From its name, one should have guessed correctly that this place sells something related to BEANS. Yes! It’s soybean & I totally love it! The small shop located at Raffles Place MRT serves as a convenient stop for me to grab a quick, healthy bite before and sometimes after my gym workout.
My all-time favourites include:
Pearly soya milk This drink is unique as one can find the black, chewy pearly which are typically found in bubble tea. Here is a good blend of the thick & smooth soymilk and the chewy pearls. The sweetness and chewyness of the pearls are just right and it is the perfect choice for health conscious people out there who loves bubble tea yet worry about their figure. Haha
Super beancurd I always like beancurd to be mixed with soymilk. The smooth & light beancurd together with the thick & rich soymilk. Yummy!!
Mr Bean pancake A good variety of pancake flavours are available for pick. That includes blueberry, cheese, chocolate, kaya, peanut, red bean and tuna. My favourite is their cheese pancake. For the cheese-flavour pancake, cream cheese is used instead of sliced cheese and it melts in the hot pancake. Heavenly!!
And yes! They even have a few “set meals”, which usually comes with a drink and a food for you to choose from and it’s much cheaper than ordering the individual items. The set meal has definitely served as a satisfying & healthy meal after my workout.
I used the senstive skin range of products for this brand and its the nightmare of my life.
The first day I used this product, my skin itch and small red rashes broke out. I thought nothing much of it as its usual that my sensitive skin will react to new products. So I continued the use for 2 weeks and my skin itch and rashed every single usage of the products. By and by it leads to me having super dry and sensitive skin. My skin starts to flake and scarring occurs.
So I stopped the usage and returned to using Dermalogical products and my skin goes back to normal although its already scarred and the sensitiveness increased.
This outlet is the first time I've tried Batok Jones. Heard alot of good comments about it and maybe we got our expectations too high.
Set in a hawker centre, the environment is dirty and due to the crowd there, we sat near the dustbin which made it even worse. Menu looks too cluttered and we took some time to order our food. Customers for that outlet of Botak Jones seems to be few at that time of the day and that time is certainly not a good time for eating heavy western food in great or should I say humongous portion.
Not much of an impression of the food there though I should give credit as the Fish and Chips was nicely done. I found the sausage too salty though and nothing special except its size. Meat seems to be the better prepared type of food there.
Not too bad but nothing special too. Given my small appetite, I don't think that will be the place I will frequent as even though the price is value for the portion size, its still expensive if I cannot finish the food.
Visited this place last Sunday with my parents and they have since been relocated to ground level of Liang Court Shopping Centre. Their old outlet has also been taken over by Ichibantei.
My parents had the usual Black Pig Shabu Shabu Ramen, which I believed most people know they are famous for.
But what I was looking forward to was their Black Pig Pork Chop which is heavenly! You have to try it to know it. The texture is so tender and soft that it melts the moment you bite it. The $20 for the pork chop cut into 8 pieces might seems ex but definitely worth it. If you have not try it, I urge you to do so! That alone is worth 4 stars!
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
After sampling the SHIOK Yakader Chicken Briyani a few months back, people all over has been asking me to try the most famous briyani stall at the other side of Tekka Food Centre instead. The queue at this stall meant nothing as I stood there waiting for 20 minutes. For those who still do not know, this stall is none other than Allauddin’s Briyani (no prize for those who guessed it correctly though).
For $4.00, what you get is also another plate of orangey red looking plate of Chicken Briyani that gets zero marks for presentation. At least Yakader’s serving came lined with banana leaf, what you get from Allauddin is just a Styrofoam plate with no achar (spicy pickled salad) in sight (not that I eat them anyway but at least visually it looks better).
In terms of the chicken, I would say they are both pretty similar in terms of taste and texture. So soft and tender was the meat that a simple tear at the lightest pressure of the fork will cause the meat to be easily separated from its bone. However, I will be inclined to find their rice overly moist and mushy from overcooking, as I expect the basmati rice to be slightly more firm and comes with a better bite. Having waited so long, I also decided to add an extra order of what they call “Lamb Cutlet” for additional $1.00 (although I do not see where the cutlet comes from). A nice savoury outer crust that was fried nicely to taste, it was disappointing though to find it soft on the inside with what seems like flour and onions and little of the lamb.
Overall, I felt that Yakader was the better of the two in terms of chicken briyani, however I would not hesitate to try their mutton next, which was ordered by the customers before me, as it looks pliable and succulent just by the sight of it. As Tekka Food Centre will be re-located to the Temporary Market along Race Course Road from May 1 onwards, Allauddin’s Briyani will be relocated to stall unit #01-189 and #01-190.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Went to Tampines round market last night for dinner because the traffic to the cinema was horrible. Thus, what to do? Try out a 30 star winner stall to save money and have a nice dinner of course! Was it really good though?
Recently featured on the television show for stalls that needed "rescueing" due to extremely bad business, the stall has since been revamped and the chef retrained to serve much better food....or rather, thats the idea anyway.
A note is that basically, the stallholders do not like anyone to take photos so please try to refrain from that. The lady boss is scary when mad.
We basically ordered only 2 items last night.
A plate of stingray ($10) and a plate of vegetables (nai bai $4) and 2 bowls of rice (30 cents). Haven't had a cheap meal in like forever so this is a refreshing start.
They made their name by getting 30 out of 30 votes for their food on zhi ca.
The stingray is actually quite big and theres a lot of chili and meat available to pick through. I'm not too sure about the freshness of the fish since the chili manages to mask the taste overall. No denying that the meat is plenty though. However i did find the chili to need more work as its too dry and not very tasty. Thank goodness for the accompanying sour sauce or something. Which gave it much needed dimension. Overall, not too bad.
I liked the greens for sure. Its pretty much my favorite way of cooking and the greens were fresh. A winner in my books.
Total meal only cost me $14.60 which is like OMG! Dirt cheap.
Whilst studying in Canada, my friends and I used to “Yum Cha” every weekend morning without fail and it was often very fun with all the food and interaction. When I came back to Singapore, no one I knew practised that and thus the habit slowly died down. Up early and feeling nostalgic on a Sunday morning, I decided to visit the long standing Yan Palace Restaurant for some dim sum and roped in my gf to help with the eating.
Finding the place wasn’t too difficult as it was just next to Hong Lim food centre and parking was a breeze with the multi story carpark just next to it. (Its $1/hr even on Sundays though) When we got there at about 1100, the restaurant was almost packed with people. (The restaurant could seat about 100 people easily) The interior looked like that of a typical Chinese restaurant of yester year. As we were only having dim sum, a list was provided for us to tick off the types of dim sum we desired. We ordered the Mini egg tarts, Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Shanghai pork buns), century egg with pork porridge, Char Siew Sou (BBQ pork puff), Har Kaw, Siew Mai, Chee Cheong Fun with BBQ pork and Chee Cheong Fun with prawns.
The mini egg tarts at first glance, looked totally unappealing with its slightly dark crust. But as they say, goodness comes from within. In the case of this egg tart, it was literal. The custard wasn’t too sweet and very smooth. The crust was a little hard and had a little milky and oven-baked taste, just like a cookie. Very good I should say! I like this crust better then Tong Heng’s one, but Tong Heng’s custard still prevails. The Xiao Long Bao was disappointing, being too dry with no hint of juiciness at all.
I’ve never liked century egg and all the variations that come with it. But I tried the century egg with pork porridge after some cajoling by my gf and I liked it. The porridge was very sticky and didn’t have the century egg taste at all. (I avoided the century egg) In fact, it tasted like very good pork porridge with deep fried crispys. Next up was the Char Siew Sou, whose crust I like very much due to the oven baked taste that separates it from its other competitors. However, the char siew filling was not up to the mark. It tasted a little watery and didn’t have the real BBQ pork taste. The Siew Mai was good, not too salty and with lots of prawns and lean meat packed into it. Har Kaw tasted normal, but a little expensive in my opinion, given its size and taste.
Last up was the Chee Chong Fun, one with BBQ pork and other with prawns. I liked the one with prawns a lot better as the BBQ pork was practically tasteless. The Chee Chong Fun itself wasn’t too soft, unlike good Chee Chong Funs.
At about $32 for 2 pax for dim sum, it’s a little on the high side, but take comfort in the fact that quite a few dishes at Yan Palace Restaurant are well worth the money. However, do note that the dim sum range is not extensive and they do not serve the dim sum in pushcarts, unlike Red Star. (I’ll do a formal review soon) Nevertheless, Yan Palace Restaurant has found a fan in me with their egg tarts. I’ll be back to try out their long forgotten Zhu Jiao Chu.
Bought a few times here. Sells a lot of "Nu Ren Wo Zui Da" recommended products as well as make-up/skin care items from Taiwan and Japan. Gives photos and detailed descriptions (mostly in both English and Chinese). The blog owner responses fast to email inquiries and orders. A person who is good to talk to and is able to give recommendations to your needs. Items are well tagged and organized so that even though its in blogshop style, you will not have trouble looking for what you wanted unless you just want to browse.
Have in-stocks as well as pre-order items.
Charges ($3) for meet-ups though except for meet-ups at Woodlands. Provides only 4 places for meet-ups and only if you purchase 4 items and above. This is understandable as the person is working other than on her blogshop. Also, she clearly states that in the blog.
Items are in original packaging and its stated in the blog that free samples are given for every purchases and true to her words, I do receive free samples every time.
Just as my review on Cafe Cartel in Plaza Singapura.. This review won't be really different. As usual... The place is very very cramped. I guess Cafe Cartel believes that the more people they squeeze inside, the more revenue it will get. It's logically true in a sense, but it really compromises customer's comfort I guess..
And I'll repeat my advice again.. Don't go to Cafe Cartel when it's crowded! Seriously, just find another place to eat.
When I went to this branch with my friends, it was horrible. Our table is adjoined to a table beside us occupied by a couple. Well but in the end the staff did bring us a separator between our tables though..
CAn't remember what I was having that day. I think it's another pan-fried linguini.. Or... Er I don't know. Hahaha.
Service was bad. We called out several times to refill our glasses. I think it took us 4 or more calls before our glasses finally were refilled.
And since it was crowded.. The bread is gone! When the bread finally came, everybody just flocked around the bread table. Makes the space even more cramped.. Haiz...
I tried their cakes here. Didn't like it. The sponge cake was not spongy at all. Don't know how to explain it.. It's just.. Not spongy -_- the chocolate cake was not very nice either. Hmm maybe because I came late so the cakes were the leftovers? Who knows...
I gave this branch 2 stars based on my experience that time. I've visited this branch only once.. ANd I believe they are actually better when it's not very crowded.
Cafe Cartel confuses me! Sometimes it's very good and I left with a smile but sometimes it's also very bad and I swear to myself not to eat there anymore.
Service level also varies. For instance, one time when I was there with my boyfriend, we couldn't get one waiter to attend to our order. Of course we know we can go to the counter to give our order but won't it be nice if the waiter comes? And it wasn't even crowded. (My boyfriend ended up going to the counter anyway) But then after that our glasses of iced water were never empty. They always quickly filled up our glasses. Now tell me how should I rate the service if it's like that? Sigh..
My biggest advice for anyone who wants to eat at Cafe Cartel is... Please don't go there when it's crowded! You might end up being seated at the uncomfortable and narrow seats tables and not getting any bread at all! (the bread is nice btw)
The same thing goes for food. One day it was sooo good. (I think I had the pan-fried linguini). Then the other day I tried their Fish n Chips, it was too crispy and oily.. Also when I tried their grilled chicken with mushroom sauce.. No mushroom present in my dish! Strange.. I have tried many other dishes I guess, since I actually come here pretty often with my boyfriend or friends.
Oh and their set lunch is very nice! It's very worth it ^^
So since they always confuse me.. I guess 3 stars will be enough lah. Just in the middle. Hehe.
1=SGD 0.0587
From its name, one should have guessed correctly that this place sells something related to BEANS. Yes! It’s soybean & I totally love it! The small shop located at Raffles Place MRT serves as a convenient stop for me to grab a quick, healthy bite before and sometimes after my gym workout.
My all-time favourites include:
Pearly soya milk
This drink is unique as one can find the black, chewy pearly which are typically found in bubble tea. Here is a good blend of the thick & smooth soymilk and the chewy pearls. The sweetness and chewyness of the pearls are just right and it is the perfect choice for health conscious people out there who loves bubble tea yet worry about their figure. Haha
Super beancurd
I always like beancurd to be mixed with soymilk. The smooth & light beancurd together with the thick & rich soymilk. Yummy!!
Mr Bean pancake
A good variety of pancake flavours are available for pick. That includes blueberry, cheese, chocolate, kaya, peanut, red bean and tuna. My favourite is their cheese pancake. For the cheese-flavour pancake, cream cheese is used instead of sliced cheese and it melts in the hot pancake. Heavenly!!
And yes! They even have a few “set meals”, which usually comes with a drink and a food for you to choose from and it’s much cheaper than ordering the individual items. The set meal has definitely served as a satisfying & healthy meal after my workout.
Rating given:
I used the senstive skin range of products for this brand and its the nightmare of my life.
The first day I used this product, my skin itch and small red rashes broke out. I thought nothing much of it as its usual that my sensitive skin will react to new products. So I continued the use for 2 weeks and my skin itch and rashed every single usage of the products. By and by it leads to me having super dry and sensitive skin. My skin starts to flake and scarring occurs.
So I stopped the usage and returned to using Dermalogical products and my skin goes back to normal although its already scarred and the sensitiveness increased.
Will not use this brand anymore.
Rating given:
This outlet is the first time I've tried Batok Jones. Heard alot of good comments about it and maybe we got our expectations too high.
Set in a hawker centre, the environment is dirty and due to the crowd there, we sat near the dustbin which made it even worse. Menu looks too cluttered and we took some time to order our food. Customers for that outlet of Botak Jones seems to be few at that time of the day and that time is certainly not a good time for eating heavy western food in great or should I say humongous portion.
Not much of an impression of the food there though I should give credit as the Fish and Chips was nicely done. I found the sausage too salty though and nothing special except its size. Meat seems to be the better prepared type of food there.
Not too bad but nothing special too. Given my small appetite, I don't think that will be the place I will frequent as even though the price is value for the portion size, its still expensive if I cannot finish the food.
Rating given:
Visited this place last Sunday with my parents and they have since been relocated to ground level of Liang Court Shopping Centre. Their old outlet has also been taken over by Ichibantei.
My parents had the usual Black Pig Shabu Shabu Ramen, which I believed most people know they are famous for.
But what I was looking forward to was their Black Pig Pork Chop which is heavenly! You have to try it to know it. The texture is so tender and soft that it melts the moment you bite it. The $20 for the pork chop cut into 8 pieces might seems ex but definitely worth it. If you have not try it, I urge you to do so! That alone is worth 4 stars!
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
After sampling the SHIOK Yakader Chicken Briyani a few months back, people all over has been asking me to try the most famous briyani stall at the other side of Tekka Food Centre instead. The queue at this stall meant nothing as I stood there waiting for 20 minutes. For those who still do not know, this stall is none other than Allauddin’s Briyani (no prize for those who guessed it correctly though).
For $4.00, what you get is also another plate of orangey red looking plate of Chicken Briyani that gets zero marks for presentation. At least Yakader’s serving came lined with banana leaf, what you get from Allauddin is just a Styrofoam plate with no achar (spicy pickled salad) in sight (not that I eat them anyway but at least visually it looks better).
In terms of the chicken, I would say they are both pretty similar in terms of taste and texture. So soft and tender was the meat that a simple tear at the lightest pressure of the fork will cause the meat to be easily separated from its bone. However, I will be inclined to find their rice overly moist and mushy from overcooking, as I expect the basmati rice to be slightly more firm and comes with a better bite. Having waited so long, I also decided to add an extra order of what they call “Lamb Cutlet” for additional $1.00 (although I do not see where the cutlet comes from). A nice savoury outer crust that was fried nicely to taste, it was disappointing though to find it soft on the inside with what seems like flour and onions and little of the lamb.
Overall, I felt that Yakader was the better of the two in terms of chicken briyani, however I would not hesitate to try their mutton next, which was ordered by the customers before me, as it looks pliable and succulent just by the sight of it. As Tekka Food Centre will be re-located to the Temporary Market along Race Course Road from May 1 onwards, Allauddin’s Briyani will be relocated to stall unit #01-189 and #01-190.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
Went to Tampines round market last night for dinner because the traffic to the cinema was horrible. Thus, what to do? Try out a 30 star winner stall to save money and have a nice dinner of course! Was it really good though?
Recently featured on the television show for stalls that needed "rescueing" due to extremely bad business, the stall has since been revamped and the chef retrained to serve much better food....or rather, thats the idea anyway.
A note is that basically, the stallholders do not like anyone to take photos so please try to refrain from that. The lady boss is scary when mad.
We basically ordered only 2 items last night.
A plate of stingray ($10) and a plate of vegetables (nai bai $4) and 2 bowls of rice (30 cents). Haven't had a cheap meal in like forever so this is a refreshing start.
They made their name by getting 30 out of 30 votes for their food on zhi ca.
The stingray is actually quite big and theres a lot of chili and meat available to pick through. I'm not too sure about the freshness of the fish since the chili manages to mask the taste overall. No denying that the meat is plenty though. However i did find the chili to need more work as its too dry and not very tasty. Thank goodness for the accompanying sour sauce or something. Which gave it much needed dimension. Overall, not too bad.
I liked the greens for sure. Its pretty much my favorite way of cooking and the greens were fresh. A winner in my books.
Total meal only cost me $14.60 which is like OMG! Dirt cheap.
Wouldn't mind returning for the good value.
Rating given:
Whilst studying in Canada, my friends and I used to “Yum Cha” every weekend morning without fail and it was often very fun with all the food and interaction. When I came back to Singapore, no one I knew practised that and thus the habit slowly died down. Up early and feeling nostalgic on a Sunday morning, I decided to visit the long standing Yan Palace Restaurant for some dim sum and roped in my gf to help with the eating.
Finding the place wasn’t too difficult as it was just next to Hong Lim food centre and parking was a breeze with the multi story carpark just next to it. (Its $1/hr even on Sundays though) When we got there at about 1100, the restaurant was almost packed with people. (The restaurant could seat about 100 people easily) The interior looked like that of a typical Chinese restaurant of yester year. As we were only having dim sum, a list was provided for us to tick off the types of dim sum we desired. We ordered the Mini egg tarts, Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Shanghai pork buns), century egg with pork porridge, Char Siew Sou (BBQ pork puff), Har Kaw, Siew Mai, Chee Cheong Fun with BBQ pork and Chee Cheong Fun with prawns.
The mini egg tarts at first glance, looked totally unappealing with its slightly dark crust. But as they say, goodness comes from within. In the case of this egg tart, it was literal. The custard wasn’t too sweet and very smooth. The crust was a little hard and had a little milky and oven-baked taste, just like a cookie. Very good I should say! I like this crust better then Tong Heng’s one, but Tong Heng’s custard still prevails. The Xiao Long Bao was disappointing, being too dry with no hint of juiciness at all.
I’ve never liked century egg and all the variations that come with it. But I tried the century egg with pork porridge after some cajoling by my gf and I liked it. The porridge was very sticky and didn’t have the century egg taste at all. (I avoided the century egg) In fact, it tasted like very good pork porridge with deep fried crispys. Next up was the Char Siew Sou, whose crust I like very much due to the oven baked taste that separates it from its other competitors. However, the char siew filling was not up to the mark. It tasted a little watery and didn’t have the real BBQ pork taste. The Siew Mai was good, not too salty and with lots of prawns and lean meat packed into it. Har Kaw tasted normal, but a little expensive in my opinion, given its size and taste.
Last up was the Chee Chong Fun, one with BBQ pork and other with prawns. I liked the one with prawns a lot better as the BBQ pork was practically tasteless. The Chee Chong Fun itself wasn’t too soft, unlike good Chee Chong Funs.
At about $32 for 2 pax for dim sum, it’s a little on the high side, but take comfort in the fact that quite a few dishes at Yan Palace Restaurant are well worth the money. However, do note that the dim sum range is not extensive and they do not serve the dim sum in pushcarts, unlike Red Star. (I’ll do a formal review soon) Nevertheless, Yan Palace Restaurant has found a fan in me with their egg tarts. I’ll be back to try out their long forgotten Zhu Jiao Chu.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Bought a few times here. Sells a lot of "Nu Ren Wo Zui Da" recommended products as well as make-up/skin care items from Taiwan and Japan. Gives photos and detailed descriptions (mostly in both English and Chinese). The blog owner responses fast to email inquiries and orders. A person who is good to talk to and is able to give recommendations to your needs. Items are well tagged and organized so that even though its in blogshop style, you will not have trouble looking for what you wanted unless you just want to browse.
Have in-stocks as well as pre-order items.
Charges ($3) for meet-ups though except for meet-ups at Woodlands. Provides only 4 places for meet-ups and only if you purchase 4 items and above. This is understandable as the person is working other than on her blogshop. Also, she clearly states that in the blog.
Items are in original packaging and its stated in the blog that free samples are given for every purchases and true to her words, I do receive free samples every time.
Rating given:
Just as my review on Cafe Cartel in Plaza Singapura.. This review won't be really different. As usual... The place is very very cramped. I guess Cafe Cartel believes that the more people they squeeze inside, the more revenue it will get. It's logically true in a sense, but it really compromises customer's comfort I guess..
And I'll repeat my advice again.. Don't go to Cafe Cartel when it's crowded! Seriously, just find another place to eat.
When I went to this branch with my friends, it was horrible. Our table is adjoined to a table beside us occupied by a couple. Well but in the end the staff did bring us a separator between our tables though..
CAn't remember what I was having that day. I think it's another pan-fried linguini.. Or... Er I don't know. Hahaha.
Service was bad. We called out several times to refill our glasses. I think it took us 4 or more calls before our glasses finally were refilled.
And since it was crowded.. The bread is gone! When the bread finally came, everybody just flocked around the bread table. Makes the space even more cramped.. Haiz...
I tried their cakes here. Didn't like it. The sponge cake was not spongy at all. Don't know how to explain it.. It's just.. Not spongy -_- the chocolate cake was not very nice either. Hmm maybe because I came late so the cakes were the leftovers? Who knows...
I gave this branch 2 stars based on my experience that time. I've visited this branch only once.. ANd I believe they are actually better when it's not very crowded.
Rating given:
Cafe Cartel confuses me! Sometimes it's very good and I left with a smile but sometimes it's also very bad and I swear to myself not to eat there anymore.
Service level also varies. For instance, one time when I was there with my boyfriend, we couldn't get one waiter to attend to our order. Of course we know we can go to the counter to give our order but won't it be nice if the waiter comes? And it wasn't even crowded. (My boyfriend ended up going to the counter anyway) But then after that our glasses of iced water were never empty. They always quickly filled up our glasses. Now tell me how should I rate the service if it's like that? Sigh..
My biggest advice for anyone who wants to eat at Cafe Cartel is... Please don't go there when it's crowded! You might end up being seated at the uncomfortable and narrow seats tables and not getting any bread at all! (the bread is nice btw)
The same thing goes for food. One day it was sooo good. (I think I had the pan-fried linguini). Then the other day I tried their Fish n Chips, it was too crispy and oily.. Also when I tried their grilled chicken with mushroom sauce.. No mushroom present in my dish! Strange.. I have tried many other dishes I guess, since I actually come here pretty often with my boyfriend or friends.
Oh and their set lunch is very nice! It's very worth it ^^
So since they always confuse me.. I guess 3 stars will be enough lah. Just in the middle. Hehe.
Rating given: