I like the crunchy prawns in the Siew Mai and upon my first bite into it, I could feel the juices in my mouth. The Fried Prawn Dumpling has a nice layer of crispy skin, with a generous portion of fresh prawns within and I secretly wished I could have more of that.

The entire dish is slightly drizzled with a light wasabi-based sauce but I felt that it wasn't the best complement. The whole serving lacked the "Oomph" and the meat was not as moist as I had expected it to be. But I appreciated the fruits salad that came along because it added some sweet juices to the otherwise seemingly-dry dish.

Here comes the highlight of the Festive Cheers Menu: Jia Wei Superior Shark's Fin Soup in Hot Stone Pot.

It was my first time seeing a generous portion of high-grade shark's fin served in a hot stone pot. The purpose of the pot is to ensure that the dish is to be kept bubbling hot throughout the whole consumption period. This is distinctively more outstanding than the one served in the Christmas Glow Menu (note the obvious price difference):

And here's another favourite of the day, the Grilled Special Rack of Lamb with Chinese Wine (Festive Cheers Menu). It did not have the usual uncomfortable lambish smell as it was really well-marinated. The chef has used Chinese Wine as well as some Japanese Sake which made the meat exceptionally tasty and juicy. There were layers of visible fats within that piece of lamb but it did not stop either of us from wanting another bite more. Oh yes, it was that delicious.

I enjoyed the Pan-Fried Fillet of Pork Spare-Rib with Special Sauce (Christmas Glow Menu) very much equally due to the slightly tangy seasoning and the right texture of the meat. It was chewy to the bite, and yet it was not difficult to pull the meat apart.

We tried their Char Siew Soh and Har Gow as well:

I could choose between White, Whole Wheat or Focaccia Bread. I had mine in Whole Wheat and it came in four thick and big slices. The bread slices were all toasted to a nice and crisp texture which I had really enjoyed chewing into.

I'm a sucker for all kinds of mushrooms and I was excited when I could smell the strong mushroom fragrance. There was quite a generous portion of luscious mushroom slices smacked below the warmed cheese. And I could savour the succulent mushrooms in every bite I took. It was indeed a light and yummy treat, although the portion was quite big and I had to skip one of the slices.

And we can't go without a dessert of course. So we had a Waffle with Chocolate Ice Cream, drenched with chocolate sauce and served with maple syrup:

I know the photos of the waffle make it look like it's really tasty. But, I'm sad to say that it was the worst waffle with ice cream I had. The waffle was a tad too tough and the interior was really dry and hard. We had to drench the waffle with a tremendous amount of maple syrup in the hope that it might become slightly moistened so that it'd be easier for us to swallow. The chocolate ice cream was really bad too. I thought the ice cream could make up for the sucky-tasting waffle but boy, I was so wrong. The ice cream had a really tough texture and it certainly did not taste chocolatey enough. I'm never going to give this another chance again. My favourite waffle is still from Cafe Cartel.

That day was really cold and my digital camera's lens had a layer of condensation initially and I thought my camera was going cranky after I saw this blurry shot:

In the cab heading to the train station:

After reaching Pasir Ris MRT station, we were still insistent on taking more photos before leaving for home. So we happily placed our stuffs on some tables and started snapping away. And 5 minutes later, the station had made an announcement of their last train leaving. So we ended up taking a cab back home instead. We would have made it for the last train if we hadn't took more photos. It's so typical of us to do such silly things. But it was fun. Hehe.

P.S. Wenjing: I can't wait for our next meet-up already. :)

I thought the chocolate squares around the cake look pretty cute too.

Mummy cutting the cake:

A cross-section of the cake:

There's banana custard cream and banana slices smacked between the two layers of sponge cake, and the cake's topped with dark chocolate. I thought this tasted better after taking it out of the chiller and leaving it in the open for about 10 minutes or so as it was quite dense right out of the fridge and I could not taste the different textures of the various layers.

After sometime, the cake turned much softer and I could taste very distinctively the softness of the sponge, the creamy banana custard, the slightly mushy banana slices and the delish dark chocolate. When it all went into my mouth at the same time, I let out an "Oomph" instantly. It tasted really divine. The whole combination was just so perfecto. I couldn't stop at one slice and I went on to help myself to another. And another. So I had a total of three slices. No wonder I'm feeling fattt.

Anyway, I think my mummy was really happy with the dinner, the presents, the cake and us today.

I'm happy when she's happy. :)

Here's what we had that night:

The Birthday Girl's Atlantic Salmon, marinated with a lime hollandaise sauce:

Here's ph's Chicken Dijonnaise, marinated grilled chicken breasts topped with avocado and smothered with creamy Dijon mustard sauce:

And this is bimbo's Boss Hog Double Burger, consisting of (thick) double beef , double cheese, tomato, onion, beetroot, BBQ sauce and seared with Hog's Breath Blacken seasoning:

Here comes my Hawaiian Hickory Chicken Burger!

Look at how big the two chicken breasts are:

The chicken breasts are basted with hickory smoked sauce, cheese, beetroot, tomato, pineapple and onion rings. I quite liked the sauce as it wasn't the normal BBQ sauce and there was a really tangy taste to it. I kind of expected the chicken breasts to be pretty hard to chew on, but the texture was just right.

One side of the burger was served with the pineapple and onion rings, with tomato and beetroot while the other side of the burger was slammed with the two huge chicken breasts and cheese. And the Hog Tail fries I had for my side were not too bad as well. The entire dish doesn't exactly scream fantastic but it's value for money I guess, considering the really huge portion. I couldn't finish one entire chicken breast and still had some curly fries left over.

I know I shouldn't be wasting food during such bad times when there's a constant rise in food prices but the portion was really way too big. The other girls couldn't finish their foods too!

I know we are such ironic people, said we were too full from the main dishes but we still went ahead and ordered one of their desserts, the Mississippi Mud Cake. We just couldn't resist the chocolatey goodness:

The super dark mud cake was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, with chocolate sauce drizzled all over. The cake was slightly warmed and it tasted superb with the ice cream. It was a dense and dark chocolate cake, definitely THE cake for all chocolate lovers. It ain't too sweet (which we liked) and the whole combination of the cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce was to die for.

This was the pretty birthday cake we got for the Best Friend:

And here's the happy Birthday Girl:

After all the eating, we went out and walked around, snapping shots here and there:

Lastly, here's all five of us:

To the Best Friend: I hope you had enjoyed yourself and like what we've got for you. Cheers to our 13 years long of friendship! :)