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Beauty & Wellness
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1=SGD 0.0587
I have been conscientiously avoiding the Hong Kong style cafes that have sprung up all over Singapore. Mainly because the "cha charn tang" or Chinese teahouse serving modified Western cuisine simply does not sound appealing to me. However, one day I was enticed by Tong Shui Cafe (some good reviews, delicious website pics and unusual decor).
My friend and I shared an oven-baked rice with chicken wings (S$8.88). He too, had never tried a cha chan tang, not even in Hong Kong. The oven baked rice came in a bamboo steamer. It had a casual homemade feel and taste about it. The cheese and sauce on top was quite delicious. I wished there was more. The rice is a bit like fried rice, topped with two fried chicken wing drumlets coated with BBQ sauce. Surprisingly the rice didn't taste greasy or overly satiating at all. Yum yum. I would eat this again.
Yes, I had my FIRST ever HK-style thick toast (S$2.88), believe it or not. My friend's first time too. The bread is extra soft, just lightly crisped on the outside and fluffy inside. That plus the peanut butter and condensed milk make this a total carbo bomb!
Oh, we had to have this when we saw it on the menu. D24 durian puree on toast (S$3.88)? It was heavenly! I'm sure sugar was added to sweeten it further but the durian fragrance was unmistakable. Another carbo bomb but some things are worth it.
The cha chan tangs are particularly famous for their fragrant milk teas, and some weird concoctions like that awful "yuan yang" coffee and tea mixed together - something I *still* can't get my head around to (yuck yuck). My friend's milk tea with grass jelly (S$3.88) was nice and light though.
Cold Eight Treasures Tea (Ba Bao Cha) comes in an iced carafe: I had the 8 Treasures Tea (S$3.88) which came in a tall carafe, with more than enough for two glasses. Extremely refreshing and best of all - it seemed sweetened only by the longans within.
The decor? Kitschy pink and lime green redolent of "Shanghai Tang"...It's one way Tong Shui Cafe stands out from the rest of its competition. Bright walls, bold Chinoiserie, dark furniture and French chandeliers.
"Tong Shui" means "desserts" in Cantonese but this place serves well more than that, as its menu of over 300 items can attest to. What's even better? Free wi-fi, Chinese movies on cable, football match screenings, and operating hours that run from noon to 6am - good news for night owls seeking a place to chill, eat and chat!
Cha chan tang food is still not my favourite cuisine but it's OK once in a while, I guess. And you have to pick the right dishes, as I hear some others are not too good.
Rating given:
Minori Dining and Sake Bar has been open at UE Square for a while now. The former owners of Hanabi set up Minori with a similar a la carte buffet concept for Japanese food. There have been a flurry of mixed reviews despite a positive press article. So I did not come here with high expectations, only curiosity as to how the place actually fares.
[See my original review at Camemberu.com for over 20 photos, sorry I can only upload 5 here]
I had heard it can get really crowded but it was empty when I arrived today at lunchtime with my friend. As such, we didn't encounter any service problems or slowness that seemed to plague the restaurant in its earlier days. However, it did fill up considerably still past 12.30pm but service did not suffer too much. The waitresses (some seem to be from Myanmar) were quite patient and even took the effort to recommend popular dishes when we seemed stumped by the wide menu choices.
One of the chief reasons Singaporeans love a Japanese a la carte buffet is the unlimited orders of sashimi. At Minori, you get a choice of salmon, tuna, yellowtail, snapper, black king fish, octopus and cuttlefish. However, I think sashimi at Ikoi's is sliced much more generously, and tastes better too.
I will go through the rest of the food just very briefly. We ate a lot of dishes - really easy to do so as the portions served are very small. The potato salad was creamy but light-tasting, served on an interesting raised glass platter.
The California maki was messy but tasted passable. We had a repeat portion of this.
Handrolls here are not spectacular. Mainly because the dried seaweed sheets they used had a musty odour. Probably an inferior quality or type of seaweed used. And it wasn't crisp nor easy to bite through.
Minori also differs from Hanabi in that it offers grilled skewered items, mostly of chicken parts. The "buta to garlic" is probably the only pork item there, fatty pork belly cubes strongly laced with garlic. The tebasaki (chicken wings) strangely butterflied here, tasted a bit too plain. Kawa (chicken skin) was not crisp enough.
The tsukune (minced chicken meat balls) were huge. They and the yakitori tasted alike. Just all right. Lacked serious punch.
This is the SMALLEST ever tempura moriawase set I have ever seen. Two prawns and three thin slices of vegetable. I guess it's a small eater's single portion only. Average tasting, and the batter could be lighter.
The Kabocha korokke - pumpkin croquette- was a pleasant surprise. Sweet creamy pumpkin mash greets you as you bite through the crisp breaded exterior. It can be really hot though, so beware.
Moyashi itame (teppanyaki beansprouts): Plain looking but intensely garlicky beansprouts from the teppanyaki section. Not bad.
Morokyuri miso (cucumber with bean paste) appetiser: Refreshing kyuri (Japanese cucumber) in this appetiser but I didn't care much for the miso bean paste - a bit too close to "taucheo" (Chinese bean paste) for my liking.
Sushi isn't their forte, I guess. Or maybe I just really don't like that dried seaweed that they use. It made me long for the good quality, crisp seaweed that Sushi Kikuzawa uses.
Hiyayako: Two bites and this one dish is gone. Cold tofu in soy sauce topped with bonito flakes and scallions.
Everything here is in tasting portions. Which is nice too, it lets you try more dishes from across the menu. The saba shioyaki is all right but your mind is on the next item already.
Momo sarada (peach salad): This was quite nice, a sweet fruity salad with a tart, soy-sesame dressing. The peach is of the canned variety, of course.
Fukahire chawanmushi and Pumpkin chawanmushi: There are two kinds of chawanmushi here, the kabocha (pumpkin) one just has the addition of a layer of pumpkin puree on top. The mixture is a really surprising attack of flavours on your palate - both sweet and savoury combining to jolt your senses. The egg custard is quite smooth. and has lots of nameko mushrooms at the bottom. Yum.
Tori karaage (fried chicken nuggets): This was one of the unexpected highlights. I thought they did their tori karaage really well. There is no oilyness on the surface and the meat inside is tender and juicy. Nicely seasoned.
Gyuniku shogatayaki (beef with special sauce): I have seen people rave about this here. It's like a richer-flavoured version of Yoshinoya's beef. The soft beef slices taste almost buttery. We got served a really large portion too.
Shake Wafu Teppan (salmon with special sauce): The salmon teppan special dish was too salty and sweet for me. Very strong hint of mirin (sweet rice wine) in the soy mixture.
Salmon sashimi: Understandably, they aren't the most generous with their sashimi servings. Don't expect the best of fish slicing skills here either. Some of the sashimi were still sinewy. But for the price, I don't think anyone will complain.
Nankotsu karaage (chicken cartilage): This is very similar to the tori karaage, just that it involves the breastbone cartilage. I just love cartilage. Is that really odd? I remember even my Japanese friend looking at me strange when I ordered this at Nanbantei in Tokyo some years back.
Minori serves free-flow green tea and water as part of the buffet. Alcoholic drinks and desserts (mostly ice cream) are available separately. If you don't want the buffet, you can opt for their set meals.
In summary, Minori's food is fairly competent across the board but is still very average. Much like a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. The variety is undoubtedly better than at most joints, but many of the dishes involve same ingredients done differently (as sushi, maki, handroll etc). Personally, in terms of all-you-can-eat places, I'd rather head to Ikoi or Sushi Kikuzawa for a more fulfilling experience.
MINORI DINING AND SAKE BAR
(full buffet menu available online but prices not updated)
81 Clemenceau Avenue #03-15/16 UE Square
Tel: 6737-3353
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6 to 10.30pm
Lunch $28
Dinner $33 (price raised)
Rating given:
Behold the "homemade beef burger with cheese and caramelised onions"! The patty is thick, moist and full of beefy, savoury juices! This platter of deliciousness comes with crispy hot fries and a nifty side salad - not cheap iceberg, but a delectable mix of curly endive and salad greens, complete with black olive, sweet white onion ring, splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. All that for only S$12!
Where can you get this awesomely delicious burger? Take note of this name - the Smok'inn Frogz Kitchen! Tucked behind a bar quaintly named "Bar Bar Black Sheep" in a corner kopitiam at Cherry Avenue (close to Sixth Avenue).
They've got lots of other dishes too, all featuring generous portions. The beer-battered fish (S$12) gives you three large slices and a boatload of fries, along with the side salad. The fish is fresh but the batter, although crisp, is a little thick and oddly has a hint of banana fritter scent in it. Have the Malay chefs been secretly frying "goreng pisang" in the oil before this? Haha!
The other burger, for those staying away from red meat, is the chicken burger (also S$12). Slices of well-caramelised grilled chicken doused with a Thai-style sauce, sandwiched between soft, lightly toasted sesame seed bun. Honestly, the beef burger is way better and worth all the cholesterol, purines, saturated fats and whatever else evil that lurks in red meat. Just go for it!
Actually almost everyone of us wanted the beef burger but that would leave us with very few dishes to shoot. So we picked a few other dishes, I chose the prawn linguini (S$14). It is really good value-for-money, what with six huge, crunchy prawns. But I do like my food a bit stronger in flavour, so personally I would have used more garlic, salt, pepper and chili. Thank god I packed home the beef burger for hubby - it was so juicy and delicious, I wolfed down half of it! Hubby liked the caramelised onions but not the sauce though. Good patty nonetheless.
I had been wondering why the stall is called Smok'inn Frogz, until southernoise told me it's owned by a Frenchman. Ahh! Makes sense now. There he is in the kitchen with his jolly helper. They are all very humble and friendly. You can click on the photo to see a bigger version for the menu details. No service charge or GST here.
You can enjoy a beer from Bar Bar Black Sheep - they have unusual stuff like the "Little Creatures" pale ale (bottle shown above). The atmosphere here is casual, laid-back and almost does not feel like Singapore. There is also a North Indian stall at the rear, where you can order tikkas, kebabs and tandoor items. Do I need to mention the beef burger again? Still probably the best thing here! lol
Rating given:
Had a rather small farewell session for one of my colleagues from China a little while back. The meal was organized by another colleague of mine who happens to know the ins and outs of the Geylang area in Singapore and he proposed that we visit one of his well recommended joints for the meal. Alas, coordination is never an easy task and somehow, we managed to get lost and wound up in another shop where leaving wasn't permitted as we have already eaten some of their stuff. As it was, the meal carried on at that restaurant and this is the review.
Well, the pictures should give you an idea of what is available. There's cooked food and the usual food that needs to be cooked yourself, there's crabs, prawns, fish balls, sausages, beancurds, frozen beancurd, crab meat balls, squid, sotong, clams, beef, chicken, mushrooms, fish and much much more. Along with that are cooked food such as vermicelli, sweet and sour prawns and beef, chicken and fish as well. In short, there is a huge selection of food to choose from. And all this is available at a price of $16 with the first drink free.
All this may seem like excellent value if not for one very important and neglected flaw. Quality of food. The uncooked food are simply not fresh. No matter how you cut it, its obvious from a start that its no where near the word fresh. The cooked food were mainly left untouched by us because quite simply, it did not appeal to anyone of us and the cleanliness of the place is absolutely worth questioning.
In terms of the broth, which happens to be the main selling point, the reddish and fiery hot side is definitely a draw for spicy food lovers. In comparison, the lighter side is actually too bland for comfort. Thats not to say that either side was good to begin with.
Also, the moment you step into the restaurant, be ready to be transported to China because quite simply, apart from our group, everyone else in the restaurant happens to be from our big friendly neighbor. What that means is plenty of shouting, drinking and loads of drunks. Take your chances on that front.
In the end, i can't say it wasn't moderately enjoyable due to th company but judging on the food, i'm hardpressed and struggling to find a reason to ever return
There are better places out there. Please visit those instead.
Rating given:
Had the opportunity to partake in a tasting session at Persimmon one Wednesday evening, courtesy of its co owner, Helena, who also co owns the casual eatery Epicurious at Roberston Quay. Persimmon bills itself as a fusion restaurant, incorporating both chinese and western food to blend up its own variety of fusion. Think somewhere along the lines of another Singapore fusion restaurant, Wild Rocket.
Stepping into Persimmon is reminiscent of stepping into a high class coffeeshop, with its checkered tile floors, white top tables and wooden chairs. What it lacks is the spinning ceiling fans which have been replaced by air conditioning units but I'm definitely not complaining. Not with Singapore's heat and humidity. Coupled with a low ceiling and retro music, it made for a soothing and laid back atmosphere.
Mushroom & Sesame Shooter - I liked this inconspicuous little shot glass of warm mushroom soup. Savoury with a hint of sesame and bits of mushroom. There was suppose to be 绍兴酒 in it but that was apparently not evident.
Fisherman's Pie - Persimmon's rendition of the fisherman's pie took a different twist from the norm. Instead of the usual seafood ingredients enveloped within a mould of pastry, this one was more of a soup bowl covered with a puff pastry lid. Another interesting thing was the choice of soup, which was a less oily version of the ubiquitous Laksa gravy. Honestly, I didn't find the soup or the ingredients very outstanding, coming across as decent at best. The pastry also needed some reworking in my humble opinion, probably through the addition of more butter to make it more fragrant and creamier to the tastebuds.
Fried Kway Teow with Wagyu Beef - I'm sorry to say this, but as fragrant and tasty as the kway teow may be, it is still CKT (Char Kway Teow), albeit of a less oily version than the ones you find in hawker centres outside. It came with a poached quail egg and mushrooms but lacked the discernible wok hei taste due to it being pan fried I believe. Did I mention that it was a tad too salty as well?
The accompanying wagyu beef came served atop a bed of beansprouts and was tender, juicy and almost mouthwatering. But being too thinly sliced, it was a little overcooked and I honestly couldn't tell that it was wagyu beef. So much for such an expensive breed of beef.
On a side note, it would definitely be funny if someone called it 牛肉河粉.
Wagyu Beef - As with the wagyu beef from the CKT, this dish of wagyu was thinly sliced and a tad overcooked, but at least portions were more significant and each slice held more bite. I just wonder how much would such a dish cost.
White Pepper Crab Cake with Tunghoon Salad & Scallop - I've never really been a fan of crab cakes and Persimmon's offering wasn't just about to change that. But thats not to say it wasn't good. As a matter of fact, it was quite decent, with lots of shredded crab, but just not outstanding.
The tunghoon salad held quite a few surprises with its overly zesty taste harbouring a spicy aftermath that hits you slowly but surely. And the lone fleshy scallop that came alongside was a little too undercooked, soft and bland.
Pineapple Tart - Now this was one huge unconventional pineapple tart. A scoop of ice cream atop a sweet pineapple ring, covering a layer of caramelised pineapple, all on a huge tart base. I'm a sucker for pineapple tarts so I liked it quite a fair bit with the nice and smooth ice cream but I did think that it could have been better. The tart base lacked the oven baked taste which I personally like and it wasn't crumbly enough. That aside, its really quite worth the eat.
Overall I think the food is pretty decent and probably a few minor tweaks here and there would suffice. As mentioned earlier, it was a complimentary tasting session hence I am unsure of the prices but a quick glance at the regular menu shows most main courses to be in the $20 range. I might do a revisit, just as soon as I am able to ascertain the food prices.
To end, please allow me to extend my thanks to Helena for the invite and for being an excellent host.
See all pictures here.
Rating given:
Hanabi has opened a new outlet at Katong Mall. They also boast a new and expanded buffet menu of over 100 items, now also including kushiyaki (grilled items on skewers) and kushiage (deep-fried items on skewers) items. Lunch at $26 and dinner at $30 sounded like good deals. As we were curious about how Hanabi fares now after original owners sold the chain, hubby and I checked out the new outlet.
Unfortunately, it was less than enjoyable. The tables are incredibly tiny, possibly to deter people from over-ordering. Despite an early hour and reservations, they squeezed us (two hulking adults plus an extremely wriggly toddler grabbing everything within arm's reach) at a table that was smaller than a schooldesk! Our request for a larger table could not be accommodated, so most of the evening we were uncomfortably cramped.
Foodwise, there were a lot more MISSES than HITS. Sashimi less than fresh, bland handrolls, awful deep-fried items tasting horribly alike, shocking mystery meat for some items (like what you'd imagine kangaroo or emu ass might taste like), unimpressive tempura, incompetent kushiyaki and poor noodle dishes. Are they trying to do too much?
Yes, there was stuff that I did like but these were few - the jellyfish, unagi fried rice (although clearly reheated via microwave), nice and smooth chawanmushi, and the yakiniku beef (even if overly salty and bits of it were stringy and chewy).
Looks like things have gone downhill. Service was terrible. Green, foreign waitresses and an unpleasant manager. We left before we ate our fill. Quite honestly, for the same amount of money, you can get much, much, much better food across the hallway at Wahiro.
Rating given:
We went to this cheery little steamboat place at Tanjong Katong Road called Paradise on Earth.
I feel like I've hit the lottery. Hubby who normally loathes steamboat actually likes this place and would come back again (in fact, he doesn't want to go anywhere else!). Most of our experiences with steamboat have left us quite disappointed. Here, at Paradise on Earth, the food not only looks and tastes fresh, it's really quite value-for-money. Very pleasing on both eye and wallet.
About 60 items (meat, seafood, vegetables and dishes) plus dessert come free-flow with the buffet price. They also have a premium menu (house specialties) of about 30 items that you can order separately. You won't be complaining about lack of variety here (got a sudden craving for live bull frogs and geoduck? no problem).
They have about five soup choices (you can have two). They are well-known for their satay flavoured soup - we liked this better than their hot & spicy (mala style) soup. Others are fish head, dried scallop and tom yum.
You must try the fried rice here. Looks like plain old Yangzhou fried rice but it's delicious - the first time I had it, I took three bowls! I like the sweet-sour-spicy dipping sauce too. Oh, they also serve you a nice plate of achar - pickled pineapple, carrots and cucumber (that will later appear as a $2 charge on your bill). However, there is no GST and no service charge at this place. Hurrah!
Lunch: S$15.80 for adults; S$7.90 for children (under 12)
Dinner: S$17.80 for adults; S$8,90 for children
Weekends and public holidays, add S$1 for adults and 50 cents for children
PARADISE ON EARTH
200 Tanjong Katong Road
Singapore 436998
Tel: 6345 9272.
Daily 11am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm.
Rating given:
This place does not have that good a reputation for food. As a regular tze char place, it's fairly middling. However, I have had one good dish from here - cereal prawns!
And this is not just cereal prawn but butter cereal prawns! Extra fragrant, yummy and still crisp, despite being a takeaway. I ate even the skins and tails (not the heads though, although I peeled the tasty batter off them). And I love the crispy bits with curry leaves and sliced chili padi.
Do not try their fried rice or horfun though...they are the blandest ever!
Rating given:
Original review at Camemberu.com.
The Raffles City basement now has so many eateries but very few that we like. A few days ago, we chanced upon this little ramen shop - Bishamon Sapporo Ramen. Ah, another Sapporo ramen joint. I'd heard good stuff about them. And we weren't disappointed. I liked the spicy miso ramen (S$12) I had. Nicely savoury without being overpowering or overly spicy. The char siew slices are very thick but amazingly, they were so tender, they just melted in your mouth.
Hubby enjoyed the shoyu ramen (S$12.50). I am not fond of shoyu flavouring and found a perceptible porky taste. But it does grow on you. Just a very different flavour from the miso.
This tiny shop doesn't seat very many. Seats spill out into the walkway and most people just eat and go. Bishamon also serves curry rice and some appetiser snacks, if you prefer something other than ramen.
Rating given:
See original review with all photos at Camemberu.com
I went there a second time too - their ebi tempura curry udon sure has big prawns!
This is a curry udon specialist chain from Japan (Singapore is their first overseas outlet). Didn't really pay much attention to them until I saw the cheese-laden bowl on LiquidShadow's blog. That brought back some memories of Mentsu-dan in Shinjuku, where I first fell in love with udon and where they had this cheese-egg udon that was phenomenal. Ahh, Japan...
Hubby who doesn't like The Central acquiesced to come here for this. We started with the coleslaw with renkon chips (S$6.50, this month's special, available til end March). This was so delicious, and the renkon chips so addictive, we asked for another as soon as we polished it off. We told the waitress they should put this on the regular menu!
Hubby went for the cheese curry udon (S$15.50). The cheese topping did not look as huge as it didn't have any tonkatsu or ebi tempura to rest on. The curry is not bad. I'm not a Japanese curry fan because of its mild and sweetish nature, but I liked this (especially after we put a ton of chili flakes into it). Next time I am coming here to have my own bowl!
I had the grilled eel dish called hitsumabushi (S$18), because I had been craving my good experience at Unasho in Akihabara. I hoped this place would at least meet some standards, unlike local Japanese chains like Ichiban Sushi. Well, Wakashachiya's version was decent enough with good quality ingredients. If you want double the amount of unagi, you can go for the deluxe version (S$27).
Hitsumabushi is fun because you get to play with your food. There are three different ways of eating it. You can divide the bowl into four portions. The first one you can eat as it is - just eel and rice. The second one you can enjoy with condiments of nori, spring onions and wasabi.
The third method is an ochazuke. Pour the hot dashi stock over your eel, rice and condiments to create a "rice tea". The stock here has a strong charcoal or roasted taste, typical of ochazuke. But I still prefer Unasho's more savoury version.
Service here is polite and the lead waitress spoke some Japanese. She was also very conscientious about details and made sure the tables were all laid out neatly, that nothing was out of place. Enthusiastic commitment to the job! Either that or she is the boss of the place!
Well, for a restaurant chain, Wakashachiya is better than expected. I enjoyed myself and will certainly be back again. In fact, looking at these pictures, I'm craving some curry udon already!
Rating given: