This jap restaurant hides in the building in AMK Central (in front of the market). In fact, it is so well hidden that everyone would jz walked past it. Reason being, it is inside the building and the rest of the building looks empty.
Once there, same as other jap places, all the waiters and waitress would shout their greetings in the air.
The deco of the place is ok same as other sushi places but they played those 90s english songs. Haa....
The service there was quite prompt as there are more servers than those waiting to be served.
The main highlight of this place is all sushi at selling at 99 cents per plate. Cheap leh. Haa.... That is the main reason y we are there in the first place.
So sushi on plain colored plates are 99 cents and the rest ate fro $2.99 onwards. The sushi variety is quite a lot, however find that the rice they use are not that good and they tend to break into half when picked up. For the fired stuff like fired tofu and dumplings, they came hot which means they are made when ordered. Good.
For the raw stuff like salmon slices etc, according to my colleagues, they are fresh and good. Ended up calling a lot. Haa...
I also tried their teryaki chicken bento. It came hot adn I can see the chef preparing it as well. Haa... But then it fall short of my expectation. The chicken is rather tasteless on its own, the omelette is ok. Well jz say it is not one of the best I tasted.
So overall, the place is for a quick fix for sushi and it is cheap as well.
Step into Eden Cafe, and its homeliness is the first thing that hits you. Friendliness is next, as Clement and his team greeted us with their warm smile and polite gestures. Service like this is getting hard to come by on our little island! The cosiness of the cafe makes it the perfect place for a quiet evening dinner.
I'm a fish lover, but only if they have no fishy stink and no fish bones. So, Clement recommended me their Ginger Leak Snowfish, which is a made-to-order dish. I was swept off my feet! It has zero fishy stink and fish bones. Unlike regular fishes, the snowfish does not split into bits as you cut it. And most importantly, it tastes really good! It is covered in a special sauce which has peanuts in it for that nice crunchy bite.
My friend tried their famous Black Sesame Mushroom Pasta. The pasta is home-made and is dark in colour. As Clement said, this dish is pretty subjective. Some people might love it, while some might really hate it. I guess I belong to the latter, while my friend belongs to the former, as she loves black sesame. Being one of Eden Cafe's famous dishes, I'm sure there are more people who love it than otherwise. A truly unique dish that you can't find anywhere else!
Finally, we had their Lily Citron Jello. It is a jelly kind of dessert that is stuffed with grapes and topped with fresh yogurt and yummy strawberries. It is as healthy as how good it tastes!
Eden Cafe also serves many kinds of floral teas and floral cuisine. All very healthy food that I want to try one day.
Eden Cafe is definitely a 5-star. I'm already salivating right now over the thought of the Ginger Leak Snowfish!
Astons Prime is a recently opened upmarket version of Aston Specialties, catering to the more well heeled with a wider selection of premium meat available and reservations of course.
Located just a stones throw away from the original Astons Specialties, Astons Prime sits along the row of shophouses near the junction of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road. The interior is simply furnished and can probably seat up to about 30 people. There are corner booth seats for 2 pax which are a must if you wish to have more privacy. Pity there are only 2 of those seats though and I wasn't fortunate to get one of those even during lunch.
When a place claims to serve up its own homemade garlic spread, my expectations go up a notch because I like my garlic spread a lot, probably more than most people. Sadly, Aston's spread didn't even come close to meeting my expectations. For one, it was rather bland and didn't exactly jell in well with the bread, which incidentally, wasn't tasty nor was it served warm.
Chicken Quesadilla - Interestingly, biting into the Chicken Quesadilla was akin to eating roti prata with bits of chicken and BBQ sauce. The paper thin crust was a little crispy and flaky with a rather miserable filling of chicken. Not that I'm saying that its not good, but for almost 8 dollars, I'd rather order something else.
Fillet Mignon - Notice that the fillet mignon comes in 2 variations, the New Zealand fed and the Australian fed. I'm guessing the Australian one is better because of its superior pricing. But then again, I didn't get to try the New Zealand variant, so I'm really in no position to comment.
My Australian fed fillet mignon was small (they are all 8oz by the way, which is about 250g) but good. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was excellent as I've definitely tried better but this one was really in a league of its own. Medium rare, succulent and sweet. Only gripe I had was that the meat slab was too thick which resulted in the exterior being a little too charred. I did like the accompanying sauce though, which tasted like it had a little bit of cheese in it.
$70 for 2 pax for lunch is rather expensive honestly, but good steak comes at a price unfortunately. Service is excellent and there is no service charge or GST which kinda sweetens the deal a little. I see potential in this place, but it would be nice to have a larger slab of meat for the same price, please?
Sakae must be quite good, if not why is there always such a long queue outside? Well, I guess it's just because they have fast and relatively cheaper japanese food? Nonetheless, I joined the queue too.
I don't think there's much you can say about their service when you virtually talk to no one. Even orders are placed through the computer. The only time someone comes is when they have your orders.
Their food is average. I like the Fried Tofu as the skin was really crispy and the tofu was very soft. (Though I don't quite know the difference between that and Agedashi Tofu.) However, the plates of sushi that were on the conveyor belt were disappointing. The rice was rather dry and it didn't taste good at all. Felt like it was left on conveyor belt for a long time. I ordered the teppanyaki beef too and asked for it to be done medium rare. However the beef came out plain and very difficult to chew.
Not everything is bad, but I guess this just wasn't one of those "good" days..
Indian fast food! (I don't know if it's North or South though, I don't know how to tell the difference.)
When we talk about "fast food", we normally think of KFC, Macs etc. Maybe this is like the very common indian fast food restaurant. But I'd say they have way better service and food than KFC/ Mac (ok, price is way higher too..).
When I stepped into the restaurant and looked at the menu, I felt rather weird because the waiter was standing in front of my table waiting to take orders. But being my first time there, I was totally at lost! I didn't know how to order at all! One of the waiters then brought a photo album over to my table to make it easier for us to order (I think he realized our dilemma, especially after we took so long..). When we finally made our choice, I felt abit embarrassed that we took so long. But it was good to see that the waiter still took down your orders very patiently. I must say they are good sales people too! They ask if you wanna try anything else and all, without sounding pushy at all. In fact, you'd feel totally comfortable with the way they recommend other dishes for you to try and all.
I like the service here. They also make sure that their customers are enjoying their food and do go to tables once in awhile to ask if they enjoy their food. It's almost like the service you get at 5-star restaurants! (I'm not kidding..)
Food wise, I think I don't really know if it's good or not as I don't have any basis of comparison. I felt that the Tandoori Chicken tasted a bit like Satay but it went well with this green sauce thing. I liked the Pepper Chicken Masala. It goes very well with this dosa-like thing (I really don't know what they're called). But the chicken was very little. Nonetheless, it tasted good!
On the whole, I had a great time there even though I don't quite know what I was eating half the time! But the service and the food was good. I would love to go back another time, but after finding out how to order. Haha..
Today marks the beginning of my makan sessions with a group of like minded food enthusiasts from various forums. Our choice of dinner venue was Astons Specialties at East Coast Rd. This joint has been highly recommended by many seasoned foodies and expectations were high as we made our way there at about 2000hrs. There was quite a queue of people waiting to get in and although I had made a reservation on Wednesday, there was no record of my name to be found, which naturally left me furious. Astons admitted that it was error on their part and although we had to wait for about 25mins for a table, credit has to be given to them for trying to get us a table ASAP. One thing I noticed about the place was that it was actually quite small and squeezy. There were barely 10 tables around and air conditioning was poor. They could well do with more powerful air conditioners or an air curtain at the entrance to prevent the cool air from rushing out.
Food wise, I shared the Wagyu beef promotion @ $38.90 for a 200g cut and the Ieat Super Burger with a friend. Both were done medium rare. According to them, the wagyu was supposed to have a marbling score of 5/6, which was pretty decent for the price. The wagyu came with 2 sides (I chose fries and pasta salad) which was pretty uninspiring. The pasta salad was almost tasteless and the fries were thin and had the same seasoning as that of Botak Jones fries. The wagyu was quite good though. Soft, juicy and tender. Every mouthful is greeted with a burst of flavour that slowly seeps down your throat. Not as good as the Kobe Beef I had at Keyaki, but certainly in a league of its own. Pity about the small 200g portion though. The accompanying mushroom (with garlic?) sauce was nice too, but I found it a tad too salty. The Ieat burger scored high salivation marks for its appearance. Toasted bun atop bacon strips, deep fried onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, a slab of chopped sirloin and drenched with BBQ sauce. However, the taste was short of expectations. The chopped sirloin was quite tasteless and dry and not to mention a little too soft. The bacon strips were nicely grilled though and that was just about the only consolation I had from the burger. At $12.50 for the burger, I guess it was pretty reasonable.
It cost us about $210 for 8 pax. On my part I paid about $27/- which I feel was reasonable for the quality of food. However Astons didn't quite measure up to my expectations probably because I had hyped myself up to be expecting something out of this world, only to be brought back down to earth. Nevertheless, a good eat, with reasonable pricing. Please note that the wait for food can be quite long especially when its full, which is most of the time in the evenings. A worthy contender to Botak Jones. Having no GST or service charge is definitely a plus!
I've always had a penchant for brunch - whiling the lazy mornings away in a serene setting coupled with hearty fare and great company. What better way to unwind and enjoy the intricate subtleties of life? And I've found just the place to do so - Wild Rocket. The man at its helm is none other than lawyer turned chef, Willin Low, who has built up a reputation for cooking dishes which are Singaporean at heart but with a twist.
Nestled at the top of a hill (Mount Emily), Wild Rocket is a quaint little eatery/restaurant docked on the first level of Hangout Hotel. The decor is simple, focusing on the simplicities and the giant glass windows complete with semi transparent curtains allow sunlight to peer through, creating a cheery and lively atmosphere sans the heat. An air of serenity and elusiveness lingers in this dreamy and charming little outfit.
Though not billed as a fine dining restaurant, Wild Rocket still serves up complementary bread, which didn't quite impress me honestly. For one, the bread was too porous and came across as a tad too dry and bland. Thankfully, it was served warm.
Ricotta Jackfruit Pancakes with Maple Syrup - No this isn't a picture of left over pancakes. Its what we got for $8.50 - 2 small pancakes and 1 piece of deep fried jackfruit. It was excellent though, soft and fluffy with a tinge of jackfruit taste. Bits of jackfruit were also embedded within for added texture/flavour and the sweetness of the maple syrup was just about right. Now someone please explain to me why do good things always come in small packages?
Laksa Pesto with Spaghetti with Tiger Prawns & Quail Egg - A most interesting dish. As the name suggests, its spaghetti covered with coriander and bits of chilli flakes which is supposed to have a mild laksa taste. And by golly, it certainly does! The pasta was al dente but a tad too dry for my liking. I counted 3 average sized prawns and 3 quail egg halves, which certainly doesn't place this dish in the generous ingredients category. Honestly, this is not something I'll order again cause I don't find it outstanding.
Scrambled Eggs, Fresh Beef Sausages with Toast - A greedy mistake on my part. I had spied the adjourning table ordering this dish and the serving certainly looked generous. Oh boy, how wrong I was. 2 sausages, a small serving of scrambled eggs and a side of toast. The dish was clean in less than 5 mins, but not that it tasted great in case you are assuming. The sausages were rather salty and the meat didn't seem firm. As for the scrambled eggs, it was too salty as well and tasted like too much milk had gone into it.
The Wild Rocket Burger with Sun Dried Tomato Salsa - Notice the usage of the word "The" in the name of this dish. Its obviously Wild Rocket's signature offering and is THE must try burger. Pleasing aesthetics aside, the burger weighed in slightly bigger than Iggy's offering but smaller than those of Carl's Junior. The patty was huge by the way and rather well mashed, chewy and moist yet not overwhelming. Interestingly, the sun dried tomato salsa atop the patty was a tad sweet but complemented the beef almost flawlessly. The accompanying potato cubes were a little too soft and salty (I could make out the salt granules on the potatoes).
Kueh Buloh Tiramisu - Here's another classic example of how much of a mountain tortoise I am. I have no inkling whatsoever as to what in the world is Kueh Buloh. Shame on me. But the Kueh Buloh Tiramisu was quite good if you ask me. Soft with a nice layer of ice cream beneath it. But it kinda loses the Tiramisu flavour and composition though, which is rather ironical.
Dark Lava Chocolate Gateau with Ice Cream - Few molten chocolate cakes can match the truly splendid rendition by Mortons or the value for money offering at Abof. Wild Rocket's version comes close. Well almost. Its decidedly as good as Abof's but significantly more expensive as well (not as expensive as Morton's though). The shell was slightly hard while the spongy interior was soft and moist. Thick oozing, not too sweet chocolate completed the picture. But it was small, even smaller than Abof's.
I had a good and leisurely brunch, no doubt about that. But $95 for 3 pax does seem a little steep especially with the smallish portions. Its a nice place to hang out though and service is good. They will definitely be seeing more of me. On a side note, please let me reiterate that the place is tiny and you are looking at about probably 30 people max so please please please make your reservations.
Health and wholesome goodness comes naturally at Eden...
Was welcomed by the homely and comfortable cafe with smile and greetings from Clement and his staff. Situated up a little slope of Club Street, Eden Cafe is a place where one would love to enter for a smoothing and chilled glass of wine tea to beat those heat from the blazing sun. The cafe feels so homely, I can stay there for an entire day. Great for those who love a quiet place to chill and relax, away from the bustling madness happening just nearby, with some good tea or wine.
As a seafood lover, especially for calamari, I just had to try their Mussel Calamari Dunker ($12.90) served with crispy wholegrain bread. Although the base seems thick, and together with the wholegrain bread seem like a filling meal. But it was just the right amount of everything that filled my tummy but still left room for more. The calamaris and mussels were so fresh, I could taste their original taste even with the specially created base which was made up of seven different vegetables. Including celery, which I hate! But it was so well blended that I licked the bowl clean. (Ok I didn't literally licked the bowl.)
With room for more, I tried their homemade Rosepetal Brownie ($5.90). Yap! There's real rosepetals in the brownie and also on it! My very first attempt at consuming flowers and it was quite an interesting taste. The rosepetals blended well with the sweetness from the chocolate brownie and vanilla ice-cream. The rose petal reduces the sweetness with its light bitterness. And as the brownies has no additional sugar added, you won't get "sick" of eating it, although the piece was quite huge. Surely going to order this again when I'm back (i.e. after I tried the other sinful goodness at Eden).
The next must try is Eden's fusion tea ($9.00). There's so many choices to choose from. When you can't decide, just tell Clement how you feel that day and let him decide for you! Served in specially designed tea sets, you can see the beautiful colors of the floral tea and the nice golden color of the tea. The teacups are cleverly crafted, with the double layer design, you can hold the teacup without feeling the heat from the tea.
With yummy and healthy food, great atmosphere and friendly service, its no doubt that I'm going to recommend all my friends and family to Eden Cafe.
If you can't decide what to eat, just let Clement decide for you.
The popular Uno Beef House at Toa Payoh has a new outlet in the western regions of Singapore. Located in a prominent and brightly lit coffee shop along Dover road which runs parallel to the MRT line, it has its fair share of customers as well, but the waiting time here is definitely much shorter than its Toa Payoh counterpart.
I started off with the Cream of Mushroom soup ($2) which definitely came straight out of the can. There were undissolved chunks of coagulated soup at the bottom of the bowl, indicating a less than thorough stirring process. Having said that, I certainly didn't expect them to make their own mushroom soup, not for $2.
My gf had the pork chops ($5) which was quite good. Chewy yet not too dry or tough, with lots of savoury made from scratch gravy to go along. Portions were decent, but definitely not sufficient for a glutton like me.
The purported star of the evening (they are called Uno Beef House for a reason), the tenderloin steak ($10), was served up medium rare as per my request. The meat was very well done, succulent and a little chewy but lacked the sweetness of really good tenderloins. The mushroom sauce was quite decent too, with slices of mushroom and onion in it. I would have liked a more robust sauce though. Here comes the real star of the evening, the side of a single Potato Ball which was served alongside a small tomato. It had a buttery taste to it and reminded me very much of eating pineapple tarts minus the sweetened pineapple of course. Texture wise was also good, not too mashed up or soft. I wonder if the Potato Balls are available on their own.
In summary, I like this place and will definitely be back to patronise. Its definitely in the league of Astons for steak and considering the amount of hype that Astons has been getting, I rather stick to Uno.
Have to compliment this guy's friendly and welcoming service. Although I guess he did scare/ gave fright to some of the ladies shopping at Watsons.
Not sure if he's one of the managers but he was wearing a jacket and was well groomed. He went around with basket for shoppers and very politely offered the basket for the shoppers. But I did notice he kinda frightened couple of the ladies who were paying too much attention to the labels on the packaging.
Still a pleasant shock I guess.
My partner commented that they're probably training up for the upcoming F1 race or IR since Singapore is all about providing excellence services for everyone. Hope the service standards will keep improving in Singapore.
1=SGD 0.0587
This jap restaurant hides in the building in AMK Central (in front of the market). In fact, it is so well hidden that everyone would jz walked past it. Reason being, it is inside the building and the rest of the building looks empty.
Once there, same as other jap places, all the waiters and waitress would shout their greetings in the air.
The deco of the place is ok same as other sushi places but they played those 90s english songs. Haa....
The service there was quite prompt as there are more servers than those waiting to be served.
The main highlight of this place is all sushi at selling at 99 cents per plate. Cheap leh. Haa.... That is the main reason y we are there in the first place.
So sushi on plain colored plates are 99 cents and the rest ate fro $2.99 onwards. The sushi variety is quite a lot, however find that the rice they use are not that good and they tend to break into half when picked up. For the fired stuff like fired tofu and dumplings, they came hot which means they are made when ordered. Good.
For the raw stuff like salmon slices etc, according to my colleagues, they are fresh and good. Ended up calling a lot. Haa...
I also tried their teryaki chicken bento. It came hot adn I can see the chef preparing it as well. Haa... But then it fall short of my expectation. The chicken is rather tasteless on its own, the omelette is ok. Well jz say it is not one of the best I tasted.
So overall, the place is for a quick fix for sushi and it is cheap as well.
Rating given:
Step into Eden Cafe, and its homeliness is the first thing that hits you. Friendliness is next, as Clement and his team greeted us with their warm smile and polite gestures. Service like this is getting hard to come by on our little island! The cosiness of the cafe makes it the perfect place for a quiet evening dinner.
I'm a fish lover, but only if they have no fishy stink and no fish bones. So, Clement recommended me their Ginger Leak Snowfish, which is a made-to-order dish. I was swept off my feet! It has zero fishy stink and fish bones. Unlike regular fishes, the snowfish does not split into bits as you cut it. And most importantly, it tastes really good! It is covered in a special sauce which has peanuts in it for that nice crunchy bite.
My friend tried their famous Black Sesame Mushroom Pasta. The pasta is home-made and is dark in colour. As Clement said, this dish is pretty subjective. Some people might love it, while some might really hate it. I guess I belong to the latter, while my friend belongs to the former, as she loves black sesame. Being one of Eden Cafe's famous dishes, I'm sure there are more people who love it than otherwise. A truly unique dish that you can't find anywhere else!
Finally, we had their Lily Citron Jello. It is a jelly kind of dessert that is stuffed with grapes and topped with fresh yogurt and yummy strawberries. It is as healthy as how good it tastes!
Eden Cafe also serves many kinds of floral teas and floral cuisine. All very healthy food that I want to try one day.
Eden Cafe is definitely a 5-star. I'm already salivating right now over the thought of the Ginger Leak Snowfish!
Rating given:
Astons Prime is a recently opened upmarket version of Aston Specialties, catering to the more well heeled with a wider selection of premium meat available and reservations of course.
Located just a stones throw away from the original Astons Specialties, Astons Prime sits along the row of shophouses near the junction of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road. The interior is simply furnished and can probably seat up to about 30 people. There are corner booth seats for 2 pax which are a must if you wish to have more privacy. Pity there are only 2 of those seats though and I wasn't fortunate to get one of those even during lunch.
When a place claims to serve up its own homemade garlic spread, my expectations go up a notch because I like my garlic spread a lot, probably more than most people. Sadly, Aston's spread didn't even come close to meeting my expectations. For one, it was rather bland and didn't exactly jell in well with the bread, which incidentally, wasn't tasty nor was it served warm.
Chicken Quesadilla - Interestingly, biting into the Chicken Quesadilla was akin to eating roti prata with bits of chicken and BBQ sauce. The paper thin crust was a little crispy and flaky with a rather miserable filling of chicken. Not that I'm saying that its not good, but for almost 8 dollars, I'd rather order something else.
Fillet Mignon - Notice that the fillet mignon comes in 2 variations, the New Zealand fed and the Australian fed. I'm guessing the Australian one is better because of its superior pricing. But then again, I didn't get to try the New Zealand variant, so I'm really in no position to comment.
My Australian fed fillet mignon was small (they are all 8oz by the way, which is about 250g) but good. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was excellent as I've definitely tried better but this one was really in a league of its own. Medium rare, succulent and sweet. Only gripe I had was that the meat slab was too thick which resulted in the exterior being a little too charred. I did like the accompanying sauce though, which tasted like it had a little bit of cheese in it.
$70 for 2 pax for lunch is rather expensive honestly, but good steak comes at a price unfortunately. Service is excellent and there is no service charge or GST which kinda sweetens the deal a little. I see potential in this place, but it would be nice to have a larger slab of meat for the same price, please?
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Sakae must be quite good, if not why is there always such a long queue outside? Well, I guess it's just because they have fast and relatively cheaper japanese food? Nonetheless, I joined the queue too.
I don't think there's much you can say about their service when you virtually talk to no one. Even orders are placed through the computer. The only time someone comes is when they have your orders.
Their food is average. I like the Fried Tofu as the skin was really crispy and the tofu was very soft. (Though I don't quite know the difference between that and Agedashi Tofu.) However, the plates of sushi that were on the conveyor belt were disappointing. The rice was rather dry and it didn't taste good at all. Felt like it was left on conveyor belt for a long time. I ordered the teppanyaki beef too and asked for it to be done medium rare. However the beef came out plain and very difficult to chew.
Not everything is bad, but I guess this just wasn't one of those "good" days..
Rating given:
Indian fast food! (I don't know if it's North or South though, I don't know how to tell the difference.)
When we talk about "fast food", we normally think of KFC, Macs etc. Maybe this is like the very common indian fast food restaurant. But I'd say they have way better service and food than KFC/ Mac (ok, price is way higher too..).
When I stepped into the restaurant and looked at the menu, I felt rather weird because the waiter was standing in front of my table waiting to take orders. But being my first time there, I was totally at lost! I didn't know how to order at all! One of the waiters then brought a photo album over to my table to make it easier for us to order (I think he realized our dilemma, especially after we took so long..). When we finally made our choice, I felt abit embarrassed that we took so long. But it was good to see that the waiter still took down your orders very patiently. I must say they are good sales people too! They ask if you wanna try anything else and all, without sounding pushy at all. In fact, you'd feel totally comfortable with the way they recommend other dishes for you to try and all.
I like the service here. They also make sure that their customers are enjoying their food and do go to tables once in awhile to ask if they enjoy their food. It's almost like the service you get at 5-star restaurants! (I'm not kidding..)
Food wise, I think I don't really know if it's good or not as I don't have any basis of comparison. I felt that the Tandoori Chicken tasted a bit like Satay but it went well with this green sauce thing. I liked the Pepper Chicken Masala. It goes very well with this dosa-like thing (I really don't know what they're called). But the chicken was very little. Nonetheless, it tasted good!
On the whole, I had a great time there even though I don't quite know what I was eating half the time! But the service and the food was good. I would love to go back another time, but after finding out how to order. Haha..
Rating given:
Today marks the beginning of my makan sessions with a group of like minded food enthusiasts from various forums. Our choice of dinner venue was Astons Specialties at East Coast Rd. This joint has been highly recommended by many seasoned foodies and expectations were high as we made our way there at about 2000hrs. There was quite a queue of people waiting to get in and although I had made a reservation on Wednesday, there was no record of my name to be found, which naturally left me furious. Astons admitted that it was error on their part and although we had to wait for about 25mins for a table, credit has to be given to them for trying to get us a table ASAP. One thing I noticed about the place was that it was actually quite small and squeezy. There were barely 10 tables around and air conditioning was poor. They could well do with more powerful air conditioners or an air curtain at the entrance to prevent the cool air from rushing out.
Food wise, I shared the Wagyu beef promotion @ $38.90 for a 200g cut and the Ieat Super Burger with a friend. Both were done medium rare. According to them, the wagyu was supposed to have a marbling score of 5/6, which was pretty decent for the price. The wagyu came with 2 sides (I chose fries and pasta salad) which was pretty uninspiring. The pasta salad was almost tasteless and the fries were thin and had the same seasoning as that of Botak Jones fries. The wagyu was quite good though. Soft, juicy and tender. Every mouthful is greeted with a burst of flavour that slowly seeps down your throat. Not as good as the Kobe Beef I had at Keyaki, but certainly in a league of its own. Pity about the small 200g portion though. The accompanying mushroom (with garlic?) sauce was nice too, but I found it a tad too salty. The Ieat burger scored high salivation marks for its appearance. Toasted bun atop bacon strips, deep fried onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, a slab of chopped sirloin and drenched with BBQ sauce. However, the taste was short of expectations. The chopped sirloin was quite tasteless and dry and not to mention a little too soft. The bacon strips were nicely grilled though and that was just about the only consolation I had from the burger. At $12.50 for the burger, I guess it was pretty reasonable.
It cost us about $210 for 8 pax. On my part I paid about $27/- which I feel was reasonable for the quality of food. However Astons didn't quite measure up to my expectations probably because I had hyped myself up to be expecting something out of this world, only to be brought back down to earth. Nevertheless, a good eat, with reasonable pricing. Please note that the wait for food can be quite long especially when its full, which is most of the time in the evenings. A worthy contender to Botak Jones. Having no GST or service charge is definitely a plus!
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
I've always had a penchant for brunch - whiling the lazy mornings away in a serene setting coupled with hearty fare and great company. What better way to unwind and enjoy the intricate subtleties of life? And I've found just the place to do so - Wild Rocket. The man at its helm is none other than lawyer turned chef, Willin Low, who has built up a reputation for cooking dishes which are Singaporean at heart but with a twist.
Nestled at the top of a hill (Mount Emily), Wild Rocket is a quaint little eatery/restaurant docked on the first level of Hangout Hotel. The decor is simple, focusing on the simplicities and the giant glass windows complete with semi transparent curtains allow sunlight to peer through, creating a cheery and lively atmosphere sans the heat. An air of serenity and elusiveness lingers in this dreamy and charming little outfit.
Though not billed as a fine dining restaurant, Wild Rocket still serves up complementary bread, which didn't quite impress me honestly. For one, the bread was too porous and came across as a tad too dry and bland. Thankfully, it was served warm.
Ricotta Jackfruit Pancakes with Maple Syrup - No this isn't a picture of left over pancakes. Its what we got for $8.50 - 2 small pancakes and 1 piece of deep fried jackfruit. It was excellent though, soft and fluffy with a tinge of jackfruit taste. Bits of jackfruit were also embedded within for added texture/flavour and the sweetness of the maple syrup was just about right. Now someone please explain to me why do good things always come in small packages?
Laksa Pesto with Spaghetti with Tiger Prawns & Quail Egg - A most interesting dish. As the name suggests, its spaghetti covered with coriander and bits of chilli flakes which is supposed to have a mild laksa taste. And by golly, it certainly does! The pasta was al dente but a tad too dry for my liking. I counted 3 average sized prawns and 3 quail egg halves, which certainly doesn't place this dish in the generous ingredients category. Honestly, this is not something I'll order again cause I don't find it outstanding.
Scrambled Eggs, Fresh Beef Sausages with Toast - A greedy mistake on my part. I had spied the adjourning table ordering this dish and the serving certainly looked generous. Oh boy, how wrong I was. 2 sausages, a small serving of scrambled eggs and a side of toast. The dish was clean in less than 5 mins, but not that it tasted great in case you are assuming. The sausages were rather salty and the meat didn't seem firm. As for the scrambled eggs, it was too salty as well and tasted like too much milk had gone into it.
The Wild Rocket Burger with Sun Dried Tomato Salsa - Notice the usage of the word "The" in the name of this dish. Its obviously Wild Rocket's signature offering and is THE must try burger. Pleasing aesthetics aside, the burger weighed in slightly bigger than Iggy's offering but smaller than those of Carl's Junior. The patty was huge by the way and rather well mashed, chewy and moist yet not overwhelming. Interestingly, the sun dried tomato salsa atop the patty was a tad sweet but complemented the beef almost flawlessly. The accompanying potato cubes were a little too soft and salty (I could make out the salt granules on the potatoes).
Kueh Buloh Tiramisu - Here's another classic example of how much of a mountain tortoise I am. I have no inkling whatsoever as to what in the world is Kueh Buloh. Shame on me. But the Kueh Buloh Tiramisu was quite good if you ask me. Soft with a nice layer of ice cream beneath it. But it kinda loses the Tiramisu flavour and composition though, which is rather ironical.
Dark Lava Chocolate Gateau with Ice Cream - Few molten chocolate cakes can match the truly splendid rendition by Mortons or the value for money offering at Abof. Wild Rocket's version comes close. Well almost. Its decidedly as good as Abof's but significantly more expensive as well (not as expensive as Morton's though). The shell was slightly hard while the spongy interior was soft and moist. Thick oozing, not too sweet chocolate completed the picture. But it was small, even smaller than Abof's.
I had a good and leisurely brunch, no doubt about that. But $95 for 3 pax does seem a little steep especially with the smallish portions. Its a nice place to hang out though and service is good. They will definitely be seeing more of me. On a side note, please let me reiterate that the place is tiny and you are looking at about probably 30 people max so please please please make your reservations.
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Health and wholesome goodness comes naturally at Eden...
Was welcomed by the homely and comfortable cafe with smile and greetings from Clement and his staff. Situated up a little slope of Club Street, Eden Cafe is a place where one would love to enter for a smoothing and chilled glass of wine tea to beat those heat from the blazing sun. The cafe feels so homely, I can stay there for an entire day. Great for those who love a quiet place to chill and relax, away from the bustling madness happening just nearby, with some good tea or wine.
As a seafood lover, especially for calamari, I just had to try their Mussel Calamari Dunker ($12.90) served with crispy wholegrain bread. Although the base seems thick, and together with the wholegrain bread seem like a filling meal. But it was just the right amount of everything that filled my tummy but still left room for more. The calamaris and mussels were so fresh, I could taste their original taste even with the specially created base which was made up of seven different vegetables. Including celery, which I hate! But it was so well blended that I licked the bowl clean. (Ok I didn't literally licked the bowl.)
With room for more, I tried their homemade Rosepetal Brownie ($5.90). Yap! There's real rosepetals in the brownie and also on it! My very first attempt at consuming flowers and it was quite an interesting taste. The rosepetals blended well with the sweetness from the chocolate brownie and vanilla ice-cream. The rose petal reduces the sweetness with its light bitterness. And as the brownies has no additional sugar added, you won't get "sick" of eating it, although the piece was quite huge. Surely going to order this again when I'm back (i.e. after I tried the other sinful goodness at Eden).
The next must try is Eden's fusion tea ($9.00). There's so many choices to choose from. When you can't decide, just tell Clement how you feel that day and let him decide for you! Served in specially designed tea sets, you can see the beautiful colors of the floral tea and the nice golden color of the tea. The teacups are cleverly crafted, with the double layer design, you can hold the teacup without feeling the heat from the tea.
With yummy and healthy food, great atmosphere and friendly service, its no doubt that I'm going to recommend all my friends and family to Eden Cafe.
If you can't decide what to eat, just let Clement decide for you.
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The popular Uno Beef House at Toa Payoh has a new outlet in the western regions of Singapore. Located in a prominent and brightly lit coffee shop along Dover road which runs parallel to the MRT line, it has its fair share of customers as well, but the waiting time here is definitely much shorter than its Toa Payoh counterpart.
I started off with the Cream of Mushroom soup ($2) which definitely came straight out of the can. There were undissolved chunks of coagulated soup at the bottom of the bowl, indicating a less than thorough stirring process. Having said that, I certainly didn't expect them to make their own mushroom soup, not for $2.
My gf had the pork chops ($5) which was quite good. Chewy yet not too dry or tough, with lots of savoury made from scratch gravy to go along. Portions were decent, but definitely not sufficient for a glutton like me.
The purported star of the evening (they are called Uno Beef House for a reason), the tenderloin steak ($10), was served up medium rare as per my request. The meat was very well done, succulent and a little chewy but lacked the sweetness of really good tenderloins. The mushroom sauce was quite decent too, with slices of mushroom and onion in it. I would have liked a more robust sauce though.
Here comes the real star of the evening, the side of a single Potato Ball which was served alongside a small tomato. It had a buttery taste to it and reminded me very much of eating pineapple tarts minus the sweetened pineapple of course. Texture wise was also good, not too mashed up or soft. I wonder if the Potato Balls are available on their own.
In summary, I like this place and will definitely be back to patronise. Its definitely in the league of Astons for steak and considering the amount of hype that Astons has been getting, I rather stick to Uno.
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Have to compliment this guy's friendly and welcoming service. Although I guess he did scare/ gave fright to some of the ladies shopping at Watsons.
Not sure if he's one of the managers but he was wearing a jacket and was well groomed. He went around with basket for shoppers and very politely offered the basket for the shoppers. But I did notice he kinda frightened couple of the ladies who were paying too much attention to the labels on the packaging.
Still a pleasant shock I guess.
My partner commented that they're probably training up for the upcoming F1 race or IR since Singapore is all about providing excellence services for everyone. Hope the service standards will keep improving in Singapore.
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