Hong Kong Café along East Coast Road. is one of the more authentic hong kong style cafes compared to those like Central or XinWang. The ambience makes you feel like you're in HK...We can feel the small flies buzzing around while we wait for the food. haha
We had : -
Golden Fantasy Not fantastic although it is recommended by the media and the chef(it had 2 blue and red stars). The mango puree is very watery .The taste I had was from the mango ice cream instead.The seed toppings were bitter which was suppose to contrast with the natural sweetness of the mango puree,but in the end,no.. All I had to taste was the articifial sweetness from the mango ice cream.Not recommended at all.
Fried Hor Fan with fish & Bean Sprouts One look at the picture.It is actually FRIED BEAN SPROUTS with fish and hor fan… I asked my friend : “ Did I order a vegtable meal instead?" They are overly generous with the bean sprouts. Although I m a bean sprouts fan but its too much… Overall, I like it still because it’s a light meal. You can taste the old style frying, typical of a hawker u will find in the olden days in smith street. Very Cantonese.I would recommend it.But at $7.50, it’s a bit steep.
The service was good.They had the “customer is always right” attitude. The customer sitting beside me spilled his drinks all over himself while drinking it. The supervisor was quick to react. She was so apologetic, while helping him clean up. It was obvious that it was not her fault because she was miles away from him. But her attitude is commendable.I think a typical Singaporean waitress who start to roll eyes…etc… I would go back again in the evenings.
But sometimes the queue really puts me off and the lack of parking.... take the bus if you can :)
**Updated** I went again recently and had two delicious dishes which I HAVE to share with you guys.
I was there just a couple of days ago for a late night supper.
Item 609 Spicy Salt and Pepper Deep Fried Squid $7.20 Yes it is calamari... :) The batter was light and and very tasty. I liked how it wasn't oily and we were using eating every single last bit of it.
Item 684 Golden Fried Crispy Mushroom $6.20 I had this once and had a good impression of it, so I ordered it again. This time was even better than the last! They changed the kind of mushrooms they used and it does suit the batter more now. Ultra delicious and it is a must try!
Craving for more Japanese food after Waraku, i brought my sister and gf out for lunch this lazy weekend. And being a lazy weekend, going too far is out of the question. Instead, we opted to try out a Japanese restaurant in the Heartlands @ Compass Point.
Miso Soup - I would have expected better from Wasabi but it was not meant to be, the miso was bland and hardly appetizing. The seaweed came in big pieces however and the tofu is soft and melts in your mouth. Still, the soup just isn't what it could have been.
Beef Don Cold Cha Soba Agedashi Tofu ($15.80) - Beef is teriyaki seasoned as usual and tastes as it should. Chewy, sweet and tender with simple but fragrant Japanese rice. The cold cha soba here is springy and chewy with a slight bitter green tea taste which totally dissipates when you dip it into the accompanying sauce. It then becomes sweet, slightly heady and extremely tasty. Notice the agedashi tofu wasn't shown? Yeah, thats because it wasn't really that good to begin with.
Katsudon ($9) - The first was a wrong order which served beef instead of pork. The second bowl came after we asked a serving lady who kindly helped us correct the issue. The second bowl was the real deal. Pork cutlet was not too crispy due to the egg on top but retained many of the juices that makes it delectable. Guess who ordered this dish? None other then my gf of course.
Soft Shell Crab ($5.50) - The crab came in 2 pieces and was quite small. It was very crispy and hot but lacked sweetness in its meat.
Ebi Curry Don Fried Chicken Cold Soba ($15.80) - I was quite surprised when my sister's order appeared. For the price, i did not expect 2 big prawns to be on the bowl. The prawns were not very sweet tasting however. And the only difference between cold soba and cha soba is the green tea taste. But that difference means everything because this pales in comparison to cha soba. The fried chicken side dish was surprisingly generous and tasted hot, tender and sweet as well.
The total bill came up to $54.25 for 3 people for lunch. Which isn't too much and was reasonably satisfying.
Not too bad a restaurant though you can't compare it to Waraku, Inagiku or Keyaki on the same standing. Still, for a simple Japanese meal, you can't really go wrong with this place.
In the western region of Singapore lies a gem that is Restaurant Chako. Established in 1978 by Chako, the lady boss cum chef, the eatery boasts home cooked food that is cooked when you place your order and at prices that won't burst your pocket.
Located at a rather prominent row of shops along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), Chako is ironically hidden from sight and totally devoid of human traffic on a Tuesday evening. Not that I'm complaining though. The interior was tiny and oozed a homely feel made complete by a shelf full of Japanese comics and the motherly figure of Chako, who fussed over us and explained to us in detail the items on the menu (which happens to be in Japanese by the way).
The Occha deserves a mention on its own. Unlike the usual Occha served at most other Japanese eateries, the Occha here was particularly fragrant and carried a whiff of coffee aroma. It had a tinge of coffee taste as well which was delightful.
The sides of Miso Soup and Cold Tofu came with every order of a main course. What I liked about the Miso soup was that there were cockles in it, which was something different. However the soup did come across as a tad too salty for my liking. The tofu was soft and silky but nothing out of the ordinary.
My Hanburg steak was nice and thick but a little too soft for my liking. Meat was pan fried till well done instead of the usual medium/medium rare which would have been tastier and juicier. Simply done without the frills and very decent.
Served up with various vegetables like lettuce, carrots, egg plants etc, the Yakiniku Chicken was relatively well done. Crispy on the outside and not too heavy on the BBQ sauce. Add the fact that it was topped with a generous amount of crushed peanuts and you have a nice yet simple dish.
The vanilla soya bean ice cream came across as light, tasting of soya with a tinge of vanilla. It came with cut fruits which had been carefully prepared, ie. the grapes had the head cut off and the pear has its skin removed.
I'm not exactly a fan of yoghurt but the mango yoghurt wasn't half as bad as I made it out to be. Slightly sourish with a dash of mango. I understand that both desserts are hand made by Chako herself.
We were the only 2 customers in the restaurant that evening and it was a long dinner, standing at 2.5hrs and costing $55. Expensive? A little. Food quality? Decent. Satisfaction from a home cooked dinner? Priceless. On a side note, please be prepared to wait for your food as it is a one man show. If you can't understand Japanese, please bring along something to read to while away the long waiting times.
I don't know if it was because I ordered the wrong thing or what, somehow it didn't feel to me like I had as good an experience there as bobo and feizhu did.
I, too, ordered the Grilled Half Shell Scallops with Linguine. Sounded really good to me, what with the scallops and the whole set meal. However, I was pretty disappointed when my order came. Felt like the scallops were done in 4 different ways - Well done, medium well, medium and rare. Yes, it certainly did look so. The scallops weren't sweet either. The linguine did not really have much taste other than the spice on it and loads of Olive oil. It was very dry, like fried noodles left over, re-fried. I thought that I had to mix it, but even until the end when I had less linguine and a lot of olive oil left, it still didn't work. In the end, my pasta became very oily, you can feel all the oil around your lips.. =s
The soup, though, was not bad I felt. It wasn't too diluted and was rather tasty. Served with 2 small slices of bread, which, for me, didn't seem to hard after dipping it into the soup. But I'm more of a smooth-texture-soup kinda person, so I didn't quite like the little bits and pieces of carrots (I think) in it. It's like an ice-blend drink not well blended.
Though what I had wasn't exceptionally good, I think I would still go back and give the place a try. I did get to try abit of their pan-fried dory which I thought was not too bad, hence I wouldn't conclude that the quality of the food there is poor. Also, I find the restaurant somewhat welcoming. Could be due to the fact that the waitress in there seemed pleased to welcome us in. Just feels very comfortable.
In addition, the interior is simply decorated, with cute wall paper. Somehow adds a tinge of cosy-ness and comfort to the place. Plus, there's television too! I like watching TV and eating at the same time.. Haha.
On the whole, I think the place is nice and the price is decent. Service is good. Plus!! There's no GST inclusive - kinda important, especially if your meal totals up to be quite expensive right. Would give the place another try, since it was only my first time there. ;)
Met up with Kelvin and Mr Sotong Bao again for dinner along with my gf. Our initial location was supposed to be at either a porridge buffet in Ang Mo Kio or a HDB Tai Tai recommendation called Bermuda Triangle around the area. However, they were not viable options as they were packed and so we traveled around searching for food till we found this place.
Cosy, quiet and small are the words you would use to describe the restaurant. Also to note was that the place was packed when we arrived. A good sign? Not in terms of service thats for sure, we had to wait about 10-15 minutes before our order was taken and table cleared.
Cheese and Tomato Bruschetta ($6.50) - Toasted bread with tomato and cheese. This has got to be a cruel joke since there's practically nothing worth merit on this item and its a complete waste of money. Next!
Haloumi Cheese ($6.50) - Deep fried cheese with tomato pizzaiola sauce. Personally, i've never had this before and after this, i probably will not order it again. Cheese was tasteless and forgettable.
Fish And Chips ($9.50) - The biggest of the lot in terms of main course servings. The owner was kind enough to point out that this is a dish for kids and seldom ordered for adults. The fillet was crispy and batter thin but the meat wasn't fresh and was generally tasteless. A point to note though is that, for a kids meal, the serving was a whole lot more then any of the other adult items we ordered. Maybe kids have it better?
Beef Stew ($19.50) - It came smelling fragrant but won't win any prizes for presentation. Beef was tender and quite sweet tasting but its more like a non spicy rendition of beef rendang. Not too bad but portion was small and definately not worth the money.
Grilled Chicken in Mushroom Sauce ($15) - My gf had this thinking it would be a healthy and light dish but it came swimming in olive oil. From the outset, it was oily and that signed the death warrant for this dish. The grilled chicken was oily AND tasteless. Bad move.
Tiramisu - Madam Q's signature dessert. Tiramisu seems to be a favorite order such that almost any eatery will have it simply to round out their menu. This rendition was at least decent in that it was sweet and the cake was evident though i do not detect much rum. The best item of the day but thats not saying alot since everything else bordered on failing.
$85.80 for a mediocre meal is just one meal too many for me.
Disappointment. For all the good service and nice ambiance going for it. All this places lacks is good food.
Waraku (Katong) is one place which I keep walking past many times, peer in but never walk in. Finally I managed to drag my colleague there with me one lazy weekday afternoon. There weren't any customers then since it was technically tea time so we had all the attention.
The servers were very polite and were very smiley. The ambience was pretty casual but it was really cramp with all the tables close to each other. A little claustrophobic, so luckily it wasn't crowded. But it's a full house at dinner time so you might want to make reservations if you intend to go then.
We ordered:- Horenso and Bacon Cream MMmmM It smelt so good when it came in its HUGE bowl. I was really apprehensive about the cream because I'm never a fan of cream based sauces... but I tried it anyway. It wasn't as thick as it looked yet it had a lot of flavour. It was served on Noodles and with rice on the side. Lots of ingredients to go ard. I'd say this is good value for $12.90...
Katsu Curry Don I regret ordering this the moment I ordered. Not because it looked horrible but because the other things looked so interesting and I chose such a safe option! So Dumb. A safe option it might be... it wasn't good enough. The curry is one of the salty-est I've tasted. And there was SO MUCH sauce but no rice. And 3 pieces of chicken. How does it add up?! So I ended up eating only half of it... the rest was just too salty to take.
Amazingly I would be going back. We paid about $28-$30 for the two of us...Which is not really value for money but the rest of the things on the menu really enticed me and I think it deserves another try. :)
But service did falter when they had more people... we got our bill really slow.... :P
Royal China at Raffle Arcade. Interestingly, the 1st Royal China Resturant is in London. I found it amazing that they have food that suit Asians. The ambience of the restaurant is great. The decor is beautiful and even the setting of the table matches the rest of the restaurant. Its not noisy compared to a typical Yum cha resturant
We had : -
Cha Siew Buns Good..The fillings are just right and very savoury.There weren't any fatty bits and I liked it very much. Royal China Speciality Cheong Fun It is the combination of Cha Siew, prawns and scallop. Texture of the cheong fun is good. Not the typical kind where it just crumbles easily once pick it up. It is very Q~.
Glutinous Rice Very fresh fillings with bits of prawns mushrooms etc.the rice was soft but not that sticky nor dry. Just right.
Scallop dumplings Recommended. The skin is thin but didn't break easily. There scallop inside was fresh.
XiaoLong Bao (shanghai dumplings) I didn't find anything nice about this dish. It was just normal. There wasn't much soup inside and the filling wasn't as savoury as I had hoped.
Steamed Beancurd The filling on top was a bit too overpowering for my liking. Too much for so little beancurd that it destroyed the balance. Not really what I expected.
Deep Fried Beancurd rolls One of the dishes I enjoyed most. It was crisp and not oily like what I taste in other restaurants.
Mango Rolls A combination of Mango and prawns is pretty unique, I must say. It's worth a try as the taste is quite soothing.
Cha Siew Sou (roasted pork puff) I loved it. The crust outside was baked just right.Not overly baked. I like the sweet filling of the cha siew.
Custard bun Not recommended.I had better custard buns.The fillings tasted a bit weird for my liking.
Chicken porridge I LOVED THIS DISH! Although it's a really common dish but it was excellent. The texture is perfect and the slices of chicken are big enough. It wasn't too bland nor too salty. Just right.
Century egg porridge Similiar texture with century egg.
Fried Turnip cake It's just another normal dish. It is not crisp enough.
Ou Ni (Yam paste) I'm a yam paste fan, but this is not up to my standard. No doubt, the yam paste is made from fresh yam. The paste was a bit too dry and lumpy. It was not soft enough.One thing I m quite surprised with was that the paste came with Almond sauce instead. Quite a interesting combination. I love almond paste also.I would order it again only because of the combination.
Herbal jelly with mango (GuiLing Gao w mango ) Very nice presentation. The Guiling Gao was very concentrated. The bitterness of the herbal jelly contrasted with the sweetness of the mango puree.It goes well.
Mango Sago Plum (You Zi Piao Xiang) It tasted pretty much like what is served in other places.
The bill came out to $95,which I find reasonable for 4 people. The service is excellent. The aunties were very nice and kept our Tea had been topped up constantly. The plates were changed constantly.
I would definitely go back. Reservations are needed though.
Having heard quite a few good things about this place from friends and fellow bloggers, i was looking forward to my visit for this 'almost guaranteed' winner of a restaurant that has been touted as being reasonably priced and packing in the taste department. And as i was in the vicinity with Lord Thingy, i coerced him into giving me a treat at the place. =) Thanks again for the treat Thingy!!
Chef's Recommendation Hot Plate Xiao Long Bao ($4.80) - Our first item came out looking like a disappointment and it tasted like one too. Unlike the menu which touted it as a chef's recommendation, the picture showed the egg having other tasty ingredients like chili, vegetables and assorted minced meat but ours came looking nothing like the menu. The egg was tasteless apart from the hint of garlic used to fry it. The xiao long bao also did not fare too well as it came across as soggier then usual and broke too easily. The meat also didn't taste too fresh while the gravy within was too salty. Thingy didn't like it much too.
Beef Brisket La Mian ($7) - Another recommendation, this time by the waitress and sadly, another lacklustre item. The soup was practically tasteless which really brought the walls crashing down. Brisket was soft and tender albeit as tasteless as the broth. The la mian was the only redemption as it was springy to the taste. Overall a disappointment.
Golden Pastry ($5.50) - Another recommendation from the waitress (must take note never to trust waitresses), this is a salty pastry which is basically dough flattened and pan fried till its crispy and 'golden' in color with sesame seeds sprinkled over it. To me, all i tasted was flour, salted flour. Case closed.
Fried Rice ($10.50) - Now this item i've heard much about, the fried rice comes with generous amounts of chicken meat, prawns and ham scattered over rice thats fried with eggs and minimal butter. And yet, even this dish didn't pull through as it was a tad too salty and just didn't pack the flavors i've heard so much about. Thingy commented that the main branch served better fried rice then this place.
This unsatisfying, overcrowded and disappointing meal cost only a paltry $35.31 but thats a dollar too many in this case.
As i'm writing this, i can't help but wonder why they have such good reviews by my friends. Maybe i was there at the wrong time but this is simply not acceptable. Unless i'm getting another treat, i'm never forking a cent if this is the best they offer.
I had always been a big fan of cathay cinemas for a lot of reasons!
I was there over the weekend for Lust Caution and it was showing at The Grand Cathay. My fav cinema of all, other than GV Max. So size matters ok! Hee....
First to start off there area lot of counters (two on ground floor and 6 on 5th floor) to buy tickets and the service is good and prompt.
Another thing I like about cathay is their popcorn. They have very tasty popcorn! Me jz loving it!
The seats are very plush and comfortable and The Grand Cathay being their biggest cinema. Of cos the leg space is bigger than the normal ones. Being the show start they will ahve a little ceremony to open the curtain to reveal the large screen. Haa...
The screen to the soundsystem is flawless. I totally enjoyed my every show there. I will always make it a point to see if there is any show showing at The Grand Cathay since paying the same amount of $$ for the tickets. Haa....
I had walked past this new restaurant a few times while I was there. the first time I was about to walk in for dinner, they were closing alr. So too bad. This time whiel walking aimlessly in Orchard, thinking wat to eat, suddenly thought of it and decided to give t a try. Hee....
So the place was pretty packed when we were there. We were in the queue, waiting to be ushered to our seats while browsing the menu. The next thing I know the couple behind me was ushered in. Hmm.... I think the waitress should have asked us first since we are in the queue.
There are 4 tables, each able to seat 10 people. The decoration is simple but the plates and sauces plates that they are using are very nice, with plum flower prints. Very classy touch!
The menu is pretty simple. All in set meals of cos there are ala carte as well. We ordered a seafood set and a beef set. Since there are other customer seating at the table, the chef already started cooking their food, from the looks of it, it loks promising!
The seafood set comes with 3 prawns, 2 scallops, fore gais, duck meat, assorted mushroom, rice and miso soup.
The beef set comes with beef, chawmisu (the steam egg thing), assorted mushroom, rice and miso soup. Still got something that we did not managed to taste out what it is. Hee.... Oh yes, still got the garlic rice as well.
Overall, the food is good. The chef did not do anything amazing. no stunts while cooking. The food is cooked in rotation, mean the food does not come in at the same time.
I was amazed how the chawmisu (the steam egg thing) is being cooked. Using an onion layer as the bowl, the egg contents are placed inside and "steamed" on the hot plate. It is great!
A lot of garlic is used during the cooking and it does makes everything taste good. Of cos, for those who dun like garlic too bad.
Overall, it is a good place for some teppanyaki food. It will be fun if can get 10 ppl to seat together. It will be a lot of fun.
Sorry no pics for this post as got stangers seating at the same time. Hee.... Too pai seh to take pics.
1=SGD 0.0587
Hong Kong Café along East Coast Road. is one of the more authentic hong kong style cafes compared to those like Central or XinWang. The ambience makes you feel like you're in HK...We can feel the small flies buzzing around while we wait for the food. haha
We had : -
Golden Fantasy
Not fantastic although it is recommended by the media and the chef(it had 2 blue and red stars). The mango puree is very watery .The taste I had was from the mango ice cream instead.The seed toppings were bitter which was suppose to contrast with the natural sweetness of the mango puree,but in the end,no.. All I had to taste was the articifial sweetness from the mango ice cream.Not recommended at all.
Fried Hor Fan with fish & Bean Sprouts
One look at the picture.It is actually FRIED BEAN SPROUTS with fish and hor fan…
I asked my friend : “ Did I order a vegtable meal instead?" They are overly generous with the bean sprouts. Although I m a bean sprouts fan but its too much…
Overall, I like it still because it’s a light meal. You can taste the old style frying, typical of a hawker u will find in the olden days in smith street. Very Cantonese.I would recommend it.But at $7.50, it’s a bit steep.
The service was good.They had the “customer is always right” attitude. The customer sitting beside me spilled his drinks all over himself while drinking it. The supervisor was quick to react. She was so apologetic, while helping him clean up. It was obvious that it was not her fault because she was miles away from him. But her attitude is commendable.I think a typical Singaporean waitress who start to roll eyes…etc…
I would go back again in the evenings.
But sometimes the queue really puts me off and the lack of parking.... take the bus if you can :)
**Updated**
I went again recently and had two delicious dishes which I HAVE to share with you guys.
I was there just a couple of days ago for a late night supper.
Item 609 Spicy Salt and Pepper Deep Fried Squid $7.20
Yes it is calamari... :) The batter was light and and very tasty. I liked how it wasn't oily and we were using eating every single last bit of it.
Item 684 Golden Fried Crispy Mushroom $6.20
I had this once and had a good impression of it, so I ordered it again. This time was even better than the last! They changed the kind of mushrooms they used and it does suit the batter more now. Ultra delicious and it is a must try!
Rating given:
Craving for more Japanese food after Waraku, i brought my sister and gf out for lunch this lazy weekend. And being a lazy weekend, going too far is out of the question. Instead, we opted to try out a Japanese restaurant in the Heartlands @ Compass Point.
Miso Soup - I would have expected better from Wasabi but it was not meant to be, the miso was bland and hardly appetizing. The seaweed came in big pieces however and the tofu is soft and melts in your mouth. Still, the soup just isn't what it could have been.
Beef Don Cold Cha Soba Agedashi Tofu ($15.80) - Beef is teriyaki seasoned as usual and tastes as it should. Chewy, sweet and tender with simple but fragrant Japanese rice. The cold cha soba here is springy and chewy with a slight bitter green tea taste which totally dissipates when you dip it into the accompanying sauce. It then becomes sweet, slightly heady and extremely tasty. Notice the agedashi tofu wasn't shown? Yeah, thats because it wasn't really that good to begin with.
Katsudon ($9) - The first was a wrong order which served beef instead of pork. The second bowl came after we asked a serving lady who kindly helped us correct the issue. The second bowl was the real deal. Pork cutlet was not too crispy due to the egg on top but retained many of the juices that makes it delectable. Guess who ordered this dish? None other then my gf of course.
Soft Shell Crab ($5.50) - The crab came in 2 pieces and was quite small. It was very crispy and hot but lacked sweetness in its meat.
Ebi Curry Don Fried Chicken Cold Soba ($15.80) - I was quite surprised when my sister's order appeared. For the price, i did not expect 2 big prawns to be on the bowl. The prawns were not very sweet tasting however. And the only difference between cold soba and cha soba is the green tea taste. But that difference means everything because this pales in comparison to cha soba. The fried chicken side dish was surprisingly generous and tasted hot, tender and sweet as well.
The total bill came up to $54.25 for 3 people for lunch. Which isn't too much and was reasonably satisfying.
Not too bad a restaurant though you can't compare it to Waraku, Inagiku or Keyaki on the same standing. Still, for a simple Japanese meal, you can't really go wrong with this place.
Rating given:
In the western region of Singapore lies a gem that is Restaurant Chako. Established in 1978 by Chako, the lady boss cum chef, the eatery boasts home cooked food that is cooked when you place your order and at prices that won't burst your pocket.
Located at a rather prominent row of shops along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), Chako is ironically hidden from sight and totally devoid of human traffic on a Tuesday evening. Not that I'm complaining though. The interior was tiny and oozed a homely feel made complete by a shelf full of Japanese comics and the motherly figure of Chako, who fussed over us and explained to us in detail the items on the menu (which happens to be in Japanese by the way).
The Occha deserves a mention on its own. Unlike the usual Occha served at most other Japanese eateries, the Occha here was particularly fragrant and carried a whiff of coffee aroma. It had a tinge of coffee taste as well which was delightful.
The sides of Miso Soup and Cold Tofu came with every order of a main course. What I liked about the Miso soup was that there were cockles in it, which was something different. However the soup did come across as a tad too salty for my liking. The tofu was soft and silky but nothing out of the ordinary.
My Hanburg steak was nice and thick but a little too soft for my liking. Meat was pan fried till well done instead of the usual medium/medium rare which would have been tastier and juicier. Simply done without the frills and very decent.
Served up with various vegetables like lettuce, carrots, egg plants etc, the Yakiniku Chicken was relatively well done. Crispy on the outside and not too heavy on the BBQ sauce. Add the fact that it was topped with a generous amount of crushed peanuts and you have a nice yet simple dish.
The vanilla soya bean ice cream came across as light, tasting of soya with a tinge of vanilla. It came with cut fruits which had been carefully prepared, ie. the grapes had the head cut off and the pear has its skin removed.
I'm not exactly a fan of yoghurt but the mango yoghurt wasn't half as bad as I made it out to be. Slightly sourish with a dash of mango. I understand that both desserts are hand made by Chako herself.
We were the only 2 customers in the restaurant that evening and it was a long dinner, standing at 2.5hrs and costing $55. Expensive? A little. Food quality? Decent. Satisfaction from a home cooked dinner? Priceless. On a side note, please be prepared to wait for your food as it is a one man show. If you can't understand Japanese, please bring along something to read to while away the long waiting times.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
I don't know if it was because I ordered the wrong thing or what, somehow it didn't feel to me like I had as good an experience there as bobo and feizhu did.
I, too, ordered the Grilled Half Shell Scallops with Linguine. Sounded really good to me, what with the scallops and the whole set meal. However, I was pretty disappointed when my order came. Felt like the scallops were done in 4 different ways - Well done, medium well, medium and rare. Yes, it certainly did look so. The scallops weren't sweet either. The linguine did not really have much taste other than the spice on it and loads of Olive oil. It was very dry, like fried noodles left over, re-fried. I thought that I had to mix it, but even until the end when I had less linguine and a lot of olive oil left, it still didn't work. In the end, my pasta became very oily, you can feel all the oil around your lips.. =s
The soup, though, was not bad I felt. It wasn't too diluted and was rather tasty. Served with 2 small slices of bread, which, for me, didn't seem to hard after dipping it into the soup. But I'm more of a smooth-texture-soup kinda person, so I didn't quite like the little bits and pieces of carrots (I think) in it. It's like an ice-blend drink not well blended.
Though what I had wasn't exceptionally good, I think I would still go back and give the place a try. I did get to try abit of their pan-fried dory which I thought was not too bad, hence I wouldn't conclude that the quality of the food there is poor. Also, I find the restaurant somewhat welcoming. Could be due to the fact that the waitress in there seemed pleased to welcome us in. Just feels very comfortable.
In addition, the interior is simply decorated, with cute wall paper. Somehow adds a tinge of cosy-ness and comfort to the place. Plus, there's television too! I like watching TV and eating at the same time.. Haha.
On the whole, I think the place is nice and the price is decent. Service is good. Plus!! There's no GST inclusive - kinda important, especially if your meal totals up to be quite expensive right. Would give the place another try, since it was only my first time there. ;)
Rating given:
Met up with Kelvin and Mr Sotong Bao again for dinner along with my gf. Our initial location was supposed to be at either a porridge buffet in Ang Mo Kio or a HDB Tai Tai recommendation called Bermuda Triangle around the area. However, they were not viable options as they were packed and so we traveled around searching for food till we found this place.
Cosy, quiet and small are the words you would use to describe the restaurant. Also to note was that the place was packed when we arrived. A good sign? Not in terms of service thats for sure, we had to wait about 10-15 minutes before our order was taken and table cleared.
Cheese and Tomato Bruschetta ($6.50) - Toasted bread with tomato and cheese. This has got to be a cruel joke since there's practically nothing worth merit on this item and its a complete waste of money. Next!
Haloumi Cheese ($6.50) - Deep fried cheese with tomato pizzaiola sauce. Personally, i've never had this before and after this, i probably will not order it again. Cheese was tasteless and forgettable.
Fish And Chips ($9.50) - The biggest of the lot in terms of main course servings. The owner was kind enough to point out that this is a dish for kids and seldom ordered for adults. The fillet was crispy and batter thin but the meat wasn't fresh and was generally tasteless. A point to note though is that, for a kids meal, the serving was a whole lot more then any of the other adult items we ordered. Maybe kids have it better?
Beef Stew ($19.50) - It came smelling fragrant but won't win any prizes for presentation. Beef was tender and quite sweet tasting but its more like a non spicy rendition of beef rendang. Not too bad but portion was small and definately not worth the money.
Grilled Chicken in Mushroom Sauce ($15) - My gf had this thinking it would be a healthy and light dish but it came swimming in olive oil. From the outset, it was oily and that signed the death warrant for this dish. The grilled chicken was oily AND tasteless. Bad move.
Tiramisu - Madam Q's signature dessert. Tiramisu seems to be a favorite order such that almost any eatery will have it simply to round out their menu. This rendition was at least decent in that it was sweet and the cake was evident though i do not detect much rum. The best item of the day but thats not saying alot since everything else bordered on failing.
$85.80 for a mediocre meal is just one meal too many for me.
Disappointment. For all the good service and nice ambiance going for it. All this places lacks is good food.
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Waraku (Katong) is one place which I keep walking past many times, peer in but never walk in. Finally I managed to drag my colleague there with me one lazy weekday afternoon. There weren't any customers then since it was technically tea time so we had all the attention.
The servers were very polite and were very smiley. The ambience was pretty casual but it was really cramp with all the tables close to each other. A little claustrophobic, so luckily it wasn't crowded. But it's a full house at dinner time so you might want to make reservations if you intend to go then.
We ordered:-
Horenso and Bacon Cream
MMmmM It smelt so good when it came in its HUGE bowl. I was really apprehensive about the cream because I'm never a fan of cream based sauces... but I tried it anyway. It wasn't as thick as it looked yet it had a lot of flavour. It was served on Noodles and with rice on the side. Lots of ingredients to go ard. I'd say this is good value for $12.90...
Katsu Curry Don
I regret ordering this the moment I ordered. Not because it looked horrible but because the other things looked so interesting and I chose such a safe option! So Dumb. A safe option it might be... it wasn't good enough. The curry is one of the salty-est I've tasted. And there was SO MUCH sauce but no rice. And 3 pieces of chicken. How does it add up?! So I ended up eating only half of it... the rest was just too salty to take.
Amazingly I would be going back. We paid about $28-$30 for the two of us...Which is not really value for money but the rest of the things on the menu really enticed me and I think it deserves another try. :)
But service did falter when they had more people... we got our bill really slow.... :P
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Royal China at Raffle Arcade. Interestingly, the 1st Royal China Resturant is in London. I found it amazing that they have food that suit Asians.
The ambience of the restaurant is great. The decor is beautiful and even the setting of the table matches the rest of the restaurant. Its not noisy compared to a typical Yum cha resturant
We had : -
Cha Siew Buns
Good..The fillings are just right and very savoury.There weren't any fatty bits and I liked it very much.
Royal China Speciality Cheong Fun
It is the combination of Cha Siew, prawns and scallop. Texture of the cheong fun is good. Not the typical kind where it just crumbles easily once pick it up. It is very Q~.
Glutinous Rice
Very fresh fillings with bits of prawns mushrooms etc.the rice was soft but not that sticky nor dry. Just right.
Scallop dumplings
Recommended. The skin is thin but didn't break easily. There scallop inside was fresh.
XiaoLong Bao (shanghai dumplings)
I didn't find anything nice about this dish. It was just normal. There wasn't much soup inside and the filling wasn't as savoury as I had hoped.
Steamed Beancurd
The filling on top was a bit too overpowering for my liking. Too much for so little beancurd that it destroyed the balance. Not really what I expected.
Deep Fried Beancurd rolls
One of the dishes I enjoyed most. It was crisp and not oily like what I taste in other restaurants.
Mango Rolls
A combination of Mango and prawns is pretty unique, I must say. It's worth a try as the taste is quite soothing.
Cha Siew Sou (roasted pork puff)
I loved it. The crust outside was baked just right.Not overly baked. I like the sweet filling of the cha siew.
Custard bun
Not recommended.I had better custard buns.The fillings tasted a bit weird for my liking.
Chicken porridge
I LOVED THIS DISH! Although it's a really common dish but it was excellent. The texture is perfect and the slices of chicken are big enough. It wasn't too bland nor too salty. Just right.
Century egg porridge
Similiar texture with century egg.
Fried Turnip cake
It's just another normal dish. It is not crisp enough.
Ou Ni (Yam paste)
I'm a yam paste fan, but this is not up to my standard. No doubt, the yam paste is made from fresh yam. The paste was a bit too dry and lumpy. It was not soft enough.One thing I m quite surprised with was that the paste came with Almond sauce instead. Quite a interesting combination. I love almond paste also.I would order it again only because of the combination.
Herbal jelly with mango (GuiLing Gao w mango )
Very nice presentation. The Guiling Gao was very concentrated. The bitterness of the herbal jelly contrasted with the sweetness of the mango puree.It goes well.
Mango Sago Plum (You Zi Piao Xiang)
It tasted pretty much like what is served in other places.
The bill came out to $95,which I find reasonable for 4 people.
The service is excellent. The aunties were very nice and kept our Tea had been topped up constantly. The plates were changed constantly.
I would definitely go back. Reservations are needed though.
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Having heard quite a few good things about this place from friends and fellow bloggers, i was looking forward to my visit for this 'almost guaranteed' winner of a restaurant that has been touted as being reasonably priced and packing in the taste department. And as i was in the vicinity with Lord Thingy, i coerced him into giving me a treat at the place. =) Thanks again for the treat Thingy!!
Chef's Recommendation Hot Plate Xiao Long Bao ($4.80) - Our first item came out looking like a disappointment and it tasted like one too. Unlike the menu which touted it as a chef's recommendation, the picture showed the egg having other tasty ingredients like chili, vegetables and assorted minced meat but ours came looking nothing like the menu. The egg was tasteless apart from the hint of garlic used to fry it. The xiao long bao also did not fare too well as it came across as soggier then usual and broke too easily. The meat also didn't taste too fresh while the gravy within was too salty. Thingy didn't like it much too.
Beef Brisket La Mian ($7) - Another recommendation, this time by the waitress and sadly, another lacklustre item. The soup was practically tasteless which really brought the walls crashing down. Brisket was soft and tender albeit as tasteless as the broth. The la mian was the only redemption as it was springy to the taste. Overall a disappointment.
Golden Pastry ($5.50) - Another recommendation from the waitress (must take note never to trust waitresses), this is a salty pastry which is basically dough flattened and pan fried till its crispy and 'golden' in color with sesame seeds sprinkled over it. To me, all i tasted was flour, salted flour. Case closed.
Fried Rice ($10.50) - Now this item i've heard much about, the fried rice comes with generous amounts of chicken meat, prawns and ham scattered over rice thats fried with eggs and minimal butter. And yet, even this dish didn't pull through as it was a tad too salty and just didn't pack the flavors i've heard so much about. Thingy commented that the main branch served better fried rice then this place.
This unsatisfying, overcrowded and disappointing meal cost only a paltry $35.31 but thats a dollar too many in this case.
As i'm writing this, i can't help but wonder why they have such good reviews by my friends. Maybe i was there at the wrong time but this is simply not acceptable. Unless i'm getting another treat, i'm never forking a cent if this is the best they offer.
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I had always been a big fan of cathay cinemas for a lot of reasons!
I was there over the weekend for Lust Caution and it was showing at The Grand Cathay. My fav cinema of all, other than GV Max. So size matters ok! Hee....
First to start off there area lot of counters (two on ground floor and 6 on 5th floor) to buy tickets and the service is good and prompt.
Another thing I like about cathay is their popcorn. They have very tasty popcorn! Me jz loving it!
The seats are very plush and comfortable and The Grand Cathay being their biggest cinema. Of cos the leg space is bigger than the normal ones. Being the show start they will ahve a little ceremony to open the curtain to reveal the large screen. Haa...
The screen to the soundsystem is flawless. I totally enjoyed my every show there. I will always make it a point to see if there is any show showing at The Grand Cathay since paying the same amount of $$ for the tickets. Haa....
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I had walked past this new restaurant a few times while I was there. the first time I was about to walk in for dinner, they were closing alr. So too bad. This time whiel walking aimlessly in Orchard, thinking wat to eat, suddenly thought of it and decided to give t a try. Hee....
So the place was pretty packed when we were there. We were in the queue, waiting to be ushered to our seats while browsing the menu. The next thing I know the couple behind me was ushered in. Hmm.... I think the waitress should have asked us first since we are in the queue.
There are 4 tables, each able to seat 10 people. The decoration is simple but the plates and sauces plates that they are using are very nice, with plum flower prints. Very classy touch!
The menu is pretty simple. All in set meals of cos there are ala carte as well. We ordered a seafood set and a beef set. Since there are other customer seating at the table, the chef already started cooking their food, from the looks of it, it loks promising!
The seafood set comes with 3 prawns, 2 scallops, fore gais, duck meat, assorted mushroom, rice and miso soup.
The beef set comes with beef, chawmisu (the steam egg thing), assorted mushroom, rice and miso soup. Still got something that we did not managed to taste out what it is. Hee.... Oh yes, still got the garlic rice as well.
Overall, the food is good. The chef did not do anything amazing. no stunts while cooking. The food is cooked in rotation, mean the food does not come in at the same time.
I was amazed how the chawmisu (the steam egg thing) is being cooked. Using an onion layer as the bowl, the egg contents are placed inside and "steamed" on the hot plate. It is great!
A lot of garlic is used during the cooking and it does makes everything taste good. Of cos, for those who dun like garlic too bad.
Overall, it is a good place for some teppanyaki food. It will be fun if can get 10 ppl to seat together. It will be a lot of fun.
Sorry no pics for this post as got stangers seating at the same time. Hee.... Too pai seh to take pics.
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