This small eatery was featured in a Singaporean food variety shows as well as a number of local newspaper lifestyle reports for its unique variety of waffles e.g. oreo, durian, honey.
From 10am to 10pm daily, you can experience an all-you-can-eat buffet of waffles of many different flavours. You can also pick from a (One-time) selection of ice-creams and drinks to complement your waffles. All these for just $8.80! If somehow you are still hungry, you can top-up $3 for a main course e.g. spaghetti.
However, you should also take note of some house rules e.g. the standard buffet wastage charges. As the Durian flavor waffles is the most requested flavor at Waffle Factory, each buffet diner is entitled to only 1 Durian flavor waffle. You just have to try the waffle to understand why - instead of a durian-flavored paste, this is a real fresh durian filling!
We tried a total of 12 waffles - each waffle is about the size of a palm and there are many flavours to choose from. Some must-try flavors include Oreo and Sweet Corn.
We ordered a chocolate float and ice-cream waffle cone (included in the buffet price). They complemented the hot waffles perfectly.
Perhaps because its still early (11am+), there wasn't anyone else in the cafe so service was quite fast. We are allowed to order 3 waffles at one time and the service staff were friendly and helpful to recommend us the best flavors to try.
For $8.80, this is actually quite a worthwhile buffet if you really like waffles although you could get quite sick of waffles after this treat. We stayed off waffles for quite some time. :-)
For more info, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/asia/singapore/waffle-factory-buffet/
Located at the heart of Mongkok, it served as a good pitstop from hours of shopping at nearby Tung Choi Street Market (Ladies Street). There are lots of cafes and even a cinema (showing just 2 Cantonese movies) around the hotel.
While there is limited walking space in a Standard Double Room at Stanford Hong Kong Hotel, the cool view of Hong Kong’s environment and the spacious writing table more than makes up for it. However do take note that the small bottle of water on the writing table is booby-trapped! It will cost you HKG40 (almost S$8) to drink it!
The beds are really comfortable and the LCD TV offers a number of cable channels ranging from HBO for the latest movies to ESPN for the latest sports update. The hotel package we bought also included free Wi-Fi – just bring your laptop, get the network password from the hotel reception and you are good to go!
The shower and toilet facilities are pretty much what you would expect from a 3-star hotel. What’s unique is that instead of providing you with bottles of shampoo and bodywash, Stanford Hong Kong hotel had combined hair soap shampoo shower gel conditioner into one solution available from a dispenser in the toilet!
For more pictures and reviews, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/reviews/accommodation-reviews/hong-kong-standford-hotel-review/
This was my first visit to Aston after hearing so much about it. No doubt I did not have steak which was what they are famous for, but I'm writing this review based on what I have. I still feel that as a restaurant you should take care of your other dishes as well.
This outlet feels like a family place and packed with families and students on a Saturday evening. I was seated next to a group of 10 students on an outing so was rather noisy.
Minestrone ($3.50) - didn't have this but heard it was diluted and not good.
Clam chowder ($3.50) - thick creamy but bland. I found chicken instead of clam. Hmmm. Both soups came really lukewarm and we asked to heat it up. The staff said he needed to check with the manager (???). When they returned the 2nd time, it was still lukewarm. We gave up.
Spinach salad ($6.90) - Really just spinach leaves anda few sundried tomatos on top (we had asked to replace bacon bits with it), nothing else. The balsamic vinegrette was okay but too tart for my liking.
Chicken provanacle ($10.90) - I forgot to take pics of this but no loss. A cut of chicken laced with mushroom sauce, accompanied by wedges and buttered mushrooms (you could choose any 2 side dishes from a list). The chicken came with too much, and wedges served cold. The mushrooms were not too bad though.
It may be forgivable to neglect your non-famous dishes a little but I think serving hot soup should be a basic. Not going back there, even though prices are really attractive.
Picked this for a family dinner and was quite surprised that it was not packed on a Sunay night. It was a bit chilly maybe because of the small crowd at about 6pm but that also meant I had a staff standing right beside our table trying to look inconspicious while waiting for us to need his service.
I have to say I can't remember the exact names of the dishes but these are what the 4 of us had:
Spinach tofu with mushrooms - homemade tofu with a layer of spinach on top, covered in stir fried mushrooms and sauce. The tofu was quite nice and not too soft, with the mushrooms adding a bite to the dish.
Fried kailan and mushrooms - Didn't know if the kailan was the main thing or mushrooms, but this was the best dish of the evening. Kailan was done just crunchy and mushrooms sauce was a very nice savory addition to the greens. Alongside it was a basket of beehoon filled with deep fried mushroons, a nice treat to the stir fried ones. Nicee~
Seafood beehoon soup - clear warm stock filled with loads of bee hoon and diced everything: green beans, prawns, squid, etc. I like it for the fact it was comfort food. Its a huge portion for 1 order (the pic shows individual bowl after they've portioned it out)
Curry crab - the biggest disappointment of the evening. It was one M-size crab drowned in heavy curry. I have to admit we ordered it due after much persuasion and recommendations by the staff, but it turned out to be a strange combi on the palette. Maybe I didn't like the too-strong taste of the coconut milk but it wasn't my cup of tea. It came with a plate of oily garlic bread which was not good either.
Service was okay, and nothing exceptional. This was definitely a much better choice than the other side of east coast where jumbo and gang was though, less quiet amd I'm quite sure the prices are about the same. The location's good mostly for those who drive as parking's typically not an issue.
Saw that they have an ala carte buffet lunch at $26.80 per pax (if I remember correctly), but not sure what's on the lunch menu. They had a 10% with DBS / POSB cards that night so that's a bonus.
They also have quite a number of private rooms so good for corporate guests too.
For a restaurant that was within walking distance from my previous office, it was rather surprising that my ex colleagues and I had dined at Man Fu Yuan, the flagship Cantonese restaurant of Hotel Intercontinental, helmed by Executive Chef Sunny Kong.
Tucked in a bright and cheery corner on the 2nd level of this charming 5 star hotel, Man Fu Yuan's dining space is divided into 2 sections, separated by a short bridge. There is the main dining area which can probably house about 10 tables or so and the more exclusive portion where you have private rooms and semi private spaces for 2 pax or more. Decor is simple with a touch of class but other then that, not much differentiation from other upscale Chinese restaurants.
Baked Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Pie - We were off to a good start with the char siew sou, which had a crisp and sweet top crust, very much like bo luo bao. The BBQ pork filling was savoury while the flaky base made for delightful nibbling.
Roasted Platter - Things started going downhill pretty much with the roasted platter. The roast pork and BBQ pork had weight loss problems and were served cold while the roast duck's skin harboured no crispiness. But at least it didn't come across as too gamey.
Crystal Dumpling with Chicken and Pumpkin - Now this was interesting. Thin glutinous skin wrapped around crunchy pumpkin and chicken bits. First time I'm having it but too unexciting to probably have it again.
Prawn Dumpling with Asparagus - A quintessential dim sum order, the har gao had a sprinkling of chopped asparagus amidst fresh crunchy prawns. The skin did seem a little too elastic though.
Custard Bun - I have always used Peach Garden's custard buns as the yardstick to measure the characteristics of good custard buns. And that looks set to be displaced by Man Fu Yuan's. Small portions aside, the buns had a oozing egg yolk laden center with bits of sediment to show for it. And to top it off, it won't give you a toothache.
Honey Glazed Barbecued Pork Bun - Normal to say the least. And definitely a waste of stomach space and money. I remember quitting on it halfway through the chomping process.
Dumpling with Dried Scallop and Pea Shoot - I honestly don't remember much about this dish except that it tasted similar to the prawn dumpling, save for bits of vegetables (I don't remember the variant) that replaced the pea shoot. And I don't recall tasting or seeing any scallops.
Deep Fried Scallops and Prawns with Sugar Cane - To my limited knowledge, only the Vietnamese use sticks of sugarcane more commonly in their cooking so it was quite surprising/interesting to see it deep fried with scallops and prawns in a dim sum dish. That's not to say that this dish was any good. Overly salty and oily would be a good start in describing this nausea inducing deep fried lump of flour. Well at least the sugar cane was crunchy.
Beef Ball with Watercress - This has got to be one of, if not the worst beef ball I've eaten in a long long time. Cringingly soft without a trace of beefiness, almost to the extent of being gross. Way too much flour went into the beef and I could make out the taste of orange peel, which was probably the only reason why I didn't puke when I ate it.
Deep Fried Mango Prawn Roll with Wasabi - The mango prawn roll came across as flat. The mango slices weren't sweet and the wasabi sauce was weak. So that left the flour, which was well, fried.
Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Roll with Shrimps - As with alot of previous dishes, the bean curd skin roll was drenched in oil and no the least bit crisp. I appreciated the generous serving of prawns though but thats just about it.
Minced Pork Dumpling with Shark's Fin - The siew mai didn't threaten to overwhelm with its porky taste which probably meant less fat meat. There was a hint of fishiness from the tiny fragment of shark's fin adorning the top. Very palatable.
Jin Chuan Dumpling - This honestly looked like jiaozi (饺子) to me and I personally thought that the skin was a wee bit too thick for my liking. The sauce was spicy, salty and slightly vinegary - rather appetising.
Baked Mini Fluffy Egg Tart - The egg tarts had sheer disappointment written all over them. For starters, the pastry wasn't flaky and seemed to be sorely lacking in butter. As for the custard, it had an oily aftertaste which was just plain distasteful.
Baked Lobster Cheese Balls - Strangely enough, the lobster cheese balls reminded me of very salty and crispy croutons. Did I mention oily as well? Definitely not something for the health conscious. And honestly I couldn't quite make out much lobster or cheese for that matter. Everything was just salty.
An unforgettably horrid lunch for 6 cost us to the tune of $250. The only scant consolation we could derive was the 20% discount on food given to us by virtue of a credit card promotion and of course the promise of a complimentary peking duck if we should ever return. Service was good but with such sub standard quality of food, I'll be hard pressed to find a reason to ever return.
It was in our interest that we decided to give Pete's Place a shot, having acquired recently, a 1 for 1 set dinner voucher. Holed up at the basement of Grand Hyatt, the name of the restaurant gave it a more personal and casual connotation as opposed to that of a swanky fine dining Italian restaurant usually found in hotels.
And living up to its casual billing, Pete's Place boasts brick walls coupled with checkered table cloths and an open kitchen where the chefs prepare your food. Being underground, there are no windows to speak off but the place oozes a nice comfortable feeling, one that evokes memories of sitting by a fireplace while having your meal.
You can help yourself to the limited variety of bread at the tiny bread station. None of the bread struck me as fantastic but gives you something to chew on while you wait for your food. There is of course the salad bar as well, which I thought to be pretty decent.
Seafood Pasta - The pasta wasn't al dente, coming across as a tad too soft while the tomato base sauce was a little too runny for my liking. I appreciated the generous serving of sweet, crunchy prawns as well as delectable and sizable scallops. A little less salt would have been ideal though.
Saltimbocca Alla Romana - This veal dish is apparently a classic Roman dish that counts fresh sage as one of its main ingredients. Honestly, this is the first time I've eating this and I can't say that I'm a big fan of it. Firstly, I thought that it was overly salty and though tender, the meat had a weird "coated with flour and steamed" like texture. I did like the mashed potato though - finely whipped with a seductively strong hint of butter. Nice.
Tiramisu - Well it was between this and a scoop of ice cream. It was a no brainer for me really. But the tiramisu turned out to be a flop, unfortunately. Too much sponge, too little mascarpone cheese. And a teetotaler version to boot. At least there was the vanilla bean sauce with the occasional sighting of a bean or two in it.
Thank god for the 50%, paring what would have been an unreasonable amount of money to pay ($153 after tax) for such average food to something more manageable ($77). Even then, I don't find it exactly value for money. On the upside, service was reliable, benefiting from the experience of the wait staff, most of whom seemed to be in the older age bracket.
Zouk nightclub has 4 different themed clubs; Velvet Underground, Phuture, Zouk and the Winebar. The admission of SGD$30 for men and SGD$25 for women, (includes 2 drinks) gives you admission to all 4 clubs - good value for money
Velvet Underground is a pretty posh place. There's an older crowd at Velvet, as they have in place an over-23 rule for this club
Zouk is the biggest of the four sections and is particularly lively and enjoyable on Wednesday nights when they have their weekly "Mambo night" - they play a lot of classic songs, from the 70s-90s, tracks. I would definitely recommend checking the place out on Wednesdays for the Mambo nights. It's a really popular night in Singapore and it's great cause it attracts a younger and hip crowd and an unique experience in my opinion.
One thing you have to bear with during weekends, as mentioned by other reviewers, is the mass of army boys who will gather at Zouk. They can get quite rowdy at times.
Drinks inside are pretty expensive inside though - it's always a good idea to share a jug (60SGD) or even a bottle of Vodka/Chivas (220SGD) between friends.
One of the Kbox outlets with good services. Rooms (at least the few I've been in) are relatively clean and in good condition. We were usually urshered into rooms with ample space for us to move around and took photos just that the TV screen was ridiculously close to us such that we can be blinded when MTVs changes.
The few times I've been there, there were quite a few pple walking around and smoking. Thats irritating but it should not affect the review on this outlet.
List of songs as usual, awesome, of wide variety and quite easy to find the song we wanted. However they should really change the colour of the words. Had to scrint to decipher.
Thanks to SeeDifferent.SG, we were invited to a private Halloween Party at MINT Museum of Toys. Our visit to the MINT Museum of Toys was a perfect complement to our earlier visit to the Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC). From these visits, we were able to see toys of different periods (vintage toys in MINT Museum of Toys versus modern ones in STGCC) from all around the world.
The “MINT” in MINT Museum of Toys stands for Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys. The museum is the world’s first purpose-built museum for toys. Its unique collection of vintage toys originates from over 25 countries such as Germany, Japan, United States and even Bulgaria.
Over 50,000 pieces of vintage toys and childhood memorabilia dating from the mid-19th century to mid-20th century, is exhibited over 4 levels of the museum e.g. The toys at Level 5: Outerspace, reflect early 20th century society’s perception of technology and space travel in the future – deadly ray guns, flying suits, scary robots and aliens.
For more info, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/asia/singapore/mint-museum-of-toys-halloween-party/
There are many Fish Spas in Singapore but stick to the more reputable brands e.g. Kenko, Qian Hu Fish Spa since there had been a number of reports of shops using cheaper species of fish which could do more harm than good. The Fish Spa service at Qian Hu Fish Farm is one of the cheapest in the market:
Walk-in rates for the Fish Spa – $10 for first half (1/2) hour and subsequent charges are at $0.30 per minute. Slippers and towels are also provided as part of the fee.
If you are planning a company/family bonding trip by having fishes nibbling at their feet, you can also book in advance with Qian Hu Fish Farm -> they have this Spa Executive Tour (weekdays only, exclude Public holidays) that can cost as little as $5/head depending on the group size.
This is the second time I am here for this Fish Spa.. I noticed that the fishes have grown tremendously in size or they had introduced new fish species. Some are as long as my foot and my foot is already quite HUGE!
The sign in Mandarin says ” Over Here -> Bigger Fish Bigger Enjoyment” and indeed it is a very interesting and ticklish experience. Don’t worry, not all fishes are as big; there is just one pool with such big fishes, the rest are smaller ones. You can see the difference between the small and big fish in the top right most picture.
1=SGD 0.0587
This small eatery was featured in a Singaporean food variety shows as well as a number of local newspaper lifestyle reports for its unique variety of waffles e.g. oreo, durian, honey.
From 10am to 10pm daily, you can experience an all-you-can-eat buffet of waffles of many different flavours. You can also pick from a (One-time) selection of ice-creams and drinks to complement your waffles. All these for just $8.80! If somehow you are still hungry, you can top-up $3 for a main course e.g. spaghetti.
However, you should also take note of some house rules e.g. the standard buffet wastage charges. As the Durian flavor waffles is the most requested flavor at Waffle Factory, each buffet diner is entitled to only 1 Durian flavor waffle. You just have to try the waffle to understand why - instead of a durian-flavored paste, this is a real fresh durian filling!
We tried a total of 12 waffles - each waffle is about the size of a palm and there are many flavours to choose from. Some must-try flavors include Oreo and Sweet Corn.
We ordered a chocolate float and ice-cream waffle cone (included in the buffet price). They complemented the hot waffles perfectly.
Perhaps because its still early (11am+), there wasn't anyone else in the cafe so service was quite fast. We are allowed to order 3 waffles at one time and the service staff were friendly and helpful to recommend us the best flavors to try.
For $8.80, this is actually quite a worthwhile buffet if you really like waffles although you could get quite sick of waffles after this treat. We stayed off waffles for quite some time. :-)
For more info, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/asia/singapore/waffle-factory-buffet/
Rating given:
Located at the heart of Mongkok, it served as a good pitstop from hours of shopping at nearby Tung Choi Street Market (Ladies Street). There are lots of cafes and even a cinema (showing just 2 Cantonese movies) around the hotel.
While there is limited walking space in a Standard Double Room at Stanford Hong Kong Hotel, the cool view of Hong Kong’s environment and the spacious writing table more than makes up for it. However do take note that the small bottle of water on the writing table is booby-trapped! It will cost you HKG40 (almost S$8) to drink it!
The beds are really comfortable and the LCD TV offers a number of cable channels ranging from HBO for the latest movies to ESPN for the latest sports update. The hotel package we bought also included free Wi-Fi – just bring your laptop, get the network password from the hotel reception and you are good to go!
The shower and toilet facilities are pretty much what you would expect from a 3-star hotel. What’s unique is that instead of providing you with bottles of shampoo and bodywash, Stanford Hong Kong hotel had combined hair soap shampoo shower gel conditioner into one solution available from a dispenser in the toilet!
For more pictures and reviews, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/reviews/accommodation-reviews/hong-kong-standford-hotel-review/
Rating given:
Not coming back.
This was my first visit to Aston after hearing so much about it. No doubt I did not have steak which was what they are famous for, but I'm writing this review based on what I have. I still feel that as a restaurant you should take care of your other dishes as well.
This outlet feels like a family place and packed with families and students on a Saturday evening. I was seated next to a group of 10 students on an outing so was rather noisy.
Minestrone ($3.50) - didn't have this but heard it was diluted and not good.
Clam chowder ($3.50) - thick creamy but bland. I found chicken instead of clam. Hmmm. Both soups came really lukewarm and we asked to heat it up. The staff said he needed to check with the manager (???). When they returned the 2nd time, it was still lukewarm. We gave up.
Spinach salad ($6.90) - Really just spinach leaves anda few sundried tomatos on top (we had asked to replace bacon bits with it), nothing else. The balsamic vinegrette was okay but too tart for my liking.
Chicken provanacle ($10.90) - I forgot to take pics of this but no loss. A cut of chicken laced with mushroom sauce, accompanied by wedges and buttered mushrooms (you could choose any 2 side dishes from a list). The chicken came with too much, and wedges served cold. The mushrooms were not too bad though.
It may be forgivable to neglect your non-famous dishes a little but I think serving hot soup should be a basic. Not going back there, even though prices are really attractive.
Rating given:
Not too bad ~
Picked this for a family dinner and was quite surprised that it was not packed on a Sunay night. It was a bit chilly maybe because of the small crowd at about 6pm but that also meant I had a staff standing right beside our table trying to look inconspicious while waiting for us to need his service.
I have to say I can't remember the exact names of the dishes but these are what the 4 of us had:
Spinach tofu with mushrooms - homemade tofu with a layer of spinach on top, covered in stir fried mushrooms and sauce. The tofu was quite nice and not too soft, with the mushrooms adding a bite to the dish.
Fried kailan and mushrooms - Didn't know if the kailan was the main thing or mushrooms, but this was the best dish of the evening. Kailan was done just crunchy and mushrooms sauce was a very nice savory addition to the greens. Alongside it was a basket of beehoon filled with deep fried mushroons, a nice treat to the stir fried ones. Nicee~
Seafood beehoon soup - clear warm stock filled with loads of bee hoon and diced everything: green beans, prawns, squid, etc. I like it for the fact it was comfort food. Its a huge portion for 1 order (the pic shows individual bowl after they've portioned it out)
Curry crab - the biggest disappointment of the evening. It was one M-size crab drowned in heavy curry. I have to admit we ordered it due after much persuasion and recommendations by the staff, but it turned out to be a strange combi on the palette. Maybe I didn't like the too-strong taste of the coconut milk but it wasn't my cup of tea. It came with a plate of oily garlic bread which was not good either.
Service was okay, and nothing exceptional. This was definitely a much better choice than the other side of east coast where jumbo and gang was though, less quiet amd I'm quite sure the prices are about the same. The location's good mostly for those who drive as parking's typically not an issue.
Saw that they have an ala carte buffet lunch at $26.80 per pax (if I remember correctly), but not sure what's on the lunch menu. They had a 10% with DBS / POSB cards that night so that's a bonus.
They also have quite a number of private rooms so good for corporate guests too.
Rating given:
For a restaurant that was within walking distance from my previous office, it was rather surprising that my ex colleagues and I had dined at Man Fu Yuan, the flagship Cantonese restaurant of Hotel Intercontinental, helmed by Executive Chef Sunny Kong.
Tucked in a bright and cheery corner on the 2nd level of this charming 5 star hotel, Man Fu Yuan's dining space is divided into 2 sections, separated by a short bridge. There is the main dining area which can probably house about 10 tables or so and the more exclusive portion where you have private rooms and semi private spaces for 2 pax or more. Decor is simple with a touch of class but other then that, not much differentiation from other upscale Chinese restaurants.
Baked Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Pie - We were off to a good start with the char siew sou, which had a crisp and sweet top crust, very much like bo luo bao. The BBQ pork filling was savoury while the flaky base made for delightful nibbling.
Roasted Platter - Things started going downhill pretty much with the roasted platter. The roast pork and BBQ pork had weight loss problems and were served cold while the roast duck's skin harboured no crispiness. But at least it didn't come across as too gamey.
Crystal Dumpling with Chicken and Pumpkin - Now this was interesting. Thin glutinous skin wrapped around crunchy pumpkin and chicken bits. First time I'm having it but too unexciting to probably have it again.
Prawn Dumpling with Asparagus - A quintessential dim sum order, the har gao had a sprinkling of chopped asparagus amidst fresh crunchy prawns. The skin did seem a little too elastic though.
Custard Bun - I have always used Peach Garden's custard buns as the yardstick to measure the characteristics of good custard buns. And that looks set to be displaced by Man Fu Yuan's. Small portions aside, the buns had a oozing egg yolk laden center with bits of sediment to show for it. And to top it off, it won't give you a toothache.
Honey Glazed Barbecued Pork Bun - Normal to say the least. And definitely a waste of stomach space and money. I remember quitting on it halfway through the chomping process.
Dumpling with Dried Scallop and Pea Shoot - I honestly don't remember much about this dish except that it tasted similar to the prawn dumpling, save for bits of vegetables (I don't remember the variant) that replaced the pea shoot. And I don't recall tasting or seeing any scallops.
Deep Fried Scallops and Prawns with Sugar Cane - To my limited knowledge, only the Vietnamese use sticks of sugarcane more commonly in their cooking so it was quite surprising/interesting to see it deep fried with scallops and prawns in a dim sum dish. That's not to say that this dish was any good. Overly salty and oily would be a good start in describing this nausea inducing deep fried lump of flour. Well at least the sugar cane was crunchy.
Beef Ball with Watercress - This has got to be one of, if not the worst beef ball I've eaten in a long long time. Cringingly soft without a trace of beefiness, almost to the extent of being gross. Way too much flour went into the beef and I could make out the taste of orange peel, which was probably the only reason why I didn't puke when I ate it.
Deep Fried Mango Prawn Roll with Wasabi - The mango prawn roll came across as flat. The mango slices weren't sweet and the wasabi sauce was weak. So that left the flour, which was well, fried.
Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Roll with Shrimps - As with alot of previous dishes, the bean curd skin roll was drenched in oil and no the least bit crisp. I appreciated the generous serving of prawns though but thats just about it.
Minced Pork Dumpling with Shark's Fin - The siew mai didn't threaten to overwhelm with its porky taste which probably meant less fat meat. There was a hint of fishiness from the tiny fragment of shark's fin adorning the top. Very palatable.
Jin Chuan Dumpling - This honestly looked like jiaozi (饺子) to me and I personally thought that the skin was a wee bit too thick for my liking. The sauce was spicy, salty and slightly vinegary - rather appetising.
Baked Mini Fluffy Egg Tart - The egg tarts had sheer disappointment written all over them. For starters, the pastry wasn't flaky and seemed to be sorely lacking in butter. As for the custard, it had an oily aftertaste which was just plain distasteful.
Baked Lobster Cheese Balls - Strangely enough, the lobster cheese balls reminded me of very salty and crispy croutons. Did I mention oily as well? Definitely not something for the health conscious. And honestly I couldn't quite make out much lobster or cheese for that matter. Everything was just salty.
An unforgettably horrid lunch for 6 cost us to the tune of $250. The only scant consolation we could derive was the 20% discount on food given to us by virtue of a credit card promotion and of course the promise of a complimentary peking duck if we should ever return. Service was good but with such sub standard quality of food, I'll be hard pressed to find a reason to ever return.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
It was in our interest that we decided to give Pete's Place a shot, having acquired recently, a 1 for 1 set dinner voucher. Holed up at the basement of Grand Hyatt, the name of the restaurant gave it a more personal and casual connotation as opposed to that of a swanky fine dining Italian restaurant usually found in hotels.
And living up to its casual billing, Pete's Place boasts brick walls coupled with checkered table cloths and an open kitchen where the chefs prepare your food. Being underground, there are no windows to speak off but the place oozes a nice comfortable feeling, one that evokes memories of sitting by a fireplace while having your meal.
You can help yourself to the limited variety of bread at the tiny bread station. None of the bread struck me as fantastic but gives you something to chew on while you wait for your food. There is of course the salad bar as well, which I thought to be pretty decent.
Seafood Pasta - The pasta wasn't al dente, coming across as a tad too soft while the tomato base sauce was a little too runny for my liking. I appreciated the generous serving of sweet, crunchy prawns as well as delectable and sizable scallops. A little less salt would have been ideal though.
Saltimbocca Alla Romana - This veal dish is apparently a classic Roman dish that counts fresh sage as one of its main ingredients. Honestly, this is the first time I've eating this and I can't say that I'm a big fan of it. Firstly, I thought that it was overly salty and though tender, the meat had a weird "coated with flour and steamed" like texture. I did like the mashed potato though - finely whipped with a seductively strong hint of butter. Nice.
Tiramisu - Well it was between this and a scoop of ice cream. It was a no brainer for me really. But the tiramisu turned out to be a flop, unfortunately. Too much sponge, too little mascarpone cheese. And a teetotaler version to boot. At least there was the vanilla bean sauce with the occasional sighting of a bean or two in it.
Thank god for the 50%, paring what would have been an unreasonable amount of money to pay ($153 after tax) for such average food to something more manageable ($77). Even then, I don't find it exactly value for money. On the upside, service was reliable, benefiting from the experience of the wait staff, most of whom seemed to be in the older age bracket.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Zouk nightclub has 4 different themed clubs; Velvet Underground, Phuture, Zouk and the Winebar. The admission of SGD$30 for men and SGD$25 for women, (includes 2 drinks) gives you admission to all 4 clubs - good value for money
Velvet Underground is a pretty posh place. There's an older crowd at Velvet, as they have in place an over-23 rule for this club
Zouk is the biggest of the four sections and is particularly lively and enjoyable on Wednesday nights when they have their weekly "Mambo night" - they play a lot of classic songs, from the 70s-90s, tracks. I would definitely recommend checking the place out on Wednesdays for the Mambo nights. It's a really popular night in Singapore and it's great cause it attracts a younger and hip crowd and an unique experience in my opinion.
One thing you have to bear with during weekends, as mentioned by other reviewers, is the mass of army boys who will gather at Zouk. They can get quite rowdy at times.
Drinks inside are pretty expensive inside though - it's always a good idea to share a jug (60SGD) or even a bottle of Vodka/Chivas (220SGD) between friends.
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One of the Kbox outlets with good services. Rooms (at least the few I've been in) are relatively clean and in good condition. We were usually urshered into rooms with ample space for us to move around and took photos just that the TV screen was ridiculously close to us such that we can be blinded when MTVs changes.
The few times I've been there, there were quite a few pple walking around and smoking. Thats irritating but it should not affect the review on this outlet.
List of songs as usual, awesome, of wide variety and quite easy to find the song we wanted. However they should really change the colour of the words. Had to scrint to decipher.
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Thanks to SeeDifferent.SG, we were invited to a private Halloween Party at MINT Museum of Toys. Our visit to the MINT Museum of Toys was a perfect complement to our earlier visit to the Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC). From these visits, we were able to see toys of different periods (vintage toys in MINT Museum of Toys versus modern ones in STGCC) from all around the world.
The “MINT” in MINT Museum of Toys stands for Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys. The museum is the world’s first purpose-built museum for toys. Its unique collection of vintage toys originates from over 25 countries such as Germany, Japan, United States and even Bulgaria.
Over 50,000 pieces of vintage toys and childhood memorabilia dating from the mid-19th century to mid-20th century, is exhibited over 4 levels of the museum e.g. The toys at Level 5: Outerspace, reflect early 20th century society’s perception of technology and space travel in the future – deadly ray guns, flying suits, scary robots and aliens.
For more info, check out: http://www.passportchop.com/asia/singapore/mint-museum-of-toys-halloween-party/
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There are many Fish Spas in Singapore but stick to the more reputable brands e.g. Kenko, Qian Hu Fish Spa since there had been a number of reports of shops using cheaper species of fish which could do more harm than good. The Fish Spa service at Qian Hu Fish Farm is one of the cheapest in the market:
Walk-in rates for the Fish Spa – $10 for first half (1/2) hour and subsequent charges are at $0.30 per minute. Slippers and towels are also provided as part of the fee.
If you are planning a company/family bonding trip by having fishes nibbling at their feet, you can also book in advance with Qian Hu Fish Farm -> they have this Spa Executive Tour (weekdays only, exclude Public holidays) that can cost as little as $5/head depending on the group size.
This is the second time I am here for this Fish Spa.. I noticed that the fishes have grown tremendously in size or they had introduced new fish species. Some are as long as my foot and my foot is already quite HUGE!
The sign in Mandarin says ” Over Here -> Bigger Fish Bigger Enjoyment” and indeed it is a very interesting and ticklish experience. Don’t worry, not all fishes are as big; there is just one pool with such big fishes, the rest are smaller ones. You can see the difference between the small and big fish in the top right most picture.
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