This is one place to go to to just let your hair down and play crazy games with ur frenz(especially in a big group).
Unlike settlers its not as crazy and not overrun with kids(maybe cos its in Boat Quay). Seats are very very comfortable and not the dining table kind(how to play games like that)
Spent a good 4 hours playing stupid games and mind rattling games. Ordered their combo thingy for 4 which allows us to choose any drinks and the snacks. Had their root beer float*yum* and chose prawn crackers and fried squid. Food was normal fried food fare. I was too engrossed in the games to even bother abt the quality of the food.
But the desserts, omg the desserts. The black and white brownie is to die for!!!really really good. Esp with the ice cream.
Staff are cool too..would update us on the promo they have going on and are attentive too. Patiently explained to us how to play the games even when before that we didnt ask for help and tried to act clever. Thank god the staff noticed and helped us out. Yay for Mind Cafe
Thank you to all the lovely indivuduals for taking time off to celebrate my birthday with me. It was a great surprise to see you all there and I really enjoyed my time minus the one lamppost who just had to tag along(i apologise for that).
Now due to Timbre screwing up the reservations thingy(like CG mentiond) we had my birthday celebs at Barfly. Good idea since housepours n martinis n stuff were 1 for one. only i had just 2 drinks(since i gota work the nxt day). Tried the Aprodisiac and Melontini. The first being the better one.
Was tempted to order fish n chips from the bar menu but got a scolding for that so settled on the Tenderloin while my fren had the lamb rack. Tenderloin was erm ok. Asked for medium rare but got medium so abit on the hard side. Taste wise abit bland actually. Flavours werent really retained in the dish. The Lamb however was juicy, didnt have that lamby taste and was flavourful. Yes i ended up exchangin with my fren. I did like the potato gratin like thingy. but a bit small though.
Got a surprise Tiramisu cake which although again small was really really nice. Doesnt look like tiramisu at all( probably got private supplier) and tasted so good i was half asking if i should offer to the rest or not(of cos i did lah).
after 9 champange is free flow for ladies but i didnt drink much. Was too full of happiness(esp when i saw my present) and was enjoying the company too much.
Loved the ambiance and the decor. Very chic and i will definitely come back to sit at the nice sofa with the dangly thingys. They have live dj and performances i think. Must check it out.
Service was great. The staff were attentive and obliging(taking pics for us and singing for me). Great Job ('',)
Thank you again guys. My 22nd birthday is officially the best birthday EVERR..And most people say that the 21st is the best. Well not for me(ok both are tied cos my bf would freak if i said my 21st wasnt good)
Its slightly far for me to go but when I get the chance I will drag my frenz(esp those so used to Ben n Jerrys and other commercial Ice creams) to try out the yummy unique ice cream flavours
Since day 1 i never ever ever not get the Baileys and Bourbon ice cream. It has the just nice amount of alcohol to give it that kick yet not so much till those that cannot hold the liqour get very *wheeeee*.
Tried to convert the bf to it but hez not a liqour person(yeah shockin i know). he opted for the choco marshmellow and the yamilla(my 2nd fave) we both agreed the choc was indeed better and richer than awfully chocolate's ice cream and the marshmellow made it easier on the palette. Yamilla is naturally another fav of mine and thank god the bf liked it too. I mean its marzipan!!I love marzipan and together with vanilla and almond. Yum.
Tried the Gula Melaka too and yup another winner. The coconut in it just gives it more umph since im a sucker for ice cream with little extra ingredients in it. But wasnt abig fan of the nutella ice cream though. Found it abit on the tasteless side.
Oh and the hot chocolate. OMG. i was high on chocolate cos of that ok. Mixing it myself. Piping hot with the marshmellows. I think i scared my bf with the amnt of chocolate i ate and drank.
I like how u can play games at and just slack till late since it closes late.
Oh oh forgot. Try the waffles. Yumm..
Think price wise it is worth it. David makes his ice cream himself experimenting like a true teacher and he is very generous with ingredients. So i dnt mind payin a bit more for better quality ice cream. Esp my baileys. Yumm
Did get a chance to meet David, the genius behind this fantastic ice cream joint, his lovely wife(at the taka food fair) and his business partner. David is always out to find out what his customers like/ dont like to improve his ice cream and to that i say "way to go!!!". and i like how all 3 are very involved with the store and just dont leave sum1 to run it all the time. Staff are also very friendly and nice(allowing us to try as many flavours as we want). Tho asking for more than 2 just feels weird to me. Wasting the tasting stick
I still have no idea how we ended up having dinner here. Oh yeah we wanted fast and didnt really feel like going for fast food. ok that was ironic.
It was the fastest choosing of food done by me. I wanted fish and although the wok fried chicken looked good I choze the crysanthemum dory thingy with thai sauce knowing full well that me n thai sauces esp those with high contents of vinegar is not a good combination but i still whacked it anyway. Bf choze the sirloin with rice. medium rare.
We also ordered the warm mushroom salad to share.
Mushroom salad came. It was definitely different from my experience at AH. the musrooms were the small little cute musrooms probably stir fried and had a side of green. not greens. Green.nice but a tad too much balsamic vinegar(not that im complaining)
Bfs food came first and shortly after mine came. For 14.90 i felt mine was like a bit too erm not filling at all. It was maybe the same amnt of fish that u can get from eating fish and chips from banquet. But one good thing. The presentation was nice. how it was shaped and the thai sauce was very sweet n spicy but not overly spicy. I did enjoy it but still it would be nice if they maybe added a side of fries or rice.
Bf let me try his beef. half of it was more medium well than medium rare but the middle part was ok. Chewable
It was a pretty noisy place cos lets face it, its the cathay on a saturday, tons of people goin in n out. Not a place for a romantic quiet date. Staff were quite good though. Although it was a full house it was easy to get their attention.
The meal was overall okay. But paying $40 was a bit steep for a meal that still left me feeling hungry. Or maybe all that action from the movie really gave me an appetite.
It's been long since I stepped into Marche. Sad that the 2 other outlets are no longer in business and this one at Vivo gets packed almost everytime I was there. Good thing we were there on a Monday and was still early for dinner crowd. Managed to get in without queuing.
The place was smaller than we expected, and it looks very cramp with all the decorations and furnishing inside. But it does gives the traditional market-like feel but yet still homely.
Food we ordered...
SweetBread - aka Filled Crossed Bun at $1.50 This is something which I never thought of buying while at Marche in the past. But thanks to bf, now I'll make sure I buy one whenever I'm there. I like the fluffy texture of the bun and the skin (outer layer) of the bun has a sweet taste to it. Makes the bun very enjoyable to eat. But the fillings is very little, filled only 1/8 of the bun. But still I won't mind paying $1.50 for it. Of cos, if they stuff in my fillings, it'll make it just perfect.
Vegetables small plate at $4.90 I loveee mushrooms. And this "buffet" style vegetables stall has great mushrooms. It's tasty and fragrant. We mixed the mushrooms with baby potatoes. Quite nice too. Will want to try the rest of the vegetables the next time.
Crepe Mushroom at $10.90 This one is my most most favorite! Thin crepe freshly made upon order. The fillings is generous and the mixed of vegetables, cheese, sauce and mushrooms is simply delicious! Just thinking of it now makes me drool for more!
Chanced upon this modernly decorated shop while browsing around Marina Square over the weekend. The concept is somewhat similar to inQbox which has been around for awhile already. But Cactus Farm gives me a better impressions. The products on display are very neatly arranged and the entire shop gives a comfortable feel for their customers. The lighting of the shop plays quite an important part too.
The products on display are mostly from indie designers from Singapore. I noticed they do have products imported from overseas. There's this one that caught our attention at the entrance. It's a pair of square slippers. Looks quite interesting. Will sure to draw attention when worn around town. It cost about $40 if I didn't remember wrongly.
A quick check at their website and the rental is only from $8/day. Sounds pretty cheap, but that's only if your products are attractive and good to draw buyers.
If you're an indie designer, you might want to go check out Cactus Farm and look for their G.O.D or B.A.D! They also has got a M.A.D too! Interesting designations for the team. :)
Heard many good things about this tiny little stall serving up handmade beef burgers that were purportedly one of the best around. Apparently its burger is so well known that it featured in one of the recent articles in the Straits Times.
Occupying one of the four F&B units at a small alfresco dining area along Bukit Timah Road, Smok'inn Frogz plays neighbour to an Indian food stall, a Thai food stall and a small bar counter. And that is where its charm lies. Seating on high wooden stools against the backdrop of million dollar homes, all in a fan induced cool environment has a certain laid back charm to it.
Calamari ($8) - At $8 a basket, the calamari wasn't too expensive really and came rather well done. The batter wasn't too thick and didn't come across as too oily while the squid retained some of its elasticity and chewiness. Only thing that I thought could have been improved was the frying time. The batter was deep fried for a little too long, rendering it a darker shade of golden brown.
Homemade Beef Burger ($12)- Being a fan of beef burgers, I was most eager to try out their much raved about homemade beef burger. While the burger was very decent with the texture of the patty uneven and full of bite yet retaining its tenderness, I did find it lacking in the inherent beefy taste, which kinda took some points off the score. $12 gets you the burger and some fries with a small serving of salad as well.
$20 for a meal is rather reasonable for the quantity and quality of food. Drinks can be bought from the neighbouring stall at $1.50 per can of soft drink and if you need a quick Thai or Indian fix, there's the other stalls as well.
The cravings for dim sum meant that i am always on the lookout for places be it restaurants or eateries which can answer to my stomach’s calling. Victor’s Kitchen has been around for quite a while now, and has been labeled with the “good dim sum at affordable price” tag.
Located at Sunshine Plaza off the corner at Bencoolen street, it is a no-frills, grab-your-seats kind of place. Victor’s is divided into two seating area, with both holding a maximum of maybe fifteen people each. Seats are limited, you must be prepared to queue up for them, and squeeze in the small seating area. Well, more like a small eatery than a cafe or restaurant kind of environment.
Chicken & Sausage in Glutinous rice ($4) I always like glutinous rice, dim sum style. Opening the leave that wrapped the rice, the aroma of the glutinous rice flowed out, and it was just so good. The chicken was tender and the chinese sausage palatable, the fragrant and soft rice, all the combinations made the glutinous rice a praiseworthy dish.
Tasty Queen size Siew Mai ($3) You don’t say you eat dim sum if you did not order siew mai and har gau. Nicknamed the queen size siew mai, its actually the normal size i guess that’s why they didn’t named it as King size siew mai instead.
The pork meat in the siew mai is very lean, not those fatty type. The portion of prawn to pork is actually very low, so not much of prawn taste, its the more porky kind.
Victor’s King prawn dumpling ($3.80) Prawn dumpling or har gau, another mainstay in the dim sum menu. The skin of the Victor’s King prawn dumpling is rather thin, and the prawns inside looked like its going to burst out anytime. The fresh prawns go easy on the palates and always welcome with second helpings.
Carrot cake with XO sauce ($3.80) I was rather amazed when i saw the Carrot cake with XO sauce served. For one i wasn’t expecting the carrot cake to be literally soaked in xo sauce, i thought it will be something like the one i had at Peach Garden, or Yan Ting, but i guess again, there isn’t any “fried” or “pan-seared” attached with the name here.
The name’s scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce, but i hardly had any hint of the presence of scallop and sausage in it, and i think i still preferred my carrot cake to be fried than soup. Nonetheless, the amount of XO sauce given was rather generous, and i guess its more of a personal issue, some might just fancy this over the normal fried carrot cake.
Oyster sauce Char Siew Bun ($2.80) I preferred my char siew bun to be those restaurants-type where there is three parts one. There’s no trace of oyster sauce in the char siew bun, or maybe i happened to miss the flavor.
Nevertheless, the char siew bun is still quite soft and fluffy, the juicy char siew captured within is also enjoyable. Not the best char siew bun i had, but it will suffice.
Milky Custard Bun ($2.80) I am getting warm up to Custard bun nowadays since i used to only flavor char siew bun when i had dim sum. You know a good custard bun when you see one, hot milky custard oozing out of the bun, tempting you with both visual and taste.
However, the case is not to be with Victor’s Milky custard bun. Touted as their signature dish, i was totally disappointed with the one i had here. Maybe the ones at Victor’s don’t ooze out, but for the custard buns to come cold is another complete matter all together.
Having heard many wonderful things about their signature custard bun, i must said i was shocked by the revelation in the quality of the buns. Maybe its a case of a bad hair day, but i’ll give it a chance and re-visit to try it again the next time.
Spare Ribs rice ($3) I’m not even sure if i want to elaborate on the spare ribs rice. First thing first, the rice is hard, too hard. I do understand that ribs being ribs do not have much meat, but this one, the pork ribs were not even tasteful. A waste of 3 bucks, kindly ignore this if you ever go to Victor’s.
Phoenix Porridge ($3.50) The century egg porridge or pi dan chow is transform in the name of Phoenix porridge. However the majestic name did itself no favors with a run of the mill watery porridge. There are bits of century egg and chicken chunks, but i don’t see the point in paying $3.50 for an average small bowl porridge.
Deep fried spring roll ($3) The deep fried spring roll is pretty decent, with the usual mix of turnips inside. The vinger dip was a commendable mention, with the slightly sourish sauce going well together with the deep fried stuff. The spring roll was crispy and you could hear the “crisp” sound with every bite you took.
Char siew cheong fun ($3) The trails of a good char siew cheong fun are smooth and silky skin, which comes with juicy char siew. However the skin of the cheong fun or rice roll is rather thick, i’ll prefer it to be slightly thinner. The char siew within the cheong fun is still acceptable.
King prawn cheong fun ($3.50) I think we over ordered, which results in having another one, the King prawn cheong fun. I presumed the prawns are the same as the ones in the har gau, and they are fresh and good, pity the skin of the cheong fun though.
Total Bill is $51.1 for 3 person. Victor’s kitchen is definitely affordable and rather cheap with its array of dim sum served. The maths work out to be around less than a dollar per piece for most of the items, which can be a good place for your dim sum fix if you want something cheap and not bad.
Victor’s Kitchen is a case of hits and misses. However the misses hit me more because i had high expectations of the place since there are much rave about the dim sum here. With the silky custard bun as the biggest upset in this visit, it is likely i will visit the place again in the future, to prove whether its a fluke or one-off thing.
The place is small, and they don’t take any reservations, do go at earlier timings or be prepared to queue a while for the seats. Its also advisable to go in small groups since there aren’t much space and table to accommodate a large crowd.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Went there for lunch after choir. The lunch set meal is really valued for money @ $14.90 with free flow of their famous mushroom soup.
Indeed the soup tasted great. The taste of the mushroom was thick but not too much. Tasted well even without addition of pepper.
Fish and Chip. Feedback was that it was tasteless though I felt that it was alright. But the size of the portion was too big and trying to finish it makes us uncomfortable.
Steak. Asked for the steak in medium well done but it came out medium rare instead. Taste was great if not for the done-ness of the steak.
Salmon (don't know what) Miso Spaget. It's Miso spaghetti was the best. Definitely the best tasting sauce that we've ever had for spaghetti. However, the salmon that came with it doesn't seem fresh and had an odd taste to it.
Service attitude was fine though there were only like 2 waitress for the restaurant, service was prompt because there were only 2 tables to be served.
Will definitely visit again as there are other interesting dishes to try.
Located at a coffee shop on Block 412 Bedok North is this small Italian eatery called Il Picolo. After the emergence of Astons, Botak J and the likes, there seem to be an influx of such "restaurant" like feel to coffee shops in the heartlands. It seems that the trend is taking off. We now have steaks, burgers and italian food. Guess what is next?
Prices for mains range from between $5 to $15 for 12" size pizzas. Since it was lunch time, I just had the Beef Lasagna ($6) while the other half decided to go with Botak J. which was in the same coffee shop.
It was a decent portion and sizable enough to have a satisfying lunch. The layers of pasta were not too thick and the chunks of beef were well balanced. It was served piping hot and unlike some other lasagnas this one does not have the burnt out taste. It also helped that there was a generous amount of melted cheese which served as a great dip for the fries that came with the dish ordered from Botak J. :)
1=SGD 0.0587
This is one place to go to to just let your hair down and play crazy games with ur frenz(especially in a big group).
Unlike settlers its not as crazy and not overrun with kids(maybe cos its in Boat Quay). Seats are very very comfortable and not the dining table kind(how to play games like that)
Spent a good 4 hours playing stupid games and mind rattling games. Ordered their combo thingy for 4 which allows us to choose any drinks and the snacks. Had their root beer float*yum* and chose prawn crackers and fried squid. Food was normal fried food fare. I was too engrossed in the games to even bother abt the quality of the food.
But the desserts, omg the desserts. The black and white brownie is to die for!!!really really good. Esp with the ice cream.
Staff are cool too..would update us on the promo they have going on and are attentive too. Patiently explained to us how to play the games even when before that we didnt ask for help and tried to act clever. Thank god the staff noticed and helped us out. Yay for Mind Cafe
Rating given:
Thank you to all the lovely indivuduals for taking time off to celebrate my birthday with me. It was a great surprise to see you all there and I really enjoyed my time minus the one lamppost who just had to tag along(i apologise for that).
Now due to Timbre screwing up the reservations thingy(like CG mentiond) we had my birthday celebs at Barfly. Good idea since housepours n martinis n stuff were 1 for one. only i had just 2 drinks(since i gota work the nxt day). Tried the Aprodisiac and Melontini. The first being the better one.
Was tempted to order fish n chips from the bar menu but got a scolding for that so settled on the Tenderloin while my fren had the lamb rack. Tenderloin was erm ok. Asked for medium rare but got medium so abit on the hard side. Taste wise abit bland actually. Flavours werent really retained in the dish. The Lamb however was juicy, didnt have that lamby taste and was flavourful. Yes i ended up exchangin with my fren. I did like the potato gratin like thingy. but a bit small though.
Got a surprise Tiramisu cake which although again small was really really nice. Doesnt look like tiramisu at all( probably got private supplier) and tasted so good i was half asking if i should offer to the rest or not(of cos i did lah).
after 9 champange is free flow for ladies but i didnt drink much. Was too full of happiness(esp when i saw my present) and was enjoying the company too much.
Loved the ambiance and the decor. Very chic and i will definitely come back to sit at the nice sofa with the dangly thingys. They have live dj and performances i think. Must check it out.
Service was great. The staff were attentive and obliging(taking pics for us and singing for me). Great Job ('',)
Thank you again guys. My 22nd birthday is officially the best birthday EVERR..And most people say that the 21st is the best. Well not for me(ok both are tied cos my bf would freak if i said my 21st wasnt good)
Rating given:
Its slightly far for me to go but when I get the chance I will drag my frenz(esp those so used to Ben n Jerrys and other commercial Ice creams) to try out the yummy unique ice cream flavours
Since day 1 i never ever ever not get the Baileys and Bourbon ice cream. It has the just nice amount of alcohol to give it that kick yet not so much till those that cannot hold the liqour get very *wheeeee*.
Tried to convert the bf to it but hez not a liqour person(yeah shockin i know). he opted for the choco marshmellow and the yamilla(my 2nd fave) we both agreed the choc was indeed better and richer than awfully chocolate's ice cream and the marshmellow made it easier on the palette. Yamilla is naturally another fav of mine and thank god the bf liked it too. I mean its marzipan!!I love marzipan and together with vanilla and almond. Yum.
Tried the Gula Melaka too and yup another winner. The coconut in it just gives it more umph since im a sucker for ice cream with little extra ingredients in it. But wasnt abig fan of the nutella ice cream though. Found it abit on the tasteless side.
Oh and the hot chocolate. OMG. i was high on chocolate cos of that ok. Mixing it myself. Piping hot with the marshmellows. I think i scared my bf with the amnt of chocolate i ate and drank.
I like how u can play games at and just slack till late since it closes late.
Oh oh forgot. Try the waffles. Yumm..
Think price wise it is worth it. David makes his ice cream himself experimenting like a true teacher and he is very generous with ingredients. So i dnt mind payin a bit more for better quality ice cream. Esp my baileys. Yumm
Did get a chance to meet David, the genius behind this fantastic ice cream joint, his lovely wife(at the taka food fair) and his business partner. David is always out to find out what his customers like/ dont like to improve his ice cream and to that i say "way to go!!!". and i like how all 3 are very involved with the store and just dont leave sum1 to run it all the time. Staff are also very friendly and nice(allowing us to try as many flavours as we want). Tho asking for more than 2 just feels weird to me. Wasting the tasting stick
Rating given:
I still have no idea how we ended up having dinner here. Oh yeah we wanted fast and didnt really feel like going for fast food. ok that was ironic.
It was the fastest choosing of food done by me. I wanted fish and although the wok fried chicken looked good I choze the crysanthemum dory thingy with thai sauce knowing full well that me n thai sauces esp those with high contents of vinegar is not a good combination but i still whacked it anyway. Bf choze the sirloin with rice. medium rare.
We also ordered the warm mushroom salad to share.
Mushroom salad came. It was definitely different from my experience at AH. the musrooms were the small little cute musrooms probably stir fried and had a side of green. not greens. Green.nice but a tad too much balsamic vinegar(not that im complaining)
Bfs food came first and shortly after mine came. For 14.90 i felt mine was like a bit too erm not filling at all. It was maybe the same amnt of fish that u can get from eating fish and chips from banquet. But one good thing. The presentation was nice. how it was shaped and the thai sauce was very sweet n spicy but not overly spicy. I did enjoy it but still it would be nice if they maybe added a side of fries or rice.
Bf let me try his beef. half of it was more medium well than medium rare but the middle part was ok. Chewable
It was a pretty noisy place cos lets face it, its the cathay on a saturday, tons of people goin in n out. Not a place for a romantic quiet date. Staff were quite good though. Although it was a full house it was easy to get their attention.
The meal was overall okay. But paying $40 was a bit steep for a meal that still left me feeling hungry. Or maybe all that action from the movie really gave me an appetite.
Rating given:
It's been long since I stepped into Marche. Sad that the 2 other outlets are no longer in business and this one at Vivo gets packed almost everytime I was there. Good thing we were there on a Monday and was still early for dinner crowd. Managed to get in without queuing.
The place was smaller than we expected, and it looks very cramp with all the decorations and furnishing inside. But it does gives the traditional market-like feel but yet still homely.
Food we ordered...
SweetBread - aka Filled Crossed Bun at $1.50
This is something which I never thought of buying while at Marche in the past. But thanks to bf, now I'll make sure I buy one whenever I'm there. I like the fluffy texture of the bun and the skin (outer layer) of the bun has a sweet taste to it. Makes the bun very enjoyable to eat. But the fillings is very little, filled only 1/8 of the bun. But still I won't mind paying $1.50 for it. Of cos, if they stuff in my fillings, it'll make it just perfect.
Vegetables small plate at $4.90
I loveee mushrooms. And this "buffet" style vegetables stall has great mushrooms. It's tasty and fragrant. We mixed the mushrooms with baby potatoes. Quite nice too. Will want to try the rest of the vegetables the next time.
Crepe Mushroom at $10.90
This one is my most most favorite! Thin crepe freshly made upon order. The fillings is generous and the mixed of vegetables, cheese, sauce and mushrooms is simply delicious! Just thinking of it now makes me drool for more!
*SLURPS!*
Rating given:
Chanced upon this modernly decorated shop while browsing around Marina Square over the weekend. The concept is somewhat similar to inQbox which has been around for awhile already. But Cactus Farm gives me a better impressions. The products on display are very neatly arranged and the entire shop gives a comfortable feel for their customers. The lighting of the shop plays quite an important part too.
The products on display are mostly from indie designers from Singapore. I noticed they do have products imported from overseas. There's this one that caught our attention at the entrance. It's a pair of square slippers. Looks quite interesting. Will sure to draw attention when worn around town. It cost about $40 if I didn't remember wrongly.
A quick check at their website and the rental is only from $8/day. Sounds pretty cheap, but that's only if your products are attractive and good to draw buyers.
If you're an indie designer, you might want to go check out Cactus Farm and look for their G.O.D or B.A.D! They also has got a M.A.D too! Interesting designations for the team. :)
Rating given:
Heard many good things about this tiny little stall serving up handmade beef burgers that were purportedly one of the best around. Apparently its burger is so well known that it featured in one of the recent articles in the Straits Times.
Occupying one of the four F&B units at a small alfresco dining area along Bukit Timah Road, Smok'inn Frogz plays neighbour to an Indian food stall, a Thai food stall and a small bar counter. And that is where its charm lies. Seating on high wooden stools against the backdrop of million dollar homes, all in a fan induced cool environment has a certain laid back charm to it.
Calamari ($8) - At $8 a basket, the calamari wasn't too expensive really and came rather well done. The batter wasn't too thick and didn't come across as too oily while the squid retained some of its elasticity and chewiness. Only thing that I thought could have been improved was the frying time. The batter was deep fried for a little too long, rendering it a darker shade of golden brown.
Homemade Beef Burger ($12)- Being a fan of beef burgers, I was most eager to try out their much raved about homemade beef burger. While the burger was very decent with the texture of the patty uneven and full of bite yet retaining its tenderness, I did find it lacking in the inherent beefy taste, which kinda took some points off the score. $12 gets you the burger and some fries with a small serving of salad as well.
$20 for a meal is rather reasonable for the quantity and quality of food. Drinks can be bought from the neighbouring stall at $1.50 per can of soft drink and if you need a quick Thai or Indian fix, there's the other stalls as well.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The cravings for dim sum meant that i am always on the lookout for places be it restaurants or eateries which can answer to my stomach’s calling. Victor’s Kitchen has been around for quite a while now, and has been labeled with the “good dim sum at affordable price” tag.
Located at Sunshine Plaza off the corner at Bencoolen street, it is a no-frills, grab-your-seats kind of place. Victor’s is divided into two seating area, with both holding a maximum of maybe fifteen people each. Seats are limited, you must be prepared to queue up for them, and squeeze in the small seating area. Well, more like a small eatery than a cafe or restaurant kind of environment.
Chicken & Sausage in Glutinous rice ($4)
I always like glutinous rice, dim sum style. Opening the leave that wrapped the rice, the aroma of the glutinous rice flowed out, and it was just so good. The chicken was tender and the chinese sausage palatable, the fragrant and soft rice, all the combinations made the glutinous rice a praiseworthy dish.
Tasty Queen size Siew Mai ($3)
You don’t say you eat dim sum if you did not order siew mai and har gau. Nicknamed the queen size siew mai, its actually the normal size i guess that’s why they didn’t named it as King size siew mai instead.
The pork meat in the siew mai is very lean, not those fatty type. The portion of prawn to pork is actually very low, so not much of prawn taste, its the more porky kind.
Victor’s King prawn dumpling ($3.80)
Prawn dumpling or har gau, another mainstay in the dim sum menu. The skin of the Victor’s King prawn dumpling is rather thin, and the prawns inside looked like its going to burst out anytime. The fresh prawns go easy on the palates and always welcome with second helpings.
Carrot cake with XO sauce ($3.80)
I was rather amazed when i saw the Carrot cake with XO sauce served. For one i wasn’t expecting the carrot cake to be literally soaked in xo sauce, i thought it will be something like the one i had at Peach Garden, or Yan Ting, but i guess again, there isn’t any “fried” or “pan-seared” attached with the name here.
The name’s scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce, but i hardly had any hint of the presence of scallop and sausage in it, and i think i still preferred my carrot cake to be fried than soup. Nonetheless, the amount of XO sauce given was rather generous, and i guess its more of a personal issue, some might just fancy this over the normal fried carrot cake.
Oyster sauce Char Siew Bun ($2.80)
I preferred my char siew bun to be those restaurants-type where there is three parts one. There’s no trace of oyster sauce in the char siew bun, or maybe i happened to miss the flavor.
Nevertheless, the char siew bun is still quite soft and fluffy, the juicy char siew captured within is also enjoyable. Not the best char siew bun i had, but it will suffice.
Milky Custard Bun ($2.80)
I am getting warm up to Custard bun nowadays since i used to only flavor char siew bun when i had dim sum. You know a good custard bun when you see one, hot milky custard oozing out of the bun, tempting you with both visual and taste.
However, the case is not to be with Victor’s Milky custard bun. Touted as their signature dish, i was totally disappointed with the one i had here. Maybe the ones at Victor’s don’t ooze out, but for the custard buns to come cold is another complete matter all together.
Having heard many wonderful things about their signature custard bun, i must said i was shocked by the revelation in the quality of the buns. Maybe its a case of a bad hair day, but i’ll give it a chance and re-visit to try it again the next time.
Spare Ribs rice ($3)
I’m not even sure if i want to elaborate on the spare ribs rice. First thing first, the rice is hard, too hard. I do understand that ribs being ribs do not have much meat, but this one, the pork ribs were not even tasteful. A waste of 3 bucks, kindly ignore this if you ever go to Victor’s.
Phoenix Porridge ($3.50)
The century egg porridge or pi dan chow is transform in the name of Phoenix porridge. However the majestic name did itself no favors with a run of the mill watery porridge. There are bits of century egg and chicken chunks, but i don’t see the point in paying $3.50 for an average small bowl porridge.
Deep fried spring roll ($3)
The deep fried spring roll is pretty decent, with the usual mix of turnips inside. The vinger dip was a commendable mention, with the slightly sourish sauce going well together with the deep fried stuff. The spring roll was crispy and you could hear the “crisp” sound with every bite you took.
Char siew cheong fun ($3)
The trails of a good char siew cheong fun are smooth and silky skin, which comes with juicy char siew. However the skin of the cheong fun or rice roll is rather thick, i’ll prefer it to be slightly thinner. The char siew within the cheong fun is still acceptable.
King prawn cheong fun ($3.50)
I think we over ordered, which results in having another one, the King prawn cheong fun. I presumed the prawns are the same as the ones in the har gau, and they are fresh and good, pity the skin of the cheong fun though.
Total Bill is $51.1 for 3 person. Victor’s kitchen is definitely affordable and rather cheap with its array of dim sum served. The maths work out to be around less than a dollar per piece for most of the items, which can be a good place for your dim sum fix if you want something cheap and not bad.
Victor’s Kitchen is a case of hits and misses. However the misses hit me more because i had high expectations of the place since there are much rave about the dim sum here. With the silky custard bun as the biggest upset in this visit, it is likely i will visit the place again in the future, to prove whether its a fluke or one-off thing.
The place is small, and they don’t take any reservations, do go at earlier timings or be prepared to queue a while for the seats. Its also advisable to go in small groups since there aren’t much space and table to accommodate a large crowd.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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Went there for lunch after choir. The lunch set meal is really valued for money @ $14.90 with free flow of their famous mushroom soup.
Indeed the soup tasted great. The taste of the mushroom was thick but not too much. Tasted well even without addition of pepper.
Fish and Chip. Feedback was that it was tasteless though I felt that it was alright. But the size of the portion was too big and trying to finish it makes us uncomfortable.
Steak. Asked for the steak in medium well done but it came out medium rare instead. Taste was great if not for the done-ness of the steak.
Salmon (don't know what) Miso Spaget. It's Miso spaghetti was the best. Definitely the best tasting sauce that we've ever had for spaghetti. However, the salmon that came with it doesn't seem fresh and had an odd taste to it.
Service attitude was fine though there were only like 2 waitress for the restaurant, service was prompt because there were only 2 tables to be served.
Will definitely visit again as there are other interesting dishes to try.
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Affordable Italian Cuisine
Located at a coffee shop on Block 412 Bedok North is this small Italian eatery called Il Picolo. After the emergence of Astons, Botak J and the likes, there seem to be an influx of such "restaurant" like feel to coffee shops in the heartlands. It seems that the trend is taking off. We now have steaks, burgers and italian food. Guess what is next?
Prices for mains range from between $5 to $15 for 12" size pizzas. Since it was lunch time, I just had the Beef Lasagna ($6) while the other half decided to go with Botak J. which was in the same coffee shop.
It was a decent portion and sizable enough to have a satisfying lunch. The layers of pasta were not too thick and the chunks of beef were well balanced. It was served piping hot and unlike some other lasagnas this one does not have the burnt out taste. It also helped that there was a generous amount of melted cheese which served as a great dip for the fries that came with the dish ordered from Botak J. :)
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