People who are close to HFB knows that he is not a big fan of foodcourts. However Tenya – the first tempura bar in a Singapore food court is set to dispel this negative mindset of HFB. Think Yong Tau Foo, where the freshest of seafood and vegetables are laid out for your choice on the counter to be “tempura-ed”.
Paired with steaming Japanese rice and their special sauce that complements the crisp of the tempura batter, lovers of Japanese cuisine will be delighted to know that they can now enjoy restaurants’ standard tempura at a food court prices (vegetable items are going @ $0.60 per pc, seafood items are going @ $1.80 per pc and Japanese rice is $1.00 per serving).
To cater to the working crowd, the management team has also came up with a few set meals for one’s perusal – consisting of two seafood items and three vegetables ($6.40 per set). However if one prefer to go ala carte, you can do so with a minimum of 6 items choosen.
With chef trained in Japan, HFB was not disappointed by the quality of food that was served. Each individual tempura is crisp on the outside with a tint of light fluffiness on the inside. Although HFB’s initial fear was that the special sauce poured over the tempura would wreck a good dish, tasting it confirmed that his fear was unfounded.
A little sweet on its own, it complimented really well with the rice and the fried food. And if one is worried that the person you bring along is not a tempura fan, there are other options offered by Tenya.
The Unadon at $7.50, is of reasonable priced. Unlike many other Japanese establishments that tend to over-grill their eel, Tenya really prepared theirs with care. Although HFB preferred the eel slightly charred, he fully understood Tenya’s intention of doing so – so that one can taste the natural sweetness of the eel while retaining the moisture of its flesh. Oiishi!
Besides the fish, one can also opt for the Tori Karaage Don @ $6.20. This is a dish that HFB will never get sick of – deep fried chicken pieces. The batter was flavoured and the chicken was tasty, however be warned that it will turn soggy if you leave it under the air-con for too long.
My girlfriends and I had the chance to visit Ma Maison on a Wednesday evening. Thinking that it's a weekday evening and that we were there at 8pm, there would be less people. Boy, were we wrong... There was a queue snaking out of the restaurant. We waited for 30 minutes before we were shown a seat. Very popular place indeed. We ordered and settled to take photographs while waiting for our food. We noticed that there were a few tables with Jap patrons and that's usually a sign that there's good Jap food in existence.
My apologies for not being able to provide the actual name of the dish as I was too excited and forgot to take a photo of the menu.
The food we ordered Escargots:
This is done with garlic. It was delicious! Served up warm, it was very fragrant and they were good to provide all the right utensils for extracting the flesh.
Hamburger Steak The meat was well minced and packed in a patty. It is served with an egg and some potato, doused in brown sauce. Even the waitress said "brown sauce" So I have no idea what sauce it is actually. Even though I'm not really one for meat, I did like this one as the meat was minced and easy on the stomach.
Gratin with Prawn and Scallops I love this potato and cheese combination. There weren't many prawns and scallops though.. I think there was a grand total of two each. But this is one dish you have to share with friends. One person can't finish the whole plate.
Pork Cutlet This is served with two sauces and mineral salt. The waitress explained what we should do with the sauces but when she left, all four of us were still baffled because we couldn't understand what she said. Well in the end, we did it the Singaporean way - Rojak style. We put all the sauces into the little dish she gave us and just dipped our pork pieces into it. The cutlet was a little on the tough side, a little too difficult to chew. The meat inside didn't have any taste and the crisp outside was a little bland too. The potato it was served with was nice though.
Cuttlefish Ink Spaghetti I was a little taken aback by how black the spaghetti came. But all my companions swore by this dish so I tried it. It was yummy! Just good on its own. My only grievance is that it is a little on the dry side but I will definitely order this dish again.
Apple Pie with Ice Cream The apple filling was suitably sweet but the crust was a little too dry and had a very starchy taste to it which I couldn't bear to eat. We finished up most of the pie leaving the crust behind.
Brownie with Ice Cream We all loved the brownie. Me being a dessert lover, I'd say this is one of the better brownies I've had. It's not too dry nor moist and has just enough chocolate flavour so that one will not be sick of the taste before finishing.
Goma Ice Cream (Sesame) This is my first go at such a flavour and I'd have to say it has a special taste to it. The ice cream left a strong aftertaste in my mouth. It wasn't sweet but did have a very strong taste of sesame. Quite enjoyable I guess.
The four of us spent $87 in all which I'd say is pretty reasonable.
Tucked behind the bustling bus stop opposite Parkway Parade lays Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel – and located at level two of what used to be a Thai restaurant is now Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant, opened in December 2007.
Honed by Master Chef Lee Tuck Seng, that brings with him wealth of culinary experience, including Gold Award in the FHA International Salon Culinaire, Jia Wei offers a modern and exquisite dining experience with a touché of traditional home-cooked fare.
They are currently serving Special Asian-themed Christmas specials that consists of their $78 per pax Christmas Glow Menu and the $98 per pax Festive Cheers Menu.
The complimentary Roasted Walnut with Sesame was pretty enjoyable – perhaps all of us were hungry due to the late lunch but it was finished up within minutes.
What’s a Christmas meal without Turkey – and thus lunch commenced with the Festive Turkey, Ham and Fresh Fruits Salad for both sets. HFB is not a big fan of turkey having bad experienced with them and Jia Wei’s version is not going to change my opinion any sooner. Now don’t get me wrong here – the turkey was juicier than most I have tried before, but it was the Wasa-mayo that did it this time round. The pairing just didn’t taste right – with the Wasabi too overbearing, but thankfully the fruit salad offered a much-welcomed reprieve.
If turkey is a must during Christmas, then equivalently, Shark’s Fin is a must during all festive Chinese celebration meals. The Christmas Glow menu offers the Superior Shark’s Fin Soup with Conpoy. A generous slab of Shark’s Fin was offered but HFB found the broth to be a little lacklustre from usual – even a dose of vinegar and dash of pepper didn’t help.
However, the Jia Wei Superior Shark’s Fin Soup in Hot Stone Pot was definitely the highlight of the day. Unlike the former, this version came piping hot when served and the broth was inspiring and robust with flavours. The superior fins also aided to the consequence – and this dish alone is worth half the menu’s price.
While the Pan-fried Fillet of Pork Spare-rib with Special Sauce from the Christmas Glow menu came nicely plated, it tasted just like normal sweet and sour pork. It wasn’t bad – it just didn’t impressed me much.
However, none of that can be said for the Grilled Special Rack of Lamb with Chinese Wine (Festive Cheer Menu). This is the other dish that is worth the other half of the menu price. The essence of the Chinese wine is captured and fused nicely with the lamb, which essentially ridded the meat of the gaminess, piquant smell – that most people gets turn off with. Not forgetting the thick jello of fats that streaked right above the meat – simply OMG divine!!! In fact it was so damn bloody good that when it gets to the bone, HFB, without hesitation, threw all his dinning etiquette aside and started using his fingers to tear the meat off its rib *shy*.
When it came to the vegetables, HFB was slightly mixed when the Braised Dry Scallop With Sea Cucumber And Bamboo Piths (Christmas Glow Menu) was served. On one hand, one should be glad with the generous serving of scallops scattered all over it, on the other, noticed the word “scattered” was used – the presentation was less than ideal – not only the scallop, but the vegetables were disarrayed and no bamboo piths were to be seen. Although it didn’t look appetising, it did taste pretty good – the vegetables were really fresh, even as the starchiness of the gravy began to set in.
The Braised Bai Ling Mushroon With Broccoli from the Festive Cheers Menu had similar gravy, amidst serving portion differs. The Bai Ling mushroom, a rare species of edible mushroom that originates from the desert of China, had a very nice chewy texture with just a hint of woody taste. Once again, due to the cooking method, the flavours were trapped nicely within the mushroom. This is definitely a dish that all mushroom lovers would like!
Both sets happened to share the same noodle dish – Homemade Noodles with Prawn And Conpoy. The trick to really enjoy homemade noodles is plainly to slurp it finish as quickly as possible, like a Japanese to ramen, so that one can fully appreciates the texture of the noodles – any delay and chances are the noodles will turn soggy. The prawns were excellently executed – deep fried over hot boiling oil before having the gravy poured over – it was succulent! Although one might find the gravy blander, HFB thought having a third dish with starchy gravy was a little excessive.
Thankfully, the deserts were good – the Chilled Mango Pudding (Christmas Glow menu) was everyone’s favourite – it tasted good and was captivatingly decorated with dried fruits of many colours traditionally of Christmas.
Although HFB is not one to take to sourish lemon sorbet, he has to commend the Chilled Lemon Jelly from the Festive Cheers Menu. The mild sweetness of the jelly complements really well with the intense sorbet and within spoonfuls, one’s palate is instantaneously cleansed.
Both menus are available from now till 4 Jan 2008 and come with a complimentary glass of red/white wine. And as if that is not good enough, the restaurant is also giving a 30% discount, valid from Monday to Thursday (except eve of PH and PH).
It was a normal weekday afternoon that we managed to patronize this place for lunch. Having heard good things from FZ and from a colleague i've recommended to try, it a lunch that was filled with anticipation and expectations.
The setting itself is reminiscent of Seafood Paradise in terms of decor albeit a little darker. Upon closer inspection, you will find a white tree glossing the interior wall to ceiling throughs stylized white carvings. Seating arrangements were well spaced and provided an open feeling for a good relaxing feel.
(No pictures here as they did not allow for picture taking)
Our orders were the 4 course set lunch menu at $28 per person.
For starters, we had the Caesar Salad with smoked chicken. In short, it was an excellent starter. The bacon bits, eggs and homemade salad dressing were light and not overwhelming. It helps that the lettuce was crunchily fresh and pleasing to munch upon as well. Good stuff.
The soup of the day was pumpkin soup which, sadly, brought the exprience down quite a bit. Both myself and my gf couldn't finish the soup. To describe it, it tasted a little like curry but which a sweet taste like tapioca and greens. Simply didn't appeal to any of us and we generally didn't finish it.
The mains we had were the tenderloin done medium rare and the salmon roulade. The tenderloin was done as requested and was juicy and succulent and chewy. Pity the portion size was small but i'd say it was done well. The star, however, was the tomato side which was suitably juicy, sweet and had a nice wood charred taste at the skin portion which made it really different.
The salmon roulade was pan fried and slightly rare with wild rice. I think the wild rice and salmon together went pretty good together while the salmon itself had minimal "fishy" taste to it for the less inclined.
Dessert wise, we had vanilla ice cream with mint chips and fruit. I love mint so it helped that the ice cream had an overwhelming mint taste to it. To me, i loved the dessert but non mint lovers would probably not take to the taste.
The coffee i had was surprisingly fragrant and thick as well. Something i'd say is even better then gourmet coffee houses like Gloria Jean's, Starbucks and Coffee bean. I wouldn't say i know alot about coffee but their offering is pretty darn good.
Overall, the experience was a rollercoaster. We peaked at the salad and hit the bottom with the soup but everything else in between was above average.
The total damage was $66 for a decent but not quite excellent meal.
Celebrated at Beng Hiang restaurant for my gf's mum birthday. Came to know of this place thru gf's sister, who claimed that the restaurant served good and authentic Hokkien fare. Therefore decided to give it a try.
The setting of the place was nice and could house about 30 tables. We ordered a few dishes namely the Fish Maw Soup, Ngo Hiang with Har Cho (signature dish!!), Hokkien Mee, Oyster Omelette and mixed vegetables (Lo Han Zhai).
Firstly, the fish maw soup was simply superb and tasted almost like the real shark's fin soup and maybe even better, as it was not that starchy. As for the signature dish, Ngo Hiang with Har Cho, the food were fried to a crisp yet were not oily at all. The servings were reasonable as well.
As for the oyster omelette, it was quite different from what we normally eat at food courts or hawker centers. Basically, it was crisp and non-oily with the oysters fresh and juicy. This was good especially for elders, who can't take too much oily food.
However, the Hokkien mee was served quite late and the taste was not really that fanastatic as compared to the other dishes. And in the midst of waiting for the Hokkien mee, we ordered another signature dish, the Kong Ba Pao. The meat was not too fatty and the portions served were reasonably good. However, for a small size serving of the Kong Ba Pao , there were actually 10 buns!! This is something which I observed for many other dishes, where a small sized serving was slightly oversized for a small group of people. In addition, like the chicken, you can only order either half a chicken or one whole chicken. This seems quite inflexible as customers cant have the option of ordering a portion anything smaller than half a chicken.
However, I would say that the dishes are indeed very tasty and I would go back there to try out the rest of the other dishes as well, especially the suckling pigs, which need to be pre-ordered. And one good thing is that there is no service charge for the bill. Though you are charged for the peanuts, tea and towels, which may be less than 10% of the bill if you eat more dishes.
Braise - A collaborative effort between Loh Lik Peng of Hotel 1929 and New Majestic Hotel and Chef Sebastian Ng of Ember Restaurant that opened in March 2008. Helmed by Chef Desmond Lee, who had stints at Raffles Hotel, Saint Julien and the now defunct Fig Leaf as well as an attachment with celebrity Chef Gordan Ramsay, this modern European restaurant offers classic French food with a modern lift.
Sitting pretty on the 2nd level of an old monorail station along Palawan beach, Braise plays neighbour to Amara Sanctuary's Silk Road of the Sea, which is located on the ground floor. The interior of Braise is nothing short of breathtaking, offering a splendid view of the surrounding Palawan beach through floor to ceilings windows throughout the entire place - very reminiscent of a green house actually. Temperatures are kept to a comfortable low through the use of powerful airconditioning. Essentially the place offers the best of both worlds - bright and cheery with a view in the comfort of an airconditioned environment.
The complimentary bread was served warm and had bits of herbs in it, coming across as crusty on the outside while soft on the outside. Overall a mildly flavourful piece of dough that saw me asking for seconds.
Pressed Duck and Potato Terrine with Mix Greens and Balsamic Onion - Wrapped up with a flimsy layer of lettuce, the duck had a lightly salted smokey aftertaste that went well with the smoothness of the potato. Subtly pleasing to the tastebuds but not exactly my idea of a fantastic appetiser though as it failed to open up my appetite.
Pan Seared Foie Gras, Lentils Fricassee and Red Wine Sauce - I would gladly sacrifice my health for another piece of this foie gras. Though smallish, the foie gras was pan seared till the exterior was a tad crisp yet remaining soft and quivery on the inside. Equally outstanding was the lentil stew with red wine sauce which lent its savouries to the foie gras and created one of the best foie gras dishes I've had this year.
Turkey Breast, Braised Vegetables, Honey Spiced Sauce - Turkey, especially the breast portion, tends to be associated with toughness. However Braise's rendition was, on the contrary, surprisingly tender without losing its fibrous texture. A pity the sauce was a little lacklustre, coming across merely as a little sweet from the honey.
Venison with Braised Vegetables, Cassis Sauce - Believe it or not, this is the first time I'm having venison in a non Chinese restaurant and I am suitably impressed with what Braise presented. Well seasoned and grilled till the meat retained but a nice pinkish hue, it tasted rather similar to a well done piece of steak, albeit more tender. Buttery overtones carrying a pepperish tinge complemented the sweetness of the meat and left me lamenting about the portion size. The only gripe I had about this dish was the sauce, which tasted like cough syrup to me.
Tout Chocolate Combination - Comprising a scoop of chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate balls, a slice of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse on a biscuit base, this dessert didn't exactly involve much aesthetics and looked rather haphazard if you ask me. However, I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The chocolate ice cream was smooth and more bitter then sweet (great for those who don't like too sweet stuff) with the chocolate balls giving it an extra crunch. The sponge layers on the cake were moist and compact while the chocolate layers gelled everything together for a nice and simple chocolate cake. As for the mousse, it had a nice bitter hazelnut taste on a crunchy biscuit base.
Vanilla Creme Brulee, Figs, Passion Fruit Sorbet - I thought that the creme brulee was quite decent save for the fact that the sugar layer was overly thick. Made from real vanilla beans, as evident by the black vanilla seeds in the pudding, this dessert didn't overwhelm with its sweetness and had a smooth and almost creamy texture. The passion fruit sorbet provided the sourish contrast to the pudding's sweetness, allowing for a more varied taste sensation.
Lunch for 2 almost broke the bank at $93 after a $4 discount from some promotion that Sentosa is currently running in which diners will be reimbursed for their entrance fee to the island if they dine at certain F&B outlets. Having said that, I see this amount as money well spent for the quality of food, ambience and service. A revisit to this charming little restaurant beckons. This time under the moon's pale glow of course.
eaten a couple of times at Werner's Oven. Had tried their clam chowder soup, which was quite nice, thou the amount of clams could be slightly more generous. Also tried their calamari, which was not too oily and yet still tasted very nice. The garlic sausage was quite good as well and the serving was just nice. Lastly would be the pork knuckle, which everyone should try. The pork knuckle was deep fried to a crisp and yet the meat was still very tender and came off easily the bone. The taste was not bad either, though I personally felt it to be slightly saltish. A side note is that the lime juice and pineapple juice were nice as well.
Overall, I find that the food there is quite to my liking. However the service of the staff there tends to be slightly sluggish and could be improved. WIll still go back there to try out the different foods.
heard a lot of Hog's Breath but yet to try it till a few days again. The place was quite sparsely decorated with only a couple of customers. Looked through the menu and saw quite a variety of food. Decided to call a Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib and half a slab of the Baby Back Pork Ribs.
The Baby Bck Pork Ribs were quite nicely done and the amount was fairly large as well as it was served with fries and salad. As for the Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib, It was less than ideal though. Though the serving was large, the taste was not that fantastic. I had ordered for it to be cooked medium-rare, but the meat when served was overcooked and none of the tenderness it was supposed to have. In addition, there was none of the pinkish-red in the meat as well for meat that was expected of a medium-rare meat. This was definitely not comparable to that of Aston's.
I think I would not try Hog's Breath again in the near future, at least not in this outlet.
Prosperity Kitchen opened with much fanfare about two weeks ago and the highlight of the grand opening was the presence of 3 TVB stars who flew down just to grace the occasion. The wow factor was upped by the vehicle of choice - a Lamborghini which was used to ferry the stars to the eatery.
Located at a rather unlikely place, Prosperity Kitchen is nestled in a short row of shophouses along upmarket Mohamed Sultan Road and plays neighbours to the excellent Sage The Restaurant and The Patissier. I can't quite begin to describe the interior with its single tiled wall that is reminiscent of traditional HK cafes, layered steps and a single line of booth seats thrown into the equation.
Yuan Yang - This concoction of tea and coffee leaned more towards the coffee side which was fine by me. I don't really drink much yuan yang so I have absolutely no idea how this one compares to the other HK cafes.
French Toast - A hallmark of HK cafes, the humble french toast is honestly not an easy dish to get right. Prosperity Kitchen's rendition was rather soft on the outside and the peanut butter layer seemed almost non existent. Although taste wise it was quite decent, what turned me off was the excessive oil that oozed out whenever I tried to cut into it. I still prefer the toast from Hong Kong Cafe along East Coast Road.
Century Egg Congee - I thought that the congee, century egg aside (I don't fancy it), was quite well done with the porridge smooth and harbouring bits of soft rice grains. It didn't come across as too starchy or nausea inducing as well but it could probably do with a wee bit more ingredients.
Four Treasure BBQ Rice - According to news in the grapevine, the chef in charge of the roasted meat section at Prosperity Kitchen was "headhunted" to join from Crystal Jade, which does lend a wee bit of credibility to the quality of the meats I guess. The "treasures" in this dish were decent but nowhere near outstanding. The char siew, roast duck and chicken all came served cold and tasted a tad bland. As for the salted egg, how bad can salted egg get?
A rather simple and filling meal set the 2 of us back by about $26, which isn't really expensive. Food quality is decent and the wait staff were all very polite, almost to a fault. Please note that the whole place is rather noisy and the tables are quite near each other, so carrying a private conversation can be quite a challenge.
1=SGD 0.0587
Went to dine at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe with a bunch a friend.
The atmosphere was nice, even though there was a big crowd during peak hour ...which can be quite a 'distraction' sometimes. " lol"
Another thing that was good is the music they played !!!
what music ??? just go there and you'll know ^^
anyway, this outlet was a little special as it open 24 hours thru out !:)
which is a very good news for us , ( night cats )
We ordered ...
yang zhou chao fan ( fried rice )
black pepper pork chop spaghetti
Mango shaved ice
Drinks ----
Lychee Tea with real lychee
Strawberry Milk
Forgot the amount of each dish as we were sharing the cost...
each of us paid $16 . ( 4 person )
Rating given:
People who are close to HFB knows that he is not a big fan of foodcourts. However Tenya – the first tempura bar in a Singapore food court is set to dispel this negative mindset of HFB. Think Yong Tau Foo, where the freshest of seafood and vegetables are laid out for your choice on the counter to be “tempura-ed”.
Paired with steaming Japanese rice and their special sauce that complements the crisp of the tempura batter, lovers of Japanese cuisine will be delighted to know that they can now enjoy restaurants’ standard tempura at a food court prices (vegetable items are going @ $0.60 per pc, seafood items are going @ $1.80 per pc and Japanese rice is $1.00 per serving).
To cater to the working crowd, the management team has also came up with a few set meals for one’s perusal – consisting of two seafood items and three vegetables ($6.40 per set). However if one prefer to go ala carte, you can do so with a minimum of 6 items choosen.
With chef trained in Japan, HFB was not disappointed by the quality of food that was served. Each individual tempura is crisp on the outside with a tint of light fluffiness on the inside. Although HFB’s initial fear was that the special sauce poured over the tempura would wreck a good dish, tasting it confirmed that his fear was unfounded.
A little sweet on its own, it complimented really well with the rice and the fried food. And if one is worried that the person you bring along is not a tempura fan, there are other options offered by Tenya.
The Unadon at $7.50, is of reasonable priced. Unlike many other Japanese establishments that tend to over-grill their eel, Tenya really prepared theirs with care. Although HFB preferred the eel slightly charred, he fully understood Tenya’s intention of doing so – so that one can taste the natural sweetness of the eel while retaining the moisture of its flesh. Oiishi!
Besides the fish, one can also opt for the Tori Karaage Don @ $6.20. This is a dish that HFB will never get sick of – deep fried chicken pieces. The batter was flavoured and the chicken was tasty, however be warned that it will turn soggy if you leave it under the air-con for too long.
You can view all the photos here.
Rating given:
My girlfriends and I had the chance to visit Ma Maison on a Wednesday evening. Thinking that it's a weekday evening and that we were there at 8pm, there would be less people. Boy, were we wrong... There was a queue snaking out of the restaurant. We waited for 30 minutes before we were shown a seat. Very popular place indeed. We ordered and settled to take photographs while waiting for our food. We noticed that there were a few tables with Jap patrons and that's usually a sign that there's good Jap food in existence.
My apologies for not being able to provide the actual name of the dish as I was too excited and forgot to take a photo of the menu.
The food we ordered
Escargots:
This is done with garlic. It was delicious! Served up warm, it was very fragrant and they were good to provide all the right utensils for extracting the flesh.
Hamburger Steak
The meat was well minced and packed in a patty. It is served with an egg and some potato, doused in brown sauce. Even the waitress said "brown sauce" So I have no idea what sauce it is actually. Even though I'm not really one for meat, I did like this one as the meat was minced and easy on the stomach.
Gratin with Prawn and Scallops
I love this potato and cheese combination. There weren't many prawns and scallops though.. I think there was a grand total of two each. But this is one dish you have to share with friends. One person can't finish the whole plate.
Pork Cutlet
This is served with two sauces and mineral salt. The waitress explained what we should do with the sauces but when she left, all four of us were still baffled because we couldn't understand what she said. Well in the end, we did it the Singaporean way - Rojak style. We put all the sauces into the little dish she gave us and just dipped our pork pieces into it. The cutlet was a little on the tough side, a little too difficult to chew. The meat inside didn't have any taste and the crisp outside was a little bland too. The potato it was served with was nice though.
Cuttlefish Ink Spaghetti
I was a little taken aback by how black the spaghetti came. But all my companions swore by this dish so I tried it. It was yummy! Just good on its own. My only grievance is that it is a little on the dry side but I will definitely order this dish again.
Apple Pie with Ice Cream
The apple filling was suitably sweet but the crust was a little too dry and had a very starchy taste to it which I couldn't bear to eat. We finished up most of the pie leaving the crust behind.
Brownie with Ice Cream
We all loved the brownie. Me being a dessert lover, I'd say this is one of the better brownies I've had. It's not too dry nor moist and has just enough chocolate flavour so that one will not be sick of the taste before finishing.
Goma Ice Cream (Sesame)
This is my first go at such a flavour and I'd have to say it has a special taste to it. The ice cream left a strong aftertaste in my mouth. It wasn't sweet but did have a very strong taste of sesame. Quite enjoyable I guess.
The four of us spent $87 in all which I'd say is pretty reasonable.
For more pictures, please click to go to my blog.
Rating given:
Tucked behind the bustling bus stop opposite Parkway Parade lays Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel – and located at level two of what used to be a Thai restaurant is now Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant, opened in December 2007.
Honed by Master Chef Lee Tuck Seng, that brings with him wealth of culinary experience, including Gold Award in the FHA International Salon Culinaire, Jia Wei offers a modern and exquisite dining experience with a touché of traditional home-cooked fare.
They are currently serving Special Asian-themed Christmas specials that consists of their $78 per pax Christmas Glow Menu and the $98 per pax Festive Cheers Menu.
The complimentary Roasted Walnut with Sesame was pretty enjoyable – perhaps all of us were hungry due to the late lunch but it was finished up within minutes.
What’s a Christmas meal without Turkey – and thus lunch commenced with the Festive Turkey, Ham and Fresh Fruits Salad for both sets. HFB is not a big fan of turkey having bad experienced with them and Jia Wei’s version is not going to change my opinion any sooner. Now don’t get me wrong here – the turkey was juicier than most I have tried before, but it was the Wasa-mayo that did it this time round. The pairing just didn’t taste right – with the Wasabi too overbearing, but thankfully the fruit salad offered a much-welcomed reprieve.
If turkey is a must during Christmas, then equivalently, Shark’s Fin is a must during all festive Chinese celebration meals. The Christmas Glow menu offers the Superior Shark’s Fin Soup with Conpoy. A generous slab of Shark’s Fin was offered but HFB found the broth to be a little lacklustre from usual – even a dose of vinegar and dash of pepper didn’t help.
However, the Jia Wei Superior Shark’s Fin Soup in Hot Stone Pot was definitely the highlight of the day. Unlike the former, this version came piping hot when served and the broth was inspiring and robust with flavours. The superior fins also aided to the consequence – and this dish alone is worth half the menu’s price.
While the Pan-fried Fillet of Pork Spare-rib with Special Sauce from the Christmas Glow menu came nicely plated, it tasted just like normal sweet and sour pork. It wasn’t bad – it just didn’t impressed me much.
However, none of that can be said for the Grilled Special Rack of Lamb with Chinese Wine (Festive Cheer Menu). This is the other dish that is worth the other half of the menu price. The essence of the Chinese wine is captured and fused nicely with the lamb, which essentially ridded the meat of the gaminess, piquant smell – that most people gets turn off with. Not forgetting the thick jello of fats that streaked right above the meat – simply OMG divine!!! In fact it was so damn bloody good that when it gets to the bone, HFB, without hesitation, threw all his dinning etiquette aside and started using his fingers to tear the meat off its rib *shy*.
When it came to the vegetables, HFB was slightly mixed when the Braised Dry Scallop With Sea Cucumber And Bamboo Piths (Christmas Glow Menu) was served. On one hand, one should be glad with the generous serving of scallops scattered all over it, on the other, noticed the word “scattered” was used – the presentation was less than ideal – not only the scallop, but the vegetables were disarrayed and no bamboo piths were to be seen. Although it didn’t look appetising, it did taste pretty good – the vegetables were really fresh, even as the starchiness of the gravy began to set in.
The Braised Bai Ling Mushroon With Broccoli from the Festive Cheers Menu had similar gravy, amidst serving portion differs. The Bai Ling mushroom, a rare species of edible mushroom that originates from the desert of China, had a very nice chewy texture with just a hint of woody taste. Once again, due to the cooking method, the flavours were trapped nicely within the mushroom. This is definitely a dish that all mushroom lovers would like!
Both sets happened to share the same noodle dish – Homemade Noodles with Prawn And Conpoy. The trick to really enjoy homemade noodles is plainly to slurp it finish as quickly as possible, like a Japanese to ramen, so that one can fully appreciates the texture of the noodles – any delay and chances are the noodles will turn soggy. The prawns were excellently executed – deep fried over hot boiling oil before having the gravy poured over – it was succulent! Although one might find the gravy blander, HFB thought having a third dish with starchy gravy was a little excessive.
Thankfully, the deserts were good – the Chilled Mango Pudding (Christmas Glow menu) was everyone’s favourite – it tasted good and was captivatingly decorated with dried fruits of many colours traditionally of Christmas.
Although HFB is not one to take to sourish lemon sorbet, he has to commend the Chilled Lemon Jelly from the Festive Cheers Menu. The mild sweetness of the jelly complements really well with the intense sorbet and within spoonfuls, one’s palate is instantaneously cleansed.
Both menus are available from now till 4 Jan 2008 and come with a complimentary glass of red/white wine. And as if that is not good enough, the restaurant is also giving a 30% discount, valid from Monday to Thursday (except eve of PH and PH).
You can view all the photos here.
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It was a normal weekday afternoon that we managed to patronize this place for lunch. Having heard good things from FZ and from a colleague i've recommended to try, it a lunch that was filled with anticipation and expectations.
The setting itself is reminiscent of Seafood Paradise in terms of decor albeit a little darker. Upon closer inspection, you will find a white tree glossing the interior wall to ceiling throughs stylized white carvings. Seating arrangements were well spaced and provided an open feeling for a good relaxing feel.
(No pictures here as they did not allow for picture taking)
Our orders were the 4 course set lunch menu at $28 per person.
For starters, we had the Caesar Salad with smoked chicken. In short, it was an excellent starter. The bacon bits, eggs and homemade salad dressing were light and not overwhelming. It helps that the lettuce was crunchily fresh and pleasing to munch upon as well. Good stuff.
The soup of the day was pumpkin soup which, sadly, brought the exprience down quite a bit. Both myself and my gf couldn't finish the soup. To describe it, it tasted a little like curry but which a sweet taste like tapioca and greens. Simply didn't appeal to any of us and we generally didn't finish it.
The mains we had were the tenderloin done medium rare and the salmon roulade. The tenderloin was done as requested and was juicy and succulent and chewy. Pity the portion size was small but i'd say it was done well. The star, however, was the tomato side which was suitably juicy, sweet and had a nice wood charred taste at the skin portion which made it really different.
The salmon roulade was pan fried and slightly rare with wild rice. I think the wild rice and salmon together went pretty good together while the salmon itself had minimal "fishy" taste to it for the less inclined.
Dessert wise, we had vanilla ice cream with mint chips and fruit. I love mint so it helped that the ice cream had an overwhelming mint taste to it. To me, i loved the dessert but non mint lovers would probably not take to the taste.
The coffee i had was surprisingly fragrant and thick as well. Something i'd say is even better then gourmet coffee houses like Gloria Jean's, Starbucks and Coffee bean. I wouldn't say i know alot about coffee but their offering is pretty darn good.
Overall, the experience was a rollercoaster. We peaked at the salad and hit the bottom with the soup but everything else in between was above average.
The total damage was $66 for a decent but not quite excellent meal.
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Celebrated at Beng Hiang restaurant for my gf's mum birthday. Came to know of this place thru gf's sister, who claimed that the restaurant served good and authentic Hokkien fare. Therefore decided to give it a try.
The setting of the place was nice and could house about 30 tables. We ordered a few dishes namely the Fish Maw Soup, Ngo Hiang with Har Cho (signature dish!!), Hokkien Mee, Oyster Omelette and mixed vegetables (Lo Han Zhai).
Firstly, the fish maw soup was simply superb and tasted almost like the real shark's fin soup and maybe even better, as it was not that starchy. As for the signature dish, Ngo Hiang with Har Cho, the food were fried to a crisp yet were not oily at all. The servings were reasonable as well.
As for the oyster omelette, it was quite different from what we normally eat at food courts or hawker centers. Basically, it was crisp and non-oily with the oysters fresh and juicy. This was good especially for elders, who can't take too much oily food.
However, the Hokkien mee was served quite late and the taste was not really that fanastatic as compared to the other dishes. And in the midst of waiting for the Hokkien mee, we ordered another signature dish, the Kong Ba Pao. The meat was not too fatty and the portions served were reasonably good. However, for a small size serving of the Kong Ba Pao , there were actually 10 buns!! This is something which I observed for many other dishes, where a small sized serving was slightly oversized for a small group of people. In addition, like the chicken, you can only order either half a chicken or one whole chicken. This seems quite inflexible as customers cant have the option of ordering a portion anything smaller than half a chicken.
However, I would say that the dishes are indeed very tasty and I would go back there to try out the rest of the other dishes as well, especially the suckling pigs, which need to be pre-ordered. And one good thing is that there is no service charge for the bill. Though you are charged for the peanuts, tea and towels, which may be less than 10% of the bill if you eat more dishes.
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Braise - A collaborative effort between Loh Lik Peng of Hotel 1929 and New Majestic Hotel and Chef Sebastian Ng of Ember Restaurant that opened in March 2008. Helmed by Chef Desmond Lee, who had stints at Raffles Hotel, Saint Julien and the now defunct Fig Leaf as well as an attachment with celebrity Chef Gordan Ramsay, this modern European restaurant offers classic French food with a modern lift.
Sitting pretty on the 2nd level of an old monorail station along Palawan beach, Braise plays neighbour to Amara Sanctuary's Silk Road of the Sea, which is located on the ground floor. The interior of Braise is nothing short of breathtaking, offering a splendid view of the surrounding Palawan beach through floor to ceilings windows throughout the entire place - very reminiscent of a green house actually. Temperatures are kept to a comfortable low through the use of powerful airconditioning. Essentially the place offers the best of both worlds - bright and cheery with a view in the comfort of an airconditioned environment.
The complimentary bread was served warm and had bits of herbs in it, coming across as crusty on the outside while soft on the outside. Overall a mildly flavourful piece of dough that saw me asking for seconds.
Pressed Duck and Potato Terrine with Mix Greens and Balsamic Onion - Wrapped up with a flimsy layer of lettuce, the duck had a lightly salted smokey aftertaste that went well with the smoothness of the potato. Subtly pleasing to the tastebuds but not exactly my idea of a fantastic appetiser though as it failed to open up my appetite.
Pan Seared Foie Gras, Lentils Fricassee and Red Wine Sauce - I would gladly sacrifice my health for another piece of this foie gras. Though smallish, the foie gras was pan seared till the exterior was a tad crisp yet remaining soft and quivery on the inside. Equally outstanding was the lentil stew with red wine sauce which lent its savouries to the foie gras and created one of the best foie gras dishes I've had this year.
Turkey Breast, Braised Vegetables, Honey Spiced Sauce - Turkey, especially the breast portion, tends to be associated with toughness. However Braise's rendition was, on the contrary, surprisingly tender without losing its fibrous texture. A pity the sauce was a little lacklustre, coming across merely as a little sweet from the honey.
Venison with Braised Vegetables, Cassis Sauce - Believe it or not, this is the first time I'm having venison in a non Chinese restaurant and I am suitably impressed with what Braise presented. Well seasoned and grilled till the meat retained but a nice pinkish hue, it tasted rather similar to a well done piece of steak, albeit more tender. Buttery overtones carrying a pepperish tinge complemented the sweetness of the meat and left me lamenting about the portion size. The only gripe I had about this dish was the sauce, which tasted like cough syrup to me.
Tout Chocolate Combination - Comprising a scoop of chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate balls, a slice of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse on a biscuit base, this dessert didn't exactly involve much aesthetics and looked rather haphazard if you ask me. However, I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The chocolate ice cream was smooth and more bitter then sweet (great for those who don't like too sweet stuff) with the chocolate balls giving it an extra crunch. The sponge layers on the cake were moist and compact while the chocolate layers gelled everything together for a nice and simple chocolate cake. As for the mousse, it had a nice bitter hazelnut taste on a crunchy biscuit base.
Vanilla Creme Brulee, Figs, Passion Fruit Sorbet - I thought that the creme brulee was quite decent save for the fact that the sugar layer was overly thick. Made from real vanilla beans, as evident by the black vanilla seeds in the pudding, this dessert didn't overwhelm with its sweetness and had a smooth and almost creamy texture. The passion fruit sorbet provided the sourish contrast to the pudding's sweetness, allowing for a more varied taste sensation.
Lunch for 2 almost broke the bank at $93 after a $4 discount from some promotion that Sentosa is currently running in which diners will be reimbursed for their entrance fee to the island if they dine at certain F&B outlets. Having said that, I see this amount as money well spent for the quality of food, ambience and service. A revisit to this charming little restaurant beckons. This time under the moon's pale glow of course.
See all my pictures here.
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eaten a couple of times at Werner's Oven. Had tried their clam chowder soup, which was quite nice, thou the amount of clams could be slightly more generous. Also tried their calamari, which was not too oily and yet still tasted very nice. The garlic sausage was quite good as well and the serving was just nice. Lastly would be the pork knuckle, which everyone should try. The pork knuckle was deep fried to a crisp and yet the meat was still very tender and came off easily the bone. The taste was not bad either, though I personally felt it to be slightly saltish. A side note is that the lime juice and pineapple juice were nice as well.
Overall, I find that the food there is quite to my liking. However the service of the staff there tends to be slightly sluggish and could be improved. WIll still go back there to try out the different foods.
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heard a lot of Hog's Breath but yet to try it till a few days again. The place was quite sparsely decorated with only a couple of customers. Looked through the menu and saw quite a variety of food. Decided to call a Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib and half a slab of the Baby Back Pork Ribs.
The Baby Bck Pork Ribs were quite nicely done and the amount was fairly large as well as it was served with fries and salad. As for the Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib, It was less than ideal though. Though the serving was large, the taste was not that fantastic. I had ordered for it to be cooked medium-rare, but the meat when served was overcooked and none of the tenderness it was supposed to have. In addition, there was none of the pinkish-red in the meat as well for meat that was expected of a medium-rare meat. This was definitely not comparable to that of Aston's.
I think I would not try Hog's Breath again in the near future, at least not in this outlet.
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Prosperity Kitchen opened with much fanfare about two weeks ago and the highlight of the grand opening was the presence of 3 TVB stars who flew down just to grace the occasion. The wow factor was upped by the vehicle of choice - a Lamborghini which was used to ferry the stars to the eatery.
Located at a rather unlikely place, Prosperity Kitchen is nestled in a short row of shophouses along upmarket Mohamed Sultan Road and plays neighbours to the excellent Sage The Restaurant and The Patissier. I can't quite begin to describe the interior with its single tiled wall that is reminiscent of traditional HK cafes, layered steps and a single line of booth seats thrown into the equation.
Yuan Yang - This concoction of tea and coffee leaned more towards the coffee side which was fine by me. I don't really drink much yuan yang so I have absolutely no idea how this one compares to the other HK cafes.
French Toast - A hallmark of HK cafes, the humble french toast is honestly not an easy dish to get right. Prosperity Kitchen's rendition was rather soft on the outside and the peanut butter layer seemed almost non existent. Although taste wise it was quite decent, what turned me off was the excessive oil that oozed out whenever I tried to cut into it. I still prefer the toast from Hong Kong Cafe along East Coast Road.
Century Egg Congee - I thought that the congee, century egg aside (I don't fancy it), was quite well done with the porridge smooth and harbouring bits of soft rice grains. It didn't come across as too starchy or nausea inducing as well but it could probably do with a wee bit more ingredients.
Four Treasure BBQ Rice - According to news in the grapevine, the chef in charge of the roasted meat section at Prosperity Kitchen was "headhunted" to join from Crystal Jade, which does lend a wee bit of credibility to the quality of the meats I guess. The "treasures" in this dish were decent but nowhere near outstanding. The char siew, roast duck and chicken all came served cold and tasted a tad bland. As for the salted egg, how bad can salted egg get?
A rather simple and filling meal set the 2 of us back by about $26, which isn't really expensive. Food quality is decent and the wait staff were all very polite, almost to a fault. Please note that the whole place is rather noisy and the tables are quite near each other, so carrying a private conversation can be quite a challenge.
See all my pictures here.
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