Wednesday is for the ladies, party all night long!
Thursday we have people queuing up to buy Toto
Friday its one more day to the weekends
Saturday its finally weekends!
Sunday 4D 4D & 4D
So what do we have on Tuesday? Make a guess?!?
Yep, Tuesdays are Waffles Day!
For every Tuesday, its waffles day at Gelare, where you get to enjoy 50% discount on their waffles (actually for their plain waffles only, the rest less than 50%).
But who bothers! Its waffles day, and personally i do think its quite a good sales tactic. I mean even though i have never try Gelare before, but i heard of their promotions before. It works.
A friend and i went down to Gelare @ Plaza Singapura, 3pm and the place’s almost full house. For every tuesday, plain Waffle with syrup & cream is half price at $3.90, and the single scoop ice cream waffle is $6.90 (original price being $9.90)
There’s this promotion which they are having for their main course. But after seeing that their pastas are actually those frozen ready-packed one, which they heat up in the microwave, no thanks!
I was tempted to try their cheesecakes which at $5 a slice seems reasonable. Anyone try before mind letting me know whether it’s good?
Waffle with single scoop Tiramisu ice cream ($6.90) Just stick to what Geláre is good at, waffles. There was a choice whether you want to add on 20 cents to change the waffle to chocolate chip waffles, but we sticked with the normal ones.
The choice of toppings will be either chocolate sauce or maple syrup, and the option for having cream or no cream.
I liked my Ti-ra-mi-su ice cream waffles. But its actually quite soft, i’m not sure whether good waffles are meant to be soft, but i have a penchant for crispier waffles, like the one i had at Haato’s
Waffle with single scoop Pistachio gelare ($6.90) The Pistachio gelare here wasn’t to my friend’s liking. Pistachio is a kind of nut just in case you have no idea, like me. My friend like the soft waffles though, i guess everybody has different preference.
And we concluded that the waffles will taste much nicer without the whipped cream, and the chocolate sauce only hinder the taste of the ice cream.
Total Bill for 2 waffles is $13.80, on tuesday the waffles single scoop ice cream at $6.90 are considered reasonable i guess, but even the normal price ten bucks for it, i won’t touch it.
Haato’s waffle with single scoop ice cream is at $6, everyday. I guess thats the place to fulfill my waffles cravings until a better place comes about.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
I had my first taste of Sarpino's pizza at the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC), don't ask why i was there, long story!
Anyway i didn't previously recalled knowing the existance of Sarpino Pizza, well besides Pizza hut, i know Canadian pizza.
And like Canadian Pizza, Sarpino's have the buy 1 get 1 offer too, except that their prices i think are slightly cheaper. Ànd obviously there will be a difference between their normal pizza and the promotions pizza.
Lets see an example, for the popular choice of hawaiian pizza, for the normal one, its call tropical hawaiian special which comes with ingredients of turkey ham, smoked turkey bacon, pineapples, cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
While for the promotion 1-for-1 pizza, there is also hawaiian pizza, just that its call The Aloha, with turkey bacon sweet pineapples, topped with italian cheese. A whole lot of difference right? I guess if you want quality be prepared to pay more
Otherwise like us just take the promotions one, and eat to your heart content! We had The Aloha, and double pepperoni. Large 14'' is $34, one for one and it works out to be about $17 for each pizza.
I say the pizza is value for money given the price, and it wont lose out to pizza hut. I'm eating less of pizza hut nowadays since the pizza quality dropped, and its rather expensive compared to canadian and sarpino's.
Jurong East is getting a reputation for being a banking hub, just beside Citibank at the CPF building, there is HSBC and OCBC, with POSB, Maybank, and a few others all in the vicinity.
I was at Citibank jurong east since its the one nearest to my home, and the one here is more of a regional hub than a small branch.
Anyway, my objective for the visit was to apply for citibank credit card, (i couldn't, my dad sup for me).
I was amazed by the simple procedures of getting a credit card nowadays, even though i'm a banking and finance student and i do know that the rules have relaxed a lot compared to last time, but i was still amazed.
How simple you asked? From the time we walked into the bank to the time we walked out, it took slightly less than 20mins. And poof! you got your credit card!
I cant remember the name of the sales person who attended to me, but he was polite and helpful to any questions and enquiries which i had.
Just for information i was tempted by the promotions offered in the citi gourmet promotions, so in the end i got two cards, citi mastercard, and citi clear platinium.
That guy suggested getting two since there was firstly no charge on the cards, and secondly he said just in case one card couldn't be use the other will be available. But thinking of it now even though there's no charges involved, but its still quite dumb to get two cards from a same bank.
In short, i'm pretty happy with the no-hassle service provided.
Heard lots about Melvados cafe and its famous brownies but due to the fact that its location is on the other side of Singapore, i've never coerced myself to make the trip down to visit it. In fact, i still have not visited it due to mixed reviews on the service and the food from the place. However, i did manage to get lucky one day and got my hands on a box of Melvados brownies for a tea time treat for free.
Macadamia Nut Brownie ($28 for 10 pieces) & Mango Mousse ($26 for 10 pieces) - Fortunate me got this box of brownies and cakes for free due to over ordering and i can say that i found the brownies and cakes above average. The Macadamia brownie obviously had a crunchy layer of macadamia nuts strewn all over the top of a chocolaty and bitter brownie. Its also soft and crumbles easily with each bite, doesn't crumble in your hand though, which to me, is a mark of an above average brownie. On the downside, the only thing to pick on is that the bitterness gets to you pretty quick. The Mango mousse cake is smooth, creamy and soft. Its lightly sweet with a thin layer of cream for that feeling of indulgence and balance all in one. It also helps to note that it was fresh. Another yummy treat.
I liked the brownies quite a bit. Its fresh, pack with taste and pretty much comfort food for me. The fact that i didn't have to pay for them helped quite a bit as well. All in all, i'd recommend ordering out to try for yourself. It ain't cheap though so please take note.
Fast food in Singapore has always been dominated by a few big names and now, competition is on the way. Well, competition has been on the way forever but never quite caught up. Its the niche that these new places are fighting for and somehow, SuperDog, which i've passed by so many times, finally got me to step in for a trial. Is it even close to being in the race? Read on for my take on the issue.
Its good to see that the company has a sense of humor from their eating etiquette. Nothing too fancy but it gets a few facts right. The philosophy also does a good job of telling consumers their main selling point, which is that their ingredients and items are fresh, never frozen. Sounds good enough for me.
Iced Chocolate and Pineapple Sensation - Beverages of fast food joints are hardly the stuff of legend and yet, this one managed to be a notch above the usual. Instead of boring reruns of coke and what not (which they do serve), we got ourselves a healthy dose of iced chocolate and pineapple sensation. The iced chocolate was rich and pretty much rivaled Starbucks or Coffee Bean if you ask me. The pineapple sensation was also pretty good with its sourish sweet taste which felt like actual pineapple juice instead of reworked extracts. Most surprising.
Breaded Fish And Chips - Nice up was the bread fish and chips which looked suitably bland since its an item that has been done to death by numerous and uncountable hordes of copycats. And yet, it managed to taste better then the likes of Long John Silvers, Coffee Club and Swenson's. This is probably because it had a taste of herbs mixed in with its crispy breaded skin and expertly done fish which managed to retain a sweetness the others simply did not offer. Another surprise.
SuperDog - This is the dog that started it all. The SuperDog, wholesome pork bratwurst with a piece of bacon, cheese, garlic and their own special chili concoction which made each bite easier to take. In terms of the bratwurst, maybe i'm no expert but i found it rather tasty albeit bland. The chili managed to salvage that however and taken as a whole, its was quite good. The chili isn't the spicy variety as well which had a tangy and mildly sweet flavor.
Bacon Chili Cheese Dog - At first glance, this is pretty much the same as the Superdog but a little smaller. The only discernible difference was the hotdog which was smaller and had cheese in it. The good thing is that the cheese was hot and flows well with each bite. In fact, i prefer this to the SuperDog. The bread in both versions were lightly buttered and toasted on the inside for a crispy texture which served it well.
Surprise. That pretty much sums it up. The place has never looked appetizing to me but i find myself drawn towards it now. The food isn't cheap and is priced above its competitors but the taste is different and surprisingly good. The service was also friendly enough to commend. To me, i find this fast food chain up there with the big boys and maybe even surpassing them on some levels. Try it, it might surprise you.
Tea Cosy formally known as Tea Cosy by Eclectic attic was the place for a foodie outing organized by HGW one quiet Friday night. Appearing on television programs and newspapers, Tea Cosy is not media shy in the least and has garnered reviews from both ends of the spectrum which ranges from flat out good to a foodie beating of disappointments. Of course, for us, we were there to discern if such praises and damnations were accurate.
One of the main draws of Tea Cosy is the strange setting that the restaurant resides in. Basically, it is possible to walk pass this restaurant without ever realizing that it is a place where you can have food. The reason for this is because of the fusion of a high end furniture store with the restaurant. Everything in the shop can be bought and has a price tag as far as the owners are concerned and to be perfectly honest, the prices are sky high IMHO. The restaurant itself changes according to the expected number of diners the restaurant predicts and this time, they've prepared a nice table set up for the event, which was appropriate.
Fat Bastard Chardonnay and Shiraz ($12 a glass) - Now, for our first disappointment for the day, the wines. As introduced by Martin, the wines are the absolute finest he has been able to find in recent memory as he enjoyed wines with a more subtle taste. The wines were actually served by the serving lady because she mentioned to us that the wine was "complementary" for the first glass which turned out otherwise but more on that later. The wines themselves were average to my tastes because i've had quite a fine wines on my own and somehow, this "Fat Bastard" label struck me as below average with its overtly weak taste and rather bland palate. And charging $12 a glass is simply ridiculous.
The bell was a nice touch until you realise there wasn't much in terms of service from the temporary staff that was hired which was a pity since the hosts were rather entertaining and friendly.
Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Toasted bread and secret Mayo - The first item after a decidedly long wait was the cream of mushroom which came with generous bits of mushroom strewn within. Along with this was a piece of toasted bread which was toasted possibly with the restaurants own brand of mayonnaise which gave it a sweet and appealing taste. The soup was average as it struck me as too salty.
Decadent salad with prawns, foie gras and egg yolk - The decadent salad is a must try whenever you visit this place. Period. Fresh green salads and greens with three pieces of prawn, a half boiled egg and 2 small pieces of pan fried foie gras. To dissect the dish, the prawns were average, as are the greens and the foie gras but when you take this as a whole, it becomes a much better dish. The mayonnaise and half boiled egg is a stroke of genius since it gives the dish a much better taste than usual. The foie gras and prawns feel more like an afterthought since the foie gras was actually very small and charred on both sides while the prawns weren't the crunchy types i've come to enjoy. Another service lapse happened here because the organizers of the party got bigger portions than ours which left a sour taste in my groups mouth since we thought they paid the same amount but got double standards. Which we found out that they paid a higher price for the bigger servings in the end but there was one more thing. We were at the restaurant first but ended up served last, now thats something they couldn't explain away and its my point that double standards were in place.
Lemon Pan Fried Dory Fillet, Grilled Chicken With Rice, Laksa Pesto - Had a try of some of the items above and this is what i think. The grilled chicken was good, soft, tender and went well with the lemon and sweet sauce. The dory was normal, nothing too special about it. The laksa pesto was reminiscent of Wild Rockets rendition except that this was more watery and had a little curry taste in it. From what i heard, it was extremely salty as well.
Foie Gras - The Foie Gras is another well known must-try dish during a visit to Tea Cosy. 2 rather decent sized pieces of goose liver pan fried on top of a bed of salad which looked much like the decadent salad of yore. Honestly though, having this on its own would have left me hungry as the foie gras weren't particularly generous. Taste wise, it was pretty normal as there doesn't seem to be much preparation in the cooking. A slightly crispy and salty outer skin is about all i could discern. Sage and Braise served better Foie Gras. This place is an option if you have a tight budget but still crave some wholesome fat.
Tirasmisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Indulgence, Raisin Brownies and Cinnamon Cake - In case you were wondering. I made up the name above since i forgot what this was called. As i've only had .... less then a spoonful when shared, i'll refrain from commenting too much. I'll say that the cakes were quite good but not for the price.
Ebony and Ivory - Premium vanilla ice cream dribbled with chocolate and frozen set atop a chocolate brownie. Simple yet totally easy to like. The vanilla ice cream was very creamy while the chocolate gave it the slight edge in sweetness it needs. The brownie in turn gave the whole concoction a dimension of bitterness which makes it easier to recommend. My only gripe is that the portion is small and that after a few bites, sugar overload commences.
Total bill this time came up to $49 a person instead of the aforementioned and agreed upon $32.90 which the deal was supposed to be.
(Service: 4/10)
Why the low score for service? Firstly because the wine which was supposed to be complimentary turned out otherwise. Secondly, upon informing the lady of the error, instead of waiving the cost of drinks, she waived the cost of the laksa which is not much help. Thirdly, i remember Martin mentioning he was not in the job for the money but apparently the ending was that the cost of 6 glasses of wrongly served wine proved too much to handle. In all fairness, apart from this hick up, the food was average in some while above average in others. If there's anything to try, its the decadent salad and that would be about all you should have to maximize your dollar.
I love the National Museum and the romantic-ness of it all. To be very honest, I didn't really know about Chef Chan until my little Birdie friend told me. All to happy to have a chance to dine at the charming Museum, I jumped at this chance.
Arriving at the place, I wasn't disappointed by the place! I love the entire atmosphere. Chef Chan was tucked away in an obscure corner of the museum, but the restaurant was very appropriately designed. The entire oriental theme was soothing and not overly gaudy, which was often so with Chinese restaurants.
What we had that night:
Melon Strips Enlivened with Orange Juice You know the F&N Orange squash we used to drink during CNY? It tastes like that... with lots of crunch. I liked it but I didn't think I would have something like this in this restaurant. I'd have to agree with the rest that this was easy to make at home. But I guess it's a reasonable starter.
Prawn Balls Stuffed with Pate and Wine I could taste neither pate nor wine. We only had one ball each and mind you, it wasn't very big. It was salty and that was the only obvious taste I could get from the ball. The only thing it reminded me of was those balls you could microwave once you take them out from the freezer.
Stir Fried Shark’s Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion Served in Lettuce Leaves Someone said it looked like a whole lot of Tunghoon. There was some shark's fin I guess and a mix of everything else. This dish was lightly flavoured and I liked it pretty much. But the cabbage I had below was a bit thick and had a contrasting bitter taste to the salad sitting on it. So I refused to eat it after a few bites.
Steamed Lobster with Garlic You could SMELL the garlic from a distance. Everyone had one half of the lobster which was a nice serving to have. Mine wasn't so covered in garlic so I was pretty happy with it. The lobster was pretty fresh I guess but the garlic really burned in my middle when I'd finished it.
Steamed Sliced Garoupa in Village Style I had 2-3 pieces of this (unlike some people). The fish bits had a nice texture but the gravy that came with it was horrid. It's was sickeningly sticky which made me baulk at the first taste. I rubbed it off at the side of the dish so that I didn't have to eat too much of it. Relatively acceptable dish I guess... They need to do something about the gravy.
Sauteed Vegetable with Shredded Mushroom A dish you can definitely find at your neighbourhood Chze Char stall.
Chef Chan’s Famous Crispy Roast Chicken This is a YUMMY! I loved this one. The skin was crisp and I ate it too, despite being the sort who usually peels it off. The meat was very tasty on its own. I liked the texture (cos I got the part I wanted) This was definitely the winning dish of the night that kept everyone very quiet.
Papaya with White Fungus & Herbal Jelly with Glutinous Rice & Mango Mistake Mistake Mistake. The texture of the glutinous rice did not go well with the Guilingao! Terrible... it took me a few tries before I figured I had to eat all the glutinous rice first then have the mango and the herbal jelly together. Any other way just made me quite sick really.
We chalked up a bill of about $860, which works out to be about $96 per person. It would have been more expensive but thanks to someone's credit card, we had a discount.
I wouldn't say this is below average... in actual fact I didn't think that the food "sucked". It was below expectations, thanks to its price. But it's not terrible food. Just expensive average food I guess. The chicken saved it from a 2-star.
The Indulge @ Cathay offers fusion European cuisine with an Asian twist. Located at basement 1 of Cathay, the front of the restaurant isn’t that prominent from first sight, its more behind in a corner.
The fusion cuisine is apparent in the names of the dishes like panseared salmon with kung po sauce, dory with thai sauce, chicken kebab with oyster ginger sauce.
The Indulge interior is quite small, roughly seats about 20-30. The lightning is actually quite dark, i suppose its for the “ambiance”
One thing that i don’t like was at one corner of the restaurant, they actually dumped quite a lot of stuff there which makes the overall feel messy and untidy.
Apparently The Indulge won quite a lot of awards, and appeared on magazines and local publications.
The Indulge offers “super value” lunch promotion set meals, at $10.90 you can choose from a few main course, and it comes with free tea, soup of the day, and dessert of the day.
There are some dishes which are supposedly the chef’s signature dishes, but not feeling very adventurous, my cousin and I decided to go for the cheaper set meals.
Chicken Chop with roasted black pepper sauce ($10.90) The black pepper sauce chicken chop comes with either garlic rice or mash potatos. I chose garlic rice, and the fragrant of the garlic in the rice surge in when i had my first taste of it.
Although the garlic rice was not bad, not so much can be said of the black peper chicken chop. It was downright ordinary. Being a restaurant i was expecting something more, but it just never came.
Grilled Beef sirloin with black pepper sauce ($10.90) The same could be said for the black pepper sirloin. Done medium rare, the sirloin did nothing to impress us.
One thing which i also did not like was the lack of sides, it could be better if there are sides of veggies or stuff like potatoes which will make the meal more complete.
Dessert of the day The dessert of the day is a single scoop of ice cream, while the ice cream is your normal vanilla, but the sauce and nut goes quite well with it.
Total bill was $25.50 for 2 person, not expensive given its a restaurant. But its a double-edged thing, the quality is certainly not there since its a restaurant also.
Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, maybe we should have try the signature dishes to have a true gauge of the restaurant, but if the normal dishes taste so ordinary like your typical coffee shop western food, i’m not so sure about the rest.
But having said all that, The Indulge still served fusion food with affordable pricing, and its a good place for a meal in Cathay, especially when there’s not much dining place there, and you can have a quick bite before or after your movies.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Together with few Yebbers, we joined a foodie eat out at Tea Cosy. We had a selection of mains from the planned menu just for the gathering.
For the set, there was the homemade mushroom soup, infamous decadent salad, choice of main (laksa pasta, grilled lime chicken and pan fried foie gras). Paid $25.90 for pasta or chicken. Those who took the foie gras paid $32.90 .
It took them quite awhile to get the soup served. The mushroom soup was alright. Nothing special about it. Then after another long wait, the salad came.
It's quite sad to see the portion smaller than usual. Isn't it supposed to be a special promotional set? Promotional in terms of pricing and not the serving size right? If paying lesser for sets means getting lesser in serving, than what's the point of getting the promotion? Or at least it should be made aware to the customers that the salad served will be of sampling size or something? That aside, everyone at my table had to agree that the salad live up to its standard. The mayo on it was very tasty. Vegetables was fresh and the entire combination (with the saddening few tiny pieces of foie gras) was good. This will be the only thing that'll tempt me to go back for more.
The chicken was alright. Grilled to slightly charred on the outside and the sauce was alright only. Vegetables on the side could have been crunchier.
The desserts were not bad and I'll recommend girls who want a place to hang out over mini tea party to check Tea Cosy out. It's quite an experience with all the unique antique furnitures.
Overall my first experience at Tea Cosy was average. At times I feel upset too. This I shall not talk about it since it was a miscommunication between the mid-shift waitress they hired just for that night and us. In fact, the management should have given a better briefing before the night. Or perhaps get a more experience waitress the next time.
The only think I remember now is the smelly table. :(
It was quite a bad experience when I was there for dinner. When we walked into the sitting/dining area behind the serving/ordering counter, the place was quite messed up with tables and chairs misaligned and many tables uncleared. We sat ourselves at the "cleaniest" table we can find and looked at the menu. The food was quite cheap and there were quite a lot of variety. Then we spotted a piece of A6 paper with scribbling of some promo set available. $7.90 for main course with drink. (Can't remember if there's soup thou.)
We ordered the Grilled Sirloin Steak and Seafood Aglio Oli both at promotional price of $7.90. Added Fried Calamari for starter.
While waiting for the order, a lady came to clean our tables and after she wiped the table, there was a strong stinge of smell left behind by the cloth she used! It was as thou the cloth has been left unwashed for few days! Smell worst then toilet can? What disgusted me more was that the same pair of hands that handled the smelly table cloth was serving the food and folding paper napkins loh! I had to apply medicated oil on my nose to cover the smell. And when our food was served, all my appetite was gone. Good thing the food was still presentable the least.
When my steak came, I then realised that we didn't get to choose the done-ness of it. It was cooked, almost to complete well done. So it was too tough to chew. Didn't really enjoy it. Boyfriend's pasta was a tad better. At least the seafood was presentable and of a good size. There was more of a black pepper taste instead of how aglio olio pasta should taste like.
Our starter was then served after the main courses. (Hmm...) We should have expected what was served since it was only $2.50 for the Fried Calamari. It was pathetic and the calamari was overcooked. Again too tough to chew.
Guess I was just unlucky to get this kind of experience at Spagetti Too since the 2 ladies before me enjoyed themselves at the same location. Chef was different perhaps. And the lady serving was different too?
Food: 3 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Cleanliness: 1.5 out of 5
Value for money: 3 out of 5
1=SGD 0.0587
Monday everyone have the standard Mondays blue
Wednesday is for the ladies, party all night long!
Thursday we have people queuing up to buy Toto
Friday its one more day to the weekends
Saturday its finally weekends!
Sunday 4D 4D & 4D
So what do we have on Tuesday? Make a guess?!?
Yep, Tuesdays are Waffles Day!
For every Tuesday, its waffles day at Gelare, where you get to enjoy 50% discount on their waffles (actually for their plain waffles only, the rest less than 50%).
But who bothers! Its waffles day, and personally i do think its quite a good sales tactic. I mean even though i have never try Gelare before, but i heard of their promotions before. It works.
A friend and i went down to Gelare @ Plaza Singapura, 3pm and the place’s almost full house. For every tuesday, plain Waffle with syrup & cream is half price at $3.90, and the single scoop ice cream waffle is $6.90 (original price being $9.90)
There’s this promotion which they are having for their main course. But after seeing that their pastas are actually those frozen ready-packed one, which they heat up in the microwave, no thanks!
I was tempted to try their cheesecakes which at $5 a slice seems reasonable. Anyone try before mind letting me know whether it’s good?
Waffle with single scoop Tiramisu ice cream ($6.90)
Just stick to what Geláre is good at, waffles. There was a choice whether you want to add on 20 cents to change the waffle to chocolate chip waffles, but we sticked with the normal ones.
The choice of toppings will be either chocolate sauce or maple syrup, and the option for having cream or no cream.
I liked my Ti-ra-mi-su ice cream waffles. But its actually quite soft, i’m not sure whether good waffles are meant to be soft, but i have a penchant for crispier waffles, like the one i had at Haato’s
Waffle with single scoop Pistachio gelare ($6.90)
The Pistachio gelare here wasn’t to my friend’s liking. Pistachio is a kind of nut just in case you have no idea, like me. My friend like the soft waffles though, i guess everybody has different preference.
And we concluded that the waffles will taste much nicer without the whipped cream, and the chocolate sauce only hinder the taste of the ice cream.
Total Bill for 2 waffles is $13.80, on tuesday the waffles single scoop ice cream at $6.90 are considered reasonable i guess, but even the normal price ten bucks for it, i won’t touch it.
Haato’s waffle with single scoop ice cream is at $6, everyday. I guess thats the place to fulfill my waffles cravings until a better place comes about.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Only on Tuedays, Waffles day! “
Rating given:
I had my first taste of Sarpino's pizza at the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC), don't ask why i was there, long story!
Anyway i didn't previously recalled knowing the existance of Sarpino Pizza, well besides Pizza hut, i know Canadian pizza.
And like Canadian Pizza, Sarpino's have the buy 1 get 1 offer too, except that their prices i think are slightly cheaper. Ànd obviously there will be a difference between their normal pizza and the promotions pizza.
Lets see an example, for the popular choice of hawaiian pizza, for the normal one, its call tropical hawaiian special which comes with ingredients of turkey ham, smoked turkey bacon, pineapples, cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
While for the promotion 1-for-1 pizza, there is also hawaiian pizza, just that its call The Aloha, with turkey bacon sweet pineapples, topped with italian cheese. A whole lot of difference right? I guess if you want quality be prepared to pay more
Otherwise like us just take the promotions one, and eat to your heart content! We had The Aloha, and double pepperoni. Large 14'' is $34, one for one and it works out to be about $17 for each pizza.
I say the pizza is value for money given the price, and it wont lose out to pizza hut. I'm eating less of pizza hut nowadays since the pizza quality dropped, and its rather expensive compared to canadian and sarpino's.
Rating given:
Jurong East is getting a reputation for being a banking hub, just beside Citibank at the CPF building, there is HSBC and OCBC, with POSB, Maybank, and a few others all in the vicinity.
I was at Citibank jurong east since its the one nearest to my home, and the one here is more of a regional hub than a small branch.
Anyway, my objective for the visit was to apply for citibank credit card, (i couldn't, my dad sup for me).
I was amazed by the simple procedures of getting a credit card nowadays, even though i'm a banking and finance student and i do know that the rules have relaxed a lot compared to last time, but i was still amazed.
How simple you asked? From the time we walked into the bank to the time we walked out, it took slightly less than 20mins. And poof! you got your credit card!
I cant remember the name of the sales person who attended to me, but he was polite and helpful to any questions and enquiries which i had.
Just for information i was tempted by the promotions offered in the citi gourmet promotions, so in the end i got two cards, citi mastercard, and citi clear platinium.
That guy suggested getting two since there was firstly no charge on the cards, and secondly he said just in case one card couldn't be use the other will be available. But thinking of it now even though there's no charges involved, but its still quite dumb to get two cards from a same bank.
In short, i'm pretty happy with the no-hassle service provided.
Rating given:
Heard lots about Melvados cafe and its famous brownies but due to the fact that its location is on the other side of Singapore, i've never coerced myself to make the trip down to visit it. In fact, i still have not visited it due to mixed reviews on the service and the food from the place. However, i did manage to get lucky one day and got my hands on a box of Melvados brownies for a tea time treat for free.
Macadamia Nut Brownie ($28 for 10 pieces) & Mango Mousse ($26 for 10 pieces) - Fortunate me got this box of brownies and cakes for free due to over ordering and i can say that i found the brownies and cakes above average. The Macadamia brownie obviously had a crunchy layer of macadamia nuts strewn all over the top of a chocolaty and bitter brownie. Its also soft and crumbles easily with each bite, doesn't crumble in your hand though, which to me, is a mark of an above average brownie. On the downside, the only thing to pick on is that the bitterness gets to you pretty quick.
The Mango mousse cake is smooth, creamy and soft. Its lightly sweet with a thin layer of cream for that feeling of indulgence and balance all in one. It also helps to note that it was fresh. Another yummy treat.
I liked the brownies quite a bit. Its fresh, pack with taste and pretty much comfort food for me. The fact that i didn't have to pay for them helped quite a bit as well. All in all, i'd recommend ordering out to try for yourself. It ain't cheap though so please take note.
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Fast food in Singapore has always been dominated by a few big names and now, competition is on the way. Well, competition has been on the way forever but never quite caught up. Its the niche that these new places are fighting for and somehow, SuperDog, which i've passed by so many times, finally got me to step in for a trial. Is it even close to being in the race? Read on for my take on the issue.
Its good to see that the company has a sense of humor from their eating etiquette. Nothing too fancy but it gets a few facts right. The philosophy also does a good job of telling consumers their main selling point, which is that their ingredients and items are fresh, never frozen. Sounds good enough for me.
Iced Chocolate and Pineapple Sensation - Beverages of fast food joints are hardly the stuff of legend and yet, this one managed to be a notch above the usual. Instead of boring reruns of coke and what not (which they do serve), we got ourselves a healthy dose of iced chocolate and pineapple sensation. The iced chocolate was rich and pretty much rivaled Starbucks or Coffee Bean if you ask me. The pineapple sensation was also pretty good with its sourish sweet taste which felt like actual pineapple juice instead of reworked extracts. Most surprising.
Breaded Fish And Chips - Nice up was the bread fish and chips which looked suitably bland since its an item that has been done to death by numerous and uncountable hordes of copycats. And yet, it managed to taste better then the likes of Long John Silvers, Coffee Club and Swenson's. This is probably because it had a taste of herbs mixed in with its crispy breaded skin and expertly done fish which managed to retain a sweetness the others simply did not offer. Another surprise.
SuperDog - This is the dog that started it all. The SuperDog, wholesome pork bratwurst with a piece of bacon, cheese, garlic and their own special chili concoction which made each bite easier to take. In terms of the bratwurst, maybe i'm no expert but i found it rather tasty albeit bland. The chili managed to salvage that however and taken as a whole, its was quite good. The chili isn't the spicy variety as well which had a tangy and mildly sweet flavor.
Bacon Chili Cheese Dog - At first glance, this is pretty much the same as the Superdog but a little smaller. The only discernible difference was the hotdog which was smaller and had cheese in it. The good thing is that the cheese was hot and flows well with each bite. In fact, i prefer this to the SuperDog. The bread in both versions were lightly buttered and toasted on the inside for a crispy texture which served it well.
Surprise. That pretty much sums it up. The place has never looked appetizing to me but i find myself drawn towards it now. The food isn't cheap and is priced above its competitors but the taste is different and surprisingly good. The service was also friendly enough to commend. To me, i find this fast food chain up there with the big boys and maybe even surpassing them on some levels. Try it, it might surprise you.
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Tea Cosy formally known as Tea Cosy by Eclectic attic was the place for a foodie outing organized by HGW one quiet Friday night. Appearing on television programs and newspapers, Tea Cosy is not media shy in the least and has garnered reviews from both ends of the spectrum which ranges from flat out good to a foodie beating of disappointments. Of course, for us, we were there to discern if such praises and damnations were accurate.
One of the main draws of Tea Cosy is the strange setting that the restaurant resides in. Basically, it is possible to walk pass this restaurant without ever realizing that it is a place where you can have food. The reason for this is because of the fusion of a high end furniture store with the restaurant. Everything in the shop can be bought and has a price tag as far as the owners are concerned and to be perfectly honest, the prices are sky high IMHO. The restaurant itself changes according to the expected number of diners the restaurant predicts and this time, they've prepared a nice table set up for the event, which was appropriate.
Fat Bastard Chardonnay and Shiraz ($12 a glass) - Now, for our first disappointment for the day, the wines. As introduced by Martin, the wines are the absolute finest he has been able to find in recent memory as he enjoyed wines with a more subtle taste. The wines were actually served by the serving lady because she mentioned to us that the wine was "complementary" for the first glass which turned out otherwise but more on that later. The wines themselves were average to my tastes because i've had quite a fine wines on my own and somehow, this "Fat Bastard" label struck me as below average with its overtly weak taste and rather bland palate. And charging $12 a glass is simply ridiculous.
The bell was a nice touch until you realise there wasn't much in terms of service from the temporary staff that was hired which was a pity since the hosts were rather entertaining and friendly.
Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Toasted bread and secret Mayo - The first item after a decidedly long wait was the cream of mushroom which came with generous bits of mushroom strewn within. Along with this was a piece of toasted bread which was toasted possibly with the restaurants own brand of mayonnaise which gave it a sweet and appealing taste. The soup was average as it struck me as too salty.
Decadent salad with prawns, foie gras and egg yolk - The decadent salad is a must try whenever you visit this place. Period. Fresh green salads and greens with three pieces of prawn, a half boiled egg and 2 small pieces of pan fried foie gras. To dissect the dish, the prawns were average, as are the greens and the foie gras but when you take this as a whole, it becomes a much better dish. The mayonnaise and half boiled egg is a stroke of genius since it gives the dish a much better taste than usual. The foie gras and prawns feel more like an afterthought since the foie gras was actually very small and charred on both sides while the prawns weren't the crunchy types i've come to enjoy.
Another service lapse happened here because the organizers of the party got bigger portions than ours which left a sour taste in my groups mouth since we thought they paid the same amount but got double standards. Which we found out that they paid a higher price for the bigger servings in the end but there was one more thing. We were at the restaurant first but ended up served last, now thats something they couldn't explain away and its my point that double standards were in place.
Lemon Pan Fried Dory Fillet, Grilled Chicken With Rice, Laksa Pesto - Had a try of some of the items above and this is what i think. The grilled chicken was good, soft, tender and went well with the lemon and sweet sauce. The dory was normal, nothing too special about it. The laksa pesto was reminiscent of Wild Rockets rendition except that this was more watery and had a little curry taste in it. From what i heard, it was extremely salty as well.
Foie Gras - The Foie Gras is another well known must-try dish during a visit to Tea Cosy. 2 rather decent sized pieces of goose liver pan fried on top of a bed of salad which looked much like the decadent salad of yore. Honestly though, having this on its own would have left me hungry as the foie gras weren't particularly generous. Taste wise, it was pretty normal as there doesn't seem to be much preparation in the cooking. A slightly crispy and salty outer skin is about all i could discern. Sage and Braise served better Foie Gras. This place is an option if you have a tight budget but still crave some wholesome fat.
Tirasmisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Indulgence, Raisin Brownies and Cinnamon Cake - In case you were wondering. I made up the name above since i forgot what this was called. As i've only had .... less then a spoonful when shared, i'll refrain from commenting too much. I'll say that the cakes were quite good but not for the price.
Ebony and Ivory - Premium vanilla ice cream dribbled with chocolate and frozen set atop a chocolate brownie. Simple yet totally easy to like. The vanilla ice cream was very creamy while the chocolate gave it the slight edge in sweetness it needs. The brownie in turn gave the whole concoction a dimension of bitterness which makes it easier to recommend. My only gripe is that the portion is small and that after a few bites, sugar overload commences.
Total bill this time came up to $49 a person instead of the aforementioned and agreed upon $32.90 which the deal was supposed to be.
(Service: 4/10)
Why the low score for service? Firstly because the wine which was supposed to be complimentary turned out otherwise. Secondly, upon informing the lady of the error, instead of waiving the cost of drinks, she waived the cost of the laksa which is not much help. Thirdly, i remember Martin mentioning he was not in the job for the money but apparently the ending was that the cost of 6 glasses of wrongly served wine proved too much to handle. In all fairness, apart from this hick up, the food was average in some while above average in others. If there's anything to try, its the decadent salad and that would be about all you should have to maximize your dollar.
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I love the National Museum and the romantic-ness of it all. To be very honest, I didn't really know about Chef Chan until my little Birdie friend told me. All to happy to have a chance to dine at the charming Museum, I jumped at this chance.
Arriving at the place, I wasn't disappointed by the place! I love the entire atmosphere. Chef Chan was tucked away in an obscure corner of the museum, but the restaurant was very appropriately designed. The entire oriental theme was soothing and not overly gaudy, which was often so with Chinese restaurants.
What we had that night:
Melon Strips Enlivened with Orange Juice
You know the F&N Orange squash we used to drink during CNY? It tastes like that... with lots of crunch. I liked it but I didn't think I would have something like this in this restaurant. I'd have to agree with the rest that this was easy to make at home. But I guess it's a reasonable starter.
Prawn Balls Stuffed with Pate and Wine
I could taste neither pate nor wine. We only had one ball each and mind you, it wasn't very big. It was salty and that was the only obvious taste I could get from the ball. The only thing it reminded me of was those balls you could microwave once you take them out from the freezer.
Stir Fried Shark’s Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion Served in Lettuce Leaves
Someone said it looked like a whole lot of Tunghoon. There was some shark's fin I guess and a mix of everything else. This dish was lightly flavoured and I liked it pretty much. But the cabbage I had below was a bit thick and had a contrasting bitter taste to the salad sitting on it. So I refused to eat it after a few bites.
Steamed Lobster with Garlic
You could SMELL the garlic from a distance. Everyone had one half of the lobster which was a nice serving to have. Mine wasn't so covered in garlic so I was pretty happy with it. The lobster was pretty fresh I guess but the garlic really burned in my middle when I'd finished it.
Steamed Sliced Garoupa in Village Style
I had 2-3 pieces of this (unlike some people). The fish bits had a nice texture but the gravy that came with it was horrid. It's was sickeningly sticky which made me baulk at the first taste. I rubbed it off at the side of the dish so that I didn't have to eat too much of it. Relatively acceptable dish I guess... They need to do something about the gravy.
Sauteed Vegetable with Shredded Mushroom A dish you can definitely find at your neighbourhood Chze Char stall.
Chef Chan’s Famous Crispy Roast Chicken
This is a YUMMY! I loved this one. The skin was crisp and I ate it too, despite being the sort who usually peels it off. The meat was very tasty on its own. I liked the texture (cos I got the part I wanted) This was definitely the winning dish of the night that kept everyone very quiet.
Papaya with White Fungus & Herbal Jelly with Glutinous Rice & Mango
Mistake Mistake Mistake. The texture of the glutinous rice did not go well with the Guilingao! Terrible... it took me a few tries before I figured I had to eat all the glutinous rice first then have the mango and the herbal jelly together. Any other way just made me quite sick really.
We chalked up a bill of about $860, which works out to be about $96 per person. It would have been more expensive but thanks to someone's credit card, we had a discount.
I wouldn't say this is below average... in actual fact I didn't think that the food "sucked". It was below expectations, thanks to its price. But it's not terrible food. Just expensive average food I guess. The chicken saved it from a 2-star.
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The Indulge @ Cathay offers fusion European cuisine with an Asian twist. Located at basement 1 of Cathay, the front of the restaurant isn’t that prominent from first sight, its more behind in a corner.
The fusion cuisine is apparent in the names of the dishes like panseared salmon with kung po sauce, dory with thai sauce, chicken kebab with oyster ginger sauce.
The Indulge interior is quite small, roughly seats about 20-30. The lightning is actually quite dark, i suppose its for the “ambiance”
One thing that i don’t like was at one corner of the restaurant, they actually dumped quite a lot of stuff there which makes the overall feel messy and untidy.
Apparently The Indulge won quite a lot of awards, and appeared on magazines and local publications.
The Indulge offers “super value” lunch promotion set meals, at $10.90 you can choose from a few main course, and it comes with free tea, soup of the day, and dessert of the day.
There are some dishes which are supposedly the chef’s signature dishes, but not feeling very adventurous, my cousin and I decided to go for the cheaper set meals.
Chicken Chop with roasted black pepper sauce ($10.90)
The black pepper sauce chicken chop comes with either garlic rice or mash potatos. I chose garlic rice, and the fragrant of the garlic in the rice surge in when i had my first taste of it.
Although the garlic rice was not bad, not so much can be said of the black peper chicken chop. It was downright ordinary. Being a restaurant i was expecting something more, but it just never came.
Grilled Beef sirloin with black pepper sauce ($10.90)
The same could be said for the black pepper sirloin. Done medium rare, the sirloin did nothing to impress us.
One thing which i also did not like was the lack of sides, it could be better if there are sides of veggies or stuff like potatoes which will make the meal more complete.
Dessert of the day
The dessert of the day is a single scoop of ice cream, while the ice cream is your normal vanilla, but the sauce and nut goes quite well with it.
Total bill was $25.50 for 2 person, not expensive given its a restaurant. But its a double-edged thing, the quality is certainly not there since its a restaurant also.
Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, maybe we should have try the signature dishes to have a true gauge of the restaurant, but if the normal dishes taste so ordinary like your typical coffee shop western food, i’m not so sure about the rest.
But having said all that, The Indulge still served fusion food with affordable pricing, and its a good place for a meal in Cathay, especially when there’s not much dining place there, and you can have a quick bite before or after your movies.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
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Love the salad and desserts.
Together with few Yebbers, we joined a foodie eat out at Tea Cosy. We had a selection of mains from the planned menu just for the gathering.
For the set, there was the homemade mushroom soup, infamous decadent salad, choice of main (laksa pasta, grilled lime chicken and pan fried foie gras). Paid $25.90 for pasta or chicken. Those who took the foie gras paid $32.90 .
It took them quite awhile to get the soup served. The mushroom soup was alright. Nothing special about it. Then after another long wait, the salad came.
It's quite sad to see the portion smaller than usual. Isn't it supposed to be a special promotional set? Promotional in terms of pricing and not the serving size right? If paying lesser for sets means getting lesser in serving, than what's the point of getting the promotion? Or at least it should be made aware to the customers that the salad served will be of sampling size or something? That aside, everyone at my table had to agree that the salad live up to its standard. The mayo on it was very tasty. Vegetables was fresh and the entire combination (with the saddening few tiny pieces of foie gras) was good. This will be the only thing that'll tempt me to go back for more.
The chicken was alright. Grilled to slightly charred on the outside and the sauce was alright only. Vegetables on the side could have been crunchier.
The desserts were not bad and I'll recommend girls who want a place to hang out over mini tea party to check Tea Cosy out. It's quite an experience with all the unique antique furnitures.
Overall my first experience at Tea Cosy was average. At times I feel upset too. This I shall not talk about it since it was a miscommunication between the mid-shift waitress they hired just for that night and us. In fact, the management should have given a better briefing before the night. Or perhaps get a more experience waitress the next time.
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The only think I remember now is the smelly table. :(
It was quite a bad experience when I was there for dinner. When we walked into the sitting/dining area behind the serving/ordering counter, the place was quite messed up with tables and chairs misaligned and many tables uncleared. We sat ourselves at the "cleaniest" table we can find and looked at the menu. The food was quite cheap and there were quite a lot of variety. Then we spotted a piece of A6 paper with scribbling of some promo set available. $7.90 for main course with drink. (Can't remember if there's soup thou.)
We ordered the Grilled Sirloin Steak and Seafood Aglio Oli both at promotional price of $7.90. Added Fried Calamari for starter.
While waiting for the order, a lady came to clean our tables and after she wiped the table, there was a strong stinge of smell left behind by the cloth she used! It was as thou the cloth has been left unwashed for few days! Smell worst then toilet can? What disgusted me more was that the same pair of hands that handled the smelly table cloth was serving the food and folding paper napkins loh! I had to apply medicated oil on my nose to cover the smell. And when our food was served, all my appetite was gone. Good thing the food was still presentable the least.
When my steak came, I then realised that we didn't get to choose the done-ness of it. It was cooked, almost to complete well done. So it was too tough to chew. Didn't really enjoy it. Boyfriend's pasta was a tad better. At least the seafood was presentable and of a good size. There was more of a black pepper taste instead of how aglio olio pasta should taste like.
Our starter was then served after the main courses. (Hmm...) We should have expected what was served since it was only $2.50 for the Fried Calamari. It was pathetic and the calamari was overcooked. Again too tough to chew.
Guess I was just unlucky to get this kind of experience at Spagetti Too since the 2 ladies before me enjoyed themselves at the same location. Chef was different perhaps. And the lady serving was different too?
Food: 3 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Cleanliness: 1.5 out of 5
Value for money: 3 out of 5
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