Fig and Olive is one of the few halal certified restaurant in Singapore. This place is nicely renovated and clean. A nice place for gatherings and events.
I went there twice, once for a meal and the other for an event. The food I had on my first trip was not that good except for the fries... Marinara Pasta @ $15.90 Not one of the better but still passable pasta. The sauce was served a little dry and the seafood tasted dry too.
Criss-cut fries was fried right and tasted crispy. The serving was quite big and I recommend to share it with few other friends. Unless you're having it on your own.
Food for the event was better than my first meal there. The variety was good and the overall taste and flavor was much better.
I may return to give them another chance since the two visits gave quite a big difference in quality.
Anyone else tried the place? What's your thoughts?
Wasn't easy to find this shop. This shop was hidden in an "ulu" lane near Bugis and I was hot and sweaty all over when I reached the shop.
The interior of this shop was beautiful and unique. I enjoyed browsing at the things sold inside.
There was beautiful shoes, bags, and some accessories inside which were quite cute.
Price was not cheap....
I did not manage to buy the shoes I wanted because even the largest size was too small for me. I think it was the cutting. Too bad. Would be good if they had bigger sizes.
Not really keen to go back again because of it's location...
Had a dinner there with my family and we all enjoyed the meal very much.
It was crowded that evening but the waiters and waitresses were all very very polite. The service was excellent.
The hot chinese tea served was nice, and all dishes were quite delicious as well. Price was reasonable for a restaurant like this.
Herbal roast duck:
Fragrant and tender meat. Tasty.
'Dong Po' pork:
My father liked it alot. I am not a fan of pork but I liked this dish too because it was delicious and did not have those "pork smell".
Fish maw with seafood:
Tasted like shark fin. Not bad.
Fried dou miao:
My favourite vegetable. Tasted fresh and good. Was finished in a short time =P
We have passed by this shop a couple of times but have yet tried it out as $28 for 30mins of fish spa seems a splurge. But luckily, a promotion was on at $18 for a 30mins fish spa so finally we got to try it out!
On a closer look, some of the fish really looked quite big and all of them look hungry for our dead skin. Haha
Lockers are available for us to keep our belongings before changing our shoes to the flip flops provided. Prior to dipping your feet into the fish pool, you'll have to wash your feet & disinfect them with the alcohol wash provided. Paper wipes are then handed out by the friendly staff to dry your feet. Then you are all ready for your fish spa!
There's 2 big rectangular fish pools available. The water is pretty clear and once you dip your legs into the pool, you'll immediately see a school of hungry-looking fish swimming towards your legs. At the beginning, it felt really ticklish and I kept withdrawing my legs from the pool. But after a while, you'll just get used to the nibbles. It's pretty fun.
Something you might like to know about the fish. They actually originate from Turkey and we were told by the staff that they are very hardworking fish, especially in the morning. I supposed it's because of overnight starvation, so they become hungry for food/dead skin in the morning. However, if you wish to gofor this fish spa, do not come after 10pm at night as the fish are too exhausted by then & won't be that hardworking. So you will not get the nice, smooth sole & legs like we have after the fish spa!
After the 30mins, again we washed & disinfect our legs. Hot tea was also served.
On the overall, I think it's a nice experience & the service of the staff was wonderful.
Having to pay $29.50 for a single adult ride on the Singapore flyer doesn't seem too worth it when you know that you'll be mainly seeing mechanical cranes from atop. But I was lucky to get a free ride that day since it's my sister's company's day. So why not?
I got to say that they were pretty efficient and the queue cleared pretty fast although there's a huge group of people. Security check has been imposed as the entrance where bags & people were scanned for dangerous items. We were then ushered to the "dummy capsule" for a quick snapshot before crossing a skybridge to the boarding area. So actually from the entrance to the boarding area, it's quite a long way before you can really get onto the flyer. Haha..
At the boarding platform, you have to wait for the capsule to arrive. One will have to hop onto the capsule while it moves continuously but slowly. No worries. There is a safety net in place just in case you fall but I think that's quite unlikely to happen.
The flyer rotates so slowly & steadily that one can hardly feel it so you can walk around in the capsule comfortably. We were lucky that we took the flyer on a sunny morning, so sky was clear and so was the view of the surrounding. However, the limited landscape present due to the numerous construction going on makes the view boring after like 10mins. Another 20mins to go before we could hit the ground.
Back to ground, and the exit led us to the souveneir shop which is also the same place where you can vew the photo taken before the ride. But $15 for each photo, I think it's too much to pay for.
I guess I'll only be back on the flyer when the surrounding construction completes. Otherwise, I doubt I'll be willing to pay a near $30 for it.
Hidden in a corner of a market in the western regions of Singapore is a small Bak Kut Teh gem, going by the name of Joo Siah. Set up by an engineer who was retrenched by his employer some 20 odd years ago and learnt his trade from his brother in law (who owns a popular bak kut teh stall in Sin Ming), Joo Siah has grown to operating out of 3 units in the market and sells close to 100kg of ribs each day - certainly no small feat.
$4.50 gets you a bowl of steaming hot bak kut teh with 3 pieces of bak kut and a bowl of rice. I was initially aiming for the more expensive loin ribs but was promptly informed that those were only available in the morning. The dough fritters were sold out as well. Nonetheless, the meat on the ribs were tender and moist, soaking in the goodness of the extremely peppery soup that was flavourful and light on the palate. I did think that the amount of pepper was an overkill though, almost numbing my senses and overwhelming the inherent bak kut taste. Overall a good eat and I'll definitely be back.
Katong Delights is a small eatery along Figaro Street within Opera Estate. It has a no-frills ambience that is both homely and inviting. It serves quite many mouth watering Peranakan and Indonesian dishes that really can work out your pallet and appetite.
One of the more famous dishes is the Kong Bak Pau (Braised Pork Belly) for "fat" lovers. A single serving comes with about 4 slices and it is touted to be a "melt in your mouth" experience. Another best seller is the Foochow Red Wine Chicken Rice that goes for $5.00 per plate.
The moment we stepped into the restaurant, we knew that this would not be the last time we would patronise the place. We could "feel" that the food would be good and that this would be the first of many times we would come back to try the other dishes. We were right!
We ordered the Ayam Bakar Rice (Indonesian Grilled Chicken) $5.00 at the recommendation of the person taking our order. It turned out to be good and yummy delicious. The chicken was served hot, juicy and crispy. The gravy that came along with it was not too sweet. It was served with acar (pickles) and sambal chilli.
We also tried the Rendang Beef Rice $5.00 . It is not too spicy and the beef was tender and juicy at most. Although there were some parts of the beef that seemed abit fatty, the rest of the portion was truly enjoyable to eat. Together with the thick gravy and the acar, it was a good complement.
A decent meal cost us a total of $10.00, no service charge and GST. Really wanted to try the Hainanese Pork Chop Rice $5.00 but they had none left. Next time must go earlier. They open from 12 noon to 9pm from Mon to Sat. On Sundays they only do catering so the outlet is not opened.
Perhaps next time also can try the Assam Pork Rib Rice, Nonya Laksa, Thai Mee Siam, Beef Curry Rice....
When to square 2 's foodcourt . Had no idea what to eat till i came across the lotus thai food stall.
Th menu were all over the counter so that customer can easily glance the food . the prices are stated clearly ! which is good.
Besides that, there were also few newspaper reviews about the main restaurant.
I am in dilemma between the olive rice ( $4 ) and thai pineapple rice ( $4.50 )
Just then, i saw an interesting sentence in the newspaper review that say ".......the pineapple rice taste the best ..."
i guessed you knew what i was going to order ! haha
ok , so i ordered the pineapple rice, the wasting time is very short which is good as it was during peak hours . i waited for 4-5 mins
the presentation is also very appetising , but ... results are not known till i taste the rice.
the first mouth of rice was delicious , but after a few mouthful , i found it oily and full .
other than that , the pineapple rice is average.
the ingredient - cucumber , prawns , etc
PRAWN was the one that i gave a three star rates , it is not fresh at all . Moreover, the prawn is not well prepared. As its' "Digested thing " is still in the body. !
the soup , is very salty and sour !
Besides the above that i mentioned the rest is ok .
Next time , i would like to try their olive rice whereby there is NO PRAWN in it !
Hotshots is a famous burger joint originating from the Philippines which has just landed on Singapore's shores in recent months, setting up base at the iconic Lau Pa Sat with a push cart type store front.
Crispy Burger Melt ($5) - The crispy burger melt was surprisingly good with its hand made patty which boasted an uneven texture and bits of fats within for a nice chewing sensation. The patty was also juicy and char grilled till a little crisp along the edges with a nice smokey aftertaste. I thought the slice of button mushrooms and bacon bits were a nice addition to "spice" up the overall taste of the burger. One thing that caught me by surprise was the relatively small piece of patty, even though it was supposed to be a quarter pounder.
Ultimate Cheeseburger ($8) - The cheeseburger sprung the same surprise, with both patties looking a tad small even though both should have added up to half a pound. That aside, I found the patty a little too dry as compared to that of the crispy burger melt. The dual patties were also noticeably more charred as well, which could translate to a consistency issue.
Hotshots is currently having a promotion whereby you order 2 burgers and you get 2 sides free. The choice of sides is limited, namely french fries, twister fries or potato wedges. Trust me, nothing is nice, so skip the sides if you can.
Personally I think hotshots serves quite a mean burger without the exorbitant prices. Read Relish. However the burgers aren't really big so big eaters/hungry folks like me might have to go for something bigger or eat 2 servings (I ate both burgers).
I felt honoured to be invited for this food tasting in this restaurant which is actually near to my workplace.
I heard that their main business is their variety of sauces, and this restaurant is to showcase their sauces.
The restaurant's decor itself was quite simple and elegant looking. The dishes were also delicious. We ate those recommended dishes thus they should be the best in this restaurant.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
Completely healthy with stewed vegetables in prawn stock and condiments. Had a bit of fun wrapping my own popiah and it tasted good...especially with their sauces.
Chilled Crab with Special Vinegrette Sauce @ $30 /crab Really enjoyed the crabs alot with or without the sauce because they tasted very fresh and they were in quite big pieces...yum...Furthermore, they had been cut well enough for us to eat the crab meats at ease.
The Phoenix Soars @ $21
Yin-Yang boneless Village Wok Chicken The chicken wasn't bad too. Nothing much to comment.
Village Wok Celebration Parade @ $22
A combination of VW award dishes, VW Mustard Roast Crispy Pork and Village BBQ Pork The BBQ pork was not coloured like those normal ones sold outside. Nevertheless, they tasted quite nice when accompanied with the sauces.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid in BXO Sauce @ $15 Aaah~~this was my favourite dish! Ate alot of it and the brinjal pieces tasted really delicious and sweet as they were like emersed with the BXO sauce...They didn't have the strong vegetable taste.
Steamed Pating Fish with Preserved Vegetable @ $44 The preserved vegetable "cai por" was nice but as a matter of fact, I don't like fish. -.-||
Black Pepper Ham Leg @ $23 Voted The Travelling Gourmet’s favorite dish Really big pieces! The skin was crispy and it should had been crispier if we had eaten them earlier. Not bad but I'm not a pork lover. Still had that strong pork taste which I didn't fancy much.
Smiling Fortune Noodle @ $8 (potion served was smaller that day)
Tangy noodles harmonized with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with prawns. Oh this was nice! The soup was nice especially with chilli powder! I finished drinking the soup!
VW Desserts - Sampler size
Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream @ $4.80
Lemongrass ice-cream
Kaya with bread I can say that the desserts were all satisfactory and I was especially attracted to the lemongrass icecream. It tasted really unique and I didn't feel sick eating it though I was terribly full already. I wanted more in fact. The kaya also tasted good and it was fragrant...It was sweet but not overly sweet. Just nice!
1=SGD 0.0587
Fig and Olive is one of the few halal certified restaurant in Singapore. This place is nicely renovated and clean. A nice place for gatherings and events.
I went there twice, once for a meal and the other for an event. The food I had on my first trip was not that good except for the fries...
Marinara Pasta @ $15.90
Not one of the better but still passable pasta. The sauce was served a little dry and the seafood tasted dry too.
Criss-cut fries was fried right and tasted crispy. The serving was quite big and I recommend to share it with few other friends. Unless you're having it on your own.
Food for the event was better than my first meal there. The variety was good and the overall taste and flavor was much better.
I may return to give them another chance since the two visits gave quite a big difference in quality.
Anyone else tried the place? What's your thoughts?
Rating given:
Wasn't easy to find this shop. This shop was hidden in an "ulu" lane near Bugis and I was hot and sweaty all over when I reached the shop.
The interior of this shop was beautiful and unique. I enjoyed browsing at the things sold inside.
There was beautiful shoes, bags, and some accessories inside which were quite cute.
Price was not cheap....
I did not manage to buy the shoes I wanted because even the largest size was too small for me. I think it was the cutting. Too bad. Would be good if they had bigger sizes.
Not really keen to go back again because of it's location...
Rating given:
Had a dinner there with my family and we all enjoyed the meal very much.
It was crowded that evening but the waiters and waitresses were all very very polite. The service was excellent.
The hot chinese tea served was nice, and all dishes were quite delicious as well. Price was reasonable for a restaurant like this.
Herbal roast duck:
Fragrant and tender meat. Tasty.
'Dong Po' pork:
My father liked it alot. I am not a fan of pork but I liked this dish too because it was delicious and did not have those "pork smell".
Fish maw with seafood:
Tasted like shark fin. Not bad.
Fried dou miao:
My favourite vegetable. Tasted fresh and good. Was finished in a short time =P
Prawn ball with mayo sauce:
Nice! Not too oily.
Will update with photos soon.
Rating given:
We have passed by this shop a couple of times but have yet tried it out as $28 for 30mins of fish spa seems a splurge. But luckily, a promotion was on at $18 for a 30mins fish spa so finally we got to try it out!
On a closer look, some of the fish really looked quite big and all of them look hungry for our dead skin. Haha
Lockers are available for us to keep our belongings before changing our shoes to the flip flops provided. Prior to dipping your feet into the fish pool, you'll have to wash your feet & disinfect them with the alcohol wash provided. Paper wipes are then handed out by the friendly staff to dry your feet. Then you are all ready for your fish spa!
There's 2 big rectangular fish pools available. The water is pretty clear and once you dip your legs into the pool, you'll immediately see a school of hungry-looking fish swimming towards your legs. At the beginning, it felt really ticklish and I kept withdrawing my legs from the pool. But after a while, you'll just get used to the nibbles. It's pretty fun.
Something you might like to know about the fish. They actually originate from Turkey and we were told by the staff that they are very hardworking fish, especially in the morning. I supposed it's because of overnight starvation, so they become hungry for food/dead skin in the morning. However, if you wish to gofor this fish spa, do not come after 10pm at night as the fish are too exhausted by then & won't be that hardworking. So you will not get the nice, smooth sole & legs like we have after the fish spa!
After the 30mins, again we washed & disinfect our legs. Hot tea was also served.
On the overall, I think it's a nice experience & the service of the staff was wonderful.
Rating given:
Having to pay $29.50 for a single adult ride on the Singapore flyer doesn't seem too worth it when you know that you'll be mainly seeing mechanical cranes from atop. But I was lucky to get a free ride that day since it's my sister's company's day. So why not?
I got to say that they were pretty efficient and the queue cleared pretty fast although there's a huge group of people. Security check has been imposed as the entrance where bags & people were scanned for dangerous items. We were then ushered to the "dummy capsule" for a quick snapshot before crossing a skybridge to the boarding area. So actually from the entrance to the boarding area, it's quite a long way before you can really get onto the flyer. Haha..
At the boarding platform, you have to wait for the capsule to arrive. One will have to hop onto the capsule while it moves continuously but slowly. No worries. There is a safety net in place just in case you fall but I think that's quite unlikely to happen.
The flyer rotates so slowly & steadily that one can hardly feel it so you can walk around in the capsule comfortably. We were lucky that we took the flyer on a sunny morning, so sky was clear and so was the view of the surrounding. However, the limited landscape present due to the numerous construction going on makes the view boring after like 10mins. Another 20mins to go before we could hit the ground.
Back to ground, and the exit led us to the souveneir shop which is also the same place where you can vew the photo taken before the ride. But $15 for each photo, I think it's too much to pay for.
I guess I'll only be back on the flyer when the surrounding construction completes. Otherwise, I doubt I'll be willing to pay a near $30 for it.
Rating given:
Hidden in a corner of a market in the western regions of Singapore is a small Bak Kut Teh gem, going by the name of Joo Siah. Set up by an engineer who was retrenched by his employer some 20 odd years ago and learnt his trade from his brother in law (who owns a popular bak kut teh stall in Sin Ming), Joo Siah has grown to operating out of 3 units in the market and sells close to 100kg of ribs each day - certainly no small feat.
$4.50 gets you a bowl of steaming hot bak kut teh with 3 pieces of bak kut and a bowl of rice. I was initially aiming for the more expensive loin ribs but was promptly informed that those were only available in the morning. The dough fritters were sold out as well. Nonetheless, the meat on the ribs were tender and moist, soaking in the goodness of the extremely peppery soup that was flavourful and light on the palate. I did think that the amount of pepper was an overkill though, almost numbing my senses and overwhelming the inherent bak kut taste. Overall a good eat and I'll definitely be back.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Katong Delights is a small eatery along Figaro Street within Opera Estate. It has a no-frills ambience that is both homely and inviting. It serves quite many mouth watering Peranakan and Indonesian dishes that really can work out your pallet and appetite.
One of the more famous dishes is the Kong Bak Pau (Braised Pork Belly) for "fat" lovers. A single serving comes with about 4 slices and it is touted to be a "melt in your mouth" experience. Another best seller is the Foochow Red Wine Chicken Rice that goes for $5.00 per plate.
The moment we stepped into the restaurant, we knew that this would not be the last time we would patronise the place. We could "feel" that the food would be good and that this would be the first of many times we would come back to try the other dishes. We were right!
We ordered the Ayam Bakar Rice (Indonesian Grilled Chicken) $5.00 at the recommendation of the person taking our order. It turned out to be good and yummy delicious. The chicken was served hot, juicy and crispy. The gravy that came along with it was not too sweet. It was served with acar (pickles) and sambal chilli.
We also tried the Rendang Beef Rice $5.00 . It is not too spicy and the beef was tender and juicy at most. Although there were some parts of the beef that seemed abit fatty, the rest of the portion was truly enjoyable to eat. Together with the thick gravy and the acar, it was a good complement.
A decent meal cost us a total of $10.00, no service charge and GST. Really wanted to try the Hainanese Pork Chop Rice $5.00 but they had none left. Next time must go earlier. They open from 12 noon to 9pm from Mon to Sat. On Sundays they only do catering so the outlet is not opened.
Perhaps next time also can try the Assam Pork Rib Rice, Nonya Laksa, Thai Mee Siam, Beef Curry Rice....
Rating given:
When to square 2 's foodcourt . Had no idea what to eat till i came across the lotus thai food stall.
Th menu were all over the counter so that customer can easily glance the food . the prices are stated clearly ! which is good.
Besides that, there were also few newspaper reviews about the main restaurant.
I am in dilemma between the olive rice ( $4 ) and thai pineapple rice ( $4.50 )
Just then, i saw an interesting sentence in the newspaper review that say ".......the pineapple rice taste the best ..."
i guessed you knew what i was going to order ! haha
ok , so i ordered the pineapple rice, the wasting time is very short which is good as it was during peak hours . i waited for 4-5 mins
the presentation is also very appetising , but ... results are not known till i taste the rice.
the first mouth of rice was delicious , but after a few mouthful , i found it oily and full .
other than that , the pineapple rice is average.
the ingredient - cucumber , prawns , etc
PRAWN was the one that i gave a three star rates , it is not fresh at all . Moreover, the prawn is not well prepared. As its' "Digested thing " is still in the body. !
the soup , is very salty and sour !
Besides the above that i mentioned the rest is ok .
Next time , i would like to try their olive rice whereby there is NO PRAWN in it !
Rating given:
Hotshots is a famous burger joint originating from the Philippines which has just landed on Singapore's shores in recent months, setting up base at the iconic Lau Pa Sat with a push cart type store front.
Crispy Burger Melt ($5) - The crispy burger melt was surprisingly good with its hand made patty which boasted an uneven texture and bits of fats within for a nice chewing sensation. The patty was also juicy and char grilled till a little crisp along the edges with a nice smokey aftertaste. I thought the slice of button mushrooms and bacon bits were a nice addition to "spice" up the overall taste of the burger. One thing that caught me by surprise was the relatively small piece of patty, even though it was supposed to be a quarter pounder.
Ultimate Cheeseburger ($8) - The cheeseburger sprung the same surprise, with both patties looking a tad small even though both should have added up to half a pound. That aside, I found the patty a little too dry as compared to that of the crispy burger melt. The dual patties were also noticeably more charred as well, which could translate to a consistency issue.
Hotshots is currently having a promotion whereby you order 2 burgers and you get 2 sides free. The choice of sides is limited, namely french fries, twister fries or potato wedges. Trust me, nothing is nice, so skip the sides if you can.
Personally I think hotshots serves quite a mean burger without the exorbitant prices. Read Relish. However the burgers aren't really big so big eaters/hungry folks like me might have to go for something bigger or eat 2 servings (I ate both burgers).
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I felt honoured to be invited for this food tasting in this restaurant which is actually near to my workplace.
I heard that their main business is their variety of sauces, and this restaurant is to showcase their sauces.
The restaurant's decor itself was quite simple and elegant looking. The dishes were also delicious. We ate those recommended dishes thus they should be the best in this restaurant.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
Completely healthy with stewed vegetables in prawn stock and condiments.
Had a bit of fun wrapping my own popiah and it tasted good...especially with their sauces.
Chilled Crab with Special Vinegrette Sauce @ $30 /crab
Really enjoyed the crabs alot with or without the sauce because they tasted very fresh and they were in quite big pieces...yum...Furthermore, they had been cut well enough for us to eat the crab meats at ease.
The Phoenix Soars @ $21
Yin-Yang boneless Village Wok Chicken
The chicken wasn't bad too. Nothing much to comment.
Village Wok Celebration Parade @ $22
A combination of VW award dishes, VW Mustard Roast Crispy Pork and Village BBQ Pork
The BBQ pork was not coloured like those normal ones sold outside. Nevertheless, they tasted quite nice when accompanied with the sauces.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid in BXO Sauce @ $15
Aaah~~this was my favourite dish! Ate alot of it and the brinjal pieces tasted really delicious and sweet as they were like emersed with the BXO sauce...They didn't have the strong vegetable taste.
Steamed Pating Fish with Preserved Vegetable @ $44
The preserved vegetable "cai por" was nice but as a matter of fact, I don't like fish. -.-||
Black Pepper Ham Leg @ $23
Voted The Travelling Gourmet’s favorite dish
Really big pieces! The skin was crispy and it should had been crispier if we had eaten them earlier. Not bad but I'm not a pork lover. Still had that strong pork taste which I didn't fancy much.
Smiling Fortune Noodle @ $8 (potion served was smaller that day)
Tangy noodles harmonized with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with prawns.
Oh this was nice! The soup was nice especially with chilli powder! I finished drinking the soup!
VW Desserts - Sampler size
Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream @ $4.80
Lemongrass ice-cream
Kaya with bread
I can say that the desserts were all satisfactory and I was especially attracted to the lemongrass icecream. It tasted really unique and I didn't feel sick eating it though I was terribly full already. I wanted more in fact. The kaya also tasted good and it was fragrant...It was sweet but not overly sweet. Just nice!
Rating given: