Bossy Flossie
I love a good sandwich which is kind of strange given my history. When I was a kid, I refused to eat the sandwiches packed in my school lunch box. I suppose they were kinda soggy. Lately, I have been craving chunky bread stuffed with fresh (and sometimes fried) ingredients. So, because I mostly work from home, I treat myself to a takeaway sandwich order from time-to-time. The below videos are my tried-and-tested recommendations. They are the best of the best takeaway sandwiches in Singapore!
What is a donut? Deep-fried cake with a hole in the middle and perhaps a dusting of sugar. Nothing more. Nothing less. Well, that was what I thought until I discovered City Donut. They take deep-fried cake to a whole other level!!! Their donuts are all inspired by classic Singaporean dishes. They even do a Singapore Chilli (No) Crab donut. Whoa!
The only thing better than a good ol’ sammie is Japanese inspired sandwiches. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Sando. This place is amazing! Sando specialises in fuss-free Japanese lunches that don’t hurt your back pocket (too much). I was particularly curious about their sandwich selection. The minimum order for home delivery from Sando is $66 so I thought, why not? Let’s splurge! I ordered five different lunch sandwiches to sample and I was mightly glad that I did.
Gosh how I miss lunches at Two Men Bagel House in Tanjong Pagar. The joint is just around the corner from my office. In the pre-COVID19 era, I indulged in one of their hunky chunky bagels every Friday. Then, working from home happened. Then, I had the harebrained idea to just order myself a takeaway instead. I discovered the bagels at Two Men Bagel House taste just as good when home-delivered as they do in-restaurant. Choice!
Please forgive me if I only recently discovered kopi. During the last four years living in Singapore I was happily sipping away on my cafe lattes. That was until I discovered Moments in Serangoon. This cafe has converted me from Western brunch-fan to local brekkie expert. These days, I cannot resist a delicious salted egg bun, or some kaya toast with a hot kopi C, on the weekend. Moments in Serangoon serves all these Singaporean breakfast favourites plus more.
My area wouldn’t be complete without a little Italian on Serangoon Road in the form of Bruno’s Pizzeria. Italian is my favourite cuisine. There aren’t too many Italian restaurants in Singapore that live up to my expectations. Fortunately, my local pizzeria happens to be a gem.
Hand in Hand is my discovery of the year, as it is an amazing little restaurant dishing up delicious Chinese dumplings on Jalan Besar road. Even more, I can say it is the best Northern Chinese fare in Singapore. Whilst that is a big statement, it is not an exaggeration. The dishes are made with high quality ingredients and care… and you can taste it. Hand in Hand’s mission statement is to serve customers with love and sincerity and their selection of dumplings rivals the nearby Swee Choon in variety, deliciousness and price.
For those that know me well, they understand my poison of choice is wine. After 10 years of working in hospitality and attending numerous wine tastings I have developed an appreciation of European and New World wines. So when I came to Singapore I struggled at first to find my feet. Alcohol is expensive here and if you don’t have the budget or know any better, you can easily end up drinking cheap and nasty Australian chardonnay every time you go out. I first discovered Ginett quite by mistake. Ginett is a French wine bar and restaurant that is part of the G Hotel brand located close to Bugis. This is where I go for shopping and I decided to pop in for a glass of wine when walking by one weekend. Ginett offer a fantastic wine menu at reasonable prices, with good French wine for as low as $6 a glass, which is a bargain in Singapore.
Victor’s Kitchen on Bencoolen Street serves amazing Har Gow prawn dumplings. It is a bold statement, but in my quest to find the best dim sum in Singapore I can’t go beyond the Har Gow at Victor’s Kitchen. It is a humble establishment that first setup in 2004 inside the Sunshine Plaza. The place looks rustic with its cheap metallic tables and tightly packed plastic chairs, but we don’t come here for the ambiance… we come here to eat cheap and tasty dumplings!
Swee Choon Dim Sum Restaurant is an unassuming, little place along Jalan Besar road in Farrer Park. If it wasn’t for the street-facing take away counter displaying row after row of delicious egg tarts, I may have walked passed and completely missed this little gem. Swee Choon has been serving Shanghai and Hong Kong style dumpling and noodle dishes in Singapore for more than fifty years. It is always busy and it stays open until the wee hours of the morning (6am) to feed both dinner and supper cravings. Their signature dish is the Mee Sua Kueh, a deep-fried vermicelli cake however everything from their steamed prawn dumplings to Shanghai chilli dumplings tastes good.
Old Hen Kitchen has the best breakfast and brunch menu in Farrer Park. Their avocado on toast is award winning and the coffee is made with care and precision. You also gotta try the Singapore Chilli Crab Fries for the novelty factor.
Alcohol in Singapore is expensive. One thing I hadn’t appreciated before I moved to Singapore was how much alcohol I drank. In London, where I used to live, there is a big pub scene. In respect of the culture and to assimilate into British society, I fully immersed myself and drank a respectable amount of alcoholic beverages. A typical week living and going out in the East End would include enjoying £12 bottles of wine on Wednesday at the Good Samaritan happy hour, prosecco and pizza at The Stable on Thursday, wine with dinner on Friday followed by more drinks at at Indo, and Saturday heading over to Bethnal Green for cocktails and brunch at Bistrotheque or some other trendy joint. For the days in between, you could always rely on Tesco for £10 bottles of perfectly drinkable wine and prosecco to enjoy at home.
109 Teochew Yong Tau Foo is a hawker style restaurant in Singapore specialising in fish balls and Teochew yong tau foo, which is tofu filled with fish paste and served in a fish soup. I had passed this place at lunch time many times and it always has a long queue, so I made a point of eating here for dinner when there were slightly less people around. It was my first time trying Yong Tau Foo in Singapore and I paid less than $5 for a filling meal.