Da Paolo's weekdays set lunches are incredibly yummy and affordable. For $22 , you'll be able to get a starter, main (pasta), dessert of the day and coffee/tea. And of course, the bread basket and olive oil.
For $30 , you can also get the fish of the day or the meat of the day. Meat of the day was tenderloin when I visited.
For starters, we had the Parma Ham with melon & salad, as well as the smoked salmon. There were 2 big pieces of parma ham and the melon was very very sweet. The serving of salmon was very generous, 2 slices of smoked salmon bigger than my hand dressed in olive oil and black pepper. The smoked salmon wasn't the over salty kind which leaves the throat feeling dry.
I had the Spaghetti with seafood and tomato sauce (can't remember exact name but it's the frutti one) - expect nothing less than al dente pasta, delicious fresh morsels of seafood (scallops mussels prawn and squid) in a chunky tomato sauce. Most other places would already charge you about $20 for a plate of spaghetti, but the Da Palo set lunch costs $22 only. Pretty worth it for me.
The meat of the day tenderloin, which was a juicy beef tenderloined seared to perfection.It was still pink and juicy but not too raw and bloody - perfect for a medium rare done-ness.
Chocolate brownie - the dessert was quite dissappointing - if the starters weren't so good I'd probably not recommend this lunch cos the brownies were very simple. Really nothing to shout about. It's a pity that they didn't give a nicer dessert because the starter and main were so good - I had high hopes for the dessert. There isn't any choice for dessert - it's just dessert of the day.
Overall, I'll recommend this place for lunch - it's cheaper than Au Petit Salute - but then you're getting less variety. I still prefer APS, but it's good for the $22 I paid.
Since my mum is looking for a new watch, we decided to check out the watches here.
There were a couple of customers but only 1 salesgirl was at the shop then. Nevertheless, our needs were not neglected. The friendly salesgirl approached us after attending to the other customers and was helpful enough to offer a few recommendations of watches to my mum. She was very patient with us, especially my picky mum who could not decide on which watch to get.
My mum also decided to replace the battery for her present watch. However, upon checking on the battery lifespan, she advised my mum not to replace the battery as its lifespan was not up yet.
In the end, we didn't get the attery replaced, neither did we purchase any watches from the shop. But we were really pleased with the service provided by the salesgirl.
Even before the start of the Great Singapore Sales, many places have started their pre-GSS already.
Happened to be around the area so I decided to check out the jeans here as they were having a sales too. Haha
The shop was really packed with people then. Their sales items have been placed on a shelf and we customers just have to look through the stacks of folded jeans to look for good buys. With so many customers taking out then throwing back the "unwanted" jeans, the salesperson still managed to fold back the jeans quickly and arrange them back onto the shelf neatly. Yes! This definitely makes it much easier for other customers to look for what they want. It's so unlike of most other places where sales equal to looking for things you want through a heap of clothes.
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie - A high end dessert cafe under the Les Amis group of restaurants and helmed by Executive Pastry Chef Pang, who was an ex member of the Singapore National Culinary Team.
Located at the picturesque and upmarket Roberston Walk, Canele's flagship outlet is a rather nice place to chill for after dinner desserts or afternoon tea. Takeaways are also available but if you choose to dine in, please be aware that a 10% service charge will be levied.
Nougatine - Filled with Nutella, Salty Caramel, Caramelized Filos, Nougatine Ice Cream, Vanilla Creme Chantilly - For starters, the Nougatine seemed rather interesting with the addition of salty caramel. However, taken as a whole, it reminded me uncannily of peanut butter with its smooth sticky texture and buttery undertones. I liked the caramelized filos, which are essentially paper thin pastry dough coated with a layer of caramel and left to harden. Flaky yet stick to your teeth.
Jupiter - A most aesthetically pleasing slice of cake which was bought off the display shelf. Extremely rich and topped with a thin cylindrical shell of chocolate, Jupiter boasted caramel and a layer of wafer in between the spongy cake. Did I mention the dark glistening chocolate that engulfed the entire cake? Overall a very nice but sinful dessert.
Black Forest 2007 - I cannot comprehend the rationale behind inserting a year into the name of a cake. But that's besides the point. The point is, as pretty and minute a piece as the black forest cake may be, it certainly wasn't outstanding, not even close. The berries were soaked in Kirsch but the amount of cream was too much for me to stomach. And it certainly didn't help that the cake did come across as a little too dense and moist.
Berry Black & Bushman Brew - Interesting names for the teas but unfortunately rather overpriced for the mediocre quality. And its all because Canele doesn't serve ice water.
With the prices Canele is charging, I can see why its a high end dessert outfit. I appreciate the creativity and quality behind the desserts but certainly not the prices nor the tiny portions.
Compared to Gelare and most of the other waffle stores, I think Shokudo's Waffle is really quite value for money (one of the better things to eat from Shokudo) - humongous fresh crispy waffle, which is soft and yummy on the inside, with a scoop of ice cream for $5.80 (it's about $6.80 after gst and tax).
Gelare is seriously ripping people off with their expensive waffles and expensive ice creams... and their waffle is the cakey buttery kind which I don't really like. Perhaps if you go there on Tuesday it is okay, but the Shokudo waffle is all day $6.80 .
I had my waffle with White Sesame Ice Cream, and its really nice cos unlike the black sesame ice cream which has a slight bitter aftertaste, this one just smells and tastes really fragrant, but isn't bitter at all.
If you really have to eat at Shokudo, I think this is one of the best thing that Shokudo has to offer :)
Ya Sai Shoku is the new restaurant located where Tampopo was formally. Tampopo has moved from the basement to the ground level. The speciality here is the Tonkatsu Ramen. There are 2 versions available - the spicy and non-spicy version - both cost $12 . I tried the non-spicy version. The soup is milky, robust and not too salty. Like most other Japanese ramens, there's 2 little pieces of stewed pork (with lots of soft melty fat in between) and a half boiled soya egg inside. The egg was quite cooked so the yolk wasn't runny and nice. There's also a bit of bamboo shoots and spring onion (or is it leek?). The noodles were springy, chewy and of a good sized portion.
The Kakiage -deep fried vegetables ($12.50) which is worth trying - fried to a crisp and that little piece of white paper at the bottom had minimal oil stains. I suppose that compared to all the other normal (not high class) Japanese restaurants I've been to, this must be one of the better dishes I've had.
Overall, the ramen was passable - average but not really memorable. I suppose I won't mind coming back for the ramen - but only if it's along the way. The business that day was brisk, and the service was a bit disorganized and messy -for example, they forgot to get us water when we called for it, thought my friend who came late had ordered already etc. But they were friendly and helpful in recommending dishes, and best of all, the dishes came fairly quickly.
Seoul Yummy is a Korean restaurant located in a corner of Square 2 (Novena Square). I've been to Seoul Yummy twice before - and ate the Kimchi Tofu Soup as well as the Chicken Hotplate previously, but this review will be on the Set Dinner for 2 persons ($30.99 for 2 ppl) Its $36 after the taxes.
The dinner consists of a generous amount of food, and in my opinion, completely worth the 18 bucks. It also comes with a free flow of Korean Barley Tea (hot/cold).
Ban Chan (Appetiser) was some coleslaw, kimchi, ikan billis with chilli, pickled cucumbers and a piece of cold tofu. I really like the Korean side dishes and that's why I particularly like Crystal Jade Korean, cos the side dishes are free flow.
For the starter, there's a choice of either Kimchi Mandoo (Steamed Kimchi with Pork Dumplings) or Cheul Pan Gamja Jeos (Hotplate potato pancake). We took the pork dumplings, which were like gyoza but with the sourish spicy taste of kimchi. There was also alot of juices inside the dumpling and the skin is tender and moist.
Next up was a noodle dish (out of 2 choices) and Bibimbab. The Dolsot Bibimbap is a hotpot of mixed rice and it comes with beef. The restaurant is very flexible with the menu and allowed us to change the beef to chicken. Eating Bibimbab stresses me alot because if you don't stir and mix the rice fast enough, it tends to burn and stick to the pot. Good for those people who enjoy eating the crispy layer out of the bottom of the claypot. The chicken is exactly like the hotplate chicken that you will get in this restaurant ($9 something for a huge plate). I liked the overall taste of the Bibimbap, with the egg coating each rice grain well and all the crunchy vegetables and sesame seeds.
There are 2 choices of Myon (noodles) - either Chap Chae Bokkeum or Woo Dong Bokkeum (Woo Dong, as you can guess, is actually udon, and it's fried with seafood and beef). We got the Chap Chae Bokkeum (Fried Korean Glass Noodles with Seafood and Beef). The noodles were nicely done- slightly springy, not soggy, but I found it slightly too sweet for my liking.
To end our overly satisfying meal, we had a Mini Tropical Delight Bingsu each (included in the set menu), which consists of a refreshing light yoghurt ice cream with fresh bananas, pineapple and watermelon. Though the whole bottom part of the bowl is just plain ice, the dessert was of a good size, especially since we were so full from the meal already.
Overall, I think that the restaurant is really value for money and for $18 per person, I had a very filling and tastey meal.
I will definitely go back for more Korean food :)
I love to go to Carrefour because it has anything & everything! Despite it being a hypermart, all its things are neatly arranged and organised which makes it really an ease to look for things I want.
I was with my friend looking around for luggage that day and we were really lucky to meet a friendly and helpful salesperson. She assisted us in picking a suitable luggage and offered advices which really helped us in making our decision on the luggage to buy.
The only complaint that I have is their super long queue at the payment counters. Probably things can be sped up a little faster if they have 2 persons at the counter, 1 cashier & 1 packer.
I was the first to review about Cotton On in Yebber and the first outlet was in Wisma. I had loved it then and was very excited when I saw them having an outlet in Parkway.
I went the week they opened and also the following week.
The first time I went the place was rather messy and I forgave them since they had just opened.
But it was still pretty messy the second time and I was rather upset. Also the prices of the items seem higher now. I guess it's because more people are buying. That aside I still love their long tops.
There are two major gripes I have about this outlet. One is that the lighting is much too dim to see some colours properly.
The second is that the customer service people are too busy chatting to each other and they don't tend to the customers very much. This is part of the reason why the place becomes messy as the customers ransack to look for the right size.
MMmmM I guess I will still pop by if I'm in the area but I wouldn't go there specially to buy. :P
I had this plan for my "other" home. After much discussion when this plan was introduced, we decided to sign up since the mobile phones, telephone lines and internet were all under Singnet anyway.
We did save a lot in the long run... but...
Setting up triggered a lot of problems and we were without our phone lines and internet for 2 weeks. The MIO box gave quite a bit of problems. The repairman had to come 3-4 times and we had the box changed twice. We live in a private estate and were told that things will be fine in our particular estate. After the initial hiccups we were finally able to use the phone lines and the internet.
BTW you have to purchase a different kind of phone to be used with the MIO system.
Once we started to use it, we noticed that at times the phone doesn't detect the incoming call. Everything is working (when the repairman came to test it) but it just doesn't ring every single time we call. It would miss a couple of times. And there would be quite a bit of static on the line, which disrupts the call.
It could possibly be a line connection thing but Singtel should also be responsible for checking our lines when we had them install the system. I guess this one might take some time to settle.
FYI, Maxonline cannot be installed in my estate, according to their customer service rep.
1=SGD 0.0587
Da Paolo's weekdays set lunches are incredibly yummy and affordable. For $22 , you'll be able to get a starter, main (pasta), dessert of the day and coffee/tea. And of course, the bread basket and olive oil.
For $30 , you can also get the fish of the day or the meat of the day. Meat of the day was tenderloin when I visited.
For starters, we had the Parma Ham with melon & salad, as well as the smoked salmon. There were 2 big pieces of parma ham and the melon was very very sweet. The serving of salmon was very generous, 2 slices of smoked salmon bigger than my hand dressed in olive oil and black pepper. The smoked salmon wasn't the over salty kind which leaves the throat feeling dry.
I had the Spaghetti with seafood and tomato sauce (can't remember exact name but it's the frutti one) - expect nothing less than al dente pasta, delicious fresh morsels of seafood (scallops mussels prawn and squid) in a chunky tomato sauce. Most other places would already charge you about $20 for a plate of spaghetti, but the Da Palo set lunch costs $22 only. Pretty worth it for me.
The meat of the day tenderloin, which was a juicy beef tenderloined seared to perfection.It was still pink and juicy but not too raw and bloody - perfect for a medium rare done-ness.
Chocolate brownie - the dessert was quite dissappointing - if the starters weren't so good I'd probably not recommend this lunch cos the brownies were very simple. Really nothing to shout about. It's a pity that they didn't give a nicer dessert because the starter and main were so good - I had high hopes for the dessert. There isn't any choice for dessert - it's just dessert of the day.
Overall, I'll recommend this place for lunch - it's cheaper than Au Petit Salute - but then you're getting less variety. I still prefer APS, but it's good for the $22 I paid.
Rating given:
Since my mum is looking for a new watch, we decided to check out the watches here.
There were a couple of customers but only 1 salesgirl was at the shop then. Nevertheless, our needs were not neglected. The friendly salesgirl approached us after attending to the other customers and was helpful enough to offer a few recommendations of watches to my mum. She was very patient with us, especially my picky mum who could not decide on which watch to get.
My mum also decided to replace the battery for her present watch. However, upon checking on the battery lifespan, she advised my mum not to replace the battery as its lifespan was not up yet.
In the end, we didn't get the attery replaced, neither did we purchase any watches from the shop. But we were really pleased with the service provided by the salesgirl.
Rating given:
Even before the start of the Great Singapore Sales, many places have started their pre-GSS already.
Happened to be around the area so I decided to check out the jeans here as they were having a sales too. Haha
The shop was really packed with people then. Their sales items have been placed on a shelf and we customers just have to look through the stacks of folded jeans to look for good buys. With so many customers taking out then throwing back the "unwanted" jeans, the salesperson still managed to fold back the jeans quickly and arrange them back onto the shelf neatly. Yes! This definitely makes it much easier for other customers to look for what they want. It's so unlike of most other places where sales equal to looking for things you want through a heap of clothes.
Yes, thumbs up for their service!
Rating given:
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie - A high end dessert cafe under the Les Amis group of restaurants and helmed by Executive Pastry Chef Pang, who was an ex member of the Singapore National Culinary Team.
Located at the picturesque and upmarket Roberston Walk, Canele's flagship outlet is a rather nice place to chill for after dinner desserts or afternoon tea. Takeaways are also available but if you choose to dine in, please be aware that a 10% service charge will be levied.
Nougatine - Filled with Nutella, Salty Caramel, Caramelized Filos, Nougatine Ice Cream, Vanilla Creme Chantilly - For starters, the Nougatine seemed rather interesting with the addition of salty caramel. However, taken as a whole, it reminded me uncannily of peanut butter with its smooth sticky texture and buttery undertones. I liked the caramelized filos, which are essentially paper thin pastry dough coated with a layer of caramel and left to harden. Flaky yet stick to your teeth.
Jupiter - A most aesthetically pleasing slice of cake which was bought off the display shelf. Extremely rich and topped with a thin cylindrical shell of chocolate, Jupiter boasted caramel and a layer of wafer in between the spongy cake. Did I mention the dark glistening chocolate that engulfed the entire cake? Overall a very nice but sinful dessert.
Black Forest 2007 - I cannot comprehend the rationale behind inserting a year into the name of a cake. But that's besides the point. The point is, as pretty and minute a piece as the black forest cake may be, it certainly wasn't outstanding, not even close. The berries were soaked in Kirsch but the amount of cream was too much for me to stomach. And it certainly didn't help that the cake did come across as a little too dense and moist.
Berry Black & Bushman Brew - Interesting names for the teas but unfortunately rather overpriced for the mediocre quality. And its all because Canele doesn't serve ice water.
With the prices Canele is charging, I can see why its a high end dessert outfit. I appreciate the creativity and quality behind the desserts but certainly not the prices nor the tiny portions.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Compared to Gelare and most of the other waffle stores, I think Shokudo's Waffle is really quite value for money (one of the better things to eat from Shokudo) - humongous fresh crispy waffle, which is soft and yummy on the inside, with a scoop of ice cream for $5.80 (it's about $6.80 after gst and tax).
Gelare is seriously ripping people off with their expensive waffles and expensive ice creams... and their waffle is the cakey buttery kind which I don't really like. Perhaps if you go there on Tuesday it is okay, but the Shokudo waffle is all day $6.80 .
I had my waffle with White Sesame Ice Cream, and its really nice cos unlike the black sesame ice cream which has a slight bitter aftertaste, this one just smells and tastes really fragrant, but isn't bitter at all.
If you really have to eat at Shokudo, I think this is one of the best thing that Shokudo has to offer :)
Rating given:
Ya Sai Shoku is the new restaurant located where Tampopo was formally. Tampopo has moved from the basement to the ground level. The speciality here is the Tonkatsu Ramen. There are 2 versions available - the spicy and non-spicy version - both cost $12 . I tried the non-spicy version. The soup is milky, robust and not too salty. Like most other Japanese ramens, there's 2 little pieces of stewed pork (with lots of soft melty fat in between) and a half boiled soya egg inside. The egg was quite cooked so the yolk wasn't runny and nice. There's also a bit of bamboo shoots and spring onion (or is it leek?). The noodles were springy, chewy and of a good sized portion.
The Kakiage -deep fried vegetables ($12.50) which is worth trying - fried to a crisp and that little piece of white paper at the bottom had minimal oil stains. I suppose that compared to all the other normal (not high class) Japanese restaurants I've been to, this must be one of the better dishes I've had.
Overall, the ramen was passable - average but not really memorable. I suppose I won't mind coming back for the ramen - but only if it's along the way. The business that day was brisk, and the service was a bit disorganized and messy -for example, they forgot to get us water when we called for it, thought my friend who came late had ordered already etc. But they were friendly and helpful in recommending dishes, and best of all, the dishes came fairly quickly.
Rating given:
Seoul Yummy is a Korean restaurant located in a corner of Square 2 (Novena Square). I've been to Seoul Yummy twice before - and ate the Kimchi Tofu Soup as well as the Chicken Hotplate previously, but this review will be on the Set Dinner for 2 persons ($30.99 for 2 ppl) Its $36 after the taxes.
The dinner consists of a generous amount of food, and in my opinion, completely worth the 18 bucks. It also comes with a free flow of Korean Barley Tea (hot/cold).
Ban Chan (Appetiser) was some coleslaw, kimchi, ikan billis with chilli, pickled cucumbers and a piece of cold tofu. I really like the Korean side dishes and that's why I particularly like Crystal Jade Korean, cos the side dishes are free flow.
For the starter, there's a choice of either Kimchi Mandoo (Steamed Kimchi with Pork Dumplings) or Cheul Pan Gamja Jeos (Hotplate potato pancake). We took the pork dumplings, which were like gyoza but with the sourish spicy taste of kimchi. There was also alot of juices inside the dumpling and the skin is tender and moist.
Next up was a noodle dish (out of 2 choices) and Bibimbab. The Dolsot Bibimbap is a hotpot of mixed rice and it comes with beef. The restaurant is very flexible with the menu and allowed us to change the beef to chicken. Eating Bibimbab stresses me alot because if you don't stir and mix the rice fast enough, it tends to burn and stick to the pot. Good for those people who enjoy eating the crispy layer out of the bottom of the claypot. The chicken is exactly like the hotplate chicken that you will get in this restaurant ($9 something for a huge plate). I liked the overall taste of the Bibimbap, with the egg coating each rice grain well and all the crunchy vegetables and sesame seeds.
There are 2 choices of Myon (noodles) - either Chap Chae Bokkeum or Woo Dong Bokkeum (Woo Dong, as you can guess, is actually udon, and it's fried with seafood and beef). We got the Chap Chae Bokkeum (Fried Korean Glass Noodles with Seafood and Beef). The noodles were nicely done- slightly springy, not soggy, but I found it slightly too sweet for my liking.
To end our overly satisfying meal, we had a Mini Tropical Delight Bingsu each (included in the set menu), which consists of a refreshing light yoghurt ice cream with fresh bananas, pineapple and watermelon. Though the whole bottom part of the bowl is just plain ice, the dessert was of a good size, especially since we were so full from the meal already.
Overall, I think that the restaurant is really value for money and for $18 per person, I had a very filling and tastey meal.
I will definitely go back for more Korean food :)
Rating given:
I love to go to Carrefour because it has anything & everything! Despite it being a hypermart, all its things are neatly arranged and organised which makes it really an ease to look for things I want.
I was with my friend looking around for luggage that day and we were really lucky to meet a friendly and helpful salesperson. She assisted us in picking a suitable luggage and offered advices which really helped us in making our decision on the luggage to buy.
The only complaint that I have is their super long queue at the payment counters. Probably things can be sped up a little faster if they have 2 persons at the counter, 1 cashier & 1 packer.
Other than that, I really love shopping here! :)
Rating given:
I was the first to review about Cotton On in Yebber and the first outlet was in Wisma. I had loved it then and was very excited when I saw them having an outlet in Parkway.
I went the week they opened and also the following week.
The first time I went the place was rather messy and I forgave them since they had just opened.
But it was still pretty messy the second time and I was rather upset. Also the prices of the items seem higher now. I guess it's because more people are buying. That aside I still love their long tops.
There are two major gripes I have about this outlet. One is that the lighting is much too dim to see some colours properly.
The second is that the customer service people are too busy chatting to each other and they don't tend to the customers very much. This is part of the reason why the place becomes messy as the customers ransack to look for the right size.
MMmmM I guess I will still pop by if I'm in the area but I wouldn't go there specially to buy. :P
Rating given:
I had this plan for my "other" home. After much discussion when this plan was introduced, we decided to sign up since the mobile phones, telephone lines and internet were all under Singnet anyway.
We did save a lot in the long run... but...
Setting up triggered a lot of problems and we were without our phone lines and internet for 2 weeks. The MIO box gave quite a bit of problems. The repairman had to come 3-4 times and we had the box changed twice. We live in a private estate and were told that things will be fine in our particular estate. After the initial hiccups we were finally able to use the phone lines and the internet.
BTW you have to purchase a different kind of phone to be used with the MIO system.
Once we started to use it, we noticed that at times the phone doesn't detect the incoming call. Everything is working (when the repairman came to test it) but it just doesn't ring every single time we call. It would miss a couple of times. And there would be quite a bit of static on the line, which disrupts the call.
It could possibly be a line connection thing but Singtel should also be responsible for checking our lines when we had them install the system. I guess this one might take some time to settle.
FYI, Maxonline cannot be installed in my estate, according to their customer service rep.
Rating given: