Wing Kee is a popular stall selling Ipoh Horfun and Ba Chor Mee in the Changi Village Food Centre. It is the one with the red signboard and has been there for a long time, way before its rival sprung up next to it.
Well-known in the area, they have served many soldiers at the nearby camps well by providing a delivery service to the camps. Although they often have a queue in front of their stall, but they are fast and the customers don't have to queue very long. Also, they've not gotten my orders before, despite the large volume and the numerous times I've been there.
Food I always order: Chicken Cutlet Hor Fun / Mee ($3) YUMMY! My favourite food. I would prefer this to any posh restaurant fare any day. The crisp chicken pieces are delicious. The sauce is very tasty too and the serving is pretty reasonable.
Ba Chor Mee ($3) Lots of minced meat in this dish unlike the tiny portions of meat found in other places. Even the meatball is handmade and more chewy with no fatty bits.
My only grievance is that the stalls in the area produce a lot of smoke which makes me gag when I'm in the food centre. My eyes tear occasionally too so it's a little irritating. but I'm willing to put up with that little discomfort. a MUST TRY!
My virgin trip to Hotpot Culture was with a bunch of mad Yebbers! The company certainly made the entire experience a great one. That aside... let's take a look at the restaurant itself.
Not too hard to realise that this is a steamboat restaurant but they give each patron their own little pots and soup of choice. There are 5 to pick from and I picked Chicken Soup. Sadly the Kimchi one seemed nicer but my throat was acting up again so Chicken it was for me. But the Chicken stock had very little taste and only started having some taste after I threw some chicken bits in.
For the steamboat there was enough variety for me though more would have been nice. But there was quite a bit of cooked items though. I thought it's quite special for a steamboat place to have so many cooked items. I liked the cooked items, especially the rojak chicken!! haha but it was a terror on my weak throat. Nonetheless i had a good share of that!
I think the best part was the chocolate fondue which they also have! Usually such places only serve fruit for dessert so this is a really nice conclusion to the dinner. :)
We dropped by at Charles Stefano at parkway after recommendations from another friend. It’s in a prominent area, right in the centre of near the escalator so there’s no way you can miss it.
It’s one of the few places (if not the only one) that sells stainless steel jewellery. I’m sure everyone’s heard of gold and silver… but this one is stainless steel. It feels more solid and nice to hold in comparison to silver. And it doesn’t tarnish like silver does. However, the designs are much chunkier. But some of the designs have Cubic Xirconia and diamonds on them which is a nice touch to the more expensive range.
We were very undecided when we got there as we didn’t even planned to get a pair of rings. But the lady was very patient with us, letting us try 10 designs and different sizes before we chose the ones we wanted. She also patiently offered advice on what sizes we should take to avoid discomfort.
We paid $40 for our pair of stainless steel rings.
I was very satisfied with the service and will probably head there to buy if I had to get a gift for my younger, funkier friends.
The cakes are of huge potion. These was 4 of us and we share 2 cakes which was enough to fill our 4 stomach…
Food Ordered: Carrot Carrot One of the best carrot cakes I have had. The texture was just right. It wasn’t hard like some but soft and spongy enough with the cream (whatever u call it ) on top. Highly recommended.
Mashmallow chocolate cake It is a just another dessert cake. Nothing special about it but it is rich.It is very rich in chocolate.I can’t really taste the sweetness of the mashmallows which is really weird. Pasta Pasta had lotsa of rockets on top..which I like. I thought it was quite unique as one wouldn’t normally find that much veg on a pasta
Ambience is good. We had chosen to sit outside the café instead of in the shop. The lighting is brighter. Although u are sitting in the midst of all shop, surprising it was not noisy. Maybe because we had gone on a weekday instead of the ends. The service was excellent with a little pot of water to refill our glasses of water.
Da Dong is a traditional Cantonese Restaurant suitably situated in the heart of Chinatown. A part of the Fatty Weng group, this restaurant has been operating for many decades.
There was some attempt to design the place like a old teahouse but I do think it looks like they are on a tight budget. They also tried to maximize seating space by having the tables quite close to each other. Occasionally when you stand your seat might just bump into the guy behind you which was quite irritating at times.
Food we ordered: Raw Fish Salad extra fish ($28) Quite obviously this is a seasonal dish – the Yu Sheng. It wasn’t very special, tasted the same, though it wasn’t overly sweet which was good. The staff said all the well wishes while preparing the dish which was a nice gesture. The additional plate of fish was quite pathetic (in terms of quantity).
Soon Hock Fish ($42 – seasonal) According to my dad, the fish-lover, it’s about 600g which is pretty small but reasonable for 5 people who have other dishes also. It was fried so I couldn’t really tell the freshness. The sauce it was doused in was regular. Nothing special and doesn’t quite justify the price.
Salad Prawns ($20 – s) There were only a few. It was quite nice but there was too much mayo on some which made it disgustingly sweet.
Peking Duck ($33) It was very small. They cut it up in front of us and served us the skin wrapped in the Popiah skin. There were only 7 pieces of those and there weren’t very big. The plate of duck meat that came after that was quite substantial tough.
Har Gao – Prawn dumpling ($2.50) The skin was a little too thick and dry. The prawn was quite fresh though. Reasonably good I guess. Chicken feet ($3.20) I didn’t taste this dish so I can’t say for sure. But my mom enjoyed it very much.
Including Chinese tea, rice, peanuts and towels, the total came up to $165 for the 5 of us. I think it was a tad ex, considering we didn’t eat much at all.
Unless necessary I don’t think I will be back at all.
Montreux Bistro is newly open about 1 month ago. It was a cake house along East coast road. I have always been an avid fan of their Chocolate Truffle cake. It is a must for any of my family members’ birthday. Now that this bakery has opened a café, nothing could stop us from trying it out. It’s a small café in black and white decor. A café that you could have a simple afternoon weekend lunch in.
We had :
Montreux Steak Sandwich ($14.90) Marinated Sirloin on Toasted Ciabatta with mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and melted cheese. Served with Wedges We had changed the beef to chicken. They were very flexible and did the change without fuss. Thus, there might be a change in the actual taste of the recommended dish . We were told that if it were beef then it would taste spicier. In this case, it was sweeter. Your average dish really. It had relatively good taste but wasn’t exceptional in any other ways.
Cilantro Prawns Cesar salad ($8.90) Romaine lettuce Cesar dressings topped with cilantro pesto infused tiger prawns. Served with garlic bread Good combination of the pesto with the tiger prawns. The crunchy succulent prawns goes very well. The bread is too bland in taste for my liking. But I will definitely come back for more salad.
Mango Tofu (s$7.50) This was one of the recommended desserts. It had a very refreshing taste with the citrus sauce. At first I was quite skeptical about this recommended dessert as I am not a fan of Mango desserts. I think it is hard to find good mango desserts, as they always taste very artificial. That said, this is a fantastic dessert. Really very good. The raspberry and the blueberry brings out the taste of the tofu very well. I would come back for more. Brandy Cherry Black Forest (s$4.50) Just your average black forest cake. I would say the amount of cherry u find in the small portion is generous.
Service was excellent. We were there on a sat afternoon. Inclusive of a latte and a peach soda, we paid s$50.05 in total. I found it reasonable, taking into consideration the food and service. I would recommended for desserts. Because they are so well presented and it taste good..
American brownie It’s just your regular brownie. There’s nothing special about it at all. I found it a bit dry even.
American carrot cake It was light and fluffy but the cream on top is not enough. The taste of the cake is not strong enough for my liking. Dark chocolate truffle This is the most recommended cake in the shop. Indeed it is the best out of all the 3 cakes I tasted that day. It is soft and was made with rich dark chocolate. However it wasn’t extraordinary.
Shepherd’s pie (beef) It would have been one of the best if it were hot enough. When it was served it was warm, lukewarm I should call it. Thus, it turns cold very fast. While eating the pie, the top part of the pie turn hard and stiff. The filling tasted good on the 1st bite but it wasn’t nice after that.
2 scoops of ice cream – banana chocolate & nutty nuts They say the ice cream is made of natural ingredients, but it didn’t taste that way.
The service was fantastic. The staff was nice enough to let me try a lot of the flavours of the ice cream. I tried the royal chocolate-it reminds me of the old magnolia ice cream before it was revamped. I tried many man flavours. In the end I chose the above flavours, the combination I chose was quite nice in fact.
We didn’t really have a great time sitting there as we were disturb by the 2 little flies bugging us as we were enjoying our cakes. The price was really reasonable. We paid $10.60 for the above.
Big Fish is a restaurant serving up fresh seafood dishes situated in the popular Siglap area. It’s been around for a few years and my family and I decided to try it out this CNY season.
We made reservations, as there were 6 of us and were promptly seated in the centre of the restaurant that night. The interior design of the place was comfortable with nice music and suitable lighting. It wasn’t too bright and yet just enough to take photos. The staff were friendly and served us iced water as we were ordering. They were also patient to explain the various dishes, though they had to repeat a few times as we had trouble understanding them (due to their accent).
The complimentary bread had herbs in it and was fresh. It was soft and fluffy. Too bad they gave only one for every person at the table.
Food Ordered:
Set Dinner - $29.95 This is a 4-course set that consisted of Corn Soup, Mahi-mahi, Chocolate Mousse and Coffee. The soup was pretty thick but not much ingredients in it. It IS corn soup after all.
Live Oysters - $2.60 per piece These were very fresh, served on ice. No fishy smell at all and it was quite sizeable. But even so it’s still expensive at this price… Well at least it was good. We ordered 6 which were finished in a jiffy. Softshell Crab - $12.95 I was a little disappointed by the quantity when it arrived. It’s lightly coated with some spices and served with mango salsa and a homemade dipping sauce. There was a lot of sauce but little crab. Nonetheless the crab was very tasty and not oily which is a big plus for me. Seafood Platter - $51.95 There were grilled scallops, Morton Bay Bug, fish skewers, BBQ squid, NZ mussels, chargrilled prawns, served with butter rice and chips. If you order this alone, it’s probably enough for 3 people to share. 5 of us shared this along with all the other stuff we ordered. The seafood was very fresh and not over done though it looked like it at first glance. But the juices are still retained so it wasn’t dry the way it looked. The fries were very nice and they are the fat sort I liked. The butter rice was not very tasty though, it could have been more fragrant. Fish and Chips - $15.95 I loved the fish! But I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t appeal to most people. The batter was light and the two pieces of fish were quite big. The fish was smooth and didn’t have any fishy smell even without lemon. But the batter wasn’t very heavy in taste which is why I said it probably wouldn’t appeal to most. There weren’t enough fries. (I’m a Fry lover)
Yu Sheng - $22.95 The restaurant’s version of the Raw Fish Salad gave us a nice surprise. This is the smallest serving, and they were not kidding when they said that it was SMALL. One mouthful for each of us and the plate was empty. Nonetheless there was a nice combination of different fish slices, though I’m not sure what fish was used. Obviously this is only available during the CNY season. Spaghetti Vongole- $18.95 I didn’t get the description for this dish but this was a spicy pasta dish served with clams. My mom was all praises for this dish, until she realised how much it cost. It is barely enough for one person really. If eaten alone, it’s definitely not enough. It would be, if it were part of a set. The clams were nicely seasoned and cooked and the pasta was just right.
Beef Tenderloin - $29.95 We were asked if how we wanted the steak so we were very curious how it would turn out…. It came in slices! A nice surprise indeed when the people eating it found that it was not overdone despite being cut up. But the serving was quite small too, certainly not enough for my brother. Raspberry Soda - $4.95 I didn’t order this but ended up drinking it as the person didn’t like sourish drinks. I liked how the ice was crushed up inside, so that it would melt quickly to dilute the drink and made it ice-cold throughout. Green Apple Soda - $4.95 This was not sourish as one would expect.. it was actually sweet. Really odd don’t you think?
We spent a total of $229 for the 6 of us. Honestly speaking, we weren’t very full. The amount of food was just right but not over the top. Which makes this meal a little expensive. But for the freshness of the food good taste good service, I’d say it was pretty worth it J
When the crowd started pouring in at the Airshow, there were just no where to walk and admire the display and exhibitions put up. The indoor halls were packed and whenever an exhibitor started giving out freebies, everyone just charged to get one. This I really can't understand! Collect so many paper bags and brochures for what? Stop killing the trees! If you don't need it, don't take it! I saw many aunties and uncles carrying 6 to 8 of the same bags! Bring home distribute to their relatives?? Aiyoh!
The only thing I did within the exhibition hall was to go to the ladies, get some aircon to cool off the heat and the rest (most) of the time was spent trying to squeeze out of it.
The aerobatic flying display was exciting to watch at first, but as it progress under the crazily hot sun, everyone just got tired of it and went back into hiding inside the air-conditioned exhibition halls. Silly us took out there for the entire display which lasted for an hour and half! Only the first and finale was good. The rest... haiz... perhaps I'm not an airplane person, so it kinda bored me.
The worst part of the day came when we were planning to leave the place! The directions and instruction signs put up wasn't clear and significant enough. Everyone didn't know where to go to get out of the place. There were many options for leaving the ulu exhibition centre. For us, there's only 2 options, to either take a cab and paying super high surcharge and fare for it back to Pasir Ris, or join the messed up queue to take the free shuttle bus but to Pasir Ris.
At first we planned to take the cab, so we walked a loooong way out to the cab queue and then discovered that it wasn't moving at all! So we changed our plan and went all the way back into the exhibition centre to join the bus queue. The queue was almost like a 2.4km long walk. We spent 1hr 45mins queuing for the bus! At the beginning of the queue, everyone was mixed up and didn't know where exactly was the queue! People were pushing and shoving their way through trying to make it to the front of the queue. Some elderly and those with little kids couldn't take the heat and had to fall out of it and waited at the side while the adults stayed in the messed up queue. Cisco police and some guys tried to give instructions but no one seemed to bother about them. Those unhappy families even ended up quarreling with the polices so that they can cut the queue.
Overall the experience was very bad for me. Really there's nothing much to see. Its more like a trade show than an exhibition for the public. My objective of going was to get a glimpse of the inside of A380. But sadly the mindset that the advertisement put across was wrong. We were only allowed to view from the outside! They should have specified that in the ads! Well, perhaps that's why all the aunties and uncles collected that many bags to get their entrance fee worth! Haha!
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35) This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90) This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90) Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90) French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90) Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90) Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90) Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80) Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
1=SGD 0.0587
Wing Kee is a popular stall selling Ipoh Horfun and Ba Chor Mee in the Changi Village Food Centre. It is the one with the red signboard and has been there for a long time, way before its rival sprung up next to it.
Well-known in the area, they have served many soldiers at the nearby camps well by providing a delivery service to the camps. Although they often have a queue in front of their stall, but they are fast and the customers don't have to queue very long. Also, they've not gotten my orders before, despite the large volume and the numerous times I've been there.
Food I always order:
Chicken Cutlet Hor Fun / Mee ($3)
YUMMY! My favourite food. I would prefer this to any posh restaurant fare any day. The crisp chicken pieces are delicious. The sauce is very tasty too and the serving is pretty reasonable.
Ba Chor Mee ($3)
Lots of minced meat in this dish unlike the tiny portions of meat found in other places. Even the meatball is handmade and more chewy with no fatty bits.
My only grievance is that the stalls in the area produce a lot of smoke which makes me gag when I'm in the food centre. My eyes tear occasionally too so it's a little irritating. but I'm willing to put up with that little discomfort.
a MUST TRY!
Rating given:
My virgin trip to Hotpot Culture was with a bunch of mad Yebbers! The company certainly made the entire experience a great one. That aside... let's take a look at the restaurant itself.
Not too hard to realise that this is a steamboat restaurant but they give each patron their own little pots and soup of choice. There are 5 to pick from and I picked Chicken Soup. Sadly the Kimchi one seemed nicer but my throat was acting up again so Chicken it was for me. But the Chicken stock had very little taste and only started having some taste after I threw some chicken bits in.
For the steamboat there was enough variety for me though more would have been nice. But there was quite a bit of cooked items though. I thought it's quite special for a steamboat place to have so many cooked items. I liked the cooked items, especially the rojak chicken!! haha but it was a terror on my weak throat. Nonetheless i had a good share of that!
I think the best part was the chocolate fondue which they also have! Usually such places only serve fruit for dessert so this is a really nice conclusion to the dinner. :)
More Photos here
Rating given:
We dropped by at Charles Stefano at parkway after recommendations from another friend. It’s in a prominent area, right in the centre of near the escalator so there’s no way you can miss it.
It’s one of the few places (if not the only one) that sells stainless steel jewellery. I’m sure everyone’s heard of gold and silver… but this one is stainless steel. It feels more solid and nice to hold in comparison to silver. And it doesn’t tarnish like silver does. However, the designs are much chunkier. But some of the designs have Cubic Xirconia and diamonds on them which is a nice touch to the more expensive range.
We were very undecided when we got there as we didn’t even planned to get a pair of rings. But the lady was very patient with us, letting us try 10 designs and different sizes before we chose the ones we wanted. She also patiently offered advice on what sizes we should take to avoid discomfort.
We paid $40 for our pair of stainless steel rings.
I was very satisfied with the service and will probably head there to buy if I had to get a gift for my younger, funkier friends.
Rating given:
The cakes are of huge potion. These was 4 of us and we share 2 cakes which was enough to fill our 4 stomach…
Food Ordered:
Carrot Carrot
One of the best carrot cakes I have had. The texture was just right. It wasn’t hard like some but soft and spongy enough with the cream (whatever u call it ) on top. Highly recommended.
Mashmallow chocolate cake
It is a just another dessert cake. Nothing special about it but it is rich.It is very rich in chocolate.I can’t really taste the sweetness of the mashmallows which is really weird.
Pasta
Pasta had lotsa of rockets on top..which I like. I thought it was quite unique as one wouldn’t normally find that much veg on a pasta
Ambience is good. We had chosen to sit outside the café instead of in the shop. The lighting is brighter. Although u are sitting in the midst of all shop, surprising it was not noisy. Maybe because we had gone on a weekday instead of the ends.
The service was excellent with a little pot of water to refill our glasses of water.
Rating given:
Da Dong is a traditional Cantonese Restaurant suitably situated in the heart of Chinatown. A part of the Fatty Weng group, this restaurant has been operating for many decades.
There was some attempt to design the place like a old teahouse but I do think it looks like they are on a tight budget. They also tried to maximize seating space by having the tables quite close to each other. Occasionally when you stand your seat might just bump into the guy behind you which was quite irritating at times.
Food we ordered:
Raw Fish Salad extra fish ($28)
Quite obviously this is a seasonal dish – the Yu Sheng. It wasn’t very special, tasted the same, though it wasn’t overly sweet which was good. The staff said all the well wishes while preparing the dish which was a nice gesture. The additional plate of fish was quite pathetic (in terms of quantity).
Soon Hock Fish ($42 – seasonal)
According to my dad, the fish-lover, it’s about 600g which is pretty small but reasonable for 5 people who have other dishes also. It was fried so I couldn’t really tell the freshness. The sauce it was doused in was regular. Nothing special and doesn’t quite justify the price.
Salad Prawns ($20 – s)
There were only a few. It was quite nice but there was too much mayo on some which made it disgustingly sweet.
Peking Duck ($33)
It was very small. They cut it up in front of us and served us the skin wrapped in the Popiah skin. There were only 7 pieces of those and there weren’t very big. The plate of duck meat that came after that was quite substantial tough.
Har Gao – Prawn dumpling ($2.50)
The skin was a little too thick and dry. The prawn was quite fresh though. Reasonably good I guess.
Chicken feet ($3.20)
I didn’t taste this dish so I can’t say for sure. But my mom enjoyed it very much.
Including Chinese tea, rice, peanuts and towels, the total came up to $165 for the 5 of us. I think it was a tad ex, considering we didn’t eat much at all.
Unless necessary I don’t think I will be back at all.
Rating given:
Montreux Bistro is newly open about 1 month ago. It was a cake house along East coast road. I have always been an avid fan of their Chocolate Truffle cake. It is a must for any of my family members’ birthday.
Now that this bakery has opened a café, nothing could stop us from trying it out. It’s a small café in black and white decor. A café that you could have a simple afternoon weekend lunch in.
We had :
Montreux Steak Sandwich ($14.90)
Marinated Sirloin on Toasted Ciabatta with mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and melted cheese. Served with Wedges
We had changed the beef to chicken. They were very flexible and did the change without fuss. Thus, there might be a change in the actual taste of the recommended dish . We were told that if it were beef then it would taste spicier. In this case, it was sweeter. Your average dish really. It had relatively good taste but wasn’t exceptional in any other ways.
Cilantro Prawns Cesar salad ($8.90)
Romaine lettuce Cesar dressings topped with cilantro pesto infused tiger prawns. Served with garlic bread
Good combination of the pesto with the tiger prawns. The crunchy succulent prawns goes very well. The bread is too bland in taste for my liking. But I will definitely come back for more salad.
Mango Tofu (s$7.50)
This was one of the recommended desserts. It had a very refreshing taste with the citrus sauce. At first I was quite skeptical about this recommended dessert as I am not a fan of Mango desserts. I think it is hard to find good mango desserts, as they always taste very artificial. That said, this is a fantastic dessert. Really very good. The raspberry and the blueberry brings out the taste of the tofu very well. I would come back for more.
Brandy Cherry Black Forest (s$4.50)
Just your average black forest cake. I would say the amount of cherry u find in the small portion is generous.
Service was excellent. We were there on a sat afternoon. Inclusive of a latte and a peach soda, we paid s$50.05 in total. I found it reasonable, taking into consideration the food and service.
I would recommended for desserts. Because they are so well presented and it taste good..
Rating given:
American brownie
It’s just your regular brownie. There’s nothing special about it at all. I found it a bit dry even.
American carrot cake
It was light and fluffy but the cream on top is not enough. The taste of the cake is not strong enough for my liking.
Dark chocolate truffle
This is the most recommended cake in the shop. Indeed it is the best out of all the 3 cakes I tasted that day. It is soft and was made with rich dark chocolate. However it wasn’t extraordinary.
Shepherd’s pie (beef)
It would have been one of the best if it were hot enough. When it was served it was warm, lukewarm I should call it. Thus, it turns cold very fast. While eating the pie, the top part of the pie turn hard and stiff. The filling tasted good on the 1st bite but it wasn’t nice after that.
2 scoops of ice cream – banana chocolate & nutty nuts
They say the ice cream is made of natural ingredients, but it didn’t taste that way.
The service was fantastic. The staff was nice enough to let me try a lot of the flavours of the ice cream. I tried the royal chocolate-it reminds me of the old magnolia ice cream before it was revamped. I tried many man flavours. In the end I chose the above flavours, the combination I chose was quite nice in fact.
We didn’t really have a great time sitting there as we were disturb by the 2 little flies bugging us as we were enjoying our cakes.
The price was really reasonable. We paid $10.60 for the above.
Rating given:
Big Fish is a restaurant serving up fresh seafood dishes situated in the popular Siglap area. It’s been around for a few years and my family and I decided to try it out this CNY season.
We made reservations, as there were 6 of us and were promptly seated in the centre of the restaurant that night. The interior design of the place was comfortable with nice music and suitable lighting. It wasn’t too bright and yet just enough to take photos. The staff were friendly and served us iced water as we were ordering. They were also patient to explain the various dishes, though they had to repeat a few times as we had trouble understanding them (due to their accent).
The complimentary bread had herbs in it and was fresh. It was soft and fluffy. Too bad they gave only one for every person at the table.
Food Ordered:
Set Dinner - $29.95
This is a 4-course set that consisted of Corn Soup, Mahi-mahi, Chocolate Mousse and Coffee. The soup was pretty thick but not much ingredients in it. It IS corn soup after all.
Live Oysters - $2.60 per piece
These were very fresh, served on ice. No fishy smell at all and it was quite sizeable. But even so it’s still expensive at this price… Well at least it was good. We ordered 6 which were finished in a jiffy.
Softshell Crab - $12.95
I was a little disappointed by the quantity when it arrived. It’s lightly coated with some spices and served with mango salsa and a homemade dipping sauce. There was a lot of sauce but little crab. Nonetheless the crab was very tasty and not oily which is a big plus for me.
Seafood Platter - $51.95
There were grilled scallops, Morton Bay Bug, fish skewers, BBQ squid, NZ mussels, chargrilled prawns, served with butter rice and chips. If you order this alone, it’s probably enough for 3 people to share. 5 of us shared this along with all the other stuff we ordered. The seafood was very fresh and not over done though it looked like it at first glance. But the juices are still retained so it wasn’t dry the way it looked. The fries were very nice and they are the fat sort I liked. The butter rice was not very tasty though, it could have been more fragrant.
Fish and Chips - $15.95
I loved the fish! But I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t appeal to most people. The batter was light and the two pieces of fish were quite big. The fish was smooth and didn’t have any fishy smell even without lemon. But the batter wasn’t very heavy in taste which is why I said it probably wouldn’t appeal to most. There weren’t enough fries. (I’m a Fry lover)
Yu Sheng - $22.95
The restaurant’s version of the Raw Fish Salad gave us a nice surprise. This is the smallest serving, and they were not kidding when they said that it was SMALL. One mouthful for each of us and the plate was empty. Nonetheless there was a nice combination of different fish slices, though I’m not sure what fish was used. Obviously this is only available during the CNY season.
Spaghetti Vongole- $18.95
I didn’t get the description for this dish but this was a spicy pasta dish served with clams. My mom was all praises for this dish, until she realised how much it cost. It is barely enough for one person really. If eaten alone, it’s definitely not enough. It would be, if it were part of a set. The clams were nicely seasoned and cooked and the pasta was just right.
Beef Tenderloin - $29.95
We were asked if how we wanted the steak so we were very curious how it would turn out…. It came in slices! A nice surprise indeed when the people eating it found that it was not overdone despite being cut up. But the serving was quite small too, certainly not enough for my brother.
Raspberry Soda - $4.95
I didn’t order this but ended up drinking it as the person didn’t like sourish drinks. I liked how the ice was crushed up inside, so that it would melt quickly to dilute the drink and made it ice-cold throughout.
Green Apple Soda - $4.95
This was not sourish as one would expect.. it was actually sweet. Really odd don’t you think?
We spent a total of $229 for the 6 of us. Honestly speaking, we weren’t very full. The amount of food was just right but not over the top. Which makes this meal a little expensive. But for the freshness of the food good taste good service, I’d say it was pretty worth it J
Rating given:
Our worst experience ever!
When the crowd started pouring in at the Airshow, there were just no where to walk and admire the display and exhibitions put up. The indoor halls were packed and whenever an exhibitor started giving out freebies, everyone just charged to get one. This I really can't understand! Collect so many paper bags and brochures for what? Stop killing the trees! If you don't need it, don't take it! I saw many aunties and uncles carrying 6 to 8 of the same bags! Bring home distribute to their relatives?? Aiyoh!
The only thing I did within the exhibition hall was to go to the ladies, get some aircon to cool off the heat and the rest (most) of the time was spent trying to squeeze out of it.
The aerobatic flying display was exciting to watch at first, but as it progress under the crazily hot sun, everyone just got tired of it and went back into hiding inside the air-conditioned exhibition halls. Silly us took out there for the entire display which lasted for an hour and half! Only the first and finale was good. The rest... haiz... perhaps I'm not an airplane person, so it kinda bored me.
The worst part of the day came when we were planning to leave the place! The directions and instruction signs put up wasn't clear and significant enough. Everyone didn't know where to go to get out of the place. There were many options for leaving the ulu exhibition centre. For us, there's only 2 options, to either take a cab and paying super high surcharge and fare for it back to Pasir Ris, or join the messed up queue to take the free shuttle bus but to Pasir Ris.
At first we planned to take the cab, so we walked a loooong way out to the cab queue and then discovered that it wasn't moving at all! So we changed our plan and went all the way back into the exhibition centre to join the bus queue. The queue was almost like a 2.4km long walk. We spent 1hr 45mins queuing for the bus! At the beginning of the queue, everyone was mixed up and didn't know where exactly was the queue! People were pushing and shoving their way through trying to make it to the front of the queue. Some elderly and those with little kids couldn't take the heat and had to fall out of it and waited at the side while the adults stayed in the messed up queue. Cisco police and some guys tried to give instructions but no one seemed to bother about them. Those unhappy families even ended up quarreling with the polices so that they can cut the queue.
Overall the experience was very bad for me. Really there's nothing much to see. Its more like a trade show than an exhibition for the public. My objective of going was to get a glimpse of the inside of A380. But sadly the mindset that the advertisement put across was wrong. We were only allowed to view from the outside! They should have specified that in the ads! Well, perhaps that's why all the aunties and uncles collected that many bags to get their entrance fee worth! Haha!
Rating given:
First Visit 25th Feb
OChaCha, the matcha latte people
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35)
This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90)
This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May
ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Soup: Shiitake Mushroom or tomato soup
Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad
The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup
I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup
The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90)
Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90)
French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90)
Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90)
Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90)
Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80)
Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
Rating given: