After being told by my friend that there's this little shop hiding at the Tasty Treatz corner, near Tower 3/Carrefour of Suntec City Mall which sells sweet potato snacks, we've decided to give it a try.
For the 2 times that I've been there, I've tried the roasted sweet potato which was really good! Like the way they roasted it in a big pot. Infact, that's a Taiwanese-patented infrared oven! The sweet potato was nice & soft and the skin could be easily peeled off too. I simply fell in love with the roasted sweet potato. Haha!
Their service was great too. Very friendly people, and they even provide you with serviettes.
Other items on the menu include sweet potato fries, mashed sweet potato and sweet potato rolls. On top of these, they even sell flavoured sweet potato drinks. I shall try them next time. Heez...
It's definitely a healthy snack (except for maybe the fries) and it gives me another reason to eat now. Haha...
Vivocity is one the biggest shapping mall in Spore. I will be there almost every weekend as well. Haa....
I feel that it is one of the best design shopping centre as well. When I was there for the first time, I have a feeling a being lost as the place is really big, even with the help of a map. However after a while, I get used to it and find it quite easy to move around as well.
They boast the biggest cinema in Spore, got a sky train to Sentosa, and they are next to St James, the biggest entertainment outlet.
They also managed to get a lot of big fashion brands like Gap, River Island, Tangs, etc.
Electronic shops like Samsung, Challenger, Best Denki and many more handphone shop.
Restaurants, from small cafes like Ben and Jerry, to the usual coffee joints like Starbucks and Coffee Bean etc, to the fast food, special ones like Super Dog, to all lot of food courts, Food Republic. Too many to list down here.
There is also a big wading pool on the roof top where good to see kids running in and out. There are also lots of grass patches to have a picnic maybe.
So there are tons of things to do there. Good way to spend a weekend, if you are sick of town shopping centres.
While waiting for my movie to start, decided to hang out out Ben and Jerry for some ice cream. I think this is one of the biggest outlet in Spore with a space for some bands to jam.
I am always a big fan of Ben and Jerry ice cream, especially Chucky Monkey! Hee....
The service of the place is pretty smooth. Nothing to wow on.
The main thing that I dun like was the band yesterday. I thought that I can have a good chat but it turns out that the band was too loud for any chit chat and the singing was not good. The singer was screaming at every word. Sigh..
So in the end we jz finished out ice cream fast and move out of that place fast! I think if their plan is to use the band to make the customer move out of the place fast, I think they had done it.
The ice cream 5 stars but overall experience at the outlet 2 stars.
Cafe Cartel is a decent place to go I must say, with the price they charge (excluding GST) and the ambience of the place. It's not some romantic place, but it's good for gatherings with a small group of friends.
I was just there with some friends. Somehow we always end up at Cafe Cartel when we're looking for somewhere we can afford and yet looks good. So here we are, eyeing the free flow of bread and comfy couch. Ok and of course the food plus half-price cakes after 9pm!
As with most the other Cafe Cartels that I've been to, I was expecting the bread to be served to us. Or at least, they would offer to cut the bread for people at the bread station. However I was somehow a little disappointed when I realized they didn't work this way there. It wasn't that they were too busy, there were 2 waiters chatting away beside me. And when I asked for more bread, they said they'll get it for me but eventually we still had to go back to the bread station to get more ourselves.
Apart from that, I feel that the people there are a rather bubbly group. It actually seems to have an effect on the surroundings, makes the place much more lively.
I ordered a seafood combo I think, because I was looking for something which has calamari! But I was quite disappointed by the grilled fish. It was rather bland. But the pork chop and fish and chips my friends ordered were not bad. They were of reasonable standard. The pork chop came with a sauce that tasted abit like Char Siew (haha!) but it went well with the meat. It was a large serving though. Would have been good for big eaters!
Finally, we were so full but we had to get ourselves the half-price cakes! So we ordered a blueberry cheesecake to share. I think the cake was not bad! The blueberry on top was very smooth and sweet, with little bits of blueberry in it. The cheesecake itself was soft and not too rich either. Sometimes you tend to get sick of cheesecake very fast, but I find this just nice. It was 2.30 after discount! Really worth it right :D
However, with the GST, our bill totaled up to 53.80 for 3. Not very cheap I must say(even with the half-priced cake! haha). Good thing students have a 10% discount (which is better than nothing)! Or else I really won't go there so often..
National Day meant many things for me but most of all it meant my girlfriend could get the National Day celebrations discount offered by Secret Recipe which allowed all their cakes to be available for purchase at a whooping 42% discount. Her choice of indulgence? After an agonizing 1 hour of listening to the shop assistant who eventually lied to get her number, the heavy weighted Moist Chocolate Cake which weights in at an astonishing 2.1kg.@
Moist Chocolate Cake ($26 due to discount) - Being my first Secret Recipe cake, i'd say this was big. The shop assistant kindly pointed out the best way to enjoy this was by first heating it and he wasn't wrong at all. When heated, the cake is warm, with a nice layer of melting dark chocolate that would have been better if given in bigger doses but in its current form still managed to indulge the senses with its cocoa content. The thin light brownish layer you see in the middle is mocha fudge which provides a sweet and light relief from the majority of the cake's thick bitter chocolate layer. The sponge cake was also denser then usual and thus results in a more fulfilling spoonful then regular sponge cakes available elsewhere.
So is the Secret Recipe used in this cake good enough? I would say it was really quite good. I loved the melting bitter chocolate layer and the small mocha layer in the middle when i munched on its sponge cake. However, i really would have preferred it if they could have given a few more layers of chocolate of something else to mix up the taste abit as it can get overwhelmingly strong after a few bites.
Definitely worth its price when discounted but i would never pay the full price for a cake of this caliber. To me, $45 should net me something much more exotic or at least thoughtful then this offering. However, this is still a good steal at $26, too bad it comes around only once yearly. =P
I believe the cafe needs no introduction. Its penetration rate is pretty decent with a grand total of 10 outlets in Singapore located mostly in the friendly neighbourhood malls or chic city locales. Supposedly conceived by an Italian lady and a Jewish baker along the back streets of New York craving some home cooked meals, its said to offer fine pastries and equally fine main courses (at least thats what they planned in the first place!)
Anyway, i was there for many occasions so i thought i'd do this in one fell swoop. The mains of this blog was done with my colleagues at a farewell dinner held for a great friend, while the desserts were from my standalone visits.
Banana And Peach Waffle ($7.30) - I personally did not get to try this but it does look quite appetizing doesn't it? The reason its the first food picture? Well, we actually ordered this as a starter. =P
Blue Haven ($4.50) - Termed as a Spider in their menu (whatever that is), all i can say is that this drink tastes good at the upper portion but gets REALLY sweet near the bottom. I enjoyed it for its vanilla ice cream and really cold taste but couldn't quite take to the flavoring near the bottom. Tread with caution here.
Our orders were the Chicken Chef's Salad ($9.70), Texas Rodeo Ribs ($16.50), Hawaiian Pork Chops ($14.20), Spicy Thai Seafood Pasta ($14.60) and St Louis Pork Ribs ($15.20). The above are what my friends ordered. And some orders were repeated as so only single pictures were shown. I personally had a go at most of the items, albeit only in bite sized portions. The ribs were tender and fragrant but too drenched in sauce to be consumed by one person alone as it get overwhelming. I found the pork chops nothing special and a little too oily for my tastes. Finally, the salad was pretty good but i couldn't condone the price it comes at.
Crispy Jumbo Combo ($47.90) - Now this order i shared with everyone else. Its huge to say the least. It comes with a healthy dose of potato wedges and i must say it goes really well with the wasabi mayonnaise combination sauce and its more normal BBQ sauce. Also on the plate are chicken wings, 2 huge fish fillets, 2 fried chicken cutlets, fried prawns and mixed vegetables. Well, weight control and health concerns obviously go out the window with this order. Everything is fried to a friendly golden brown with batter which thankfully isn't too thick. Fish and chicken fillets were both nicely done, maintaining a crispy exterior with a tender and juicy interior. The rodeo wings i found weren't seasoned enough and tasted more like normal chicken wings to me. The prawns weren't too special either. Freshness of it mixed vegetables were also questionable but the wedges and fillets won this dish for me. Not to mention the "chef's special sauce", which is essentially wasabi with mayonnaise, simply went well with anything fried. Best part was that the portion was huge so everyone had a chance to dig in.
Desserts!! (All cakes go for half price after 9pm)
Bitter Chocolate Fudge Cake - I had a go at this cake with a friend @ cafe cartel in Hougang Mall. It was actually pretty good with its 3 layers of thick bitter chocolate. I like my chocolate strong and so this managed to do it for me. Of course, for the price and location, i wouldn't comment on the quality of the chocolate in this offering except say that it was decent enough to give it a second try.
EastSide Brownie Stack - My order almost always at cafe cartel. Who doesn't like hot and cold desserts anyway? Warm, thick oozing chocolate fudge atop oven warmed brownies with hazelnuts. Add in the winning combination of a decent vanilla ice cream and you have a winner. I would recommend telling the waiting staff your prefered amount of chocolate fudge beforehand though, as i got my brownie swimming in fudge once which kinda dampened the dessert a little.
Blueberry Cheese Cake - Blueberry cheese cakes are all the rage these days but honestly, this rendition didn't quite work out for me. The blueberry was a little too sour and the cheese cake wasn't very smooth either. Its quite easy to taste the sour cream in the cake which just doesn't do it for me. For a good blueberry cheese cake, i'd recommend paying a visit to Eden Cafe.
Bill came up to be $216 before discount for our group of 14 people.
In retrospect, i actually been to this place many times for meals. Its quite amazing really. The food is average honestly but is painless due to the fact that the price charged here is very affordable and its portion size is sufficient. In terms of taste, it may not be up there with the other places i've had, but in terms of ease of access and casual dining, this place certainly won't disappoint, just don't expect high level cuisine when you step in though.
Golden Peony is a rather small cozy restaurant located on the third floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best restaurants in Singapore in terms of its Cantonese food offerings and this is where my foodie friends and i gathered for our monthly binge session.
Everything here looks and feels pretty nice. The lights were rather dim despite how the pictures look, so i had to struggle to find a good light source to get my photos done.
Peking Duck ($52) - First part of the peking duck is obviously its skin. I must say that the portion here is very miserly. 3 really small skins in crepes and it doesn't allow you to get additional items should you have a different preference. I found the skin very normal and not as fragrant as Hai Tien Lou. Still decent though, just not great.
Peking Duck Continued - The second part of the Peking duck was served sliced and diced in lettuce wrap. Taking the meat by itself would have proven too salty but the lettuce wrap did serve to moderate the taste pretty well. However, i simply do not see a the duck here in our 6 portions which is quite a disappointment. If i pay for a duck, i expect to see a duck, and that doesn't seem to be what i'm given.
Salted Yolk Prawns ($39) - This one i found pretty much to my liking. The salted yolk batter was not too thick and i liked it less salty. The prawns were also of a reasonably big size and freshness which made the dish very palatable. The portions were small again though and everyone ended up with 2 prawns max.
Homemade Beancurd with Asparagus & XO sauce ($48 for 6 portions) - I found the beancurd simple and not really fantastic. Texture wise, it doesn't reach the softness and smoothness of good japanese beancurd and the egg taste didn't win it any points with me. After learning further that the beancurd was sold by the grams didn't improve my impression of it one bit. The accompanying sauce was decent but i couldn't taste the XO sauce in this anywhere.
Tea Marinated Pork Ribs ($90 for 6 portions) - This came across as a pretty good item when it reach our table. It was quite a size and i love meat, albeit not pork. The ribs were tender and juicy though and the fatty layer was minimal. However, i wouldn't have known this was 'tea marinate' if i didn't see the receipt. Still, it was rather good and well done if not for its rather exorbitant price.
Lobster Noodles ($120 for 6 portions) - This was $20 a portion and was it worth it? I honestly have to say a resounding No! The noodles taste like almost anything you could find outside and the baby lobster simply didn't come with enough meat nor taste to make it feel like anything except a scam.
Tao Huay ($24 for 6 portions) - Things just keep spiralling downwards i suppose. This tao huay has nothing special i could rant about and it costs $4 a portion. Simply not worth the time nor effort.
Bill: The total bill for this came up to $472.90. Which is a total rip off and simply left me wondering how it was possible for all those prizes displayed on its corridor.
I honestly expected a whole lot more from this place given its reputation and the number of prizes it won to stand testament to its achievements. Yet, i left the place unsatisfied and feeling more then a little sour at blowing a bomb on a place totally not worth the money. I won't be back and i don't think anyone should either, at least until they get a new chef and modus operandi that doesn't make their customers feel ripped off.
When I go to Isetan, I often meet with nice sales person. However, there was one exception when I met with a very unfriendly sales lady and I was truly appalled.
I was there with a whole group of friends, looking for a pair of champagne flukes as gift for someone. We found a really nice one on display that was priced at $12. Not only did we find it unique, it was also cheap! We were all set on it, so we approached the sales lady to ask for 2 new pieces. Initially, they couldn't find and we were so worried that there weren't any stock. But after all that suspension (how thrilling), they got us 2 new pieces!
Then there was a problem. The new glasses were tagged $16 each, which means an additional $8 for a pair, which was a pretty significant amount. So the lady at the cashier told us that we had to purchase the flukes at $16 (in a not very friendly way, as a matter of fact) due to the fact that they made a mistake as they did not change the price of the display unit after the GST hike (notice how a 2 percentage point increase in GST resulted in a $4 increase in a product?). According to our consumer rights *ahem*, we pay the price we see right. So of course we refused to pay an additional $8! She didn't even tell us to hold on (which was really the simplest thing she could do) and she rolled her eyes and turned to pick up the phone to call her manager to ask for more instructions. Eventually, we got the flukes at $12, but one of them was the display piece.
While we were paying up, the manager came down to check on the situation. She had a really unhappy look on her face as well. She could have been unhappy with her staff, that we wouldn't know, but it definitely did not look like it to us at all!
The few of us at the counter were so unhappy with the service we left without saying "thank you". Neither did they say it.
Being such an established company, I feel that the least they could do is have better service. It was an utterly disappointing experience, I still cannot believe it happened.
I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
1=SGD 0.0587
After being told by my friend that there's this little shop hiding at the Tasty Treatz corner, near Tower 3/Carrefour of Suntec City Mall which sells sweet potato snacks, we've decided to give it a try.
For the 2 times that I've been there, I've tried the roasted sweet potato which was really good! Like the way they roasted it in a big pot. Infact, that's a Taiwanese-patented infrared oven! The sweet potato was nice & soft and the skin could be easily peeled off too. I simply fell in love with the roasted sweet potato. Haha!
Their service was great too. Very friendly people, and they even provide you with serviettes.
Other items on the menu include sweet potato fries, mashed sweet potato and sweet potato rolls. On top of these, they even sell flavoured sweet potato drinks. I shall try them next time. Heez...
It's definitely a healthy snack (except for maybe the fries) and it gives me another reason to eat now. Haha...
Rating given:
Vivocity is one the biggest shapping mall in Spore. I will be there almost every weekend as well. Haa....
I feel that it is one of the best design shopping centre as well. When I was there for the first time, I have a feeling a being lost as the place is really big, even with the help of a map. However after a while, I get used to it and find it quite easy to move around as well.
They boast the biggest cinema in Spore, got a sky train to Sentosa, and they are next to St James, the biggest entertainment outlet.
They also managed to get a lot of big fashion brands like Gap, River Island, Tangs, etc.
Electronic shops like Samsung, Challenger, Best Denki and many more handphone shop.
Restaurants, from small cafes like Ben and Jerry, to the usual coffee joints like Starbucks and Coffee Bean etc, to the fast food, special ones like Super Dog, to all lot of food courts, Food Republic. Too many to list down here.
There is also a big wading pool on the roof top where good to see kids running in and out. There are also lots of grass patches to have a picnic maybe.
So there are tons of things to do there. Good way to spend a weekend, if you are sick of town shopping centres.
Rating given:
While waiting for my movie to start, decided to hang out out Ben and Jerry for some ice cream. I think this is one of the biggest outlet in Spore with a space for some bands to jam.
I am always a big fan of Ben and Jerry ice cream, especially Chucky Monkey! Hee....
The service of the place is pretty smooth. Nothing to wow on.
The main thing that I dun like was the band yesterday. I thought that I can have a good chat but it turns out that the band was too loud for any chit chat and the singing was not good. The singer was screaming at every word. Sigh..
So in the end we jz finished out ice cream fast and move out of that place fast! I think if their plan is to use the band to make the customer move out of the place fast, I think they had done it.
The ice cream 5 stars but overall experience at the outlet 2 stars.
Rating given:
Cafe Cartel is a decent place to go I must say, with the price they charge (excluding GST) and the ambience of the place. It's not some romantic place, but it's good for gatherings with a small group of friends.
I was just there with some friends. Somehow we always end up at Cafe Cartel when we're looking for somewhere we can afford and yet looks good. So here we are, eyeing the free flow of bread and comfy couch. Ok and of course the food plus half-price cakes after 9pm!
As with most the other Cafe Cartels that I've been to, I was expecting the bread to be served to us. Or at least, they would offer to cut the bread for people at the bread station. However I was somehow a little disappointed when I realized they didn't work this way there. It wasn't that they were too busy, there were 2 waiters chatting away beside me. And when I asked for more bread, they said they'll get it for me but eventually we still had to go back to the bread station to get more ourselves.
Apart from that, I feel that the people there are a rather bubbly group. It actually seems to have an effect on the surroundings, makes the place much more lively.
I ordered a seafood combo I think, because I was looking for something which has calamari! But I was quite disappointed by the grilled fish. It was rather bland. But the pork chop and fish and chips my friends ordered were not bad. They were of reasonable standard. The pork chop came with a sauce that tasted abit like Char Siew (haha!) but it went well with the meat. It was a large serving though. Would have been good for big eaters!
Finally, we were so full but we had to get ourselves the half-price cakes! So we ordered a blueberry cheesecake to share. I think the cake was not bad! The blueberry on top was very smooth and sweet, with little bits of blueberry in it. The cheesecake itself was soft and not too rich either. Sometimes you tend to get sick of cheesecake very fast, but I find this just nice. It was 2.30 after discount! Really worth it right :D
However, with the GST, our bill totaled up to 53.80 for 3. Not very cheap I must say(even with the half-priced cake! haha). Good thing students have a 10% discount (which is better than nothing)! Or else I really won't go there so often..
Rating given:
National Day meant many things for me but most of all it meant my girlfriend could get the National Day celebrations discount offered by Secret Recipe which allowed all their cakes to be available for purchase at a whooping 42% discount. Her choice of indulgence? After an agonizing 1 hour of listening to the shop assistant who eventually lied to get her number, the heavy weighted Moist Chocolate Cake which weights in at an astonishing 2.1kg.@
Moist Chocolate Cake ($26 due to discount) - Being my first Secret Recipe cake, i'd say this was big. The shop assistant kindly pointed out the best way to enjoy this was by first heating it and he wasn't wrong at all. When heated, the cake is warm, with a nice layer of melting dark chocolate that would have been better if given in bigger doses but in its current form still managed to indulge the senses with its cocoa content. The thin light brownish layer you see in the middle is mocha fudge which provides a sweet and light relief from the majority of the cake's thick bitter chocolate layer. The sponge cake was also denser then usual and thus results in a more fulfilling spoonful then regular sponge cakes available elsewhere.
So is the Secret Recipe used in this cake good enough? I would say it was really quite good. I loved the melting bitter chocolate layer and the small mocha layer in the middle when i munched on its sponge cake. However, i really would have preferred it if they could have given a few more layers of chocolate of something else to mix up the taste abit as it can get overwhelmingly strong after a few bites.
Definitely worth its price when discounted but i would never pay the full price for a cake of this caliber. To me, $45 should net me something much more exotic or at least thoughtful then this offering. However, this is still a good steal at $26, too bad it comes around only once yearly. =P
Rating given:
I believe the cafe needs no introduction. Its penetration rate is pretty decent with a grand total of 10 outlets in Singapore located mostly in the friendly neighbourhood malls or chic city locales. Supposedly conceived by an Italian lady and a Jewish baker along the back streets of New York craving some home cooked meals, its said to offer fine pastries and equally fine main courses (at least thats what they planned in the first place!)
Anyway, i was there for many occasions so i thought i'd do this in one fell swoop. The mains of this blog was done with my colleagues at a farewell dinner held for a great friend, while the desserts were from my standalone visits.
Banana And Peach Waffle ($7.30) - I personally did not get to try this but it does look quite appetizing doesn't it? The reason its the first food picture? Well, we actually ordered this as a starter. =P
Blue Haven ($4.50) - Termed as a Spider in their menu (whatever that is), all i can say is that this drink tastes good at the upper portion but gets REALLY sweet near the bottom. I enjoyed it for its vanilla ice cream and really cold taste but couldn't quite take to the flavoring near the bottom. Tread with caution here.
Our orders were the Chicken Chef's Salad ($9.70), Texas Rodeo Ribs ($16.50), Hawaiian Pork Chops ($14.20), Spicy Thai Seafood Pasta ($14.60) and St Louis Pork Ribs ($15.20). The above are what my friends ordered. And some orders were repeated as so only single pictures were shown. I personally had a go at most of the items, albeit only in bite sized portions. The ribs were tender and fragrant but too drenched in sauce to be consumed by one person alone as it get overwhelming. I found the pork chops nothing special and a little too oily for my tastes. Finally, the salad was pretty good but i couldn't condone the price it comes at.
Crispy Jumbo Combo ($47.90) - Now this order i shared with everyone else. Its huge to say the least. It comes with a healthy dose of potato wedges and i must say it goes really well with the wasabi mayonnaise combination sauce and its more normal BBQ sauce. Also on the plate are chicken wings, 2 huge fish fillets, 2 fried chicken cutlets, fried prawns and mixed vegetables. Well, weight control and health concerns obviously go out the window with this order. Everything is fried to a friendly golden brown with batter which thankfully isn't too thick. Fish and chicken fillets were both nicely done, maintaining a crispy exterior with a tender and juicy interior. The rodeo wings i found weren't seasoned enough and tasted more like normal chicken wings to me. The prawns weren't too special either. Freshness of it mixed vegetables were also questionable but the wedges and fillets won this dish for me. Not to mention the "chef's special sauce", which is essentially wasabi with mayonnaise, simply went well with anything fried. Best part was that the portion was huge so everyone had a chance to dig in.
Desserts!!
(All cakes go for half price after 9pm)
Bitter Chocolate Fudge Cake - I had a go at this cake with a friend @ cafe cartel in Hougang Mall. It was actually pretty good with its 3 layers of thick bitter chocolate. I like my chocolate strong and so this managed to do it for me. Of course, for the price and location, i wouldn't comment on the quality of the chocolate in this offering except say that it was decent enough to give it a second try.
EastSide Brownie Stack - My order almost always at cafe cartel. Who doesn't like hot and cold desserts anyway? Warm, thick oozing chocolate fudge atop oven warmed brownies with hazelnuts. Add in the winning combination of a decent vanilla ice cream and you have a winner. I would recommend telling the waiting staff your prefered amount of chocolate fudge beforehand though, as i got my brownie swimming in fudge once which kinda dampened the dessert a little.
Blueberry Cheese Cake - Blueberry cheese cakes are all the rage these days but honestly, this rendition didn't quite work out for me. The blueberry was a little too sour and the cheese cake wasn't very smooth either. Its quite easy to taste the sour cream in the cake which just doesn't do it for me. For a good blueberry cheese cake, i'd recommend paying a visit to Eden Cafe.
Bill came up to be $216 before discount for our group of 14 people.
In retrospect, i actually been to this place many times for meals. Its quite amazing really. The food is average honestly but is painless due to the fact that the price charged here is very affordable and its portion size is sufficient. In terms of taste, it may not be up there with the other places i've had, but in terms of ease of access and casual dining, this place certainly won't disappoint, just don't expect high level cuisine when you step in though.
Rating given:
Golden Peony is a rather small cozy restaurant located on the third floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best restaurants in Singapore in terms of its Cantonese food offerings and this is where my foodie friends and i gathered for our monthly binge session.
Everything here looks and feels pretty nice. The lights were rather dim despite how the pictures look, so i had to struggle to find a good light source to get my photos done.
Peking Duck ($52) - First part of the peking duck is obviously its skin. I must say that the portion here is very miserly. 3 really small skins in crepes and it doesn't allow you to get additional items should you have a different preference. I found the skin very normal and not as fragrant as Hai Tien Lou. Still decent though, just not great.
Peking Duck Continued - The second part of the Peking duck was served sliced and diced in lettuce wrap. Taking the meat by itself would have proven too salty but the lettuce wrap did serve to moderate the taste pretty well. However, i simply do not see a the duck here in our 6 portions which is quite a disappointment. If i pay for a duck, i expect to see a duck, and that doesn't seem to be what i'm given.
Salted Yolk Prawns ($39) - This one i found pretty much to my liking. The salted yolk batter was not too thick and i liked it less salty. The prawns were also of a reasonably big size and freshness which made the dish very palatable. The portions were small again though and everyone ended up with 2 prawns max.
Homemade Beancurd with Asparagus & XO sauce ($48 for 6 portions) - I found the beancurd simple and not really fantastic. Texture wise, it doesn't reach the softness and smoothness of good japanese beancurd and the egg taste didn't win it any points with me. After learning further that the beancurd was sold by the grams didn't improve my impression of it one bit. The accompanying sauce was decent but i couldn't taste the XO sauce in this anywhere.
Tea Marinated Pork Ribs ($90 for 6 portions) - This came across as a pretty good item when it reach our table. It was quite a size and i love meat, albeit not pork. The ribs were tender and juicy though and the fatty layer was minimal. However, i wouldn't have known this was 'tea marinate' if i didn't see the receipt. Still, it was rather good and well done if not for its rather exorbitant price.
Lobster Noodles ($120 for 6 portions) - This was $20 a portion and was it worth it? I honestly have to say a resounding No! The noodles taste like almost anything you could find outside and the baby lobster simply didn't come with enough meat nor taste to make it feel like anything except a scam.
Tao Huay ($24 for 6 portions) - Things just keep spiralling downwards i suppose. This tao huay has nothing special i could rant about and it costs $4 a portion. Simply not worth the time nor effort.
Bill: The total bill for this came up to $472.90. Which is a total rip off and simply left me wondering how it was possible for all those prizes displayed on its corridor.
I honestly expected a whole lot more from this place given its reputation and the number of prizes it won to stand testament to its achievements. Yet, i left the place unsatisfied and feeling more then a little sour at blowing a bomb on a place totally not worth the money. I won't be back and i don't think anyone should either, at least until they get a new chef and modus operandi that doesn't make their customers feel ripped off.
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When I go to Isetan, I often meet with nice sales person. However, there was one exception when I met with a very unfriendly sales lady and I was truly appalled.
I was there with a whole group of friends, looking for a pair of champagne flukes as gift for someone. We found a really nice one on display that was priced at $12. Not only did we find it unique, it was also cheap! We were all set on it, so we approached the sales lady to ask for 2 new pieces. Initially, they couldn't find and we were so worried that there weren't any stock. But after all that suspension (how thrilling), they got us 2 new pieces!
Then there was a problem. The new glasses were tagged $16 each, which means an additional $8 for a pair, which was a pretty significant amount. So the lady at the cashier told us that we had to purchase the flukes at $16 (in a not very friendly way, as a matter of fact) due to the fact that they made a mistake as they did not change the price of the display unit after the GST hike (notice how a 2 percentage point increase in GST resulted in a $4 increase in a product?). According to our consumer rights *ahem*, we pay the price we see right. So of course we refused to pay an additional $8! She didn't even tell us to hold on (which was really the simplest thing she could do) and she rolled her eyes and turned to pick up the phone to call her manager to ask for more instructions. Eventually, we got the flukes at $12, but one of them was the display piece.
While we were paying up, the manager came down to check on the situation. She had a really unhappy look on her face as well. She could have been unhappy with her staff, that we wouldn't know, but it definitely did not look like it to us at all!
The few of us at the counter were so unhappy with the service we left without saying "thank you". Neither did they say it.
Being such an established company, I feel that the least they could do is have better service. It was an utterly disappointing experience, I still cannot believe it happened.
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I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
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There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
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