Belated Birthday Treats from Tanglin Club Discounts - Fetch Or Have Delivered

Delicious duck from the Tanglin club. Ordered in. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We started with melt in the mouth duck. My husband said that he can cook chicken, but duck is more complicated so we ordered in the duck.

We also had chicken kebab which came with cubed pressed white rice and cucumber. 

Caesar salad, a starter.  Great tangy ham.

Caesar salad started in the USA, depending on which website you read, invented at Caesar's Palace hotel restaurant or by a waiter called Caesar. (At any rate not by the Roman Caesar.) The original and authentic version was supposed to have anchovies. I am not keen on anchovies. The Tanglin offered several versions with different meats. 

We added mango to the sugary macaroons. The raspberry was sold out. The lemon was tongue-tingling. The passion fruit seemed to be tasteless jam, until I licked the filling separately and found a teeny slice of fruit. However, my husband found none so we reckon next time we will pass on the passion fruit but we loved the lemon.

My Birthday Treat 

I had had a birthday discount voucher from the Tanglin club. We had used most of my discount voucher on a meal in the Churchill Room. However, I still had a small number of dollars to use up. The club sent a handy reminder that the last date to use the voucher was approaching.

Do you belong to a club which you cannot visit? Do you have friends who have invited you to a club? 

The Tanglin Club in Singapore sends us three kinds of discount vouchers:

You could order the Tanglin food for yourself as a member, or to serve at home to a visitor to your home. (Providing they are willing to leave their home and visit yours. Unfortunately, my favourite friend, a fellow author, has been asked by her family to stay home during the current situation - whatever the level of lockdown. They are sending her food.

Meanwhile, what is the Tanglin doing for us as members? Sending vouchers. As usual:

Birthday Vouchers - Every Year

One birthday voucher for my husband who is a full member (with voting rights at the AGM).

One birthday voucher for me, an associate member.

Discount Vouchers - During Covid-19 Restrictions

One discount voucher for full members only, during the current Covid-19 phase which prevents us eating at the Tanglin Club.

Why do they do this? If they made no profit at least it would keep the staff busy, keeping up morale, and in practice. That applies to those cooking, serving, operating the website and phone queries.

It would also keep the food suppliers in business. And keep up the relationship.

They presumably hope to make some profit. On each order they could make extra profit if you order wine. If you pay for delivery. If you get in the habit of ordering, you like the food, and re-order. You might not order now. But by looking at the menu, you have it in mind for later.

If you were thinking of selling your membership because it is no use to you during Covid, you might feel that something is of use.

The birthday vouchers are issued the first day of your birthday month and last for three months. That is generous. Since many members travel, that is good. You might well have had a family meal at home for a birthday, or at some special unusual new place and not want a meal out at the club in the same week. For my birthday I went to a smart gourmet restaurant with a wine offer for mother's day. My husband said he did not want a double credit card bill and calorie count in one week = or even one month.

What We Ordered

From the Tanglin tea room I wanted macaroons. We opted to have just two. One per person. Different flavours. Cut in half, we each got to try two.

Amazingly, next day my weight had not gone down but had not gone up either. Hurray.

Websites

https://www.facebook.com/tanglinclub/

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

About Angela The Author

The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Relations, Immediate Past President.

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on bha.learncool.sg . 

Recent meetings of BHA included an educational session on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meetings, always first Wednesday evening, 7 pm Singapore time. Next meetings 1st Wednesday evening is Wednesday June 2nd at 7pm; and third Saturday afternoon, June 19th 2pm Singapore time.  

Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See next post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

Table at 7 in Singapore - for An Easter A La Carte Treat Or After Easter Set Meal (Indonesian and European cuisine)

Table at 7 entrance. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Flag of Singapore from Wikipedia.

Styles of Cuisine

Singapore is famous for its food: Singapore specialities as well as food from surrounding regions and countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are available cheaply at food courts called hawker centres. Collect your food from kiosks and sit at plastic topped tables. However, most restaurants specialise. Yet for a chance to try Indonesian food, with European food for other guests or an alternative to fall back on, Table at 7 is a proper sit down restaurant with table service with a choice of menus, European and Indonesian.

 Prices Options

In Singapore as in London, restaurants offer all inclusive lunch time deals at cheaper than the regular a la carte prices. Often these special deals are not available over the Easter weekend. However, if you are not working or are working from home and can take the family or meet friends afterwards, you might get a better deal on the prices. 

I was looking at a family favourite restaurant and received an email saying their lunch time special was not available over Easter. 

Let's look at their regular menu.

The restaurant is called table at 7. The name is not a reflection of the time of dining but the street number of their previous location.

According to the pictures on Tripadvisor you have a choice of regular tables or bar stools against a wall. I like a table. When I arrived I did not see any bar stools. (Later, I was surprised to find my own review from 2016 on Tripadvisor.)

The Chefs

Chef at Table at 7. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Chef at Table at 7. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The menu is created by a team. You can see their photos on their website. They are business partners. Not married. (He is already married to somebody else, with two offspring.)

The main courses are in two halves. The western half is the inspiration of the European. The oriental (Indonesian) menu is from the Indonesian.

I looked at the menu online in advance. Since I am allergic to shellfish I could see I would have to pass on the starter of scallops, and main dishes containing prawns and shrimps.

Starters & Snacks

The word sop/sup, Indonesian and Malay, is soup

Emping

I had to look up emping - Indonesian fried crackers. The Americans say chips but to the British chips means potato chips and in Britain we would call them crisps. What is in them? Nuts (actually seeds). You can buy them in supermarkets, plain, savoury (with salt) or sweet (sugared).

Drinks.

Prosecco bottle at Table at 7. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Sparkling wine by the tiny bottle. Prosecco. Brand name Piccini. 200 ml bottle.

The corkage for taking your own wine bottle is about 30 Singapore dollars but that is waived if you buy a bottle of their wine.

Cutlery

The cutlery is unusual. The knives and forks have handles which go in different directions, one up, the other down. They don't stack together. Odd but attractive, elegant.

Starters

Kebab

I chose kebab.

Kebab starter at Table at 7 restaurant, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Large, thick, good.

Starter with truffles at Table at 7 restaurant, in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Main Courses

Nasi Kuning Platter

That means Rice Yellow Platter. The yellow is from turmeric. Filling and tasty. 

 

Desserts

The banana and kaya crumble was gritty but delicious with slices of banana.

The portion sizes were perfect, leaving you feeling full but not over-full.

Banana and kaya crumble dessert at Table at 7 in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury

See mostly rave reviews on Tripadvisor.

41 Namly Avenue. a long walk from an MRT station or bus stop. Down a side road. Huge circular building up a driveway. Huge isolated multi-storey building. Take a taxi.

As we drove towards it passing several streets named Namly we looked up the origin of the name. As we suspected, the name was from a VIP from long ago. He was a surveyor from Sri Lanka. Like many tamils, his name was long, so some streets were given his family name, others his first name. Tamils are an important minority in Singapore and their language is one of the four official languages, the others being English, Chinese and Malay.

The building is on a steep slope. It is a surprise to find that when you enter the restaurant is not up but down a couple of flights of stairs, yet has windows onto the outdoors.

Useful Websites

table at 7

Tel: 6235 6275. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emping

About The Author Angela

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

To practise your English, come to Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters on learncool.sg, first Wednesday evening of the month, Singapore time, 7-10pm.  Next meeting Wednesday March 7th 2021.

To add a clock to the time and date page and see when the meetings are your time go to this website.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Zufa Lebanese Restaurant, Northwood Hills - make it a date!

Picture of date drink from Wikipedia.

Problem
What does a Lebanese restaurant serve? I need time to learn my way around the menu.

Answer
Go on to Zufa's website and you can read all about it. If you are not nearby, or can't wait, you can download their app and order online.

Starters include
Hot and Cold mezze
(A huge choice; a mixture of dishes)
Soups

Main course
FISH
Sea bass
King Prawns

MEAT OR CHEESEInclude chicken, kebabs, lamb, salad, cheese, rice, wraps.

Drinks
Dates drink - Jallab
Yogurt Drink - Aryan
Juices
Colas

Desserts
We'll start with the familiar:
Baklava. It says nuts, without specifying which nuts. Before ordering, I shall ask.

Blinis
Well, I know these. Russian and East European restaurants from the Middle East and more.

Miracle Cake
Belgian chocolate cake.

Useful Websites
orderdirectly.biz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallab

Date drink
I already know what I want, the date drink. But I once went to a restaurant specially for a speciality and it was not in stock. So I shall check first and ask them to save one for me.
If they have a date drink, I'll definitely make it a date.

I think I'll make one at home first, then see how theirs compares, and what extra ingredients they have to enhance the flavour.

Zufa Lebanese Restaurant
1-3 Joel Street, Northwood Hills
HA6 INU
tel: 01923 840192
www.zufarestaurant.co.uk

Open Monday to Sunday from around noon until around 11 but check because I was confused between the restaurant opening times and the food ordering times and when I checked a second time they appear to have different opening times on different days of the week.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See previous post on Zufa restaurants in Northwood Hills and Hatch End. Please share links to your favourite posts.

New Take Away Gourmet Halal Burgers and Pizzas With Outdoor Seating in Hatch End, Pinner

Problem
Where to sit outside now summer has arrived?
What's the name and phone number of that new place?

Answers
It opened in July in time for American independence day on July 4th.  It is American theme name and menu.

Prices
Money no object? Want to treat the family or business friend? Support a new business?

Dearest
Starters cost from £1.50 to £3.
For your main course:
A large folded pizza is £8.
Los Angeles Combo (burger) 'Meal' costs £9.99.
Add dips at 20 p each and garlic bread from £2.50 to £3.50.

If you are eating in you might add the dessert such as chocolate pizza for £5. Adding both banana and strawberry at £1 each bringing it up to £7.
I see no coffee. So add a soft drink such as Pepsi, Tango Orange or Apple, at 80p each.  Add a Stuft crust to a ten inch pizza for  £1.50 or to the 12 inch pizza for £2.

Cheapest
If you just want to try them to give a new local business a starting welcome and to be able to tell your friends you've tried the food:
Desserts
Chocolate cakes for £3.00
Strawberry Cheese Cake £3.00
Chocolate pizza - that's a novelty to me £5.
Add banana or strawberry for £1 extra.

Pizzas
The ten inch medium pizza is £4.

(I'll add more by checking out their menu again later. I thought this post should go up on line before lunch time.)

PS Diets
The menu says Halal. That means no pork.
The menu mentions ham. I don't know whether that means the halal and ham come from different suppliers and are kept separately. More likely it is turkey made to look and tasted like ham, but it doesn't say so. If I can get a member of my family or friends to ask, or phone, I'll do so.

Vegetarian
If you want vegetarian, they have a Californian Veggie  (burger) at £4.50. Three types of vegetarian pizzas.

Kosher?
Many people wanting halal eat at kosher places and vice versa to avoid pork. In Indonesia I found that the kosher places had a lot of shrimp and kosher visitors don't eat shellfish. I am allergic to shellfish.

I did not see any shellfish on the menu, but a careful second reading revealed a section headed Seafood (lower right, centre pages) with prawns as well an tuna and anchovies.) If that is a concern for you, please ask them about ingredients before ordering.

Friend or Foe?
Is another burger and pizza place in Hatch End rival or a welcome addition, making Hatch End even more of a Mecca and a hub for foodies?

What else is in Hatch End?
Pizza:
Burger:

Secret Owners
Who owns this place? It is a secret. Could be an outsider, or one of the other restaurants trying out a new variation on their already successful formula. I'll find out for you. My magnifying glass and sleuthing is at the ready.

The only thing more exciting than discovering a secret is bring the first to reveal it. If you know something I don't know, please tell me.

Tips
Want to know more? Visit or phone them.

California Gourmet Foods
Pickwick Walk, Grimsdyke Road, Hatch End, HA5 4HS.
Tel: 0208 421 43 44.

Update, later post with pictures of owner and photos!

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. My next post is on the choice of restaurants and cafés and the pub in Hatch End. Please share links to your favourite post.

Malaysia word for club

Problem
How to learn and remember Malay words?

Answer
In Singapore the words for buildings such as community centres or community clubs are translated into Malay. Take a photo and notice the similarities and differences in spelling.

Story
I walked past a club building in Singapore and saw the word but thought it would be a good idea to record the word. Ao I took a photo. I wrote up the word on my blog using my phone.

However, a day later, checking on my laptop back in my office, I found the spell checker had changed the word.

I was horrified. I had told other people the wrong word and looked inefficient.

I corrected the word by adding spaces. I decided to learn and profit from the mistake. I can use the change to kebab as a memory aid. Just change the middle letter. The result is a five letter word instead of the English four letter word. We eat kebab in the k e l a b .

In theory you can correct spelling by having the patience to wait and re-read your draft text. Then check the blog in view. This takes time. It is also fiddly when you are in a hurry and loading up on a mobile phone.

You have to keep re-reading. I typed a five and the spell checker turned the word into alive.

Tips
When learning new words make sure you visualise and say the words to yourself three times.

What is the Malay for club? K e l a b.

What is club in Malay? K e l a b.

What does the word k e l a b mean? CLUB.

WHAT DOES THE MALAY FOR CLUB LOOK LIKE? KEBAB.


What is the Malay for club? K e l a b

What is club in Malay? K e l a b.

What does the word k e l a b mean? CLUB.


What is the Malay for club? K e l a b

What is club in Malay? K e l a b.

What does the word k e l a b mean? CLUB.

The Malaysia word for club is k e l a b. Like club but starting with K then e than lab. (Spell checker wants to turn it into kebab.) Malaysian language is phonetic - written the way it sounds.

Author
Angela Lansbury, English teacher, language teacher, author and speaker.
Please read my posts, follow and share.

Tash Turkish Restaurant Review And Photos

More about T a s h Restaurant (Autocorrect turned T a s h into last!)
A fuller review of this restaurant is in the previous post.

Problem
Restaurant menus are full of unfamiliar terms.

Answer
Check menus online in advance, check with translate and ask at the restaurant.

Story
The last thing I did before I left was ask what Tash meant. I had assumed it was somebody's name. No. Tash means stone. The owner, I presume, he could have been the manager, proudly showed me the stone with hot coals behind glass in the cooking area which is right in front of you. That's reassuring if you always wonder what staff are actually doing to your food. The chef looks pretty happy.

He was cooking the flat bread and the 'kebab'. I have referred to kebab because that's what I and most diners in the UK already know from the many ethnic restaurants in London and around the UK. It's called what looks like cop on the menu. The menu is all translated, no problem.

Still to try and do?
The toilets. Ask who owns the place and if the chatty man we met was the owner or manager.
One thing on the menu I wanted to try was the root vegetable drink. I think it was turnip. They said it was not available and all year only one person other than me had asked for it so they were going to remove it from the menu. Please go in and ask for it! I want to try it. Why? Novelty. Extra healthy option.

It's not Michelin but it's an excellent lunch place. Our bill was about £74 for four without tipping. That included mixed cold hors d'oeuvres for four. The hot or mixed hot and cold hors d'ouvres is lightly more expensive. We had enough food to take some home.

Tips
Prices
If you want a quick, cheap lunch, there's the one course and a drink on the Lunch Express menu. The price for that in January 2017 was £7.50.

1 Check and ask if you want your yogurt drink sweet, salty or neither. Mine was salty and I didn't like it. My companion thought it was OK. Some people would like a salty yogurt drink with a savoury dish, but I am used to sweet lassi and mango lassi in Indian restaurants and want to limit my salt intake.
2 Check the drinks menu for the coffees and teas on offer. Three of us had Turkish coffee - after my experience with the yogurt I thought to ask for it without sugar. Another alternative to Turkish coffee is mint tea made with fresh mint.
When you type in the name of this place autocorrect turns T A S H into C A S H.
3 Get your leftovers wrapped up to takeaway. Makes another meal and saves you time and money.

If you have had cancer in the family and fuss about food blackened from a grill, which the cancer websites tell you to avoid no trouble cutting off the edges of a chicken kebab, large chunks. I was with three other health freaks, yet I was the only one who wanted to do this.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please read my other posts and more blogs on restaurants, restaurant etiquette, travel, spelling, languages, and more, on blogger.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, PinIt, LinkedIn, videos of me on Youtube (to get me rather than the Actress you may have to type in author or poet and look for my picture or the cover of one of my books. My books are on Amazon.com and Lulu.com Do take a look. You can buy them online. If you meet me I'll sign one for you, with an amusing couplet made up to fit your interests or name. Please follow my posts and like and share.
(Photos being added to this post shortly.)

Tash Turkish Restaurant in Stanmore for Fast Service and Large Helpings

Problem
Where to go with our fussy friends for lunch, reasonably priced, not too pretentious, healthy, interesting, ethnic. Somewhere new. Not the old favourites where we eat at so often. (B and K in Hatch End.)

Answer
We drove up and down Stanmore and Edgware looking at restaurants. What about this one? What about that one? This place was too expensive. That place was too cheap. Tash looked just right. At least it was new to us.

We tried to book on the phone but they said lunch time midweek, not necessary, no problem getting a table.

We managed to park on a meter right outside. Another big car park where you pay is behind the shops.

Our friends were already seated in the back room. But we were immediately offered a better seat in the brighter front room at a table which had come free, by the manager or owner. I didn't have time to find out which he was, because we were too busy talking to each other, catching up on a year's news, to add a fifth to the already overcrowded conversational competition.

The back room has walls decorated with enough items to keep you entertained for hours, plus changing coloured lights.

On our table in the front room was a small bust of a famous Persian hero.

We started with a plate of mixed hors d'oeuvres, hummus and taramasalata. You find the same in restaurants all around the mediterranean sea, Greece, Turkey and Israel, all of which I visited long ago as a student in a clockwise tour.

Our main courses were moussaka, lamb or vegetarian, and chicken shish kebab with rice. After the plentiful starter larger enough for a snack lunch, the huge main course was so large that we immediately divided our in half and later asked for two portions to be wrapped up to go home.

I had ordered a yogurt drink. It came up salty, to match the savoury main course. This was a surprise. In Indian restaurants I have sweet lassi.

The dessert of baklava was excellent.

Our meal ended with Turkish coffee.

More photos in next post.

Tip
If ordering yogurt check whether it will be salty and if you want sweet or neither salt nor sugar tell them.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See my profiles and posts - more blogs on blogger.com, also Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn. Please follow me, like my pages and share. Send me feedback if there is anywhere you'd like me to visit and review, London, Europe, Singapore, worldwide.