Having stay in Holland before for about 10 years, i can say i grew up with this coffee shop (cant remember how many years it had opened though), its used to be just below my block.
Holland V Fish Head Bee Hun, needless to say it is famous for its XO Fish Head Bee Hun. Somehow my family feels that when the store was not so famous, the food tasted better. When the store become more well-known, the boss becomes a bit cocky and proud.
Having said all that, one of the dish that i liked from the store is its prawn-paste chicken. Its one of the best i had tasted before, so go on try it if you visit the coffee shop.
O well, although the boss is a bit cocky and all that stuff, Holland V Fish Head Bee Hun remains to be one of the more famous stores in Holland V
Had Business lunch at Yum Cha restaurant, one of the more commonly recognize Dim-Sum restaurant in Singapore probably due to their TV advertisements. The other one which will come to my mind thinking of dim-sum will be Fortunate Restaurant also because of their TV adverts.
The menu was done up very nicely and shows colorful, attractive pictures of the dim-sum. The place was quite full, so we had to wait a while before the food was served.
The Dim-sum taste and looks good, price is reasonable i guess, although u cant compare it with a dim-sum buffet. We had cheong fun, carrot cake, xiaolongbao, glutinous rice in lotus leaf, chicken giant bun, steamed bean curd skin roll, steamed pork ribs, har gao, century egg congee, fried vegetarian spring roll.
Quite a wide range of dim-sum available, too many for you to taste it all : )
Hmm, came here to "chill out"or rather to have someplace for a drink and chat after we had our dinner at Alaturka.
We only had drinks there, milo, tea, coffee. Had a quick glance at the menu, quite agree with the previous blurber shu yen that it is quite a rip off. Hot drinks are at $1.20, while ice drinks are at $2.50 and above. I had hot milo, while the ice milo because it has ice cost $1.30 more? Since when did ice become so expensive?
The menu had quite a variety of Hong Kong cafe food, but the price are rather high. I mean although its a restaurant, but its just selling Hong Kong cafe food which is not really worth that much of a price. Instant noodle with luncheon meat and egg, i can cook that for you at home, i just charge $2? ( : O well, cant really comment on the food because we did not order any
Melody is right. Halong Bay is nice. Must find the right weather to visit. When we were there, it was raining and slightly misty. If you do decide to go to Halong bay, better to stay one night on the boat like what Melody did. It is a 4 hours journey there and 4 hours back. Total of 8 hours. We were there for a day trip and the traveling time was not the best.
They bay was calm throughout the journey and along the way we were able to stop by a floating seafood farm to pick out life seafood for lunch. This got everyone excited.
Another place to visit in Hanoi is Sapa. It is an overnight train trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai and another 1 hour to the mountainous region of Sapa. The train departs at 9pm and arrives in Lao Cai at 5am. it is quite a site to see hundreds of people half awake pulling their luggage off the train, walking in dense darkness across the train tracks. Sort of reminds you of a scene in a movie in Schindler's list or other WWII movie.
If you do take a train, make sure it is the tourist class train in cabin 2-4 (Livitrans Express). Anything other than that (except the Victorian Express, which is 1st class) is not recommended. Unless you want to experience the WWII feeling. Surprisingly, the train ride was smooth and not as we expected...it was even quieter than the MRT :) That makes it easy to doze off.
Anyway, the sights in Sapa just makes the train ride worthwhile. The weather was cool (3-10 degrees celcius) and the fresh mountain air was refreshing. If you do visit Sapa, perhaps you should spend at least 3-4 days there to explore the hilly ethnic tribes and visit their homes. Most of the guides bring you to the popular destinations. But if you are the off the beaten track type, you can rent a bike and go exploring.
The people are generally friendly. Most of the ethnic tribes from Sapa are from the Black Hmong and the Red Hmong. The younger ones speak clear and fluent English, some French and of course Vietnamese. Many European styled houses and food in Sapa, keeping in mind that this town was founded by the French in the 1800s. The Sapa market was bustling with activity with many items imported from China. Yes the Chinese border is just about 30-40km away from Sapa, making it a transit point to Yunnan. Perhaps we will take that road the next time to Dali. But the road trip will be something to contend with.
Another Market in Sapa is in Bac Ha. Here a different ethnic tribe is dominant, the Flower Hmong. On Sunday mornings, they will dress their best to visit the market where they will buy clothes, household items and food for the week. One word to describe it all - colorful. haha.
Sapa gave us a different view of Vietnam and Hanoi. The city is one thing but to see the ethnic tribes live in sheer simplicity (with rice as their main source of income) makes you feel that life can be simple and enjoyable. With the influx of many foreigners to the area, the simplicity might be lost one day...and it might come sooner...same with the many other places in China. The tourist dollar is a strong influence.
The trip was great and the next time who knows, we might be back on our own with a backpack and a map.
Well well, we wanted to try something more exotic because was getting a bit bored of eating chinese, western, and jap food. Alaturka serves a sort of combination of turkish and mediterranean cuisine. I had make a reservation in advance, and they saved their best seat for us, which even had a roof that can be open so that we can look at the sky. So rule number one always make reservation before you go. We took a while before we can decide what to order because all of us did not try turkey food before.
The kofte ($13.00) which was grilled lamb with rice and vege. Turkey really can cook their lamb, or at least at Alaturka they do it well. 4.5 out of 5
The Etlipide ($11.50) which was baked bread with chicken. Pretty good, i think its quite similar to Italy pizza, but if you had it as main course, its not really filling. 3.5 out of 5
Adana chicken Kebab ($13.00), it has grilled chicken kebab with rice and vege. 3.5 out of 5
The Iskender Kebab ($15.00) chicken with yogut. Hmm, it has lots of chicken, but then being the most expensive dish among us, it has no rice, so ordered one rice pilaf at $1.50. Not too bad, but considering it with the other dishes, the price a bit higher. 3.5 out of 5
The Kuzupirzola ($14.00) which was lamb chop with rice and vege. Although i do not eat lamb often, but the lamb chop here was good enough for me. Alaturka really do their lamb well service. 4.5 out of 5
All in all, lamb is well done here, the chicken kebabs are also not bad, quite a number of variety of kebab and Ottoman specials they called it. No air-con, but hey come on, for the reasonable price and good food its worth it. If you want something special, Alaturka is the place for you.
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 : )
Waraku Japanese casual pasta & cafe restaurant at Central. First impression the restaurant was quite nicely decorated, the staff was enthu, mayb too-enthu for my delight. They will say welcome loudly to everyone who came. And sometimes out of nothing they will shout some jap greetings. I mean it is good to be polite, but isn’t this a little over? Besides, it is all right to say greetings in jap but at least yr jap have to sound nice? Some waitress jap does not sound too good to the ear. Think the management should ask diners comments on this
Donald had the Kaminabe Wazen ($19.80), kaminabe sounds like some foul word? haha. Anyway, it has sliced beef & vegetables cook with soup in paper pot, fresh salmon sashimi, and deepfried assortment of vege and prawn, rice The sliced beef and vege in spicy soup, the soup is refreshing to drink, donald (beef lover) say the beef is very nice, so it must be nice. Quite special to put it in paper pot.
The sliced beef and vege in spicy soup, the soup is refreshing to drink, don(beef lover) say the beef is very nice, so it must be nice. Quite special to put it in paper pot. Fried Prawn and vege, looks and taste nice. Onli one miserable prawn, should have give more. I am not really a sashimi eater so cannot judge whether fresh or not. Overall this dish i would give it 4 out of 5
I had the TonkatsuWazen ($15.50) which is pork cutlet set meal i guess. It has pork cutlet (obviously), salad, rice, pickles seaweed with soup noodles. The main character, pork cutlet, cripsy is the word to describe. At some places after eating pork cutlet you will feel the after-effect of being thirsty and stuff like that, but this one wont. The cutlet is also fried jus nice, not too bland and not too salty. Plus my fav healthy servings of vege to go along with it. The seaweed with soup noodles, one big bowl of it, two person to finish it, Noodles taste all right. Tonkatsu set (pork cutlet) gets 3.5 out of 5 because i prefer donald set. As simple as that
Overall the whole restaurant feel, donald say is 3.5, but i think i would give it 4 out of 5, pretty decent price and the food is not too bad, jus that i think the management should improve on the restaurant service, too much shouting around is not music to my ears while i am having my dinner. I had a coupon from them after paying the bill, its gives quite a good discount, BUT, the big but, it is onli limited to 1 coupon per table per bill basis. That means i can use coupon but my friend cant?
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 : )
With the strong review here. I decided to try UNO Beef House (we live in TPY, so, why not?) and I found it's great! We study from previous review that it would be a little bit crowded in the evening. So, we went there earlier (5pm).
We ordered the signature dish "sirloin steak" (I took well-done, my friend had medium one) and yes!!...It's soooo nice. The gravy and taste of beef are really nice. I recommend you to have it with beer or coke.
I ask my friend how much do you want to rate? He said 7.5/10. For me, I gave them 7/10 (I already compared with Kobe Steak in Japan). Anyway, for Singapore, I think this is one of the best steak shop. Don't miss it!
Just beside Subway, Chicago's Steakhouse looks like a good place for good western food. On top of that, the word "steakhouse" immediately catches my attention! First thing you do, of course, is to check out the prices on the menu. Fortunate for people like me, the price is actually absolutely reasonable! Plus, the waiters there are really friendly and welcoming, it just makes you want to walk right in.
I sat down and took my time trying to decide on what to eat. They have main courses like steaks, chicken, fish and lamb! What a variety! I would say their Meat Lovers' dish really did look enticing though I didn't take that. As someone who's hunting for cheap and good steak, I was almost certain before I stepped in that I was gonna order steak. Seeing that a Sirloin Steak with mushroom sauce(70z) was only $10.90, I thought "hey! why not right?" The steak is available in 3 different portions and comes with baked potato and fresh greens too.
One thing I really like about the place is that despite the fact that they were pretty packed that day, your orders still came up fast. But to be honest, fast doesn't mean good.
Although I was real surprised when my steak came up so soon, one look at it and I was thoroughly disappointed. For $10.90, the steak being more than palm size was really a good bargain. However, it was not done very well. I ordered a medium rare but I think I got myself a medium instead. I feel that the thickness of the steak really makes a difference and if dining places wanna make their steak look bigger on the surface, even though it's thinner, (which was what they did), they should know how to do their steaks well too, in order to prevent over-cooking. The mushroom sauce tasted rather ordinary also, with one small slice of shitake mushroom on the steak, as though to say: This really is mushroom sauce, in case you're wondering. The sides were rather pathetic. The baked potato was not even bigger than an apple. Yes, it's more like the size of a plum or prune. Pathetic serving of sour cream and no bacon bits (until you ask for it). The fresh greens was about 5 pieces of french beans, 1 cauliflower and 3 pieces of carrots. Pathetic, once again..
However, the non-steak stuff my friends ordered seemed rather appetizing. It looks more value for money too. At a dollar more, the Fish and Chips does look more filling and appealing than the steak I had (at a steakhouse).
Oh and you get free iced water if you dine there. Not bad eh?
Because of the reasonable prices, I would still consider dining here again but I will not order steaks anymore. Of course if you had a bigger budget, you could try their premium steaks, it could be better. But on the whole, the above was my experience with a $10.90 steak. Disappointing.
Founder Bak Kut Teh has been in the Balestier area for many years and has built up its reputation as one of the best Teochew style Bak Kut Teh stalls in Singapore. The multitude of celebrity photographs taken at the store are testament to that and so are the crowds that throng this outfit during its opening hours.
Just a small nugget of information for those who didn't know, Teochew style Bak Kut Teh is characterised by a clear soup with a peppery base whereas the Hokkien style Bak Kut Teh is darker in colour and heavy on the herbs. As to which tastes better, it boils down to individual preferences. I, for one, prefer the Teochew style. Founder's soup base is very peppery and light, with the pork ribs cooked just right (the meat is slightly reddish). The result is tender pork ribs which exude the tasty goodness of the soup. At $5.50 a bowl, it is slightly on the high side though. But there's air conditioning if you sit inside and the quality is really consistent and good, so I guess its worth the extra money.
Had the opportunity to attend a food sampling session at Absolute Haven, one of the up and coming culinary stars of the quaint Prinsep Street. Much has been said and written about this eatery which dishes out modern European cuisine amidst a chic backdrop.
There's an option of al fresco seating in the relatively small outdoor area or indoor seating in a much larger(and cooler) area which boasts clean lines, wooden pillars and oozes minimalistic elegance. Music was rather tasteful as well if I may say, a most fitting complement to the ambience.
Seafood Sampler ($18) - Almost every tom, dick and harry western eatery I know of has some variation of the seafood platter, be it in name, variety of seafood or otherwise. Which explains the lack of expectations for this dish. Even then, it was a disappointment. The prawns weren't fresh, the batter was too thick and the fries were too soggy. Probably the only positive aspect was the accompanying sauces - beetroot with mayonnaise and lime(?) with mint, both of which were unique in their own right. On a side note, the platter was huge, enough for about 4 pax to share (in the misery, (un)fortunately).
Spinach and Wild Mushrooms Salad ($7.50) - I had expected mushrooms covered by/mixed with a tower of spinach so this dish kinda screwed my expectations a little. The thinly sliced mushrooms were buttery and tasty whereas the button and shitake mushrooms came across as rather normal. The spinach was fresh but a little too soft from the balsamic vinaigrette. I liked the dash of cheese atop though.
Oriental Cod Fish ($24) - The name caught my eye. This is probably an example of modern European cuisine, European food with a fusion twist. Taste wise, the fish was fresh and well complemented by the sweet wolfberries and salty bacon bits. However, the meat could have been a little firmer for better texture.
Tenderloin Steak ($28) - The steak wasn't up to expectations. Period. Sure, it was done medium rare just the way we ordered it, but the meat was too soft, probably from the overuse of tenderizer? The lack of marination was apparent - the beef relied on the overly salty sauce to give it taste. Nothing like the pièce de résistance I had at Prive. I didn't quite like the accompanying potato gratin as well as I found it too dry and heavy on the palate.
Chicken Roulade ($20) - This was probably the best dish of the evening, simple yet close to the heart. Fragrant, tender and juicy, the chicken had bacon and spinach stuffed in between which added a slight salty dimension to it. The avocado salad really wasn't my cup of tea though. Very soft and mashed up, it reminded me of baby food. But I guess this really boils down to personal preference.
Victorian Creme Brulee ($8) - Aesthetics wise, the creme brulee was rather pleasing, especially when served with the rose petals. However, its texture reminded me more of egg custard than creme brulee, which is something rather weird. There was also a small rose bud embedded within, which came across as rather overwhelming.
Tira Mi Su ($9) - Another visually pleasing dessert, the tiramisu didn't impress with its pudding like mascarpone cheese mousse. It tasted really weird to me, but I guess thats personal preference as well. I couldn't detect any hint of liqueur at all and the cake was rather soggy from the espresso coffee at the bottom. It wasn't entirely disastrous though. At least it came across as light on the palate.
Overall, the food certainly isn't great but the soothing ambience and attentive service more than makes up for it. You won't have to worry about still or sparkling here as well as they serve natural strawberry flavoured ice water, a deviation from the norm.
*disclaimer: This tasting session was for the purpose of ascertaining the suitability of Absolute Haven for one of our upcoming events.
1=SGD 0.0587
Having stay in Holland before for about 10 years, i can say i grew up with this coffee shop (cant remember how many years it had opened though), its used to be just below my block.
Holland V Fish Head Bee Hun, needless to say it is famous for its XO Fish Head Bee Hun. Somehow my family feels that when the store was not so famous, the food tasted better. When the store become more well-known, the boss becomes a bit cocky and proud.
Having said all that, one of the dish that i liked from the store is its prawn-paste chicken. Its one of the best i had tasted before, so go on try it if you visit the coffee shop.
O well, although the boss is a bit cocky and all that stuff, Holland V Fish Head Bee Hun remains to be one of the more famous stores in Holland V
Rating given:
Had Business lunch at Yum Cha restaurant, one of the more commonly recognize Dim-Sum restaurant in Singapore probably due to their TV advertisements. The other one which will come to my mind thinking of dim-sum will be Fortunate Restaurant also because of their TV adverts.
The menu was done up very nicely and shows colorful, attractive pictures of the dim-sum. The place was quite full, so we had to wait a while before the food was served.
The Dim-sum taste and looks good, price is reasonable i guess, although u cant compare it with a dim-sum buffet. We had cheong fun, carrot cake, xiaolongbao, glutinous rice in lotus leaf, chicken giant bun, steamed bean curd skin roll, steamed pork ribs, har gao, century egg congee, fried vegetarian spring roll.
Quite a wide range of dim-sum available, too many for you to taste it all : )
Rating given:
Hmm, came here to "chill out"or rather to have someplace for a drink and chat after we had our dinner at Alaturka.
We only had drinks there, milo, tea, coffee. Had a quick glance at the menu, quite agree with the previous blurber shu yen that it is quite a rip off. Hot drinks are at $1.20, while ice drinks are at $2.50 and above. I had hot milo, while the ice milo because it has ice cost $1.30 more? Since when did ice become so expensive?
The menu had quite a variety of Hong Kong cafe food, but the price are rather high. I mean although its a restaurant, but its just selling Hong Kong cafe food which is not really worth that much of a price. Instant noodle with luncheon meat and egg, i can cook that for you at home, i just charge $2? ( : O well, cant really comment on the food because we did not order any
Rating given:
Melody is right. Halong Bay is nice. Must find the right weather to visit. When we were there, it was raining and slightly misty. If you do decide to go to Halong bay, better to stay one night on the boat like what Melody did. It is a 4 hours journey there and 4 hours back. Total of 8 hours. We were there for a day trip and the traveling time was not the best.
They bay was calm throughout the journey and along the way we were able to stop by a floating seafood farm to pick out life seafood for lunch. This got everyone excited.
Another place to visit in Hanoi is Sapa. It is an overnight train trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai and another 1 hour to the mountainous region of Sapa. The train departs at 9pm and arrives in Lao Cai at 5am. it is quite a site to see hundreds of people half awake pulling their luggage off the train, walking in dense darkness across the train tracks. Sort of reminds you of a scene in a movie in Schindler's list or other WWII movie.
If you do take a train, make sure it is the tourist class train in cabin 2-4 (Livitrans Express). Anything other than that (except the Victorian Express, which is 1st class) is not recommended. Unless you want to experience the WWII feeling. Surprisingly, the train ride was smooth and not as we expected...it was even quieter than the MRT :) That makes it easy to doze off.
Anyway, the sights in Sapa just makes the train ride worthwhile. The weather was cool (3-10 degrees celcius) and the fresh mountain air was refreshing. If you do visit Sapa, perhaps you should spend at least 3-4 days there to explore the hilly ethnic tribes and visit their homes. Most of the guides bring you to the popular destinations. But if you are the off the beaten track type, you can rent a bike and go exploring.
The people are generally friendly. Most of the ethnic tribes from Sapa are from the Black Hmong and the Red Hmong. The younger ones speak clear and fluent English, some French and of course Vietnamese. Many European styled houses and food in Sapa, keeping in mind that this town was founded by the French in the 1800s. The Sapa market was bustling with activity with many items imported from China. Yes the Chinese border is just about 30-40km away from Sapa, making it a transit point to Yunnan. Perhaps we will take that road the next time to Dali. But the road trip will be something to contend with.
Another Market in Sapa is in Bac Ha. Here a different ethnic tribe is dominant, the Flower Hmong. On Sunday mornings, they will dress their best to visit the market where they will buy clothes, household items and food for the week. One word to describe it all - colorful. haha.
Sapa gave us a different view of Vietnam and Hanoi. The city is one thing but to see the ethnic tribes live in sheer simplicity (with rice as their main source of income) makes you feel that life can be simple and enjoyable. With the influx of many foreigners to the area, the simplicity might be lost one day...and it might come sooner...same with the many other places in China. The tourist dollar is a strong influence.
The trip was great and the next time who knows, we might be back on our own with a backpack and a map.
Rating given:
Well well, we wanted to try something more exotic because was getting a bit bored of eating chinese, western, and jap food. Alaturka serves a sort of combination of turkish and mediterranean cuisine. I had make a reservation in advance, and they saved their best seat for us, which even had a roof that can be open so that we can look at the sky. So rule number one always make reservation before you go. We took a while before we can decide what to order because all of us did not try turkey food before.
The kofte ($13.00) which was grilled lamb with rice and vege. Turkey really can cook their lamb, or at least at Alaturka they do it well. 4.5 out of 5
The Etlipide ($11.50) which was baked bread with chicken. Pretty good, i think its quite similar to Italy pizza, but if you had it as main course, its not really filling. 3.5 out of 5
Adana chicken Kebab ($13.00), it has grilled chicken kebab with rice and vege. 3.5 out of 5
The Iskender Kebab ($15.00) chicken with yogut. Hmm, it has lots of chicken, but then being the most expensive dish among us, it has no rice, so ordered one rice pilaf at $1.50. Not too bad, but considering it with the other dishes, the price a bit higher. 3.5 out of 5
The Kuzupirzola ($14.00) which was lamb chop with rice and vege. Although i do not eat lamb often, but the lamb chop here was good enough for me. Alaturka really do their lamb well service. 4.5 out of 5
All in all, lamb is well done here, the chicken kebabs are also not bad, quite a number of variety of kebab and Ottoman specials they called it. No air-con, but hey come on, for the reasonable price and good food its worth it. If you want something special, Alaturka is the place for you.
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 : )
Rating given:
Waraku Japanese casual pasta & cafe restaurant at Central. First impression the restaurant was quite nicely decorated, the staff was enthu, mayb too-enthu for my delight. They will say welcome loudly to everyone who came. And sometimes out of nothing they will shout some jap greetings. I mean it is good to be polite, but isn’t this a little over? Besides, it is all right to say greetings in jap but at least yr jap have to sound nice? Some waitress jap does not sound too good to the ear. Think the management should ask diners comments on this
Donald had the Kaminabe Wazen ($19.80), kaminabe sounds like some foul word? haha. Anyway, it has sliced beef & vegetables cook with soup in paper pot, fresh salmon sashimi, and deepfried assortment of vege and prawn, rice The sliced beef and vege in spicy soup, the soup is refreshing to drink, donald (beef lover) say the beef is very nice, so it must be nice. Quite special to put it in paper pot.
The sliced beef and vege in spicy soup, the soup is refreshing to drink, don(beef lover) say the beef is very nice, so it must be nice. Quite special to put it in paper pot. Fried Prawn and vege, looks and taste nice. Onli one miserable prawn, should have give more. I am not really a sashimi eater so cannot judge whether fresh or not. Overall this dish i would give it 4 out of 5
I had the TonkatsuWazen ($15.50) which is pork cutlet set meal i guess. It has pork cutlet (obviously), salad, rice, pickles seaweed with soup noodles. The main character, pork cutlet, cripsy is the word to describe. At some places after eating pork cutlet you will feel the after-effect of being thirsty and stuff like that, but this one wont. The cutlet is also fried jus nice, not too bland and not too salty. Plus my fav healthy servings of vege to go along with it. The seaweed with soup noodles, one big bowl of it, two person to finish it, Noodles taste all right. Tonkatsu set (pork cutlet) gets 3.5 out of 5 because i prefer donald set. As simple as that
Overall the whole restaurant feel, donald say is 3.5, but i think i would give it 4 out of 5, pretty decent price and the food is not too bad, jus that i think the management should improve on the restaurant service, too much shouting around is not music to my ears while i am having my dinner. I had a coupon from them after paying the bill, its gives quite a good discount, BUT, the big but, it is onli limited to 1 coupon per table per bill basis. That means i can use coupon but my friend cant?
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 : )
Rating given:
With the strong review here. I decided to try UNO Beef House (we live in TPY, so, why not?) and I found it's great! We study from previous review that it would be a little bit crowded in the evening. So, we went there earlier (5pm).
We ordered the signature dish "sirloin steak" (I took well-done, my friend had medium one) and yes!!...It's soooo nice. The gravy and taste of beef are really nice. I recommend you to have it with beer or coke.
I ask my friend how much do you want to rate? He said 7.5/10. For me, I gave them 7/10 (I already compared with Kobe Steak in Japan). Anyway, for Singapore, I think this is one of the best steak shop. Don't miss it!
Rating given:
Just beside Subway, Chicago's Steakhouse looks like a good place for good western food. On top of that, the word "steakhouse" immediately catches my attention! First thing you do, of course, is to check out the prices on the menu. Fortunate for people like me, the price is actually absolutely reasonable! Plus, the waiters there are really friendly and welcoming, it just makes you want to walk right in.
I sat down and took my time trying to decide on what to eat. They have main courses like steaks, chicken, fish and lamb! What a variety! I would say their Meat Lovers' dish really did look enticing though I didn't take that. As someone who's hunting for cheap and good steak, I was almost certain before I stepped in that I was gonna order steak. Seeing that a Sirloin Steak with mushroom sauce(70z) was only $10.90, I thought "hey! why not right?" The steak is available in 3 different portions and comes with baked potato and fresh greens too.
One thing I really like about the place is that despite the fact that they were pretty packed that day, your orders still came up fast. But to be honest, fast doesn't mean good.
Although I was real surprised when my steak came up so soon, one look at it and I was thoroughly disappointed. For $10.90, the steak being more than palm size was really a good bargain. However, it was not done very well. I ordered a medium rare but I think I got myself a medium instead. I feel that the thickness of the steak really makes a difference and if dining places wanna make their steak look bigger on the surface, even though it's thinner, (which was what they did), they should know how to do their steaks well too, in order to prevent over-cooking. The mushroom sauce tasted rather ordinary also, with one small slice of shitake mushroom on the steak, as though to say: This really is mushroom sauce, in case you're wondering. The sides were rather pathetic. The baked potato was not even bigger than an apple. Yes, it's more like the size of a plum or prune. Pathetic serving of sour cream and no bacon bits (until you ask for it). The fresh greens was about 5 pieces of french beans, 1 cauliflower and 3 pieces of carrots. Pathetic, once again..
However, the non-steak stuff my friends ordered seemed rather appetizing. It looks more value for money too. At a dollar more, the Fish and Chips does look more filling and appealing than the steak I had (at a steakhouse).
Oh and you get free iced water if you dine there. Not bad eh?
Because of the reasonable prices, I would still consider dining here again but I will not order steaks anymore. Of course if you had a bigger budget, you could try their premium steaks, it could be better. But on the whole, the above was my experience with a $10.90 steak. Disappointing.
Rating given:
Founder Bak Kut Teh has been in the Balestier area for many years and has built up its reputation as one of the best Teochew style Bak Kut Teh stalls in Singapore. The multitude of celebrity photographs taken at the store are testament to that and so are the crowds that throng this outfit during its opening hours.
Just a small nugget of information for those who didn't know, Teochew style Bak Kut Teh is characterised by a clear soup with a peppery base whereas the Hokkien style Bak Kut Teh is darker in colour and heavy on the herbs. As to which tastes better, it boils down to individual preferences. I, for one, prefer the Teochew style. Founder's soup base is very peppery and light, with the pork ribs cooked just right (the meat is slightly reddish). The result is tender pork ribs which exude the tasty goodness of the soup. At $5.50 a bowl, it is slightly on the high side though. But there's air conditioning if you sit inside and the quality is really consistent and good, so I guess its worth the extra money.
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Had the opportunity to attend a food sampling session at Absolute Haven, one of the up and coming culinary stars of the quaint Prinsep Street. Much has been said and written about this eatery which dishes out modern European cuisine amidst a chic backdrop.
There's an option of al fresco seating in the relatively small outdoor area or indoor seating in a much larger(and cooler) area which boasts clean lines, wooden pillars and oozes minimalistic elegance. Music was rather tasteful as well if I may say, a most fitting complement to the ambience.
Seafood Sampler ($18) - Almost every tom, dick and harry western eatery I know of has some variation of the seafood platter, be it in name, variety of seafood or otherwise. Which explains the lack of expectations for this dish. Even then, it was a disappointment. The prawns weren't fresh, the batter was too thick and the fries were too soggy. Probably the only positive aspect was the accompanying sauces - beetroot with mayonnaise and lime(?) with mint, both of which were unique in their own right. On a side note, the platter was huge, enough for about 4 pax to share (in the misery, (un)fortunately).
Spinach and Wild Mushrooms Salad ($7.50) - I had expected mushrooms covered by/mixed with a tower of spinach so this dish kinda screwed my expectations a little. The thinly sliced mushrooms were buttery and tasty whereas the button and shitake mushrooms came across as rather normal. The spinach was fresh but a little too soft from the balsamic vinaigrette. I liked the dash of cheese atop though.
Oriental Cod Fish ($24) - The name caught my eye. This is probably an example of modern European cuisine, European food with a fusion twist. Taste wise, the fish was fresh and well complemented by the sweet wolfberries and salty bacon bits. However, the meat could have been a little firmer for better texture.
Tenderloin Steak ($28) - The steak wasn't up to expectations. Period. Sure, it was done medium rare just the way we ordered it, but the meat was too soft, probably from the overuse of tenderizer? The lack of marination was apparent - the beef relied on the overly salty sauce to give it taste. Nothing like the pièce de résistance I had at Prive. I didn't quite like the accompanying potato gratin as well as I found it too dry and heavy on the palate.
Chicken Roulade ($20) - This was probably the best dish of the evening, simple yet close to the heart. Fragrant, tender and juicy, the chicken had bacon and spinach stuffed in between which added a slight salty dimension to it. The avocado salad really wasn't my cup of tea though. Very soft and mashed up, it reminded me of baby food. But I guess this really boils down to personal preference.
Victorian Creme Brulee ($8) - Aesthetics wise, the creme brulee was rather pleasing, especially when served with the rose petals. However, its texture reminded me more of egg custard than creme brulee, which is something rather weird. There was also a small rose bud embedded within, which came across as rather overwhelming.
Tira Mi Su ($9) - Another visually pleasing dessert, the tiramisu didn't impress with its pudding like mascarpone cheese mousse. It tasted really weird to me, but I guess thats personal preference as well. I couldn't detect any hint of liqueur at all and the cake was rather soggy from the espresso coffee at the bottom. It wasn't entirely disastrous though. At least it came across as light on the palate.
Overall, the food certainly isn't great but the soothing ambience and attentive service more than makes up for it. You won't have to worry about still or sparkling here as well as they serve natural strawberry flavoured ice water, a deviation from the norm.
*disclaimer: This tasting session was for the purpose of ascertaining the suitability of Absolute Haven for one of our upcoming events.
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