Celebrity chow with HOT FM 91.3 DJs Shan Wee and Cheryl Miles

Radio deejay partners Shan Wee and Cheryl Miles will be the first to admit that they are fussy eaters.

Over lunch at Owl Cafe at The Star Vista, the straight-talking duo who host HOT FM 91.3's weekday morning belt The Shan & Cheryl Show were no-holds-barred about their dietary preferences and dining quirks.

Like Wee's distaste for Thai food, which he makes no attempt to hide.

"To me, Thai food is a girly form of Chinese food, like Chinese food being bastardised by coconut," said the 32-year-old with a chuckle. Then there's his disdain for beehoon.

"Beehoon is the lowest denominator in the hierarchy of noodles. Kway teow is the Chelsea of noodles, whereas beehoon is Fulham, right at the bottom," added the Irish-Chinese father of a year-old boy.

As for sassy Eurasian bachelorette Miles, 38, she is adamant about the need to have good service at restaurants.

"I like to cook at home, so whenever my family and I eat out, it's an event. It has to be special and bad service is a downer," she said.

"My biggest peeve is restaurants that do not serve water, especially when we've ordered wine. If the restaurant refuses to serve water and we have to order some expensive mineral water from the menu, that's it, I'll never go back again."

The pair had no complaints about the Straits Asian cuisine at Owl Cafe, though. Feeling peckish, they ordered several items, including laksa, chicken curry, assam chicken wings, crispy prata duck rolls, mushroom spaghetti and salad with hei chor.

It wasn't till the huge spread of dishes arrived on our table that it dawned on them that they could have over-ordered.

"Oh dear, there's so much food," gasped Miles.

What are some foods you would never tire of eating?

Miles: Definitely buffalo wings. I have a major obsession with them. If I have to just pick three types of cuisine to sustain myself for the rest of my life, it'd be Thai, Italian and Japanese.

Wee: My favourite food is Italian stuff like pasta and pizza. Particularly pizza. A ham and mushroom pizza does it for me, I could probably eat it every single day.

I also like American fare. Chili's (the American restaurant chain) is at the top of my list. Indian food is great too! Especially at Samy's Curry. But I tend to eat too much and fast in one sitting. It's dangerous. I feel like I'm going into cardiac arrest after my meal. (Laughs)

Any favourite restaurants?

Miles: I'm quite adventurous in the sense that I like to try out new eating places. Catalunya at Collyer Quay was a recent discovery. The ambience and cocktails are great.

I also love a good medium-rare steak. Some wonderful restaurants that serve good steak are CUT at Marina Bay Sands, Burnt Ends at Keong Saik and Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse at Mohamed Sultan Road.

Wee: My brother visited Singapore not too long ago and we took him to what I call the "greatest hits" of Singapore eateries. We went to Samy's Curry, Loy Kee Chicken Rice at Balestier, Sin Heng Claypot Bak Kut Teh at Joo Chiat, and Din Tai Fung for xiao long bao and fried rice.

My wife and I hardly go to chi-chi places where they serve a tiny portion of ravioli on a huge plate. That drives us crazy. Trying to eat out at restaurants with a kid is one of the hardest experiences. We often go to (Japanese restaurant chain) Akashi. On Sundays, we'd do brunch at Food For Thought at Singapore Botanic Gardens, which has a nice playground.

Do you cook? What is one dish you'd like to master?

Miles: I started cooking because I wanted to eat healthier. The process of cooking is therapeutic, too. I do mainly pastas, salads, a big pot of stew. My salads have to be of a substantial size and there have to be anchovies, parmesan cheese and egg.

I would love to master devil's curry, which is a Eurasian dish that we always enjoy during Christmas. The recipe is passed down the generations in our family and my mum is in the midst of perfecting it, having learnt it from my grandma.

Wee: No, I don't. My wife does the cooking. She does this Japanese dish, miso salmon, quite well. If I were to learn to cook something, it'd be carbonara pasta.

Any memorable overseas food encounters?

Miles: I recently visited my brother in the US, as he and his wife just had their first baby. The Santa Monica Seafood Market & Cafe is a great place where you can buy fresh fish and seafood over the counter. There's also an oyster bar where you can chill and have drinks.

Another interesting experience would be picnicking at the Grand Canyon. We took a helicopter ride, it landed in the middle of the Grand Canyon and we had a picnic right there, with glasses of champagne!

Wee: My wife and I took a cooking class while we were on holiday in Rome. It was pretty fun. We made gnocchi (Italian potato dumpling) and I can still remember the smell of basil leaves everywhere.

This article was published on May 7 in The New Paper.

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