First of all, the food is going the same way the rest of Sakae is going, it's getting worse day by day. Sashimi is stale and they have also been replacing ikura that is supposed to be in your order with inferior ebikko.
Quality is going downhill, period.
As for the interior design, some idiot decided to raise the floor level in an attempt to give it a more authentic Japanese experience. The idea was for the patrons to dine like they do in Japan, but since Singaporeans are more familiar with sitting than kneeling, they carved out a hollow to for leg room. So patrons sit on the elevated floor with their legs in the cavity. To make things worse, this outlet definitely wanted house more patrons, so they packed everything closer and there is hardly any room between the patron and the table. With is stupid interior design, the waiters have to kneel at the tables. Authentic Japanese is one thing, but with the waiters and waitresses usually the ah bengs and ah lians or those penniless student types, it seems very mismatched. Not to mention that the kneeling part is just plain uncalled for. The management might as well also get the crew to wear kimonos.
The worst part has to be getting up to leave. With such tight spaces, it is a challenge to get up. Then think of ladies in skirts. Unglamorous is one thing, to zao geng is another. So ladies, if you have to eat there, please wear pants.
For a start, the noodles are replaced by angel hair pasta which are submerged in a clear, light yet flavourful chicken broth.
To put the "wantan" in the wantan mee, 3 individually wrapped wantan of different fillings complete the masterpiece pleasing to the eyes as well as the palate. One with scallop, one with crab meat, one with... uh, I forgot.
That's a glimpse of Chinese fusion fine dining for you.
Oh yah, I liked the way they used green apples for their interior decor.
Don't confuse Space @ My Humble House with its 'mothership', My Humble House though. Because everything there will cost you much more, something like $80 a dish for entrees.
My recommendations: beef noodle, xiao long bao, drunken chicken, red bean souffle, watercress drink.
The noodles are here are springy and cooked to perfection and they come in large portions with plenty of soup. My lady colleagues usually share a bowl. The staff will even cut the noodles for you if they know you are sharing. At as low as $7 a bowl, I think it's really value for money.
The xiao long bao is consistent in quality. They are always served piping hot and with plenty of soup in it. Be careful when you pick one up as the skin is thin and might tear if you aren't careful. They are sold in small portions so it is easier to share in small groups.
The service is pretty good as the food is served quickly even during peak hours and the staff are quite flexible. Plus, most of them are cantonese-speaking aunties which add to give an authentic feel to the restaurant. Of course, they understand English and Mandarin too. They even print out your orders in Chinese!
This place is nice for Valentine's Day. You get to wine and dine at the balcony with a view of the cityscape with the sunset.
Quality of food, well, it's not bad, neither is it good. Sure, they use high quality ingredients for the mains but everything on the sides are just plain ordinary.
Valentine's Day dinner sets you back by about $200 plus with only a choice of beef (tenderloin) or fish (black cod). The rest of the year, well, you pay only a fraction of that.
Service is very good though. The waiters are professional and take pride in their work, though a few might forget your request for plain water.
Only top marks for ambience and service, the rest leaves much to be desired.
It's pretty authentic looking and tasting Japanese desserts. I just found the red bean a little too sweet, which is rather 'unauthentic' of Japanese desserts.
The green tea ice-cream is in a good balance, the green tea flavour is rich while the milk only has a light hint. It is very smooth with no powdery after taste like the usual green tea ice-creams.
There is a lack of variety in the ice-cream flavours if you were dining in. For take aways, try the green tea red bean, lychee and milk tea.
I didn't like the Teriyaki Chicken Bento. The chicken was dry and despite its name, the chicken was steamed. Taste-wise is alright, but the dry chicken was disappointing. The portion was small as well.
It is always nice to find a good tze char stall. One that my family recently found was Cheng's Seafood Village in our neighbourhood. The place serves up pretty fresh seafood. The claypot fish-head and fish steamboat are one of the best I have tasted. The claypot sea cucumber also deserves an honourable mention for the generous amounts of ingredients used. And there seems to be something about the yam (or taro) that they use in their dishes that makes it really special. Exceptionally fragrant.
The satay there is also a surprising find. It's run by a Chinese. (There's pork satay here) It's called Nan San Village BBQ Satay. It's cheaper than the other satay stalls elsewhere. Each stick costs 35 cents and it tastes pretty good too. Unfortunately, it doesn't serve authentic ketupats. The peanut sauce even comes with pureed pineapple for a tinge of sweetness and zest, which is yet another rarity for a satay stalls in Singapore.
On top of all the good food, the setting is also a rarity which I particularly enjoy. The environment feels very much like rustic al fresco coffeeshops in JB, except much, much, much safer in terms of security and hygiene. Or if you are more familiar with the local versions, Jalan Kayu. Except here, it is less crowded and serves tze char.
Sometimes, I would brave the hot afternoon sun walking from my office to Raffles Place, just for this bowl of beef noodles.
The beef noodles here is the kind that is worth your money. The ingredients plentiful and the taste is just right. Unlike the usual beef noodles from food courts that spawn from the franchising monster, this place serves up something well-balanced on the palate. I mean I had tasted bad ones from food courts that passed of MSG, salt and water as soup and gravy. Hock Lam here serves up proper soup and gravy that's been made with hours of work. The taste is rich but does not overpower the texture of the ingredients.
Add a glass of lime juice, and you might make yourself very happy for the rest of the day.
Damage done: $130 for a meal for six, but it was worth it!
Stuff ordered: Crab Bee Hoon Pork Ribs in Lotus Leaf Cereal Prawns Crispy Seafood Tofu Sambal Kang Kong
Patience and aggressiveness are necessary virtues if you want to eat here. First you need to queue up for a table, which is about half an hour's wait. During that time, need to be vocal about the unfair allocation of tables. Once you get a table, you need to wait for another half an hour for your crab. Plus, the service we experienced took rather long between the first and second dish. We thought it was a banquet style dining, one dish after another. But such is the joy of dining at the kopitiam.
You probably can't go wrong ordering anything here so we ordered by recommendation of the wise Girlfriend. That's of course, provided that the usual robust tze-cha palette is to your liking.
So the thing I do want to talk about is the main event of that meal, the crab bee hoon. I would personally prefer to call it the mutant crab bee hoon since the crab's pincer was the size of a Milo can while its top shell was the size of a man's palm. I think it fed on dead cows.
The dish is much like fish head bee hoon. I liken it to Ka Soh's fish bee hoon at Amoy Street or XO fish head bee hoon somewhere in Buena Vista, except here, they use crab instead of fish. The condensed milk laced soup base is exceptionally rich in taste and it was a perfect combination with the thick bee hoon. I would recommend eating clearing up the crab first while the bee hoon soaks in the broth. Once the crab has been cleared, leisurely wash everything down with the bee hoon soup. But then again, who cares? It's a neighbourhood kopitiam, not a fine-dining restaurant.
So anyone wants to join me on the next trip to Mellben Seafood?
Simply put, it is a Seoul Garden set meal on a hot plate. Tastes really unexciting, only redeemed by their rather choice select of vegetables that came along with the main dish.
The dining space was rather nice actually, provided you are madly in love with the colour orange.
From my wild imagination, this chain probably started like this...
Person A: Hey, our rival company's Pepper Lunch is doing very well, you know.
Person B: Yah, they taste very good.
Person A: We should look into doing something that is similar to Pepper Lunch, but it should be uniquely different. We jump on that bandwagon to profit from this hot plate craze.
Person B: That's a good idea. Since Pepper Lunch is a Japanese thing, how about we also do something on hot plate that is not Japanese?
Person A: Fantastic! I know! We shall do Korean food on the hot plate!
Person B: Exactly! I know! We can bring all the unused marinated from Seoul Garden and bring it to this new concept!
Person A: Yeah! We can package it into a set meal with a hot plate and it will be really cool. We will make a lot of money from this new concept!
Person A and Person B now are full of themselves because of their brilliant rip-off idea.
1=SGD 0.0587
The dumbest interior design ever!
First of all, the food is going the same way the rest of Sakae is going, it's getting worse day by day. Sashimi is stale and they have also been replacing ikura that is supposed to be in your order with inferior ebikko.
Quality is going downhill, period.
As for the interior design, some idiot decided to raise the floor level in an attempt to give it a more authentic Japanese experience. The idea was for the patrons to dine like they do in Japan, but since Singaporeans are more familiar with sitting than kneeling, they carved out a hollow to for leg room. So patrons sit on the elevated floor with their legs in the cavity. To make things worse, this outlet definitely wanted house more patrons, so they packed everything closer and there is hardly any room between the patron and the table.
With is stupid interior design, the waiters have to kneel at the tables. Authentic Japanese is one thing, but with the waiters and waitresses usually the ah bengs and ah lians or those penniless student types, it seems very mismatched. Not to mention that the kneeling part is just plain uncalled for. The management might as well also get the crew to wear kimonos.
The worst part has to be getting up to leave. With such tight spaces, it is a challenge to get up. Then think of ladies in skirts. Unglamorous is one thing, to zao geng is another. So ladies, if you have to eat there, please wear pants.
Rating given:
What's in a $20 bowl of wantan mee?
For a start, the noodles are replaced by angel hair pasta which are submerged in a clear, light yet flavourful chicken broth.
To put the "wantan" in the wantan mee, 3 individually wrapped wantan of different fillings complete the masterpiece pleasing to the eyes as well as the palate. One with scallop, one with crab meat, one with... uh, I forgot.
That's a glimpse of Chinese fusion fine dining for you.
Oh yah, I liked the way they used green apples for their interior decor.
Don't confuse Space @ My Humble House with its 'mothership', My Humble House though. Because everything there will cost you much more, something like $80 a dish for entrees.
Rating given:
Like a place for dirty old men
I was only in the place briefly.
With the lights on, the place seemed poorly maintained.
The decor looked more old than vintage.
It was like a B-class nightclub for small-time towkays.
Rating given:
Value for Money
My recommendations: beef noodle, xiao long bao, drunken chicken, red bean souffle, watercress drink.
The noodles are here are springy and cooked to perfection and they come in large portions with plenty of soup. My lady colleagues usually share a bowl. The staff will even cut the noodles for you if they know you are sharing. At as low as $7 a bowl, I think it's really value for money.
The xiao long bao is consistent in quality. They are always served piping hot and with plenty of soup in it. Be careful when you pick one up as the skin is thin and might tear if you aren't careful. They are sold in small portions so it is easier to share in small groups.
The service is pretty good as the food is served quickly even during peak hours and the staff are quite flexible. Plus, most of them are cantonese-speaking aunties which add to give an authentic feel to the restaurant. Of course, they understand English and Mandarin too. They even print out your orders in Chinese!
Rating given:
Product of Fine Dining with Mediocre Food
This place is nice for Valentine's Day. You get to wine and dine at the balcony with a view of the cityscape with the sunset.
Quality of food, well, it's not bad, neither is it good. Sure, they use high quality ingredients for the mains but everything on the sides are just plain ordinary.
Valentine's Day dinner sets you back by about $200 plus with only a choice of beef (tenderloin) or fish (black cod).
The rest of the year, well, you pay only a fraction of that.
Service is very good though. The waiters are professional and take pride in their work, though a few might forget your request for plain water.
Only top marks for ambience and service, the rest leaves much to be desired.
Rating given:
Nice Desserts! But avoid the main courses
It's pretty authentic looking and tasting Japanese desserts. I just found the red bean a little too sweet, which is rather 'unauthentic' of Japanese desserts.
The green tea ice-cream is in a good balance, the green tea flavour is rich while the milk only has a light hint. It is very smooth with no powdery after taste like the usual green tea ice-creams.
There is a lack of variety in the ice-cream flavours if you were dining in.
For take aways, try the green tea red bean, lychee and milk tea.
I didn't like the Teriyaki Chicken Bento. The chicken was dry and despite its name, the chicken was steamed. Taste-wise is alright, but the dry chicken was disappointing. The portion was small as well.
Rating given:
Surprise Find
It is always nice to find a good tze char stall. One that my family recently found was Cheng's Seafood Village in our neighbourhood. The place serves up pretty fresh seafood. The claypot fish-head and fish steamboat are one of the best I have tasted. The claypot sea cucumber also deserves an honourable mention for the generous amounts of ingredients used. And there seems to be something about the yam (or taro) that they use in their dishes that makes it really special. Exceptionally fragrant.
The satay there is also a surprising find. It's run by a Chinese. (There's pork satay here) It's called Nan San Village BBQ Satay. It's cheaper than the other satay stalls elsewhere. Each stick costs 35 cents and it tastes pretty good too. Unfortunately, it doesn't serve authentic ketupats. The peanut sauce even comes with pureed pineapple for a tinge of sweetness and zest, which is yet another rarity for a satay stalls in Singapore.
On top of all the good food, the setting is also a rarity which I particularly enjoy. The environment feels very much like rustic al fresco coffeeshops in JB, except much, much, much safer in terms of security and hygiene. Or if you are more familiar with the local versions, Jalan Kayu. Except here, it is less crowded and serves tze char.
Rating given:
Superb Beef Noodles
Sometimes, I would brave the hot afternoon sun walking from my office to Raffles Place, just for this bowl of beef noodles.
The beef noodles here is the kind that is worth your money. The ingredients plentiful and the taste is just right. Unlike the usual beef noodles from food courts that spawn from the franchising monster, this place serves up something well-balanced on the palate. I mean I had tasted bad ones from food courts that passed of MSG, salt and water as soup and gravy. Hock Lam here serves up proper soup and gravy that's been made with hours of work. The taste is rich but does not overpower the texture of the ingredients.
Add a glass of lime juice, and you might make yourself very happy for the rest of the day.
Rating given:
Patience and aggressiveness are necessary virtues
Damage done: $130 for a meal for six, but it was worth it!
Stuff ordered:
Crab Bee Hoon
Pork Ribs in Lotus Leaf
Cereal Prawns
Crispy Seafood Tofu
Sambal Kang Kong
Patience and aggressiveness are necessary virtues if you want to eat here. First you need to queue up for a table, which is about half an hour's wait. During that time, need to be vocal about the unfair allocation of tables. Once you get a table, you need to wait for another half an hour for your crab. Plus, the service we experienced took rather long between the first and second dish. We thought it was a banquet style dining, one dish after another. But such is the joy of dining at the kopitiam.
You probably can't go wrong ordering anything here so we ordered by recommendation of the wise Girlfriend. That's of course, provided that the usual robust tze-cha palette is to your liking.
So the thing I do want to talk about is the main event of that meal, the crab bee hoon. I would personally prefer to call it the mutant crab bee hoon since the crab's pincer was the size of a Milo can while its top shell was the size of a man's palm. I think it fed on dead cows.
The dish is much like fish head bee hoon. I liken it to Ka Soh's fish bee hoon at Amoy Street or XO fish head bee hoon somewhere in Buena Vista, except here, they use crab instead of fish. The condensed milk laced soup base is exceptionally rich in taste and it was a perfect combination with the thick bee hoon. I would recommend eating clearing up the crab first while the bee hoon soaks in the broth. Once the crab has been cleared, leisurely wash everything down with the bee hoon soup. But then again, who cares? It's a neighbourhood kopitiam, not a fine-dining restaurant.
So anyone wants to join me on the next trip to Mellben Seafood?
Rating given:
It's Seoul Garden served to you
Simply put, it is a Seoul Garden set meal on a hot plate.
Tastes really unexciting, only redeemed by their rather choice select of vegetables that came along with the main dish.
The dining space was rather nice actually, provided you are madly in love with the colour orange.
From my wild imagination, this chain probably started like this...
Person A: Hey, our rival company's Pepper Lunch is doing very well, you know.
Person B: Yah, they taste very good.
Person A: We should look into doing something that is similar to Pepper Lunch, but it should be uniquely different. We jump on that bandwagon to profit from this hot plate craze.
Person B: That's a good idea. Since Pepper Lunch is a Japanese thing, how about we also do something on hot plate that is not Japanese?
Person A: Fantastic! I know! We shall do Korean food on the hot plate!
Person B: Exactly! I know! We can bring all the unused marinated from Seoul Garden and bring it to this new concept!
Person A: Yeah! We can package it into a set meal with a hot plate and it will be really cool. We will make a lot of money from this new concept!
Person A and Person B now are full of themselves because of their brilliant rip-off idea.
Rating given: