Moonstone
25 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in colour, food, Friends, hobbies, inspiration, Just Updates, life, money, mood, moonlight, photography, Restaurant Reviews, The Noble Nine, western, whatever
Located at the top of Mount Faber stands a few small restaurants and chill out areas that probably not many people want to go. That’s because to go up to Mount Faber, either you have a mode of transportation, or you literally have to hike your way up there. Nonetheless, it’s up to Mr Muscle to go up.
So we had to dine there with some drinks and finger food. Sad to say, they do not have desserts, which I was so craving for that night. Eventually, we settled with a combo set of fries and chicken wings. The fries wasn’t too amazing though, but it wasn’t so bad either. The chicken wings are not bad. Fried to almost perfection, the wings are tender-fresh too.
Ordered the Ice Latte and I would say that it would be the best drink for the day for me. It’s refreshing yet not too sweet for a latte. Good drinks. But what intrigues me up there is the constant breeze accompanied with a breathtaking night view of the sea as well as the lights of Harbourfront and the horizon of ship lights. Turn around from my seat and 180 degrees of horizon greets me.
Ambience was dark and cool at the same time, with very low lighting and very cosy feel. At the same time, light changing fountains were making most of the noise but it’s still a very very nice place to chill nonetheless. Will try their food some day. =)
Some pictures. All are on Facebook though. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost –8
Silvery Moon
19 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in food, Friends, fusion, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, mood, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, The Noble Nine, whatever
This was earlier before I end up at One Rochester, on a Friday night last week with less than 1/2 of the Nobles.
Situated at a quiet corner of Pasir Ris Park, this small chill out place proves to be a hidden gem in the serene nature of Pasir Ris Park. The beach, which is about approximately 3 minutes walk from this place, was rather near to my surprise. But we didn’t head there because of rather heavy downpour that night while heading there.
Anyways, grabbing our umbrellas, the four of us safely end up at the restaurant with a warm welcome by their staff. What ambience it was. With shadowy structures of their unique lamps with a overall blue and purplish background light, it’s no wonder it makes you feel calm and cool. Accompanied with their comfortable looking seats and sofa (which is really comfortable), it was no wonder there are people still patronising this place even on a wet and rainy day.
We took a look at their menu and they offer a extensive variety of main courses, finger food and drinks. Their wine list is not too bad as well, though I don’t drink, at least it offers quite a bundle of names there. Not too bad as their steaks are actually less than $20.
So we ordered Nuggets, Fries, Buffalo Wings and Topshells to top it off. My drink was just a Cranberry juice whereas the Muq and Colin had Ice Latte and Xueli with her Camomile Tea (I think.)
Fries were alright, commendable enough. Buffalo Wings were good as well. The sauce was rather thick, but it’s better than a thinly-nourished sauce right. Well done to the wings. Then came the Spicy Topshells. Frankly speaking, I don’t really know what Topshells are. The word shells spell seafood and prolly sluggish meat. But then I didn’t know what I was eating, but it felt like eating chewy abalone mushrooms. With the spiciness, one can’t help but wonder why is this so darn good. Haha.
Overall, ambience was fantastic, service was commendable, and finger food turn out alright still. Will be back to try their main course someday, when it isn’t raining. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 9
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 7
One Rochester
18 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in food, Friends, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, mood, pastries, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, The Noble Nine, western, whatever
Went there last night with Muq and Colin. Though it was only the 3 of us, it’s always the usual 3 that things will go all fine except that the staff gave my umbrella up for other customers to take it away. But they gave me their house umbrella – like asking for a housepour but free. On a brighter note, they gave me an umbrella bigger than my previous one, so I ain’t complaining.
Decided to pop by that place under a thunderstorm night, knowing that even the rain won’t keep us away from conquering Singapore. There’s more to go, so if you are reading this, don’t be sad Geoks and Lili. We help to scout.
So we sat down at a comfy outdoor furniture style that resembles so much like a wedding shed, but we didn’t only come here for the ambience but also the desserts and drinks… and the usual fries.
We ordered the chunky fries, which was quite filling because it’s really chunky. Then both of them had ice latte while I decided on a Guava Soda. Hardly seen Guava Soda on menus, but was quite surprised that they have it. Exotic enough to make me wanna try. And of course, my choices and instinct haven’t failed me. =)
Then the thought of having desserts is just like a habitual fact. This time it didn’t fail us. The Fine Apple that we ordered was the finest pie till date. Let me describe it to you – the outside is made generally like a pie (something like a chicken pie texture on the outside) with sugar icing that makes it taste like Kellogg’s Frosties once you chew on it. Chewing on it is really the crunchy and beautifully tasting part.
Accompanied with the warm apple slices that are placed nicely in it, it melts so beautifully in your mouth that I felt that the 20 minutes wait was totally worth it. The vanilla ice cream that came as a side was gorgeously tasty as well. This is a dessert that you won’t wanna miss.
Alright, some pictures on the food, the ambience, the place, and us of course. =)
Ambience area from the outside.
Guava Soda.
Finishing the fries.
Onwards to the 2nd level.
That wicked dessert. =D
Anyways, the fries is $14 and same goes for this dessert you are seeing above. Things there are not cheap but it’s also one of the cheapest things compared to the other restaurants and chill out bars located along Rochester Park itself. But this is just a dessert try out, not really a review, but then again, it’s a good place to go – with a girl to say the least. In fact, I see many couples holding solemnization sessions over there. A wonderful place indeed.
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 9
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 9
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 9
Astons
06 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in beef, family, food, health, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, Restaurant Reviews, seafood, singapore, town, western, whatever
At last, I get to dine at Astons after some “not bad” comments from my family members. And this time round, we head to the real deal – which is the restaurant itself instead of the specialty outlets. And since it’s my dad’s birthday, we decided to make use of the occasion to go there and dine. Perhaps it was one of the best ideas that we could have. Haha.
The restaurant’s ambience at Centrepoint is rather warm, dark and cosy. At least the air con is moderately cold and not insanely freezing. Then again, most of us had warm water. Now the dishes that we had. For me, I ordered an Angus Ribeye X-Cut, which simply put, it’s heavier than the normal Angus Ribeye by 100g. Mum and Dad had the King Salmon Fillet, Andrea had the Chicken Provencal, Natalie had the Halibut, so did Jolene and Alex had the Chicken and Apple Sausage.
For every maincourse, you get to choose 2 different side dishes, which varies with many different types. Amongst all of the items that we ordered were baked potato, mashed potato, cheesy shell, cheesy potato, potato wedges, cream brocolli, hot buttered mushrooms and onion rings. Of all the items here, the baked potato, potato wedges, onion rings and the hot buttered mushrooms are commendable. Baked potato was finely done, with bacon bits. Adding a little more salt will do the trick as well.
Potato wedges were good, onion rings will filled with a good amount of – of course – onions, and fried to golden brown. Not too oily as well. The hot buttered mushrooms were my favourite though, it was what I ordered. The button mushrooms were so soft and cooked with butter, it’s no wonder I couldn’t get enough of the freshness of the mushroom as well as it’s great fungus taste. Haha.
The King Salmon fillet was quite good especially when it’s well done, with the fish being quite fresh, and cooked with a fine seasoning. Andrea’s Chicken Provencal as well as Alex’s Chicken and Apple Sausage was really good, with the chicken not being overdone, with the meat tasting as great as a chicken chop. The sauce that they use was quite fantastic too. And same goes for the sausage, which was really filling. Haha.
Above : King Salmon Fillet.
Above: Chicken Provencal
Above: Chicken and Apple Sausage.
The Halibut – or Flat fish – was also really fresh in taste. The texture of the fish meat was really soft and smooth. And the fish skin was great. Like totally grilled perfectly to suit taste buds. Haha. As for my Ribeye, I would say that the portion they give was rather huge. The meat was really thick but the medium rare was rather bloody, which was still fine with me given the fact that the beef was juicy and tender. They had this brown sauce which was really nice when it goes together with the beef though. Haha.
Above : Halibut (Flat Fish)
Above: Angus Ribeye X-Cut
In all, they have great service staff there that are willing to help you whenever you need, and of course, price wise are really quite worth to pay them for. And you get to fill your stomach like totally while you eat till your heart’s content. Be sure to visit there because I might just will once again. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 8
Food (Outlook) – 9
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 8
15 Minutes
06 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in food, Friends, health, interest, money, music, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, The Noble Nine, town, western, whatever
Let me start by saying that this is a place that everyone – or anyone – should patronise. Firstly because of it’s good comfy couches and artistic layout of furniture and furnishing that makes it so simple yet with so much head room for you to feel relax after a day’s work or maybe during lunch as well.
Located at La Salle SIA, I head there with my usual group of friends and took the couch seatings for some finger food and stuff. Drinks wise, they have their usual alcoholic and non-alcoholic ones, all good for anyone with or without the desire to drink. Reminds me of Indochine, just nicer. =) Basically, there are many things that I could say but saying too much is just over-describing it, and I rather you patronise there to feel the difference. They do play chill-out music there with sometimes a tinge of lounge or perhaps some Michael Buble, jazz style.
Now to the food. I have 5 things to introduce here that we ordered and we felt that it was great. Firstly was the fries. The fries are so addictive that we have thoughts of boycotting the Shaker Fries from McDonalds. It’s not as oily, not as salty, yet it smells real good and it tastes really fantastic. You should try this.
Then we ordered something different. Something called the Otah Bruschetta. Usually a bruschetta will consist of diced tomatoes on toasted french bread (if I’m not wrong), but for this, obviously, the tomatoes are replaced with a layer of “mashed” otah. And yes, needless to say, that combination is as good as eating bread with otah from some bakery – with a difference because of the toasted feel of the bread. =)
Cravings after cravings came knocking on our tongues, so we started to order a pizza with prawn and wasabi mayo + Bonito flakes. Thin in crust I would say, yet the amount of prawn was rather little. But the freshness of the prawn made it all better. The wasabi mayo was new though, which added a little bit – or a tiny bit – of spiciness to the pizza. Overall, it’s a good dish to behold. 8 pieces, rather oval in shape, and at $9.90, it’s a steal.
David had his dessert, some berry thing which I forgotten the name. Was a bit disappointed when we didn’t get to try their cheesecake as well as their waffles and ice cream and maple. But the berry dessert thing was something different I would say – just give it a try. I couldn’t conjure the taste though. Perhaps easily said, a bit creamy, yet cakey, yet fruity. It’s just a different take on dessert and if publicised, I guess this dessert can go a long way. =)
Last but not least is the chicken wings. It’s like really well done and cooked that no words could describe how these chicken wings are so tasty. And the fact that the temptation to eat more lingers, I would really want to eat the chicken wings that they make once again. According to chef Suban, he says they use soy sauce, which explains the aromatic smell from far. Nice.
Ambience wise has been said earlier, and with good service and prices that are affordable for most range of people, I would recommend this place for chill outs and birthdays and dinner parties. It’s even better when during special events, a stage is there ready for performances by bands and whoever. Great place indeed. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 9
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 7
Cafe Cappadocia
30 Aug 2009 Leave a Comment
in beef, food, halal, health, interest, money, photography, Restaurant Reviews, The Noble Nine, turkish
I do not know if I have done a review on this before, but because of it’s good food and of course with a good camera again, let’s better be safe than sorry. LOL. =D. Located inside of Hotel Rendezvous, this restaurant has food that are so delicious, you can’t possibly not try it! For my halal friends, rejoice! As you will find one of the best Turkish food in Singapore that I have dined for. Fantastic stuff.
It was Gilbert’s Birthday so we all decided to dine at where he loved to eat, which I also actually celebrated my birthday there in the earlier part of the year. So everyone made their orders and I made mine. I didn’t know what the rest of the food were called, and neither did I remembered mine. But at least I know mine was under the Turkish main course portion. I ordered Beef Steak though. =)
The above bread is also known as a Herb Bread. Because mainly it’s just bread with herbs. But seriously, it’s well baked with a thin crusted feel outside with soft texture in the inside. Yummy!
This above is the usual Turkish finger food which is also quite unusual for me. But I actually love it because of it’s different kinda taste. It’s like very random but still lingers throughout your mouth. There’s one with a mash potato kinda feeling but that is really nice though. =)
That was David’s whatever salad they called it, garnish nicely with whole olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce as well as those toufu look-a-like thingy that I still can’t conjure up what it is. I didn’t try it, but David – being a salad lover – loves it. You can’t really not trust a salad lover can you? =D
And yes of course, I remembered my dish clearly, except that the name is so freaking long that I only know it starts with the letter K. Then again, this beef steak that I ordered comes together with french fries that taste all so good (better than LJS for sure!). On top of the beef – as you are wondering – is what they term it as a prawn garnish, which in whole taste really really great! Kinda like those breaded prawn except that the prawn is well cooked. =)
Now the beef. This is also one of the place with one of the best medium rare beefs that I ate till date. It’s juicy, tender and medium rare. Haha. In fact, it’s not so hard to chew and not that chewy till the point that you will feel damn sore and tired after chewing. At least I know after eating it, I won’t have to go for an X-ray on the jaw. =P
That would be David’s Lamb Pizza I think. The lamb is really well cooked as you know sometimes when you dine on mutton on lamb, there’s this taste/smell distinctively from a lamb/mutton. This one doesn’t, and together to be done with a pizza, it must have taken quite a while to get this dish done. The pizza’s not too thick, not too crispy as well. And yes, it taste great by the way.
Suban’s balls. Ok not his, but it’s beef balls that are at least minced beef rolled into balls. The real deal, these beef balls are very nice to chew on. In fact, they aren’t as tough as what we all think beef is. Accompanied with the sauce as well as salad that will never go wrong with, it’s no wonder Suban’s having a good time at the dining table.
That would be Gilbert’s Baked Vegetable something something. I do not know how to describe this, because I think I tasted minced beef beneath this good amount of cheese. And yes, with the vegetables like tomato, capsicum etc, the whole dish is kinda like a healthy yet ideal baked dish. And, it’s very pizza-ish. Turkish style. =D
Grace and Colin had this pasta with salmon and seafood I think. I didn’t try this, but it really looks yummy though. Looks like mee pok of course, but that’s pasta for you. I think they both finished it like totally, also claiming that it was a great meal. =)
In all, the service was fantastic from start till finish, warm greetings and a very nice customer relations and gestures from the manager himself. Ambience was good, with at least appropriate and comfortable seating for dining and relaxing. Good deco as well. =)
Go try it, like really, it’s definitely a place you will like for very good food. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 10
Ambience – 8
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 8
Swiss Culture
25 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in beef, food, Friends, health, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, money, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
Dined in during Nianci’s birthday at Suntec city. Was looking for a place to eat but chanced upon somewhere over at Suntec. So we decided to give it a try.
And being on budget, I decided to order the set meal, which actually cost like $22.80++ that comes with a soup/salad, a main course and last but not least a drink/dessert to go with. And for every 2 set meals, there’s one side dish to go with for free, so I chose clams with some sauce whereas the other was chicken wings. We had like 5 people ordering set meals. So I chose Onion Soup, Sirloin Steak and last but not least, peppermint cake respectively.
Well, for the onion soup, I’m afraid that it’s alright at the first taste, but the after taste was really salty. Too much salt in fact. Wasn’t really my cup of tea. Or is it the way of the Swiss? Pardon the photos, only had an iPhone to take. Sorry.
The onion soup that doesn’t look at all tasty.
Then later when the clams came, I had fun eating the clams, though it was a portion for 5. Not too bad, as the sauce that they had was pretty alright, but I felt it could be better because there’s something that still lacks in it. Prolly the spice. But judging from how it was served, I think it’s pretty healthy from the looks of the dish itself. The chicken wings are good. In fact, it doesnt taste salty, yet it’s rather perfectly golden brown fried. The marination is not too bad too. Haha.
Chicken Wings.
Clams that look really… Clammy.
Then came the maincourse. Of course, I slowly but surely finished my main course, and the beef was alright. Thick and tasty but not tender enough. Medium rare is the done-ness. LOL. But then, the wedges as well as the cherry tomatoes made up for the tenderness. Perhaps the fact that Swiss culture is more into seafood explains more about why their meat is pretty alright only.
Sirloin steak that looks really nice actually. Don’t let the pic deceive you.
The peppermint cake is definitely small in portion, but because after having a good thick piece of steak, sometimes dessert need not come to heavy, so I perhaps thought taht this would be the right amount and portion for one. It’s alright only for the cake. It will taste better if it’s colder.
The cake that looks cute but taste alright. Haha.
Overall, ambience is a little classy, service was normal, although we had to face Toys’R'Us, but still, it was enjoyable. And it seems that the dishes were pretty well-made to suit healthy diets. But do remember that you only dine there with enough cash because it’s really a little steep for the pricing. But still, I will try their seafood combo next if I ever end up there again. It sure looks sumptuous!
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 7
Ambience – 7
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 8
TomTon
08 Jun 2009 2 Comments
in food, interest, japanese, Just Updates, money, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
Went to eat at this Japanese restaurant out of the many in Central itself – prolly because we were tempted to eat sashimi. So Amanda and I decided to dine there.
Good service, with a nice and ambience, the restaurant reminds me of a bigger eatery like New Garo or perhaps some Japanese eatery in the outskirts of Singapore itself. Then again, the sashimi is what caught my eye. They have a range of bento sets as well as other sets that offer choices like black pig. Black pig? LOL. I guess it’s just wild boar in a nicer way of saying. But still, we tried.
So we ordered a Sashimi Moriawase of 3 types of sashimi and a Silver Cod fish with Black Pig set I think.
The Sashimi was definitely good, except the Maguro (Tuna), which doesn’t taste and look that appetizing. The Hamachi (Yellowtail) as well as the Salmon was really applaudable. Both of it were really fresh. If only there’s more. Haha.
The Sashimi.
Then came the set thing. It looked really alright, as in the presentation of the food. BUT WAIT TILL YOU TRY THE FREAKING COD FISH AND THE PORK. The Cod fish was like PERFECTLY done, no joke about it. It’s grilled I think, but it was so good that it’s still smooth when it’s in the mouth already. Plus the sauce, it was heavenly. Try the fish skin as well. Fantastic. You will never regret eating that fish. The pork was lean, not that tough, and it was really great as well. Sumptuous indeed, accompanied with rice and a home made miso soup which consist of raddish. Great stuff there.
In all, I suggest that you sh0uld check out the restaurant because they do serve really nice stuff. Perhaps you can try their Shabu Shabu next time, because I think they are quite famous for that. =D Beside, I think they have steamboat as well. I mean japanese style or something like that. Their menu has limited ranges of stuff, but after trying the “black pig”, I guess I will come back here some day. It’s really good. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 8
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 8
Westlake
04 May 2009 Leave a Comment
in food, health, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, money, oriental, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
Located at Queen’s Road, patronised this restaurant with Daddy and Amanda after finishing up the computer job there. Mind the photos as it’s taken from my iPhone. Bad quality. Haha.
Famous for it’s Kong Bak Pau, Daddy recommended this place not only for its aromatic Pau, but it’s other dishes as well.
Sat down and took our orders. I was surprised that their menu did offered more than what I just thought. At least it serves usual restaurant dishes like fishes, vegetables, seafood etc. Of course, being only 3 persons, we ordered half a roast chicken, one claypot hokkien mee, one plate of fried rice as well as 5 Kong Bak Pau.
Of course. After dining here, I discovered a gem in this place. Not literally but as if I found diamond.
The Kong Bak Pau is fantastic. As in, the oil of the pork is just right. The meat they serve is big enough, and the meat itself is tender and easy to chew. Soft and tasty. Thumbs up for the meat.
Kong Bak Pau at it’s best.
The claypot hokkien mee was well done though, with every seafood ingredient they cooked with still fresh in the meat, especially the prawns. Whereas for the fried rice, the salted fish was adequate and the prawns were fresh as well though I wished that the char siew bits were bigger. They were like non-existent when I chew on the whole spoon of rice, and it’s like I don’t taste any char siew. Sheesh.
Fried Rice.
Claypot Hokkien Mee.
The roast chicken was cooked to perfection I would say. Why? Because Amanda actually squeezed lime all over it, and that the taste of lime was not even strong enough to cover up the original taste of the chicken, which means that the chicken was really cooked so well that even lime couldn’t get rid of it’s true taste. Fantastic stuff.
Roast chicken. Nice colour there.
Of course, free flow of chinese tea and with a decent service, this restaurant is worth patronising in terms of their quality of their dishes. Don’t expect too much of a classy restaurant though, because it reminds me of restaurants from Malaysia. But still, the food was great nonetheless. I would want to go back there to try their restaurant dishes like steam fish and stuff if I had the time and chance. Love steam fish to the max. Price wise is like eating those Zhi Char in coffee shops. Not too bad though. Haha. At least this place is air conditioned and it’s cooo
I would suggest that you give this restaurant a try. It’s really kinda… uncommercialised. LOL.
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 6
Ambience – 6
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 6
Ding Tai Fung
24 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
in food, health, interest, Just Updates, life, money, oriental, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
Woot. Never dined there before, so did what I had to do.
It’s just a normal day with jilly, so decided to eat at Ding Tai Fung. After all, dining at there allowed me to taste some good food as well as co-incidentally seeing friends around my table. Small world.
Let’s go into the food now. We decided to order many stuff actually. She ordered a “spicy and sour” soup – which actually looks like shark fin on the outlook. For that dish, it’s really quite nice and refreshing, although half the time I don’t know what I’m chewing and swallowing on. Haha. But adding vinegar does help la. It is a different take to other types of soup.
The soup at it’s best.
Then came the Pork chop and Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice. The prawn is really fresh, although could be better because Crystal Jade’s prawns are a tad more fresh. But the rice was soft. And I love it when fried rice is soft. A good mix of egg and a good quantity of prawns just did the trick. I’m loving it with every bite. Hahaha.
Fried Rice. Prawn quite big.
Pork Chop.
The pork chop is normal, although its quite tender after being done. A bit oily, but it’s still fine. I still prefer the rice. LOL.
We also ordered a plate of vegetables – I forgotten what it is, but please look at the picture. The vegetables are well cooked, fresh, and tasted just right for my taste buds. Enough said. Good stuff cannot bluff.
Doesn’t look appetizing. But it’s GOOD.
Then came the Xiao Long Bao. Hahahha. This is the thing that I have been waiting for. To compare with Crystal Jade. And here’s my verdict – think about it, both of them tasted really good. But there’s 2 difference between them.
Firstly, the Xiao Long Bao at Crystal Jade has better meat fillings. Better cooked I believe. But in terms of the skin of the Xiao Long Bao, I prefer Ding Tai Fung. The meat in the Xiao Long Bao at Ding Tai Fung taste normal only. But I still like it though. Tasted really good since I last ate something that nice. No photo for that because there’s a problem with the uploading of it. Zzzz.
I ordered the Xiao Long Bao with a shrimp on top. This was still alright only, because the prawn is overcooked. And it tasted like the Xiao Long Bao with a shrimp. But of course, I’m lucky my stomach didn’t explode because I ate like 6 Xiao Long Baos and 6 Xiao Long Baos with Shrimps. OMG.
Here’s the difference.
Overall, I thought their service was alright, accompanied by the good food as well as a typical chinese restaurant ambience. Spent quite a bit actually. Oh well, Just head there for the fried rice. Totally nice. Hahahaha.
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 8
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 8
NYDC
10 Dec 2008 Leave a Comment
in food, Friends, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, western, whatever
Hoho. I think I’m just late to blog about this place. Well, it’s my FIRST TIME dining at NYDC (ok don’t laugh at me.) and it’s a good experience, given the fact that all the things that I heard are only their mudpies.
Yes, I’m looking for food to appetize my stomach and yes of course I will go for the main course. Mudpies can wait, stomachs’ can’t. Met up with Suban, Colin and Grace for dinner at the newly opened Altitude dining at Heeren. Of course, NYDC opened another outlet upstairs instead of the downstairs one.
Ok, we started off ordering our sides. We ordered the Spud-nik as well as Garlic Bread.
The Spud-nik – to me – is like one of the most heavenly things that I have ever ate. It’s like half a potato, with melted mozarella cheese and bacon bits on top, it’s like BBQ style – but nicer. A must try. Quantity is small, but it’s all worth it. The Garlic bread wasn’t too bad either, with the cheese well spread on it.
Garlic Bread Foreground, Spud-Nik Background.
Drinks – I ordered a Ice Manhattan Mocha whereas Suban ordered some Ice Earl Grey Cooler or something. My mocha was really raw – like “coffee” coffee. But of course, with the Chocolate Fudge at the bottom, plus the chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips and the whipped cream – ALL INSIDE THAT MOCHA – it’s no wonder I didn’t complain. LOL. Totally like the best thing for me.
My holy drink.
Then came the main course. I had a mushroom ham baked rice. Colin had the “Three Amigos” baked rice, Grace had the “Destiny’s Child” baked pasta, and last but not least, Suban having the “Barbeque Ribs”. Of course, from the way you look at it, the ribs the most expensive. HAHA!. But then again, the ribs were served along with their mash potatoes which is actually very good. You can tell that it’s like kinda lightly roasted. Cool stuff.
My dish was alright, because the mushroom they added for me was like so many. And with the baked rice plate so deep, unlike the usual plates that they use, it’s even harder for the cream and the cheese to flow down to the bottom of the plate, where the rice settles. But amazingly, they have done a good job for that. Ham inside are just normal hams la. But of course, when you are hungry, anything taste good.
I didn’t try Colin’s, Grace’s and Suban’s portion, but I’m sure they liked it. Haha. Suban and Colin finished their stuff, not Grace. Haha.
Grace’s Destiny’s Child background, Colin’s Three Amigos Foreground.
Suban’s Barbeque Ribs. Not his ribs.
Mine. Mushroom Ham. Looks ordinary. I wonder where the mushrooms went as well.
Then, the ultimate. The MUDPIE!. They ordered the Cookie Monster. But of course, why I said “they” instead of “we” because I didn’t even eat it. Zzz. I’m full la. Can’t blame me. =). But judging from their delighted expressions, that mudpie has to be the good one. Haha.
Sinfully good.
Ok, to sum it up, the service is good, the ambience is alright, which I liked because of it’s furnishing and quietness on a Tuesday night. Haha. Price wise…. at the moment for me it’s of course expensive but for baked rice at this price is just normal.
Do come here and try the Spud-Nik that’s for sure. It’s really like a taste that couldn’t go away in me. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 9
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 8
Nara Japanese Restaurant
12 Nov 2008 3 Comments
in food, Friends, hobbies, interest, japanese, Just Updates, life, money, mood, Restaurant Reviews, seafood, singapore, whatever
This is the deal – it’s my 2nd time only eating at these kind of restaurant ever since Haru Dining. Then again, this place is still worth blogging about.
Went there for lunch on Sunday at around 1pm with Suban and Minyi. Think about it, the ambience just reminds me of some of the restaurants in Japan. Don’t know why but it seems that way.
What’s commendable is their menu, which is really very very extensive in terms of variety. I can flip and flip non stop and I still do not know what I wanna eat. Haha.
So we decided on these dishes.
- Sashimi Moriawase (I don’t think they called that in this restaurant. It’s something else.)
- Chawanmushi with Crab
- Lamb Taki (Like lamp chop.)
- Flounder (Flat Fish)
- Garlic Fried Rice
- Air Dried Puffer Fish
- Fried Tofu
- Gyoza
All and all, most of them are ordered by Suban. LOL.
Now the taste bud’s review. The sashimi consists of 6 types – Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Swordfish, Octopus and Scallop. Out of this 5, I think the Octopus, Scallop and Tuna is exceptionally fresh. The salmon and yellowtail is alright only somehow. The Swordfish lies in between. LOL.
The Moriawase.
The Chawanmushi is served like a dessert cup. But portion is small. So enjoy that one while you can. The crab is fresh though. And the Chawanmushi has a distinctive taste of Ginko Nuts, which you hardly can taste in most Chawanmushis out there.
Chawanmushi with Crab. That black this is some flower that I forgot.
Suban had the Lamb Chop and I must say it’s really really very small. But then again, it Japanese Fine Dining, you will get portions as big as French servings. But wait, this Lamb Chop – at medium rare – is serious good. As good as beef, it’s tender to begin with. Like perfectly cooked.
The lamb that taste so good.
Then came the Flounder. At $40, this fish is hardly served around in Singapore. But I ate it BBQ style at Malaysia before and I liked the fish. Then again, this fish has it’s bones removed for easier consumption. What’s more is that the whole fish can be eaten up – including the bones after being fried. Haha. But this fish is not bad because flounder meat is usually like not one big piece joined together in the inside. More “apart”.
Flounder – Fried.
We ate up everything except the head.
Garlic Fried Rice was nice, just when Minyi thought that the Fried Rice was only fried with Garlic. LOL.
Garlic Fried Rice.
Well, we were never full, so after doing more flippings of the menu, the Puffer Fish caught our eye. Air Dried? We wonder. So we ordered. And yes, only a few strips appeared. But it just seems like…. cuttlefish. Amazed? Wait till you try this.
My first time trying Puffer Fish and it really does taste like sweetened Cuttlefish, just nicer to chew and enjoy. Haha. They also provide their Japanese Mayo with some Ebikko toppings. Totally fantastic stuff.
Puffer Fish.
Mayonnaise with Ebikko.
The tofu was alright although I liked the outer skin of it. Haha. The Gyoza was also not too bad.
Gyoza.
Fried Tofu.
In all, the service is good. They kinda explained to us about some stuff, which is good knowledge. Anyway, price wise, I suggest you bring more money. Haha. Portion is small, but expected. After all, that’s what’s fine dining is all about no? =))
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 9
Ambience – 8
Food (Outlook) – 7
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 9
BonBon Tea
03 Nov 2008 Leave a Comment
in food, french, Friends, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, love, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
A new restaurant at Vivocity. Opened by a French, went there to have some pastries because they really looked good. Plus, I have a friend there working. So discounts were inevitable, just on that particular day we didn’t had the discount. LOL.
After an early outing to Sentosa, we decided to pay Chris a visit, who happen to be some sort of an assistant chef there. So we sat down, ordered a drink and some pastries. Suban started off with his Iced Green Apple Tea I think, then for Muqsit and I, we both had a Iced Fuzzy Peach Tea each.
Drinks Galore.
For pastries, Suban ordered a Chocolate Hazelnut Crepes, Muqsit ordered a Chocolate Puff Tart and I ordered a Bounty Cream Crepes. Suban later ordered a Passion Fruit ice cream and also another Ice minty something drink. Haha.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe.
Bounty Cream Crepe.
Chocolate Puff Tart. Yummy.
The Crepes was lovely. Although they look like prata, but the taste was sensational. It’s soft yet easy to cut. For the chocolate hazelnut that Suban had, the chocolate taste was just right together with the hazelnut. For my bounty cream, I only had an impression for vanilla. But when I received, I tried and I couldn’t configure the taste till Suban tried and told me that it’s coconut. Woah. But it’s great nonetheless.
Muqsit’s Chocolate Puff Tart was the best really. The taste of chocolate accompanied with cream puff and sprinkled sugar – Fantastic. The taste was all it matters. How cool is that.
The drinks were not bad, judging from the size and also the syrup that allows you to vary at your preference. The ice cream that Suban ordered taste original. Why? Because Passion Fruit by nature – is SOUR. And it’s a wake up call – at the cold. So freezingly nice. Sourly nice I would say.
Passion Fruit.
In all, service is definitely great, with all staff putting a smile to their face. Ambience is unique as well, really a total different ambience to all other restaurants. I would love to dine in for the food like pizza, pasta, sandwiches, salad etc. Price wise is a little higher as the drink that we ordered is $7.50 each. The Crepes was already $6.
Do patronise this place, because I’m sure you will love it. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 9
Ambience – 9
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 8
Chiew Kee Eating House
14 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in family, food, health, history, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, street, whatever
Ok, I don’t know if I have blogged about this place before, but given it’s 30 over years of history, I guess I have to do this.
I ate at this place a couple of times already, just that last time there wasn’t such thing called a “blog”. So since I had the luxury to use the internet, why not?
Anyway, situated at Upper Cross Street, this so called “restaurant” has it’s history for serving Soy Sauce Chicken Rice or Noodles – depending on what you would like to have. Ordering it is almost the same as any chicken rice stall you would patronise. It’s even better if you can speak Cantonese because most of them do.
Now, my family – which only has my dad, mum, brother and I that went there – ordered half a chicken, a bowl of dumplings and soup, as well as a plate of kai lan. And my dad ordered noodles while the rest of us had their chicken rice.
The things that we ordered.
Famously speaking, their soy sauce chicken is really fantastic to begin with. The sauce blends well with the chicken, making it taste so yummy. The dumplings in the soup were fantastic. Normally known as sui gao to the Cantonese, these dumplings that are sold here are really not bad after all. Just when I thought that my grandma did nicer ones. Haha. The quantity for the chicken and the dumplings were generally enough to make 4 of us full.
The kai lan that we ordered was alright, not too oily I guess. But the one that deserves mentioning is the rice. Have you ever tried chicken rice that is soft, fragrant yet NOT OILY? Well, you got that right, this place has it. The rice is soft, yet the rice is not oily – which in other words – Kinda Healthy Chicken Rice. Fantastic stuff.
Overall, I feel that anyone of you should give it a try since Chicken Rice has been part of our everday “ta bao food” habits. Price wise wasn’t too expensive as well. You gotta tolerate a little with the service of the drinks people because they are all old and kinda “senile”. Haha. One of them actually said thank you to my brother so loud when she’s just beside him like 30cm away. LOL.
Oh well, it’s all about the food that matters sometimes. And it’s Chinatown for god sake. Can’t expect THAT GOOD service from OLD PEOPLE. Haha.
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 6
Ambience – 6
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 9
Cost – 6
Streets
29 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in food, Friends, fusion, health, hobbies, interest, Just Updates, life, money, mood, Restaurant Reviews, singapore, whatever
Another Hongkong restaurant that I ate yesterday after checking out of the chalet after a hectic 2 nights in the chalet. Tired but fun. =)
So the four of us – Suban, Colin, David and I sat down after a tremendous effort to get our bags to E hub with the help of an NTUC trolley which came to great use. Having a good meal is all the more rewarding.
And we decided to eat at this place namely because we couldn’t be bothered to go anywhere further. So we ordered like many stuff ranging from side orders to finger food to main courses to funny drink cups and stuff.
What we ordered were as follows :
- Some vegetable fried with fish and black beans.
- Steam Pork Ribs
- XO Carrot Cake
- Nissin Luncheon Meat noodles
- Mayo Fries
- Fried Beef Hor Fun
- Pork Floss French Toast
- 2x Steamed Siew Mai
- 2x Macau Fried Rice with Chicken Chop
Drinks were:
- Mango Pomelo
- Ice Milked Tea
- Honey lemon Plum Ice Blended
- 2x Lime Tea Cooler
First to the food – I had the Macau Fried Rice with Chicken Chop. Tell me that the fried rice wasn’t fantastic. It tasted out of this world man. It’s neither hard nor too soft. And it’s a joy to eat it together with the chicken chop. And quantity wise is enough. My god.
Where we ate at.
Our drinks. Look at the Milk Tea and the Lime Tea. Haha.
The other thing that tasted out of this world was the XO Carrot Cake. Don’t worry, it won’t make me a purple dinosaur after that. But it was like the best side dish carrot cake I have ever tasted in restaurants. Damn, I wanna have more! I also ordered the mayo fries, which is good because it wasn’t salty. But frankly speaking it’s just fries with a small pallet of mayo for dipping. -_-”.
Mayo Fries.
The XO Carrot Cake that tasteed out of this world.
The Macau Fried Rice with Chicken Chop.
Colin’s Nissin Luncheon Meat Noodles.
David’s Fried Beef Hor Fun.
I also ordered steam pork rib, which wasn’t too bad la. The siew mai isn’t really worth ordering as it was rather small and needed a little more taste, which could be better. The Fried Hor Fun that David ate was normal and not that salty, and so is Colin’s Nissin Luncheon Meat noodle, which needed more salt. Suban ate the same fried rice as I did.
Colin’s Pork Floss French Toast.
The Vegetable Fried with Fish and Black Beans.
The Vegetable above isn’t all too bad. Wonder what fish they use? Well, to my amazement, it’s sardine. Well, it’s still edible. Haha.
The Steam Pork Ribs and the Siew Mai.
Now moving on to the drinks, its cool to say that the drinks are good stuff because it tasted different nonetheless. I had my Ice Milk Tea which was like Milk Tea, but they served in a rather cute type of glass. Same goes for the free Lime Tea Cooler which Colin and Suban had it free because of their birthday month.
Subsequently, Suban also ordered his Mango Pomelo and Honey Lemon Plum. The Mango Pomelo was fantastic. A mix so tasty that it keeps you wanting to drink more. That explains why Suban ordered the Honey Lemon Plum.
And for the Honey Lemon Plum…… It’s a drink that can really WAKE YOU UP for it’s high content of sourness. But what’s unique is that in the midst of it’s sourness contains sweetness that can be tasted. And that’s what I call a very very good drink. =)
The HoneyLemon Plum. FWAH.
In all, we spent a total of $81.45, and with so much food downed into our stomach, it was damn filling and happy. Haha. Ambience wise is alright, like any other Hong Kong Cafes you have been to. And we were having our meals with friendly staff service of course. =)
RATINGS (Out of 10 Stars)
Customer Service – 8
Ambience – 6
Food (Outlook) – 8
Food (Taste) – 8
Cost – 6
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