kormmandos's Reviews
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Watch the crew set fire to your food right before you with a blowtorch!
It's quite a spectacle. And catch a glimpse of your friends' expressions as they see it the first time! Priceless.
Huge portions. Cheaper than Fish & Co.
But lacks variety. No stingray. No crab. No swordfish collar. No fish sambal.
The rice that comes along in the main courses doesn't taste as good as before. It used to be buttery and garlicky. Now it is rather plain. It could be due to customer feedback.
The fried stuff was still soaked in oil when it was served. I didn't fancy that. The oil was dripping when I forced my knife through the battered fish. Can't they blot out the oil with kitchen towels?
Watch your step in the restaurant. There are portions of the floor that are elevated and you might trip or fall off the edge.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Ya loh! I don't understand why they've to elevate the floor! Hope no one fell cos of that.
18 Sep 2007 at 3:54 pm
Actually walked past the place last week. Wanted to eat but the strong fishy smell made us change our minds. Maybe it is supposed to be this way. It is called Fish Market right?
18 Sep 2007 at 4:31 pm
I went to visit a friend's new place around Kim Keat for an informal house warming. On our way back to the main road, we came across an old bakery run by some middle-aged to old men. I was thoroughly fascinated by their products. With the camera in hand, these are some of the snapshots of what I saw.
I seem to be always attracted to the old, disused, forgotten things around us. I think these things give a certain life, character and identity to the place they are found. I probably caught on this fascination when someone brought me to the old ST James Power Station before it was refurbished into what you will see today. Above all, it is literally a refreshing sight from the usual Orchard Road.
As for the bread from this traditional bakery, what attracted me first were the loaves of “blackhead bread” stacked on the racks to cool down. Not to mention I love the colors too.
Of course, we also wanted to have a taste of the freshly baked “blackhead bread”, so we shared to buy a loaf, which was only $2.20.
Then, I gave it a try…
And it was the most wonderful plain bread I had tasted! The bread was moist, soft but firm on the bite. It didn’t dissolve into a mess in the mouth and you can savor every bite you take slowly. It is no wonder the bakery still stands today.
Anyway, besides the “blackhead bread”, the colorful trays which they use also caught my eye.
Really glad we made the trip to the friend’s place, otherwise I would have missed out such a lovely place in the equally lovely area.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!:( How come so many links?
18 Sep 2007 at 3:23 pm
Removed the links, I agree it is somewhat an eyesore. Got to wait till they decide how they can control the images.
18 Sep 2007 at 4:06 pm
kormmandos, now you can upload photos with your reviews already. :)
19 Sep 2007 at 3:24 pm
While on a friend's mini-van, I talked about the newly opened Ice Cream Chefs somewhere in East Coast. I provided an inaccurate location of East Coast Park and we spent some time circling a carpark until someone finally connected to the internet and googled for them. It was in East Coast Road instead. So we moved along.
We then hit a roadblock of sorts when we couldn’t find a parking lot in the vicinity. So one of the passengers got off the vehicle and went straight to the shop to ask about parking. Surprise! Parking is free if you are customers.
One challenging thing about coming here is really figuring out the choice of ice cream. Like a few ice cream places in Singapore, Ice Cream Chefs makes it possible to mix flavors, 2 for a small cup and 3 for a large one. For every topping, or more correctly, mix-in as they call it, it’s an extra 70 cents.
We got ourselves 3 large cups for 5 of us. No, make that 4 since the driver was suffering from diarrhea had to be left out from partaking the ice cream. We stuck to 2 of the staff’s recommendation of a fruity concoction and a chocolatey durian combination along with my mad mix of butter pecan with kinder bueno and marshmallows along with horlicks and mocha ice cream. All of which were rather enjoyable.
It is quite a fascinating sight to see the chef whip up your customized ice cream.
First your flavors are laid on the cold plate.
Then with one spatula laid on the ice cream, the other taps on it to create an indentation for the mix-ins.
Repeat the spatula actions to crush the mix-ins and then further reduce the size by chopping with the spatulas.
Fold them around a few times.
Finally scoop them into the cup and served.
Personally I found the ice cream on the watery side. It wasn’t as rich and creamy as I expected. The novelty of zhng-ing your ice cream definitely helped a bit. But for continued success, they need to improve their ice cream formula.
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As you may know, I like the fried fish bee hoon over at Beach Road and like to walk there for the soupy lunch. As usual, there was a long queue. Not usual was my decision to find something else to eat. So I backtracked a bit and came to Leong Kee. It seems quite popular, why not give it a try since there are seats?
The order took longer than expected. I must have waited about 15 to 20 mins for my claypot of Bak Kut Teh and rice combo. But when I came, I was pleasantly surprised.
The soup was boiling in the heat insulating claypot when it was presented by before me. So it scores on presentation. The consistency of the soup was almost like a gravy, liken to say, sharks' fin soup and it had a strong herbal taste. Particularly, it had the bitterness from the tang gui used. Unfortunately, that was about all the herbs I could taste. It was something enjoyable, though on the heavy side for a soup.
I liked the addition of the tau kee or fu pi which gave the dish an extra dimension. The vegetable added was also a nice touch. The meat served here seems to be always spare ribs, which is tender to the bite. I liked that it was cooked to the extent where the meat comes off the bone easily.
On another occasion, I tried the pig's trotter. I liked the smoky taste which came from the high heat treatment just before it is served. The texture of the meat was tender and the skin, tendon and fat are something that should be tried at least once no matter how health conscious one may be.
Price-wise, I thought it was quite reasonable as they gave generous servings. A small claypot of bak kut teh or pig's trotters goes for $4.60, rice for 30 cents, youtiao for 50 cents.
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The girlfriend's pals were gracious enough to let me in on their gathering at The Pump Room. So we got there early to get ourselves a table.
For the uninitiated, The Pump Room is a microbrewery and bistro. So we ordered our beers and sides first while we waited for the rest to arrive. We were ushered to a table and presented the menu. I took my time to look through the menu for something that might inspire me...
Beer
Personally, I prefer dark beers whenever come to a beer place. I have this preconception that dark beers from a place specializing in beers would offer something interesting. Plus dark beers usually meant more dimensions in terms of the flavor, which would be better experience compared the fizzy, foamy, bitter and pale stuff.
I settled for their Scottish ale, a dark beer with a nice taste of roasted malt. It goes down slightly more bitter at first, but ends sweetly.
Sides
Our appetite was growing as we waited for the others. So we decided to order some sides to keep our mouths occupied. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything like buffalo wings on the finger food menu. The best they could muster were a few potato-based sides and garlic bread. The rest of the table did set their eyes on something else...
Creamy Mashed Potato was pretty good. I did wish there was some bacon crisps mixed into it. Would have been a great combination of textures.
Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms with herbs was nice too. Although it was on the salty side. The chunky garlic was a nice touch which I liked.Still waiting, I decided to entertain myself and the "early-birds" with my camera...
More of the interior
And the fascinating "optic fibre" lighting which changes color...
Service
We were rather taken aback when we realized that the staff had failed to inform us about their special offers for their brewed beers. We thought fine, since we never asked.Then we got really annoyed that many of the wait staff were selective of who they wanted to serve. There was this group of Caucasians that took the table in front of us and were given a VIP treatment while the other tables like mine were conveniently neglected and ignored. I then realized the wait staff were consistently tipped by that table for every item served. Talk about spoil market!
But I guess I shouldn't harp on that. I mean, there are other stuff to be peeved by. Like the wait staff's snail-like and begrudging response times for plain water. It seems like they convenient forget your requests. Not like we won't order other stuff, right?
Main Courses
I found the Linguine with Prawns, Mussels, Scallops and Squid Aglio Olio style was pleasantly spicy with black peppercorns. The seafood was fresh done just right, with the exception of the mussels which were really raw. I think it is because we are so used to the well-cooked mussels in chilli.
One can hardly go wrong with The Pump Room's Special Steak Burger with Salad and Chips. But it does lack the necessary punch to live up to its "Special" status.Beer-Battered Pacific Dory with Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mesclun Saladwas nothing special, though the chips were pretty good.
My order was the Hickory smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs in Special Beer Marinade. It was a rather standard and ordinary quality. nothing to shout about.
The verdict for mains collectively would be somewhere between mediocre and average.DessertsThe plan had been to stay to catch the live band perform. So we needed to "buy ourselves some more time" in the form of desserts.
The Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream was fantastic! The warm, thick chocolate pudding was probably oven toasted to achieve a crispy outer crust with a slightly charred taste. Every mouthful of the thick melted chocolate and the crispy crust was a luxurious experience.
Soft Centered Pavlova with Tropical Fruits and Passionfruit Curd was a light, zesty dessert thanks to the fruits involved at the sides. Pretty enjoyable if you just love the sugar. Personally, I found it a little too sweet, but nevertheless, it had a good mix of textures to be experienced with every little bit placed into the mouth.
There is a sudden realization that one can't really go wrong with a Cheese Platter. With very distinctive textures and tastes, it will instantly turn one into a cheese connoisseur.
By the time we wipe off everything on the plates, the band started their act. Plenty of 80's and 90's music to dance the night away.
Last but not least, the toilet was pretty decent, a good thing to have with all the booze going around.
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