Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered: Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90 Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings. I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90 This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese. This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90 Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables. Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
Finally after a very long wait, I happened to have the chance to try out the chicken which everyone is raving about, saying that it is much better than KFC. Well I don’t think KFC is that good to start off with. Since we need to send people off airport, I decided to make use of this chance to try it out.
So excited when we reached there, as usual there is a long queue going on, well 4 people in front of me. There are 3 counters serving at the same time but only one queue. They worked in the way of how you queue at the bank. Not a bad thing but then some people might be put off by the very long one queue.
Seem that it is very popular among a lot of people as they all bought a lot of sets meals, and thus explains the long waiting time as well. Well three counters, so only three people serving at the same time. Since I am so keen on trying it, I wait! Wahahaha…..
I ordered a two piece meal that comes with a side dish and a drink. Their chicken got a choice of spicy and mild version as well. Well I ordered one of each, and got one big piece of big breast meat and one small little chicken wing. Ordered their Cajun fries as the side dish and got a cup of coke. Also added coleslaw as side dish as well. The set also comes with their famous biscuit as well. It comes with a small pack of strawberry jam.
May the tasting begin! I am not a big fan of breast meat but I like thie breast meat. It is crispy on the outside but soft and juicy on the inside. It is not dry at all. The flour covering the chicken is not very thick and it got a hint of herbs being used as well. Taste great! Definitely beats KFC hands down. The thing is both of us could not taste the different between mild and spicy version. Hmm…. Or we got both the same version. Their fries are good enough of their own. It is crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside. Seems like they seasoned it with herbs as well. Good! Their coleslaw tasted like the coleslaw that KFC used to produce in the 80s. It is good with big chucks of cabbage and enough mayo to taste. Finally the famous biscuit, it is hard on the outside but soft and fluffy inside. On its own, it tastes like a butter biscuit, but do find it a bit dry and hard to sallow. Together with the strawberry jam, it tastes better.
Overall, I think the fried chicken rocks here but hope that they do open other outlets soon! Hopefully in town! Then now I am officially a Popeyes Fried Chicken Fan!
This little stall is well hidden in a café of Yio Chu Kang Road. Frankly speaking, if I don’t work nearby the café, I would have never found out about this stall. The café is along the side with a few coffee shops but it is almost packed to brim when it comes to lunch time.
The café is a very small and humble set up. Simple tables with white chairs and with a TV showing some lunch time show. The café is air conditioned and got outdoor seats for the smokers as well. There are only 3 stalls, one selling drinks, one selling noodles and the last one selling roast meat. So this review shall focus on the stall selling roast duck: Sally Roast Meat Rice.
The stall is managed by 2 sisters and of course the name Sally belongs to the elder sister if I am not wrong. It seems that they had been around doing this for sometime. Their stall also got paste a number of newspapers cutting and even got on a TV show before. They got all the nice logos on display. During lunch, most of the people will buy from their stall so prepared to join a long queue. For good food, it is totally worth to queue. They are very friendly as well, if you ask nicely to them for a little more rice, they will give it to you with no extra charge.
Since they are selling roast meat, of course they sell all kinds of roast meat, from duck, to meat and even BBQ chicken wings. On their stall front, just before lunch, they always display all the wonderful, shiny, meat.
Let me start off with their roast duck, their ducks are consider rather big in size. Their ducks are roasted until they have very nice and crispy looking skin. They have an even dark red color throughout the duck. The meat is juicy and soft, not tough at all. The skin is crispy and not oily. Other ducks tend to have a lot of fats but their ducks seem to have very little of it. Therefore when eating the duck, you dun have to chew off the fats first. A plate of duck rice comes with a large portion of nicely chopped duck meat and it only cost $3. It is a must try.
Their Char Siew is also another star on its own. Their char siew is roasted until dark red brown color with a shiny finishing and a bit of chao da bits at its corner. The meat they chose are lean so dun have much fats inside. They cut into slightly thick slices when serves. I like the taste where it is not too sweet and at the same time meat is soft and juicy. Unlike those that are sold in the market where their char siew are bright red in color and taste super sweet one.
Roast meat is something that I usually try not to eat but their roast meat has a thick crispy skin, together with the fat layer and the meat makes a wonderful combination. Got me totally hooked onto their roast meat.
BBQ Chicken Wing, this one alone is worth 5 stars already. Their BBQ chicken wing is like their char siew, dark red brown color with a shiny finishing and a bit of chao da bits. I think they used the same seasoning for both. It is also not too sweet and the meat is soft and juicy, not dry at all.
My usual order would be duck rice char siew 1 chicken wing, and the cost is only $4.70 and it comes with a very big size of rice. Sometimes to give myself a treat, I will buy a duck drumstick. Yum Yum! Something to mention here, every order comes with a free soup. Their free soup is made from all the leftover bones of the roasted duck and a type of preserved spicy vegetable. So to say there is extra meat in the soup. Free of charge some more!
Recently they started to sell sliced fish soup also but sad to say they should just stick to selling of the roasted meat can alr. Their sliced fish soup, although comes with a generous serving of sliced fish, but the soup base is tasteless with a very peppery taste. Not tasty at all.
So you keen to give it a try? Give me a call then I can bring you there for lunch!
1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
We were planning on going to The Rice Table but it has long closed @ suntec so I suggested Tony Roma's. Price is a bit steep but I still have the cupon that gives me 50% off my 2nd main.
ORderd side salad and Shared the 1/2 bbq chicken(with a choice of 2 sides), chose mashed potato and fries with my colleague. and we orderd the calamari too and they actually asked if i wanted the calamari and salad before or together with the main. Noticing that i was malay, the waiter even informed me that the salad had bacon bits on top and asked if i wanted it omitted *yay for service*
my colleagues all orderd the ribs set.
Food came in around 10-15 minutes.
We were served with complimentary bread which was nice. reminds me of the delifrance baguette and i liked the garlic spread. Ended up eating the calamari with the spread.
The chicken that came was huge. And it was delicious. Juicy, succulent and tasty. Wasnt too overwhelmed with the bbq sauce but still nice and could taste the tangy bbq sauce. Mashed potato was the 2nd best iv tried(best is still popeyes) loved the gravy which had melted cheese in it and it wasnt salty. I liked the fries too, thin but filling and crunchy. And not laden with salt too.
My colleagues all seemed to enjoy their meals..
Calamari was good, passed my non rubber test tho found it a bit too flour-ey. Think sice I have my voucher I shall return again.
Its servings are enough for two and even then we couldnt finish so it was value for money. Service was good. Kept refilling our drinks and did not chase us out at 11 when they were closing. and I liked the decor, would want to sit at the booth seats next time.
Overall a good dining experience for 12 rowdy people
Arnold's Chicken? What's that? Thoughts of yet another generic deep fried chicken stall flashed across my mind when my friend brought it up. When informed that it was a rather famous outlet selling chicken that rivaled Popeye's and beat KFC's hands down, I embarked on a trip with my gf that very same day to verify the claims.
Located on the 2nd floor of City Plaza, the main outlet of Arnold's is tucked away in a rather obscure corner and very much resembles a fast food joint except that they do take and serve orders at your table. Please note that you still pay at the counter though.
We had the 2 person combo meal, which consisted of 5 pieces of chicken, potato fries, 1 regular coleslaw, 2 buns and 2 soft drinks. The highlight was of course the chicken, which was very crispy on the outside with a tinge of herbs yet tender and moist on the inside. And the best part was, it didn't have the used oil aftertaste that usually came along with KFC chickens. The coleslaw was also quite a refreshing change from the funny tasting and smelling ones that KFC serves. Even my gf who dislikes coleslaw commented so. The buns were way too oily though, being deep fried in oil and the fries really tasted like frozen fries that had been deep fried.
$18.10 for the above is rather pricey actually, especially when you can get the exact same stuff at KFC for about $5 less. Quality wise, no thoughts of comparison between Arnold's and KFC should even cross your mind because there is simply no competition. Unfortunately, location wise, KFC is a clear winner.
The vibrant dining scene of East Coast/Upper East Coast road has a new entrant - a small bistro by the name of Montreux. Its not exactly new to the East Coast area per se, with a small cafe going by the same name and owned by the same person operating out of the basement of Siglap Centre. The cafe only sells cakes and desserts though, while the bistro serves up appetisers and mains as well.
Partially hidden from view in a tiny shophouse just 2 units down from NTUC, Montreux's interior is simple, uncluttered and very "cafeish". Its really tiny though, probably maxing out at about 20 customers or so.
Complimentary Bread - The bread, though served warm, was at best forgettable. But no one complains of free bread especially when they are starving.
The soup of the day - Beef Goulash. Tangy with a hint of spice and a few chunks of beef, something which I certainly didn't expect from a low cost set dinner soup. It was a tad too watery though.
Bangers & Mash - Okay this hardly qualifies as bangers and mash although technically there's nothing wrong with it. Correct me if I am wrong though, but isn't bangers and mash suppose to come with huge sausages and not the teeny weeny ones you can get off the shelves from some supermart? However, having said that, its best to keep in mind that we are talking about a $12.90 set dinner here so I guess that kinda puts things into perspective. Just for the record, the sausages weren't great, average at best.
Half Spring Chicken - The half spring chicken was rather smallish but decent enough. Served up with a piece of overfried rosti, it was a tad dry (probably a little overcooked) with a light herb taste.
Hazelnut Cake - The cake had to be the highlight of the set dinner, or the entire meal for that matter. Smooth hazelnut and sponge sitting atop a nice crunchy wafer base. A very nice nutty taste. It did seem a tad too dry though. Also, only half a slice of cake was served, making portions really small.
Espresso Brownie - Our waiter recommended this and after the positive experience with the hazelnut cake, I had fairly high expectations of it. And it was quite good with molten chocolate atop and the cake a tad chewy and not too dry. However, I couldn't quite make out any taste of espresso at all. Montreux might want to consider adding more espresso into the mix or renaming the brownie?
2 set dinners plus an extra dessert cost $36, which certainly isn't expensive. Generally mains are average but desserts are better. If they could improve the quality of their mains, I'm sure Montreux Bistro will be a success, especially when service is good as well. On a side note, I've not tried anything from their ala carte menu because the items in it do seem rather expensive, which means that my review might not be entirely fair.
Just finished 2 sets of 2 pieces chicken with 1 ice lemon tea and 1 ice milo with the missus. We were very fortunate to get in very quickly, waiting for 2 minutes and we got our table. The chickens were quite good but too salty for my taste. Luckily I have the coleslaw and fries to cover the saltyness of the chickens. Total of the dinner was $16.20, overall experience was generally okay. It was the kind where you come in, eat, pay, and get out. So don't expect cool, funky atmosphere to hang out.
1=SGD 0.0587
Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
Rating given:
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered:
Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90
Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings.
I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90
This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese.
This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90
Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables.
Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant
Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu
I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
Rating given:
Finally after a very long wait, I happened to have the chance to try out the chicken which everyone is raving about, saying that it is much better than KFC. Well I don’t think KFC is that good to start off with. Since we need to send people off airport, I decided to make use of this chance to try it out.
So excited when we reached there, as usual there is a long queue going on, well 4 people in front of me. There are 3 counters serving at the same time but only one queue. They worked in the way of how you queue at the bank. Not a bad thing but then some people might be put off by the very long one queue.
Seem that it is very popular among a lot of people as they all bought a lot of sets meals, and thus explains the long waiting time as well. Well three counters, so only three people serving at the same time. Since I am so keen on trying it, I wait! Wahahaha…..
I ordered a two piece meal that comes with a side dish and a drink. Their chicken got a choice of spicy and mild version as well. Well I ordered one of each, and got one big piece of big breast meat and one small little chicken wing. Ordered their Cajun fries as the side dish and got a cup of coke. Also added coleslaw as side dish as well. The set also comes with their famous biscuit as well. It comes with a small pack of strawberry jam.
May the tasting begin! I am not a big fan of breast meat but I like thie breast meat. It is crispy on the outside but soft and juicy on the inside. It is not dry at all. The flour covering the chicken is not very thick and it got a hint of herbs being used as well. Taste great! Definitely beats KFC hands down. The thing is both of us could not taste the different between mild and spicy version. Hmm…. Or we got both the same version. Their fries are good enough of their own. It is crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside. Seems like they seasoned it with herbs as well. Good! Their coleslaw tasted like the coleslaw that KFC used to produce in the 80s. It is good with big chucks of cabbage and enough mayo to taste. Finally the famous biscuit, it is hard on the outside but soft and fluffy inside. On its own, it tastes like a butter biscuit, but do find it a bit dry and hard to sallow. Together with the strawberry jam, it tastes better.
Overall, I think the fried chicken rocks here but hope that they do open other outlets soon! Hopefully in town! Then now I am officially a Popeyes Fried Chicken Fan!
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This little stall is well hidden in a café of Yio Chu Kang Road. Frankly speaking, if I don’t work nearby the café, I would have never found out about this stall. The café is along the side with a few coffee shops but it is almost packed to brim when it comes to lunch time.
The café is a very small and humble set up. Simple tables with white chairs and with a TV showing some lunch time show. The café is air conditioned and got outdoor seats for the smokers as well. There are only 3 stalls, one selling drinks, one selling noodles and the last one selling roast meat. So this review shall focus on the stall selling roast duck: Sally Roast Meat Rice.
The stall is managed by 2 sisters and of course the name Sally belongs to the elder sister if I am not wrong. It seems that they had been around doing this for sometime. Their stall also got paste a number of newspapers cutting and even got on a TV show before. They got all the nice logos on display. During lunch, most of the people will buy from their stall so prepared to join a long queue. For good food, it is totally worth to queue. They are very friendly as well, if you ask nicely to them for a little more rice, they will give it to you with no extra charge.
Since they are selling roast meat, of course they sell all kinds of roast meat, from duck, to meat and even BBQ chicken wings. On their stall front, just before lunch, they always display all the wonderful, shiny, meat.
Let me start off with their roast duck, their ducks are consider rather big in size. Their ducks are roasted until they have very nice and crispy looking skin. They have an even dark red color throughout the duck. The meat is juicy and soft, not tough at all. The skin is crispy and not oily. Other ducks tend to have a lot of fats but their ducks seem to have very little of it. Therefore when eating the duck, you dun have to chew off the fats first. A plate of duck rice comes with a large portion of nicely chopped duck meat and it only cost $3. It is a must try.
Their Char Siew is also another star on its own. Their char siew is roasted until dark red brown color with a shiny finishing and a bit of chao da bits at its corner. The meat they chose are lean so dun have much fats inside. They cut into slightly thick slices when serves. I like the taste where it is not too sweet and at the same time meat is soft and juicy. Unlike those that are sold in the market where their char siew are bright red in color and taste super sweet one.
Roast meat is something that I usually try not to eat but their roast meat has a thick crispy skin, together with the fat layer and the meat makes a wonderful combination. Got me totally hooked onto their roast meat.
BBQ Chicken Wing, this one alone is worth 5 stars already. Their BBQ chicken wing is like their char siew, dark red brown color with a shiny finishing and a bit of chao da bits. I think they used the same seasoning for both. It is also not too sweet and the meat is soft and juicy, not dry at all.
My usual order would be duck rice char siew 1 chicken wing, and the cost is only $4.70 and it comes with a very big size of rice. Sometimes to give myself a treat, I will buy a duck drumstick. Yum Yum! Something to mention here, every order comes with a free soup. Their free soup is made from all the leftover bones of the roasted duck and a type of preserved spicy vegetable. So to say there is extra meat in the soup. Free of charge some more!
Recently they started to sell sliced fish soup also but sad to say they should just stick to selling of the roasted meat can alr. Their sliced fish soup, although comes with a generous serving of sliced fish, but the soup base is tasteless with a very peppery taste. Not tasty at all.
So you keen to give it a try? Give me a call then I can bring you there for lunch!
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1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
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The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
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We were planning on going to The Rice Table but it has long closed @ suntec so I suggested Tony Roma's. Price is a bit steep but I still have the cupon that gives me 50% off my 2nd main.
ORderd side salad and Shared the 1/2 bbq chicken(with a choice of 2 sides), chose mashed potato and fries with my colleague. and we orderd the calamari too and they actually asked if i wanted the calamari and salad before or together with the main. Noticing that i was malay, the waiter even informed me that the salad had bacon bits on top and asked if i wanted it omitted *yay for service*
my colleagues all orderd the ribs set.
Food came in around 10-15 minutes.
We were served with complimentary bread which was nice. reminds me of the delifrance baguette and i liked the garlic spread. Ended up eating the calamari with the spread.
The chicken that came was huge. And it was delicious. Juicy, succulent and tasty. Wasnt too overwhelmed with the bbq sauce but still nice and could taste the tangy bbq sauce. Mashed potato was the 2nd best iv tried(best is still popeyes) loved the gravy which had melted cheese in it and it wasnt salty. I liked the fries too, thin but filling and crunchy. And not laden with salt too.
My colleagues all seemed to enjoy their meals..
Calamari was good, passed my non rubber test tho found it a bit too flour-ey. Think sice I have my voucher I shall return again.
Its servings are enough for two and even then we couldnt finish so it was value for money. Service was good. Kept refilling our drinks and did not chase us out at 11 when they were closing. and I liked the decor, would want to sit at the booth seats next time.
Overall a good dining experience for 12 rowdy people
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Arnold's Chicken? What's that? Thoughts of yet another generic deep fried chicken stall flashed across my mind when my friend brought it up. When informed that it was a rather famous outlet selling chicken that rivaled Popeye's and beat KFC's hands down, I embarked on a trip with my gf that very same day to verify the claims.
Located on the 2nd floor of City Plaza, the main outlet of Arnold's is tucked away in a rather obscure corner and very much resembles a fast food joint except that they do take and serve orders at your table. Please note that you still pay at the counter though.
We had the 2 person combo meal, which consisted of 5 pieces of chicken, potato fries, 1 regular coleslaw, 2 buns and 2 soft drinks. The highlight was of course the chicken, which was very crispy on the outside with a tinge of herbs yet tender and moist on the inside. And the best part was, it didn't have the used oil aftertaste that usually came along with KFC chickens. The coleslaw was also quite a refreshing change from the funny tasting and smelling ones that KFC serves. Even my gf who dislikes coleslaw commented so. The buns were way too oily though, being deep fried in oil and the fries really tasted like frozen fries that had been deep fried.
$18.10 for the above is rather pricey actually, especially when you can get the exact same stuff at KFC for about $5 less. Quality wise, no thoughts of comparison between Arnold's and KFC should even cross your mind because there is simply no competition. Unfortunately, location wise, KFC is a clear winner.
See all my pictures here
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The vibrant dining scene of East Coast/Upper East Coast road has a new entrant - a small bistro by the name of Montreux. Its not exactly new to the East Coast area per se, with a small cafe going by the same name and owned by the same person operating out of the basement of Siglap Centre. The cafe only sells cakes and desserts though, while the bistro serves up appetisers and mains as well.
Partially hidden from view in a tiny shophouse just 2 units down from NTUC, Montreux's interior is simple, uncluttered and very "cafeish". Its really tiny though, probably maxing out at about 20 customers or so.
Complimentary Bread - The bread, though served warm, was at best forgettable. But no one complains of free bread especially when they are starving.
The soup of the day - Beef Goulash. Tangy with a hint of spice and a few chunks of beef, something which I certainly didn't expect from a low cost set dinner soup. It was a tad too watery though.
Bangers & Mash - Okay this hardly qualifies as bangers and mash although technically there's nothing wrong with it. Correct me if I am wrong though, but isn't bangers and mash suppose to come with huge sausages and not the teeny weeny ones you can get off the shelves from some supermart? However, having said that, its best to keep in mind that we are talking about a $12.90 set dinner here so I guess that kinda puts things into perspective. Just for the record, the sausages weren't great, average at best.
Half Spring Chicken - The half spring chicken was rather smallish but decent enough. Served up with a piece of overfried rosti, it was a tad dry (probably a little overcooked) with a light herb taste.
Hazelnut Cake - The cake had to be the highlight of the set dinner, or the entire meal for that matter. Smooth hazelnut and sponge sitting atop a nice crunchy wafer base. A very nice nutty taste. It did seem a tad too dry though. Also, only half a slice of cake was served, making portions really small.
Espresso Brownie - Our waiter recommended this and after the positive experience with the hazelnut cake, I had fairly high expectations of it. And it was quite good with molten chocolate atop and the cake a tad chewy and not too dry. However, I couldn't quite make out any taste of espresso at all. Montreux might want to consider adding more espresso into the mix or renaming the brownie?
2 set dinners plus an extra dessert cost $36, which certainly isn't expensive. Generally mains are average but desserts are better. If they could improve the quality of their mains, I'm sure Montreux Bistro will be a success, especially when service is good as well. On a side note, I've not tried anything from their ala carte menu because the items in it do seem rather expensive, which means that my review might not be entirely fair.
See all my pictures here
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Just finished 2 sets of 2 pieces chicken with 1 ice lemon tea and 1 ice milo with the missus. We were very fortunate to get in very quickly, waiting for 2 minutes and we got our table.
The chickens were quite good but too salty for my taste. Luckily I have the coleslaw and fries to cover the saltyness of the chickens.
Total of the dinner was $16.20, overall experience was generally okay. It was the kind where you come in, eat, pay, and get out. So don't expect cool, funky atmosphere to hang out.
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