Thien Kee Steamboat Restaurant

I was first brought to Thien Kee Steamboat Restaurant by dining companions who raved about its chicken steamboat. Thought the steamboat uses chicken stock until I reached the Hainanese eatery at the basement of Golden Mile Tower, beside Golden Mile Complex and opposite Golden Mile Food Centre. Went down the steps from the main road and saw that the sparsely furnished place has a "stall" with poached chicken, roast pork and char siew. There is no menu here and only small, medium and large sets are offered for its steamboat – choose from pork, beef and seafood or any combination of these. Ordered a mix (also comes with egg and vegetables) and was not impressed with the steamboat.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware

After lunch at Antoinette, I decided to walk to Chye Seng Huat Hardware (CSHH) located along Tyrwhitt Road. Thought it was not opened for business until I saw people opening a heavy metal door beside the metal gates, so I followed them in and was surprised by the world of difference inside. Occupying the 1st floor of the three-storey shophouse is CSHH Coffee Bar with an island bar in the middle of the main room, behind which is private coffee tasting room Annex. Across this, and housed at the back, is the roastery that scientifically brings out the best intrinsic flavours of coffee. On the 2nd floor is Tyrwhitt General Company and C-PlatForm with state-of-the-art coffee gadgets, apparatus and machines for coffee enthusiasts to understand and learn about coffee beyond the bean.

Antoinette Revisited

It was on a weekday afternoon when my dining companion and I visited Antoinette at Penhas Road, near Lavender MRT Station. While I have been to the branch at Mandarin Gallery (there is another at Palais Renaissance), this is my first time here. Instead of its breakfast which I had the other time, I tried Boeuf Bourguignon. Could taste the red wine in the braised Wagyu brisket so tender it could be easily pulled apart with the fork and knife. And loved how it went well with the pomme purée and seasonal vegetables. The former is mashed potato with a thicker consistency than usual, and contained tiny cubes of potato I could bite into. Portion was a tad big, maybe because I ate most of the viennoiseries and a bacon that was part of the Antoinette Breakfast. Oops, you just realised how much of a glutton I am.

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Update: The branch at Palais Renaissance has closed.