I went for dinner at KuShinBo the other day and BOY THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD! Especially the FAT JUICY ALASKAN CRABS. Ooohh.. the white meat was so huge and Soosoo Sweet.
The Buffet had a wide variety of every sort Japanese cuisine, such as fresh succulent Sashimi, Freshly grilled seafood, Soupy stuffs, tempura and more. What surprises me is that they will CHEONG you to eat with their special items. They will play this JINGLE and when you hear it... Get Ready, on your Mud... Get Set.... Go and queue for a special item which ranges from Cheesy Slipper Lobsters to grilled scallops. Boy ... am i salivating now. Even if at the point of time you feel that you have already eaten an elephant, you will still charge for that one small item that you hope it fits in your tummy.
If you are the kind that drinks alot, you should be very glad because you have an assortment of beverages to choose ranging from freshly brewed coffee to tangy fruit punches and more. For those with a raging sweet tooth, they have a wide variety of traditional japanese desserts to fancy cakes, delicious handmade chocolates, cookies, cute fruit tarts, creamy ice creams and our all time favourite... freshly cut fruits. Thats not all yet... They also have a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN pleasently known as a FONDUE.. How CHIC...
If you miss the days when you get to lick on that brightly coloured cotton candy... so fluffy.. so pretty.. Then don't forget to get one when the DING DING DONG starts... I love that soo soo much, it really brings back alot of childhood memories.
For Food that quality and quantity, Seriously i really don't mind the price... $39.80 for dinner on a weekend sounds prefectly all right... if you had gone hungry for the last 3 days and can seriously make it to gobble up an elephant...
You might not think that its worth the price when you see the tightly placed tables and not so soothing ambience, but when you see the SPREAD OF THE BUFFET.... and taste the sweet sweet Fleshy JUICY CRAB... You will think that its all WORTH IT...
They also do promotions for certain catagories of people at certain time and day... such as Ladies Nite... and lunch or dinner on weekdays are much more affordable.
For those desperate like me and loves to eat....
Start thinking how to reduce your height to less then 1.4m.. because for that you only get to pay $16 at all times.
If you can't then be a senior citizen, you get 10% off at all times. Wah..Lah... FEAST ON....
The food is fabulous, i give all thumbs up including 5 toes...
Definitely not for the weak hearted...
I agree! Carl's Junior is quite different in terms of style and all. I think it's totally imported from the States or something, with the huge servings and all. Great for huge eaters! But it's definitely not a good choice for dining if you're on a budget. It's slightly more expensive than other fast food restaurants and you're not paying for much service nor ambience.
But there are some places where you have to try before you know whether you like it or not. And if you're looking for a fast food that's slightly different (with free flow of drinks), I would recommend Carl's too! :)
Look each other in the eye when you toast, or experience 7 years of bad sex!
I was quite pleased with the beer mixes and drafts respectively. The girlfriend had the former, which was their fizzy draft beer with banana. It had a refreshing taste with a hint of the fruit which did not over power the beer. The dark, chestnut coloured draft I ordered (which was the last item on the draft beer page) had a strong nutty and malty flavour which was, well, very yummy. There was no hiding of the ingredients and processing that went into the brew, which is good, because you will know that you pay for quality.
The Finger food was good, but only if there's beer. I say this because the finger food on its own tasted bland. But my guess is that the restaurant wanted the food and drinks to compliment each other and to bring out the taste of each other. Though I wished it was in bigger portion. I thought it was exceptionally odd since they would serve beers by the litre but half their portions of finger food.
As for service, I thought the waitress who attended to my table was pretty professional. I had asked about the difference in their drafts was provided with concise descriptions on taste for each of them. I was able to decide quickly from her comments and as fore-mentioned, was satisfied with my orders.
According to the girlfriend, the ambience was quite similar to those in Germany. But the music did seem un-German.
As for the title, the superstition about toasting with German beers is that you got to look into the eyes of each other and say the German version of "Yam Seng" or "Cheers". Failing which, 7 years of bod sex. So toast with a single-minded conviction here!
Here's a new place the girlfriend and I found that's a joy to visit.
My recommendations The girlfriend and I had ordered the lovers' platter for 2 where there were very nice grilled scallops, but I thought it was spoiled by their fried stuff. So I think it is better to order individual main courses.Their side dishes are really good too, especially their potatoes and linguine, only 80 cents each.
Few things that I love about this place. Their method of preparing their fish. Usually steamed, poached or grilled, the fish retains its flavor and is light on the palate. When you have fresh fish, this is the way to go because the freshness is a huge factor for the taste and texture. Of course, these methods are healthier, though it also means it's easier to make room for more food.
Variety of fish The main difference here is a more local variety of fish. Think grouper, sea bass, salmon, pomfret. Yes, I think this is the main reason why this restaurant chose to steam, poach and grill.
Options of side dishes I thought this is a good idea, especially when other seafood restaurants like Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co always load tons of rice and fries.You get to to add side dishes at 80 cents and onwards per dish so that you can concentrate on the taste of the main attraction.
Family friendly - Spacious and relaxed There is this empty space right after the entrance that is really good for children to move around in. Another honorable mention goes to the smiley fries, which the girlfriend and I dubbed "smelly flies", thanks to our local accent (Singlish lah). I think they owners didn't want to fill up the place with tables for profit and instead chose to keep it spacious for less staff to serve the customers more effectively. I didn't feel rushed in this place and I like that. The Girlfriend also mentioned that the choice of colors (yellow and blue) was very effective in setting th relaxed mood. Best of all, the customers were all in really relaxed attire - t-shirts, bermudas and sandals. Very cozy.
One thing I can never come to terms with is the fact that Restaurants/Cafes serving Hong Kong cuisine prices instant noodles at a premium. Xin Wang is no exception. It is funny in a way, because instant noodles sold in Hong Kong has an iconic status, but if you sold instant noodles as a Uniquely Singapore dish, it is called a rip-off.
Also, it is pretty disappointing that there is only baked rice, baked rice and more baked rice. Otherwise, it is thick toast, thick toast and more thick toast. And then you get something mildly interesting like, pineapple buns, ordinary bread buns with some pineapple filling, probably similar to that of pineapple tarts sold at about $2 each. Wah. Lao. Eh. It. Is. So. Exciting. Hor? Not. Even. One. Bit.
While Xin Wang does serve up some specialities (some crab dish, I think) it is as I like to say, nothing inspiring.
I have never failed to become the lunchtime envy of my colleagues whenever I bring a Don's pie back to office.
This is for chicken pie lovers who always thought something was missing in the pies you have eaten, DON's pies probably have the answer, be it the large portions, the hard-boiled egg or black peppercorns.
The small pie is a complete meal in itself while a large one feed 4.
As for the hard-boiled egg, I thought it completes the pie.
Contrary to Joanne's blurb on the pies, my colleagues and I love the pies. I for one love the peppery taste of the pies. I think it is something to do with the local obsession with black pepper. Somehow anything and everything with black peppercorns just work, like black pepper crabs, stir-fried black pepper beef and black pepper steak just appeals to Singaporeans. Of course, I have to admit I haven't tried Aussie and British pies to compare. Singapore probably gave the pie a local twist to it to make our own. So for the familiar chicken pie, DON's pies are still the best for me.
They have recently also expanded to selling claypot crab bee hoon. I haven't tried it, but I'm sure I will be soon.
The perfect place to chill out without the crowd up on the "highest" peak in Singapore....actually not so high. But the couch view by the window is good. The floor to ceiling glass window allows you to get a good view of the cable car paths as well as Sentosa and the Singapore Harbour. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the views.
Serve standard drinks and cocktails. One plus point is that this place is frequented by both local and foreign celebrities, so you might just catch a glimpse of them or hear the staffs talking about it...that's if you are in to celebrities. Otherwise the glass atmosphere and cozy surroundings might just be what you can enjoy here.
You might like to make a reservation if you are going in larger groups. Have seen many larger groups of about 5-6 people coming in and going out because of not being able to find a place here.
Parking in Mount Faber can be a problem if you come later in the night. But then you can always use the valet service at $5 if you like. Saves you all the walking and trouble.
Ice cream like you have never had before. This is what we found at Tom's Palette. The perfect place for a stopover after dinner. It used to be Swensens but now, it is Tom's Palette! For some reason, Swensens does not seem to appeal to us, but then again that is another story.
So what is good at Tom's Palette?
The local flavours that you will not find at Swensens and Hagen D. The following is a list of flavours you can find there:-
- Tau Sar Piah!!??
- Chrysanthemum
- Lavender
- Apple Pie
- Oreo Cheese
- Blue Berry Cheese
- Hazelnut
- Logan and Red Dates
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Real Strawberries
- Horlicks (if you just love it)
- and more to come...perhaps we should just give them some suggestions for new flavours! Why not have kiwi, chicken!!??, guava, and maybe some sorbets!!
If you are confused and not certain which one to try, just request to sample them. Try not to take it too far by sampling all the flavours....but it might just happen! Portions are generous and comes in 3 different servings. If you go by after dinner, perhaps the smallest portion would be the right serving. You get 2 scoops in the serving and that will allow you to savour your favourite flavours! All that at less than $3 per cup...it is reasonably priced.
Staffs are friendly and patient. Perhaps they like to see the look on your face in wondering what in the world does it taste like! But jokes aside they always have a smile even though you cannot decide which flavour you would like.
We specially make the trip there to eat their ice creams and also bring our friends there for a short stopover....to try Singapore ice cream. Highly recommended!!
I was never really into Black Forest cakes, but after I tried the Black Forest cake from Secret Recipe, I have to say it's one of the nicer cakes I've ever had! So, I decided to go for dessert at Secret Recipe after dinner one day. I've tried Chocolate Banana and Mango Delight.
I must say Black Forest and Chocolate Banana are highly recommended cakes! There is a tasty chocolate layer on the cake that does not taste too rich and won't make you get sick of it so easily. The banana slices are huge slices buried within layers of the cake. What's good is that the taste of the banana is not covered by the chocolate and the bananas used are really sweet. As for the Mango Delight, the mango slices within the cake are the sweet and delicious mango, unlike other cakes that use half riped or sour mangoes.
Although I haven't tried the other cakes, but from the looks of it, the other cakes seem not bad too! Definitely a good place for desserts!
Interesting fusion food such as jap curry noodle and many others. If you're arent a big eater, do share with someone else as the portions are big. Great service too. Only gripe, long queues and its a tad pricy. :)
1=SGD 0.0587
Ding Ding Dong... KuShinBo...
Does it ring a bell?
I went for dinner at KuShinBo the other day and BOY THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD! Especially the FAT JUICY ALASKAN CRABS. Ooohh.. the white meat was so huge and Soosoo Sweet.
The Buffet had a wide variety of every sort Japanese cuisine, such as fresh succulent Sashimi, Freshly grilled seafood, Soupy stuffs, tempura and more. What surprises me is that they will CHEONG you to eat with their special items. They will play this JINGLE and when you hear it... Get Ready, on your Mud... Get Set.... Go and queue for a special item which ranges from Cheesy Slipper Lobsters to grilled scallops. Boy ... am i salivating now. Even if at the point of time you feel that you have already eaten an elephant, you will still charge for that one small item that you hope it fits in your tummy.
If you are the kind that drinks alot, you should be very glad because you have an assortment of beverages to choose ranging from freshly brewed coffee to tangy fruit punches and more. For those with a raging sweet tooth, they have a wide variety of traditional japanese desserts to fancy cakes, delicious handmade chocolates, cookies, cute fruit tarts, creamy ice creams and our all time favourite... freshly cut fruits. Thats not all yet... They also have a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN pleasently known as a FONDUE.. How CHIC...
If you miss the days when you get to lick on that brightly coloured cotton candy... so fluffy.. so pretty.. Then don't forget to get one when the DING DING DONG starts... I love that soo soo much, it really brings back alot of childhood memories.
For Food that quality and quantity, Seriously i really don't mind the price... $39.80 for dinner on a weekend sounds prefectly all right... if you had gone hungry for the last 3 days and can seriously make it to gobble up an elephant...
You might not think that its worth the price when you see the tightly placed tables and not so soothing ambience, but when you see the SPREAD OF THE BUFFET.... and taste the sweet sweet Fleshy JUICY CRAB... You will think that its all WORTH IT...
They also do promotions for certain catagories of people at certain time and day... such as Ladies Nite... and lunch or dinner on weekdays are much more affordable.
For those desperate like me and loves to eat....
Start thinking how to reduce your height to less then 1.4m.. because for that you only get to pay $16 at all times.
If you can't then be a senior citizen, you get 10% off at all times. Wah..Lah... FEAST ON....
The food is fabulous, i give all thumbs up including 5 toes...
Definitely not for the weak hearted...
Rating given:
I agree! Carl's Junior is quite different in terms of style and all. I think it's totally imported from the States or something, with the huge servings and all. Great for huge eaters! But it's definitely not a good choice for dining if you're on a budget. It's slightly more expensive than other fast food restaurants and you're not paying for much service nor ambience.
But there are some places where you have to try before you know whether you like it or not. And if you're looking for a fast food that's slightly different (with free flow of drinks), I would recommend Carl's too! :)
Rating given:
Look each other in the eye when you toast, or experience 7 years of bad sex!
I was quite pleased with the beer mixes and drafts respectively. The girlfriend had the former, which was their fizzy draft beer with banana. It had a refreshing taste with a hint of the fruit which did not over power the beer. The dark, chestnut coloured draft I ordered (which was the last item on the draft beer page) had a strong nutty and malty flavour which was, well, very yummy. There was no hiding of the ingredients and processing that went into the brew, which is good, because you will know that you pay for quality.
The Finger food was good, but only if there's beer. I say this because the finger food on its own tasted bland. But my guess is that the restaurant wanted the food and drinks to compliment each other and to bring out the taste of each other. Though I wished it was in bigger portion. I thought it was exceptionally odd since they would serve beers by the litre but half their portions of finger food.
As for service, I thought the waitress who attended to my table was pretty professional. I had asked about the difference in their drafts was provided with concise descriptions on taste for each of them. I was able to decide quickly from her comments and as fore-mentioned, was satisfied with my orders.
According to the girlfriend, the ambience was quite similar to those in Germany. But the music did seem un-German.
As for the title, the superstition about toasting with German beers is that you got to look into the eyes of each other and say the German version of "Yam Seng" or "Cheers". Failing which, 7 years of bod sex. So toast with a single-minded conviction here!
Admittedly, I gave Brotzeit a high rating because I was pretty disappointed with Café Del Mar's service just before coming here. The girlfriend and I were there for an hour and a half but was unable to find drinks. More details about the atrocious service on their opening day later.
Rating given:
This is the way fish should be served!
Here's a new place the girlfriend and I found that's a joy to visit.
My recommendations
The girlfriend and I had ordered the lovers' platter for 2 where there were very nice grilled scallops, but I thought it was spoiled by their fried stuff. So I think it is better to order individual main courses.Their side dishes are really good too, especially their potatoes and linguine, only 80 cents each.
Few things that I love about this place.
Their method of preparing their fish.
Usually steamed, poached or grilled, the fish retains its flavor and is light on the palate. When you have fresh fish, this is the way to go because the freshness is a huge factor for the taste and texture. Of course, these methods are healthier, though it also means it's easier to make room for more food.
Variety of fish
The main difference here is a more local variety of fish. Think grouper, sea bass, salmon, pomfret. Yes, I think this is the main reason why this restaurant chose to steam, poach and grill.
Options of side dishes
I thought this is a good idea, especially when other seafood restaurants like Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co always load tons of rice and fries.You get to to add side dishes at 80 cents and onwards per dish so that you can concentrate on the taste of the main attraction.
Family friendly - Spacious and relaxed
There is this empty space right after the entrance that is really good for children to move around in. Another honorable mention goes to the smiley fries, which the girlfriend and I dubbed "smelly flies", thanks to our local accent (Singlish lah). I think they owners didn't want to fill up the place with tables for profit and instead chose to keep it spacious for less staff to serve the customers more effectively. I didn't feel rushed in this place and I like that. The Girlfriend also mentioned that the choice of colors (yellow and blue) was very effective in setting th relaxed mood. Best of all, the customers were all in really relaxed attire - t-shirts, bermudas and sandals. Very cozy.
Rating given:
Huh? Instant noodles as a dish?
One thing I can never come to terms with is the fact that Restaurants/Cafes serving Hong Kong cuisine prices instant noodles at a premium. Xin Wang is no exception. It is funny in a way, because instant noodles sold in Hong Kong has an iconic status, but if you sold instant noodles as a Uniquely Singapore dish, it is called a rip-off.
Also, it is pretty disappointing that there is only baked rice, baked rice and more baked rice. Otherwise, it is thick toast, thick toast and more thick toast. And then you get something mildly interesting like, pineapple buns, ordinary bread buns with some pineapple filling, probably similar to that of pineapple tarts sold at about $2 each.
Wah. Lao. Eh. It. Is. So. Exciting. Hor?
Not. Even. One. Bit.
While Xin Wang does serve up some specialities (some crab dish, I think) it is as I like to say, nothing inspiring.
This place is a rip-off, I tell you.
Rating given:
Be the Lunchtime Envy of your colleagues
I have never failed to become the lunchtime envy of my colleagues whenever I bring a Don's pie back to office.
This is for chicken pie lovers who always thought something was missing in the pies you have eaten, DON's pies probably have the answer, be it the large portions, the hard-boiled egg or black peppercorns.
The small pie is a complete meal in itself while a large one feed 4.
As for the hard-boiled egg, I thought it completes the pie.
Contrary to Joanne's blurb on the pies, my colleagues and I love the pies.
I for one love the peppery taste of the pies. I think it is something to do with the local obsession with black pepper. Somehow anything and everything with black peppercorns just work, like black pepper crabs, stir-fried black pepper beef and black pepper steak just appeals to Singaporeans.
Of course, I have to admit I haven't tried Aussie and British pies to compare.
Singapore probably gave the pie a local twist to it to make our own.
So for the familiar chicken pie, DON's pies are still the best for me.
They have recently also expanded to selling claypot crab bee hoon.
I haven't tried it, but I'm sure I will be soon.
Rating given:
The perfect place to chill out without the crowd up on the "highest" peak in Singapore....actually not so high. But the couch view by the window is good. The floor to ceiling glass window allows you to get a good view of the cable car paths as well as Sentosa and the Singapore Harbour. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the views.
Serve standard drinks and cocktails. One plus point is that this place is frequented by both local and foreign celebrities, so you might just catch a glimpse of them or hear the staffs talking about it...that's if you are in to celebrities. Otherwise the glass atmosphere and cozy surroundings might just be what you can enjoy here.
You might like to make a reservation if you are going in larger groups. Have seen many larger groups of about 5-6 people coming in and going out because of not being able to find a place here.
Parking in Mount Faber can be a problem if you come later in the night. But then you can always use the valet service at $5 if you like. Saves you all the walking and trouble.
Rating given:
Ice cream like you have never had before. This is what we found at Tom's Palette. The perfect place for a stopover after dinner. It used to be Swensens but now, it is Tom's Palette! For some reason, Swensens does not seem to appeal to us, but then again that is another story.
So what is good at Tom's Palette?
The local flavours that you will not find at Swensens and Hagen D. The following is a list of flavours you can find there:-
- Tau Sar Piah!!??
- Chrysanthemum
- Lavender
- Apple Pie
- Oreo Cheese
- Blue Berry Cheese
- Hazelnut
- Logan and Red Dates
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Real Strawberries
- Horlicks (if you just love it)
- and more to come...perhaps we should just give them some suggestions for new flavours! Why not have kiwi, chicken!!??, guava, and maybe some sorbets!!
If you are confused and not certain which one to try, just request to sample them. Try not to take it too far by sampling all the flavours....but it might just happen! Portions are generous and comes in 3 different servings. If you go by after dinner, perhaps the smallest portion would be the right serving. You get 2 scoops in the serving and that will allow you to savour your favourite flavours! All that at less than $3 per cup...it is reasonably priced.
Staffs are friendly and patient. Perhaps they like to see the look on your face in wondering what in the world does it taste like! But jokes aside they always have a smile even though you cannot decide which flavour you would like.
We specially make the trip there to eat their ice creams and also bring our friends there for a short stopover....to try Singapore ice cream. Highly recommended!!
Rating given:
I was never really into Black Forest cakes, but after I tried the Black Forest cake from Secret Recipe, I have to say it's one of the nicer cakes I've ever had! So, I decided to go for dessert at Secret Recipe after dinner one day. I've tried Chocolate Banana and Mango Delight.
I must say Black Forest and Chocolate Banana are highly recommended cakes! There is a tasty chocolate layer on the cake that does not taste too rich and won't make you get sick of it so easily. The banana slices are huge slices buried within layers of the cake. What's good is that the taste of the banana is not covered by the chocolate and the bananas used are really sweet. As for the Mango Delight, the mango slices within the cake are the sweet and delicious mango, unlike other cakes that use half riped or sour mangoes.
Although I haven't tried the other cakes, but from the looks of it, the other cakes seem not bad too! Definitely a good place for desserts!
Rating given:
Interesting fusion food such as jap curry noodle and many others. If you're arent a big eater, do share with someone else as the portions are big. Great service too. Only gripe, long queues and its a tad pricy. :)
Rating given: