Just some background before I begin.. I have ever been to Aston's when it was still in the coffeeshop. I've ever witnessed two mains plus all the sides feeding a family of five with 3 young children. Two mains would stuff me and my friend and there would be leftovers, so you can imagine how large the servings were. The food was also much better than your average western food stall. It was comparable to that of a restaurant. That time I remember that 2 mains would cost less than $20.
Having been to the previous establishment and seeing all the wonderful reviews here (needless to say) gave me great expectations as I walked into the place. It was close to 5pm and there wasn't the usual queue in front of the place. We stood at the *Please wait to be seated* sign. There were two servers just 1 metre away directly in front of us and it still took 4-5 minutes for them to come over as they were finishing their little joke before they did.
We were seated in a booth and there was only one other table occupied then. We checked out the menu and soon decided what we wanted.
I was unhappy when we ordered as the server didn't seem very sure when we asked if the items could be placed separately. We also repeated the sides a number of times as he kept repeating it back to us wrongly. My friend ordered an Iced Latte and the server said ok. But 5 minutes later when my coke arrived, another server told us that they don't serve Iced Lattes but only the hot ones. Urgh
Food ordered: Sirloin Steak (Medium - Well Done) The steak came as per ordered. But it wasn't very tasty. The meat didn't have much taste on its own and there wasn't much sauce too. My friend commented that it had a little too much fatty bits for her liking.
Grilled fish This was tasteless actually. One good thing was that it didn't have any fishy smell to it. If I didn't have my trusty ketchup I don't think I would have been able to finish this. And... we raised our hands trying to get their attention for ketchup but no one noticed us. (Reminder: it was quite empty then) So we got up, searched for it and got it for ourselves.
Fries I'd thought these would be the fat fries... well these were neither fat nor thin. but a little too salty though. I read that there was some spice on others' fries but there wasn't any on mine... mmm
BBQ beans It tasted exactly like baked beans from the Heinz can. We felt cheated.
Steamed Vegetables These were alright I guess but what could go wrong with steamed vegetables?
For some reason I can't remember what the last side order is. We, two girls, managed to clean out our plates so I can't say very much for the servings, can I?
Anyway the bill came up to $27 for two mains and three drinks. It IS cheap if you consider that it's western food served in a respectable looking restaurant. But the food is really average and service was pretty poor considering there weren't many people. I'm just glad I didn't have to queue to try. At least I know I won't ever have to.
Ice Cream Gallery is one of those numerous ice cream parlours popping up around Singapore. But, I'm happily blogging about this because it has Teh Halia Ice Cream.
Ice Cream Gallery has Teh Halia ice cream, milky and gingery, and with crystallised ginger bits. However, I thought that the tea taste could be slightly stronger as it tasted more like halia susu (ginger milk) then Teh Halia.
Brandied Cherry Ice Cream is generous on the alcohol - the cherries are plump with a strong alcoholic taste. Yum!
The Rum and Rasin Ice Cream is Ice Cream Gallery's hottest flavour - but sadly, it was sold out the night we went.
A scoop costs $3 for normal flavours, and $3.50 for alcoholic flavours.
Ever since the demise of A&W in Singapore, Waffletown is probably the only fast food outlet in Singapore that serves up fried chicken and waffles in a small unit reminiscent of an old school American diner.
Located at Balmoral Plaza, the place isn't big and comes with brown table tops and orange chairs affixed to the ground just like A&W in the old days. A very serene sense of nostalgia sets in and one can't help but relish in the comfort it offers.
2 Piece Chicken Set - The chicken skin was crispy sans the layer of fats beneath, which of course is the lesser of two evils. Meat was moist and juicy and didn't come across as oily as those served up by KFC. Only downside was the seasoning of the chicken, which I personally felt was a little inadequate. The accompanying fries and coleslaw tasted like those ready made ones you can buy off the shelves from any supermarket.
Waffle with Blueberry and Vanilla Ice Cream & Waffle with Blackberry and Rum and Raisin Ice Cream - Since the place is called waffletown, its really a no brainer that waffles are their specialty. The waffles were very crispy but that in itself presents a problem, to me at least. Crispy waffles aren't moist and my idea of an ideal waffle should be crisp on the outside yet moist and full of bite on the inside. It must also be fragrant. Waffletown's waffles fulfilled the aroma criteria but they were crispy inside out, which made it a little like eating crackers. Fortunately, thats where the toppings and ice cream come into play, lending the waffles with additional flavour and moisture. All in all a good eat.
At about $6.70 for a 2 piece chicken set that comes with 2 sides and a drink, Waffletown goes for about the same price as KFC. Quality is much higher here though but there is the problem of location.
Bangkok was hot, dusty, and smelly. That said, it's a great (and I mean GREAT) place to shop!
Chatuchak Weekend Market was da bomb man! I think I only walked like a tiny fraction of the entire market, but the selection was already mindboggling enough for me. :D
Bangkok also has massage parlours everywhere. The cheapest I've found was a 1 hr back, leg, and foot massage for 150 Baht.
They come in extremely handy when you've just walked the whole day and have sore and aching feet.
Beware of Patpong though. Do not go into strip bars that you can't see the inside of (i.e. have to walk up some long winding staircase to a door kind).
E2Max at Cathay isn't your normal LAN shop. Well, sure, it has computers, but it has BETTER ones and then some.
You see, for those that aren't familiar with the LAN shop scene here in Singapore, they're usually:
1) Run by young boys, full of young boys = Filth. You really don't want to lift up the keyboard to find out what ancient rubbish is under it.
2) Damn bloody stuffy and hot. Cutting costs I think?
So E2Max is a very refreshing change from the usual. It also has 'private lounges' of sorts that have sofas, widescreen LCD TVs, for chilling out while playing XBox. And it's CLEAN.
Eh, it's just a really nice place to be gaming, lah.
But of course, there's a price to pay. Prices are double (or almost triple) of the normal LAN shops.
The taxi fares are killing my wallet now that it jumps $0.20 each time instead of the old $0.10.
Another gripe I have about Comfort (and all other cab companies in Singapore generally) is that it's either there are too many cabs on the roads, or none at all.
The 'none at all' part conveniently happens when it starts raining. Suddenly all the empty cabs on the road just magically disappear.
Did they go take shelter because their roof is leaking? Are their windshield wipers all spoilt? Are they afraid of the rain? Did they forget to bring their jacket? Are they waiting for desperate customers to call the taxi booking hotline?
I've been a MaxOnline user since well, forever, and I gotta say that although it may not provide top-notch service all the time, it's still the best we have here in our Sunny Island.
I only experience downtime probably around once a month, and while it irritates me, it'll do. :)
Two Hungry gals headed down to this Waraku Branch for some good nosh.
After taking forever to decide what to eat, we finally ordered.
The Hokkai Salad(s), 3 different kinds of sushi,
The Maguro Yukkei Gunkan, Kani Mayo Gunkan and the Negitoro Gunkan.
We also ordered the Dashimaki and the Chicken Houba Yaki.
The Hokkai Salad was good. Sashimi was very fresh and good, and I like the usage of the wasabe and soy sauce making it very refreshing.
Didnt try the sushi except the Maguro Yukkei one and I liked it. Tasted quite weird cos of the Egg yolk but i didnt feel sick after that so it passed.
Dashimaki was nice, done quite well actually. and my Chicken Houba Yaki certainly was intresting. Cooked it myself but enjoyed it throughly. The paste it was cooked on was delicious as well. Good food.
Staff was polite, friendly and service was prompt. Good job
On a wednesday night, at around 8pm, shockingly there wasnt a queue all the way to the next few stalls. Instead, my fren and I managed to be seated in less than 10 minutes. We quickly decided to go for the Sirloin steak and i had the Ribeye Extra Cut. Both of ours were medium.
Our sides were, onion rings, fries, salad, steamed vegetables and an extra order of onion rings.
The steaks came after about 10 minutes. medium done and quite alright. Better than food court steaks anytime. I didnt really like their sauce though. Would much prefer black pepper sauce.
But one thing i really liked was the fries. they were crispy and still soft on the inside. Not oozing with oil and i liked that they sprinkled chilli powder on it. Tasted spicy and delicious.
Total damage done was less than 17 per person. For the amount we ate i felt it was well worth it.
1=SGD 0.0587
Just some background before I begin.. I have ever been to Aston's when it was still in the coffeeshop. I've ever witnessed two mains plus all the sides feeding a family of five with 3 young children. Two mains would stuff me and my friend and there would be leftovers, so you can imagine how large the servings were. The food was also much better than your average western food stall. It was comparable to that of a restaurant. That time I remember that 2 mains would cost less than $20.
Having been to the previous establishment and seeing all the wonderful reviews here (needless to say) gave me great expectations as I walked into the place. It was close to 5pm and there wasn't the usual queue in front of the place. We stood at the *Please wait to be seated* sign. There were two servers just 1 metre away directly in front of us and it still took 4-5 minutes for them to come over as they were finishing their little joke before they did.
We were seated in a booth and there was only one other table occupied then. We checked out the menu and soon decided what we wanted.
I was unhappy when we ordered as the server didn't seem very sure when we asked if the items could be placed separately. We also repeated the sides a number of times as he kept repeating it back to us wrongly. My friend ordered an Iced Latte and the server said ok. But 5 minutes later when my coke arrived, another server told us that they don't serve Iced Lattes but only the hot ones. Urgh
Food ordered:
Sirloin Steak (Medium - Well Done)
The steak came as per ordered. But it wasn't very tasty. The meat didn't have much taste on its own and there wasn't much sauce too. My friend commented that it had a little too much fatty bits for her liking.
Grilled fish
This was tasteless actually. One good thing was that it didn't have any fishy smell to it. If I didn't have my trusty ketchup I don't think I would have been able to finish this. And... we raised our hands trying to get their attention for ketchup but no one noticed us. (Reminder: it was quite empty then) So we got up, searched for it and got it for ourselves.
Fries
I'd thought these would be the fat fries... well these were neither fat nor thin. but a little too salty though. I read that there was some spice on others' fries but there wasn't any on mine... mmm
BBQ beans
It tasted exactly like baked beans from the Heinz can. We felt cheated.
Steamed Vegetables
These were alright I guess but what could go wrong with steamed vegetables?
For some reason I can't remember what the last side order is. We, two girls, managed to clean out our plates so I can't say very much for the servings, can I?
Anyway the bill came up to $27 for two mains and three drinks. It IS cheap if you consider that it's western food served in a respectable looking restaurant. But the food is really average and service was pretty poor considering there weren't many people. I'm just glad I didn't have to queue to try. At least I know I won't ever have to.
Rating given:
Ice Cream Gallery is one of those numerous ice cream parlours popping up around Singapore. But, I'm happily blogging about this because it has Teh Halia Ice Cream.
Ice Cream Gallery has Teh Halia ice cream, milky and gingery, and with crystallised ginger bits. However, I thought that the tea taste could be slightly stronger as it tasted more like halia susu (ginger milk) then Teh Halia.
Brandied Cherry Ice Cream is generous on the alcohol - the cherries are plump with a strong alcoholic taste. Yum!
The Rum and Rasin Ice Cream is Ice Cream Gallery's hottest flavour - but sadly, it was sold out the night we went.
A scoop costs $3 for normal flavours, and $3.50 for alcoholic flavours.
Rating given:
Ever since the demise of A&W in Singapore, Waffletown is probably the only fast food outlet in Singapore that serves up fried chicken and waffles in a small unit reminiscent of an old school American diner.
Located at Balmoral Plaza, the place isn't big and comes with brown table tops and orange chairs affixed to the ground just like A&W in the old days. A very serene sense of nostalgia sets in and one can't help but relish in the comfort it offers.
2 Piece Chicken Set - The chicken skin was crispy sans the layer of fats beneath, which of course is the lesser of two evils. Meat was moist and juicy and didn't come across as oily as those served up by KFC. Only downside was the seasoning of the chicken, which I personally felt was a little inadequate. The accompanying fries and coleslaw tasted like those ready made ones you can buy off the shelves from any supermarket.
Waffle with Blueberry and Vanilla Ice Cream & Waffle with Blackberry and Rum and Raisin Ice Cream - Since the place is called waffletown, its really a no brainer that waffles are their specialty. The waffles were very crispy but that in itself presents a problem, to me at least. Crispy waffles aren't moist and my idea of an ideal waffle should be crisp on the outside yet moist and full of bite on the inside. It must also be fragrant. Waffletown's waffles fulfilled the aroma criteria but they were crispy inside out, which made it a little like eating crackers. Fortunately, thats where the toppings and ice cream come into play, lending the waffles with additional flavour and moisture. All in all a good eat.
At about $6.70 for a 2 piece chicken set that comes with 2 sides and a drink, Waffletown goes for about the same price as KFC. Quality is much higher here though but there is the problem of location.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Bangkok was hot, dusty, and smelly. That said, it's a great (and I mean GREAT) place to shop!
Chatuchak Weekend Market was da bomb man! I think I only walked like a tiny fraction of the entire market, but the selection was already mindboggling enough for me. :D
Bangkok also has massage parlours everywhere. The cheapest I've found was a 1 hr back, leg, and foot massage for 150 Baht.
They come in extremely handy when you've just walked the whole day and have sore and aching feet.
Beware of Patpong though. Do not go into strip bars that you can't see the inside of (i.e. have to walk up some long winding staircase to a door kind).
Rating given:
E2Max at Cathay isn't your normal LAN shop. Well, sure, it has computers, but it has BETTER ones and then some.
You see, for those that aren't familiar with the LAN shop scene here in Singapore, they're usually:
1) Run by young boys, full of young boys = Filth. You really don't want to lift up the keyboard to find out what ancient rubbish is under it.
2) Damn bloody stuffy and hot. Cutting costs I think?
So E2Max is a very refreshing change from the usual. It also has 'private lounges' of sorts that have sofas, widescreen LCD TVs, for chilling out while playing XBox. And it's CLEAN.
Eh, it's just a really nice place to be gaming, lah.
But of course, there's a price to pay. Prices are double (or almost triple) of the normal LAN shops.
Rating given:
I was in love with Facebook when I first joined it, because Friendster was just getting way overboard with clutter. It was also really slow.
I thought Facebook was a fast, clean application that served its purpose well.
That was until they decided to implement all those bandwidth-sucking features, like telling you who's online now and whatnot.
And let's not forget the dreadful application spamming. Seriously, I really, really, REALLY don't really want to know Which Ice Cream Colour I Am. =/
Good bye Facebook, you have been the one for me. :(
Rating given:
The taxi fares are killing my wallet now that it jumps $0.20 each time instead of the old $0.10.
Another gripe I have about Comfort (and all other cab companies in Singapore generally) is that it's either there are too many cabs on the roads, or none at all.
The 'none at all' part conveniently happens when it starts raining. Suddenly all the empty cabs on the road just magically disappear.
Did they go take shelter because their roof is leaking? Are their windshield wipers all spoilt? Are they afraid of the rain? Did they forget to bring their jacket? Are they waiting for desperate customers to call the taxi booking hotline?
We'll never know.
Rating given:
I've been a MaxOnline user since well, forever, and I gotta say that although it may not provide top-notch service all the time, it's still the best we have here in our Sunny Island.
I only experience downtime probably around once a month, and while it irritates me, it'll do. :)
It is bloody expensive though.
Rating given:
Two Hungry gals headed down to this Waraku Branch for some good nosh.
After taking forever to decide what to eat, we finally ordered.
The Hokkai Salad(s), 3 different kinds of sushi,
The Maguro Yukkei Gunkan, Kani Mayo Gunkan and the Negitoro Gunkan.
We also ordered the Dashimaki and the Chicken Houba Yaki.
The Hokkai Salad was good. Sashimi was very fresh and good, and I like the usage of the wasabe and soy sauce making it very refreshing.
Didnt try the sushi except the Maguro Yukkei one and I liked it. Tasted quite weird cos of the Egg yolk but i didnt feel sick after that so it passed.
Dashimaki was nice, done quite well actually. and my Chicken Houba Yaki certainly was intresting. Cooked it myself but enjoyed it throughly. The paste it was cooked on was delicious as well. Good food.
Staff was polite, friendly and service was prompt. Good job
Rating given:
On a wednesday night, at around 8pm, shockingly there wasnt a queue all the way to the next few stalls. Instead, my fren and I managed to be seated in less than 10 minutes. We quickly decided to go for the Sirloin steak and i had the Ribeye Extra Cut. Both of ours were medium.
Our sides were, onion rings, fries, salad, steamed vegetables and an extra order of onion rings.
The steaks came after about 10 minutes. medium done and quite alright. Better than food court steaks anytime. I didnt really like their sauce though. Would much prefer black pepper sauce.
But one thing i really liked was the fries. they were crispy and still soft on the inside. Not oozing with oil and i liked that they sprinkled chilli powder on it. Tasted spicy and delicious.
Total damage done was less than 17 per person. For the amount we ate i felt it was well worth it.
Rating given: