I found this the ambience pretty nice and cosy. It had those private dining areas with low tables and leg cavities similar to Sakae Sushi at Marina Square but better because you will probably only zao geng to the wall. The privacy also gives the customer a sense of exclusiveness.
For service, I have to say Waraku scores well as they take initiative and are very responsive. A friend had made special requests for certain orders and were not disappointed.
Call me picky if you want. While Waraku's menu is quite extensive, it is quite a task to find an item that screams, "Eat me!" Also, there isn't anything that's value for money. Plus, I had a hard time deciding what I should order. I ended up with this beef paper steamboat listed in the lunch set meals menu.
I have to say that the quality of food isn't what you would describe as fantastic. Compounded it with the fact that there wasn't anything inspiring in the menu to begin with, Waraku really left a bad flavour in my mouth. The beef paper steamboat only came with 4 pathetic slices of beef. When I sampled a friend's teriyaki chicken, my immediate response was a my best constipated expression. The chicken was tough and dry like it was microwaved.
Can somebody recommend exactly what is actually good at Waraku? Or is it just me being luckless?
Spageddies probably came about when someone thought that it would be a great idea to put premium main courses like steak, lobster, crayfish, etc together with the humble pasta. That pretty much sums up what they serve. And the estimation of the price of their food goes something like this:
Price of steak with spaghetti at Spageddies = price of steak at ordinary restaurant price of spaghetti at ordinary restaurant
Sort of like paying for 2 dishes combined in one plate. Once you can convince yourself that you are really paying for 2 main courses served on one plate, you probably won't have any problems picking the item you want.
Anyway, that is not to say that food is abysmal. On the contrary, food is good. It is mainly due to the use of fresh ingredients, which you can easily taste.
But be prepared to part with a good part of your money though.
It is a well-known fact that the owner of Bollywood Veggies is "high society lady", Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim. This consequently impacted on the image of the organic farm. Everything is very manicured here, and it is a far cry from its neighbour, Green Circle, another organic farm.
For the same reason, Bollywood Veggies isn't a farm that shies away from attention. And since everything here is all extra nice, extra proper, it makes a viable tourist attraction. And with visitors, there's Poison Ivy, a café probably named after the owner.
Poison Ivy serves up just about everything its farm produces. There's a wide variety of curry, vegetables, cakes, drinks and bananas. It wasn't meal time, so the Girlfriend and I ordered just the banana bread, jackfruit cake, lemon cake, lemon tea and fig tea.
Fig Tea and Banana Bread Jackfruit cake Lemon Cake
While the portions were small, at $2 a piece, it was an opportunity to sample the menu.
The lemon cake was pretty refreshing with a unique spiciness to it. However, it did seem a little coarse on the palate. The banana bread was made with the bananas harvested from the farm. It was fragrant, moist and spongy. I liked the jackfruit cake best. While the portions were really miserable, the cake was more like a sticky kueh with lots of jackfruit bits in it. Plus it was served warm, which only enhanced the texture and taste.
The Girlfriend and I then "goondu-ly" walked into the farm area. Unbeknown to us, there was actually a price to pay to enter ($2). We only realized our boo-boo when we looked at the map and promptly returned to Poison Ivy. I doubt it would be fun to face a dagger brandishing Ivy.
Goodness, the counter staff coughed into my donuts...
I had queued up from 11am to 1pm to get my dozen of donuts. It seemed more logical compared to queuing for a record 4 hours after the shop opens.
Anyway, I realised that the despite the 2 dozen limit, a fat lady still managed to get away with 6 dozens. Yet another Intrepid Ninja Van Reseller Alert. Thankfully, it was one off, but hey, I think it says plenty of the integrity (lack of) of their rules.
Just before my turn, the counter staff took off with a orange chocolate flavoured donut, re-dunked it into the white chocolate vat, slowly re-decorated it with orange jam and slowly savoured it before happily returning to the counter. So that's probably another reason why we need to wait so long for their donuts.
Finally my turn, the same counter staff served me. After my box was filled, she started coughing uncontrollably. Problem was she didn't really turn away, plus my box of donuts was wide open, catching all the airborne cough germs. Neither was she wearing any protective mask.
Oh my...
Then she managed to stop to turn around to key the orders into the register. And, she started coughing again. For anyone who knows, their cash register is just beside the stash of donuts. Coughing from that distance won't affect those donuts which will eventually be sold, right?
After seeing the first review, I decided to drop by this place when I was at PS. I was totally fascinated by the large range of embellishments and cute little things they have there. I never thought of how someone could come up with things like that and I was totally amazed. Being a not-very-creative person, the whole range of paper and little decorative items allowed me to come up with many different ideas in mind to create a scrapbook of my own (not that I do though). You can find designs of all sorts of colours and different themes that you can come up with. Great place!
I like the way the things are displayed there too. It has quite an attractive interior with mirrors placed strategically to make the place look very creative. The items are mostly displayed in a position that makes it easy to browse through the items. Also, there is ample walking space in the shop and, as opposed to a cramp and crowded shop, it allows you to take your time looking for anything you want.
However, I thought some things there were really expensive and could be self-made. Perhaps these things are actually really expensive, I have no idea. But I just felt that some things could be cheaper, or would definitely be cheaper if you made it yourself by getting the materials from Bras Basah complex.
I've tried Gloria Jean's in school! I never knew this shop existed anywhere. I guess I haven't been out at the malls for a long long time. But when I tried it, it was in school on a hot day during a sports event. I was looking for a good cold drink to quench my thirst, and Gloria Jean's looked like an alternative to some great cold coffee (like maybe having a drink from coffee bean in school), so I ordered an Iced Latte.
I thought I'd have a good drink, but unfortunately, the latte was diluted and absolutely bitter. I know coffee beans are bitter before you add anything to it, but I felt that this was too bitter as compared to what I've tried before, and it was definitely over-diluted.
I was quite disappointed by the standard of the drink. Probably because of that, I didn't really bother to remember this shop nor look out for it when I'm out. I haven't tried the drinks from their proper shop though, perhaps it is much better, based on Snowbringer's review. But I must say I wasn't too pleased with it.
I finally managed to dine in this branch after countless attempts during peak hours. How? By going during off-peak hours and joining friends who had made reservations.
The service is quite responsive (at least during off-peak hours) and the food gets served quite quickly.
You get to see a lot of stuff here in the menu which you don't in other chains. Particularly, items like lobster sashimi and uni (sea urchin). So at least the task of going through the menu will be rather interesting, especially when looking at the prices.
I ordered the rice with salmon sashimi and salmon roe and was impressed by the freshness of the ingredients, thick, firm slices of salmon and salmon roe that goes "pop" at your bite. But at $16 a serving I thought it was really a case of paying for quality. Friends who had ordered other items though, only looked at mine with a tinge of regret.
Word of caution though, the pricing in general is higher than the other chains. But you are really paying for the quality and freshness. So how much you pay really depends on how much you order. On the first occasion with friends (with large appetites), the bill for 4 came up to $130 whereas the second occasion, the bill for 2 (small appetites) only amounted to $29.
Yet another Hong Kong Cuisine Restaurant, just a little better
Dining out with a group of friends means I can sample many dishes and take many pictures.
But before that, some general thoughts on the quality of food, service and ambience.
Quality of Food I would say slightly better, since each item does come in larger portions and the presentation is better thought out, compared to other restaurants serving the same fare. Though I don't really understand why the long queue. Taste-wise is pretty much like the standard Hong Kong fare of baked rice, overpriced instant noodles, Hong Kong-styled western food and extra thick toast. Brownie points for using hot plates to serve their western food and bamboo steamer baskets for baked rice.
Service The thing about being there with a group of friends is that we find humour in any possible manner. It was quite amusing that the waitress taking our order got confused. But being a helpful bunch, we always pro-actively help to clarify any confusion. I think they are improving though. My friend had ordered the some baked rice with "twin sauce" but the meat in it tasted stale. After informing the waitress, the manager came by to explain the taste meant to be that way, but gladly cancelled that order from the bill since he didn't like it.
Ambience Noisy, much like those Hong Kong restaurants seen on TV. Great for a lively crowd, no volume restriction. Rather cramped though, but it's really the same anywhere else.
And now, pictures of the food my friends and I ordered.
Pork Chop Cutlet with Red Sauce Baked Rice Comes in red or white. Red one is tomato based and has a sweetness from tomatoes. White one is very rich in cheese and butter. Comes with fish or chicken or maybe something else as well.
Herb Lamb Chop with Garlic Sauce That lamb taste is very strong in this one and the cuts are very fatty with chunks of bone. Pretty challenging to deal with. Had to resort to using hands to eat it cleanly.
Great food, but just some tweaks in processes Opening Hours: 11.30am - 10pm (Closed on Mondays)
The girlfriend and I finally managed to try out Botak Jones at Clementi and we were quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of food. The cajun chicken we ordered was a surprisingly tasty piece of chicken breast. It was well-marinated and not dry. Every bite was bursting with flavor. The best part was it wasn't oily as it was grilled. It is has how good food should be.
On a separate occasion, I ordered their Botak Burger. I was served with a generous beef patty that is well-marinated and juicy. Personally, I thought the beef may have been too finely ground. I would have liked chunks of beef within the patty for a more interesting texture.
I would also like to make special mention for their fries, which is crispy and well-flavored with their spicy seasoning. It is a welcome change from the usual salt. I wiped the mountain of fries when I had the cajun chicken, but was unable to do the same at the sitting for the Botak Burger, but that's because I didn't have them with a drink.
So far, I have to say that the food I've gotten at the Clementi outlet has been good. The fries do well to make one full while their mains left a good impression on me.Service-wise, I appreciate their efforts to ask customers for feedback, though I think that was probably the stakeholder. Waiting time still needs to be improved. The wait during peak and off-peak hours is still around 30 minutes. I suspect this is due to the processes in the kitchen.
Then there are other areas I hope they could improve.
For one thing, they brought in a restaurant system which does not really work for a kopitiam setting. It basically gets customers to see the flaws of their process because people have to queue up before the system to order.
The menu contains too much text of the same size and too much narratives. I had a bit of a problem identifying the items. Yes, it is visually irritating.
So if you do go down to Botak Jones, be mentally prepared for the wait. I guess I was ok, thanks to the "training" I had been through at The Donut Factory. After you've been through that kind of a queue, this is just a walk in the park.
The girlfriend and I were here on a Sunday evening for a look-see but we ended up really impressed. I have to say this is one of the best chill out places I've come across.
As it was quite a walk, we opted to go to the air-conditioned area. It was dimly-lit with candlelight with sihoulettes of trees painted on the white walls.
The seating area to the left as we stepped into the place had really nice day bed-like sofas which are really conducive to get into the mood.
Being a Sunday, we actually had the whole place to ourselves.
One thing I do wish they could improve on was the DJ-ing for the music as there were awkward moments where ther wasn't any music playing.
Menu items were plentiful, and we had a hard time figuring out what we wanted. I would recommend ordering anything from their specialties.
While the drinks were considerably pricier, a lot more effort is apparently put into them. There are morsels of actual fruits in the drinks and of course, most importantly, they are really much more potent. For that, the girlfriend and I ended up really happy from our drinks.
We got really good and attentive service from the staff. But maybe it was also because we were the only patrons on Sunday evening. Upon leaving, we were bid a genuinely friendly good bye, which was really nice.
1=SGD 0.0587
好看不好吃 (looks good, but doesn't taste good)
I found this the ambience pretty nice and cosy. It had those private dining areas with low tables and leg cavities similar to Sakae Sushi at Marina Square but better because you will probably only zao geng to the wall. The privacy also gives the customer a sense of exclusiveness.
For service, I have to say Waraku scores well as they take initiative and are very responsive. A friend had made special requests for certain orders and were not disappointed.
Call me picky if you want. While Waraku's menu is quite extensive, it is quite a task to find an item that screams, "Eat me!"
Also, there isn't anything that's value for money. Plus, I had a hard time deciding what I should order. I ended up with this beef paper steamboat listed in the lunch set meals menu.
I have to say that the quality of food isn't what you would describe as fantastic. Compounded it with the fact that there wasn't anything inspiring in the menu to begin with, Waraku really left a bad flavour in my mouth. The beef paper steamboat only came with 4 pathetic slices of beef. When I sampled a friend's teriyaki chicken, my immediate response was a my best constipated expression. The chicken was tough and dry like it was microwaved.
Can somebody recommend exactly what is actually good at Waraku?
Or is it just me being luckless?
Rating given:
Stylo-mylo Spaggetti
Spageddies probably came about when someone thought that it would be a great idea to put premium main courses like steak, lobster, crayfish, etc together with the humble pasta. That pretty much sums up what they serve.
And the estimation of the price of their food goes something like this:
Price of steak with spaghetti at Spageddies = price of steak at ordinary restaurant price of spaghetti at ordinary restaurant
Sort of like paying for 2 dishes combined in one plate.
Once you can convince yourself that you are really paying for 2 main courses served on one plate, you probably won't have any problems picking the item you want.
Anyway, that is not to say that food is abysmal. On the contrary, food is good. It is mainly due to the use of fresh ingredients, which you can easily taste.
But be prepared to part with a good part of your money though.
Rating given:
Organic Haven
It is a well-known fact that the owner of Bollywood Veggies is "high society lady", Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim. This consequently impacted on the image of the organic farm. Everything is very manicured here, and it is a far cry from its neighbour, Green Circle, another organic farm.
For the same reason, Bollywood Veggies isn't a farm that shies away from attention. And since everything here is all extra nice, extra proper, it makes a viable tourist attraction. And with visitors, there's Poison Ivy, a café probably named after the owner.
Poison Ivy serves up just about everything its farm produces. There's a wide variety of curry, vegetables, cakes, drinks and bananas. It wasn't meal time, so the Girlfriend and I ordered just the banana bread, jackfruit cake, lemon cake, lemon tea and fig tea.
Fig Tea and Banana Bread Jackfruit cake Lemon Cake
While the portions were small, at $2 a piece, it was an opportunity to sample the menu.
The lemon cake was pretty refreshing with a unique spiciness to it. However, it did seem a little coarse on the palate.
The banana bread was made with the bananas harvested from the farm. It was fragrant, moist and spongy.
I liked the jackfruit cake best. While the portions were really miserable, the cake was more like a sticky kueh with lots of jackfruit bits in it. Plus it was served warm, which only enhanced the texture and taste.
The Girlfriend and I then "goondu-ly" walked into the farm area. Unbeknown to us, there was actually a price to pay to enter ($2). We only realized our boo-boo when we looked at the map and promptly returned to Poison Ivy. I doubt it would be fun to face a dagger brandishing Ivy.
Rating given:
Served by Unhygienic Staff
Goodness, the counter staff coughed into my donuts...
I had queued up from 11am to 1pm to get my dozen of donuts. It seemed more logical compared to queuing for a record 4 hours after the shop opens.
Anyway, I realised that the despite the 2 dozen limit, a fat lady still managed to get away with 6 dozens. Yet another Intrepid Ninja Van Reseller Alert. Thankfully, it was one off, but hey, I think it says plenty of the integrity (lack of) of their rules.
Just before my turn, the counter staff took off with a orange chocolate flavoured donut, re-dunked it into the white chocolate vat, slowly re-decorated it with orange jam and slowly savoured it before happily returning to the counter. So that's probably another reason why we need to wait so long for their donuts.
Finally my turn, the same counter staff served me. After my box was filled, she started coughing uncontrollably. Problem was she didn't really turn away, plus my box of donuts was wide open, catching all the airborne cough germs. Neither was she wearing any protective mask.
Oh my...
Then she managed to stop to turn around to key the orders into the register. And, she started coughing again. For anyone who knows, their cash register is just beside the stash of donuts. Coughing from that distance won't affect those donuts which will eventually be sold, right?
Rating given:
After seeing the first review, I decided to drop by this place when I was at PS. I was totally fascinated by the large range of embellishments and cute little things they have there. I never thought of how someone could come up with things like that and I was totally amazed. Being a not-very-creative person, the whole range of paper and little decorative items allowed me to come up with many different ideas in mind to create a scrapbook of my own (not that I do though). You can find designs of all sorts of colours and different themes that you can come up with. Great place!
I like the way the things are displayed there too. It has quite an attractive interior with mirrors placed strategically to make the place look very creative. The items are mostly displayed in a position that makes it easy to browse through the items. Also, there is ample walking space in the shop and, as opposed to a cramp and crowded shop, it allows you to take your time looking for anything you want.
However, I thought some things there were really expensive and could be self-made. Perhaps these things are actually really expensive, I have no idea. But I just felt that some things could be cheaper, or would definitely be cheaper if you made it yourself by getting the materials from Bras Basah complex.
Rating given:
I've tried Gloria Jean's in school! I never knew this shop existed anywhere. I guess I haven't been out at the malls for a long long time. But when I tried it, it was in school on a hot day during a sports event. I was looking for a good cold drink to quench my thirst, and Gloria Jean's looked like an alternative to some great cold coffee (like maybe having a drink from coffee bean in school), so I ordered an Iced Latte.
I thought I'd have a good drink, but unfortunately, the latte was diluted and absolutely bitter. I know coffee beans are bitter before you add anything to it, but I felt that this was too bitter as compared to what I've tried before, and it was definitely over-diluted.
I was quite disappointed by the standard of the drink. Probably because of that, I didn't really bother to remember this shop nor look out for it when I'm out. I haven't tried the drinks from their proper shop though, perhaps it is much better, based on Snowbringer's review. But I must say I wasn't too pleased with it.
Rating given:
Noted Fresh Sashimi
I finally managed to dine in this branch after countless attempts during peak hours.
How? By going during off-peak hours and joining friends who had made reservations.
The service is quite responsive (at least during off-peak hours) and the food gets served quite quickly.
You get to see a lot of stuff here in the menu which you don't in other chains. Particularly, items like lobster sashimi and uni (sea urchin). So at least the task of going through the menu will be rather interesting, especially when looking at the prices.
I ordered the rice with salmon sashimi and salmon roe and was impressed by the freshness of the ingredients, thick, firm slices of salmon and salmon roe that goes "pop" at your bite. But at $16 a serving I thought it was really a case of paying for quality. Friends who had ordered other items though, only looked at mine with a tinge of regret.
Word of caution though, the pricing in general is higher than the other chains. But you are really paying for the quality and freshness. So how much you pay really depends on how much you order. On the first occasion with friends (with large appetites), the bill for 4 came up to $130 whereas the second occasion, the bill for 2 (small appetites) only amounted to $29.
Rating given:
Yet another Hong Kong Cuisine Restaurant, just a little better
Dining out with a group of friends means I can sample many dishes and take many pictures.
But before that, some general thoughts on the quality of food, service and ambience.
Quality of Food
I would say slightly better, since each item does come in larger portions and the presentation is better thought out, compared to other restaurants serving the same fare. Though I don't really understand why the long queue.
Taste-wise is pretty much like the standard Hong Kong fare of baked rice, overpriced instant noodles, Hong Kong-styled western food and extra thick toast.
Brownie points for using hot plates to serve their western food and bamboo steamer baskets for baked rice.
Service
The thing about being there with a group of friends is that we find humour in any possible manner. It was quite amusing that the waitress taking our order got confused. But being a helpful bunch, we always pro-actively help to clarify any confusion. I think they are improving though. My friend had ordered the some baked rice with "twin sauce" but the meat in it tasted stale. After informing the waitress, the manager came by to explain the taste meant to be that way, but gladly cancelled that order from the bill since he didn't like it.
Ambience
Noisy, much like those Hong Kong restaurants seen on TV. Great for a lively crowd, no volume restriction. Rather cramped though, but it's really the same anywhere else.
And now, pictures of the food my friends and I ordered.
Almond Tea and Longan Aloe Vera
Nice fragrant Almond Tea. Longan Aloe Vera Drink was enjoyable as well.
Korean Noodle with Fried Egg
My friend didn't like this one. It is once again the instant noodle shock.
Roasted Spare Ribs with Honey Glaze
Pretty good as well, but the meat doesn't come off the bone like good ribs should.
Pork Chop Cutlet with Red Sauce
Baked Rice
Comes in red or white. Red one is tomato based and has a sweetness from tomatoes. White one is very rich in cheese and butter. Comes with fish or chicken or maybe something else as well.
Herb Lamb Chop with Garlic Sauce
That lamb taste is very strong in this one and the cuts are very fatty with chunks of bone. Pretty challenging to deal with. Had to resort to using hands to eat it cleanly.
Rating given:
Great food, but just some tweaks in processes
Opening Hours: 11.30am - 10pm (Closed on Mondays)
The girlfriend and I finally managed to try out Botak Jones at Clementi and we were quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of food. The cajun chicken we ordered was a surprisingly tasty piece of chicken breast. It was well-marinated and not dry. Every bite was bursting with flavor. The best part was it wasn't oily as it was grilled. It is has how good food should be.
On a separate occasion, I ordered their Botak Burger. I was served with a generous beef patty that is well-marinated and juicy. Personally, I thought the beef may have been too finely ground. I would have liked chunks of beef within the patty for a more interesting texture.
I would also like to make special mention for their fries, which is crispy and well-flavored with their spicy seasoning. It is a welcome change from the usual salt. I wiped the mountain of fries when I had the cajun chicken, but was unable to do the same at the sitting for the Botak Burger, but that's because I didn't have them with a drink.
So far, I have to say that the food I've gotten at the Clementi outlet has been good. The fries do well to make one full while their mains left a good impression on me.Service-wise, I appreciate their efforts to ask customers for feedback, though I think that was probably the stakeholder. Waiting time still needs to be improved. The wait during peak and off-peak hours is still around 30 minutes. I suspect this is due to the processes in the kitchen.
Then there are other areas I hope they could improve.
For one thing, they brought in a restaurant system which does not really work for a kopitiam setting. It basically gets customers to see the flaws of their process because people have to queue up before the system to order.
The menu contains too much text of the same size and too much narratives. I had a bit of a problem identifying the items. Yes, it is visually irritating.
So if you do go down to Botak Jones, be mentally prepared for the wait. I guess I was ok, thanks to the "training" I had been through at The Donut Factory. After you've been through that kind of a queue, this is just a walk in the park.
Rating given:
Potent Drinks and Great Service!
The girlfriend and I were here on a Sunday evening for a look-see but we ended up really impressed. I have to say this is one of the best chill out places I've come across.
As it was quite a walk, we opted to go to the air-conditioned area. It was dimly-lit with candlelight with sihoulettes of trees painted on the white walls.
The seating area to the left as we stepped into the place had really nice day bed-like sofas which are really conducive to get into the mood.
Being a Sunday, we actually had the whole place to ourselves.
One thing I do wish they could improve on was the DJ-ing for the music as there were awkward moments where ther wasn't any music playing.
Menu items were plentiful, and we had a hard time figuring out what we wanted. I would recommend ordering anything from their specialties.
While the drinks were considerably pricier, a lot more effort is apparently put into them. There are morsels of actual fruits in the drinks and of course, most importantly, they are really much more potent. For that, the girlfriend and I ended up really happy from our drinks.
We got really good and attentive service from the staff. But maybe it was also because we were the only patrons on Sunday evening. Upon leaving, we were bid a genuinely friendly good bye, which was really nice.
I'm definitely returning here soon.
Rating given: