spiced, while the thin whitish strips are coated with mozzarella cheese. We love these pasta crisps so much that we polished them off rapidly and refilled a couple of times throughout the meal.

Pasta crisps

Our lunch began with a complimentary palate cleanser: a refreshing, tangy passionfruit sorbet smoothie. We love how the drink came in stylish ergonomic glasses.

Passionfruit Sorbet Smoothie

The first course (amuse-bouche) is an assorted platter. The item in the centre is carrot terrine, which tastes and feels very much like salmon without the associated fishy smell. To the right is seaweed cracker topped with wasabi mayo. The final item is raspberry okashi which we were warned to put in the mouth first, as it would pop when the surface is broken. The raspberry okashi bursts with minimal pressure and the flavour coats the inner surfaces of our mouths delightfully. An excellent start to the meal!

Amuse-bouche: Chef's selection of assorted platter

After the impressive amuse-bouche, we were served our appetizers. Topped with cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, croutons, walnut and black olives, the Transparency of Manchego Cheese tastes like pizza without the crust. The lightly-torched Manchego cheese has a more delicate taste compared to typical cow cheese.

Transparency of Manchego Cheese

Our first impression of the Gratinated Champignon with Mozzarella was "Wow, meatless cheesy escargots!" This escargot-like dish features button mushrooms gratin served with sweet Tennessee heirloom potato puree, Belgian endive and thin slices of focaccia on the side. The amount of mozzarella cheese in the gratin is generous, and the strands of cheese makes for photogenic shots.

Gratinated Champignon with Mozzarella

Close-up of Gratinated Champignon with Mozzarella

After cleaning our appetizers off, we were served our soups. Consuming the Infusion of Cepes and Truffle is a multi-sensory experience - the unique delicious taste of cepes mushroom, the woody scent of truffle oil and the subtle earthy taste of black truffle that grows on you as you savour a slice of it for 10 seconds. No, we aren't joking about the 10 seconds; the black truffle taste is very subtle. Probably one of the best mushroom soups we have had so far.

Infusion of Cepes and Truffle

The Snow Pear and Napa Cabbage Consumme is reminiscent of a Zen-like painting with a Western touch. Within a gold-rimmed white plate, a baby snow pear stands out within a moat of double-boiled vegetable stock as pieces of almond swim around in the stock. The baby snow pear is cooked to the point of incredible softness such that the seeds were easy to remove. The stock tastes delicately sweet, compared to the thick savoury taste of the cepes mushroom soup.

Snow Pear and Napa Cabbage Consumme

After slurping every bit of our soups, we chomped on more pasta strips while patiently waiting for our mains. The pause between courses allowed for proper food digestion and more meaningful conversations.

The Grilled Bai-Ling Steak on "Pu-Ye" Hot Stone is succulent and tastes even better than beef steak. The Bai-Ling mushroom steak is also equally resistant to the cutting knife as well. The tempura fan is really crispy and the potato mash goes well with the juicy mushroom steak. Definitely a must-try!

Grilled Bai-Ling Steak on "Pu-Ye" Hot Stone

The Polenta Castle consists of pan-seared polenta cake with silken tofu, tomato, broccolini, blobs of red capsicum sauce, and a whole asparagus stalk. The polenta cake is reminiscent of omelette without eggs, has a slight corn taste and is best eaten with the other ingredients.

Polenta Castle

What better way than to end off our lunch with two pots of cold refreshing fruity tea and desserts! The Ice Rose Lemon Tea has a subtle scent of rose even when cold, while the Ice Fruity Refresher lives up to its name of refreshing the diner for desserts. We enjoyed picking up the fruit chunks in the Ice Fruity Refresher.

Top: Ice Fruity Refresher, Bottom: Ice Rose Lemon Tea

The Red Wine Poached Pear with Vanilla Ice-Cream is a quintessentially French dessert which leaves us craving for more, as the poached pear is better than most French poached pear desserts we had so far. We could taste the natural sweetness and slight crunchiness of the pear with a touch of spices. The poached pear goes tremendously well with the vanilla ice-cream. The poached pear is served in layered cross-sections, which makes sharing possible. 

Red Wine Poached Pear with Vanilla Ice-Cream

The Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice-Cream would be perfect if the chocolate cake had more molten chocolate inside. The vanilla ice-cream (which is made of real vanilla pods) goes well with the warm chocolate cake and moisten the texture of the cake; then again, one can't go wrong with warm chocolate cake and vanilla ice-cream.

Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice-Cream

We felt surprisingly full towards the end of our meal. Our 6-course meal felt more like an experience as the attention to detail is prevalent, from the meticulous artwork-like plating to the personalized service according to our dietary needs. Service is excellent - our pasta crisps and cups of hot floral tea were promptly refilled and the service staff put us at ease throughout with their friendly demeanour. At S$38.80++ per person, the 6-course meatless set lunch at Joie is value for money and perfect for a date or a special occasion.

Joie Restaurant by Dozo
181 Orchard Road
#12-01 Orchard Central
Singapore 238896

Opening Hours:
Daily 12pm - 3pm (Last order: 2pm), 6pm - 10pm (Last order: 9pm)

Jeun VirtueFarm

What comes to your mind when someone mentions Chinese vegetarian food in Singapore food centres? Run-of-the-mill vegetarian beehoon, oil-laden vegetables, or maybe the colouring-laden gluten passing off as mock char siew. It does get pretty boring, especially when you are on a vegetarian diet and crave for tasty vegetarian versions of typical hawker fare.

Jeun VirtueFarm 浚德田 is a relatively new stall at 79A Circuit Road Food Centre which sells vegan renditions of local noodles stall favourites. The stall is run by young hawkerpreneurs who treat their trade as an art form - instrumentals could be heard from the background as the young noodle chef cooks the noodles with skilled precision. The menu is simple and clear: shiitake minced meat noodles and Fuzhou fishball noodles (update: they now serve shrimp and squid ball noodles too!). The serving trays look quintessentially modern Japanese.

Fuzhou fishball noodles

The Fuzhou fishball noodles (S$4.50) is taste-wise very close to its non-vegan cousin. The noodles are thin and springy like la mian, while the Fuzhou fishball is stuffed with finer "bak chor" ("minced meat") fillings that produce a pleasant umami taste. The chilli sauce tastes surprisingly savoury - it's not just one-dimensionally spicy. Yum.

Shiitake minced meat noodles

The shiitake minced meat noodles (S$4.50) has a more refined texture and taste compared to the typical non-vegan bak chor mee that are commonly served in Singapore. The "bak chor" is similar to the Fuzhou fishball fillings, with a more minced and less fatty texture compared to minced meat. The shiitake mushrooms are deliciously seasoned with thick brown savoury sauce, which is not too salty and balances the taste of the springy noodles.

There is also the option of upsizing your noodles (option of +S$0.50 and +S$1.00) and adding fried wantons (S$1.00 for 3 pieces) to your choice of noodles. The fried wantons do not seem to have much "minced meat" fillings, but the fried wanton skins are pretty crispy. Pretty good, considering these are vegan-friendly snacks.

The folks at Jeun VirtueFarm impress us with their delicious vegan-friendly versions of local noodles at fairly affordable prices. In fact, the noodles taste even better than their non-vegan counterparts. Bak chor mee at food centres is never going to be the same again.

Jeun VirtueFarm 浚德田 

Jeun VirtueFarm 浚德田
79A Circuit Road Food Centre
#01-84
Singapore 371079

Opening Hours:
Mondays - Saturdays: 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm

Hweecat April snippets

Hweecat meow.

First and foremost, apologies for the blog hiatus as I have been busy for the past month. For those who follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you guys would more or less know what we have been up to. (;

1. We spent the first 7 days of April in Taipei. Food was generally awesome, we would have eaten more if not for me falling ill on the 5th day. More about that next time!

Okay, let's start with a photo of Ximending:

The scoops are so big like baseballs that I wonder how they managed to balance on the waffle cone. And this double-scoop costs less than S$2!

These are super-fresh seafood. No joke. Our heads were spinning after sucking the prawn's head.

For Cat and Hweecat, this is one of the must-go places in Taipei. After eating Din Tai Fung quite a few times in Singapore, it's a must to eat the real deal in Taipei right?

That's all for now. More pictures and commentaries when I have the time!

2. We went to WOLF once again for Restaurant Week in March 2015. Sadly when we came back from Taipei, we found out that it's closed. ): We'll miss those mind-blowing pork chops and crispy pig ears. Then again, its former head chef is now cooking at Meatsmith (which is also in Telok Ayer) so we might pop by there to try the food. (:

3. Since February, I have been working on a MOOC (massive open online course) on Coursera called "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking", which is conducted by Stanford University. I have always been interested in Maths, and I'm glad to say that I have successfully completed the Extended Course last Saturday. Much credits go to my unofficial study buddy Cat, who happily discusses some of the maths and logic concepts with me over cups of Ice Teh-O. If you are interested in pursuing a degree in Maths and / or would like to improve your mathematical and logical thinking in general, I would highly recommend this MOOC.

Any good food finds this month? Let's just say, our stomachs were too pampered in Taiwan that we need time to re-adapt to food in Singapore. For the time being, I'm sticking to old favourites such as Real Food. :P

Restaurant Week Mar 2015: Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (OCF)

Hweecat meow.

It's Restaurant Week once again, the time where participating restaurants come up with set meals at promotion prices. The first day of Restaurant Week happens to coincide with Pi Day (3.14.15), which calls for a celebration for us Mathematics-loving cats. Since Cat was not sure when his afternoon appointments would end on that day, I made a 8pm dinner reservation for two persons at Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (OCF) to stay on the safe side of punctuality. 

On the actual day

Cat arrived at City Hall MRT at around 6.45pm, which was earlier than our 8pm dinner reservation but would have been late for 6.30pm dinner reservation. We were faced with two options: to walk around and wait until 8pm for our dinner reservation, or to try our luck with dining early. We decided on the latter.

Alas, it started raining when we were on the way to The Arts House @ Old Parliament! We rushed straight into the main building, frantically searching for the restaurant. After pacing up and down the stairs, we realised that we went to the wrong building - OCF was at a separate building from the main Arts House building!

Unsurprisingly, we got drenched on the way to OCF. :O Thankfully, we were given a table despite our early arrival. Even though the tables further in at the restaurant with better comfort were fully filled and the only seats available are the bar-tops and the table nearest to the entrance, we were nevertheless glad to be able to finally have our dinner.

(Of course, we could wait for the other tables, but our stomachs couldn't wait any further.)

In typical Cat and Hweecat food-ordering style, we told the service staff, "One each *points to menu*" In between courses, the service staff asked us who would be having which dish.

Entrées

Le Ballotine de Volaille

I opted for Le Ballotine de Volaille - chicken stuffed with foie gras and wrapped up like sausage. Chewy on the outside, melt-in-the-mouth on the inside. Goes well with bread and tastes satisfying.

Egg bon-bon with black truffles and leek emulsion

Cat went for L’Œuf Royale - egg bon-bon in leek emulsion and topped with black truffles. This is an egg-based savoury experience with a creamy surprise on the inside. When Cat lowers his head close to the egg-based dish for his nose to take in the aroma, and offers Hweecat a share of the egg bon-bon multiple times, you know it is a winner.

Bon appetit!

We asked for another serving of bread just to clean up our entrées. Before our mains came, a service staff asked if we would like more bread for the mains. Without much thought, we replied, "Nah, it's okay."

That turned out to be our biggest blunder of the day.


Plats

Japanese seabream in pesto

As Cat does not like seafood in general while I love seafood, I had La Dorade - Japanese seabream, seafood and cocobean fricasseé in pesto. The Japanese seabream has a slightly strong, sweet flavour with a delicate texture. Not sure if it is farmed or caught in the wild.

Cat does not like the fish due to its slightly strong taste, I find it decent and fresh. The portion was a tad bit small though.

Australian striploin

Cat had Le Bœuf - Australian striploin topped with Cevennes onion, with potato puree and roasting jus. No questions were asked about meat rarity. The striploin is of such premium quality that it tastes incredibly tender and juicy. We guess the striploin is cooked rare to bring out its natural sweetness. We haven't tasted beef as good as this piece of striploin so far, but then again, we haven't tried top-grade beef in Japan yet. (Update 27/10/15: We tried really good beef from Japan!)

Again, we wish the portion was bigger. Cat was still hungry after finishing the striploin and starting to get impatient.

Dessert

La Fraise - strawberry dessert

Only one type of dessert was available for the Restaurant Week dinner set - La Fraise. It's a combination of sweetened strawberries, strawberry sorbet and Opalys white chocolate and tastes like deconstructed strawberry crumble cake. The strawberries do not taste like low-grade jam strawberries, instead they tasted reasonably fresh. What a way to conclude our dinner on a sweet note. (:

Hweecat posing with her dessert

Hweecat attempting to pose demurely :P

The dessert surprisingly made our stomachs feel slightly fuller, but we were still not fully satiated! Hence, we ended up having supper after dinner.

Post-Dinner

We couldn't quite fathom why we paid S$55++ per person for a meal which leaves both of us hungry, until a few days later. We then realised that we had made a wasteful blunder.

We should have asked for more bread for the mains!

We were already hinted by a service staff about it, too. Without bread to soak my plate clean for the main course, I ended up leaving a bit too much pesto for my Japanese seabream. We could have stuffed ourselves silly soaking up our main courses with free flow bread and walked out with a fuller stomach! D:

Overall, food quality is pretty good by our standards (we enjoyed our food but we really wanted more!), service was flexible and attentive (at least we were allowed to dine earlier), and the manager even took time off to explain the dishes to us. Still, a hungry Cat could potentially become an unhappy impatient Cat. If you have a pretty big appetite and love plentiful food, do make sure to ask for more bread to avoid a hungry experience!

Seafood Feast at Manhattan Fish Market

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post or tasting invitation. We did have a Seafood Feast on the house though. We would like to thank The Manhattan Fish Market for choosing us to win a Seafood Feast. (: Sorry guys if the post came late; you guys are awesome. <3

Hweecat likes seafood especially prawns; Cat likes fish but not prawns. Cat has always harboured a not-so-secret wish to share a giant platter at The Manhattan Fish Market (MFM) with a female companion who loves seafood. After all, it would be a waste of money and (sea)food for him to eat the platter alone since he'd just toss the prawns aside. ):

I was excited when MFM launched its new seafood menu which features 43 new items. To top it up, the folks at MFM had a Facebook invite-a-friend contest to give away Seafood Feasts to 20 lucky winners each week for 4 consecutive weeks!

I invited Cat via a pretty cheesy post. To our pleasant surprise, I managed to win a Seafood Feast for both of us! (:

*throws confetti*

Our Seafood Feast contains:
1. Choice of 1 Seafood Platter from the following options:

• Manhattan Flaming Seafood Platter (Dory)
• Manhattan Star Platter
• Fishermen's Platter
• Grilled Gala
• Fried Giant
• Grillin 'n Chillin
• Volcano Island

2. 1 Super Fruit Crumble

3. 1 Strawberry Flamin-Go

4. Choices of 2 Mocktails: Cala-Cala, Tropical Breeze or Gummy Bear

5. 2 Chowders of the Day

When we were looking through the menus to choose our platter, Cat commented, "Eh, all look so good and yummy, how to choose!"

After flipping through the menu for 15 minutes and asking the service crew for recommendations, we chose the Fried Giant for our platter, and Gummy Bears for our mocktails.

Chowder of the Day - Seafood Chowder

First, we were served our Chowders of the Day - Seafood Chowder (S$5.50 for Lite, $6 for Regular). We were pleasantly surprised by the generous amount of ingredients in the chowder; there were plenty of scallops and the chowder tasted a bit like lobster bisque without an overwhelming taste. Thumbs up; especially for a chowder served in a popular franchise. (:

Gummy Bear!

I used to not be able to understand why my peers like ordering Gummy Bears (S$5.50 each) at Manhattan Fish Market, as it seems gimmicky at best. After having Gummy Bears based on suggestions from the service crew, now I know the reason - these Gummy Bears are indeed fascinating and taste so refreshing that we can picture ourselves chilling out in some Caribbean tropical island. :P

Before (right) and after (left)

Here's a before-and-after photo of Gummy Bears, before and after stirring. Magic!

Fried Giant!

The main course of the day: our Fried Giant (S$40.95) platter. The Fried Giant platter looks golden! The platter is loaded with crunchy prawns, crispy fish fingers, cherry snapper fillets, battered onion strips and calamari coated with crushed peanuts. There were 4 different dips for us to choose from - Cajun Honey Mustard, Smoky Chipotle, Tartar and Onion Glory Dip. We love the calamari and onion strips - the crushed peanuts added to the crispy texture of the calamari, while the onion strips are super crispy on the outside yet not too dry on the inside. Oh, and the onion strips didn't have a sharp onion taste which I dislike; they tasted subtly sweet since good quality white onion is used. Serving size is pretty big for 2 persons - we had a hard time finishing the platter. :/

Strawberry Flamin-Go

With mango pudding, mango and strawberry slices drizzled liberally with chocolate sauce and topped with flamed marshmallows, the Strawberry Flamin-Go (S$4.95) is like a hot treasure trove waiting to be explored. They actually use a torch on the marshmallows right before serving! We could feel the richness of the chocolate sauce and the smooth texture of mango pudding twirling in our mouths. The result? Mmmmmm...smokin' hot.

Super Fruit Crumble

We slightly prefer the Super Fruit Crumble (S$4.95), which is basically deconstructed apple pie in a cup. This dessert consists of a double scoop of vanilla ice-cream dressed in apple sauce, layered with sweet crunchy crumbles and topped with cranberries. For less than S$5, this dessert is surely a steal!

Our verdict for the Seafood Feast? Superb! Our unanimous favourites: Seafood Chowder, the Onion Glory onion strips in The Giant and Super Fruit Crumble. :)

The Manhattan Fish Market
16 outlets at various locations

Opening Hours: Depending on outlet

Old Kallang Airport area (Dakota Crescent) feat. Tian Kee & Co.

Hweecat meow.

Thanks everyone for reading Cat's post on our first date anniversary! Do support our posts as we keep you guys updated with our cat-ventures. (:

Today's post will be slightly different from my typical posts whereby the focus is on food. Let's just say...it's more about the exploration.

It started out as a typical Saturday whereby Cat and I bought some snacks at Paya Lebar to chomp on during Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) sessions. Alas, our Dungeons Master was unable to run the session! Hence, I decided to drag Cat along for a long afternoon walk from Dakota to Stadium MRT station.

Our plans were disrupted by a violent thunderstorm when we arrived at Dakota MRT, so we ended up taking refuge at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre while the thunders raged. It wasn't a total waste of time though; we stumbled upon Geylang Lor 20 Banana Fritters which sells really sweet and crispy-yet-not-oily Goreng Pisang made with Pisang Raja (King of Bananas)! No photos of these small deep-fried delights, so here's a photo of the stall from ieatishootipost. Note that it costs $1.30 per big Goreng Pisang, and it's best eaten fresh. (:

Photo Credits: ieatishootipost

Thankfully, the thunderstorm ended soon after and we continued with our afternoon walk.

Our next stop is at Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates. Built in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) (HDB's predecessor), the estate was named after the aircraft model Douglas DC-3 Dakota that often landed at Kallang Airport, which was Singapore's first civilian airport. Dakota Crescent consists of 17 blocks of white low-rise flats which are less than 10 storeys tall. Unlike its more popular SIT cousin Tiong Bahru, which has undergone gentrification and is now a hipster enclave and café hotspot, Dakota Crescent is a quaint backwater which seemed almost entirely untouched for more than 50 years.

When we stepped out of Mountbatten MRT station, we were greeted with colourful Renaissance-like balconies which look oddly picturesque in contrast with the white walls.

Colourful balconies - Singaporean style

We saw community cats - loads of them. Some of them like lounging around on chairs.

Cat boss of the chairs

 Some of them prefer frolicking under staircases.

"Meow."

We found a bird taking refuge at a ground-level balcony which looked like a blast from the past.



"Chirp chirp."

We walked along Dakota Crescent and spotted a cafe at one end of the row of shops, near a TCM clinic. Tian Kee & Co. used to be an old-school provision shop, until the previous owners retired and the current owners turned it into a cafe. The current owners of Tian Kee & Co. kept several artifacts from the old provision shop - the signboard of the provision shop remains, as well as the 20-cent kiddy ride outside.  

Tian Kee & Co.

Tian Kee & Co. retains a rustic charm that is difficult to find nowadays in 21st-century Singapore. Rusted-out black-and-white sign which says something along the lines of "no sale of cigarette and alcohol to persons aged under 18"? Check. Green wooden stools? Check. The ubiquitous orange Bonjour bread shelf that we 90's kids see in old-school provision shops? Check.

Pensive Cat

At this point in time, we were getting a little thirsty and craving for some food. The cakes had interesting names and looked so mouth-watering; we had a hard time deciding on what to order! 

Instagram-worthy Rainbow Cheesecake!

We like the pastel colours of the Rainbow Cheesecake (S$7.50), which reminds us of Rainbow Paddle Pop which is popular among 90's kids. The texture of the cheesecake is not too dense or overwhelming; rather, it has a jelly-like texture which is closer to a yogurt cheesecake than a typical cheesecake. The crust is thin, crispy yet not too dry, which is ideal for my palette. Cat usually does not like cheesecake, but he enjoyed this Rainbow Cheesecake beyond the last crumb. (:

Root Beer Floats for 2

We noticed that the cafe was having a 2-for-S$8 root beer float promotion, hence we decided to give these root beer floats a try. Based on the recommendation of a young female waiting staff, we had our root beers topped with coconut ice cream and lychee ice cream respectively. It's probably the best root beer floats we had so far - the ice cream complemented the taste of the root beer such that we could discern the sweetness of the drink. Cat usually finishes his drinks in double-quick time; he made an exception for this root beer float, slowly sipping and savouring the sweetness of the root beer float.

Half Breakfast Set

Tian Kee & Co. also serves all-day breakfast sets. As we had eaten earlier, we ordered a Half Breakfast Set (S$7.90) to share. The Half Breakfast set comes with scrambled eggs, two pieces of evenly-toasted bread, butter and salad. The scrambled eggs are fluffy yet not too airy and overcooked. Truffle oil, which is used to season the scrambled eggs, accentuated the rich natural egg flavour and elevated the status of these scrambled eggs to egg nirvana. In Cat's words, "These people really know how to cook!"

While chilling out at Tian Kee & Co., we noticed that the people who visit the cafe are mostly casually-dressed young adults decked in slippers. The surroundings are mostly quiet, except for the sounds of the baristas preparing the drinks and food. We spotted more cats around the area too - yes, Dakota Crescent has a lot of cats! :D

It was getting a little dark in the evening, so we left Dakota Crescent and continued with our long walk along Kallang River, towards Stadium Waterfront. (:

P.S. Sadly, Dakota Crescent may not be around for long, as the estate has been slated for redevelopment by end-2016. This means the Dakota cats and Tian Kee & Co. would have to go. ): Do check out the Facebook page set up (not by us, but by kind-hearted feeders) for the Dakota Crescent cats!