Royal China

The Star and I have long heard of the famous Tiffany Blue interior of Royal China. In addition to their pretty interior, we have also heard of their awesome dimsum. Who doesn't love dimsum? Think Hargao, Custard Buns, Egg Tarts... Im salivating right now as I think about those gorgeous dimsum..

Royal China is located at Raffles Hotel and they don't entertain walk-ins. Do make a reservation! There was a couple who made a wasted trip as it was fully booked and they don't take walk-ins. So save yourself the disappointment!

With the location, design, and atmosphere, one will expect the prices to be pretty high. However, like Taste Paradise, the prices are similar to any other dimsum places. Decent and affordable.The difference is that over here, you're paying for quality food and quality atmosphere.





Tiffany blueeee! So pretty, I like

With such exclusivity, one does feel a teeny sense of royalty to dine here. Not crowded even though it's full house and with a peaceful atmosphere, one is set to enjoy your dimsum more so than at other places.

Ohyes, they actually left out my reservation I was pretty angry ): (they made me think that I made a reservation at a different restaurant. I can't be that silly to dial another number right.. I even checked my call history) Well at least they apologized and saw to it immediately and arranged a table for us as soon as they could

Mini egg Tarts


Hargao! Yum yum hargaos are the best


Custard buns! The custard buns at Royal China have mango in them! An unique twist to the simple yet delectable custard bun. It's one of their signature dishes but The Star and I both felt that Taste Paradise's ones are better


Oooooh look at that



Lonely Siew Mai.

I'm not a fan of siewmai(please dont judge me haha) but I thought that it was pretty good!


Fu Pi Juan!! I love fu pi juan! (beancurd skin roll with prawns)


Char Siew puffs.

The Star and I also felt that Taste Paradise's Char Siew Puffs are better. We are not saying that Royal China's aren't nice. They are nice too! Just a tad less impressive.


Char Siew chang fen! I've gotta say they have the best char siew chang fen I've tried thus far! The sauce was really tasty. The texture of the chang fen certainly deserves much praise! Not too chewy, not too thick and soooo smooth. It was perfect! Together with the sauce, this dish was flawless. Oh wait, there's a flaw! The serving was too small HAHA. Nahhh, we just couldn't get enough of it. We ordered this when it was the last order of the day. THANK GOD. Undeniably our favourite dish at Royal China! Definitely something you MUST try!

Royal China is a popular and famous Dim Sum place and it was quite a pleasant experience dining there except for the fact that they take really long to serve the dishes. We are usually fine with waiting, but not for too long. There's a long interval between every dish that we were served. It would have been a better experience had we not waited for so long.

All in all, it was an experience we did not regret. The total bill came up to about $50 for the both of us. We were full and happy after dimsum galore!



03-09 raffles hotel arcade, raffles hotel
1 Beach Rd

Contact: 6338 3363

 

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Love, The Sun

Sun's rating of Royal China : 8/10

The Animal Resort

Located in an ulu part of Singapore, many probably have not heard of The Animal Resort. It's a place where people board their pets and resident birds walk around. They also sell puppies and have a few unique animals that might fascinate you.

The Star is very hardworking at finding new and pretty dining places and I pale in comparison at that. Not as resourceful as him for sure haha. So when it was my turn to plan the day, I had to come up with a place that he's never heard of. And here it is.

The Animal Resort is really inaccessible so go only if you can drive or if you can cab!





Mister horsey. He seems really friendly but there's a sign saying that he may bite




Fierce bird






Guinea pigs! They have lots of them




Aww baby rabbits




The noisy family of geese






Lonely duck


Strange bird



We spent quite some time looking at the puppies that are for sale but there are no pictures as photography isn't allowed. But anyway, the puppies there are all cooped up in really small places with no toys and nothing. No one cleans up their shit and the living conditions seem really horrible.. ): Also the boarding area seems really small and dirty too.. Can't compare to K9 Kulture's for sure.

The Star was only impressed by the horse. Haha he hated all the geese and birds walking around hahaha so I guess it was quite a bad idea to bring him there.. He was pretty excited to see the puppies but seeing them in such poor living conditions saddened him ):

You won't spend much time here as the compound isn't very big and there are just that many things you can look at. But if you'll like to pat Mister Horsey or be amused by talking parrots you can make a trip down!

Admission is free and there's a carpark.

81 Seletar West Farmway 5

10am - 6pm
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Love, The Sun

Sun's rating of TAR: 5.5/10

Flor Patisserie

Having previously introduced Bonheur patisserie and K-ki & The little drom store, it is only apt that we share our review on Flor Patisserie to complete the delightful trinity of patisseries at ann siang/duxton that ranks right at the very top of our desserts list.

Flor patisserie has been around for more than a year now after Chef Yamashita, previously from patisserie glace, left glace to set up his own dessert place at duxton hill. It was by chance that the sun and I visited Flor for the very first time. We had wanted to visit Bonheur but it was closed on a sunday. Thankfully, Flor was just a 2 mins walk away from bonheur and Flor saved the day!

Chiller filled with delicious looking cakes!

Inside the store, there were limited seatings with around 4-5 tables and a few outdoor seats. Designs were simple but the smell of freshly baked pastries and cakes gave off a homely and cosy feel.

I always have trouble deciding what cakes to get cos they all looked so yummy. they are all calling out to me. such a dilemma. This time, we opted for the Earl Grey Chocolat, Cacoa Royal and Ice cheese tart.

Cacao Royal - Dark chocolate sponge alternately layered with thick chocolate ganache, covered in rich chocolate glaze and topped with fresh berries. SGD $6.20

Earl grey Chocolat - Delicate earl grey cream piped onto swiss roll of dark chocolate meringue and sweet banana. SGD $6.50

Original Ice cheese tart. SGD $3.20

Among this 3, my favourite has to be the Earl grey chocolat. The mix of earl grey tea flavour with chocolate strikes all the notes with my taste buds and i totally fell in love with it. The texture of the cream and chocolate meringue is one that is smooth, soft and rich. Irresistible. Highly recommended.

I think its never easy to describe the taste of a chocolate cake. You have to try it yourself to understand. The chocolatey flavour is one that evades all descriptive words. But having tasted a fair share of chocolate cakes , i can only say i rate the cacao royal pretty highly.

And for the ice cheese tart, the shop's specialty, it was served too frozen to my liking. Had it been thawed slightly further, it would have tasted even better. I went for the original flavour to taste it at its primitive best and i'm pretty sure the other flavours ( blue berry, caramel, mango, chocolate etc ) would taste just as good.

Aside from those mentioned, Flor also sells cookies, tea and chiffon cakes. I would definitely return some time again to try out other cakes, whose looks, still entices me up till today! These are some of the few. . .

Fromage Blanc - Special blueberry sauce encased in smooth rarecheese (chilled cheese mousse), set on a fragrant citrus almond tart base.SGD $6.50

Napolean - The traditional Napoleon, made with Chef's signature puff pastry, the strawberry version. SGD $6.50

Green tea opera - Classic opera with a Japanese twist. Organic green tea flavoured joconde layers filled with 58% dark chocolate ganache and organic green tea buttercream. SGD $6.70

Click here to check out their site for more information on their cakes!

#01-01, 2 Duxton Hill


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★ ★ rating of the cakes: 8.5/10

love,

★ ★

Jimmy Monkey Cafe & Bar

Sundays should officially be reserved for brunch in everyone's schedule. Brunch is like the only reason to get out of bed for and its probably one of the things I live for hahaha

So this time, The Star and I headed to One North Residences. Our second time coming here, first being for Simply Shiok the icecream parlour. When I first came to One North about 2 years ago, I fell in love with the serenity of the place. It's a wonder how it's so quiet and peaceful when it's actually pretty near the main road. I thought to myself that I'll like to stay here someday, then.


Haha isn't it wonderful? It's convenient yet so surreal.

Our destination :



Unique name isn't it? Read on to find out more!

When I was taking a picture of the signboard, the lady boss greeted us warmly and ushered us into the cafe. Can I tell you guys again how much I love nice and friendly and warm people like her? She's one of the reasons why I adore Jimmy Monkey so much.


Once we sat down, a service crew member headed straight over and handed us menus and told us to order at the counter once we're ready. Efficiency, checked.


As The Star and I like unique and quirky settings/things, we totally dig the double storey interior


The tiffany blue cupboards and almost tiffany blue cups. I really like tiffany blue.


While The Star was ordering at the counter, I was busy snapping pictures and being fascinated by the amount of effort they put into designing the interior of Jimmy Monkey. This was when, the lady boss came over to me and asked if it was my first time there. SHE WAS SO FRIENDLY LET ME REPEAT HAHAHA SORRY BUT I REALLY LIKE SUCH SWEET PEOPLE. She asked if I could see the toilet upstairs and I looked up and I was like huh what toilet.. And she told me to walk towards the book shelves a little more and look up. And so I did...


LOOK ITS A TOILET BOWL!!! Hahahaha so cute

After The Star was done with ordering, we headed back to our seats when the lady boss came and sat with us. I've no idea why I didn't ask for her name, now I have to keep calling her the lady boss hahaha. Okay so anyway she gave us a brief history of Jimmy Monkey.

Basically, the cafe is opened by the lady boss and her hubby(Mike) who's from Melbourne. He's an avid coffee lover and it was his dream to open something. So when they had the opportunity to, they seized it. They loved what this place had to offer, the double storey interior and the location and so this was where Jimmy Monkey Cafe was born. She added that her husband was like me, he's always taking pictures of cool stuff and had a huge collection of photos and when they were thinking of the design for Jimmy Monkey, they got alot of their inspiration from the photos. I must say that their ideas are so fantastically brilliant. It's a pity that they didn't get the sliding ladder or the tree in the middle of the cafe. But the cafe is still sooo lovely.

Anyway, got any clue how the name Jimmy Monkey came about? Wanna make a guess? Haha

The couple was brainstorming for a name for their cafe and they were heading down the coffee trail, initially wanting to name the cafe something related to coffee. However the boss suddenly said "Why don't we name it Jimmy Monkey?" Jimmy is the name of the monkey that Mike has since he was a baby. His mummy named it Jimmy and that's how Jimmy Monkey came about! Really cute origin I must say haha. And I really appreciate how the lady boss took time to hold a conversation with us and to even tell us the history of the cafe. Such a sweet lady


That's Jimmy Monkey. He lives in the cafe now haha


The Star : Eh I ordered beer, it's famous
Me: HUH?!?! Now what time why you want to drink beer

Turns out that I'm a retard for saying that because it's water inside. HAHAHA bet the people next to us were secretly laughing at me..




Full cooked breakfast - $18
2 eggs any style, toasted ciabatta + two sides (leg ham, bacon, sausages, grilled tomato, sage cream mushrooms, smoked salmon, wilted baby spinach, spicy buttered baked beans)

Available only on weekends


The butter, smoked salmon and leg ham was a killer combination. IT WAS SO HEAVENLY
The only downside was that the poached eggs were a little overcooked. Oh and may I add that we didn't have to wait for long before our food arrived Efficiency, double checked.


Matt's monster ham and cheese toastie -$12

When I read monster, I wasn't expecting the portion to be SO huge. When the dish arrived, The Star and I stared at each other with our eyes wide open and I was like "you'll definitely have to finish it for me" Hahaha twelve bucks for this. Really? I'll pay $15 even for it.


The cheese wasn't any normal cheese. I have no idea what cheese it is but it's just really good. And ham and cheese is a combination that will never ever go wrong. I for one, am a ham and cheese lover. I used to eat ham and cheese toast for breakfast every morning before school. The leg ham is so awesome, it's so chewy and savory and the cheese is so yummy. The most gratifying ham and cheese toast EVER. The toast had poppy seeds and sesame in them and they definitely aren't the usual plain toasts that you'll get elsewhere.


The chocolate banana muffin. Can I please rave about how good this muffin is. This is undoubtedly one of the best muffins in Singapore. We all know how well banana and chocolate go together but this muffin has taken it to a whole new level. With every bite you take into this perfectly warmed muffin, the softness and goodness will capture your heart. Definitely one of my favourite muffins ever.

JIMMY MONKEY IS OFFICIALLY MY FAVOURITE BRUNCH PLACE!! Love the place, love the food, love the muffin, love the lady boss, love the location.

Oh yes, they're famous for their coffee but we didn't feel like having coffee that morning so we missed out on one of their specialties. Their coffee machine is the first of its kind in Singapore, so please coffee lovers, you definitely have to try their coffee.

ANOTHER PLUS POINT OF JIMMY MONKEY on top of their endless list of good points is that they don't charge you the 10% service charge! How awesome is that?? And they open till 4pm for brunch on weekends. Totally the place for me and all you lazy sloths haha. Oh and you can park for free by the roadside. Ding ding another positive point! Haha


Jimmy Monkey is highly recommended!! Although I'll hate for it to get too crowded..

But how can I not share such an amazing place?


9 one-north gateway
#01-51 one-north residences
Singapore 138643

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Love, The Sun

Sun's rating of Jimmy Monkey : 9/10