Toby's The Dessert Asylum @ Parkway Parade

It has been years since I last visited Parkway Parade and it looks like the place has undergone some revamp with more eateries being added to the shopping mall. I have not known of the existence of Toby's The Dessert Asylum at level two until my recent visit to Parkway Parade.

From the name of the restaurant, I would have thought that this is a dessert place. You will be surprised by the huge selection of savoury and cooked food on the menu. The menu was pretty huge and I have to take sometime to decide what to order.

Spicy Hot Wings 4/5

From the starter, I had the Spicy Hot Wings ($8.95). The spicy hot wings was deep fried to a nice crispy exterior. The batter was not too thick and the wings were juicy and meaty.

Spicy Marinara Spaghetti 4/5

The Spicy Marinara Spaghetti ($17.95) topped with seafood was pretty well cooked with beautiful flavour that came with a spicy kick.

German and Cheese Bratwurst Dawg Combi 3.5/5

Served with salad and garlic rice on the side, the German and Cheese Bratwurst Cheese Dawg Combi ($16.95) was one of their house special. The sausage was huge, firm and tasty. The huge servicing portion was definitely value for money.

Garlic Pork Sandwich 4.2/5

The interesting orange colour bread was slightly toasted, crusty on the outside and soft inside. Stuffed with delish garlic mayo, pork lettuce, tomato, onions and cheese, the Garlic Pork Sandwich can be a bit messy to handle but it was a very delicious sandwich.

Bean Me Up 2/5

I did not enjoy the Bean Me Up ($12.90) parfait that comes with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, red bean, chendol, drizzled with gula melaka and coconut cream. The combination tasted weird and I regretted ordering it.

Seek Asylum 4.8/5

The Mud Pie is a must try here. There are 8 different flavours on the menu. I tried the Seek Asylum ($15.95) which comes with macadamia ice cream, mocha, almond ice cream with cookies and Baileys Irish Cream. The Baileys Irish Cream was not too overpowering with the interesting play of bitterness complementing the sweetness of the ice cream. Coupled with the fragrant and nutty bites of surprises with each scoop of the dessert, this is one of the best mudpie I have ever tried. I definitely will be back to try the rest of the remaining seven flavours.


[MOVED]
Toby's The Dessert Asylum
Parkway Parade
80 Marine Parade Road
#02-68/70
Singapore 449269
Tel: +65 63462435
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TobysTheDessertAsylum
Website: http://www.tobys.com.sg
Nearest MRT: Dakota (CC Line), Paya Lebar (CC Line, EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11am - 10pm
Sat-Sun: 9am - 10pm

Direction: 
1) Alight at Dakota MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to bus stop at Block 99 (Stop ID 81181). Take bus number 31. Alight 6 stops later. Cross the road and walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Paya Lebar MRT station. Take Exit B. Walk to bus stop along Paya Lebar Road (Stop ID 81111). Take bys number 43, 76 or 135. Alight 8 stops later. Cross the road and walk to destination. Journey time about 15 minutes. [Map]

Truly Curry Rice (真咖喱饭) @ Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre

It is heartening to see another 2 Young Hawker who is willing to sacrifice their day job as traders in the bank to labour in a confined hawker stall at Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre. Deniece's dad owned the stall but was looking for someone to takeover. Deniece and his business partner Joel decided to jump on the opportunity, quitted their comfortable job and started their next career path as hawker. After taking over the curry rice stall, Truly Curry Rice (真咖喱饭), the pair spent months fine tuning the dishes and introducing new items to win over the heart and stomach of their customers.

Pork Chop 3.5/5

The Pork Chop was pretty decent with its crumbly exterior and was succulent inside. If I am to pick bones from an egg, I felt that the seasoning can be a bit heavier or maybe offer a tomato based Hainanese pork chop.

Chap Chye 4.5/5

The Chap Chye was really well executed bringing out the natural sweetness of the cabbage with its delightful texture.

Meatball 4/5

The Meatball here was really huge and well seasoned. If there is some savoury like salted egg to give it some contrasting flavour that will be perfect.

Curry Rice 4.2/5

The basic necessity of a good plate of curry rice is the Curry. Both Joel and Deniece have taken the original recipe and did some refinement. The end product is a fragrant and flavourful curry that has a lingering spiciness on the palate. It got the approval from all of us and I will be happy to drench the whole plate of rice with it.

Deep Fried Prawn 3.5/5

Personally I think it is not necessary to use the five spice powder for the Deep Fried Prawn as it makes the prawns darker in colour which I thought was not too presentable. Nevertheless, the prawn was deep fried to a nice crispy bite, the batter was not too thick and it was well seasoned.

Eggplant 4.5/5

I took a bite of the Eggplant and turned to my friends. My immediate reaction was, "hey guys you got to try this, the hae bee hiam is very good". The fragrant hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp) complemented the sweetness of the eggplant beautifully. The eggplant was also not overcooked retaining a bit of the crunchiness. What heartened me is to know the hae bee hiam was cooked from scratch at the stall by the 2 young hawker. If one day they decided to sell the hae bee hiam in bottle, I would gladly buy from them.

 

Long Beans 4.5/5

I know not many people enjoy eating eggplant. If you are one of them, you can try the Long Beans instead. It is stir fried using the same hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp).

Assam Calamari 3.5/5

The delectable Assam Calamari felt a bit out of place with its lemongrass flavour which is usually found in Thai cuisine. Saying that it was still a well balanced and executed dish. The calamari was also fresh and crunchy. It is one of those dish that you either love it or hate it in my opinion.

Bitter Gourd Omelette 4/5

The Bitter Gourd Omelette was fried to a nice brown crisp with the well seasoned omelette complementing the bitterness of the bitter gourd.

Braised Pork Belly 3/5

One look at the Braised Pork Belly and I could tell it needed more time to fully absorb the flavour. The braised pork belly did not have that melted in the mouth texture and the flavour was not robust enough.

Lor Bak 4.5/5

Both Joel and Deniece are not Hainanese and Truly Curry Rice is not an authentic Hainanese curry rice stall. They strive to serve their customers with good food and food that they themselves love to eat. Hence it is not surprise to see Joel took his mum's Lor Bak recipe and introduced the item at the stall. The chilli dip that goes along with the lor bak is also freshly prepared at the stall.

There has been a lot of media coverage about preserving our Hawker Heritage and efforts to encourage Young Hawkers to take up the trade. It seems like it is a dying trade where the replacement rate is out paced by the older generation of hawkers getting too old to handle the workload or passing on. Coupled by long work hours, working environment and non recognition, there is a lack of the younger generation willing to be a hawker. It is really heartening to see Joel and Deniece sacrificing probably their social life and high paid salary job waking up as early as 4am and sweating out in a hot and stuffy hawker stall prepping and cooking for the day.


[MOVED]
Truly Curry Rice
Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre
79 Telok Blangah Drive
#01-29
Singapore 100079
Nearest MRT: Telok Blangah (CC Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 630am - 3pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Telok Blangah MRT station. Take Exit A. Take the overhead bridge to the other side of the road. Cut across block 45 to Telok Blangah Drive. At Telok Blangah Drive, turn left and walk to destination. Journey time about 8 minutes. [Map]