Far East Square is somewhere that I have not step foot into before. My impression of it before yesterday, was just another office area, that doesn’t have much going on.

The invitation to the Gastromania Feast from omy.sg had changed my impression of this place. Little did I know it is a heritage conservation project, opened in 1999; and it now host a vibrant mix of restaurants, cafes, and pubs, as well as shops, pushcarts and kiosks.

So the bloggers were set out for half a day of food trail @ Far East Square. Our day began at 11am, with the 1st stop @ Zhou’s Kitchen.

Upon walking into the restaurant, I felt refreshed with the simple and clean decor in white and green.

Zhou’s Kitchen was conceptualized by TungLok with a new casual Chinese dinning concept, aiming to provide customers with the “dinning at home” feeling. As introduced, their dishes are mostly made from private home recipes.

I browsed through the menu and immediately spotted so many of my favourite dishes! Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce, Deep fried Prawns with Wasabi Mayo Sauce, Crispy Beancurd with Salted Pepper, Red Bean Pancake and so many more……. *drools*

We were served the Zhou’s Kitchen Braised Pork Shank, together with fried and steam buns.

I took my first portion of the pork shank, preserved pickles and vegetables. I expected the whole pork shank to be well-simmered – soft and tender but, the piece I took was kinda dry and tough. I liked the preserved vegetables – although I have no idea what it is exactly. haha.. It is crunchy and has a mix of sour and savoury taste.

On my 2nd serving, I chose another part of the shank, nearer to the skin and wow…. It was tender, soft and almost melt in my mouth.

It could have be better if the whole shank was tender. The sauce isn’t too salty and it went well with fried buns! (no more exclusivity to chilli crabs! haha.)

The building that hosts Ju Chun Yuan now was a former school, to be exact, the first Chinese school.

I particular liked the design of the 2nd floor. (:

Another refreshing moment: Floral Tea. This helps to cleanse our palette and prep our taste buds for the next dish!!!

You heard about this. You probably have eaten something like it during weddings or proper chinese dinners. BUT, THIS ONE HERE >>> is as authentic as it can be.

Buddha Jumps Over The Wall 佛跳墙

It is said that this world-renowned dish was created at JuChunYuan Fuzhou back in 1865. Yes, the restaurant in Fuzhou has a history of 146 years! The Singapore outlet opened in 2007.

This delicacy is a rich combination of shark’s fin, abalone, scallop sea cucumber, fish maw, cuttlefish, pork tendon, flower mushroom and other ingredients.

This single portion (below) cost $98 while the big pot (above) is priced at $1288 and takes 1 day of preparations!

We were served a sampler portion and it was such a satisfying moment. The broth is excellent – rich and tasty, full of the seafood flavour. All the ingredients were so yummy – abalone was soft and chewy, scallop was juicy, pork tendon was soft and tender. Every single bit was excellent.

Although it was only a sampler portion, I felt it was just the right amount. The manager was explaining to us that the big pot serves 10 people with 2 servings each. Usually, when customers order this delicacy, it will be the main course and he recommends to order 1-2 side vegetable dishes to go along with it.

The group of us getting seated and ready for our 3rd dish!

3rd refreshing moment: Calamansi Soda.

At Paruda, they are famous for their Fried Chicken with Blue Ginger Floss.

I was served the wing portion. The blue ginger floss is also the signature of this dish. The manager told us that many of their customers return for this floss. With that being said, I tried the floss first and it was a pretty interesting taste.

I went on to the meat part and I was taken aback by how tender and juicy the chicken was! I could easily separate the meat and bone with the fork and spoon and the blue ginger floss went really well with the meat. I was craving for more when I finished my portion and of course, I cleared the floss too! =P

I was kinda excited when I learnt that we were heading to Shin Kushiya next. I had dined at the Vivo outlet twice and I liked it.

The chef preparing the kushiyaki for us. (:

Anyone knows what is the difference between Yakitori and Kushiyaki?

Yakitori is basically grilled chicken only while Kushiyaki can be done in almost any ingredient (seafood, vegetables).

From right to left: Tomato Maki, Ebi Shiso Maki, Buta Bara Yaki Miso, Black Pepper Yakitori

My favourite among the 4 has gotta be the TOMATO MAKI~ It is wrapped with a thin sliced of pork and you will get a burst of juice in your mouth when you bite down on the tomato maki. We were told that they used pork instead of bacon for a less salty taste. And I think using pork is indeed a better choice. Bacon tends to turn hard (sometimes crispy if you’re lucky) while pork remains soft and tender.

At Shin Kushiya, they served 2 interesting types of salt to go with the kushiyaki. Both gives a different light to the food.

Now, here’s the highlight of the trail! Many of us agreed.

Kuro Goma Heaven. And yes, it was HEAVENLY~ How aptly named!

It’s black sesame ice cream with black sesame paste. It is rich in the flavour and yet not over-powering. It gives a lingering fragrant in the mouth too. By adding black sesame paste to it, it simply enhances the flavour to another level and this is just so awesome! I love it to the MAX~

I just like how all these restaurants keep their decor clean. Minimalistic is the way to go!

MONT was so generous and they served us 3 different pizzas and pastas.

I tried the Smoked Salmon Pizza and…

Parma Ham with Rucola Pasta.

This is my first time having smoked salmon in a pizza and I’m kinda liking it. It has fetta cheese hidden under the leaves and the combination of fetta cheese and smoked salmon can never go wrong.

I have a thing for parma ham. But this didn’t taste very well as the pasta was cold by the time I had it. The quality of parma ham is pretty up to standard, i must say.

By now, you must be thinking, “how much food did you guys had!” Well, this is only the 5th stop, 3 more to go!

So the 6th stop is @ Mirchi - taste of India.

They serve authentic North Indian food. Oh boy, I miss those days of having indian food at TP Mensa foodcourt with the girls.

This is the Tandoori Platter. There’s lamb, chicken, fish and prawn.

And yes, they served us Mango Lassi too! One of my favourites. I am not a big fan of Indian cuisine so I can’t give much comments about the food. All were good except for the lamb, which I feel it dry and too spicy for me.

The tandoori fish is definitely worth a try, especially dipping it into the Mango Chutney sauce.

Hock Lam Beef is celebrating their 100th year mark this October!

Their first proper stall was set up on Hock Lam Street (which doesn’t exist anymore today).

Back in those days….

Original Mixed Beef Kway Teow with Soup. Just by standing outside their place, you can already smell the fragrant of the beef stock. Needlessly to say, the soup tasted marvellous.

My favourite was the sliced beef. It was still pinkish when served to me and by the time we dig in, it was at its optimal texture. Yum Yum. The boss told us that even till today, the beef slices are hand sliced and not machine cut.

Watch my review of the Beef Kway Teow:
Feast on world delicacies at Far East Square

Our last stop (finally! so full.) @ Oni Cupcakes.

Oni Cupcakes was founded upon the passion in designing cupcakes.

We were served mini cupcakes! So adorable.

I tried the Nuts About You and Mango Tango. The flavours were strong but I didn’t liked the cake itself. I felt it was like a normal butter cake.

So, this marked the end of our food trail, leaving us with a very very filling stomach!

Yet, there were still so many more restaurants at Far East Square that we didn’t go. There is Bergs Gourmet Burgers (I have heard good reviews of); Quiznos Sub is good (I have tried the outlet at ICON); Mr Teh Terik Cartel (famous for Teh Terik!) and so many more good food places to be explored!

After hearing and seeing so many yummy places @ Far East Square, here’s your chance to win some dinning vouchers!

Vote for me here —> http://contest.omy.sg/let-the-feast-begin-gastromania and 5 lucky voters will win $50 dinning vouchers each~ (;