I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
I went to the IT Show yesterday after 7pm, and as expected, everyone headed down on the first day too, in hope to avoid the even massive jam over the weekend.
I did a survival guide for those who's visiting IT Show. If you're keen to read, please go to my blog.
One concern I have at such a crowded event... what IF there's an emergency? I wonder how will they evacuate that many people within the shortest time possible. But I'm sure the organisers would have all these planned and ironed out long ago.
Everyone knew that the place is going to be packed, but still everyone still wants to go check out the prices. Why? Cos they always have very good bundles and discounts at the show. Especially for those who hate shopping and comparing prices at so many stalls around Sim Lim or Funan, shows like this is the easiest for them. Perhaps the price is not the cheapest, but with a little more, you get whole lot of goodies. So why not right?
Have you gone to the show too? Did you get anything there?
Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered: Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90 Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings. I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90 This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese. This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90 Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables. Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
When you see the stall, you might mistaken it for a tze char stall with the signboard showing dishes usually associated with one. The brief story behind this muffin shop is that the son took over the original tze char stall in the hawker centre after a certain chain of events and converted it to specialize on muffins. Since then, there was no turning back.
I guess business is pretty good as I sometimes get an apology from the boss saying that he ran out of the popular flavors by lunchtime on a week day.
So it did take few occasions before I managed to try out a few of the flavors. Suffice to say, there was good reason for the muffins to sell out so quickly.
The banana walnut muffin was an absolute joy to sink your teeth into the fluffy texture similar to the fa-gao with slices of sweet banana laid on the crown and crunchy walnuts throughout. It was not overly sweet and you can taste the ingredient properly.
They also have flavors like oreo, orange peel, chocolate and a savory ham and cheese flavor.
The best part is that the muffins are pretty large, almost one's fist and yet priced really cheaply at $1.20 per piece.
And just before you leave the stall with your spoils, the boss will remind you that his is the first fortune muffin in the world, thanks to the little slip of paper placed between the base of two paper cups.
You would think that there would be some proper service standards in an atas area such as Dempsey. But NO, thanks to La Forketta, I can relate so well with people who experience bad service which sticks out like a sore thumb. So appalled, I am mooting for this place to be renamed to Forget it Lah! as a tribute to this abomination of a restaurant.
Arrogant twits for wait staff It is clear as glass that the GEMS (Going the Extra Mile for Service) programme never saw the light of day here at Forget it Lah!. None of them even displayed a hint of a smile. Either the wait staff all have facial muscular disorder and will suffer traumatic cramps upon smiling and keel over and die, or they are all extremely buey gam wan (read: pissed with everything, everyone, every time). I'll do you guys a service here by providing some revelation: The only wait staff who have such a privilege of not smiling is one with a French accent as thick as the Great Wall of China. Don't confuse French and Italian cuisine. Hell, even French waiters smile readily for that matter.
Like customers owe them a living While we can live with wait staff that give the buey gam wan look by simply ignoring them, it is a whole new level when they just take their own sweet time for everything and telling you off for it. While I believe there should be staff welfare, but there is also welfare abuse. At Forget it Lah! we know it is the latter. While seated at a corner, I saw many wait staff standing outside relaxing and taking puffs of smoke while the restaurant was occupied at every table. (Full because, surprise! Slow service = slow patron turnover) So basically, patrons have to wait for not only the food to be prepared, but also for the wait staff who need to take their break after every dish served to the table. Yes, I am sure waiting tables is a life-and-death-kind-of-stressful profession that warrants that kind of de-stressing activity. I don't even want to imagine how the stinky toxic from cigarettes interact with the food.
Cheating your money with bread and water With bread automatically served, you are also automatically charged an exorbitant price for the plain old roti. You are forced to order their atas water because they can't afford proper plumbing in Singapore, where the water is tested to be purer than any atas mineral water and can fight tooth decay. There are ways to do business, and there are underhand ways to do business, but there is the Forget it Lah! way to do business that is in a league of its own.
I had a chance to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer before it was officially opened to public. I was very very excited and was looking forward to the flight. I was there at night and as it was not open to public yet, there wasn't much people there. The flyer was lighted in blue neon color at night and gives a very dreamy feeling at night.
Everyone has to pass through a security check, like at the customs, before entering the boarding area. To get to the flyer itself takes abit of walking and couple of escalator. And before stepping onto the boarding platform, everyone will enter into a mock up of the capsule where photos will be taken. ($15 for the first photo, $10 for subsequent copies.) This photo is supposed to be superimposed into the back drop and show as if we took it while riding on the Singapore Flyer. You can buy the photo after the flight with the magnetic tag passed to you at the mock up photo taking area.
Finally we saw the capsule! Boarding the capsule can be rather tricky. It continues to move as everyone rushed up to get into the capsule before the boarding period passes. I wonder if they carter for handicaps entrance. Probably they'll have to stop the moving flyer for such boardings. The capsule was not as big as I’d imagined. 24 of us standing around the capsule already seemed rather packed and it was rather warm inside the capsule. Can't imagine hot hot it might be in the day when the sun is above.
The view from the top of the capsule was magnificent. You get to see the beautiful skyline from high above. It's recommended that you move around the capsule and enjoy the entire 360-degree view. If you are planning to take photos, its advisable to bring a tripod and set it up before you're 1/4 way up the flight. The glass used isn't suitable for photo taking with flash. So you'll have to have very steady hands or use flash and missed out the beautiful backdrop in the background of your photo.
I'll probably return for another flight when the construction of Marina Bay is complete. Now only one side has got good view.
The first impression I got when I stepped into the cafe is the use of bright colors and 2 huge Jalapeno plushie on display at the capsule display near the entrance. There's a row of booth seats thats great for big group gatherings. Very cosy place to chill out and enjoy the night with friends.
As I was there for an event, I didn't get to take a look at their menu. Everyone was served a sampler plate with fried calamari, wedges, soft burrito and some jalapeno-liked thing with stuffings. I like the fried calamari as it was tasty and crispy. Would surely order this if I go back again. And the jalapeno was as flavorful, not sure wat's inside the stuffing thou as I was too hungry to slowly taste and analyzes them.
Perhaps Yebbers can arrange a gathering there? Hmm...
1=SGD 0.0587
I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
Rating given:
Don't go if you don't have anything to buy!
I went to the IT Show yesterday after 7pm, and as expected, everyone headed down on the first day too, in hope to avoid the even massive jam over the weekend.
I did a survival guide for those who's visiting IT Show. If you're keen to read, please go to my blog.
One concern I have at such a crowded event... what IF there's an emergency? I wonder how will they evacuate that many people within the shortest time possible. But I'm sure the organisers would have all these planned and ironed out long ago.
Everyone knew that the place is going to be packed, but still everyone still wants to go check out the prices. Why? Cos they always have very good bundles and discounts at the show. Especially for those who hate shopping and comparing prices at so many stalls around Sim Lim or Funan, shows like this is the easiest for them. Perhaps the price is not the cheapest, but with a little more, you get whole lot of goodies. So why not right?
Have you gone to the show too? Did you get anything there?
Rating given:
Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
Rating given:
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered:
Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90
Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings.
I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90
This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese.
This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90
Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables.
Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant
Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu
I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
Rating given:
1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
Rating given:
The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
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When you see the stall, you might mistaken it for a tze char stall with the signboard showing dishes usually associated with one.
The brief story behind this muffin shop is that the son took over the original tze char stall in the hawker centre after a certain chain of events and converted it to specialize on muffins. Since then, there was no turning back.
I guess business is pretty good as I sometimes get an apology from the boss saying that he ran out of the popular flavors by lunchtime on a week day.
So it did take few occasions before I managed to try out a few of the flavors. Suffice to say, there was good reason for the muffins to sell out so quickly.
The banana walnut muffin was an absolute joy to sink your teeth into the fluffy texture similar to the fa-gao with slices of sweet banana laid on the crown and crunchy walnuts throughout. It was not overly sweet and you can taste the ingredient properly.
They also have flavors like oreo, orange peel, chocolate and a savory ham and cheese flavor.
The best part is that the muffins are pretty large, almost one's fist and yet priced really cheaply at $1.20 per piece.
And just before you leave the stall with your spoils, the boss will remind you that his is the first fortune muffin in the world, thanks to the little slip of paper placed between the base of two paper cups.
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La Forketta? Forget it Lah!
You would think that there would be some proper service standards in an atas area such as Dempsey. But NO, thanks to La Forketta, I can relate so well with people who experience bad service which sticks out like a sore thumb. So appalled, I am mooting for this place to be renamed to Forget it Lah! as a tribute to this abomination of a restaurant.
Arrogant twits for wait staff
It is clear as glass that the GEMS (Going the Extra Mile for Service) programme never saw the light of day here at Forget it Lah!. None of them even displayed a hint of a smile. Either the wait staff all have facial muscular disorder and will suffer traumatic cramps upon smiling and keel over and die, or they are all extremely buey gam wan (read: pissed with everything, everyone, every time). I'll do you guys a service here by providing some revelation: The only wait staff who have such a privilege of not smiling is one with a French accent as thick as the Great Wall of China. Don't confuse French and Italian cuisine. Hell, even French waiters smile readily for that matter.
Like customers owe them a living
While we can live with wait staff that give the buey gam wan look by simply ignoring them, it is a whole new level when they just take their own sweet time for everything and telling you off for it. While I believe there should be staff welfare, but there is also welfare abuse. At Forget it Lah! we know it is the latter. While seated at a corner, I saw many wait staff standing outside relaxing and taking puffs of smoke while the restaurant was occupied at every table. (Full because, surprise! Slow service = slow patron turnover) So basically, patrons have to wait for not only the food to be prepared, but also for the wait staff who need to take their break after every dish served to the table. Yes, I am sure waiting tables is a life-and-death-kind-of-stressful profession that warrants that kind of de-stressing activity. I don't even want to imagine how the stinky toxic from cigarettes interact with the food.
Cheating your money with bread and water
With bread automatically served, you are also automatically charged an exorbitant price for the plain old roti. You are forced to order their atas water because they can't afford proper plumbing in Singapore, where the water is tested to be purer than any atas mineral water and can fight tooth decay. There are ways to do business, and there are underhand ways to do business, but there is the Forget it Lah! way to do business that is in a league of its own.
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I had a chance to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer before it was officially opened to public. I was very very excited and was looking forward to the flight. I was there at night and as it was not open to public yet, there wasn't much people there. The flyer was lighted in blue neon color at night and gives a very dreamy feeling at night.
Everyone has to pass through a security check, like at the customs, before entering the boarding area. To get to the flyer itself takes abit of walking and couple of escalator. And before stepping onto the boarding platform, everyone will enter into a mock up of the capsule where photos will be taken. ($15 for the first photo, $10 for subsequent copies.) This photo is supposed to be superimposed into the back drop and show as if we took it while riding on the Singapore Flyer. You can buy the photo after the flight with the magnetic tag passed to you at the mock up photo taking area.
Finally we saw the capsule! Boarding the capsule can be rather tricky. It continues to move as everyone rushed up to get into the capsule before the boarding period passes. I wonder if they carter for handicaps entrance. Probably they'll have to stop the moving flyer for such boardings. The capsule was not as big as I’d imagined. 24 of us standing around the capsule already seemed rather packed and it was rather warm inside the capsule. Can't imagine hot hot it might be in the day when the sun is above.
The view from the top of the capsule was magnificent. You get to see the beautiful skyline from high above. It's recommended that you move around the capsule and enjoy the entire 360-degree view. If you are planning to take photos, its advisable to bring a tripod and set it up before you're 1/4 way up the flight. The glass used isn't suitable for photo taking with flash. So you'll have to have very steady hands or use flash and missed out the beautiful backdrop in the background of your photo.
I'll probably return for another flight when the construction of Marina Bay is complete. Now only one side has got good view.
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The first impression I got when I stepped into the cafe is the use of bright colors and 2 huge Jalapeno plushie on display at the capsule display near the entrance. There's a row of booth seats thats great for big group gatherings. Very cosy place to chill out and enjoy the night with friends.
As I was there for an event, I didn't get to take a look at their menu. Everyone was served a sampler plate with fried calamari, wedges, soft burrito and some jalapeno-liked thing with stuffings. I like the fried calamari as it was tasty and crispy. Would surely order this if I go back again. And the jalapeno was as flavorful, not sure wat's inside the stuffing thou as I was too hungry to slowly taste and analyzes them.
Perhaps Yebbers can arrange a gathering there? Hmm...
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