My Domestic Art

Mitsui Cuisine is famous for their high quality dishes, amazing service and ambience. We heard nothing but great reviews about this place and decided to give it a go. As we walked in, we were impressed by the elegant, dark and posh décor. It definitely set the tone to the rest of our time here. Mitsui Cuisine has both ala-carte and set menu, but they are famous for the omakase set meals with an interesting array of fresh produce. All dinner and lunch set meals have different price options. Simply set the budget and let the supervisor know what ingredients you like or dislike and the chef will prepare for you accordingly. We ordered the basic set lunch at NT$1200 (SG$60). To kick start our meal we had a beautiful plate of seasonal sashimi handpicked by the chef. The sashimi was melt-in-my-mouth fresh. Followed by delicious salad topped with fresh abalone. The pan-fried cod looked unassuming but was delicious...

Much has been said about the street food in Taiwan, but no trip to Taiwan is complete without trying their Mala hotpot. Based on friends' recommendations, we went to Mala YuanYang Hotpot at Xinyi branch. It was crowded when we were there at 4.30pm on a Saturday. They are open from 4pm for dinner so you may have better luck coming in earlier. We were told the next available slot was at 10.30pm! And they were booked out the next day too. We had no choice but to take up the 10.30pm slot as this was on my MUST TRY list. And am I glad we had it!! For NT$635+, we got unlimited amount of premium quality beef, seafood, handmade meat balls, dumplings and much more, cooked in a rich, spicy and distinctive mala broth. Plus, Movenpick and HAAGEN-DAZS ice cream. And not forgetting, free flow of WINE and BEER! Now let's start with the soup base... You can choose 2 soup bases from a choice of 5. I would definitely recommend the mala spicy soup...

Xin Nian Kuai Le Gong Xi Fa Cai Of all the festivals we celebrate, Chinese New Year has got to be the biggest, most extravagant, most elaborate and most important of them all. Weeks before the New Year, we have to do thorough spring cleaning, decorate the house, buy new clothes - red of course, stock up fridge, prepare red packets, go for hair cuts and the whole works. Even Mum had started preparing the foodstuff from days before the New Year, like all the soaking and chopping etc would have been done days in advance. Lucky for us, we always have reunion dinner at Mum's - all I have to do is bring ourselves and our empty tummies there to feast! My favourite is definitely the Salmon Yu Sheng. I wish I could have it all year round. I love the taste, the texture, the colour and the symbolism of it all. There's nothing quite like it, really! Toss it up and toss it high! Oh the amount of food we ate over the past few days!! 😋 Our family tradition ...

This marks the beginning of the many makan sessions leading up to the CNY season. The hubby took me out for a rare lunch date today. The kids were all in school, he's free for a couple of hours, so why not... :P We started off with a glass of red and a bread basket. First time having charcoal croissant with gold flecks. Followed by Caesar salad topped with smoked salmon. Absolutely Ah-mazing! My main course was lamb shank with garden vegetables and mint sauce. It was so deliciously tender, moist and just slide off the bone. Yum yumz... Hubby had his usual beef steak with red wine jus. Finished off with blueberry tart and chocolate ice cream. And triple chocolate mousse with strawberry compote. Plus a side of dark coffee. It was a wonderful, relaxing lunch, with no kids running around and bugging us. A truly rare moment for me when I can appreciate the sight, smell and taste of the food in front of me, even managed to ...

Wishing you a year even better than the last. May 2017 be filled with love, joy, peace, and happiness, full of laughter and adventures! Thanks mum for hosting a wonderful new year party! 😋

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Kids' favourite corner - mini quiche, cheese rolls, cocktail sausages, chocolates, gummies and chips. What's a party without drinks... 😜 The spread - roast turkey with cranberry sauce, ham, roast vegetables, red cabbage...  and lasagne, toad in the hole, roast potatoes and fried prawns... Dessert time! Chocolate pudding with custard, red velvet log cake... Love it or hate it. You just gotta have the rich and fruity Christmas pudding, served with a good dose of brandy and vanilla cream. Delicious food, endless supply of drinks, wonderful company! It was a lovely night. Santa came visiting last night too! XOXOXO 💞