Chubby Hubby - 6/78 - food, family & the finer things in life

Food Porn: a seafood feast at Iggy’s, Singapore

Dining at Iggy’s - Singapore’s award-winning restaurant that is on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants – is always a luxurious pleasure. Especially more so when I have followed the growth of the restaurant from its beginning. Recently, I had the privilege of savouring four sumptuous seafood creations. The oyster in Gilardo red cabbage with Cabernet Sauvignon soup was really impressive in its creativity, presentation and taste balance. Could have easily consumed a dozen… but the C.F.O. – that is my wife -reminded me of our sizeable mortgage repayments. Continue Reading →

7 Rules of Etiquette When Eating & Traveling in China

I have been traveling to China for ten years and living here for three. I hear a lot of visitors and / or newcomers talk about how “bad manners” are among the Chinese people. Well, I would posit that these are not “bad” but instead, just different rules of etiquette. Continue Reading →

Snack attack: Wagon Wheels cookie sandwich

When I was nine years old, my Aunty J migrated to Vancouver, Canada. Every couple of years, she would make a trip back to Singapore to visit my grandma. Each trip, she would lug goodies from Canada for all of us. I remembered seeing Aunty J unpack her luggage, anxiously anticipating the treats that I was going to receive. We got boxes of peaches and cherries, salmon jerky and my favourite – Wagon Wheels. Continue Reading →

Extra Virgin Pizza, United Square, Singapore

These days, whenever I’m driving up or down Thomson Road, if my two and a half year old son T is in the car with me, I’ll inevitably hear him peep, “Pizza?” when we get within sight of United Square. I’ve already written previously that my lil’ boy is a complete pizza addict. And his favorite pizzas in Singapore are the ones served at Extra Virgin Pizza, whose large sign facing the road is akin to a bat signal to our tiny terror. The second he spies that sign, with its iconic hand-making-a-V-logo, his little eyes light up and he begins to implore mama and papa that he simply must have pizza for lunch or dinner that day. Continue Reading →

choPSuey cafe, cool, kitsch Chinesey food in Singapore

To be honest, I had kind of avoided Chopsuey Cafe when it first opened. Early reviews by both press and bloggers weren’t entirely favorable. But, a few months ago, my sister-in-law J, who has impeccable taste, recommended that we go there for brunch. And I’m so glad she did. Since then, I’ve been back several times, each time becoming more and more enamored with this elegant yet oh-so-kitschy restaurant tucked away in a corner in Dempsey Hill. In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that all of those critics who pooh-poohed this marvelous little Chinesey eatery, well, just simply didn’t get it. Continue Reading →

Uotoku in Fukuoka – a wonderful new sushi and seafood restaurant

My family’s just returned from a whirlwind trip to Fukuoka over the long weekend, and boy, did we love it. It was a shamelessly gluttonous getaway spent, among other highlights, slurping our way through seven different bowls of Hakata-style ramen over two hours; stumbling upon a fruit farm in the countryside; and devouring what I am prepared to swear on my immortal soul is the best damned wagyu tenderloin steak on the planet…in a town with a population of less than 130,000. But we also ended up meeting some of the most colourful, amiable characters this side of Asia – from a steak chef who almost cooked for Obama, to a family of grape-growers who happily allowed us to pick our own grapes from the vine, to Satoshi Tokunaga, sushi chef-owner of Uotoku in Fukuoka city and my new favorite restaurant.
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Temple-mode minestrone

Even I’ll admit, there are days when I’ve simply had too much cheesecake, and a few too many croissants and deep-fried chicken wings. I’m often left feeling bloated, clogged up and frankly, quite disgusted with myself. To remedy this, I switch to temple-mode and focus on clean, fresh, light foods. Although I always aim to drag this phase on for as long as I can, it realistically only lasts a couple of days. I cram in as much goodness in this time as I can muster, and this minestrone features frequently as a temple-mode lunch. Continue Reading →

A night with The Clan

There are few events that make it to the household calendar, but when they do, they’re often labeled by default as ‘extremely important – forget if you dare’; and this includes La Mother’s birthday. Having a mother with high expectations and exquisite tastes can be very intimidating, and it fell on me to deal with the arrangements after losing a battle of rock paper scissors with the father. Continue Reading →

Soul Food Mahanakorn, street food, sexy setting in Bangkok

I might very well be the last food blogger in Asia to write about Soul Food Mahanakorn in Bangkok. Which is really kind of pathetic since I consider owner Jarrett Wrisley a friend. And I’ve known about this swanky eatery since before it even opened three years ago. Circumstances, however, had kept me from getting a chance to actually eat at Soul Food until just recently. The meal was really great, which is why I’m now, finally, able to give Jarrett a shout-out here. Continue Reading →

Chocolate biscotti

I made biscotti for the first time when I was looking for a baked good to whip up that didn’t involve butter (I’d run out and was too lazy to run out for some) and utilised whatever ingredients I already had in my pantry. What’s great about biscotti is that the options to customise the flavours and additions to suit your current fancy are really quite myriad. Pistachio, cashew or almond; dried cranberry, apricot or orange zest; chocolate dipped or otherwise, etc etc etc. My first couple of attempts at making biscotti was the classic almond recipe from the Kitchenaid recipe book that came with my little red baby; and subsequently, I moved on to this more decadent version that would be chocolatey enough for a post-meal sweet. Continue Reading →

Sydney’s Farmhouse – an enticing rural escape in the city

Farmhouse is the new kid on the block; aside from being cool and chilled out, this new kid has a big, warm heart. Continue Reading →