There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.
I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.
The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.
The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.
The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.
I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!
If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.
Note:
(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.
(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.
(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is over hyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
My eyes strayed to the corner as we walked in, the desserts section; I saw the chocolate cake waving to me, the dessert shooters like a lighthouse beaconing the direction. And not lest, the-sight-of-it again: the omnipresent chocolate fondue, my heart just flew over with hugs and kisses.
Not able to resist the seduction, I dropped every last bit of pretence in me and embraced the temptation; lets start with the desserts shall we? We took a bit of everything, and started tucking in. We decided just to have some, and come back for more later. It was a difficult decision; to stop after we started, it was akin to asking a vampire to stop after he started sucking blood from your neck.
And so, the cold seafood counter. There were prawns, there were crabs, and there were mussels & scallops.
A sniff of the icy chilled oyster, the sea breeze gusted into my nose. The hassle of opening up the clam creature was avoided, for it was already prepared nice and clean on the bed of ice. I squeezed a whole wedge of lemon onto it, careful not to spill any outside the shell; every drop of lemon was precious, to fully bring out the quintessence of it. I pitched it up with a fork, and slowly put it into my mouth, one swallow, one gulp, and it was gone.
Our stomach has served us well, and to reward it for the hard work, let’s start with some salad. We took a bit of all the different greens, and dressed it up with the many-variety of dressing available; I always preferred thousand island, while you went for the lighter Italian dressing, and also the adventurous yoghurt one too.
It was fun, the process of ‘playing’ with the Kueh pie tee; we took the shell, add in the typical popiah turnip fillings, sprinkled a bit of the crushed peanuts, drizzled the sweet sauce, beautify it with paisley, and had options of tuna, chicken, and prawns to top with. Boy, it was good! The crispy shell, with the turnip fillings, but it was the sweet sauce and peanut which provided the difference.
There was roasted meat selections, Indian food, Western & Asian mains to choose from too. Again, we ate some of each, and finally it could wait no longer! This time, for desserts, we shall try everything, one of everything. Two if we can help it!
At first glance, it looked like pandan cake. Then, the pistachio financier name tag appeared, in a concealed corner oblivious to the naked human eye. The green stuff, they called it the pistachio nut, it was a personal favourite of our friend; and surprisingly, the pandan-cake-lookalike had a flavourful pistachio taste!
I remembered the truffle berry compote cake for its smooth and silky chocolate, with composition of berries within.
For some unknown reason which continue to evade me, passion fruit seemed to be a popular choice for patissier, I did not have any nice experience with it so far; but I guess it’s the intriguing combination of that-something-sour with the strong cheesecake. I, however, did not like it. I like sweet stuff, something sweet please.
While it had became a common thing for buffets, the chocolate fondue still never failed to excite me, I dipped fruits, puffs, marshmallows, and everything I could find under the flowing chocolate lava.
This, was my favourite part of the buffet. There’s a chef specially preparing waffles and crepes on-the-spot. The waffles were excellent, but they used the same mixture for the crepes, which turned out to be overly thick. And the staffs actually delivered the waffles to our tables when we forgot to collect it, now my dear, that’s what you call service!
I used syrup and butter for my first waffle. Then I returned for more with a topping of all the ice creams available, creativity struck me as I poured some of the lava from the chocolate fondue over my piece of crispy waffles.
The weekend dinner buffet from Mon to Wed is $45 , while dinner from Thursday onwards to Sunday is $50 per head. We were too full to try all the food; we missed out on the Indian food, and the roasted duck selections. Eating a little of everything was almost enough to fill up the tiny stomach of ours. Plenty of tea and a long chat after the meal aided in the digestion too! My appreciation to Helen, the F&B manager of Traders Hotel, for the food tasting invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Went there for a facial promotion of $22 facial $8 for eye mask. Thought their service is not EXCELLENT but I found it to be not bad. Perhaps I was lucky and gotten the therapist whom was good? The therapist did ask me whether I wanted to add a $20 ampoule for collagen but when I said no, she did not push for me to buy. Touch was light and soothing, when I didn't want to talk, she didn't try to act friendly like a lot of therapist would.
We were urshered to this room where the manager asked whether we would be interested in their facial packages. But when I mentioned I have packages elsewhere, she did not push more and instead introduced a promotional slimming package and offered to customize it for us.
Though in the end my friend and I signed for the package, we did not felt that we were forced into it. Perhaps it was due to previous cases hence the service improved? In anyway, we just went for our first treatment yesterday and although my friend did not like her therapist who was from China and lack experience, mine was great but did try to act friendly with me.
All in all, the service was not too bad, the atmosphere was great and space not crammed like some other facials I went to.
I never fail to visit pet lover's centre when i go shopping at IKEA or Queensway Shopping Centre.. Its not a very big shop, but you can buy everything you need for your pets there.... There's food, bedding, snacks and treats...
Basically, I love to squat and watch the little animals lazing away in their tanks.. Though the tanks don't look really clean but they have everything they need inside the tank... like water, hay, food bowl, bedding, pee container and their comfy hiding place...... Its really hard to keep them clean anyway... judging by the fact that they stay in the tank all day and shit alot....
I love the service in this shop as I find the staff extremely helpful.. and they love the animals.... Occassionally, you can see them bringing out the little animals for a short cuddle and that will make these little lovelies.. really happy....
They have new stock of live animals all the time and not only their turn-over is high, the animals are in such good conditions... Fluffy Fur, Shiny Coats, Excellent ears and eyes.. and most importantly they have good various breeds. Theres bound to be something u like...
By the way.. the little animals they sell are hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits.. If you like Dogs and Cats, why not drop by Pets Safari at VIVO....
All in all, the prices are reasonable and I love the fact that they do delivery for purchases above $50 and you could also get a membership for $5 with discounts all year round.
If your darling pet gave birth to too many children, you can also bring down to the shop to ask to sell to them... They handle these animals so expertly... and have a good eye in keeping them healthy and selecting the healthy ones from the not so good ones.. So its pretty safe if you buy live pets from PLC....
I read about Chef Suffian Zain, who relinquished his position as head chef of renowned fine dining restaurant, Iggy's,to join L'Entrepot, a new casual bistro by the Esmirada group serving up classical French food. And that was good enough reason to give the newly minted restaurant a shot.
Aptly located at Clarke Quay, along the Singapore river (entrepot is French for warehouse and is a place where import and export activities take place), L'Entrepot's al fresco and indoor dining area is seperated by a pedestrain walkway. While the al fresco area offers a venue to take in the sights and sounds of the Singapore river, the indoor area doesn't have much of a view to offer. It is however, a rather cozy place with a seemingly huge wine cellar showcasing dozens of bottles of wine.
Lobster Bisque - Apparently a must try at L'Entrepot and one that garnered rave reviews in a certain newspaper, the lobster bisque was disappointing to say the least. As with any lobster bisque, there were a few small cursory pieces of lobster flesh but the soup was rather watered down and lacked richness. The puff pastry, though flaky, wasn't buttery enough in my humble opinion.
Angus Rossini (Pan Roasted Angus Tenderloin, Mashed Potato, Duxell Mushroom, Pan Fried Foie Gras, Red Wine Sauce) - The tenderloin came in 2 chunks, both done medium rare as per request. Although the meat was relatively tender, it did seem a little dry and void of the beefy taste that most beef lovers would appreciate. The mushroom duxell(e) came sandwiched between the 2 blocks of beef and tasted rather bland and watery - not exactly ideal. As for the foie gras, it was thinly sliced and decently soft and quivery on the inside. I understand that it was better then the foie gras dish some of my dinner companions had ordered as appetisers.
On my part, the bill came up to about $47 after a 20% discount ($59 without discount), which is rather expensive for the quality of the food. We were so disappointed that we made the decision to adjorn elsewhere for desserts. Service was decent but that's not good enough reason for me to want to return. I had definitely expected more from Chef Suffian Zain.
I have a very good friend working in the management office of Sasa in HK. from her, I learnt that Sasa is very particular about their staff providing good customer service, which I experienced it in all Sasa outlets in HK.
However, back in Sg, though the customer service standard is not THAT drastically different, but what disturbed me was their method of operation which caused me much inconvenience.
There were plenty of examples but to cut long story short, I made a purchase in that outlet when I was in an extreme hurry. I explained to the sales girl if she could try her best to hurry up. In the end, I was made to fill in 3 identical redundant forms for some reason which till now I still dont know.
Keying in wrong amounts, losing my items when i left them in their hands, taking quite a long time to get back to me etc. Lotsa complicated examples.
But in all honesty, and to be fair, i could tell that they were willing to help solve the problems instead of ignoring my requests. They also tried to be flexible in their policy for the benefit of the customers.
Sigh, till now, I still love and hate them. I think im getting split personality.
The cut is being introduced by a friend of mine. It is started out by a group of student who have pretty nice fashion sense.
Unlike most other blogstores, the cut uses girls we see on the street as their models for their clothes. The website also provides the statistics of the models so you'll have a clearer picture of how their actual products will be like. somehow it assure me that their clothes will not be like Victoria's Secret, whereby only professional models will look good in their merchandise but not for real life people like us.
Of course there are pros and cons.
Pros are that their clothes are quite unique and their cutting are comparable to other fashion boutiques in town. Material wise is also acceptable, no shrinking or fading of colours. They even have underdress for their dresses. Prices are affordable too, with a dress at about $30. Postage at about a dollar and optional registered postage at 2 plus.
Cons are that their variety is quite limited. Even though they do update their collection once in a while, but personally I find that the wait is too long. Secondly, maybe I am too used to the superb customer service of Victoria's Secret, The Cut does not offer exchange or refund. Not that I have received anything from them that requires me to do so, but just for safety purposes, it'll be good if they allow exchanges or refunds due to any unforeseen circumstances.
This is a very traditional kueh store that sells many peranakan style desserts like kueh lapis, chocolate walnut cake etc.
Just a very simple store but you can see many familiar names, the names that reminds you of the older days.
i think the boss was there and he was wearing a batik shirt with the rest of the workers wearing apron.
he was very confident of his own products while trying to show me the list of six stars hotels the brand is catering to.
tried their kueh lapis, id say its quite nice, but slightly expensive, about the same price as bengawan solo.
but on funny scene was that the worker who was serving me was a china lady. and when i name her all the cakes n kuehs i wanted in their names, she dont seem to know what am i talking about and i had to resort to lots of body languages instead. i just think shes gonna have quite a hard time working there haha
Went for Kim Gary at JB and it was my first time yesterday having it in Singapore.
There were some really friendly and polite servers but also some rather rude ones.
For example, after we finished our food, and we still had friends coming, we told one of the server who was beside us but shows no intention to clear the table, to clear the table for us. and guess what he did, he just took away one small bowl with 3 other hot plates and bread baskets on the table.
the portion is very good but its definitely more expensive than JB. secondly, i was rather disappointed as the one i went in malaysia, the food was good. but for the one at tampines 1, its a mutual agreement that it was a disappointment. for example, its cream sauce is basically taste like campbell soup. and their tomato meat sauce, is exactly the same as ketchup with some cubes of tomato. totally different from what I expected nor does it look like how it looks in the menu
Had a craving for ramen but didn't fancy jostling with the mad crowds at Santouka or Marutama nor was I particularly willing to pay in excess of $15 for a bowl of ramen. Enter Men Tei, which I came across while reading some forums online. Its selling point (to me at least)? All bowls of ramen go for $13 nett.
Located on the ground level of Robinson Centre along Robinson Road in the Central Business District (CBD), Men Tei occupys a small space that is simpley done up and seats probably about 20 pax tops. The menu occupies a single sheet of paper (6 different types of ramen) so if you are looking for variety, this place is probably out.
Shio Ramen - You have the option of specifying the "doneness" of your noodles, ranging from normal, hard or extra hard. I didn't know that until after my ramen was served so I am assuming they gave me the normal option. I thought that it was a little too soft but at least it retained a little chewiness. The ramen broth honestly wasn't very robust and I couldn't quite make out any pork taste. Simply put, it was just salty but light. The egg was quite well done - quivery without being overly soft while the yakibuta (3 slices) was tender and flavourful.
Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen - Although the spicy ramen looked the part, it actually wasn't that bad and that's coming from someone who has a low tolerance for spiciness. As with the Shio ramen, the broth wasn't very robust but the yakibuta and tamago were equally good.
For the price, I honestly think its value for money given the quality of the ramen. Service is decent as well and best of all, there is no queue when you dine there on weekday evenings (they do not open on weekends or public holidays). The same can't be said for weekday lunch though. Men Tei also provides a delivery service to nearby offices for those who crave ramen but are too busy to step out.
1=SGD 0.0587
There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.
I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.
The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.
The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.
The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.
I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!
If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.
Note:
(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.
(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.
(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is over hyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
My eyes strayed to the corner as we walked in, the desserts section; I saw the chocolate cake waving to me, the dessert shooters like a lighthouse beaconing the direction. And not lest, the-sight-of-it again: the omnipresent chocolate fondue, my heart just flew over with hugs and kisses.
Not able to resist the seduction, I dropped every last bit of pretence in me and embraced the temptation; lets start with the desserts shall we? We took a bit of everything, and started tucking in. We decided just to have some, and come back for more later. It was a difficult decision; to stop after we started, it was akin to asking a vampire to stop after he started sucking blood from your neck.
And so, the cold seafood counter. There were prawns, there were crabs, and there were mussels & scallops.
A sniff of the icy chilled oyster, the sea breeze gusted into my nose. The hassle of opening up the clam creature was avoided, for it was already prepared nice and clean on the bed of ice. I squeezed a whole wedge of lemon onto it, careful not to spill any outside the shell; every drop of lemon was precious, to fully bring out the quintessence of it. I pitched it up with a fork, and slowly put it into my mouth, one swallow, one gulp, and it was gone.
Our stomach has served us well, and to reward it for the hard work, let’s start with some salad. We took a bit of all the different greens, and dressed it up with the many-variety of dressing available; I always preferred thousand island, while you went for the lighter Italian dressing, and also the adventurous yoghurt one too.
It was fun, the process of ‘playing’ with the Kueh pie tee; we took the shell, add in the typical popiah turnip fillings, sprinkled a bit of the crushed peanuts, drizzled the sweet sauce, beautify it with paisley, and had options of tuna, chicken, and prawns to top with. Boy, it was good! The crispy shell, with the turnip fillings, but it was the sweet sauce and peanut which provided the difference.
There was roasted meat selections, Indian food, Western & Asian mains to choose from too. Again, we ate some of each, and finally it could wait no longer! This time, for desserts, we shall try everything, one of everything. Two if we can help it!
At first glance, it looked like pandan cake. Then, the pistachio financier name tag appeared, in a concealed corner oblivious to the naked human eye. The green stuff, they called it the pistachio nut, it was a personal favourite of our friend; and surprisingly, the pandan-cake-lookalike had a flavourful pistachio taste!
I remembered the truffle berry compote cake for its smooth and silky chocolate, with composition of berries within.
For some unknown reason which continue to evade me, passion fruit seemed to be a popular choice for patissier, I did not have any nice experience with it so far; but I guess it’s the intriguing combination of that-something-sour with the strong cheesecake. I, however, did not like it. I like sweet stuff, something sweet please.
While it had became a common thing for buffets, the chocolate fondue still never failed to excite me, I dipped fruits, puffs, marshmallows, and everything I could find under the flowing chocolate lava.
This, was my favourite part of the buffet. There’s a chef specially preparing waffles and crepes on-the-spot. The waffles were excellent, but they used the same mixture for the crepes, which turned out to be overly thick. And the staffs actually delivered the waffles to our tables when we forgot to collect it, now my dear, that’s what you call service!
I used syrup and butter for my first waffle. Then I returned for more with a topping of all the ice creams available, creativity struck me as I poured some of the lava from the chocolate fondue over my piece of crispy waffles.
The weekend dinner buffet from Mon to Wed is $45 , while dinner from Thursday onwards to Sunday is $50 per head. We were too full to try all the food; we missed out on the Indian food, and the roasted duck selections. Eating a little of everything was almost enough to fill up the tiny stomach of ours. Plenty of tea and a long chat after the meal aided in the digestion too! My appreciation to Helen, the F&B manager of Traders Hotel, for the food tasting invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Went there for a facial promotion of $22 facial $8 for eye mask. Thought their service is not EXCELLENT but I found it to be not bad. Perhaps I was lucky and gotten the therapist whom was good? The therapist did ask me whether I wanted to add a $20 ampoule for collagen but when I said no, she did not push for me to buy. Touch was light and soothing, when I didn't want to talk, she didn't try to act friendly like a lot of therapist would.
We were urshered to this room where the manager asked whether we would be interested in their facial packages. But when I mentioned I have packages elsewhere, she did not push more and instead introduced a promotional slimming package and offered to customize it for us.
Though in the end my friend and I signed for the package, we did not felt that we were forced into it. Perhaps it was due to previous cases hence the service improved? In anyway, we just went for our first treatment yesterday and although my friend did not like her therapist who was from China and lack experience, mine was great but did try to act friendly with me.
All in all, the service was not too bad, the atmosphere was great and space not crammed like some other facials I went to.
Rating given:
I never fail to visit pet lover's centre when i go shopping at IKEA or Queensway Shopping Centre.. Its not a very big shop, but you can buy everything you need for your pets there.... There's food, bedding, snacks and treats...
Basically, I love to squat and watch the little animals lazing away in their tanks.. Though the tanks don't look really clean but they have everything they need inside the tank... like water, hay, food bowl, bedding, pee container and their comfy hiding place...... Its really hard to keep them clean anyway... judging by the fact that they stay in the tank all day and shit alot....
I love the service in this shop as I find the staff extremely helpful.. and they love the animals.... Occassionally, you can see them bringing out the little animals for a short cuddle and that will make these little lovelies.. really happy....
They have new stock of live animals all the time and not only their turn-over is high, the animals are in such good conditions... Fluffy Fur, Shiny Coats, Excellent ears and eyes.. and most importantly they have good various breeds. Theres bound to be something u like...
By the way.. the little animals they sell are hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits.. If you like Dogs and Cats, why not drop by Pets Safari at VIVO....
All in all, the prices are reasonable and I love the fact that they do delivery for purchases above $50 and you could also get a membership for $5 with discounts all year round.
If your darling pet gave birth to too many children, you can also bring down to the shop to ask to sell to them... They handle these animals so expertly... and have a good eye in keeping them healthy and selecting the healthy ones from the not so good ones.. So its pretty safe if you buy live pets from PLC....
Rating given:
I read about Chef Suffian Zain, who relinquished his position as head chef of renowned fine dining restaurant, Iggy's,to join L'Entrepot, a new casual bistro by the Esmirada group serving up classical French food. And that was good enough reason to give the newly minted restaurant a shot.
Aptly located at Clarke Quay, along the Singapore river (entrepot is French for warehouse and is a place where import and export activities take place), L'Entrepot's al fresco and indoor dining area is seperated by a pedestrain walkway. While the al fresco area offers a venue to take in the sights and sounds of the Singapore river, the indoor area doesn't have much of a view to offer. It is however, a rather cozy place with a seemingly huge wine cellar showcasing dozens of bottles of wine.
Lobster Bisque - Apparently a must try at L'Entrepot and one that garnered rave reviews in a certain newspaper, the lobster bisque was disappointing to say the least. As with any lobster bisque, there were a few small cursory pieces of lobster flesh but the soup was rather watered down and lacked richness. The puff pastry, though flaky, wasn't buttery enough in my humble opinion.
Angus Rossini (Pan Roasted Angus Tenderloin, Mashed Potato, Duxell Mushroom, Pan Fried Foie Gras, Red Wine Sauce) - The tenderloin came in 2 chunks, both done medium rare as per request. Although the meat was relatively tender, it did seem a little dry and void of the beefy taste that most beef lovers would appreciate. The mushroom duxell(e) came sandwiched between the 2 blocks of beef and tasted rather bland and watery - not exactly ideal. As for the foie gras, it was thinly sliced and decently soft and quivery on the inside. I understand that it was better then the foie gras dish some of my dinner companions had ordered as appetisers.
On my part, the bill came up to about $47 after a 20% discount ($59 without discount), which is rather expensive for the quality of the food. We were so disappointed that we made the decision to adjorn elsewhere for desserts. Service was decent but that's not good enough reason for me to want to return. I had definitely expected more from Chef Suffian Zain.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I have a very good friend working in the management office of Sasa in HK. from her, I learnt that Sasa is very particular about their staff providing good customer service, which I experienced it in all Sasa outlets in HK.
However, back in Sg, though the customer service standard is not THAT drastically different, but what disturbed me was their method of operation which caused me much inconvenience.
There were plenty of examples but to cut long story short, I made a purchase in that outlet when I was in an extreme hurry. I explained to the sales girl if she could try her best to hurry up. In the end, I was made to fill in 3 identical redundant forms for some reason which till now I still dont know.
Keying in wrong amounts, losing my items when i left them in their hands, taking quite a long time to get back to me etc. Lotsa complicated examples.
But in all honesty, and to be fair, i could tell that they were willing to help solve the problems instead of ignoring my requests. They also tried to be flexible in their policy for the benefit of the customers.
Sigh, till now, I still love and hate them. I think im getting split personality.
Rating given:
The cut is being introduced by a friend of mine. It is started out by a group of student who have pretty nice fashion sense.
Unlike most other blogstores, the cut uses girls we see on the street as their models for their clothes. The website also provides the statistics of the models so you'll have a clearer picture of how their actual products will be like. somehow it assure me that their clothes will not be like Victoria's Secret, whereby only professional models will look good in their merchandise but not for real life people like us.
Of course there are pros and cons.
Pros are that their clothes are quite unique and their cutting are comparable to other fashion boutiques in town. Material wise is also acceptable, no shrinking or fading of colours. They even have underdress for their dresses. Prices are affordable too, with a dress at about $30. Postage at about a dollar and optional registered postage at 2 plus.
Cons are that their variety is quite limited. Even though they do update their collection once in a while, but personally I find that the wait is too long. Secondly, maybe I am too used to the superb customer service of Victoria's Secret, The Cut does not offer exchange or refund. Not that I have received anything from them that requires me to do so, but just for safety purposes, it'll be good if they allow exchanges or refunds due to any unforeseen circumstances.
Rating given:
This is a very traditional kueh store that sells many peranakan style desserts like kueh lapis, chocolate walnut cake etc.
Just a very simple store but you can see many familiar names, the names that reminds you of the older days.
i think the boss was there and he was wearing a batik shirt with the rest of the workers wearing apron.
he was very confident of his own products while trying to show me the list of six stars hotels the brand is catering to.
tried their kueh lapis, id say its quite nice, but slightly expensive, about the same price as bengawan solo.
but on funny scene was that the worker who was serving me was a china lady. and when i name her all the cakes n kuehs i wanted in their names, she dont seem to know what am i talking about and i had to resort to lots of body languages instead. i just think shes gonna have quite a hard time working there haha
Rating given:
Went for Kim Gary at JB and it was my first time yesterday having it in Singapore.
There were some really friendly and polite servers but also some rather rude ones.
For example, after we finished our food, and we still had friends coming, we told one of the server who was beside us but shows no intention to clear the table, to clear the table for us. and guess what he did, he just took away one small bowl with 3 other hot plates and bread baskets on the table.
the portion is very good but its definitely more expensive than JB. secondly, i was rather disappointed as the one i went in malaysia, the food was good. but for the one at tampines 1, its a mutual agreement that it was a disappointment. for example, its cream sauce is basically taste like campbell soup. and their tomato meat sauce, is exactly the same as ketchup with some cubes of tomato. totally different from what I expected nor does it look like how it looks in the menu
Rating given:
Had a craving for ramen but didn't fancy jostling with the mad crowds at Santouka or Marutama nor was I particularly willing to pay in excess of $15 for a bowl of ramen. Enter Men Tei, which I came across while reading some forums online. Its selling point (to me at least)? All bowls of ramen go for $13 nett.
Located on the ground level of Robinson Centre along Robinson Road in the Central Business District (CBD), Men Tei occupys a small space that is simpley done up and seats probably about 20 pax tops. The menu occupies a single sheet of paper (6 different types of ramen) so if you are looking for variety, this place is probably out.
Shio Ramen - You have the option of specifying the "doneness" of your noodles, ranging from normal, hard or extra hard. I didn't know that until after my ramen was served so I am assuming they gave me the normal option. I thought that it was a little too soft but at least it retained a little chewiness. The ramen broth honestly wasn't very robust and I couldn't quite make out any pork taste. Simply put, it was just salty but light. The egg was quite well done - quivery without being overly soft while the yakibuta (3 slices) was tender and flavourful.
Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen - Although the spicy ramen looked the part, it actually wasn't that bad and that's coming from someone who has a low tolerance for spiciness. As with the Shio ramen, the broth wasn't very robust but the yakibuta and tamago were equally good.
For the price, I honestly think its value for money given the quality of the ramen. Service is decent as well and best of all, there is no queue when you dine there on weekday evenings (they do not open on weekends or public holidays). The same can't be said for weekday lunch though. Men Tei also provides a delivery service to nearby offices for those who crave ramen but are too busy to step out.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given: