the garden slug

Last week we were blindfolded and brought to a dark, dingy little shop called mani•cur•ious. Everything in that last sentence is true, except for the blindfold bit. And the dark, dingy bit. And.. um, maybe it was two weeks ago.

Anyhoo. Mani•cur•ious is not a curio shop but more like a curious little shop that curates curious little things. Kinda sorta. O aren’t you impressed with our wordsmithyness. And they also do manicures. Get it? Mani-Curious! 41 Beach Road, that’s where they’re at.

What were we doing there? We made some food and assembled them on shiny trays. This sort of activity is known as “food catering” in some parts of the world.

In first world countries, food catering activity is usually supported by a deluge of colourful photographs, also known as “food pr0n”. Unfortunately Chris Slug is a lousy iPhotographer. We just coined that word a minute ago. An iPhotographer is someone who takes photos using an iPhone. We so witty *chucklesnorts*

Anyhoo. No combination of photo-editing iPhone apps could save these pictures, but we did our best. Increase Exposure > Saturate > Vignette Blur. Voila! *self-amuse*

Catering enquiries go straight to a Slug Robot called “Auto-responder”, so you’ll know your e-mail was well-received. Or well, received. Eventually the e-mail does reach the eyes of Chris Slug and he swears on the life of his iPhone that he’ll respond as soon as he can. Which means in one or two working days. And by working days we mean normal people’s working days (like, Monday to Friday those kind).

this week’s specials, available from today, all day, and possible all week or while fresh ingredients last

The theme for this week is ginger. Ginger was the name of my first dog. Actually no my first dog was named Thunder. I named it when I was two because I liked the sound of the word “thunder”. It was the greatest word I’d ever heard. So I’d go “THUN-DAAAAAAAAA!! C’MERE THUN-DAAAAARRRR!!” It passed away after only a few months. My Dad would say it came and went quickly, just like its namesake.

These days I much prefer the word “cellar door”. It is apparently the most beautiful word in the English language. Although, it might be a strange name for a pet dog.

Back to ginger.

soup of the day: cream of carrot & coriander, with nutmeg, Moroccan-styled preserved lemon and rustic chunks of potato

Confession: There is no ginger in this soup. These soups of the days, just ‘coz they have their own Flickr set and all, think they’re all that and a bag of chips. So they quietly rebel against any weekly themes, simmering away in their soup pot, sekretly huddle and stew together to plot the next anti-theme uprising. So that’s why there’s no ginger in this week’s soup even though this week’s theme is ginger.

special main: pasta tossed in our homemade XO sauce with juicy, caramelised shrimp, topped with ginger hay

Ginger hay is not hay. It’s ginger. That looks like hay. Thereby proving that this dish contains ginger. Thereby adhering to this week’s ginger theme.

dessert special: sticky toffee-glazed cake with candied ginger and spiced maple bacon chip, plus a generous scoop of vanilla gelato by side

Also called The Universal Dessert – it’s got a bit of everything. It’s sweet, salty, spicy, fluffy, bacon-y, ginger-y, and vanilla gelato-ey. Guaranteed to please your first date or your 4,763rd date. Or not. Either way, if it’s all washed down with a 7% ABV Festival Pear Cider, the evening might still end very nicely after all.

Chris Slug said from this angle it kinda sorta looks like a Slug.

Well, if you happen to have photos of TGS food resembling any of Mother Earth’s wonderful creatures, send it to us at justask@thegardenslug.com with the subject Food Animal Me Want Win Cider. We’ll pick our favourite and shout you a bucket of Brothers Festival Pear Ciders (7% ABV). Serious!

29 degrees Celsius. Cloudy. Quiet. Bee Gees playing quietly in the background. Walls full of plug points. Free wifi.

Perfect for working on your latest novel or banging out code for your latest web app. Perfect for marking exam papers or completing that masscomm assignment.

Hearty cream of celery, carrot and potato. Iced water. Cowboy.

One sleepy afternoon, some weirdos with ski masks barged into the shop, put a gun to our heads and said, “GIVES US YOUR SHRIMP & PUMPKIN PASTA RECIPE OR WE’LL.. WE’LL TAKE COWBOY AND.. AND.. uh, WE’LL TOSS HIM IN LORONG M!!!!” And we were like “Nuuuuuuu… not Cowboy! Cowboy is Lorong L and Lorong L is Cowboy! They CANNOT be SEPARATEDDDDD! Pleeeeease! We’ll do anything, anything! Okay here’s the recipe. Take it. TAKE ITTTT! >_< ”

Okay that never really happened. No stray cats were harmed in the creation of the fictional account above. The mild-mannered folks at Cuisine & Wine Asia asked us very nicely. And we relented.

So. If you’ve always wanted to know how to make the Shrimp & Pumpkin Pasta at home, there’s a nice pullout section in the May-June 2012 edition of Cuisine & Wine Asia offering OUR MOST HIGHLY GUARDED SEKRET RECIPE, as well as how to make our Pear William, and a few other interesting recipes from other peoples.

Eh, please try it at home leh! Then take photo and send to us at justask@thegardenslug.com. Tell us if your guests survived the ordeal! Joking, joking. Let us know how it went, we’d really love to know if it turned out well.

There’s also a little write-up on TGS, as well as many other restaurants and cafés with quirky names. Yah. That’s how we got their attention. We has a quirky name.

This one is the artsy, illegible shot. For a more legible shot, go here.

We can has one lone copy on our bookshelf, there are a lot of interesting articles for the foodie. Interviews with chefs, how to cook things, how recipes come about etc.

Alternatively, save on Le Dead Trees and subscribe online. The publication has apps for Apple, Android and other devices.. sibeh kool.

Dearest Dad,

You may or may not think of yourself as a conventional person, but I want to thank you for a most unconventional upbringing. But before any of that – thank you for being there. For always being there. For never having abandoned or neglected us in any way at all. I once read that the best gift a father can give his children is to love their mother. Thank you for loving Mum with all your heart. You couldn’t have set a better, healthier example to your offspring.

My memories of childhood are filled with your presence because you were the one who was always, ALWAYS there. You took us everywhere, to the playgrounds, to the riverbank, to go fishing, to nature parks, to dilapidated Malaysian zoos and you taught us everything we know. We caught fireflies in jars, we squealed at mudskippers, you taught us how to identify fruit trees by their leaves, you named every mammal, every reptile and every insect in both English and Latin.

Tall, good-looking, smart AND funny - I think you are the sort of father everyone wishes they had, which constantly reminds me how lucky I am to have you. While many Asian fathers are distant and conservative, you surprise me each and every time with your open-mindedness and most of all your warm, generous heart.

We’ve disappointed you a couple of times growing up, but ah well, you chose to have children, right?

The last time you visited TGS you had the Christmas meat platter. If you were here for Fathers Day we’re quite sure you would want “something substantial” which is why we’ve created a substantial set meal with lots of meat, a pasta and a dessert platter.

The highlight for you would be the mixed grill. We have a choice of The Garden Slug Mixed Grill which feeds a family of 3-4, or The Ultimate Mixed Grill which easily feeds 5-6 hungry celebrants. I’m guessing you’d go for the latter even if there are only four of us at the table.

(photo © Jasper L)

The Aglio Olio con Funghi is a wine-based, almost “dry-fry” pasta to accompany the meats. There’s a bit of chilli in it and you can always ask for more.

The Sweet Sweet Slug is more for Mum’s separate stomach for desserts and fruits, although we’re quite sure everyone will enjoy a happy and sweet ending together.

Why offer a bucket of 5 Hoegaardens for a family of four? Because we know you’ll have two.

Often the things I want to say are never really said. Although, I think you and Mum both know you’ve done a really good job in bringing up very decent, well-adjusted children.

Thank you for everything Dad. You are THE best and I love you.

A little while ago, we announced on Facebook that Sophia, who had been a big part of The Garden Slug, was taking a break to explore her interests in other businesses and activities. There was an amicable parting of ways and we wished her all the best.

(pic taken from daphnemaia.com)

And guess what, the best has come! We’d like to introduce Sophia’s latest business venture called “The Factory”.

Not to be confused with Andy Warhol’s studio, this dessert shop on the ground floor of a 40-year-old shophouse serves hand-crafted ice cream with alcohol-flavoured toppings, edible fruit sodas, chocolate tarts and french fries with eyebrow-raising artisanal dips like laksa pesto with roasted cashew, curry mustard aioli, spicy melted tomato with chinchalok, and Marmite honey aoioli. Ice cream flavours can be customised; call three days ahead. -TimeOut Singapore

(photo © Nicholas Lee)

Located at 22 Lim Tua Tow Road, the shop lets in plenty of sunlight in the day, there are reading corners, free wifi, and even an area to clip your doggie leashes to.. so you can keep an eye on Lucky while you enjoy your ice-cream on Belgian waffles. They’ve thought of everything! So bring a book, bring your furry friends, and bring your loved ones for ice-cream, artisan fries, and a few other delightful surprises. You know it’s gonna be good with Sophia at the helm. They can has a Facebook page – “Like” http://facebook.com/ilovethefactory for new flavours, free concert tickets, updates on half-price waffles and general friendly banter.

You’ll also find Dark Chocolate Nutella Tarts which we know y’all love so much and are constantly, CONSTANTLY asking for. Well, here they are – Go getcho weekly or even daily fix of them tarts at The Factory, yo.

(photo © daphnemaia.com)

Once again, congratulations Sophia. For more information, visit ilovethefactory.com or better yet, visit The Factory, have some ice-cream and have a chat with the friendly peoples there

this week’s specials, available from today, all day, and possibly all week or while fresh ingredients last

soup of the day: hearty vegetable chowder
A harmonious blend of carrot, tomato, zucchini, parsley and spring onion, with just a dash of cream for extra smoothness.

special main: Moroccan meatball stew with toasted almond & raisin pilaf
Comes with a healthy side of pan-grilled vegetables. This is not spicy at all, but if you would like it to be spicy-er, as always – just ask!

dessert special: re-introducing – the apple cranberry streusel
It may come in a slightly different shape than pictured, but the ingredients used are still the same. Expect healthy grains, dried cranberry and raisins, freshly stewed apples in cinnamon and seven other secret spices. All topped with a generous ball of vanilla gelato.

One of the best rewards we look forward to each year, is the annual hygiene and cleanliness grading letter (haha! We got two letters, geddit? A written letter and the letter “A”! *snort*) from the National Environment Agency.

More than anything, this is a validation of our Slugs’ hard work and diligence in upholding and adhering to our daily, weekly and monthly housekeeping duties.

However, the biggest thanks goes to you, our dear Slugphiles, who are generally very tidy and respectful customers. You make it easy for us to clean up after you, your children and your furkids. Most of you actually clean up after yourselves, and we’ve seen you teaching your offspring to do the same too. For that and so much more – thank you, thank you, thank you!

Here’s to a clean, kind and gracious Singapore

this week’s specials, available from today, all day, and possibly all week or while fresh ingredients last

soup of the day: tangy roasted tomato rasam (non-spicy)

Inspired by a recent Slug Supper outing at Alif Corner Restaurant, a rasam is a thin, very spicy southern Indian soup served alone or combined with other foods, such as rice, as a side dish. To make it our own, we’ve added a handful of basil leaves and taken out the “very spicy” bit.

Today’s soup is meant to go with today’s fish.

special catch: Parmesan-dill Breaded Dory with seasoned potato wedges, homemade zingy sambal belacan mayo dip by side

You know how when someone is frying sambal belacan the whole world kinda sorta knows it? And if you  smell it in the air and go, “Ahhhhh this is LURRRVVVVVVE” then you, my dear friend, get a 100% A+++ grade in true-blue Southeast Asian-ness.

Regular food shot.

Close-up shot.

Split open that creamy sweet dory shot.

dessert special: Vanilla Mudpie stuffed with Baileys Truffles, New York cheesecake chunks, Dark Chocolate Fudge and Almond Cookie Crumble