Seasonal Tastes at The Westin Singapore [Media Invite]

Seasonal Tastes at the Westin Singapore is featuring The Great Thai Feast, bringing back a popular Thai dinner buffet and featuring flavours from a number of regions of Thailand ~ Northern, Southern, North East and street food of Bangkok. This Thai Feast runs from 3rd April to 30th April 2023 at Dinner Time from 6pm to 10.30pm at $88++ per person.

Seasonal Tastes at The Westin Singapore

Let's embark on a gastronomic journey without physically flying over to the Land of Thousand Smiles, together with their resident Thai Chefs.

The Great Thai Feast

Chef pop's family used to ran a food business and he is trying to work hard in order to reopen his family business and bring back the legacy. Don't miss out his Pad Thai Lobster and the Northeast part of Thailand's Sausage dish.

Chef Por's incorporate the widely known dish in Chiang Mai, Khao Soi, with a personal touch with addition of lobster and her mother's secret Khao Soi paste.

Chef JoJo showcases his favourite food, Phuket Moo Hong, a Southern-style pork belly stew cooked using the sous vide method, on low heat over 12 hours so the meat is soft, tender and full of exploding flavors.

Resident Thai Chefs

Reservations were made and we got ourselves a table with a great view from level 32.

Level 32

While our table is situated near the desserts counter, we took a look before making our rounds at the Thai Action Station. There are assorted Kuehs, cut fruits, Thai Desserts too.,

Desserts

While passing by this small portion of Mango Sticky Rice, I'm quite tempted to consume them before my buffet dinner but luckily I still manage to resist and had it after my dinner.

Mango Sticky Rice

Desserts Area

Assorted Kuehs

Assorted Kuehs

As we walked over near to Seasonal Tastes entrance, our attention was all captured by this Blue Crab Som Tum station.

Blue Crab Som Tum

Decorations of Thai Sacred animal is placed at the booth.

Elephant

Not only that, the 

Sawadee Ka

Order your serving of Blue Crab Som Tum and enjoy the service staff mixing this Thai Salad in from of your eyes.

Mixing Som Tum

Adding Condiments

The Blue Swimmer Crab Som Tum was mixed with shredded papaya, Tomato, Lime, Peanuts, Sakura Shrimp, Chili and Crispy Pig Skin.

Blue Crab Som Tum

Looks what's on the carving station?

From The Carving Station

The heavy whiff of aroma from the wok had gained my senses and drew me closer. I looked and was excited about what was cooking in the wok.

Chef at Work

I'm in love with their Lobster Phad Thai for its authenticity. The "Wok Hei" taste from the noodles was notable with raw beansprouts, sugar, chilli powder flakes as toppings. A stalk of green leek accompanied the dish with the lobster had gave the plate of noodles a good color presentation.

Lobster Pad Thai

Take a look at the red-shell crustacean.

Lobster

Head over to this counter for their Shrimp Paste Fried Rice with Condiments

Khao Kluk Kapi

Here's Chef Pop's signature Isan Sausage (Homemade Thai Pork Sausage), do have a try.

Thai Pork Sausage

The Stir-Fried Minced Pork with Hot Basil was cooked together with squid. Simply love the Basil herb fragrance.

Stir-Fried Minced Pork with Hot Basil

Moving over to Chef Jojo's counter...

Chef Jojo's Moo Hoong

The Thai Pork Stew aka "Moo Hoong" was a speciality by Chef Jojo. It was perfectly stewed in its flavours with a good hint of Cinamon, star anise clove etc. It does have a good ratio of fatty and lean meat. 

Thai Pork Stew

Heading to the Tom Yum Goong counter, we had this spicy & Sour Broth with the River Prawn, Tomato, Galangal, Straw Mushroom, Kaffir Leaves as well as Shallot.

Tom Yum Soup

While we tried to be healthy in all buffet dinners, we had some vegetables on top of those vegetables from the salad bar.

Stir-Fried Vegetables

The Stirred Fried Crab in Yellow Curry was aromatic and yummy.

Poo Pad Pong Kari

Chef Por's

Was quite excited to see my favourite Thai Boat Noodles. This station was shared and if you are looking for Northern Thai Chicken and Lobster Curry Noodles from Chef Por's Special, they are there too.

Preparation of Thai Boat Noodles

Enjoy a good bowl of Thai Boat Noodle with either Rice or Egg Noodles with ingredients like Meatballs, Pork Liver, Beef Tendon, Beef Tribe as well as sliced beef.

Thai Boat Noodle

Complete the meal with Cha Yen aka Thai Milk Tea.

Thai Milk Tea

Apart from types of Thai Dishes, there are also mainstays such as Sashimi, Sushi, Oyster, Seafood, carving station, Cheese & Bread, and local as well as international desserts.

Over at the Charcuterie & Cheese counters...

Cheese

If you are looking for some mainstays, they have Cold Cuts like, Beef Salami, Honey as well as Black Forest Ham.

Cold Cuts

With the cheese and cold cuts, you may want to pair them with some bread.

Bread

While reserving some stomach spaces for the desserts portion, we had some Rose Jelly (Gluten Free).

Rose Jelly (Gluten Free)

We also enjoyed some Pastries and cakes.

Cake, Pastry and Fruits

Have some refreshing coconut milk dessert. Love the fragrant jackfruit ingredient as well as the jelly.

Coconut Milk Dessert

Ending the buffet meal with a sweet note, we had a few scoops of Gelato. The strawberry, vanilla and chocolate 

Gelato

Join The Great Thai Feast from April 3 to 30, 2023, for dinner, from 6 PM to 10:30 PM, at S$88++ per person. Bring your Thai friends to enjoy the buffet at a special price of S$55.50++* per person and S$5.50++* per glass of chilled juice or soft drink.

*Terms and conditions apply. Limited to a maximum of five persons per reservation. At least one Thai national must be in the group for all members to enjoy the discounted price. Advance reservation is required.

Thank you The Westin Singapore for the invitation.

Seasonal Tastes
Location: The Westin Singapore, 12 Marina View, Asia Square Tower 2 Singapore 018961

Hanazen Japanese Restaurant 花膳日式料理

Indulge in some Japanese Food at Mount Austin without breaking your pockets. For this trip, we headed to Hanazen Japanese Restaurant

Hanazen Japanese Restaurant

The decorations were pretty zen with Mount Fuji as a backdrop on one side of the wall with faux Sakura flowers by the side. The wooden decors and furnishing gave a good feel of a typical Japanese restaurant.

Restaurant Decor

We started with some cold green tea while waiting for the food. They are refillable.

Refillable Green Tea

What's entering a Japanese Restaurant without having some slices of Salmon? We would like to have more variety like Mekajiki but too bad it was not available. Nonetheless, we were still satisfied with our mainstream order of Salmon Sashimi.

Salmon Sashimi

Under the Nigiri Sushi, they have Maguro Sushi and for the Aburi Nigiri Sushi, we ordered the Salmon Volcano Sushi which is topped with cheese.

Salmon Volcano Sushi 火山三文鱼寿司 & Maguro Sushi 金枪鱼寿司 - RM 6.50 & RM 6
（2 Pcs Each)

Similarly, the Aburi Ika Sushi is also topped with cheese. The Nama Hotate Sushi was topped with bright orange egg roes.

Nama Hotate Sushi & Aburi Ika Sushi - RM 25 & 6 (Price at 2 Pcs Each)

Good for sharing Sushi Rolls under their Special Roll Series on the Menu. Like most of the Japanese restaurants in Singapore, you will find the King Prawn Roll Series like this topped with sweet Mango Slices and Mayonaise with sushi rice encasing portions of the prawn meat.

Mango Fried King Prawn Roll 芒果帝皇虾卷

If you are looking for a set meal, look under their Set Teishoku and be spoilt for choices. The Tempura Mori Set comes with a bowl of rice, Chawanmushi, Slices of Watermelon, Pickles, Miso Soup, salad with Thousand Island sauce and 3 Ebi Tempura.

Tempura Mori Set 综合天- RM 23.90

While another set like Salmon comes with the option of Teriyaki or Shio. The items in the set are standard with a bowl of rice, Chawanmushi, Slices of Watermelon, Pickles, Miso Soup, and salad with Thousand Island sauce. Salmon was well glazed in Teriyaki Sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Salmon Shio / Teriyaki Set 盐/酱烤三文鱼定食 - RM 26.90

Another set that we had ordered was the Katsu Set. There is a choice of chicken or pork and we had the Tori (chicken) Katsu.

Tori Katsu / Buta Miso Set - RM 22.90

If you love Saba Fish, you may want to order their Saba Shio.

Saba Shio 烤鲭鱼 - RM 14.90

Next up, the Cheese and Miso on the prawn is one of the better choices too!

Ebi Miso Yaki 味增帝皇虾 - RM 13.90

The Ebi Mentai Yaki was generously topped with delicious Mentai and looks perfect.

Ebi Mentai Yaki 烤明太帝皇虾 - RM 13.90 

Although the variety of Japanese Food may not be very extensive, I find that the food was pretty decent. On top of that, the server who served us was patient with the food introduction and her friendliness was praiseworthy.

Hanazen Japanese Restaurant 花膳日式料理
Location: 28, Jln Austin Heights 8/2, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia 

The Founders Cafe

The Founders Cafe is located in a secluded area among the industrial estate. Despite its location, it is still one of the popular Cafes in Johor Bahru serving Western Mains at affordable pricing.

The Founders Cafe

The decor in the cafe was impressive. The 6-7 meters high ceiling with an industrial theme gives diners a spacious and comfortable feel.

Decor 

The dining area was divided into two main regions after the entrance. The wall separating the two areas was quite unique, it looked as though it was being knocked down.

Interior of Founders Cafe

The decors in The Founders Cafe are cosy and unique on their own.

Interior

Popping over to this corner of the Founder's Market, we noticed that batches of Cinnamon Rolls were doled out from the oven. The aromatic smell lingers in the air and we brought ourselves nearer to the display cabinet for they have a good series of Artisan Cinnamon Rolls.

Founder's Market

They also sell brownies and have a good range of Scones.

Pick Some?

The elevator which transports customers and staff between the levels was well-decorated too and kind of reminds me of a Hotel Lift with an advertisement.

Elevator

While we welcome the good vibes, The Founders Cafe has Serviettes that will help in wiping the negativity away :).

Serviettes

The King! The OG! We shared ourselves and had enjoyable moments. The fluffy Tomyam scrambled eggs, chicken ham, sliced tomatoes, Alexa's Sriracha aioli, coriander & cheddar cheese sandwiched between tortilla sheets. It was also topped with grated parmesan, pomegranate and a drizzle of pesto oil.

Quesadilla - RM 29.90

Though this was not the recommendation on the menu, this English Big Breakfast is a hearty meal. It comprised scrambled kampong eggs, a choice of beef bacon or chicken ham, chicken bratwurst sausage, potato tots, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, greens and toasted chicken brioche.

English Big Breakfast (Beef Bacon) - RM 36.90

English Big Breakfast (Chicken Ham) - RM 36.90 

Do try their juicy 150g Aussie Beef Bagel served with fried sweet potato fries. The flavours were memorable.

Aussie Beef Bagel with Sweet Potato Fries - RM 34.90 

For Hot Coffee beverages, The Founders Cafe offer a good range of White as well as Black Coffee. For the Black, they have Single, Double Espresso, Long Black and Americano.

Long Black - RM 10

Ice Chocolate was chocolaty and not too sweet. The straws provided were made of paper.

Iced Chocolate - RM 13.50

Here are the Iced Beverages washing down our breakfast.

Iced Matcha Latte & Iced Mocha - RM 17.50 / 14.50

The building is still undergoing partial renovation and I forsee we will be back again for more in time to come.

The Founders Cafe
Location: Tiong Nam Tebrau, 45, Jln Tiong Emas, Kawasan Perindustrian Tebrau, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Website

Blissful Moon Bakery [Media Drop]

Blissful Mon Bakery is a cake shop in Singapore that provide free islandwide cake delivery in  with prompt and responsible delivery personnel. They specializes in birthday cakes, wedding cakes and corporate events in Singapore. With their online platform, it makes it easier to order and customize our birthday cakes, delivery right to the doorsteps.

They also pride themselves, making cakes affordable, healthier by using freshest and premium quality ingredients. Not only that, they have a good range of flavours to choose from.

The box of 12 cupcakes were presented with a ribbon and well seated in a box with a transparent window.

Purple  x Royal Blue Customised Cupcakes (Box of 12) - $69

I opted for the Fresh Strawberry Short Cake flavour out of these selections. 

1) Chocolate Raspberry

2) Classic Pure Vanilla

3) Dark Chocolate Crunch

4) Earl Grey Lavender

5) Fresh Strawberry Short Cake

6) Speculoos Crunch

7) Sea-Salt Chocolate Salted Caramel

8) Moist Vanilla Raspberry

9) Vanilla Lemon Curd

The cupcakes were piped in elegant swirls and each individual cupcake is unique in terms of the pattern of Pipping arrangement.

12 Cupcakes

Although I don't play Mahjong, this is considered the game of kinds and definitely a popular pastime here in Singapore and also a big favourite among the elderly. This cake is perfect for any mahjong enthusiast as it was delicately decorated with Mahjong Tiles and table. It also has auspicious wording like '發' and '暴富‘ with a Money Symbol which I guess most of us will want too.

Mahjong Table huat Rich Cake - $205

Blissful Moon Bakery offers a wide assortment of cake flavours as well as cake sizes in 4, 6 or 8 inches. We were spoilt by the availability of the flavours:

1) Chocolate Raspberry

2) Classic Pure Vanilla

3) Dark Chocolate Crunch

4) Earl Grey Lavender

5) Fresh Strawberry Short Cake

6) Speculoos Crunch

7) Sea-Salt Chocolate Salted Caramel

8) Moist Vanilla Raspberry

9) Vanilla Lemon Curd

The cake was made up of a few tiers with alternating sponge cake and crunch. The sea salt chocolate salted caramel flavor was not too sweet and went well with the cake.

Cross Section of the cake

Huat ah! An expression normally used in Mandarin indicating "to prosper"! Beside this Majhong Table Huat Rich Cake. There are many other more interesting cake designs on their online platform to choose from. 

Huat Ah!

Thank you Blissful Moon Bakery for Sending the cakes over.

T.I Cafe

An introduction by our teammates to the famous chicken rice in town and also an interesting selection of food items for breakfast made us set off from Singapore to TI Cafe.

Facade of TI Cafe

The staff from TI Cafe was friendly and welcoming. We settled ourselves and realized that the breakfast items were rather limited during our time of visit.

TI Cafe

The Toast Butter with homemade kaya & halved boiled kampung eggs is an Asian's comfortable breakfast. The meal is hearty and served with a cup of coffee or tea.

2 Kampung Eggs (Half Boiled) 半熟甘邦鸡蛋套餐 - RM 9.50 

A simple and common breakfast item in Asia. The Fried Mamak Mee comes with boiled eggs, cucumber slices, and sambal tumis and is served with a cup of coffee or tea in a set. The noodle was on the spicy side, nonetheless, a squeeze of the given lime will aid a bit on the spicy portion. 

Fried Mamak Mee 马来炒面套餐 - RM 9.50

If you prefer the thinner noodles, T.I Cafe does offer Fried Mee Siam too. It's similar to the Fried Mamak Mee with cucumber, boiled eggs and Sambal chilli served with a cup of coffee or tea in a set.

Fried Mee Siam 炒米暹套餐 - RM 9.50

If you will like to go for something more English for a breakfast, try their Scrambled Egg with Bratwurst Sausage that is served with Salad and a cup of tea or coffee.

Scrambled Egg With Sausage Set  鸡肉香肠半蛋丝套餐 - RM 13.50

Other than the Toast with Scrambled Egg, you can opt to have the French Toast with Chicken Bratwust Sausage too. 

French Toast with Chicken Bratwurst Sausage 法国土司伴鸡肉香肠套餐 - RM 13.50

While I have yet to try the so-called famous Hainanese Chicken Rice in Town, I'm still very much interested in making a return for this dish.

T.I Cafe
Location: 160, Jalan Ngee Heng, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia