Frannywanny

I first heard about Tenya back in 2016 from my good friend D as she was helping me put together my Tokyo itinerary. My friends in Singapore love going to Japan that I can probably name 10 friends who knows Tokyo so well that they can give the best recommendations even with their eyes closed. Thanks to them, Paul and I had spent one marvelous week eating our way around Japan and mind you, we managed to dine at some of the best hole in the wall places thanks to the tips that we got from these friends. I have yet to share with you stories from that trip and I promise to do it really soon. Meanwhile, back in Manila, Paul and I stumbled upon Tenya as we were going around the Bonifacio Global City one evening looking for a place to grab a quick early dinner before heading home. A quick search on our phone led us to Tenya  at the BGC Stopover complex. Okay, I have to admit that I never knew this place existed and boy was I impressed. We're talking about 3 storeys filled with a good mi...

Look what's back at Mcdonald's this Lenten Season and yes, it's yummy and British! For decades now, I've been practicing abstinence from meat on Friday thus my numerous Meatless Fridays restaurant and recipe posts here in the blog. (see here , here and here ). For me, it's not difficult to have seafood all day but I got to admit that seeing meat on the table can really be tempting. So this has been my annual act of sacrifice during Lent. Since the Philippines is predominantly a Catholic-practicing country, majority of the restaurants would offer Lenten specials featuring their signature seafood dishes. For our go-to fast food chain, Mcdonald's , there's always the dependable Fillet o Fish which has been my favorite even when there's no need to abstain. I love the lightly breaded, deep-fried fish topped with their tangy tartar sauce, a nice slice of cheese and their pillowy soft buns. I would normally dip my fries into the tartar sauce before cons...

After my Afternoon Tea date with D here in Singapore , we promised each other to meet up once again in Manila over the Christmas break. Given how everyone is normally busy during this time of the year, I was so touched to receive a message from D as soon as we landed in Manila asking when can we meet up for lunch. She surely kept her promise! Isn't she just so amazing? We agreed to meet up after Christmas Day and she told me that fellow bloggers K and C will be joining us too. I've never met K and C in person despite knowing of them and following them on social media for years. I always love meeting new friends so I was so excited for this particular lunch date. D suggested we go to Choobi Choobi  in Panay Avenue which is one of her favorite restaurants at the moment. I've never heard of Choobi Choobi  and after a quick search, I learned that this restaurant originated from Cebu and they're known for their bags of shrimps. Hooray! Guess we were just so excited tha...

Chef Lee Hoong Wan of Hotel Jen Orchardgateway did it again!  Remember that time when I got to taste his delicious Laksa Fried Rice  and promised to myself that I need to visit Hotel Jen Orchardgateway to have more? Well, I kept my promise and so, to celebrate our 13th year anniversary as a couple, Paul and I agreed to have our dinner date at Hotel Jen Orchardgateway's restaurant Makan@Jen . Call it perfect timing but the restaurant was holding a two month long Ultimate Prawn Party  and we couldn't be happier as we love seafood and crustaceans the most. Oh, I can feel my mouth water by just thinking about it. From the 3rd of October till the 1st of December , patrons of Makan@Jen can indulge in a wide array of prawn-filled dishes from the mouthwatering Salted Egg Prawns to the very comforting Prawn Noodle Soup and more. Mind you, I'm not talking about your average prawns that you get to see in the market everyday. These are specially imported prawns such as the T...

What's your favorite meal in the day? For me, it just got to be dinner. Wanna know why? It's because dinner is the only meal wherein I consistently get to have with Paul. Breakfast is definitely out of the question as we're always rushing and busy in the morning as we get ready for work. Lunch, I only get to eat lunch with him during the weekends so... dinner is really when I look forward to enjoying a nice home-cooked meal (+dessert/fruits/after dinner snack) as we update one another about our busy work day. So, often times, I would have to make a mad dash home in order to prepare dinner since Paul normally ends work late. My goal is always to make sure that the food has to be on the table by the time he walks in the door. So given that I get off work 2 hours before he does but it takes me a couple of minutes to get home, this means I have more or less an hour to prep, chop, clean, cook and plate everything. Not to mention, I make it a point to clean as I go too. We...

In Manila, when you ask people where you can find the best baked salmon, chances are they'll point you to just one place -- Conti's . There's really something about Conti's Baked Salmon that has made us fall so deeply in love with it. This was also my Ama's favorite and we made it a point to order this whenever she would come over for lunch or dinner. So, what happens when I suddenly have the craving for Conti's Baked Salmon and I won't be home in the next 3-4 months to enjoy it? I learned how to recreate it! Thanks to my friends N and T for sharing this recipe with me. I first prepared this for my friends who came over to celebrate my birthday last June and once again for my uncles when Aku was in town in July. It has been a hit every single time that it has become one of my favorite dishes to prepare. Add to the fact that it's really easy to do! Here's what you'll need:  3 salmon fillet (de-boned) 1 lemon 1 cup cream cheese 8 tbsp may...

It's the start of the Lenten week and this means, I'll be shying away from meat and will say hello to more seafood! I think I really have to add more to my yearly sacrifice as admittedly, I love seafood so much that I really do not mind having this on a daily basis. A few weeks ago, I went to join a couple of my blogger friends to try a new restaurant at the equally newly-opened hotel called Hotel Boss in the Lavender district. I was surprised at how big the hotel was and I have to say that it's very strategically located as it's just a block away from Kampong Glam where all the cool cafes are and Bugis is just a few meters away. There are also a lot of dining options at the ground floor of the hotel whether you want to go local or to treat yourself to a wide-array for international fare. Gills n Shells  is located along the Rochor Canal where there's a cemented jogging path which will lead you straight to the Lavender MRT . I love the cool breeze that you...

It has been a year since I've started using the hashtag #frannycooks on Instagram . I still remembered how I promised myself to cook more in 2015 and initially, I would prepare the safe dishes which are the ones that I can confidently prepare and are surely edible. Little by little, I've gained more confidence and creativity around the kitchen. I love surprising Paul with a newly created dish every now and then and I'm lucky that so far, he has liked them all. Recently, I had lunch with my colleague C and since I practice abstinence from meat every Friday in Lent, I had to choose among the seafood items in the menu. I zeroed in on the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta as I love anything with tom yum! I tell you, that was one of the best lunches that I've had this year and I just kept on raving about it after every bite. I loved it so much that I was so inspired to prepare my own version that same day. As you may have noticed, I do thing pretty fast. After quickly going throug...

Our festive 4-day weekend has just ended but that doesn't mean it's the end of the Chinese New Year. In fact, it has just begun as Chinese New Year in Singapore runs up until the 15th day where we would get together again as a family and have bowls of tang yuan (sticky glutinous rice balls). This also means that you get to have more days to toss up for luck and prosperity with my ever-favorite Yu Sheng Salad ! One of my favorite Chinese seafood restaurants here in the Lion City, Red House Seafood , has prepared a delicious line-up of dishes to enjoy this festive season. Given that most of the celebrations are done at home, they have very thoughtfully put together a Reunion Takeaway Tiffin Set which comes with 3 dishes of your choice. I remember Mommy and my Kongkong using these tingkats back then whenever they would take home food from any of our favorite restaurants. Seeing it again today has immediately brought back some good childhood memories. Should you prefer to g...

Question: What is much better that a weekend brunch?  Answer: One with free-flowing champagne and an abundant choices of food, of course!  One of the highlights of our relaxing staycation at the Garden Wing of Shangri-la Singapore was the Sunday Champagne Brunch at The Line . As you know, The Line is one of our favourite hotel buffet restaurants in the Lion City, so we couldn't resist not having brunch there before checking out. More so, we have been getting non-stop raves about the premium offerings that you can find in this buffet line-up so we knew that we just have to go for it. Let me walk you through the different selections that you can find in the buffet: First, you start with some fresh seafood . From three kinds of crabs (King Crab, Sri Lankan and Alaskan Snow Crab) to air-flown oysters to the most plump and juicy tiger prawns, be sure to fill your first place with all these! Paul went wild with his favourite tiger prawns with marinara sauce while I ...

There's really something special about traditional recipes which have been passed down from generation to generation. It's the kind that has been perfected overtime that no matter what, each dish will surely be a treat to your senses. I was recently invited to visit the newly opened Joyden Treasures at Leisure Park Kallang. It's a bit out of the way even from my office but there's no way that I'm missing this. After all, I've been wanting to try Joyden since my first year here in Singapore as I heard that it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in town. Finally, I can happily put a big check mark beside it on my list! Joyden Treasures is the 3rd Joyden outlet in Singapore. It's being managed by second generation owners who aims to stay true to their family's heritage by ensuring that the dishes presented are as authentically traditional as it can get. For one thing, Joyden is known for its seafood dishes so we surely had a lot of that during ou...

It has been 4 months since I started my 2015 resolution to cook more and so far, I've slowly progressed from making all sorts of egg and pasta dishes to real viands that would make my mommy proud. Hooray! :) A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to use up our remaining XO Sauce which was a gift from sweet fellow blogger Jeng . Since it was the lenten season, I then decided to cook Stir-Fry Scallops with XO Sauce . Not quite sure how it would turn out as I was initially planning to have prawns but the fresh scallops on the supermarket display was too good to be ignored. What I love about this dish is how easy it was to prepare and to cook. It took me less than 30 minutes from preparation to actual serving. Paul's verdict? It was good! He gave me a two thumbs up sign for this and that made my day. After all, seeing my hubby enjoy my cooking truly means the world to me. Now, let me share this easy-peasy recipe with you!

How I wish I can enjoy my lunch while enjoying this view every day...  Well, there's no harm in dreaming right? At least this "dream" became a reality one fine day when I joined a couple of food bloggers for a nice Italian lunch at Dolce Vita in Mandarin Oriental Singapore . This was to give a warm welcome to Chef Omar Bernardi , the restaurant's new Chef de Cuisine. Chef Omar Bernardi began his culinary career in some of the top Italian restaurants back in his hometown in Milan, Italy. Restaurants such as two-Michelin-starred San Domenico Ristorante and one-Michelin -starred La Terezza dell'Eden among others became Chef Omar's training ground as he continued to hone his kitchen skills and created a number of gastronomical delights in the process. He later moved here to Singapore in 2011 and has recently joined  Mandarin Oriental Singapore . What's a chef welcome without good food right? For lunch that day, we had a feast! Chef Omar has special...

My good friend M is in town! I really like it whenever he's here because we get to catch up over a good meal. Remember the last time when we supported his craving for crabs and prawns  all because that's what good friends do? Yup! How can I leave a friend dreaming and drooling over a good dish for days right? I simply have to do something! Oh... the sacrifices one has to do. hahahahah! Anyway, M didn't have major craving this time but it was me who have been dreaming about those mouth-watering crab cakes that I had at The Pelican a couple of weeks ago. How it was so deliciously meaty and creamy inside and perfectly crisp on the outside. Of course, M was truly a good friend as he was really game to have dinner at The Pelican Seafood Bar & Grill just to satiate my craving (or to make me stop talking about it over and over again!) The Pelican Seafood Bar & Grill is known for its seafood platters among others. What makes this restaurant so fun to dine in is the ...

A Good Day.  You know, those days wherein you definitely woke up at the right side of the bed and instead of grumbling and slowly dragging yourself to get ready, you spring right up and out of bed, full of energy and ready for a fun new day to start. All throughout the day, you're still running like an Energizer bunny with that same smile plastered on your face. No amount of negative vibes can pull you down, you're on top of your game and you're loving it. That was me a few Thursday ago. So, let me continue to tell you what happened after that. After work, I rushed off to Traders Hotel Singapore to meet up with fellow bloggers as we were to feast on.. CRABS . There you go, the major reason why I was such in a good mood that day. All day long, images of those juicy crab claws keeps coming to my mind and as the hours go by, all the more excited I got. Our dinner began with a basket of prawn crackers or keropok as what it's locally called. Together with it came t...

For friends and family who would come to Singapore to visit, part of their list is to "eat chili crab and cereal prawns."  Well, let me tell you one thing -- there's more to Singapore than Chili Crab and Cereal Prawns . True, you should have crabs and prawns while you're here but there are actually other crab options especially if you have a low tolerance for spicy food like me. I remember when we just moved here, we would hear our friends saying that there's this really good seafood restaurant called Irvin's Live Seafood House in Ang Mo Kio, up north and really far away from where we live. It has been on my list for more than a year and finally we got around to checking it out thanks to our friend A who came to visit and was craving for salted egg seafood. The group got together and despite the distance, we all made the journey to Ang Mo Kio after work one Friday night. Irvin's is known for their Salted Egg Sauce so much so that they have dedicated...

Let me tell you a secret. Ready?  Okay, here goes....  I really love it whenever good friends from Manila would come visit and make time to share a meal with us. ♥  I know how traveling can be quite hectic so Paul and I really do appreciate it whenever our friends would go through the trouble of messaging us just to say that they're coming and they would really set aside some of their precious time to see us when they could probably spend this shopping away in Orchard. It really tells us a lot about the friends whom we have to treasure for life. Take for example my good friend M. He has been one of my closest friends since high school and we would talk almost every night all throughout our high school / college years and even after that. I know the story of his love life by heart and he has been a witness to mine. He's the kind of friend whom I know I can always count on anytime. For example, during my debut party, he even bought me my favorite fish sandwi...

What to do in Batam? --  This is what I've been typing in Google two days prior to our trip to Batam. I used to be so ready -- preparing itineraries months before a trip. However, I wasn't able to do so for our weekend getaway for two reasons: a) work was t-o-x-i-c b) the trip was basically a spur of the moment, "let's get out of Singapore" kind of thing. I was telling my sister Pan about it and she just told me to be a bit more spontaneous for once in my life. Well, I tried...I really did till 2 days before the trip I woke up panicking that we might be wasting time with no idea where to go and what to do. Then finally, I caved and starting researching like mad. Of course, I had to create a list of restaurants to try bearing in mind that we only have 2 full days in Batam = 4 full meals (not counting breakfast as we planned to sleep longer everyday). After researching through countless of blogs and even TripAdvisor, I happily went to Batam with a short list...

I've been visiting Singapore so frequently since I was a kid that at some point I would consider this my second home. Would you believe that I've never  had a taste of chili crab yet? Well, for one thing, I have a very low threshold for spicy food and the name of this dish itself screams SPICY SPICY SPICY! I think it's the only local dish that I haven't tasted then. Well, that all changed one fateful evening at Ah Hoi's Kitchen in Traders Hotel . Ah Hoi's Kitchen currently has an ongoing a la carte buffet promotion where you can choose from more than 40 menu items for only S$38+ (adult) / S$19+ per head. This is a great deal most especially if you're dining with a big group because you can order more and have a taste of it all. Each serving is actually good for one so when ordering, do indicate how many orders would you like for them to adjust the size accordingly. We began our dinner with Braised Fish Maw with Crab Meat Soup . Normally, this soup ...

It's summer in Manila and if I can make one wish that the travel genie can grant then it would be to transport me back to the Philippines where I can have a week-long vacation at the beach where I can swim to my heart's content and to eat all the seafood that I want. Anyway, during our brief visit back home, Paul and I were not able to visit the beach as we barely had enough weekends available.Still we made sure to fill our tummies with the best catch of the sea as we had a fun dinner with friends at the Diamond Hotel . It was perfect timing that they recently launched their Friday Lobster Buffet and upon receiving an invite to check it out, I immediately said yes! After all, as my friend Leslie would put it, how can you say NO to lobster?  Dinner was at Corniche and I always look forward to dining here. I love the spread and my favorite sections are the cheese and cold cuts, the salad, the Japanese station and lastly, the dessert. Thus, we always make it a point to ...