The Naked Finn

For today’s post, I’m going to take you a three and a half hour flight away from Hong Kong… to Singapore!

There are times when one stumbles across a wonderful restaurant unexpectedly. That was the case when I was visiting art galleries at Singapore’s Gillman Barracks recently.

I was supposed to meet my brother for lunch, since he lives nearby, so I asked one of the gallery managers to recommend a restaurant in the Barracks. That restaurant was The Naked Finn.

We shared everything – since we’re both foodies and always like to try more things. It was halfway through our DELICIOUS Lobster Roll that I borrowed his phone to take last-minute snaps for a blog post.

Please forgive the lack of photos for this dish; you’ll just have to trust me that:
(1) The brioche bread = PERFECT, fluffy and sweet
(2) Succulent lobster cooked with rich creamy butter
(3) Homemade mayonnaise slather in the roll…..soooo divine

I’ve always maintained that mayonnaise goes great with seafood (check out my post on mayonnaise here: For the Love of Mayo!), so just a perfect combination…

Next, we dove into a kind of ramen-inspired noodle. I say ramen-inspired because it comes with a slice of pork. You can also choose between vermicelli (aka bee hoon) or Japanese sōmen noodles. We went with the latter. Those scrumptious looking prawns are giant prawns.

On a blurb on the menu, Naked Finn will tell you that their prawn-based soup stock is cooked for hours, and made without MSG or added sugar. Instead, they offer seasoning on the side (top right pic) – although the broth was so potent and fragrant that it wasn’t really necessary. In fact, we only used the dips out of curiosity. A perfect bowl of noodles.

To finish: a dessert so heavenly we spent the whole time talking about how good it was in between bites. It’s called the Naked Chendol, and is an updated take on a classic Singaporean dessert: chendol. The original, which has its origins in Indonesia, normally uses coconut milk + green rice jelly + red beans + gula melaka (palm sugar syrup) over shaved ice.

Naked Finn’s version was sublime – a simplified and refined interpretation. Instead of using ice, they served their own incredibly smooth and fragrant homemade coconut sorbet. The gula melaka was clearly handcrafted as well, since the texture and flavour was much richer than we were used to. Each bite was pure ecstasy.

This restaurant alone is worth making a visit to Gillman Barracks, but don’t stop there! Make a day out of it, since it’s great fun to check out all the latest art exhibitions on display to build up an appetite.

ENJOY, see you in the next post, and Happy Holidays in the meantime.

Bakker x

BBITES Mini-Post #7 x Singapore Swig

If you live in Singapore, this post is (especially) for you!

During my last visit, my brother took the family to a favourite new spot of his: The Good Beer Company – a quirky stall that stocks dozen of imported craft beers and ciders.

Located in the Chinatown hawker centre on Smith Street, there’s no lack of ambience and bustle here. With local food vendors all around, you’ll find a fun mix of people floating around the corner where this beer oasis is located (Unit #02-58).

My favourite was the delicious dessert-in-a-bottle cider: Brothers Toffee & Apple cider. I’ve had flavoured ciders before, but this beat them all. But, that’s just one of many… 

If you’re in the mood for a swig of the craft craze: The Good Beer Company is just a couple of “MRT” stops away 😉Thanks for reading!

Bakker x

BBITES Mini-Post #1 x Singapore Surprise @ TWG Tea

When walking through the line of shops facing the Exchange Square entrance to IFC, you can’t help but look into TWG Tea.

The rich woods, gold finishings and decoration are host to elegant table settings, beautifully presented tea tins and, of course, large glass displays of freshly baked cakes.

It has an old world, Colonial feel to the design and decor, an aesthetic that naturally incorporates some elements of Chinese style, all the way to the menus and packaging.

As it turns out, according to the official site, TWG Tea Company is actually a franchise founded in Singapore; its concept being derived from the city’s “great history as a trading post for teas, spices…”

It’s possible to buy an entire cake to take home. However, considering the price of just one slice ($60), it’s more financially and calorie-reasonable to just get one slice and be done with it.

If it wasn’t for its name, Singapore Surprise, (My mom is Singaporean, so I was feeling a little national pride), I would have most likely overlooked this cake and never given it a chance. Why? Well, to be totally honest: it doesn’t look that promising. The simple dark brown burnt exterior with custard filling actually disguises three refined and complementary flavors.

1st layer of flavor: Outer layer of the cake; burnt caramelized sugar, similar to Creme Brulee style but more thin and light.

2nd layer: Custard filling; tiny fraises des bois/wild strawberries mixed in (these strawberries are incredibly potent despite being small); and pink, instead of large and red, like their regular counterparts.

3rd layer: A butter cookie crust to hold it all together, and to neutralize the combined sweetness from above.

It tastes like eating some kind of gourmet strawberry ice-cream sundae… knowing the ingredients are all totally fresh and freshly prepared. 🙂

On the other hand, my friend Samantha opted for a Strawberry Tart that was as good as it looked, the highlight being an amazing crust.

Although it is more on the pricey side, consider TWG Tea cakes to satisfy your sweet tooth; either in its serene cafe bistro setting, or for a special treat at home.

Bakker x

Out of Town and Out of Service!

I’m writing to you from my Mom’s computer in Singapore where I’ve uploaded  a few photos of the past week.

I’ve had some tech problems since arriving to visit my family and haven’t been able to update BBITES as I had planned… 😦

Once I return to Hong Kong in a few days, I’ll be able to use my usual photo-editing software and complete my next post on an awesome Spanish TAPAS restaurant I recently went to in Sai Wan Ho. 🙂

Until then, check out the edgy and creepy street art that was painted live in Butter Factory Club on the launch night (9th June) of SPKRZ, a local electro DJ crew.

And of course, family time deserves a family portrait…

Back soon with FOOD, I promise!

Bakker x

Singapore… so far!

Greetings from BBITES in Singapore!  I’ve come to spend Christmas with my family in SG but am also making two trips to Indonesia as well… so you can expect some exotic posts from the South East to warm all of you up back at home in Hong Kong.

This is a little follow-up on a previous post called, “How Your Friend Always Orders the Better Dish”.  On Friday night my family (+ Ryan, a childhood friend of my brother and I) went to watch Aladdin, a Wild Rice theatre production.  It was a hilarious Singapore remix of the Aladdin story and believe me when I say I have never laughed so much at a show (or movie!) before. 😀

Ryan, me and my brother back in the day!

Before the musical started we grabbed a lovely dinner at Shokudo Japanese Coffee House.  All of our orders were very nice… until we came to dessert.

My brother, my mom and I decided to split two Shokudo Original Tofu Cheese Cakes between us, whilst Ryan opted for the Blueberry Cheese Cake.  Tofu sounded so cool right?

Well… turns out the texture just wasn’t to our liking: despite a nice flavour it felt like a slab of tough jelly when were expecting a creamy, aerated Japanese cheese cake.  Ryan, on the other hand was envied by the rest of the table with his simple (and normal!!!) cheesecake.

So this time.. it really was our friend that ordered the better dish… I guess sometimes it doesn’t pay to be adventurous.  The management was very friendly and asked us why we didn’t finish our Tofu Cheesecakes, we responded with the above faces (just kidding!).  Thankfully the rest of the meal was delicious so we weren’t left disappointed by any means, instead all of us were laughing about how I’d written that blog post and still got it wrong… *sigh*.  Life (and ordering food) will always be a work in progress.. 🙂

I’ll be back soon with more BBITES…

Bakker x