BestInSingapore's Acai Bowl Delivery [Sponsored]

In recent years, the Acai berry has been one of the hottest trend in the #healthyeating culture, touted as one of the superfoods that is packed with tons of benefits. And even though they're called berries, the acai berries grows on a tree and contain pits like apricots and olives, making them a drupe. 

-credits to https://fineartamerica.com/-

And the main reason why these berries-in-disguise drupes have joined the superfoods' team is due to their impressive list of health benefits that includes:
- Nutrient dense
- Loaded with antioxidants
- May improve cholesterol levels
- May have an anti-cancer effect
- Could boost brain functions

So I'm super elated when Best In Singapore sent over some of these delicious healthy treats from The Acai Lab, which was listed as one of the Best 7 Acai Bowl available for delivery in Singapore. 

Other than offering islandwide delivery in 60 minutes, and using only organic and non-GMO fresh fruits in their acai bowls; what sets The Acai Lab apart from the others is their special PurpleBlend Acai base, which was created with the vision of combining great taste, nutrition and aesthetics into one. Pure Acai puree was combined with various purple superfoods, along with bananas and almond milk to create a rich purple coloured creamy base that is used in every single one of their acai bowls, which supposedly boost immunity, improves brain and gut health, and also improves skin complexion. 

That's just what I need in a bowl of healthy treat! 

So let's see what I've chosen for my greedy self to feast upon!

Signature Acai Bowl - $10.20 (med) / $15.60 (lrg)

Featuring their signature acai base, along with 10 most popular toppings (granola, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, raisins, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, cranberries, chia seeds), givine you the perfect mouthful all in one bite! 

Even though there's already so much topping given in the standard serving, I still very greedily added on some mangoes and nutella, YUM! 

But in the end, because this signature bowl is really packed with A LOT of ingredients, I ended up using the nutella for the other bowl (Berry Berries) instead. This is definitely the go-to if you're undecided on which bowl to go for; for this has literally everything. An order of the large bowl can easily make it a hearty meal for you than just a healthy snack. 

Berry Berries - $10.10 (med) / $15.20 (lrg)
Loaded with all the antioxidants you need (granola, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, raisins, almonds), topped on their special Mango-Acai blend for a "berry-special" time!

Being a huge berry fan (strawberries, blueberries, raspberry, blackberries), I had to order this when I saw this. And of course, you can't have too much strawberries; hence the extra order of more strawberries for my Berry Berries bowl. HAH! 

The addition of mango to the acai base not only added a more subtle sweetness, but also gave the base a slightly less appealing, muddy brown colour. 

Initially I thought it was the nutella, and then I realised it wasn't. 

The berries aren't tart enough for my liking (and both the blueberries & strawberries are disappointingly neither tart nor sweet), not something that The Acai Lab can do anything about it though; but the generous amount of granola and almond flakes added a nice crunch to the overall mouth-feel and also a great nutty flavour.

Nutty Nature - $8.90 (med) / $12.90 (lrg)
A mix of dried fruits, pumpkin seeds, mixed nuts as well as kiwis, bananas and blueberries on their signature acai base. This bowl is well-loved by many for having just the right amount of sweet and sour while still being just as refreshing, chilled and tasty like other bowls. 

If you're a huge fans of nuts and prefer having more crunchy "texture" in your acai bowl, this is your jam! The HB had this whole bowl to himself and quite liked it (although he prefers the Signature Acai Bowl more). 

For more information on what other Specialty Bowls & DIY Acai Bowls The Acai Lab has to offer for delivery, visit their website HERE. 

Also check out bestinsingapore.com for more of what's the best of everything Singapore has to offer. 

All food styling photographs credit to Owari Photography

Till then,

Mia Foo

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BestInSingapore's SushiDelivery [Sponsored]

Couple of months ago, I've received a table full of yummy treats from sushidelivery.sg (review HERE). This time round, I'm super elated to have Best In Singapore sending over more delicious treats from sushidelivery.sg again! 

Drool-worthy, yeah?

This time round, bestinsingapore.com has sent over a great selection of bento, maki rolls, salad and sides/appetizers from sushidelivery.sg. 

Chicken Karaage Set Bento - $10.90 (usual RTP $14)

Currently only selling at $10.90, this bento set is a steal! Comes with a generous serving of chicken karaage that has managed to retain most of its deep fried crispiness upon delivery, along with a generous portion of fresh salad (that's so colourful and appetising!), chuka wakame and umeboshi! There's something addictive about eating plain Japanese pearl rice with umeboshi, don't you agree? 

Kani Salad - $6.90 (usual RTP $8.30)

Judging at how well sushidelivery.sg does their side salads for the bento sets, I've high expectations for their actual salads and I must say I'm not disappointed. Although the portion size is not impressive enough to fill me up (but I have to say, it takes alot to get me full), the selection of vegetables (lettuce, purple cabbage, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes) are super fresh and goes well with the roasted sesame dressing. The amount of shredded kani (crabstick) and tobikko (flying fish roe) added on top of the salad was also super generous, more than enough for me to have a substantial amount of "meat" in every bite.

And now for the maki rolls and sides. 

California Maki (8 pcs) - $10.90 & Kappa Maki - $3.90

California maki was one of the few sushi that I started eating when I first got introduced to Japanese food, and they're still one of my favourite go to sushi now. Some comes with avocado, but sushidelivery.sg roll theirs with cucumber, which added a nice crunch to the overall mouthfeel. The generous coating of tobikko on the outside also added a nice savoury touch to the overall taste; you just cannot mess up a california maki.
The Kappa (cucumber) maki was pretty basic, but definitely a great choice to have if you're watching your diet. HAHA!

Chuka Kurage - $4 (Usual RTP $4.67)

I remembered having these (seasoned jellyfish) in my bento set in the previous menu, and they were really good when paired with the steamed rice. But eating them straight up on its own got a little too salty. You definitely need rice to go with this.

Yam Net Sponge Roll (5 pcs) -  $5.90

So glad to have these yam net sponge roll in the menu again, as I really LOVE them! 

(my review of them HERE)

Takoyaki (5 pcs)- $4.90

Look at that crazy amount of katsuobushi (bonito flakes)! And I love that they only added the minimal amount of mayo over the top, and packed more separately instead of just drenching everything. 

There's basically two types of Takoyaki, the more "deep-fried" kind that comes with a slightly crispy exterior and an overall firmer bite and the more authentic Japanese kind, which are softer and more mushy in the centre. Well, I believe the latter is more authentic because that's how the takoyaki tasted like when I had them in Japan. These are definitely the authentic kind, with the centre just barely cooked to retain the slightly gooey, mushy interior. 

Shrimp Croutons (5 pcs)- $4.90

My Huawei P30 failed to pick up the bits of shrimp inside here, but they're there. HAHA! I'm not a fan of "balls" (meatball, sotong ball etc) in general and this kind of tasted like a sotong ball with bits of shrimp added to it. But the crouton coating was a huge plus point though, making these super crunchy and addictive. 

For more information on what Sushi Deliver has to offer, visit their website HERE.

And for more reviews to find out the best things Singapore has to offer, visit bestinsingapore.com

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Enjoy yummy crabs & more at home with 8 Crabs [Sponsored]

Do you love eating crabs but absolutely hate to eat it in public and end up with a glorious oily mess on your hands? Craving for some legit zichar dishes now, but finding it a chore to put on your mask and heading out to dabao (takeaway) while maintaining social distancing etiquette? 

Guess what, with 8 Crabs, now you can easily get to enjoy your favourite crab dishes (be it black pepper, chilli or salted egg) along with other yummy zichar favourites at the comfort of your home!

Just a few clicks of my mouse and I have 3 of my favourite zichar dishes delivered to my doorsteps, freshly cooked and still warm! 

Award-Winning Chilli Crab (Large, 750g) - $68 

Using only premium Sri Lankan wild caught crabs and stir fried to perfection with their award-winning recipe to achieve a gravy of the perfect blend between sweet, savoury and spicy. 

Do you know, crabs naturally travel about 500m every night and prefer to live alone. However, crab farmers breed many crabs in a confined space for profitability, causing the crabs to get stressed very easily while in captivity, as many farms cannot replicate their natural habitat. When stressed, crabs produce ammonia, which is a sign of decomposition of seafood. Hence, to cover up the distinctive ammonia smell in farmed crabs, restaurants will need to use highly fragrant gravies. 

8 Crabs is the only company in Singapore using grade AAA premium Sri Lankan sourced wild caught crabs, graded by the most experienced crab graders in the trade, while most restaurants tend to purchase farmed crabs due to their cheaper pricing. This simply means that the crabs at 8 Crabs are meatier, tastier, bigger, and less watery.

In addition, to ensure freshness, these crabs are caught, flown, prepared and delivered to customers within 12 hours. Not only does 8 Crabs have their award-winning chefs prepare the cook the fresh crabs daily to guarantee the best flavour and taste, they also have a one driver to an order policy across their 12 kitchens island-wide in order to uphold their promise of One Hour Crab Delivery. 

I'm not the biggest fan of chilli crabs (I prefer black pepper crabs) because it's so easy to get a badly done one that only gets you wondering, "is this chilli crab or egg-ketchup crab?"

But I decided to take the leap of faith and believe in their award-winning recipe, and I'm so glad I did! While they're not super spicy to give you that spicy kick of shiokness that makes you break out into a sweat, it was just the perfect blend of sweet, savoury and spicy that will probably make you want to just slurp the gravy like it's soup. 

The Sri Lankan wild caught crab is premium indeed. Their flesh so plump and succulent, and tasted fresh and sweet. But to be honest, I'm satisfied with just having the gravy and fried mantou. And my mum and I loved the gravy so much that we kept the leftover gravy in the fridge to add to our lunch the next day (I made chilli crab baked fish). 

HAHAHA!

Signature Coffee Pork Ribs (Large) - $28

Was expected pork ribs, but somehow we were given slices of pork tenderloins instead. Not complaining though, because the meat was still super tender and it's so much easier to eat without the bones. 

If you're a coffee fiend like me, then you absolutely got to try this. The coffee fragrance is strong, but not overpowering. I'm not a huge fan of pork in general, but the meat was so tender and the savoury flavour, paired with the subtle coffee bitterness, was so addictive that I could easily finish the entire container by myself if not for the calories. 

Claypot Beancurd (Large) - $24

Tofu, my love! Initially, I did feel that $24 is a little too pricey for 'just tofu' but I found out that there're so many other ingredients in the dish!

Egg tofu, chinese cabbage, snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and shrimps. How is it possible to get everything I enjoy eating in just one pot? Every ingredient just blends really well together and sits so well in the gravy, which made the soft egg tofu even silkier. YUMS!

So what are you waiting for? Check out what 8 Crabs has to offer HERE and get read to feast!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Japanese food delivered to your doorsteps with sushidelivery.sg [Sponsored]

 Craving for some Japanese food, but also feeling too lazy to head out to a Japanese restaurant? 

What if I tell you, you can get your craving fixed within an hour with just a few clicks of your mouse?

 

I kid you not, for that's really what it is with sushidelivery.sg! 

Just a few clicks of the mouse and there you have it, a scrumptious Japanese dinner coming up!

I know when it comes to Japanese food, especially for sashimi or sushi with raw fish, freshness is always an issue and some may feel that "delivery" and "freshness" doesn't complement each other that well. But at sushidelivery.sg, not only their fish are sourced daily from Osaka and Hokkaido, they're also flown to Singapore within 18 hours to ensure maximum freshness possible. 

In addition, all their cooked food are only prepared by their chefs upon receiving our orders and sent within the hour so there's no worries about getting delivered stale food that has been sitting around for hours.

 And while there's a good selection of fresh sashimi on sushidelivery.sg, I'm not really a fan of raw food (but I'm a huge fan of Japanese cuisine in general, so long they're cooked) so it's gonna be an order of bento, donburi and maki rolls! :)

Pork Cutlet (Tonkatsu) Set Bento - $12.90 (Usual $18.30)

At the current promotional price of $12.90, this is definitely a steal! The portion size of the tonkatsu is nothing short of generous and complemented by equally generous servings of fresh salad, chuka kurage (seasoned jellyfish) and takuan (picked daikon).

The tonkatsu was not only tender and flavourful, but still crispy on the outside when I tucked into it after taking a good 10-15 minutes taking my food pictures. >.<

Being a salad-fan, I have to say that their fresh salad didn't disappoint too, fresh and crisp with just the right amount of dressing to not make it too cloying.

Unagi Don - $15.90

No prize for guessing what the HB chose; the (his favourite) Unagi don.
 At just $15.90, he got quite a huge piece of the grilled unagi, along with an #eggpornworthy onsen egg.

 I'm personally not a fan of unagi, so it'll be unfair for me to comment on the taste of this. 

The HB surely enjoyed it though, especially when he could break the yolk and mix the onsen egg wholly into the rice that's already flavoured with the generous amount of unagi sauce slathered on the eel itself. 

Champion Floss Maki (8 pcs) - $15.90

Maki roll with chicken, avocado and cucumber, topped with nacho cheese sauce, tobikko (flying fish roe) and fried tempura batter bits.

Initially I wanted to get the Chicken Rainbow Maki because they look so IG-worthy but in the end I decided to go with the Champion Floss Maki as there's a worry that all the coloured toppings might not remain on top of the rainbow maki when delivered. HEH!

And I'm so glad I changed my mind because I love, love, love this, so much! The nacho cheese taste (which is so yums) hits you at the very first bite, followed by the saltiness of the tobikko and the savoury flavour of the seasoned chicken and crunch of the cucumber. And all in all, this myriad of flavour and mouth-feel is littered with the pleasant crunch of the crispy fried tempura batter bits. 

Well, it's a champion indeed. 

Just having 8 pieces is definitely not enough for a glutton foodie like yours truly.  T.T

Yam Net Sponge Roll (5 pcs) - $5.50

Although I'm not exactly a huge fan of (white) yam, I was no doubt intrigued by the name of this dish and wanted to try it even though I wasn't really sure of what exactly I'm going to get.  

 It turned out to be seasoned Japanese purple yam, wrapped in vermicelli net and fried till crispy! 

Purple yam, also known as Ube, is not to be confused with the purple sweet potatoes although they do taste really similar. I was also confused at my first bite and thought I was eating mashed purple sweet potatoes. 

But unlike the purple sweet potatoes, which tends to have a distinctive earthy (soil) taste that I do not appreciate, the Japanese purple yam do not have that unpleasant taste. As the yam is mashed, the creamy and smooth texture of the subtly sweet and fragrant puree complemented the crispy exterior of the fried vermicelli layer very well, and added a lot more dimension to the overall mouth-feel of this dish. Even though it's a deep-fried dish, it doesn't feel overly oily and cloying at all.

Other than the usual bento, donburi, sushi, sashimi and sides, sushidelivery.sg also has sushi/sashimi party sets to make life much easier for you when you're looking to host a mini party for your sushi-loving friends. It's also a plus point that they actually do not skimp on the "plating" aspect of their food in spite of them being delivery-based, which also add on to our "dining experience" in the comfort of our home. 

Two thumbs up for you, sushidelivery.sg! 

sushidelivery.sg is open from 10am - 11pm daily, offering free delivery for all orders above SGD $60.

For more details and orders, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Shepherd's Pie Delivery: shepherdspie.sg [Sponsored]

shepherdspie.sg journey started back in 2011 when they're looking to find some good old Shepherd's Pies for a Christmas Party. Back then, Shepherd's pies weren't that popular; and being unable to find anybody to bake the pies for them, they decided to do some recipes researching and bake their own! 

And over the years, they've since refined and perfected their recipe to what they believe to be the tastiest and freshest Shepherd's Pies in Singapore. 

shepherdspie.sg offers 3 different sizes of their Shepherd's Pies in two different meat flavours, beef or chicken. And since my household do not take beef for religious reason, we got to try out their delicious chicken shepherd's pies for my Sunday cheatday!

Medium Chicken Shepherd's Pie (left) 

9 x 5 inch loaf pan, good for 2 - 4 pax

Mini Chicken Shepherd's Pie (right) 

Cupcake size, single serving

Massive Chicken Shepherd's Pie (not in picture)

9 x 9 inch square pan, good for at least 4 pax

Did you know that traditionally, Shepherd's pies are to be made with ground lamb while their cousin, Cottage pies are made with minced beef. But I'm pretty sure these two terms are commonly used interchangeably by everyone now, with, perhaps, the exception of Gordon Ramsay. 

I mean, what about pies using neither lamb or beef, but pork? Piglet pies? Pigsty pies? 

And how about those with chicken? 

Anyway, be it Chicken Shepherd's Pie or Chicken Cottage Pie, it doesn't matter. What matters is that they're delicious!

The minced chicken filling at the bottom is well seasoned with a flavour that rather similar to a sweet and slightly savoury Japanese curry, along with diced vegetables like carrots, peas and corn. The filling is neither too moist nor too dry, and the minced chicken is cooked just well enough to retain a nice bite to it while not being overly dry and tough. 

The yummy minced chicken filling is then covered with a thick layer of smooth and creamy mashed potatoes and then baked until the top surface turns golden brown. 

With the sweet & savoury chicken filling and the smooth & creamy mashed potatoes, this Shepherd's pie will definitely be thoroughly enjoyed by both children and adults alike. 

All the pies at shepherdspie.sg are baked fresh with ingredients prepared freshly, hence a minimum one-day advance order (cut off by 5pm) is required, and delivery will be made at 3 different time slots to your preference.
And do be rest assured that the pie(s) will be delivered PIPING HOT!
For more information and ordering, do visit their website HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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