Winner of the Singapore Tatler Best Restaurant award for more than 10 consecutive years, Wah Lok has much to live up to in terms of food and ambience. Visitors to Singapore who would like a taste of authentic Cantonese cuisine should not give Wah Lok a miss.
The cantonese restaurant is set like an opulent dining paradise with its Oriental-themed settings. Its rotunda hall, an extension built above the terrace, with its grand high ceiling and floor to ceiling glass windows, adds a touch of refined elegance to the restaurant renowned for its Cantonese dim sum and fine cuisine.
Perhaps it is also one of the largest round tables that we have ever sat in. With a group of about 10 of us, the table still feels empty and there seems to be much more space in between persons to still sit another 6 more.
The table being large left us wondering if the dishes that we ordered would equally be large enough to fill the table space and most importantly our stomachs. It did not disappoint.
For starters we had the BBQ Sucking Pig Combination. This was a mix of suckling pig, BBQ pork, roasted duck, Soy chicken and jelly fish. The clear winner here is the sucking pig and roasted dusk. Just can't have enough of the skin which is both crispy and tasty.
Next came the Braised sharksfin soup with crabmeat and shredded chicken. The taste was not overpowering and unlike other sharksfin soup, there wasn't that "jelak" feeling after finishing one bowl. The interesting thing about this is the generous amount of sharksfin *oops...not for the environmentalist and wildlife activitst* and the shredded chicken. I do not know about you, but this is the first time I remembered having chicken in sharksfin soup. Or maybe I did not get to notice it when I ate it at other times.
Another memorable dish is the Steamed Garoupa in Thai style. The word "Thai style" evokes sweet chilli if you order it from food courts and the like so we were very much relieved that that is not the case here. The steamed garoupa was served in an excitably huge plate (fit for a king) and had the most ugly looking garoupa. But looks are deceiving as it tasted great! The winner in this dish is the Thai sauce. Yes, this steam garoupa was hot....the taste that is. It was like garoupa in tom yam sauce...but also not exactly tom yum sauce. It was thick gravy and just made eating the garoupa a facinating experience. Surely would order this again!
The Crispy 'Pi Pa' Duck was another clear favourite. The skin was crispy and thin. The only setback was the presence of too much fats in between the layers. But this might be the reason why some love it!
Sauted Deer Meat was another dish ordered. The meat was tender and cut to bite size so there was no need to perform any complex operation on it. Easily another favourite.
Other dishes ordered were the Scallops with brocolli and Braised Abalone with Black mushrooms. For desert, we had the Mango Pudding. It had a layer of evaporated milk which brough flavour to the pudding and was a nice finish to a satisfying meal.
Service was prompt and efficient and overall the servers were a friendly bunch of people. The total damage was $1150 for 10 persons. Overall a satisfying meal.
Went here after dinner at P.S cafe. The place's deco is the same as the rest of the Party World. The only difference is the usage only and most Party World KTV has got very "used" deco and furnishing. (Except the branch at Taman Jurong).
Songs are also not in the review as we all know Party World has got a great selection of songs though I prefer Neway (Johor)....
Drinks seems rather dilute and of course the tidbits are in small portion (charged ok?). However the service attitude is quite good and crews are rather friendly and polite. Recently there seems to be a trend to have China crews compared to in the past. Still, their service is very good I must say. Just improve on the cleanliness of the toilet k?
I had a very bad ktv experience in somewhere I don't remember. Because I have zero knowledge in chinese music, most ktvs cater to the chinese crowd.
One day my friend managed to convince me to partyworld promising there are more english songs there than Kbox, and slightly cheaper. I reluctantly agreed, but found myself going once a month regularly afterwhich.
Honestly the presentation of the place looks like those sleazy ktv places you watch in the 90s channel 8 drama, probably this place was recycled into the decent ktv place.
The sofas and tv and all were kinda 'oldschool' as compared to lcd screens and better sound quailty etc...the mic itself felt really grimy, the package was alright, tibits was those one big pack 1 dollar served in small bowls... well, nothing much to complain.
All of the above for me can be overlooked because I could almost find all of the latest english songs and some older ones that were classic. What that was disgusting was the totally irrelevant videos of caucasian women dressed old fashioned sexily and acting heated up. Some are off key, but I find enjoyment in finding the songs i really liked.
Most of my friends will always tell me partyworld has the lousiest ambience in the whole industry but then I only get the songs I want there, and I can overlook that. What is the point of me going to some pretty place but nothing that I want?
Subsequently I gave some other brands of ktv a try, but still partyworld has more of what I am looking for... healthy balance of eng and chinese songs for my chinese song loving friends as well.
Anyway it's the company that really made it for me, so I have to thank them for being bilingual right?
I came to know about this shop via a food hunt show on TV a few years back. It was the first of its kind back then, not sure about now though.
Ever since, they have opened its outlets at Suntec and Tiong Bahru too. But the original outlet still remains its catch, which is the spiciness of its ramen.
For avid lovers of chilli and spicy food, this place is one to explore. While the other 2 outlets offers the same menu, this outlet explores the impossibility (or possibility, whichever way you prefer it) in this territory.
You first choose your choice of noodle, and then you choose the level of spiciness for the noodle. It's as simple as that. You could choose up to 8 levels of spiciness, if you are daring enough or simply just choose level 1-3 if you are alright with spices. The maximum I went was 3, not really what I expected considering I do hold chilli well. Oh almost forgot, the noodles taste really great but the main thing I will still highlight is the spice level. Really innovative and interesting concept to start off with.
Service level is not compromised, was served in a matter of time. Prompt service, I must say. Environment wise, it is pretty serene and tranquil during the night, and unlike the counterparts around them they actually open on weekends as well. Great place for chilling and catching up, you won't have to worry that the place is too noisy to catch up with an old pal.
Liang Court and its surrounding features are basically catered towards the Japanese living in the area. And strategically, Meidi-Ya has chosen the right place to set foot in Singapore.
Smacked in the basement of the mall, Meidi-Ya is a supermarket. Yes it does have all those things that other supermarkets in Singapore have. But what makes it special is the large variety of Japanese products on the shelves.
My trips here are always here for those things obviously not found in the common supermarkets. The Japanese products, especially the sweets, frozen food (My favourite Unagi and Fish Cakes), snacks, condiments and many more.
Don't bother coming here to do grocery shopping as the prices here are a tad higher than what is normally sold in other supermarkets, higher than Cold Storage in fact.
You will find yourself surrounded by Japanese when you are in Meidi-Ya. Many Japanese living in Singapore come here regularly for their hunt for their beloved home groomed produce.
Even a section is set aside in the middle of the supermarket for the kids to enjoy a show of Doraemon while the parents are busy doing grocery shopping. A great concept, considering kids can be a hassle to bring along at times.
Make your way here for a refreshing look of the Japanese way of life. Friends and fellows that love Japanese products, bring them here. I reckon they will be wowed by the wide selections in there!
An outlet that is smaller in area, make no mistake that it is a branch of the Provence Bakery in Holland Village.
The very first time I passed by the shop, I didn't pay attention to it till I glanced and saw the wassant on sale. That's when I realised it was their branch outlet.
The bread variety is relatively lesser than the original outlet. But you can still find the most popular item here, the wassant. Other choices includes the tea cakes and pon. But I still prefer the wassant.
I would still go back to Holland Village for those other varieties that aren't sold here in this small branch, but I will still come here to grab the wassants. Saves me the trouble to go over to Holland Village.
A lazy weekend afternoon is spend at Starbucks @ Holland Village. What I like about Starbucks is their free WiFi via Wireless@SG which enables me to sip my coffee and blog at the same time.
Not being a coffee lover didn't deter me from this place as I fell in love with their Cafe Mocha (less whip) since poly days. The coffee is smooth and the chocolate syrup adds a dimension that seeks to satisfy the non-coffee lover in me.
I have also recently fell in love with their Banana Nut Muffin that is made from banana puree and chopped walnuts. Do remember to ask them to heat it up for you - that's when you will be overwhelmed by the flavoursome banana aroma when you have a bite to it!
Had another bout of Thai food craving and didn't fancy braving the terrible parking(and exorbitant drink prices) at First Thai so decided to try out P&P Thai Food, which is just a 15 min drive from my house. Formerly located at a coffeeshop along Veerasamy Road in Little India, P&P's claim to fame is its authentic Thai food and the various newspaper writeups are a testament to that.
Located under a block of HDBs at Geylang Bahru, P&P occupies a rather small and inconspicuous unit which faces the main road. The place is done up simply with white washed wall and limited tables, probably at about 10 tops, including those placed along the pavement. Air conditioning here is at a premium, with barely cool air whispering out of 2 air conditioning units.
Mango Salad - A nice appetiser would have started the meal just right, but the mango salad, though spicy, didn't taste out of the ordinary. Everything was overwhelmed by the spiciness. Also, 6 bucks does seem a tad pricey for just some shredded vegetables and fruit.
Tom Yam Soup - Served up in a small claypot, the tom yam soup was actually quite good. Clear spicy broth with an overhanging heavy dosage of zest that didn't weigh down too much on the palate. One thing I found odd about the soup was the inclusion of slices of hotdog - a sign of cost cutting?
Phad Thai - I found P&P's Phad Thai comparable to the one I had at First Thai just a couple of weeks back except that the glass noodles used in the former were slightly finer than usual. Both were of the wet variant but the prawns in P&P's offering weren't exactly fresh and that marred the experience for me. I still stand by the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy.
Olive Fried Rice - The undisputed star of our meal, the humble olive fried rice. Served with sides of egg, cashew nuts and a mixture of what seemed like dried shrimp and pork, the rice was fragrant and very well fried sans the oil with a lingering tinge of olive. I would have gone for seconds if not for the rather steep pricing ($7 for 1 scoop).
Fried Kang Kong - What looked like an ordinary dish turned out to be something rather top notch. The Kang Kong had a wok hei taste to it and was rather spicy although it didn't look the part. Only gripe I had was the excessive salt content, which can be a little overwhelming.
P&P Crispy Pork - I would have expected more from a dish bearing the name of the restaurant but sadly it came across as rather normal, if not on the salty side. The flour was crispy without being too oily but the meat did seem a little too fatty at certain parts, which made me a tad nervous about my health.
Durian Sticky Rice - I was looking forward to this delectable dessert and all hopes for a humongous portion were dashed when it came served in a small leaf shaped plate. The glutinous rice was a tad savoury with lots of bite while the durian flesh was sweet but rather runny. Drizzled with coconut milk, the entire dish made for a very nice ending. However $10 for such a small portion is a rip off in my humble opinion.
$57 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but I wouldn't deem it cheap either. Food quality is actually quite decent and personally I prefer it to First Thai. Price wise, both are comparable but service and ambience at P&P is definitely better. When we finished my dinner at about 7pm on a Sunday evening, there were still a few tables empty so I guess having no queues is a plus point too. One thing to note though, P&P doesn't serve free ice water. Its 50 cents for a refillable cup.
Having been there twice for late night movies, I found the place average. The queues for the tickets and popcorn counters often cut into the entrance to the cinemas.
The cafes in front of the counters take up space in an awkward manner and I find it difficult to navigate from the escalators to the counters when the crowd gets huge.
What I do like is that the person sitting in front won't be blocking my view unless he/she is really very tall. The seats are comfortable.
However, the exits to the multistorey carpark were locked after midnight so we had to go to 2nd level and take the carpark lift to the 6th level after the movie.
The lesson learnt was that the car should be parked at level 1 or 2 or in the open space carpark just opposite the building when watching late night shows.
I like the way the staff greet you by name after they know your name. They provide drinks while you do your hair. There are 2 sections, the salon and the spa.
This salon provides services for hair treatment and hair cuts. I have seen only 3 hair stylists who will trim your crowning glory with satisfying results.
I have been going to this salon for my hair treatments and my problem with oily scalp being more controlled.
1=SGD 0.0587
Winner of the Singapore Tatler Best Restaurant award for more than 10 consecutive years, Wah Lok has much to live up to in terms of food and ambience. Visitors to Singapore who would like a taste of authentic Cantonese cuisine should not give Wah Lok a miss.
The cantonese restaurant is set like an opulent dining paradise with its Oriental-themed settings. Its rotunda hall, an extension built above the terrace, with its grand high ceiling and floor to ceiling glass windows, adds a touch of refined elegance to the restaurant renowned for its Cantonese dim sum and fine cuisine.
Perhaps it is also one of the largest round tables that we have ever sat in. With a group of about 10 of us, the table still feels empty and there seems to be much more space in between persons to still sit another 6 more.
The table being large left us wondering if the dishes that we ordered would equally be large enough to fill the table space and most importantly our stomachs. It did not disappoint.
For starters we had the BBQ Sucking Pig Combination. This was a mix of suckling pig, BBQ pork, roasted duck, Soy chicken and jelly fish. The clear winner here is the sucking pig and roasted dusk. Just can't have enough of the skin which is both crispy and tasty.
Next came the Braised sharksfin soup with crabmeat and shredded chicken. The taste was not overpowering and unlike other sharksfin soup, there wasn't that "jelak" feeling after finishing one bowl. The interesting thing about this is the generous amount of sharksfin *oops...not for the environmentalist and wildlife activitst* and the shredded chicken. I do not know about you, but this is the first time I remembered having chicken in sharksfin soup. Or maybe I did not get to notice it when I ate it at other times.
Another memorable dish is the Steamed Garoupa in Thai style. The word "Thai style" evokes sweet chilli if you order it from food courts and the like so we were very much relieved that that is not the case here. The steamed garoupa was served in an excitably huge plate (fit for a king) and had the most ugly looking garoupa. But looks are deceiving as it tasted great! The winner in this dish is the Thai sauce. Yes, this steam garoupa was hot....the taste that is. It was like garoupa in tom yam sauce...but also not exactly tom yum sauce. It was thick gravy and just made eating the garoupa a facinating experience. Surely would order this again!
The Crispy 'Pi Pa' Duck was another clear favourite. The skin was crispy and thin. The only setback was the presence of too much fats in between the layers. But this might be the reason why some love it!
Sauted Deer Meat was another dish ordered. The meat was tender and cut to bite size so there was no need to perform any complex operation on it. Easily another favourite.
Other dishes ordered were the Scallops with brocolli and Braised Abalone with Black mushrooms. For desert, we had the Mango Pudding. It had a layer of evaporated milk which brough flavour to the pudding and was a nice finish to a satisfying meal.
Service was prompt and efficient and overall the servers were a friendly bunch of people. The total damage was $1150 for 10 persons. Overall a satisfying meal.
Rating given:
Went here after dinner at P.S cafe. The place's deco is the same as the rest of the Party World. The only difference is the usage only and most Party World KTV has got very "used" deco and furnishing. (Except the branch at Taman Jurong).
Songs are also not in the review as we all know Party World has got a great selection of songs though I prefer Neway (Johor)....
Drinks seems rather dilute and of course the tidbits are in small portion (charged ok?). However the service attitude is quite good and crews are rather friendly and polite. Recently there seems to be a trend to have China crews compared to in the past. Still, their service is very good I must say. Just improve on the cleanliness of the toilet k?
Rating given:
I had a very bad ktv experience in somewhere I don't remember.
Because I have zero knowledge in chinese music, most ktvs cater to the chinese crowd.
One day my friend managed to convince me to partyworld promising there are more english songs there than Kbox, and slightly cheaper. I reluctantly agreed, but found myself going once a month regularly afterwhich.
Honestly the presentation of the place looks like those sleazy ktv places you watch in the 90s channel 8 drama, probably this place was recycled into the decent ktv place.
The sofas and tv and all were kinda 'oldschool' as compared to lcd screens and better sound quailty etc...the mic itself felt really grimy, the package was alright, tibits was those one big pack 1 dollar served in small bowls... well, nothing much to complain.
All of the above for me can be overlooked because I could almost find all of the latest english songs and some older ones that were classic. What that was disgusting was the totally irrelevant videos of caucasian women dressed old fashioned sexily and acting heated up. Some are off key, but I find enjoyment in finding the songs i really liked.
Most of my friends will always tell me partyworld has the lousiest ambience in the whole industry but then I only get the songs I want there, and I can overlook that. What is the point of me going to some pretty place but nothing that I want?
Subsequently I gave some other brands of ktv a try, but still partyworld has more of what I am looking for... healthy balance of eng and chinese songs for my chinese song loving friends as well.
Anyway it's the company that really made it for me, so I have to thank them for being bilingual right?
Rating given:
I came to know about this shop via a food hunt show on TV a few years back. It was the first of its kind back then, not sure about now though.
Ever since, they have opened its outlets at Suntec and Tiong Bahru too. But the original outlet still remains its catch, which is the spiciness of its ramen.
For avid lovers of chilli and spicy food, this place is one to explore. While the other 2 outlets offers the same menu, this outlet explores the impossibility (or possibility, whichever way you prefer it) in this territory.
You first choose your choice of noodle, and then you choose the level of spiciness for the noodle. It's as simple as that. You could choose up to 8 levels of spiciness, if you are daring enough or simply just choose level 1-3 if you are alright with spices. The maximum I went was 3, not really what I expected considering I do hold chilli well. Oh almost forgot, the noodles taste really great but the main thing I will still highlight is the spice level. Really innovative and interesting concept to start off with.
Service level is not compromised, was served in a matter of time. Prompt service, I must say. Environment wise, it is pretty serene and tranquil during the night, and unlike the counterparts around them they actually open on weekends as well. Great place for chilling and catching up, you won't have to worry that the place is too noisy to catch up with an old pal.
Rating given:
Liang Court and its surrounding features are basically catered towards the Japanese living in the area. And strategically, Meidi-Ya has chosen the right place to set foot in Singapore.
Smacked in the basement of the mall, Meidi-Ya is a supermarket. Yes it does have all those things that other supermarkets in Singapore have. But what makes it special is the large variety of Japanese products on the shelves.
My trips here are always here for those things obviously not found in the common supermarkets. The Japanese products, especially the sweets, frozen food (My favourite Unagi and Fish Cakes), snacks, condiments and many more.
Don't bother coming here to do grocery shopping as the prices here are a tad higher than what is normally sold in other supermarkets, higher than Cold Storage in fact.
You will find yourself surrounded by Japanese when you are in Meidi-Ya. Many Japanese living in Singapore come here regularly for their hunt for their beloved home groomed produce.
Even a section is set aside in the middle of the supermarket for the kids to enjoy a show of Doraemon while the parents are busy doing grocery shopping. A great concept, considering kids can be a hassle to bring along at times.
Make your way here for a refreshing look of the Japanese way of life. Friends and fellows that love Japanese products, bring them here. I reckon they will be wowed by the wide selections in there!
Rating given:
An outlet that is smaller in area, make no mistake that it is a branch of the Provence Bakery in Holland Village.
The very first time I passed by the shop, I didn't pay attention to it till I glanced and saw the wassant on sale. That's when I realised it was their branch outlet.
The bread variety is relatively lesser than the original outlet. But you can still find the most popular item here, the wassant. Other choices includes the tea cakes and pon. But I still prefer the wassant.
I would still go back to Holland Village for those other varieties that aren't sold here in this small branch, but I will still come here to grab the wassants. Saves me the trouble to go over to Holland Village.
Rating given:
A lazy weekend afternoon is spend at Starbucks @ Holland Village. What I like about Starbucks is their free WiFi via Wireless@SG which enables me to sip my coffee and blog at the same time.
Not being a coffee lover didn't deter me from this place as I fell in love with their Cafe Mocha (less whip) since poly days. The coffee is smooth and the chocolate syrup adds a dimension that seeks to satisfy the non-coffee lover in me.
I have also recently fell in love with their Banana Nut Muffin that is made from banana puree and chopped walnuts. Do remember to ask them to heat it up for you - that's when you will be overwhelmed by the flavoursome banana aroma when you have a bite to it!
Rating given:
Had another bout of Thai food craving and didn't fancy braving the terrible parking(and exorbitant drink prices) at First Thai so decided to try out P&P Thai Food, which is just a 15 min drive from my house. Formerly located at a coffeeshop along Veerasamy Road in Little India, P&P's claim to fame is its authentic Thai food and the various newspaper writeups are a testament to that.
Located under a block of HDBs at Geylang Bahru, P&P occupies a rather small and inconspicuous unit which faces the main road. The place is done up simply with white washed wall and limited tables, probably at about 10 tops, including those placed along the pavement. Air conditioning here is at a premium, with barely cool air whispering out of 2 air conditioning units.
Mango Salad - A nice appetiser would have started the meal just right, but the mango salad, though spicy, didn't taste out of the ordinary. Everything was overwhelmed by the spiciness. Also, 6 bucks does seem a tad pricey for just some shredded vegetables and fruit.
Tom Yam Soup - Served up in a small claypot, the tom yam soup was actually quite good. Clear spicy broth with an overhanging heavy dosage of zest that didn't weigh down too much on the palate. One thing I found odd about the soup was the inclusion of slices of hotdog - a sign of cost cutting?
Phad Thai - I found P&P's Phad Thai comparable to the one I had at First Thai just a couple of weeks back except that the glass noodles used in the former were slightly finer than usual. Both were of the wet variant but the prawns in P&P's offering weren't exactly fresh and that marred the experience for me. I still stand by the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy.
Olive Fried Rice - The undisputed star of our meal, the humble olive fried rice. Served with sides of egg, cashew nuts and a mixture of what seemed like dried shrimp and pork, the rice was fragrant and very well fried sans the oil with a lingering tinge of olive. I would have gone for seconds if not for the rather steep pricing ($7 for 1 scoop).
Fried Kang Kong - What looked like an ordinary dish turned out to be something rather top notch. The Kang Kong had a wok hei taste to it and was rather spicy although it didn't look the part. Only gripe I had was the excessive salt content, which can be a little overwhelming.
P&P Crispy Pork - I would have expected more from a dish bearing the name of the restaurant but sadly it came across as rather normal, if not on the salty side. The flour was crispy without being too oily but the meat did seem a little too fatty at certain parts, which made me a tad nervous about my health.
Durian Sticky Rice - I was looking forward to this delectable dessert and all hopes for a humongous portion were dashed when it came served in a small leaf shaped plate. The glutinous rice was a tad savoury with lots of bite while the durian flesh was sweet but rather runny. Drizzled with coconut milk, the entire dish made for a very nice ending. However $10 for such a small portion is a rip off in my humble opinion.
$57 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but I wouldn't deem it cheap either. Food quality is actually quite decent and personally I prefer it to First Thai. Price wise, both are comparable but service and ambience at P&P is definitely better. When we finished my dinner at about 7pm on a Sunday evening, there were still a few tables empty so I guess having no queues is a plus point too. One thing to note though, P&P doesn't serve free ice water. Its 50 cents for a refillable cup.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Having been there twice for late night movies, I found the place average. The queues for the tickets and popcorn counters often cut into the entrance to the cinemas.
The cafes in front of the counters take up space in an awkward manner and I find it difficult to navigate from the escalators to the counters when the crowd gets huge.
What I do like is that the person sitting in front won't be blocking my view unless he/she is really very tall. The seats are comfortable.
However, the exits to the multistorey carpark were locked after midnight so we had to go to 2nd level and take the carpark lift to the 6th level after the movie.
The lesson learnt was that the car should be parked at level 1 or 2 or in the open space carpark just opposite the building when watching late night shows.
Rating given:
I like the way the staff greet you by name after they know your name. They provide drinks while you do your hair. There are 2 sections, the salon and the spa.
This salon provides services for hair treatment and hair cuts. I have seen only 3 hair stylists who will trim your crowning glory with satisfying results.
I have been going to this salon for my hair treatments and my problem with oily scalp being more controlled.
Rating given: