This is the only shop that utterly ruined my renovation experience. I have no choice but to relate my entire experience here...
We were out shopping for sanitary and stopped by at Viva Nueva first. But I didn't like the design of the one-piece toilet bowl they had there so we thanked the saleslady, Jojo and we went to look for more. We finally picked out our toilet bowls, sinks and taps at a shop further down. But my mom really liked the cooking hob at Viva Nueva so we walked back to the shop. We ordered our hob and kitchen sink from them and left. Before we left I asked for them to provide me with a trap for the kitchen sink. It costs only $5 and Jojo's face immediately turned "black" when I asked for it FOC. I just spent $700 at her shop and she was unhappy about me asking for a $5 item....
After 30 minutes, Jojo called me on the phone and demanded to know where I bought my sanitary fittings. She asked if I bought from XXX shop down the street and demanded to know exactly what I bought from them. I flatly refused to give her any details and the conversation lasted for 8 minutes with her repeatedly asking me what I bought. When I put down the phone, I really regretted buying anything from her but since I'd already paid the deposit I only prayed for my items to come intact.
About a week later, I asked for the items to be delivered. The salesgirl on the line (not Jojo) confirmed that my items can be delivered on Wednesday at 1pm. At 12pm on Wednesday I called to confirm again and she told me that the items were not in the warehouse yet and she cannot confirm that my items can reach me at 1pm!! Can you imagine that she didn't even intend to call me beforehand and was going to let me wait like a fool at a half-renovated house with no seats?! Anyway I agreed to postpone the delivery to the next day.
The next day the items arrive promptly... but... there was no hole for my tap on the kitchen sink. There was a hole on the sink that was displayed in the showroom so I naturally assumed that the sink comes with a hole for kitchen taps. I do know that some sinks do not as the taps are to be mounted on the table top. So I called Viva Nueva again and this time Jojo answered.
She insisted that it was MY FAULT for not telling them that I needed a hole for my kitchen tap and wanted me to ask my contractor/plumber to drill a hole. BUT if they did the job and spoilt the sink who was to pay for it? In the first place, I don't buy sinks every day and am not a professional at buying sinks so HOW WOULD I KNOW that sinks don't come with holes?! She as the sales staff SHOULD ask the customer if they need one drilled isn't it??? Anyway the deliveryman was very kind and he agreed to take back the sink and drill the hole for me, even while I was still arguing with Jojo over the phone. So there went my sink again. Thankfully my kitchen hob came intact.
I told Jojo that she has to inform me two hours before the delivery of my sink as I needed time to rush down. She said she would inform me an hour before and I found that to be reasonable. BUT the next day, the deliveryman called me at 12noon to tell me that he was there waiting for me. I was on my way to town and simply couldn't rush down. So the deliveryman left the sink there and left. I managed to go down at 4pm and lo and behold, there was a footprint in the middle of the sink and tons of haphazard scratches all over the base of the sink which weren't there in the first place. I reckon they must have gotten there when the drilling was done.
Anyway I called Jojo again and told her to take back the sink. She said that the scratches were part of the design and ALL her sinks have the scratch-like design. hahaha Anyway she said she got her deliveryman to come down and I asked her when he would arrive. She insisted that he was coming now and refused to say when he would arrive. He did eventually after 45 minutes and took back the sink grudgingly saying that he would never deliver the sink again.
In the next two days, we argued with Jojo many times and insisted that we wanted a refund and that we would just buy our sink elsewhere since the delivery of HER sink was delaying our renovation. My contractor needed her sink in order to cut the opening on my kitchen cabinets. After much talks, the sink finally came (unannounced again) and we inspected it before paying the remaining amount in cash.
What an experience it was just trying to get our $235 sink (which IS expensive for a non-European sink btw).
The hob wasn't cheap too at $529 though I was told by friends that for that brand it is quite a good buy. BUT I certainly would have settled for a lesser brand if I knew how much trouble patronising this shop would cause.
After renovation, the walls in our house looked so empty so we looked into ways of getting them spruced up. My parents weren't a fan of getting paintings as holes had to be made in order to hang the paintings up.
So I thought of wall decals. After looking at many local decal websites, I found Decorette! I liked a few of the designs on the website and was ready to order them. However, at that point, I could find one that I liked for the living room. I wanted something which was family related but there weren't any of those. So I decided to have one customised.
I emailed Amanda of Decorette about my plans and she replied in a couple of days. With a couple of emails to and fro, we had the design finalised and I paid through paypal. In 3 days after paying, the decals were on my doorstep! That's fast isn't it? Especially since she needed to customise mine and cut it up, etc... Not to mention the customised one cost $50 only! She also threw in little swirly designs for me free... and I made little changes to my chandelier one without additional charges.
The decals came well packed and protected by the hard tube, so they were in mint condition.
The decals were easy to put up and the instructions were easy to understand. Amanda even included a little cute birdie for us, first-timers, to try putting up before we put our actual decal. But we loved the birdie so much we put it together with the family decal!
Though easy to put up, it still took us some time about 1 and a half hours to put two up. But it was well worth the effort!
I was shopping along Geylang for my sanitary fittings and came across this shop. We were looking specifically for one-piece toilet bowls as they are known to have less leakage problems but the one-piece bowls at other shops were really expensive, some going up to $800 when a two-piece one goes for $100 .
We went into Eestilo and was happy to find that they had a package for the one-piece bowl and a sink for $299. There were also other sinks available and one has to just top up a little on the package.
What I was most impressed with was the level of service provided. Sunny, the sales guy there, moved the two sinks we wanted to where they had the taps. At my father's request, he detached the taps from the display and place them on the sinks we chose to let us see if it was satisfactory. He did that for 7-8 taps without any grumble and with a smile, in fact!
Though the taps weren't as cheap as we had hope for it to be but I guess the promotion for the one-piece toilet bowl and the service made up for all that. :)
Organised a dinner at Da Mario after reading a couple of relatively good reviews about it online. This small Italian restaurant, which is helmed by Chef Mario from Abruzzo, Italy, promises an authentic Italian dinner by using the freshest ingredients as well as by making sauces and certain pastas from scratch.
Located at The Quayside just diagonally opposite from The Gallery Hotel, Da Mario is a small outfit that can sit probably 30 pax tops. Seating is mainly al fresco with the exception of a couple of small tables in the air conditioned interior. If you are worried about rising temperatures from sitting in the open, worry not. The restaurant has a couple of fans and blowers to keep you cool.
Calamari - The calamari's batter was a tad too thick for my liking while being overly generous on the salt. I'm not sure that this is my idea of a good calamari. The dip and lemon sauce did help a bit though.
Bruschetta Al Pomodoro - I can't believe how much olive oil went into this dish. The bread was literally soaked in olive oil, which made it rather gross to consume. Credit goes to the fresh and tangy tomatoes though.
Portobello Gratinato - Finally something that's worth mentioning - the Portobello mushroom. Served up in one humongous piece, the mushroom was tasty and succulent with a light hint of cheese. Black olives added a nice sourish twist to it while the sun dried tomatoes contributed a natural sweetness.
Capellini Regina - I only had a small sampling portion of this dish but what struck me was the excessive olive oil present, resulting in a soggy and rather oily rendition of angel hair pasta. My friend even went so far as to term it as a wetter/oilier version of "fried beehoon", which I am most inclined to agree given the resemblence in taste.
Tortelli - This was reminiscent of the lobster and crab meat ravioli I had at Bistro Senso about 2 months back. Taste of crab meat was predominant and the lobster, if any, was forgotten. I also thought that the tortelli was done up a little too thick, which resulted in a chewier then usual texture.
Omega 3 Pizza - In other words, smoked salmon pizza. Comparisons with Parma's offering is inevitable but its a totally different take on the same dish. Parma uses a mayonnaise base and rawer tasting salmon whereas for Da Mario, its tomato based and the rawness of the smoked salmon is very much subdued. I personally still prefer Parma's rendition but there are some who prefer otherwise.
Tiramisu - I only had a cursory bite of this dessert and found it rather average. The mascarpone cheese was too soft which affected the texture of the whole cake and I couldn't quite make out any alcohol. The only upside was the generous portion, which could have been shared amongst 2 - 3 pax comfortably.
Each of us forked out almost $35 for a filling, but not exactly satisfying dinner. Food quality is average but portion sizes are quite respectable. Service is very decent as well but the waiting time can vary, depending on the crowd. This is due to the lean kitchen that Da Mario operates (there's only Chef Mario and 1 assistant). Take your chances here.
I got to know about this shop from a renovation forum while doing renovations in my home. I favoured this over the regular Jalan Besar shops cos it's away from all the light-shoppers AND it's much nearer to where I live. Moreover I'm more familiar with Geylang. But I hadn't shopped for lights before then and wasn't sure what to expect.
I liked the shop instantly on sight. It was in a corner of a pretty rundown building. What I liked was that it wasn't one of those big snobbish looking lighting stores (like some others I passed along the way there). It looked exactly like what it was.. a family run business with nice warm friendly smiles. Alex is the young man in charge and he certainly knows his products well! If you see a light that you liked in another shop you can just describe it to him and he will know it instantly.
The shop itself is quite small though they try to cramp as much as possible on display. He knows lights pretty well so he can source for lights which aren't on display in his shop. I think the prices in his shop are very competitive and certainly much cheaper than the bigger fancy stores I went to on the same stretch. He has the same designs too! I think Alex's resourcefulness really makes up for the lack of variety (his shop is small rem?).
On top of that they have ceiling fans of almost every brand there and it's good to talk to Alex about ceiling fans because he can really advise on what size and brand to buy.
I think the best part was that they weren't pushy. We went back three times and only bought on the third trip. AND Alex remembered us and our requirements even after a few days. In fact, he remembered my sister even after a few weeks!
With good prices, prompt delivery and good service, I think this shop is really worth visiting if you're looking for lights!!
Needed to look for a nice lunch place around Katong / Joo Chiat area which served vegetarian food and found it on *** :D
I was impressed with the design of the place to be honest, for the place it was situated in. Awashed in green and white with full length glass panels facing the street, it was standing out quite enough for people to spot it easily in the stretch of shophouses and for passserbys to stop in their tracks to flip through the menu.
Inside, it didn't feel like a cafe at all as it was all very clean sleek lines with 2 long communal tables with long wooden blocks as seats, with the word Naive carved onto the sides. Very interesting. A handful of 2 and 4 seaters were spread out evenly in the small eatery.
They have a strange ritual called the "Blessing of the Sesame Seeds" where they give each table a pounder with black and white sesame seeds in it and ask you to pound it. It apparently represents the blessings in your life or something. You can even choose to sprinkle the crushed seeds into your food after that. I don't know about you but I couldn't even pound them properly, so I gave up.
A 3-course set lunch at $9.80 was attractive enough an offer for me so I chose that. There are no options for soups, starters etc, you have to take that 1 exact set (prices indicated are what you would have to pay for if you order them ala carte, altho I'm sure the ala carte portions will be bigger):
1. Wolfberry Soup ($3.80) - "flavorful with eyesight-enhancing properties" --- very clear very light soup dotted with wolfberries and slices of dan gui. Although a very nice warm starter, I felt as if the ingredients weren't simmered long enough for the flavour to come out.
2. XO Shanghai Tang ($13.80) - "braised mushrooms with rich savoury XO sauce - amazing taste for lovers of chinese mushrooms" --- came with served with lightly fried kailan. For me, the taste wasn't 'amazing' enough...fragrant yes but I felt there was a slight overdose of the XO sauce resulting in it being too saltish for my liking.
3. Oliver Twist ($3.80) - "fragrant thai rice infused with oriental spices - The Olive Rice of olive rice" --- I still feel when you say things like "The olive rice of olive rice" in the description, it better taste like it is. Disappointingly, this is not. The taste of the olive was too little and they could have been more generous with the spices. I have tasted much better olive rice before.
They had another 3-course set lunch priced at $12.80, with tom yum soup, olive rice too, and this:
Spice of Life ($12.80) - monkeyhead mushrooms "sauteed with spicy kungpo sauce and peppers" --- very flavourful sauce paired with tender mushrooms; with the texture very similar to mock meat. Incidentally, monkeyhead mushrooms are their specialty and they do it in many other different ways, although I didn't manage to try them.
This was a side dish we ordered to share:
Penang Rendang ($9.80) - "spicy pan-fried mushrooms with steamed buns" --- the rendang sauce was a good match with the steamed buns and the mushrooms very tasty indeed.
The entire lunch was very light on the palette; I think that's how its meant to be, no? Service was nothing to complain about too.
I would want to come back to try the ala carte but only if I'm in the vicinity :D
Pics will be uploaded after I figure out what's wrong with my mobile bluetooth....
Situated right in the centre of Palais Renaissance, you can find this place easily as it's at the foot of the escalator. My galfriend and I went there on a weekday afternoon just before lunch hours so we had the luxury of choosing any seat we wanted. I had expected it to remain quiet save for a few tai-tais but BOY was I wrong. At noon, the whole place filled up.
We sat for quite a bit, chatting and taking a long time going through the menu. Throughout that time, no iced water was served. I thought that this is one of those that refuse to serve water so I commented about it to my friend. She laughed and replied that you have to ASK for it though it's free. That really puzzled me.
Food ordered:
Linguini with crabmeat tomato chllis and pinenuts $22 I had this dish. Don't be fooled but that little lump. It really is quite a filling portion. The pinenuts added a nice crunchy texture to the pasta and the pasta was suitably done. The downside of this dish was the sauce. It tasted fine on the first few bites but halfway I really couldn't stand the fishy taste of the crabmeat anymore. It was also unbearably salty after a while and I didn't finish my pasta.
Scrambled Eggs with Sausage on Toast and Field Mushrooms $18 The description forgot to add that it had fries too. My friend ordered it, thinking it sounded like a great brunch only to be surprised by the large serving of fries that came with it. The combination was a little odd but each item tasted fine on their own. I didn't relish putting them altogether in one mouthful though.
Deluxe Chocolate Pecan Brownie Again, the description failed to include that there was ice cream served with this brownie (although I do know that most places have ice cream but it's not quite polite to assume.) If I had known this, I would have requested for the ice cream to placed on a separate dish. Not to mention if you take a good look at my picture, the ice cream was already melting when it arrived. Since my friend and I had no intention of having the ice cream in the first place we didn't ask for a change. I found the brownie a little too dry for my taste and the chocolate taste wasn't strong enough. It was more like a cake with a hard crust. We chatted for 3 hours and managed to finish this in the end. No easy feat though.
The staff were quite efficient in taking orders and serving but they lack a certain warmth. I guess that's their style.
Would I go back again? Only if a good friend suggested it.
I found DirtyShirty when I was MySpace hopping. I cannot deny that the DirtyShirty Girls are the ones that caught my eyes. They way they wore them tees are "hawt!".Hmmm... Okay, I initially bought one tee, "I don't hear you". It only cost me US$7! Awesome or what? Then I bought the black tee(2 pcs) for only USD$40! Very affordable.. You should check it out, you will enjoy your visit and purchase with DirtyShirty. They ship real fast, about 2-3 weeks, not bad for a US Purchase! They photos that they produce promoting them tees are very clear. Their payment are very flexible. Credit Cards,Debit Cards,Paypal Purchase is also acceptable. Their range of tees range from vintage-qoutes,phrases,obviously the word DIRTY written on the tee. So, what are you waiting for? Buy'em now!
Came to know of this place due to a recommendation by my former boss who frequents there. Therefore decided to drop by to check it out the other day. It was situated under a block of flats( i think), next to the multi-storey carpark, making finding a parking lot less of a hassle and also shorter distance to get to the restaurant.
Basically, the restaurant was a small one with most of the seats in the open area outside the shop with only abt four tables within the air-conditioned area.
The main specialty of this place was the German pork knuckles, which normally it would be recommended to pre-order as they sell it on a limited basis daily. The pork knuckle was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. The taste was just nice for me and not too salty.
I also tried the sausage platter, which consisted of a prok, beef and lamb ( which I changed to pork). The sausages were nice and succulent and were not too fatty, unlike some which i ate in the past.
As for dessert, I ate a tiramisu and it was not very sweet either. Overall I can say that the food is quite good and the portions are just right for either a couple or a group of friends. As for the pricing, it is quite reasonable was well. So do go down if you happen to be nearby Sunset Way
Was introduced to this place by my gf boss. So decided to bring my gf and family along to try it out. It was a normal coffee shop at the corner of Blk 5 Changi Village. The crowd then was still quite alright but as the timing got later, more guests started flowing in. Hence it would be better to reserve a table prior going down to avoid waiting for a table.
Coming to the food, it was typical Teochew porridge style with the braised stuff. We ordered a braised platter, which consisted of duck, pork belly, pork ears, eggs, tau pok,intestines. In addition, we had pre-orderd one of their signature dishes, which was braised pig intestines. This was highly recommended by my gf boss.
In addidtion, we also ordered "Tua Tao", "Gong Gong", Bean curd with Chai Po, mixed vegetables and chicken. Overall, the quality of the food was not bad but the quantity could be improved. As for the pricing, it was slightly higher than average but still with reasonable limits to me.
So if you are interested, do go down and try it for yourself.
1=SGD 0.0587
This is the only shop that utterly ruined my renovation experience. I have no choice but to relate my entire experience here...
We were out shopping for sanitary and stopped by at Viva Nueva first. But I didn't like the design of the one-piece toilet bowl they had there so we thanked the saleslady, Jojo and we went to look for more. We finally picked out our toilet bowls, sinks and taps at a shop further down. But my mom really liked the cooking hob at Viva Nueva so we walked back to the shop. We ordered our hob and kitchen sink from them and left. Before we left I asked for them to provide me with a trap for the kitchen sink. It costs only $5 and Jojo's face immediately turned "black" when I asked for it FOC. I just spent $700 at her shop and she was unhappy about me asking for a $5 item....
After 30 minutes, Jojo called me on the phone and demanded to know where I bought my sanitary fittings. She asked if I bought from XXX shop down the street and demanded to know exactly what I bought from them. I flatly refused to give her any details and the conversation lasted for 8 minutes with her repeatedly asking me what I bought. When I put down the phone, I really regretted buying anything from her but since I'd already paid the deposit I only prayed for my items to come intact.
About a week later, I asked for the items to be delivered. The salesgirl on the line (not Jojo) confirmed that my items can be delivered on Wednesday at 1pm. At 12pm on Wednesday I called to confirm again and she told me that the items were not in the warehouse yet and she cannot confirm that my items can reach me at 1pm!! Can you imagine that she didn't even intend to call me beforehand and was going to let me wait like a fool at a half-renovated house with no seats?! Anyway I agreed to postpone the delivery to the next day.
The next day the items arrive promptly... but... there was no hole for my tap on the kitchen sink. There was a hole on the sink that was displayed in the showroom so I naturally assumed that the sink comes with a hole for kitchen taps. I do know that some sinks do not as the taps are to be mounted on the table top. So I called Viva Nueva again and this time Jojo answered.
She insisted that it was MY FAULT for not telling them that I needed a hole for my kitchen tap and wanted me to ask my contractor/plumber to drill a hole. BUT if they did the job and spoilt the sink who was to pay for it? In the first place, I don't buy sinks every day and am not a professional at buying sinks so HOW WOULD I KNOW that sinks don't come with holes?! She as the sales staff SHOULD ask the customer if they need one drilled isn't it??? Anyway the deliveryman was very kind and he agreed to take back the sink and drill the hole for me, even while I was still arguing with Jojo over the phone. So there went my sink again. Thankfully my kitchen hob came intact.
I told Jojo that she has to inform me two hours before the delivery of my sink as I needed time to rush down. She said she would inform me an hour before and I found that to be reasonable. BUT the next day, the deliveryman called me at 12noon to tell me that he was there waiting for me. I was on my way to town and simply couldn't rush down. So the deliveryman left the sink there and left. I managed to go down at 4pm and lo and behold, there was a footprint in the middle of the sink and tons of haphazard scratches all over the base of the sink which weren't there in the first place. I reckon they must have gotten there when the drilling was done.
Anyway I called Jojo again and told her to take back the sink. She said that the scratches were part of the design and ALL her sinks have the scratch-like design. hahaha Anyway she said she got her deliveryman to come down and I asked her when he would arrive. She insisted that he was coming now and refused to say when he would arrive. He did eventually after 45 minutes and took back the sink grudgingly saying that he would never deliver the sink again.
In the next two days, we argued with Jojo many times and insisted that we wanted a refund and that we would just buy our sink elsewhere since the delivery of HER sink was delaying our renovation. My contractor needed her sink in order to cut the opening on my kitchen cabinets. After much talks, the sink finally came (unannounced again) and we inspected it before paying the remaining amount in cash.
What an experience it was just trying to get our $235 sink (which IS expensive for a non-European sink btw).
The hob wasn't cheap too at $529 though I was told by friends that for that brand it is quite a good buy. BUT I certainly would have settled for a lesser brand if I knew how much trouble patronising this shop would cause.
If I can give lesser than one star I would.
Rating given:
After renovation, the walls in our house looked so empty so we looked into ways of getting them spruced up. My parents weren't a fan of getting paintings as holes had to be made in order to hang the paintings up.
So I thought of wall decals. After looking at many local decal websites, I found Decorette! I liked a few of the designs on the website and was ready to order them. However, at that point, I could find one that I liked for the living room. I wanted something which was family related but there weren't any of those. So I decided to have one customised.
I emailed Amanda of Decorette about my plans and she replied in a couple of days. With a couple of emails to and fro, we had the design finalised and I paid through paypal. In 3 days after paying, the decals were on my doorstep! That's fast isn't it? Especially since she needed to customise mine and cut it up, etc... Not to mention the customised one cost $50 only! She also threw in little swirly designs for me free... and I made little changes to my chandelier one without additional charges.
The decals came well packed and protected by the hard tube, so they were in mint condition.
The decals were easy to put up and the instructions were easy to understand. Amanda even included a little cute birdie for us, first-timers, to try putting up before we put our actual decal. But we loved the birdie so much we put it together with the family decal!
Though easy to put up, it still took us some time about 1 and a half hours to put two up. But it was well worth the effort!
Rating given:
I was shopping along Geylang for my sanitary fittings and came across this shop. We were looking specifically for one-piece toilet bowls as they are known to have less leakage problems but the one-piece bowls at other shops were really expensive, some going up to $800 when a two-piece one goes for $100 .
We went into Eestilo and was happy to find that they had a package for the one-piece bowl and a sink for $299. There were also other sinks available and one has to just top up a little on the package.
What I was most impressed with was the level of service provided. Sunny, the sales guy there, moved the two sinks we wanted to where they had the taps. At my father's request, he detached the taps from the display and place them on the sinks we chose to let us see if it was satisfactory. He did that for 7-8 taps without any grumble and with a smile, in fact!
Though the taps weren't as cheap as we had hope for it to be but I guess the promotion for the one-piece toilet bowl and the service made up for all that. :)
Rating given:
Organised a dinner at Da Mario after reading a couple of relatively good reviews about it online. This small Italian restaurant, which is helmed by Chef Mario from Abruzzo, Italy, promises an authentic Italian dinner by using the freshest ingredients as well as by making sauces and certain pastas from scratch.
Located at The Quayside just diagonally opposite from The Gallery Hotel, Da Mario is a small outfit that can sit probably 30 pax tops. Seating is mainly al fresco with the exception of a couple of small tables in the air conditioned interior. If you are worried about rising temperatures from sitting in the open, worry not. The restaurant has a couple of fans and blowers to keep you cool.
Calamari - The calamari's batter was a tad too thick for my liking while being overly generous on the salt. I'm not sure that this is my idea of a good calamari. The dip and lemon sauce did help a bit though.
Bruschetta Al Pomodoro - I can't believe how much olive oil went into this dish. The bread was literally soaked in olive oil, which made it rather gross to consume. Credit goes to the fresh and tangy tomatoes though.
Portobello Gratinato - Finally something that's worth mentioning - the Portobello mushroom. Served up in one humongous piece, the mushroom was tasty and succulent with a light hint of cheese. Black olives added a nice sourish twist to it while the sun dried tomatoes contributed a natural sweetness.
Capellini Regina - I only had a small sampling portion of this dish but what struck me was the excessive olive oil present, resulting in a soggy and rather oily rendition of angel hair pasta. My friend even went so far as to term it as a wetter/oilier version of "fried beehoon", which I am most inclined to agree given the resemblence in taste.
Tortelli - This was reminiscent of the lobster and crab meat ravioli I had at Bistro Senso about 2 months back. Taste of crab meat was predominant and the lobster, if any, was forgotten. I also thought that the tortelli was done up a little too thick, which resulted in a chewier then usual texture.
Omega 3 Pizza - In other words, smoked salmon pizza. Comparisons with Parma's offering is inevitable but its a totally different take on the same dish. Parma uses a mayonnaise base and rawer tasting salmon whereas for Da Mario, its tomato based and the rawness of the smoked salmon is very much subdued. I personally still prefer Parma's rendition but there are some who prefer otherwise.
Tiramisu - I only had a cursory bite of this dessert and found it rather average. The mascarpone cheese was too soft which affected the texture of the whole cake and I couldn't quite make out any alcohol. The only upside was the generous portion, which could have been shared amongst 2 - 3 pax comfortably.
Each of us forked out almost $35 for a filling, but not exactly satisfying dinner. Food quality is average but portion sizes are quite respectable. Service is very decent as well but the waiting time can vary, depending on the crowd. This is due to the lean kitchen that Da Mario operates (there's only Chef Mario and 1 assistant). Take your chances here.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I got to know about this shop from a renovation forum while doing renovations in my home. I favoured this over the regular Jalan Besar shops cos it's away from all the light-shoppers AND it's much nearer to where I live. Moreover I'm more familiar with Geylang. But I hadn't shopped for lights before then and wasn't sure what to expect.
I liked the shop instantly on sight. It was in a corner of a pretty rundown building. What I liked was that it wasn't one of those big snobbish looking lighting stores (like some others I passed along the way there). It looked exactly like what it was.. a family run business with nice warm friendly smiles. Alex is the young man in charge and he certainly knows his products well! If you see a light that you liked in another shop you can just describe it to him and he will know it instantly.
The shop itself is quite small though they try to cramp as much as possible on display. He knows lights pretty well so he can source for lights which aren't on display in his shop. I think the prices in his shop are very competitive and certainly much cheaper than the bigger fancy stores I went to on the same stretch. He has the same designs too! I think Alex's resourcefulness really makes up for the lack of variety (his shop is small rem?).
On top of that they have ceiling fans of almost every brand there and it's good to talk to Alex about ceiling fans because he can really advise on what size and brand to buy.
I think the best part was that they weren't pushy. We went back three times and only bought on the third trip. AND Alex remembered us and our requirements even after a few days. In fact, he remembered my sister even after a few weeks!
With good prices, prompt delivery and good service, I think this shop is really worth visiting if you're looking for lights!!
Rating given:
~~~~Healthy eating~~~~
Needed to look for a nice lunch place around Katong / Joo Chiat area which served vegetarian food and found it on *** :D
I was impressed with the design of the place to be honest, for the place it was situated in. Awashed in green and white with full length glass panels facing the street, it was standing out quite enough for people to spot it easily in the stretch of shophouses and for passserbys to stop in their tracks to flip through the menu.
Inside, it didn't feel like a cafe at all as it was all very clean sleek lines with 2 long communal tables with long wooden blocks as seats, with the word Naive carved onto the sides. Very interesting. A handful of 2 and 4 seaters were spread out evenly in the small eatery.
They have a strange ritual called the "Blessing of the Sesame Seeds" where they give each table a pounder with black and white sesame seeds in it and ask you to pound it. It apparently represents the blessings in your life or something. You can even choose to sprinkle the crushed seeds into your food after that. I don't know about you but I couldn't even pound them properly, so I gave up.
A 3-course set lunch at $9.80 was attractive enough an offer for me so I chose that. There are no options for soups, starters etc, you have to take that 1 exact set (prices indicated are what you would have to pay for if you order them ala carte, altho I'm sure the ala carte portions will be bigger):
1. Wolfberry Soup ($3.80) - "flavorful with eyesight-enhancing properties" --- very clear very light soup dotted with wolfberries and slices of dan gui. Although a very nice warm starter, I felt as if the ingredients weren't simmered long enough for the flavour to come out.
2. XO Shanghai Tang ($13.80) - "braised mushrooms with rich savoury XO sauce - amazing taste for lovers of chinese mushrooms" --- came with served with lightly fried kailan. For me, the taste wasn't 'amazing' enough...fragrant yes but I felt there was a slight overdose of the XO sauce resulting in it being too saltish for my liking.
3. Oliver Twist ($3.80) - "fragrant thai rice infused with oriental spices - The Olive Rice of olive rice" --- I still feel when you say things like "The olive rice of olive rice" in the description, it better taste like it is. Disappointingly, this is not. The taste of the olive was too little and they could have been more generous with the spices. I have tasted much better olive rice before.
They had another 3-course set lunch priced at $12.80, with tom yum soup, olive rice too, and this:
Spice of Life ($12.80) - monkeyhead mushrooms "sauteed with spicy kungpo sauce and peppers" --- very flavourful sauce paired with tender mushrooms; with the texture very similar to mock meat. Incidentally, monkeyhead mushrooms are their specialty and they do it in many other different ways, although I didn't manage to try them.
This was a side dish we ordered to share:
Penang Rendang ($9.80) - "spicy pan-fried mushrooms with steamed buns" --- the rendang sauce was a good match with the steamed buns and the mushrooms very tasty indeed.
The entire lunch was very light on the palette; I think that's how its meant to be, no? Service was nothing to complain about too.
I would want to come back to try the ala carte but only if I'm in the vicinity :D
Pics will be uploaded after I figure out what's wrong with my mobile bluetooth....
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Situated right in the centre of Palais Renaissance, you can find this place easily as it's at the foot of the escalator. My galfriend and I went there on a weekday afternoon just before lunch hours so we had the luxury of choosing any seat we wanted. I had expected it to remain quiet save for a few tai-tais but BOY was I wrong. At noon, the whole place filled up.
We sat for quite a bit, chatting and taking a long time going through the menu. Throughout that time, no iced water was served. I thought that this is one of those that refuse to serve water so I commented about it to my friend. She laughed and replied that you have to ASK for it though it's free. That really puzzled me.
Food ordered:
Linguini with crabmeat tomato chllis and pinenuts $22
I had this dish. Don't be fooled but that little lump. It really is quite a filling portion. The pinenuts added a nice crunchy texture to the pasta and the pasta was suitably done. The downside of this dish was the sauce. It tasted fine on the first few bites but halfway I really couldn't stand the fishy taste of the crabmeat anymore. It was also unbearably salty after a while and I didn't finish my pasta.
Scrambled Eggs with Sausage on Toast and Field Mushrooms $18
The description forgot to add that it had fries too. My friend ordered it, thinking it sounded like a great brunch only to be surprised by the large serving of fries that came with it. The combination was a little odd but each item tasted fine on their own. I didn't relish putting them altogether in one mouthful though.
Deluxe Chocolate Pecan Brownie
Again, the description failed to include that there was ice cream served with this brownie (although I do know that most places have ice cream but it's not quite polite to assume.) If I had known this, I would have requested for the ice cream to placed on a separate dish. Not to mention if you take a good look at my picture, the ice cream was already melting when it arrived. Since my friend and I had no intention of having the ice cream in the first place we didn't ask for a change. I found the brownie a little too dry for my taste and the chocolate taste wasn't strong enough. It was more like a cake with a hard crust. We chatted for 3 hours and managed to finish this in the end. No easy feat though.
The staff were quite efficient in taking orders and serving but they lack a certain warmth. I guess that's their style.
Would I go back again? Only if a good friend suggested it.
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I found DirtyShirty when I was MySpace hopping. I cannot deny that the DirtyShirty Girls are the ones that caught my eyes. They way they wore them tees are "hawt!".Hmmm... Okay, I initially bought one tee, "I don't hear you". It only cost me US$7! Awesome or what? Then I bought the black tee(2 pcs) for only USD$40! Very affordable.. You should check it out, you will enjoy your visit and purchase with DirtyShirty. They ship real fast, about 2-3 weeks, not bad for a US Purchase! They photos that they produce promoting them tees are very clear. Their payment are very flexible. Credit Cards,Debit Cards,Paypal Purchase is also acceptable. Their range of tees range from vintage-qoutes,phrases,obviously the word DIRTY written on the tee. So, what are you waiting for? Buy'em now!
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Came to know of this place due to a recommendation by my former boss who frequents there. Therefore decided to drop by to check it out the other day. It was situated under a block of flats( i think), next to the multi-storey carpark, making finding a parking lot less of a hassle and also shorter distance to get to the restaurant.
Basically, the restaurant was a small one with most of the seats in the open area outside the shop with only abt four tables within the air-conditioned area.
The main specialty of this place was the German pork knuckles, which normally it would be recommended to pre-order as they sell it on a limited basis daily. The pork knuckle was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. The taste was just nice for me and not too salty.
I also tried the sausage platter, which consisted of a prok, beef and lamb ( which I changed to pork). The sausages were nice and succulent and were not too fatty, unlike some which i ate in the past.
As for dessert, I ate a tiramisu and it was not very sweet either. Overall I can say that the food is quite good and the portions are just right for either a couple or a group of friends. As for the pricing, it is quite reasonable was well. So do go down if you happen to be nearby Sunset Way
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Was introduced to this place by my gf boss. So decided to bring my gf and family along to try it out. It was a normal coffee shop at the corner of Blk 5 Changi Village. The crowd then was still quite alright but as the timing got later, more guests started flowing in. Hence it would be better to reserve a table prior going down to avoid waiting for a table.
Coming to the food, it was typical Teochew porridge style with the braised stuff. We ordered a braised platter, which consisted of duck, pork belly, pork ears, eggs, tau pok,intestines. In addition, we had pre-orderd one of their signature dishes, which was braised pig intestines. This was highly recommended by my gf boss.
In addidtion, we also ordered "Tua Tao", "Gong Gong", Bean curd with Chai Po, mixed vegetables and chicken. Overall, the quality of the food was not bad but the quantity could be improved. As for the pricing, it was slightly higher than average but still with reasonable limits to me.
So if you are interested, do go down and try it for yourself.
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