of mojitos and other madness: recess anytime at the canteen!

next to restaurant les amis, the canteen is probably the most established outlet living along the flanks of shaw centre. having passed by the place several times heading to yoga, this girl made many mental notes to check the place out, especially after seeing yummy pictures of local inspired grub and the clean open concept of the place.

we finally made it there last saturday for a late brunch..okay make it lunch, and as i poured over the menu and sneaked side-way glances at what other people were tucking into, i was honestly torn between the chicken and mushroom pie (i was thinking puff pastry!), the teriyaki chicken burger (thanks to the boy wolfing in down on my right!) and the x.o sauce lo shi fun. the lo shi fun won in the end...just because it reminded me of my recess adventures in primary school, filled with mee tai mak versions of mee pok ta *grin*. of course, the unique description of the dish - x.o sauce, chilli sauce, minced pork, green beans and century egg - piqued my interest as to how this dish would actually taste. as it turned out, the lo shi fun was pretty outstanding. al dente mouse tail noodles tossed in spicy chilli oil and x.o sauce, enveloped with mashed century egg and earthy mince and beans gave the dish fantastic texture. the flavours were in perfect harmony with the chillis and x.o. sauces holding back the sometimes overpowering ammonia taste of the century egg and the mashed egg too balancing the spicy and saltiness. no regrets on this one and i'd head back for more of this childhood inspired dish!

g had the swiss mushroom and cheese burger which was not bad. served with fries that i swear tasted like mckie d's fries, the burger was made with a fresh homemade beef patty, melted swiss cheese, mushrooms and held by a soft sweet bun. the patty was a little over done, and more mushrooms would have made the burger a little more outstanding but i guess it was still good.

as for the sweets, i was a little disappointed that they didn't have the goreng pisang katsu (king of banana deep fried with vanilla ice cream) that day but we managed to get our sugar dose of chocolate and coffee through the ice blended milocinno. a pretty good a concoction with a strong coffee flavor and hint of the oh-so familiar milo.

les amis really displayed its ability to appeal to the masses with some good local infused fare at the canteen while staying true to what the chain is really known for - good quality food and good service. three years since its revamp, i think the canteen has found its niche and will continue to satisfy the crowd here, local and foreigners alike!