Yet Con is a familiar name in the Hainanese culinary scene and is probably the oldest Hainanese restaurant in Singapore, dating back to 1940 when it was founded. Thats a whopping 79 years, even older then independent Singapore itself!
Located along the historic Purvis street, Yet Con's interior takes you back in time to the days when policemen still wore shorts - ceramic tiles on walls with the quintessential wooden frame mirror with Chinese inscriptions and large, albeit dirty wooden tables coupled with dated wooden chairs. Even the signboard fronting the eatery looks like a piece of relic, weathering the sun and rain for countless years. The only modern thing in this place is probably the air conditioning.
Steamboat - The 3 of us ordered the smallest steamboat serving ($8) which came with tiny fishballs, a smattering of pork, squid, prawns , chicken etc and an additional plate of rather unfresh beef ($8). No choices were given for the soup base, which was chicken stock.
Beancurd - I'm inclined to think that most cze char places make this beancurd dish the same way, braised with lots of egg gravy atop. The beancurd wasn't outstanding even though it was placed under the recommended section of the menu. Simple and no frills and something I can easily find at most cze char stalls.
Hainanese Chicken - No trip to a Hainanese eatery is complete without ordering their namesake Hainanese chicken. Yet Con's rendition was void of any oily residue that is known to plague this dish without compromising on the tenderness of the meat. The only gripe I had was that the meat was a wee bit too dry.
The 3 of us chalked up about $43 for this relatively simple and filling meal. If you hanker for a simple, no fuss food at average pricing, then Yet Con would probably work for you.
And one for the Smok’Inn Frogz kitchen by the side.
The epitome of the coolest coffee shop, Bar bar black sheep. With a foot in uptown Bukit Timah, the affluent neighbours and the Caucasians crowd, the rise in the popularity isn’t merely luck. The owner of bar bar black sheep is a pretty smart guy, bringing in an Indian, a Thai food stall and of course Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen.
With such ear-catching names, who could resist coming down to find out what they are about? Essentially a coffee shop that goes through project makeover, the dim lighting, the laid-back environment, with plenty of boozes, and popular food. Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen is co-owned by three partners, with the former-chef from Flute @ the Fort coming out with the menu, the second guy managing the finance, and the third dude handling the daily operations.
The de facto signboard for Smok’Inn Frogz, the homemade beef burger ($12) was made popular after the Sunday Times reporter came to try the burger and raved about it. Like they said, the rest was history. Well I was tempted to choose between the chicken or the beef burger, but since they were both priced the same, it didn’t really make sense to choose chicken over beef. Now back to the main character, the beef patty was tender and moist, while the sesame bun was slightly too toasted for my liking. Double cheese and caramelised onions were on hand to enhance the flavour of the burger.
I wasn’t very fond of aglio olio since i always found them to be too spicy and dry. The Prawns linguine Aglio Olio ($14) here wasn’t as spicy like most, as they swapped the small chilli padi with the hot ones instead. Smok’Inn frog rendition was reasonably wet, and had 6 prawns, very generous indeed.
Another of Smok’Inn Frogz’s supposedly signature, Beer-battered fish & chips ($12). The portions were huge, enough for two to share. The beer taste was evident in the fish, but other than that, there wasn’t any spectacular magic about it. And the fish became soggy after a while.
Total bill was $38 for the 3 main course. Prices are reasonable for the food, and with the Caucasian crowd and the Bukit Timah residents packing the place up, it’s difficult to get a seat for dinner on weekends if you came later than 7pm. I’ll also like to apologise for the ugly photos (the worst i took since I used dslr) due to the very dim lighting.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
“Do you take him as your husband, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow… With that I proclaimed you as husband and wife!”
The wedding bell struck, and the loving couple proceed on happily with their dinner celebration. Or so they thought. Picture this, the wedding ballroom was full of family, relatives and friends. All around was smiling faces. Then came the horror. Dead sharks, plenty of them with blood stains still fresh from the wounds, laying everywhere, on the table, on the floor, on the stage.
100 million sharks are killed a year, 63 million for their fins alone. Yes, you, you, you and you. All of us are guilty of being a murderer. And the real cause for their destruction, the demand for shark fins, a Chinese delicacy, always present during weddings and festive occasions.
Loveshark.sg is a local organisation set up to raise public awareness about sharks and the practices threatening their survival in the wild, with the simple ‘No Shark Fin‘ pledge. Alternatives to shark fin soup includes fish maw soup, or the vegetarian shark fin soup which we had at Lotus vegetarian restaurant for the loveshark media dinner.
We started off our meal with the prosperity yu sheng. A messy affair it was, scrambling to take photographs, while holding the chopsticks to stir for our first lo-hei of 2009. And of course, the auspicious greetings wishing one another, good health and fortune.
So green, green. So bright green, green. The Caltrops with hairy mushroom represents all of the superficial view of greens equal vegetarian. Caltrops and water chestnuts are cousins, while i’m not a fan of neither, i agreed that the caltrops were full of crunch, and i enjoyed the hairy mushroom, or better known as monkey-head mushroom.
The element of fire, fiery red. All of us mistook it for red chili where it’s actually red bell pepper. The spicy pan-fried vegetarian fish was actually bean curd in disguise. The meticulous wrapping of the seaweed around to make the dish bearing a closer resemblance impressed.
The most creative award for the night goes to the fresh mushroom with asparagus. Serving in the form of a ice cream cone, several different types of mushrooms were stuffed inside, and voila!
The fruity almond rolls were my personal favourite of the 9 course vegetarian meal. The aroma of the jack fruit and banana held within the almond rolls escaped to our nose. Fried crispy outside, juicy and fruitful inside. Also there’s the Otak-pretender which came along too.
The apparent crowd favourite, stewed chestnuts with golden fungus. The bite of the golden fungus, was chewy and there’s also the hairy mushroom here.
Capturing the essence without using any real meat, that’s what all vegetarian dishes strived to do. I thought the veg meat managed to do just that. The light sauce for the meat, with the cucumbers and tomatoes, dipped in the famous chicken rice chilli.
Welcome to Malacca! The signature chicken rice balls, that originated from the Malaysian state. Except this was rice ball without using any chicken oil in the cooking process.
The legendary Tian Shan Xue Lian right before our eyes. For centuries, pugilists had been vying for the magical healing medicine. Well of course, this wasn’t the real Tian Shan Xue lian, with osmanthus in the pudding.
The 9 course set dinner served 10 people at $358 , from Lotus Vegetarian restaurant. This is a food tasting session organised by loveshark.sg, so i’ll like to thank Jaki for inviting me, to have the chance with meeting the nice people from their various organisations, and of course, the food bloggers whom I’ve read their blogs for a long time, but this being the first time i saw them in person. Support Loveshark.sg! Say no to Shark Fin!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Another stall at Yuhua Village food centre which has a significant queue, Fei Fei Roasted & noodle. Now don’t confuse this stall with the famous Fei Fei wanton mee. You know there are some stalls which are opened for the whole day, and yet couldn’t finish selling the food. Just exactly how good are they? According to eyewitness, when they start operations everyday at around 7-8am, the queue never ceased until they are sold out by 12 noon.
I always have a thing for roasted duck, and I must say Fei Fei’s rendition ($15 half a duck) impressed me. The taste wasn’t very extreme, the duck wasn’t that big and meaty. But somehow they managed to get this right balance between the crispiness of the skin, and the bite of the duck. And the fatty meat underneath the skin added in the “oomph” factor as well. We should have tried their wanton mee as well, but we ordered quite a lot of other food already. And by the time we made up our mind to try their noodles, they were closed, at 12 noon sharp.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
A typical food court or coffee shop will definitely have the few same thing, drinks stall, the roasted meat stall, western food, fishball noodles, mixed vegetables rice stall. So what happens when you got sick of eating fishball noodles or wanton mee? Why not try some hand made noodles, or more commonly known as, Ban Mian.
There’s three different kinds of hand made noodles, ban mian (similar to mee pok), you mian (the thinner version), and mee huan kuay (pieces of noodles). I’m not really a big fan of ban mian and mee huan kuay, so usually i’ll take the you mian.
While i can’t appreciate ban mian, but i can understand the effort put into making them. In Singapore, most egg noodles are factory machine-made, rarely can you see the fishball noodles and wanton mee stalls making their own noodles any more. Of course, there are still some stalls which insist on making their own noodles, which differentiate themselves from the others. For ban mian, the dough are rolled into noodles on the spot.
Ban mian ($2.50) are always served with the familiar fried ikan bilies (anchovies), mushrooms, an egg, and vegetables in either soup or dry version. The soup base wasn’t salty; this being an vital factor since the ikan bilies when soaked into the soup would enhance the flavour of the soup. With so many ingredients, i thought it’s worth the money and a healthier choice.
I preferred the dry hand made you mian ($2.50). The ingredients are the same, with the noodles being the only exception. It’s been a while since i last ate ban mian, and i actually felt it was better than the fishball you mian. The chilli and vinegar gave the noodles a stronger taste than the soup version.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Was presented the opportunity to sample the Chinese New Year buffet spread at Straits Cafe at Hotel Rendezvous, courtesy of the hotel's marketing department, specifically Christina, the marketing manager.
Straits Cafe's interior is typical of any hotel cafe that does, with its informal decor coupled with simple furnishing and the usual glass counters that display the food and the chefs that put the food together. Straits Cafe goes a step further by offering LCD televisions in certain areas of the restaurant, something which I believe a lot of hotel cafes/restaurants don't offer (Or am I just too outdated?).
Salmon Yu Sheng - The ubiquitous Yu Sheng and my umpteenth one this year, Straits Cafe offers this dish as a DIY at the counter, which means none of the routine rehearsed recitation by the wait staff. I'm no big fan of yusheng so I shall reserve my comments on this one.
Peng Cai - According to the manager, the Peng Cai requires a minimum preparation time of about 6 hours and consists of 15 different items in it - Shark's fin, abalone, dried scallops, prawns, duck web etc. As impressive as the list of ingredients may sound, I honestly didn't quite take to it as everything tasted very soft and mashed up. The flavours weren't immersed or intense enough and everything tasted more or less the same.
Variety The buffet spread had about 30 items (just a rough estimate) which ranged from sushi and soba to seafood, cut meats, local dishes like laksa and desserts. Not exactly extensive if you ask me.
Food Quality Food quality was generally average but there were a few glimmers of hope. In particular the laksa and durian pengat were worth a mention, to me at least. The laksa had a smooth creamy coconut milk base that harboured a tinge of sourish aftertaste which I thought was quite nice, but thats coming from someone who eats laksa probably once in 10 years? The durian pengat came across as smooth without being overly sweet and carried a nice hint of bitterness. However, I would have preferred it to be thicker and more concentrated.
Service Service was generally quite good but as this was an invited session, I'm not sure if it would be representative of the service level in general.
To conclude, I would like to thank Hotel Rendezvous once again for generously extending their hospitality to yours truly.
Jostled with the crowds at Jurong Point's newly opened extension to have a go Lai Lai Casual Dining - a seemingly popular beef noodles cum pseudo Taiwanese eatery. There was a steady stream of people queuing up to get a seat in the eatery so we naturally assumed that this place was of a certain acceptable standard.
The bulk of the seating at this eatery is open concept, which means that people from the upper levels of the mall can view you from the top and tables are squeezed uncomfortably close to each other to maxmize revenue. And honestly, the cow on the menu looked like it had just been hit by mad cow disease.
Fried Beancurd - This dish was very run off the mill. Crisp on the outside but not soft on the inside, the beancurd was overly deep fried which resulted in a harder then usual exterior.
Pepper Salt Chicken - This dish was another disappointment. I mean, how bad can chicken taste like right? Wrong! The chicken had more flour then meat and came across as tough, bland and oily. Can someone tell me where the salt and pepper went?
Taiwan Beef Noodle - Lai Lai's purported signature/star dish and I have to admit that it was the best amongst all the other terrible dishes. Not that it was anywhere near what I had expected initially when I was still in the queue. The noodles were of the flatter variant and carried a bit of bite but the soup wasn't flavourful enough. The beef pieces, which amounted to about 4 - 5, came across as a tad too tough.
Taiwan Vermicelli - The only time I ate Taiwan vermicelli aka mee sua was when I was still a kid and my grandmother would cook it for me during my Chinese birthday. Though its been a long time since I last ate mee sua, I don't remember it tasting as awful as Lai Lai's rendition. The soup was very starchy and not to mention bland. Ingredients were minimal as well and half of bowl of the vermicelli remained, for obvious reasons.
On hindsight, the queues were probably formed due to the herd mentality of Singaporeans and definitely not for the food quality. Our dinner cost the 2 of us $30, which isn't expensive for a dinner, but definitely expensive for such quality of food. Never again!
This Happen to be one of my favorite hang outs in jurong point. Matter of fact.. You don't get much hang outs in jurong as its really quite in the surburb... Siam Kitchen has been there sitting quietly next to the OLD NTUC in today's JP1....
i don't think their food is that.. Great.. however with the set lunches going at S$11.90 with drink, main course and appetizer, its pretty worth it...
I particularly like the karapok they serve when you get sitted... dunk it in their yummy sweetie chilli sauce... Already quite yummy....
Their thai beef noodle is pretty nice... with the beef balls so real.... they always get stuck in between my teeth... Kway Teow so smooth.... I can slurp it all up in one go...
I also like the mango salad.... sour, spicy and full of Oomph.... Especially with cashewnuts... Its extra tasty.... However... Beware of the dynamites. Yes.. they are red and small.. If you chew on them.. You will guarantee to turn red and explode... The Baby Chilli Padis.... is quite an adventure... For those who love HOT HOT HOT STUFFS... ask for a spoonful from the waitress....
Green Curry also nice... especially with the koropok..... Ask for an extra serving to get your money's worth.....
Its pretty nice however, quiet which i don't understand why. Eversince they stopped having their buffets.. this place is more or less a dead town... Which is also a great thing for me.... imagine this.. No queues, No irrtating kids bumping you off the chair... No babies squeeling away.... No Old man putting his dentures into the cup of ice water.....
This place a super haven for me.......... MY COMPLETE HIDEOUT!
This is the place where i had my birthday last year.. The food is great... I personally love the Chips.... They are REAL CHIP Slices from a real potato and thats both healthy and yummy.. No preservatives and I won't become a MUMMY.... The Egyptian Mummy i mean. The Burger is also one to die for... succulent beef.. juicy and yummy and the rest on the menu, i love it all.
But besides the food I have to say the ambience is great.... I personally love the string lights..... So Romantic..... One cannot help but want to run your fingers through the lights like you will do the same to your hair... And when you get a little more tipsy.. You might think you will burn your fingers on them... But before you run your hand and bring it near to your face, take cheesy pictures with the lights near to your face..... STOP AND STARE... While you stare think about how many hundreds of patrons already did that and not forgetting their OILY FACES... FINGERS... and whatever.. Not forgetting the Super Pukers who might have already puked on them a thousand times..... THINK,.......
The service is great.. waitress and waiters run around alot.. Not forgetting the occasional handsome waiters..... They are generally helpful and friendly...... and prompt with your request.... especially when you ask for the bill..
The Live Band is great... previously from China Jump at CHIJMES... BOY I STILL MISS THE DENTIST CHAIR.... ALL CHINA JUMP Fans out there...... Jive Talking is HERE...... and the band had changed some of the players but They are still very much their oldselves..... Love the music they play.... Its somewhere between the old and the new... and they have such great groove.. You can't help but will move to the beat..
The crowd is great too.. You see many yuppies and caucasians as well as local hot babes... A must go... for all you love clubbers....
If you like the cool afresco clubbing you will like peppermint park... Its wierd.. theres not a single peppermint plant there however.. there are many potted plants and baby trees around which is quite serene... The place is great for mini parties or perhaps just to chill out with a friend or two.. Sits are great... stiff sofas and hanging benches for those who love a little more dizziness...
Its even better when you have BUY 1 and GET 2 free Beers.... Come at 6pm and you have 3 hours of drink till you drop happy times. Snack with their great finger food... The chicken wings and fries are great.. The batter they use to fry the chicken with is both savoury and yummy.... One of the best chicky wings i ever had... I love their wedges and nacho basket as well... A good generous serving with cheesy cheese sauce and Cheeky Salsa......
Great place to hang out... Great place to Chilll.... Definitely great place to meet up with your pals...
A must go... for all those Cool Cute guys and gals.. Catch me there.. again n again n again.... * BURB*
Yet Con is a familiar name in the Hainanese culinary scene and is probably the oldest Hainanese restaurant in Singapore, dating back to 1940 when it was founded. Thats a whopping 79 years, even older then independent Singapore itself!
Located along the historic Purvis street, Yet Con's interior takes you back in time to the days when policemen still wore shorts - ceramic tiles on walls with the quintessential wooden frame mirror with Chinese inscriptions and large, albeit dirty wooden tables coupled with dated wooden chairs. Even the signboard fronting the eatery looks like a piece of relic, weathering the sun and rain for countless years. The only modern thing in this place is probably the air conditioning.
Steamboat - The 3 of us ordered the smallest steamboat serving ($8) which came with tiny fishballs, a smattering of pork, squid, prawns , chicken etc and an additional plate of rather unfresh beef ($8). No choices were given for the soup base, which was chicken stock.
Beancurd - I'm inclined to think that most cze char places make this beancurd dish the same way, braised with lots of egg gravy atop. The beancurd wasn't outstanding even though it was placed under the recommended section of the menu. Simple and no frills and something I can easily find at most cze char stalls.
Hainanese Chicken - No trip to a Hainanese eatery is complete without ordering their namesake Hainanese chicken. Yet Con's rendition was void of any oily residue that is known to plague this dish without compromising on the tenderness of the meat. The only gripe I had was that the meat was a wee bit too dry.
The 3 of us chalked up about $43 for this relatively simple and filling meal. If you hanker for a simple, no fuss food at average pricing, then Yet Con would probably work for you.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Bar bar black sheep, have you any food?
Yes sir, yes sir, three stalls full!
One for the Indians, one for the Thais.
And one for the Smok’Inn Frogz kitchen by the side.
The epitome of the coolest coffee shop, Bar bar black sheep. With a foot in uptown Bukit Timah, the affluent neighbours and the Caucasians crowd, the rise in the popularity isn’t merely luck. The owner of bar bar black sheep is a pretty smart guy, bringing in an Indian, a Thai food stall and of course Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen.
With such ear-catching names, who could resist coming down to find out what they are about? Essentially a coffee shop that goes through project makeover, the dim lighting, the laid-back environment, with plenty of boozes, and popular food. Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen is co-owned by three partners, with the former-chef from Flute @ the Fort coming out with the menu, the second guy managing the finance, and the third dude handling the daily operations.
The de facto signboard for Smok’Inn Frogz, the homemade beef burger ($12) was made popular after the Sunday Times reporter came to try the burger and raved about it. Like they said, the rest was history. Well I was tempted to choose between the chicken or the beef burger, but since they were both priced the same, it didn’t really make sense to choose chicken over beef. Now back to the main character, the beef patty was tender and moist, while the sesame bun was slightly too toasted for my liking. Double cheese and caramelised onions were on hand to enhance the flavour of the burger.
I wasn’t very fond of aglio olio since i always found them to be too spicy and dry. The Prawns linguine Aglio Olio ($14) here wasn’t as spicy like most, as they swapped the small chilli padi with the hot ones instead. Smok’Inn frog rendition was reasonably wet, and had 6 prawns, very generous indeed.
Another of Smok’Inn Frogz’s supposedly signature, Beer-battered fish & chips ($12). The portions were huge, enough for two to share. The beer taste was evident in the fish, but other than that, there wasn’t any spectacular magic about it. And the fish became soggy after a while.
Total bill was $38 for the 3 main course. Prices are reasonable for the food, and with the Caucasian crowd and the Bukit Timah residents packing the place up, it’s difficult to get a seat for dinner on weekends if you came later than 7pm. I’ll also like to apologise for the ugly photos (the worst i took since I used dslr) due to the very dim lighting.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
“Do you take him as your husband, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow… With that I proclaimed you as husband and wife!”
The wedding bell struck, and the loving couple proceed on happily with their dinner celebration. Or so they thought. Picture this, the wedding ballroom was full of family, relatives and friends. All around was smiling faces. Then came the horror. Dead sharks, plenty of them with blood stains still fresh from the wounds, laying everywhere, on the table, on the floor, on the stage.
100 million sharks are killed a year, 63 million for their fins alone. Yes, you, you, you and you. All of us are guilty of being a murderer. And the real cause for their destruction, the demand for shark fins, a Chinese delicacy, always present during weddings and festive occasions.
Loveshark.sg is a local organisation set up to raise public awareness about sharks and the practices threatening their survival in the wild, with the simple ‘No Shark Fin‘ pledge. Alternatives to shark fin soup includes fish maw soup, or the vegetarian shark fin soup which we had at Lotus vegetarian restaurant for the loveshark media dinner.
We started off our meal with the prosperity yu sheng. A messy affair it was, scrambling to take photographs, while holding the chopsticks to stir for our first lo-hei of 2009. And of course, the auspicious greetings wishing one another, good health and fortune.
So green, green. So bright green, green. The Caltrops with hairy mushroom represents all of the superficial view of greens equal vegetarian. Caltrops and water chestnuts are cousins, while i’m not a fan of neither, i agreed that the caltrops were full of crunch, and i enjoyed the hairy mushroom, or better known as monkey-head mushroom.
The element of fire, fiery red. All of us mistook it for red chili where it’s actually red bell pepper. The spicy pan-fried vegetarian fish was actually bean curd in disguise. The meticulous wrapping of the seaweed around to make the dish bearing a closer resemblance impressed.
The most creative award for the night goes to the fresh mushroom with asparagus. Serving in the form of a ice cream cone, several different types of mushrooms were stuffed inside, and voila!
The fruity almond rolls were my personal favourite of the 9 course vegetarian meal. The aroma of the jack fruit and banana held within the almond rolls escaped to our nose. Fried crispy outside, juicy and fruitful inside. Also there’s the Otak-pretender which came along too.
The apparent crowd favourite, stewed chestnuts with golden fungus. The bite of the golden fungus, was chewy and there’s also the hairy mushroom here.
Capturing the essence without using any real meat, that’s what all vegetarian dishes strived to do. I thought the veg meat managed to do just that. The light sauce for the meat, with the cucumbers and tomatoes, dipped in the famous chicken rice chilli.
Welcome to Malacca! The signature chicken rice balls, that originated from the Malaysian state. Except this was rice ball without using any chicken oil in the cooking process.
The legendary Tian Shan Xue Lian right before our eyes. For centuries, pugilists had been vying for the magical healing medicine. Well of course, this wasn’t the real Tian Shan Xue lian, with osmanthus in the pudding.
The 9 course set dinner served 10 people at $358 , from Lotus Vegetarian restaurant. This is a food tasting session organised by loveshark.sg, so i’ll like to thank Jaki for inviting me, to have the chance with meeting the nice people from their various organisations, and of course, the food bloggers whom I’ve read their blogs for a long time, but this being the first time i saw them in person. Support Loveshark.sg! Say no to Shark Fin!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Another stall at Yuhua Village food centre which has a significant queue, Fei Fei Roasted & noodle. Now don’t confuse this stall with the famous Fei Fei wanton mee. You know there are some stalls which are opened for the whole day, and yet couldn’t finish selling the food. Just exactly how good are they? According to eyewitness, when they start operations everyday at around 7-8am, the queue never ceased until they are sold out by 12 noon.
I always have a thing for roasted duck, and I must say Fei Fei’s rendition ($15 half a duck) impressed me. The taste wasn’t very extreme, the duck wasn’t that big and meaty. But somehow they managed to get this right balance between the crispiness of the skin, and the bite of the duck. And the fatty meat underneath the skin added in the “oomph” factor as well. We should have tried their wanton mee as well, but we ordered quite a lot of other food already. And by the time we made up our mind to try their noodles, they were closed, at 12 noon sharp.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
A typical food court or coffee shop will definitely have the few same thing, drinks stall, the roasted meat stall, western food, fishball noodles, mixed vegetables rice stall. So what happens when you got sick of eating fishball noodles or wanton mee? Why not try some hand made noodles, or more commonly known as, Ban Mian.
There’s three different kinds of hand made noodles, ban mian (similar to mee pok), you mian (the thinner version), and mee huan kuay (pieces of noodles). I’m not really a big fan of ban mian and mee huan kuay, so usually i’ll take the you mian.
While i can’t appreciate ban mian, but i can understand the effort put into making them. In Singapore, most egg noodles are factory machine-made, rarely can you see the fishball noodles and wanton mee stalls making their own noodles any more. Of course, there are still some stalls which insist on making their own noodles, which differentiate themselves from the others. For ban mian, the dough are rolled into noodles on the spot.
Ban mian ($2.50) are always served with the familiar fried ikan bilies (anchovies), mushrooms, an egg, and vegetables in either soup or dry version. The soup base wasn’t salty; this being an vital factor since the ikan bilies when soaked into the soup would enhance the flavour of the soup. With so many ingredients, i thought it’s worth the money and a healthier choice.
I preferred the dry hand made you mian ($2.50). The ingredients are the same, with the noodles being the only exception. It’s been a while since i last ate ban mian, and i actually felt it was better than the fishball you mian. The chilli and vinegar gave the noodles a stronger taste than the soup version.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Was presented the opportunity to sample the Chinese New Year buffet spread at Straits Cafe at Hotel Rendezvous, courtesy of the hotel's marketing department, specifically Christina, the marketing manager.
Straits Cafe's interior is typical of any hotel cafe that does, with its informal decor coupled with simple furnishing and the usual glass counters that display the food and the chefs that put the food together. Straits Cafe goes a step further by offering LCD televisions in certain areas of the restaurant, something which I believe a lot of hotel cafes/restaurants don't offer (Or am I just too outdated?).
Salmon Yu Sheng - The ubiquitous Yu Sheng and my umpteenth one this year, Straits Cafe offers this dish as a DIY at the counter, which means none of the routine rehearsed recitation by the wait staff. I'm no big fan of yusheng so I shall reserve my comments on this one.
Peng Cai - According to the manager, the Peng Cai requires a minimum preparation time of about 6 hours and consists of 15 different items in it - Shark's fin, abalone, dried scallops, prawns, duck web etc. As impressive as the list of ingredients may sound, I honestly didn't quite take to it as everything tasted very soft and mashed up. The flavours weren't immersed or intense enough and everything tasted more or less the same.
Variety
The buffet spread had about 30 items (just a rough estimate) which ranged from sushi and soba to seafood, cut meats, local dishes like laksa and desserts. Not exactly extensive if you ask me.
Food Quality
Food quality was generally average but there were a few glimmers of hope. In particular the laksa and durian pengat were worth a mention, to me at least. The laksa had a smooth creamy coconut milk base that harboured a tinge of sourish aftertaste which I thought was quite nice, but thats coming from someone who eats laksa probably once in 10 years? The durian pengat came across as smooth without being overly sweet and carried a nice hint of bitterness. However, I would have preferred it to be thicker and more concentrated.
Service
Service was generally quite good but as this was an invited session, I'm not sure if it would be representative of the service level in general.
To conclude, I would like to thank Hotel Rendezvous once again for generously extending their hospitality to yours truly.
See all my pictures here.
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Jostled with the crowds at Jurong Point's newly opened extension to have a go Lai Lai Casual Dining - a seemingly popular beef noodles cum pseudo Taiwanese eatery. There was a steady stream of people queuing up to get a seat in the eatery so we naturally assumed that this place was of a certain acceptable standard.
The bulk of the seating at this eatery is open concept, which means that people from the upper levels of the mall can view you from the top and tables are squeezed uncomfortably close to each other to maxmize revenue. And honestly, the cow on the menu looked like it had just been hit by mad cow disease.
Fried Beancurd - This dish was very run off the mill. Crisp on the outside but not soft on the inside, the beancurd was overly deep fried which resulted in a harder then usual exterior.
Pepper Salt Chicken - This dish was another disappointment. I mean, how bad can chicken taste like right? Wrong! The chicken had more flour then meat and came across as tough, bland and oily. Can someone tell me where the salt and pepper went?
Taiwan Beef Noodle - Lai Lai's purported signature/star dish and I have to admit that it was the best amongst all the other terrible dishes. Not that it was anywhere near what I had expected initially when I was still in the queue. The noodles were of the flatter variant and carried a bit of bite but the soup wasn't flavourful enough. The beef pieces, which amounted to about 4 - 5, came across as a tad too tough.
Taiwan Vermicelli - The only time I ate Taiwan vermicelli aka mee sua was when I was still a kid and my grandmother would cook it for me during my Chinese birthday. Though its been a long time since I last ate mee sua, I don't remember it tasting as awful as Lai Lai's rendition. The soup was very starchy and not to mention bland. Ingredients were minimal as well and half of bowl of the vermicelli remained, for obvious reasons.
On hindsight, the queues were probably formed due to the herd mentality of Singaporeans and definitely not for the food quality. Our dinner cost the 2 of us $30, which isn't expensive for a dinner, but definitely expensive for such quality of food. Never again!
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This Happen to be one of my favorite hang outs in jurong point. Matter of fact.. You don't get much hang outs in jurong as its really quite in the surburb... Siam Kitchen has been there sitting quietly next to the OLD NTUC in today's JP1....
i don't think their food is that.. Great.. however with the set lunches going at S$11.90 with drink, main course and appetizer, its pretty worth it...
I particularly like the karapok they serve when you get sitted... dunk it in their yummy sweetie chilli sauce... Already quite yummy....
Their thai beef noodle is pretty nice... with the beef balls so real.... they always get stuck in between my teeth... Kway Teow so smooth.... I can slurp it all up in one go...
I also like the mango salad.... sour, spicy and full of Oomph.... Especially with cashewnuts... Its extra tasty.... However... Beware of the dynamites. Yes.. they are red and small.. If you chew on them.. You will guarantee to turn red and explode... The Baby Chilli Padis.... is quite an adventure... For those who love HOT HOT HOT STUFFS... ask for a spoonful from the waitress....
Green Curry also nice... especially with the koropok..... Ask for an extra serving to get your money's worth.....
Its pretty nice however, quiet which i don't understand why. Eversince they stopped having their buffets.. this place is more or less a dead town... Which is also a great thing for me.... imagine this.. No queues, No irrtating kids bumping you off the chair... No babies squeeling away.... No Old man putting his dentures into the cup of ice water.....
This place a super haven for me.......... MY COMPLETE HIDEOUT!
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This is the place where i had my birthday last year.. The food is great... I personally love the Chips.... They are REAL CHIP Slices from a real potato and thats both healthy and yummy.. No preservatives and I won't become a MUMMY.... The Egyptian Mummy i mean. The Burger is also one to die for... succulent beef.. juicy and yummy and the rest on the menu, i love it all.
But besides the food I have to say the ambience is great.... I personally love the string lights..... So Romantic..... One cannot help but want to run your fingers through the lights like you will do the same to your hair... And when you get a little more tipsy.. You might think you will burn your fingers on them... But before you run your hand and bring it near to your face, take cheesy pictures with the lights near to your face..... STOP AND STARE... While you stare think about how many hundreds of patrons already did that and not forgetting their OILY FACES... FINGERS... and whatever.. Not forgetting the Super Pukers who might have already puked on them a thousand times..... THINK,.......
The service is great.. waitress and waiters run around alot.. Not forgetting the occasional handsome waiters..... They are generally helpful and friendly...... and prompt with your request.... especially when you ask for the bill..
The Live Band is great... previously from China Jump at CHIJMES... BOY I STILL MISS THE DENTIST CHAIR.... ALL CHINA JUMP Fans out there...... Jive Talking is HERE...... and the band had changed some of the players but They are still very much their oldselves..... Love the music they play.... Its somewhere between the old and the new... and they have such great groove.. You can't help but will move to the beat..
The crowd is great too.. You see many yuppies and caucasians as well as local hot babes... A must go... for all you love clubbers....
See you there on fridays......
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If you like the cool afresco clubbing you will like peppermint park... Its wierd.. theres not a single peppermint plant there however.. there are many potted plants and baby trees around which is quite serene... The place is great for mini parties or perhaps just to chill out with a friend or two.. Sits are great... stiff sofas and hanging benches for those who love a little more dizziness...
Its even better when you have BUY 1 and GET 2 free Beers.... Come at 6pm and you have 3 hours of drink till you drop happy times. Snack with their great finger food... The chicken wings and fries are great.. The batter they use to fry the chicken with is both savoury and yummy.... One of the best chicky wings i ever had... I love their wedges and nacho basket as well... A good generous serving with cheesy cheese sauce and Cheeky Salsa......
Great place to hang out... Great place to Chilll.... Definitely great place to meet up with your pals...
A must go... for all those Cool Cute guys and gals.. Catch me there.. again n again n again.... * BURB*
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