Contest of the week

Ever since I received my complimentary Eat @ Meritus Card, I've been eating at Chatterbox almost once a week. Without the card (which offers 50% off the food bill for 2 diners), a plate of chicken rice could easily cost 30 bucks -and we haven't even taken into account the infamous Orchard Road parking charges!

One other eatery worth exploring is Pine Court. Located at the topmost level of Meritus Mandarin Orchard, you can be assured of a panoramic view of the city landscape. More importantly, the food is above average, with a decent range of dim sum and ala carte dishes.

For those interested in a free meal at Pine Court, check out the below (taken from the 938 website):

EAT OUT WITH F3 @ Pine Court Chinese Restaurant at the Meritus Mandarin Singapore!!

There IS such a thing as a free lunch! Every first Fri of the month, F-Cube eats out! Our next tasting will take place on Friday 5 March 2010 with Eugene Loh and All About Food's Janice Teo during lunch.

Date: Friday 5 Mar

Time: 12 pm - 2.30 pm

Venue: Pine Court Chinese Restaurant

Relish exquisite Cantonese cuisine in the elegant setting of the award-winning Pine Court Chinese Restaurant. Sample signature dishes by Pine Court’s new Executive Chef, Eric Yeo. These dishes will be available together with the new menu when it is launched in March 2010.

Set Menu: 味 芝 奶 焗 鲈 鱼 扒Canadian Sea Perch baked with miso and mayo, 秘 制 大 虾 球 King Prawn with Chef’s secret recipe, 鹅 肝 牛 仔 粒 Beef Cubes wok-fried with foie gras, 螺 头 花 胶 炖 鲍 翅 Superior Shark’s Fin double-boiled with fish maw and sea whelk, 榄 菜 鲜 蟹 肉 炒 饭 Fragrant Fried Rice wok-fried with diced olive and fresh crabmeat, 人 参 芦 荟 雪 蛤 冻 Pine Court Dessert chilled hasma with ginseng and aloe vera.

Mandarin Orchard Singapore

333 Orchard Road

Tel: 65 6831 6266

Fax: 65 6235 8365

If you & a friend would like to join us for the complimentary tasting, email eugene@mediacorp.com.sg with your name, IC number, designation and company name. Only successful applicants will be notified. Priority will be given to listeners who have not joined us on this event before. Only successful applicants will be notifed.

Festive Flurry

With Chinese New Year barely a week away, its hard to ignore the huge Chinese lanterns, blaring Chinese New Year music and sizzling smell of bak kwa.


Will you be going to Chinatown this year? If you do not wish to risk being jostled around like a clueless sardine, go during lunchtime where you can comfortably soak in the atmosphere with relative ease. Just remember to slather on more sunblock!

As always, the famous bak kwa shops are experiencing brisk business. Heck, there's even a bak kwa index devised by Bloomberg to track bak kwa prices during the lead up to Chinese New Year. Lim Chee Guan leads the pack with the priciest (and arguably best tasting) sweet meat.

This year, I gave up queuing up for Lim Chee Guan bak kwa and defected to new kid on the block Kim Joo Guan. Despite its newbie status, Kim Joo Guan has already garnered a cult following after disclosing that it is a back door supplier of bak kwa to Lim Chee Guan.

Kim Joo Guan's classy packaging trumps its competitors this year. Check out the funky gold box (for 1 kg purchases) and carrier.


When I visited both Lim Chee Guan and Kim Joo Guan's outlets during lunchtime on Friday, both were already fully sold out for the day!

I'm not much of a bak kwa connoisseur but everyone has differing opinions of how a good slice of bak kwa should taste. Folks who like thick and chewy slices would probably prefer Kim Hock Guan. I like Lim Chee Guan and Kim Joo Guan for their strong branding and thinner, juicier slices. However, my personal favorites are Bee Chun Heng (Gourmet Bak kwa) and Kim Peng Hiang (pineapple bak kwa).

And what's Chinese New Year without a sumptuous meal and a round of mahjong thereafter? If you are clueless about mahjong and do not feel like splurging on an expensive meal, here is an alternative way to have your cake and eat it.

Step 1: Take part in Crystal Jade's mahjong cupcake contest and win a set of 14 chocolate cupcakes with edible marzipan mahjong tiles on them. There are 50 sets to be won and the contest closes on 7 Feb (today!) at 7pm.


Step 2: Take part in Noel's CNY contest and stand to win a gourmet abalone seafood claypot from Jumbo restaurant worth SGD64. Contest ends on 12Feb10.

Good luck!

Shared Moments @ Sushi Tei Competition

If you like taking pictures, this contest may just be the one for you.

Organised by Sushi Tei, all you have to do is to submit your best creative shot capturing a special moment experienced at any Sushi Tei outlet demonstrating why it is the special place for fun filled moments with your friends, family or loved ones.

Instructions for submission: Each photo is to be accompanied by a tagline of no more than 20 words telling a story, reflecting the atmosphere of the moment, the purpose of the gathering or simply what Sushi Tei means to you.

An example:

(A very lame) caption: I don't know what you do but you do it well- I'm under your spell.

Send entries to: sharedmoments@sushitei.com with subject heading "Shared Moments at Sushi Tei photo competition" with your name, ic no, contact details and mailing address.

Deadline: 23 Nov09

For further details, click on the below link:
http://www.ascentis.com.sg/cms/files/fileManager/SUSHITEI/SUSHITEI%5CShared%20Moments/emailer.htm

Prizes are attractive. First prize is a SGD500 sushi tei voucher, a fujifilm camera and a 1 yr magazine subscription. In addition, there are 5 consolation prizes comprising of SGD200 sushi tei vouchers and a 1 yr magazine subscription.

Good luck!

Think you're a foodie? Challenge

I love taking part in contests/lucky draws, especially those that possess the below qualities:

1) Prizes are many and too good to miss
2) Companies are of decent standing and wouldn't randomly circulate/sell my particulars to some data companies which will spam my mailbox
3) Not many people know of the contest (thus increasing the probability of winning)
4) The contest subject is close to my heart e.g. food related
5) It doesn't take too much effort to complete the application form

This "strategy" has paid off quite handsomely so far. Some of the items I have won to date include ipods, movie tickets, toiletries and food vouchers. Although some might think it is a little frivolous to go gaga over such insignificant freebies, its amazing how these little surprises can add color to an otherwise dull (and luckless) day.

Over time, I'll be intermittently posting up details on contests which I think are too good to miss.
Here's one to start off:

Pan Pacific's Think You're a Foodie? Challenge
This contest is pretty straightforward. Every Mon, a Japanese-food-related question will be posted in the below link.

http://www.panpacific.com/en/countries/singapore/singapore/pan_pacific_singapore/think_youre_a_foodie_challenge.html

All you have to do is to be one of the first 2 folks to email the correct answer (together with your name, ic and contact no) to nfarisha@panpacific.com with the subject header "Think You're a Foodie?" and you'll soon find yourself feasting on a delectable "Keyaki Palate Pleaser" (includes two pieces each of Blue Fin Tuna, Yellowtail and Scallop sashimi and a bottle of Keyaki Sake (180ml)).

Yum.

The catch? You have to be the first 2 to email the correct answer. Which means that if you really want to win, you should standby your computer at 12am on Sunday night and keep refreshing the above link to ensure that you are the first to receive (and respond to) the updated question of the week.

May the "win" be with you!