Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar [Food Tasting]

Established in 2006, Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar was first opened in Sentosa's Palawan Beach, serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine to tourists and local beachgoers. Its reputation gradually grew, garnering high approval rating among Indian visitors to Singapore, who were impressed with the quality and authenticity of their food. 

And after multiple relocations within the Sentosa due to the island's redevelopment plans over the years, came 2020 with one of the worst challenges the F&B industry had to face, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Samundar, having suffered more acutely due to its heavily tourists-reliant location, recognised the need to reestablish itself on the mainland. 

And now, they've found a new location at Purvis Street and the refreshed Samundar now offers fusion-style Indian cuisine to cater to a modern, well-travelled market while still dedicated to the true essence of North Indian Cuisine, offering lunch, teatime treats, dinner and happy hour drinks. 

And before moving on to their food, can I first take a few seconds words to say, I LOVE THEIR CHAIRS TO BITS? 

Grand Thali Set (Non-Vegetarian) - $45

For just $45, you'll get a plethora of food served to your table, so much so that I reckon it's so much easier for me to show you a snapshot of the set menu instead. 

This set is definitely good for sharing, unless you have an exceptionally hearty appetite. 

And even though I personally love Chicken Tikka, I decided to try the Tandoori Scallops instead, as suggested by their staff, because Butter Chicken & Chicken Tikka might end up as a chicken overkill. 

First up, the starters consist of Pani Puri, Tandoori Paneer Tika, Kueh Pie Tie (with tandoori chicken) and Masala Papadum. 

It was my very first taste of Pani Puri and I LOVE IT! A little hard to eat though, as you gotta stuff the entire shell into your mouth quickly after pouring/drenching your shell with the pani water. But love the ultimate crunch of the shell (along with whatever deep fried goodness stuffed inside), complemented by the lovely sourness of the pani water. YUMS. 

The menu state that the set is served with Jeera rice, but mine came with Briyani rice instead. Not that I'm complaining though, this is definitely a more-than-pleasant upgrade. HAHA!

First up, the soup was so good! Dal Shorba, which is a healthy and light soup made from yellow moong dal and flavoured with ginger and pepper powder. Super flavourful with a slightly spicy kick. Both the HB and I enjoyed it. Well, other than the Raita (yogurt with herbs and vegetables... meh, not a fan, sorry!), I've enjoyed every single morsel of food served on this platter (well, not including the raw onion, lime and green chili of course!) because everything is just so flavourful! I even polished off the entire serving of the Bhindi Marsala even though I'm an okra-hater. 

The two pieces of tandoori scallops, although seemingly rather underwhelming, was also well flavoured and remains succulent and juicy on the inside. 

My other teeny weeny complaint (if I must, other than the Raita) is that I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka (yellow lentils served in the lunch set) over the Dal Makhani (black lentils), as the flavour of the latter was a lot stronger and more pungent in comparison. 

There's a total of 4 different desserts to choose from, and I randomly picked the Gulab Jamun, which is flour dumpling drenched in a sweet syrup, served alongside some fruits and ice cream. 

Ehh, too sweet. Wayyyyyyy too sweet. 

But having worked in the construction industry for almost 10 years, and constantly being gifted various Indian sweets by my Indian colleagues when they return to work after their long leaves, I jolly well know that any Indian dessert is gonna be darn sweet and I was fully prepared for it. HAHA!

Oh, and I got to say that I love the marsala tea too! HB is not a fan (of having marsala in his tea), but this is right up my alley. It was a delicate balance of the sweetness of cinnamon, subtle spiciness of the marsala and a barely there bitterness of the strong tea that makes you just wanna keep sipping at it. But I was quite shock when the staff suddenly came to my table with a couple sachets of sugar, saying that there's no sugar added in the tea. 

Was it solely due to the cinnamon? Without any added sugar, the tea tasted just like a standard sweetened tea! I can't imagine anybody adding anymore sugar to it! 

Lunch Thali Set  - $17.90

available only on weekdays (excluding PHs), 11:30am - 2:30pm 

Well, if you're dropping by for lunch, alone, on a weekday, this Lunch Thali set will be a perfect downsized alternative for you. And as mentioned above, I'll very much prefer the Dal Darka served in this set, compared to the Dal Makhani served in the Grand Thali set. I basically covered every inch of my naan bites with it and wiped the bowl clean. HAHA! 

And after we're done with our meals, we were served with a shot of lemonade and a bottle of "soft" (as told by their Indian server) as our breath freshener. 

A google search of "indian cuisine+breath freshener" told me that these are actually called Mukhwas, a colourful after-meal snack or digestive aid used as a mouth freshener after meals. I was told that most restaurants made theirs with just 3 types of nuts/herbs/seeds, but Samundar concocted theirs with 5. 

Once again, the HB is not a fan, but these tasted nearly just like mints to me, which was rather pleasant. 

Disclaimer: This was a food tasting invite from Samundar, but the food review is my honest opinions. I was not paid to write this blog post review, nor in any way obliged to. 

Samundar Indian Fusion Cuisine & Bar is now located at 7 Purvis Street.

For more information & table reservations, visit their website HERE

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Mia Eats: East Coast Commune at Marine Cove

-credits to East Coast Commune-

Yes, a new cafe has finally popped up at Marine Cove! 

-credits to East Coast Commune-

Marine Cove at East Coast Park is usually where I end my morning jogs every Sunday (I've ventured on towards Parkland Green just a handful of times), so I actually knew that a new cafe is coming while they're still in the midst of construction. Haha, but I just didn't drop by the very first Sunday they opened. 

Anyhow, I still dropped by the following week (or was it 2 weeks?) after their official opening for a quick breakfast with the HB after my Sunday jog. They're open at 9am and the HB actually reached the cafe at around 840am (he doesn't jog with me) to find himself 3rd in line. And by the time I arrived at somewhere around 850am, there were about 7 groups of patrons waiting in line already. 

Like, WHUTT?

I know, with the current COVID19 situation, it's always better to make a reservation at any eatery you plan to go, regardless of how unpopular they've always been. But here at ECC, they do not accept reservations on weekends, so.... just queue, lor. 

Perhaps due to COVID19, the table arrangement at the spacious cafe is rather spaced out, hence seating capacity may be compromised, which explains the queue 

Iced Latte

The coffee, although not stellar, was still pretty okay. But I'm a little miffed that they do not serve their lattes with a stirrer. I'm all for no plastic straws, but hey I wanna mix my espresso shot with the milk thoroughly before I drink, too! There's also no sugar syrup served alongside my coffee. I typically do not add sugar to my coffee, but it was cheatday and I wouldn't mind to have some sweet coffee once in a while. 

Oh well, perhaps they expect patrons to specifically request for both the stirrer and sugar syrup, or perhaps the HB has declined their offer to serve the coffee with sugar, I can't be sure. 

Fried Chicken & Corn Waffles

You know, I wanted to visit the cafe for their sourdough waffles. But then I got distracted by "Fried Chicken & Waffles" and failed to realise that the fried chicken is served with CORN waffles instead. I can't be sure if the base of the waffle is still sourdough or not, (can hardly taste any distinctive difference) but there's definitely bits of corn kernels tucked away inside the waffle, which was quite unnecessary for me. While both the HB and I love a good waffle that's TOTALLY CRISP on the outside and fluffy on the inside, ECC's corn waffles are soft and moist throughout. Oh well, taste wise it's still pretty good; but texture wise it's not my jam. 

It didn't help that their chef chose to serve the sides of spicy picked daikon directly on top of the waffle, which made that half of the waffle soaked through with the pickled juice and all soggy and semi-disintegrated. 

The fried chicken was also just normal, at best. Nothing fancy with their marinate flavour, nor exceptionally tender and juicy. 

And the verdict is, I will probably still want to revisit, just it's just to try out the sourdough waffles, as I've not seen one anywhere else (yet). But if you're asking if I will return for their coffee and fried chicken & waffles, I guess you should know my answer...

East Coast Commune is located at 1000 ECP, Marine Cove #01-03.

For more information, visit their website

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia Eats: Kumoya Singapore Themed Pop Up Cafes (Honest Review)

 From Miffy, to Snoopy, Care Bears, Tokidoki, Sesame Streets, We Bare Bears and very recently, Rilakkuma and Gudetama X Bad Badtz Maru. 

The plethora of different themed pop up cafes at Kumoya Singapore, how many have you gone for? 

How many should you go for? 

After having gone for 3 of their different themes (and 4 times, in total), I guess my answer to the question above is probably, ONE. Just once, if you're planning to visit just for the food. Well, at the very least, for my personal experiences with Miffy, We Bare Bears and GudetamaXBad Badtz Maru, I came to realise that they've adopted a 换汤不换药 (changing name without changing content) approach to their menus. 

Anyhow, let's see how the latest Gudetama X Bad Badtz Maru theme at their Jalan Klapa branch looks like! (Previous We Bare Bears and Miffy ones were lost/deleted as they're too long ago...). 

Unlike the other two themes I've visited, this time round they've local-fied the characters, simply by making them "speak" Singlish. 

While I have to say, "sian" is indeed very apt for Gudetama....

Perhaps "mai kancheong" would also be a better fit for Gudetama too? 

I have to say, out of 3 of the 4 times I've visited Kumoya, I've eaten the same dish that has taken on the appearance of a different cartoon character. And that's the steamed bun (mantou) burger with fries and side salad. 

And I have to say, the We Bare Bears and Miffy (not pictured) ones were slightly cuter as they're white and looks so much more squishy and fluffy. 

The taste of the mantou burgers were alright, pretty tasty, to be honest. But effectively, they're all seriously lacking in quality proteins (the meat fillet/patty they give in between the buns were MISERABLE, my palm size at best) and just out to fill you up with cheap carbohydrates (the WBB ones even had yet another smaller, PLAIN steam bun as a side. Can you believe it?!). 

Likewise for J's "breakfast platter" at the Gudetama X Bad Badtz Maru theme, her platter came with TWO thick toasts (rather well toasted, though) along with a tiny dish of scrambled eggs, two strips of rolled up bacon and a small/medium sausage. 

The HB went for pasta for both of my visits with him (WBB & Miffy). There's pasta available on their menu for all 3 themes I've visited, and frankly speaking I won't order them. Well, they're definitely decent plates of pasta, but by now we all should know that Kumoya is charging a "premium" price for the sheer IG-worthy cuteness of their dish plating/decor. But the cuteness and IG-worthiness of their pastas always pales in comparison to the other dishes available on their menu. This is also the reason why I'm always getting their mantou burgers whenever I visit, they're easily the cutest and most IG-worthy mains on their menu. 

And face it, if you're dropping by Kumoya, you're most probably #eatingforinsta, yes? No judgement here. 

And if you're visiting Kumoya, you absolutely MUST get their desserts/fancy drinks because they're always #toocutetoeat <3

This time round, we ordered their chocoball dessert, which is a white chocolate (coloured yellow, duh!) shell with a rojak of sweet treats hidden inside. Brownies, oreo cookies, butter cookies, marshmallows, diced fruits, fruit loops and a generous dollop of whipped cream welcomed us when we broke Gudetama's head with the small mallet that came along with the dessert. This is DEFINITELY meant for sharing, as it is SOOOOO CLOYINGLY SWEET. If only they can dye dark chocolate yellow to introduce some pleasant bitterness to cut into the overall sweetness; or perhaps just do a Bad Badtz Maru version of it to allow for a dark chocolate ball instead. J and I easily took twice as long to finish this 1 dessert together, compared to the time we took to finish our individual mains. Our chit-chatting aside, the surfeiting sweetness of this dessert just makes you need to stop for a rest, for the jerlakness to wear off, before you can get back to it again. 

For both WBB and Miffy, HB and I went for their fancy waffles as our dessert. And I shan't deny that I really loved them! Their waffles, although not exactly the best waffles I've ever eaten, were still crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle, with a slightly sweetness to it. Likewise, for the chocolate ball, it's still meant for sharing though, looking at the ridiculous amount of sweet treats they pile on top of the waffle. 

So my final verdict, will I go back to Kumoya again? Hmm, who knows?! Maybe they'll launch a Disney collaboration next (hardcore Disney fan here!) and I'll definitely be dropping by again!

But to revisit for the actual food, nope. Why? Because you don't eat the same thing twice when doing it for the gram. 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mathilda's Gelato Ice Cream Delivery [Sponsored]

 "When I'm no longer rapping, I want to open up an ice cream parlour and call myself Scoop Dogg."
-Snoop Dogg

When even Snoop Dogg says that, you know life is better with ice cream. 

Offering 100% handmade ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yoghurt in both local and exotic flavours, Mathilda's Gelato Ice Cream Delivery brings to us over 40 different flavours of low-fat, gluten free frozen treats with perfected recipes, all ready to be delivered to our doorsteps within 1 hour of purchase!

At Mathilda's, all their products are freshly made daily using only high quality and fresh ingredients, having sourced their milk and cream from cruelty free dairy farms so as to obtain good quality milk from happy cows!

And here's the 4 yummy flavours I've decided to try out first. There's still a handful of really yummy sounding flavours I'll love to try, but some of them are (sadly) currently OOS and my freezer isn't big enough to store all the ice creams/gelatos/sorbets I wanna get too.

And yup, they're delivered really well frozen. In fact, my freezer (on the 1st day of receiving these yummies) was kind of overloaded and they actually "froze up SOFTER" in my freezer overnight. 

Freezer fail. T.T

Black Sesame Ice Cream - $16.90

To get this luxurious mouthfeel and richness of flavours, we only use premium Japanese goma, that’s carefully roasted at optimal temperatures to get maximum flavour. The robust flavours of the roasted black sesame enhance the ice cream, with the addictive fragrant nuttiness tempting you to take one bite after another. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

It was quite a strange feeling at first bite, like I was eating frozen zhi ma hu (chinese dessert, black sesame soup). Yes, the goma taste in this ice cream is legit. 

And then, the more you eat, the more the strangeness grows on you. I mean, if you're a fan of sesame soup for its fragrant nutty flavour, just imagine eating them icy cold on a hot day. 

THIS IS IT.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream - $14.90

Our creamy, chunky peanut butter ice cream provides a salty-sweet option for those that want to indulge in a cold, delicious treat, but have less of a sweet tooth. The contrasting flavours are so addictive, we recommend you get two pints just to be safe!

If you're a (sweet) peanut butter fan like me, you absolutely gotta try this. Similar to the case of the Black Sesame, this was just like eating peanut butter (the good quality, creamy and sweet kind) straight out of the jar, but frozen solid. The usual slight saltiness of the roasted peanuts hits you at first bite. And then the sweetness emerges as the frozen treat melts creamily in your mouth. If you can ever find an ice cream that's moreish, this is it. 

I could only hope that this is not as fatty (and caloric dense) as real peanut butter, huh! 

-credits to singaporetravellers.info-

This will probably be the most legit ice cream flavour to use for these old school ice cream bread "sandwich". I haven't tried it out myself, but seeing that I still have half pint of the ice cream left to go, I might just try it out myself! 

Speculoos Ice Cream - $14.90

A recent sleeper-hit, our Speculoos ice-cream uses generous amounts of the beloved Biscoff biscuits, for the spiced caramel kick that’s been taking everyone by storm! The hints of cinnamon and brown sugar provide a fragrant, delicious twist to the creamy base, and the crumbled biscuit chunks are a welcome addition — creating a nice crunchy bite!

Hello, it's Speculoos.... Biscoff! Need I say more? You don't even need me to say any thing more to know it's good. Especially love the additional of the biscoff biscuit bits (but crushed a little too small; unavoidable during mixing, I reckon?) in the ice cream for the addictive crunchy bite! 

Salted Caramel with Almonds Ice Cream - $14.90

The amalgamation of flavours and textures are sure to please your tastebuds! The salty sweet caramel swirls around on your tongue, while the crunch of our top quality almonds provides a nice change in texture, while adding a welcome nuttiness to the creaminess of the ice cream.

Somehow, this feels like a mish-mash (or you can also say, somewhere in between) of Peanut Butter and Speculoos. They're pretty generous with the almond bits, and you're sure to taste a few in every bite of the ice cream, but rather than packing the strong nutty fragrance and crunch of roasted almonds, they're more like baked almond instead, in both the fragrance and texture. 

Mathilda's Gelato Ice Cream Delivery is now offering all you lovely readers 5% off all purchase of their frozen treats! Just quote mia5off at check out! Promotion ends 25 December 2020.

For more information and orders, visit their e-store HERE

All food-styling photos with credits to Mathilda's Gelato Ice Cream Delivery

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia Eats: Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai

 Hello, lovely readers! I realised that it's been eons since I've last done a non-sponsored food review post, which was actually the main push-factor that made me set up this blog back then. 

So now, let's do it again! 

-credits to Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai-

Located at level 1 of Great World City, it took us a few (wrong) turns before finding the restaurant, mostly because the mall is also undergoing some overhaul of their stores and trying to find your sense of direction when nearly every corner is hoarded up can be quite a challenge. 

Anyhow, we managed to find the restaurant without much fuss, and realised that they're full house on a Sunday night (around 7 plus, nearly 8pm). But table turnover also seems pretty quick, as we were seated after 15 minutes' wait, and the restaurant turned pretty empty while we were dining (around 830 ish pm). Haha, so if you want to skip the queue, you know what time to drop by. 

If you're curious, Nirai-Kanai refers to the God's world in the distance of the sea. And apparently, Okinawan cuisine is said to be healthy and good for beauty.... But I wanted to drop by and try them out only because I watched Senda Aisa's travel programme on Okinawa (her hometown). HAHAHA!

Anyhow, here's what we've tried out for the night. 

Okinawa Soup Noodle Set Meal - $16.50

The HB chose this set that comes with soup noodle with simmered pork belly, fried rice (not sure if it's mustard leaf or just garlic fried rice) and a cold tofu lookalike jelly dessert. 

I merely took a tiny taste test bite out of the soup noodles and fried rice, both of which were rather mildy flavoured, but still quite tasty if you're okay with mild flavours, in my opinion. Not a fan of the thick noodles though. The alkaline taste of the noodles, albeit not as full on as my much hated yellow noodles, was still too strong for me. It didn't help that the broth's flavour was on the mild side, hence it didn't do anything to cover the noodles' alkaline taste. HB is a fan of yellow noodles (don't ask me why anybody will like yellow noodles), so this dish was right up his alley. 

Stir fried Noodles with Kimuchi - $14.80

Yes, you got me. Whenever I see "kimchi" on the menu, I order. 

So simple. 

The noodles are wheat noodles, but extremely thin. So much so that it kind of resembles the mouthfeel of eating rice vermicelli (beehoon). Other than kimchi, there's also a generous portion of sliced cabbage and pork belly. I quite like the thin noodles, although the overall flavour of the dish was quite mild (not kimchi enough). There's a heaping amount of sliced cabbage too, but unfortunately they were left undercooked and crunchy instead of how I would love my cabbage, fully cooked down and soft. The amount of kimchi I found in the noodles were also quite little, hence the subtle kimchi taste. The pork belly slices were also very, very tough and with the porky smell, which the lack of kimchi taste has failed to mask over. 

So, it may sound a little weird. But I will be happier with the dish if there's no pork belly or crunchy cabbage added. I just need the noodles with kimchi! HEH!

Umi Budou (Green Caviar Seaweed) - $14

I was REALLY excited when I saw this on the menu. Well, because Senda Aisa introduced it on her show. 

But I was stumped when this tiny dish of "sea grapes" got served to our table. This friggin tiny dish of seaweed cost us $14++. The size of the dish is just slightly larger than the usual dipping sauce saucers. 

Taste wise, it's so underwhelming. It's really just the usual slight fishy-saltiness of seaweed, plus the slight popping sensation that is similar to eating tobikko (flying fish roe). 

I'll say, skip this please. Just try some out if you ever visit Okinawa. 

Chinpin (Brown Sugar Pancakes) - $9.80

A traditional Okinawan sweet snack, most people call this a pancake, but actually I would think it's more like a crepe instead. I was deciding between Sata Andagi (Okinawan Doughnuts) and this for dessert, and in the end chose this because I've never tried (nor heard of this) before. 

And I'm glad I did! Although Sata Andagi is also super yummy (not sure how Nirai-Kanai does theirs though), these are so.... moreish? 

The addictive chewiness of the crepe, paired with the delicious, rich sweetness of brown sugar and the "fun" of being able to unroll the pancake while eating it just made this the best after meal dessert, ever. It was served alongside a big heap of whipped cream, but you really don't need any of that. The taste of the pancake on its own should suffice to fix any sweet tooth cravings!

Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai is located at Great World City, #01-107/108 

For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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