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Jelita seems an unlikely place to go to, with the main draw being Cold Storage, a video-shop, couple of other shops. However thats precisely where Friends are situated. A Modern European restaurant which proclaims to offer casual fine dining, Friends @ Jelita is just a stone throw away from the popular Holland Village, but offers you the serene environment which the latter could not afford with the omni-present large crowd there.
Having signed up as a member with Friends online at its website, i received a $50 voucher for every $150 spend, or a 1-for-1 Executive Set Lunch/Dinner promotion. Armed with the coupon, my companion and me made our way to Jelita, and arrived at 1250pm. Being a monday, we were not surprise to see the restaurant quite empty, but there were still some patrons though. The staff there told us that Monday is usually a good time to visit Friends as there are less customers, and you probably will not want to come here on a weekend as that’s when the families bring their kids along.
The first notion that striked me was the decorations and furnitures presented in the restaurant. The comfy grey large seats definitely make us feel at home. The lighting was dimmed, which creates a tranquil atmosphere. On the other hand, it pose a predicament to food bloggers because the poor lighting makes the photos turn out not-as-good, that is not a problem if you are a pro at photoshop.
There are two types available, the Classic Set Lunch and the Executive Set Lunch, with Executive being more expensive among the both, undoubtedly the level of standard demand will be higher. It was only sensible to order the Executive Set Lunch since it was 1-for-1. But i was intially sceptical to how good the Set Lunch can be, as the a la carte menu are all priced reasonably higher than that of the set lunch. Friends proved me wrong in this, the executive set lunch ($24.90 ) albeit being limited in options, is certainly value for money.
Australian Garden Salad
Each Set Lunch comes with the Australian Garden Salad. Topped with dried fruits, raspberry vinaigrette, the hors d’oeuvre is positively a good way to begin the meal.
Soup of the day
Mushroom soup with a hint of mashed potatos. This was good until we tried the other wild forest mushroom soup. The latter makes the mushroom soup seems ordinary. Actually its not bad, just that the mushroom soup meet its match with the wild forest mushroom, which is a tad better.
Wild Forest mushroom Soup (Additional Upgrade of $2)
This is the one that makes the Soup of the day seems inferior. Well, you always expect more especially when there is an additional upgrade of $2. The Wild forest mushroom soup does not fails to deliver taste-wise, it is a good appetizer as the soup helps to unlock our tastebuds for the rest of the meal.
Sautèed chicken fillet
For our first main course, we had the Sautèed chicken fillet which was complemented with dried chili, rosemary & garlic anchovy. The first bite of the chicken tells it all, the fillet was tender and soft, It was unlike what normal chicken taste like, Friends re-defined the chicken experience, this certainly impressed me.
The sauce of the chicken fillet was equally good. The dried chili, rosemary & garlic anchovy combinations creates a unique taste. Sometimes the sauce of a dish gets so strong that it cover the meat, but thats not the case at Friends. The chicken fillet with the sauce seems to harmonize and blend with each other, which brings us the Sautèed chicken fillet.
Oven Baked Salmon fillet
Topped with Cajun crust & lemon butter sauce, the Oven Baked Salmon fillet is another winner which bright up our meal. The cripsy cajun crust on the exterior of the salmon was complemented by its soft interior.
The lemon butter sauce has a cheesy taste, and we almost mistook it for cheese. Both mains are accompanied by mashed potatos toppled with mixed vegies. My companion had a slight issue with the salmon though. Being a big fan of salmon, she remarked that the fillet was slightly dried as compared to the other salmons she had previously. Otherwise, the salmon will be faultless.
Cappuccino
The pretty sight makes us admire the Cappuccino for a while before we harden our heart and stirred the coffee.
Dessert of the day
To end off our meal, we had egg crustard for desserts. This one is good, egg crustard underneath the breaded top. Every spoonful of egg crustard taste warm, like straight from the oven. We felt that it’s rather similar to whats more commonly known to us, egg tarts.
Friends
Total bill for two executive set lunch was $60.6, under the 1-for-1 promotion, we paid $31.70 for the delightful lunch. The set lunch and dinner at Friends are definitely value-for-money, and should worth your try unless you want to go for the a la carte menu. The service-wise are definitely one of the better ones which i encountered on my food experience so far, the staff are polite, knowledgable and a smile is always on their face which make diners feel welcome.
By the way, we took slightly more than 1 half hours to finish our lunch, so i thought it might not be so good if you visit Friends during your lunch work break. This is one place where they waited for you to finish the starter before serving on the soup, the main, the dessert and the drink. So really it all depends on how fast you approach your dishes. My companion and I were starving when we start the meal with the salad and soup, so we were wondering when will then they served the main course. Well, if the main course is what you want, advice will be to finish the starters fast and get on with the main.
All in all, the dining experience at Friends is no doubt a pleasant one, which my companion and i both very much enjoyed. I would say this is the place where you can really have your Casual Fine Dining without really burning a hole in your pocket. For people who felt that fine-dining equates to dress-up, this is not a issue at Friends. Whether you are decked out in suits and ties, or your comfy jeans & t-shirts, you’ll be welcome at Friends all the same. On a side note, if you are driving, remember to call the restaurant for directions, as free private parking are available for diners. The next visit to Friends again, will be for their executive set dinner, or A la carte menu. And lastly i’ll like to thank my companion for accompanying me on this lovely lunch. In the company of a good friend, it just makes the meal at Friends better.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Modern European Cuisine at its finest “
Rating given:
Wah Lok is a Cantonese restaurant which has been on the 2nd floor of Carlton for a long time. The interior is quite lavish and traditional looking with a nice dome shaped main dining hall at the end which overlooks Chjimes.
We ordered SO MUCH I just can't list them all. Also the receipt is with my companion and I forgot to take a picture of it. haha
Some of the food we ordered:
Century Egg Porridge
This was one nice small bowl for me. I enjoyed it really. But it wasn't anything special. The serving was just right for one and the texture of the porridge was just right. It wasn't the watery sort one sometimes gets.
Egg Tarts
They were cute mini dim sum egg tarts. The filling was not tasty enough for me. The crust was a little too crumbly which forced me to put the entire thing in my mouth and I couldn't take my time with it. Average I guess.
Steamed Prawn Dumplings - Har Gao
Har gao is one dish I always look forward to when I eat dim sum. This one was not really what I like though. Although I attacked right after all the photo taking, it was already pretty dry and the edges were a tad hard. The prawn was pretty fresh but the skin wasn't what I would prefer. Sigh.
Roasted Pork Bun - Char Siew Bao
I like that the filling wasn't too sweet and there weren't fatty bits. But the dough portion was a little too thick. I like those that are thinner and open up more. Not bad really.
Beancurd Skin with Prawn
It was oily (as usual) but very crisp. I'm not a fan of beancurd skin but this was one I pretty much liked.
It cost us about $28-$29 each. There were three of us that day. Service was pretty good though I didn't get my water filled at all throughout. My friend's warm water did get filled though. I find Wah Lok's dim sum too "heavy" for me... get full very easily. I guess, in a way, that's more traditional.
Rating given:
New York New York (NYNY), the eye-catching restaurant located at the underground of Citylink. NYNY stands out with its dazzling name, and always caught the attention with its alluring interior decorations. The green and cozy furnitures are the signature of NYNY. Having pass by NYNY many times but fail to go inside, a timely visit is always due on the cards as my companion and me went there for lunch.
Seafood Platter for 2 ($33.90)
We ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 to share. A platter fit for the Kings and Queens of New York! Cold Crab, prawn fritters, crispy fish salmon and calamari rings, compose of the delightful meal. Having ordered Seafood platters previously before at Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co, i was pleasantly surprise when the platter arrive. All right i admitted, i did not pay much attention when i made the order, so i didn’t really notice the word “Cold Crab” on the menu. Yep, thats the surprise, neither was my companion ready for it. Nonetheless, let us take a peek into what is present in the platter.
Crispy fish & chips
Well you know the ever-present fish & chips? Steady and reliable
Prawn Fritters
The prawn fritters were excellent. I loved this one. No doubt the prawn might not be very big, but then the bigger the prawn, i feel the less tasty it is. The prawn here is deep-fried, coupled with the Tata sauce, it is simply irresistible.
Fish Salmon
The Fish salmon here eaten raw, a tad too fishy for me, so i’ll give it a pass
Calamari Rings
Now then, everybody should know Calamaris are actually fried squids right? O well just in case. The Calamari rings here are up to the mark, tender and juicy. In my humble opinion, i consider the calamari rings here to be one level up from the one at Fish & Co. The main explanation being the ones at Fish & Co are too salty for my liking.
Cold Crab
North Altantic Fishermen love their chilled steamed crabs. Just some background information on the crustacean. In case you don’t know what is a crustacean, they are large group of arthropods, comprising approximately 52,000 described species. Baffled already? All right all right, to put it in short, some of the names we are familar with; lobsters, crabs, shrimps, crayfish,
The sea creature with the claws that are ready to pinch you if you are not too careful. To be honest, i am not a big fan of crabs. Why? Because i am lazy, yes pure lazy.
It takes skill to eat a crab you know? there are so many different parts of the crab to be eaten, well i like the big hammer of the crab, there’s lots of meat there. The small leg? Nah, you can have it. You’ll have to slowly suck the meat out of the thin skinny leg. Well be careful while you are having a suck at it, the cute guy or pretty girl next table might just be looking at you.
Nevertheless, both of us took quite a long time to finish it, the Cold Crab is fresh, too bad we are not crab lovers huh? hahaha!
Some might say New York New York is not good, they excel in the decorations but failed in the food. But my contrarian view tells me that they are good and a excellent place to hang out with your friends. The decorations are well done, in fact the environment of a restaurant plays a huge role as to whether the food is good. The food might not be the best, but they are still good. The crucial factor to this will be the price, its within reasonable pricing, and all this only sums up to one equation, i will be back.
Total bill was $39.90 for 2 person, which i find it to be inexpensive. NYNY @ Citylink is strategically located to tap on the huge crowd travelling from City Hall to Suntec/Marine Square. Thus, the restaurant being full even when it is not during lunch or dinner time is not an uncommon sight. There are more to try from the comprehensive menu of NYNY. Until then!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Food all the way from New York City “
Rating given:
I was sick for a week and was really wrecking my brains for something to eat. A friend suggested Vietnamese food and we went to Le Viet. I'd walked past this place many times and never stepped in to try the food.
Simple and modern decor. It had this nice water tank running along the side of the restaurant. There were guppies and goldfish swimming about it. When we got there, they had just put fresh food in so all the fish were coming to the surface. It was certainly nice to look at.
There were few people there that weekday evening. So it wasn't too noisy. Just right with a few tables occupied.
There was quite a variety and being a noob to vietnamese food, I spent a lot of time poring over the descriptions....
Food Ordered:
Goi Cuon - Fresh Rice Paper Roll ($6)
There were 3 rolls and you had a choice of chicken or pork. We picked chicken. The shredded chicken was wrapped in a paper thin translucent skin with vermicelli, beansprouts and basil. I liked this very much. It was light yet savoury.
Bun Ga Nuong - Dry Vietnamese Vermicelli w Chicken ($8.50)
This arrived looking like your regular Kueh Tiao with Grilled Chicken. But flip it and you'll find a host of crunchy vegetables right underneath! Toss it well and you have yourself a savoury noodle salad! Yummy!!
Pho Bo Thap Cam - 3-in-1 Mixed Noodles ($8.50)
My friend had this with slices and beef balls. You can choose 2 out of 3 options and those were his choices. I didn't eat this because I'm not a fan of beef. But the soup was very very tasty!
Including drinks our bill came u to about $30 (and a little more) which I find pretty reasonable. Every thing was served fast cos it's not too hard to prepare... and the service was satisfactory.
Rating given:
Cheapest Salmon Don and Nice desserts!
This is one place where I'll return often for the cheap salmon don and yummilicious desserts! It was the cheapest I’ve seen so far! When the Salmon Don was served, I was pretty shocked. It didn’t looked like it cost just $3.80! I wondered if they’d served a wrong order! It was also served with miso soup and pickles. There were lots of rice and the number of slices of salmon served was more than those you get from sushi belt where you paid $6.50 for. Although its not as thick, it was still fresh and nice. I’m not a chosey eater, so this entire set for $3.80 was definitely very value for money. CHEAP!!
Their showcase of desserts outside the restaurants attracts the most attention and this is one of their pull factors for customers. Whoever walks by their showcase will be tempted by their mouth-watering display of plastic/rubber/clay food that's made to look so so real and good! (Beauty of the crafty craftman)
I tried their mango ice cream dessert that cost about $6.80. (I pay lesser for the salmon don! HA!) But still, this dessert is very nice. Freshly diced mango with soft vanilla ice-cream on top of a pile of cornflakes! *droooooling* Just thinking about it makes me want to go back for more!
Tried other dishes too like the cheese tofu, karage chicken and others which I can't remember. Next time I go again, I'll make sure I write more about them k.
Anyone want to go with me? :P
Rating given:
It is always not too good to have too high expectations of a place because the expectations the bigger the disappointment will be. Having saying that, it happens to this place. I have heard a lot of people telling me this place has one of the best Japanese buffet in town and it is worth the money, and it has been one of the places that I wanted to go and give it a try. The chance came when my partner invited me to join her colleagues for dinner there. So a big group of us went, not to say that one of her colleagues is a big fan of that place.
The restaurant is hidden in the first level of the hotel, if not for the Japanese style of door way, it is a blink and miss place. Once walked inside, I was surprise by how small the whole place is. It looks like those Japanese old cottages. There is a few traditional tables where you have to take off your shoes and sit. A number of small tables with small sets and the rest of the seats are bar counter seats. For a big group of people like us, we have to squeeze as well. If you are big sized like me, you will definitely knock to the person sitting next to you. Advice is to go in a group less than 10 people.
Next, is the food. The menu is cramped with words, no pictures. So if you expect to order by pictures, you will be sorely disappointed. At times, I just go by my guts to order as well. There is a lot of food to offer from sushi to sashimi to bento to soba etc. Lots of them in wide and different variety as well. They also served a few items as starters first, like smoked salmon. A mini seafood paper steamboat where the soup base is too salty. A miso soup that came in a tea pot and have to squeeze in lime juice as well, quite refreshing for that.
In a big group, there is confusion over ordering of food as the waitress just came with the food and we also not sure if we had ordered the food. Since it is a buffet, we just eat whatever is placed on our table. In other words, it can be a mess!
Sashimi’s lover would loved this place! Their variety is a lot and they came in big portions, not to mention that the slices came in very thick slices. Hmm… but not very fresh. Too bad I m not really a big fan of it. They got limited sushi chooses but I am not too impressed with their sushi as well. I have tasted better ones elsewhere. The rest of the food can be quite forgettable. Their tempera, again a lot of variety, from prawns to mushrooms, was quite ok nothing to wow off.
One funny thing did happen when I was ordering chicken cutlet, they asked me how many cuts I want. I thought in terms of how many full cutlets they mean. In the end, it turn out their cuts means how many slices I want. A bit … …
Their service can be quite slow and there was periods of time that we got no food and when we tried to order, their waitress always seem busy with other things or other people. As their tables are quite small, they also slow to clear the plates as well. Think they could have done with more help.
Seems that the place is quite popular as it was packed by 8pm and even the counter seats are packed like sardines. Like they say it is always better to make reservation for the place.
At a cost of $33 plus plus plus, in the end it was $38.80 per person. Personally, I think it is not worth the money and I would rather spend the money on other sushi places. Not to say because of my high expectations of the place, I was sorely disappointed and dun think I will be back to this place unless someone is giving me a treat. Hmm… so Sushi Teh any one?
Rating given:
Looking for Chinese food?
If you really love/enjoy eating good food, you'll love the Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant. I love all the dishes that they serve. Customer Service is top notch, a place to impress anyone, in fact everyone. To see more photos, please refer to my blog entry at http://www.molemole.sg/2008/02/blog2u-bak2u-imperial-dinner.html
Rating given:
I had always been a fan of their la main. I personally do find theirs better than others. However recently, they went through a revamp, or more like “Honey I shrank Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao”! I wonder this only happen to the Ngee Ann City outlet or to the rest of the outlets as well.
The long queue to wait for a table and the number tag is still the same
Nothing much changes in the menu.
The changes:
Xiao Long Bao – There used to be four xiao long baos per order but now they shrinked the xiao long bao into a smaller size and increase the number to five per order. Hmm…. It still taste pretty much the same but the size difference is really too much. Not very happy with it. Smaller xiao long bao means there is lesser fillings and lesser soup in each bao and this makes a lot of difference.
Shanghai Pan Fried Bao - There used to be three per order but now there are four. Same case as xiao long bao, the size shrinked a bit too much.
Their la mian is still pretty much the same in the variety but what changes is the type of la mian they are offering. From dragon whiskers to dao siao main to even ban mian, there are 7 types of la mian to choose from. Hmm… From what we have ordered, we still conlude that the old type of la mian still works wonder. Hee…. Nothing much changes from the rest. The portion of the food also shrank a bit.
The changes do not really impressed me and I think they are better going back to the old ones.
The service is still as good and attentive as ever, that is one thing I like when dining there. The place is still as packed as ever. Overheard one customer complaining how come there are only 3 pcs of beef in the la mian when there is supposed to be 4 slices. Hmm…. The supervisior also cannot answer that question but then she just brushed off the comment like that. Sigh……
I need the old Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao back!
Rating given:
Dough Culture, looking at the name, thought that they are actually selling bread or donuts. Neh! They are actually selling a very traditional breakfast favorite item with a new twist.
They are selling…. YOU TIAO! Haa….. Not the normal kind though, they actually treat you tiao as the base then they add different kind of toppings on top of it! They got apple, chocolate and a lot of different types.
I bought 2 to try it out, one apple and one white almond (sorry I forgot their actual names). For the apply one, it is apple fillings on top of the you tiao, and topped with some rasins and sugar toppings. It is too sweet for my liking and the you tiao is kinda of cold. I think it is supposed to be eaten cold. Yet when the you tiao is cold, it is still crispy. The size of the you tiao is pathetic. Personally, I dun really like it.
For white almond, this is different, instead of the normal you tiao shape, they actually use the same dough but rolled it into a bun shaped, with custard inside the bun and the top covered with white chocolate and almonds flakes. I like this as it does not really taste like you tiao at all, more like eating a bun.
At the moment they got limited variety but I think they will introduce new ones as time goes by. Personally, I still prefer you tiao in the originally way they are, and they have to be hot and crispy. With each priced at $1.30, I do consider they are over priced. If I want to eat such things for sugar rush, I would rather turn to donuts.
Rating given:
I had heard of this place some time ago that actually serves quite good Japanese BBQ food, however it always looks very classy from outside and dare not walk in and give it a try. On a special day (and well someone giving me a treat), and since I am in the area, decided to walk in and give this place a try regardless of the price. Hee…. Feeling brave huh? You can say that. Haha……
On outside, the decoration of the place reminds of those old Japanese restaurants in Japan. It does have a old tradition touch to it. Once we walked through the door, we were immediately greeted with the normal kind of Japanese greetings and echoes of it were heard throughout of the place. We were ushered to our seats. Inside the decoration were the same as outside, traditional kind of decoration. There are small little sections that can seat up 4 to 6 people and also large sections that can hold up big groups as well. They got private rooms as well.
Once we were seated, menus were served and we were sort of overwhelmed by the variety of food, from different kind of meat from beef to chicken and to seafood and vegetables as well. There are also set meals with wine included but these were kind of out of our budget. It seems that all the food are to be BBQed and there are no cooked food on the menu.
In the end, we ordered a seafood assorted set, a plate of chicken, a plate of sirloin beef and a plate of assorted vegetables.
Once the order is done, also immediately, they will serve up a pot of hot burning charcoal in front of you. The special thing about this charcoal is it is smokeless so it will not really be smoky for the whole place while cooking and it does not leave a burning smell on you when you leave the place as well. They are hot but they do not have any lit fire. Sitting near them can actually feel the heat already.
Next came the food, please note that the food came raw as we have to cooked them ourselves.
Assorted vegetables - A big plate of vegetables are served up. They include, corn on cob, leeks, asparagus, mushroom, green pepper, carrots. The portions are quite big and fresh as well. It is interesting to cook them on the stove and have to keep in mind that the stove is very hot, therefore the vegetables actually get cooked very fast, leave them any longer on the stove, they will be burnt. Well that happened to the first few anyway. Haa…. With a little burnt on the outer, they actually tasted quite good, especially with the green pepper and corn. The mushroom actually managed to retain its juice inside, making it crispy outside but full of juice inside.
Chicken – The chicken came marinated and cut into smaller but thick pieces. It will take some time to cook due to the thick slices. However once they are cooked, they are very good. The meat is tender and will not lost its flavour when BBQ. It is cooked to a bit burnt on the outer side.
Beef – This came in cube slices and it is also marinated as well. Beef is easier to cook as they no need to be fully cooked. However the stove being very hot, it will take a very short time to cook the meat. The beef here although not being the top grade, it is tender as well and juicy as well, with the fats slightly melted.
Assorted seafood set – This came as a surprised as the portions are really huge! It got big tiger prawns, scallops, a big full sotong, and two big slices of salmon. It was great! The seafood is really fresh as if they just got out of water. Cooking them is a breeze. The hard one is the sotong, as it is in full size and need them to cut up into smaller pieces as the outside is cooked but the inner is still not cooked. They provided butter for the salmon, and they are placed in the aluminum foils as well, it is like frying them instead. This is really worth the money especially on the big portions on seafood, even they only come in 2 pieces each.
The service of the crew is good and very detailed. They are always on the look out of the stove every time they walked past. They will either change the grill (if it turns black) or they will add in charcoal. They are also pro active, like the case of the sotong, they offered to cut it into smaller pieces for me so that it will be easier to cook as well. They do serve ice water and never fails to top up the water as well. When they served the food, they will also advise on how long to cook the food. Good for first timers like us. Hee…
Oh yes, don't worry, tongs will be provided to make yr bbqing easier and more fun. It is like bbqing inside a room.
Overall the meal; cost around $90 for 2 pax if my memory did not failed me. A bit on the expensive side but then it is a good experience. I am quite happy with the experience except that I dun think I will return soon because fo the price.
The place does get packed rather soon during meal times so if possible make a reservation before going down. it does save you from not getting a table and being disappointed.
Between this and Korean BBQ, well of course there are difference and each got its own pros and cons. However, if they are like the Koreans, able to cook it right in front of us, it will be better. Especially for lazy people like me. Haha….. Korean BBQ also have a lot of small side dishes whereas this does not have. For me, both are as good, just depends what I feel like having then. Hee….. What about you?
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