eevon.sg

Finally a decent hangout place that’s unconventional enough to be cool at the north of Singapore! Yay. Raw Kitchen Bar is hidden within the defunct firestation in Upper Bukit Timah. Mr.Ong and I drove and we missed the turn into the carpark for the “Spectra” building! We were quite blur. Gotta make a U-turn ahead. Argh.

Yeah so if you are coming from Chua Chu Kang, look out for the entrance on your right hand side. It’s at the junction where the turn into Bukit Batok is on your left.

So what’s so raw about Raw Kitchen Bar? hmm. From what we ordered, it had to be either raw tuna or raw salmon. The rest are all fairly cooked! Heh. okie it has to be the deco. The restaurant gives off a comfy and homely vibe with its chic yet minimalistic interior.

When you stepped into the ‘house’ you’re greeted with a neat living room! You’ll find your way instinctively around the place. It’s very inviting.

I love the ‘raw’ cement flooring and warm, dim lighting!

The deco is very eclectic with a mix of randomness. The chairs, tables and dining utensils are all of different shapes and sizes. But all the elements blends in really well with the environment.

I ? the super low hanging lamps and the arkward thin and scrawny tree right in the middle of the room.

Looks comfy right? But we decided to sit outside! yes, the backyard of the ‘house’! Were enticed by the garden and moonish lanterns! It’s like Mid-Autumn Festival meets kitsch. haha

Anyway the ambience was great. No over-crowding. A plus point of dining at a residential hinterland, out of the city, away from the madding crowd.

Mr.Ong sat on a green camping chair which was rather amusing. But he didn’t felt unfortunate nor did he changed his chair. It must had been quite comfy for him then. An extremely hungry engineer, he fidgets in his seat like a restless child.

Let’s move on. lol

For starters, we decided to share! Evelyn made a really good choice. She ordered Ahi mango poke with japanese cucumbers and a sesame dressing with fried wanton chips ($16).

It looks kinda Mexican doesn’t it? I loved how the savoury crunchy chips brings out the freshness of the raw tuna cubes, cucumber and mango filling. The dressing just nice and the taste of sweet tangy mango was pleasant.

We also got the Seafood Ceviche ($17). Raw salmon, tuna and squid! This dish is a gastronomical delight. The zesty sauce is very appetizing. I particularly like the tuna cubes.

Starters were scrumdiddlyumptious!

For mains, we had 2 fish and 2 meat. Lets start with the fishes.

Evelyn’s nori-wrapped salmon with wasabi mash wasn’t very spectacular. The fish was served with wasabi mash and sauteed portabellos. Hmm. Had a bite of the salmon and it wasn’t very spectacular. The fish lacks flavour but the wasabi marsh was pretty awesome. The wasabi flavour was agreeable and not too overwelming.

My seabass main ($19) was mildly garlicky and nutty. The sauce tasted lemonish and was quite appetising. but I wasn’t blown away by this dish. I think the fish fillets were not moist enough. Perhaps there were pan-fried a little too long.

GY’s marsala lamb ($24) looks mouth-watering. The meat was tender and comes with pumpkin marsh. The lamb tasted 10/10 from the little nibble I had. On the palate, there’s a strong taste of rosemary. Not sure where the marsala is but I will definately order this for myself the next visit.

Mr.Ong ordered caramelized balsamic vinegar duck ($23). It has a pleasant taste of sweet and sour in contrast.

The waitress was helpful with dessert and wine recommendation.  The Innocent Bystander’s Muscato ($22) was delightful. It is pale pink in colour! It has a slight sparkling fizz and we can taste a slight hint of strawberries.

If you noticed, serving was just ok. It is smaller than Bistro One Zero Three but this leaves us enough space for our desserts!

We had Chocolate lava cake and fried cheese cake. The lava cake was so-so only. The chocolate inside was warm enough but the ice cream wasn’t frozen enough. I’m not a fan of gooey ice cream. On the other hand, the fried cheese cake did fairly better but I think that the cheese were overshadowed by the strawberry and marmalade sauce.

I must say that the service was excellent. They served iced water and it was refilled quickly. Ooh and since it’s al fresco dining, the restaurant actually prepared mosquito coil for us! You can also request for insect repellant for free.

Basically, we enjoyed Raw Kitchen Bar’s  fusion cuision. Fusion cuisine is always interesting. You never really know what to expect and it’s fun to wonder what influences were fused in the dish.

The bill came up to $182.88 inclusive of 10% service charge and 7% gst. About $46/pax which was quite reasonable. However since it is located at a residential hinterland, the price may be a little high. Although the food is pretty much decent, I would recommend meat instead of fish.

On your visit,  do get the ahi mango starter and a bottle of muscato.

Raw Kitchen Bar
276 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Tel: : 6467 3987
Open hours: 5:30pm to 12 midnight
(Closed Mondays)

I’ve spent almost 3 days on this album! I’m designing my ROM photo album using Fotohub lifestyle services. I chose FotoJournal because I prefer soft cover and the price is cheaper. If you prefer leatherbound hardcover albums, you can try FotoStory. 

The largest size for Fotojournal is the 8SQ with 30 pages. It will cost around $79.90 for non-members. $10 off for members. I wil go for this. Think about it. It is chic, affordable and practical. All you need is time, effort and style. 

Besides, you can’t complain that it’s ugly because you did it yourself! haha. Consider the amount of pictures in a DIY FotoJournal compared to the thick, heavy, less than 10 pages bridal albums. Ah. value for money and I think I”m very fussy when it comes to personal momentos. Thus, I decide to do it myself!

I just need to download the Free FotoJournal software.

Free noobie software - Creative Photos v_1.7.3.1

With this, I can easily create my personalised album using drag-and-drop photo placement and full text control. It’s extremely simple if you are a whiz with Photoshop. In fact, sometimes, I think it had too little functions ie. why there isn’t a ruler!? why is there only 18 colours choice for picture borders/text colour?

I would recommend you to first photoshop your pictures until you are satisfied with them (the software can’t do much besides making them black&white or sepia).

If you want your album to look professional, go to the library and get some inspiration. Browse some DIY/scrapbooking/photography books to find the feel/style you want for your album.

Here’s a sneakpeak of 8 pages from my ROM album project! 

The front and back cover page

The balloony page!

I must say this album was done with 20% input from the husband. GRrrrr can’t get more help because he is a noobie at designing stuff like this!

Baby's fav

My fave!

OMG. I think I’m obsessed with the details. Keep touching up, making sure pictures are aligned, checking if the borders are in the correct shade etc etc

The more I look at it, the more I think I can improve it. This is a problem when you DIY your own memorable keepsake. Everything must be perrrfect!!!

Ok. Deep breathe.

It looks perfect and I will send it for printing tomorrow and…

I shall not be obsessed. 

I shall not be obsessed.

I shall not be obsessed.

Presenting my favourite chips!!! Ruffles! Cheddar & Sour Cream!! This brand is produced by Frito-Lay.

Whenever I see this cheerio-looking bag, it practically begs me to take it home.

I have tried different varieties of Ruffles chips and am particularly pleased with the cheddar and sour cream flavour. When you open the bag, a strong cheesy aroma with sour background notes will tease your nose. haha. Yes I really love cheese alot. To me, Ruffles is salty but not overly so. But I think this flavour would not really appeal so much to people who do not like cheese. It may be slightly salty to them. Want to be safe then get the original flavour. For some spunk, it’s definately cheddar and sour cream!

Anyway “R R R Ruffles Have Ridges!” – a very appropriate tagline because these  ridges can hold more flavors and is great for dips. Oh you can also add Ruffles into your salads/sandwiches!

Teehee I’m not Ruffles’ only fan. Check out these video reviews of Ruffles. Heh.

Here’s a lovely painting of Ruffles by Craig Stephens. He’s an artist from Northern California. This painting reminds me of this quote: “Let’s evolve. Let the chips fall where they may.” Fight Club. Mm. So what happens happens so just let the imminent events unfold.  jhg jhg jhg..

Ruffles by Craig Stephens

Perhaps Ruffles can come up with resealable bags. Then everything will be perrrrrfect :)

I think this candy bar phone is so cute!!! calculater!? I like calculator-phone!!!

This retro-looking gadget by local company, Foresight Technologies is targeted at “old people” but I think it also attracts people like me who loves retro-ish gadgets! hehe.

What I have here is a picture of the phone in white but the colour I fell in love with is the gold one! Looks exactly like those old calculators that were used for freaking long time until it turned yellow! haha.

What stands out is the super big key design! Its not very bulky too! I guess the only slack part would be the small display screen.  Anyway CP09 also has a torch, an SOS button and a siren! Interesting.

This baby is retailing at $78! Available at NTUC and Cheers!

More info at Techielobang.

Lovely Evelyn bought me my favourite snack from Taiwan!

I’ve no idea why the packaging shows ‘Naughty Original Hard Egg”. Normally, it’s called the “Iron Egg”! It is stewed again and again so it becomes harder each time. No wonder it’s blackish looking. Anyway it is very delicious! Imagine tasting the essence of flavors in the egg that was stewed repeatedly.

I love this snack! And am so addicted to it now. I cannot stop popping it into my mouth once I started on one! It’s like chewing on pvc, something harder and nicer to chew on than chewing gum! This brand is better than the previous one my other friend got me. It is less PVC-ish. lol.

According to the packaging naughty eggs are made from egg (obviously hehe), sugar, salt, balck soybean sauce, caramel and spice.

OMG I better control myself! I think I ate like 10 eggs in 30mins!