Saw that Dian Xiao Er was rather empty one afternoon while I was at Vivocity so popped in for a quick lunch. Legend has it that a Xiao Er (waiter) at a roast duck restaurant combined herbs with roast duck to help his bedridden master recover. The master showed remarkable improvements in his condition and emerged even stronger than before, thus giving rise to the Herbal Roast Duck, which Dian Xiao Er is known for.
All of Dian Xiao Er's restaurants are painstakingly designed to replicate the teahouses of ancient China and the outlet at Vivo certainly looks the part with its wooden beams, grey brick walls and red Chinese lanterns. Tables and chairs were of the wooden variant as well and honestly I felt that everything was cramped too close for comfort. Overhearing the adjourning table's conversation proved too easy for comfort.
Soup of the Day - The soup of the day was lotus root soup, which came across as light and sweet with chunks of meat and lotus root inside. Definitely a great way to start off the meal.
Poached Spinach with Century and Salted Eggs - This method of cooking usually uses 3 types of eggs but I guess Dian Xiao Er decided to go without the normal egg, using only century and salted eggs. I found the vegetables a tad too soft for my liking and the taste struck me as rather ordinary.
Herbal Roast Duck - There have been many claims that a trip to Dian Xiao Er is never complete without ordering the legendary herbal roast duck. I didn't quite attest to those claims though, finding the duck to be less then extraordinary. Maybe I'm just picky but it was really way too sweet for my liking, even though the skin was crisp and the meat firm. Strangely enough, the duck tasted to me like 九层糕 or nine layered cake sans the texture.
Old Style Steamed Fish Slices - I don't know what does old style entail so I shall not comment, but the fish wasn't exactly fresh and that definitely didn't sit well with me. There was really alot of fish leftover when we were done.
Overall the lunch didn't impress me much and it wasn't cheap either, standing at about $49 for 2 pax. Quantity is sufficient but there is much room for improvement quality wise. Until then, I guess I won't be returning to Dian Xiao Er in a hurry.
I passed the place a few times before deciding to try it out. I ordered an Egg Mayo and Sun-dried Tomato sandwich and soup based on the set promotion. I love Shitake mushrooms and decided to try it too. When the soup came, it was way smaller than the one at other places I have been to.
When my sandwich came, it was way flatter than any other places I have been to. I was rather disappointed. I didn't realised that the sandwich was to be slightly toasted either since I don't recall the menu stating toasted sandwich.
The iced lemon tea was a disappointment too, it was too small a glass. It didn't felt like the cost was enough for such quantity.
The food tasted average and I tasted pepper more than anything else. The mushrooms had too much garlic and I prefer my mushrooms to be cooked with light seasoning sans garlic.
The best hair wash that I have ever had. My friends affectionately labels the wash, orgasmic *squirts
And orgasmic it has always been.
There's this petite girl in particular, that gives hell of a wash. One look at her, you'll think that the wash she give will be more of a tickleintheoldbushofahair. However, it seems like she transforms into supergirl and gives a powerful yet soothing massage during the wash. They give a fairly long wash and massage, but it never feels enough.
After the massage you will be sitting in one of the most comfortable chairs for the cut. With the nu-lounge music they play, and gentle handling of the stylist, you can't help it but drift in and out of sleep.
The entire place feels very professional, makes you feel good going there for a cut. Not very expensive, considering you can pay 30 bucks for a cut in some normal hair salon, that gives an ordinary wash, blow and cut.
Next charges around 45 bucks for a cut from the senior stylist, worth every penny. You'll feel pampered and exclusive when you're there.
Who cares about the service when you can have a rocking good time with the live bands and kick-assing-lecious pizza and thirst quenching beer.
The place feels nicely hidden from all the rush of Singaporean life. They have other food on the menu, but never really bothered, the pizza will keep you wanting more.
They have a nice assortment of choices for the toppings, and are considered enough to have a "half-and-half" pizza. As the name suggest, you can opt for two separate half of toppings for one pizza.
The bands they cover a lot of popular songs that you can bob your head to or simply let out the "closet-singer" in you, having beer as a convenient excuse for your outburst in croaking.
Oh, not recommended on weekends though, too crowded lah.
Orange Julius has been around for as long i remember it, but never have i purchase anything from there before. Neither did i pay much attention to it. So it came to me as a surprise when my friend was buying their orange juice, and i saw that they were actually selling hotdogs also.
Orange Julius ($3.40) Freshly squeezed orange juice with Julius flavor enhancer blended with flaked ice to create a light, airy, and very refreshing drink which is also low in fat and contains no cholestrol.
Julius Originals come in three sizes, small ($3.40), medium ($4), and large ($4.70). And there’s also smoothies available.
Give me an orange, Julius!
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!
Rabbit Brand, rabbit brand. We are not talking about the rabbit brand sweet. I have heard about Rabbit Brand Seafood restaurant, but i have no idea that they got an outlet selling seafood delicacies, right in the middle of town, Lucky Plaza.
My friend introduce me to Rabbit Brand Seafood delicacies for a budget lunch, i don’t visit Lucky Plaza often, but Rabbit Brand does turns out to be quite a surprise.
A quick look at the menu actually tells you everything about Rabbit Brand, they offer seafood delicacies such as shark fin, abalone, at absolutely cheap prices, how authentic the seafood are remains to be seen, but then you can’t really to expect to have the real deal at a price as cheap as 5 bucks can you?
They have many sets, with the cheapest going at $5.50, to the most expensive at $12.50. Buddha over the wall, abalone, shark fin, sea cucumber, scallops are the seafood delicacies which Rabbit Brand serves.
Set B: Baby Abalone in sauce ($8.50) The set B option has the baby abalone in sauce, vegetables, rice and chinese tea, and not to mention the cheng tng (literally clear soup, a type of chinese dessert) which comes free with every set.
Whether the baby abalone is the real one or not isn’t really the question here, its the sauce which the baby abalone is cooked in that excites me. The essence of the mushroom and the abalone are clearly all absorbed into the sauce, and just having the sauce with white rice is good enough.
Set J: Shark fin, scallop and scrambled egg ($5.50) The set J has shark fin and scallop with the scrambled egg. I am skeptical about the shark fin, and scallop mention in the menu because its barely there, but then you can’t complain when the meal is only $5.50. What do you expect?
Nonetheless, i love scrambled eggs, and the one here does well for me. A simple and hearty meal.
Pak Choy Meow ($1.60) The pak choy meow, or white vegetables comes in four, and two mushroom. Evidently in the picture. The prices for their side dishes selections are cheap, with most under 2 bucks for each one. The white vegetables are good, crunchy and fresh.
Total bill is $16.69 for 2 person. I do think that the prices are rather reasonable for a meal in the heart of the town, Orchard. With normal food and drinks in a food court, prices are about the same, but i think the simple fare here definitely suits me better.
You cannot be expecting to have the real seafood delicacies with the cheap prices you are paying, but its quite a novice tasting such similar ones. Rather than buying you-know-what junk food, have your lunch today at Rabbit Brand seafood specialty!
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!
At first glance, I noticed that it is a rather small place but there is still enough space to squeeze around and we managed to get a table to seat 11 people.
The iced water was served pretty fast. After placing our orders, the waitresses proceeded to place the paper napkins and we decided to do it ourselves since there wasn't enough space. It took them off guard.
We ordered 7th Heaven, brownie and waffle with ice cream. For 7th Heaven, we could select the 7 flavours that we like and we chose Cookies & Cream, Rums & Raisins, Green Tea, Strawberry Cheesecake, Belgian Chocolate, Mango Sherbet and Berry something.
The ice cream were good except Rums & Raisins. Personally, I don't really like Rum & Raisins. It tasted weird. My personal favourites are Cookies & Cream, Mango Sherbet and Green Tea.
The chairs were comfortable but the space was a challenge to navigate through other tables before you can enter the place if it is full.
I like M.A.C cosmetics and though their products are considered quite expensive, I don't really have a choice when it comes to foundation and concealer. I can only use what is best for my oily skin.
I have been using M.A.C Lightful and their eye concealer for years. I find that they are the ones I am most satisfied with so far.
The staff in M.A.C VivoCity are very helpful. They would not bother me if I don't need help. When I need help, they would come to me and help me choose suitable products for my skin. Then they would ask me to sit down while they remove my make up and apply their testers for me. They'd also give recommendations or opinions when needed.
I was asked to leave my details down so that when I return in future, they would be able to check the tone/colour of the cosmetics I'd bought in the past in case I forget.
I'd definitely return, but I really hope they will not increase their prices so soon....
My eye concealer:
Select Cover-up - $27
My foundation:
Lightful Protective Foundation (refill) - $60
Because of how "ulu" the place is, I was pretty surprised yet glad to see that Blooie's isn't that unheard of after all. I'd say it's well-snugged in a corner of the east side of Singapore. And gave the impression of them trying to be like little America! Albeit a little too little. Perhaps being inexperienced in nightlife, I felt like I was in a foreign land with the "dim lighting and dark wood", as quoted from above.
My experience there was fine as I was with a company of 2, before the crowd came. First of all, I'd say this place is not so much recommended for big groups due to the lack of space and seats. Furniture is arranged to meet the diner's maximum capacity so yes, I can imagine it would be pretty hard to move around later into the night.
Main courses at Blooie's seems generally ok to me. We had:
Seafood Pasta - $17 with Marinara sauce and choice of penne or spaghetti. There were 3 good-sized mussels that was cooked (I'm not a semi-cooked/raw-shell-meat person) just well and easy to remove from the shell. Juicy and chewy, rather fresh to the tastebuds. Along with a few slices of fish, squids and prawns. Excess toppings of onions and capsicums, not my idea of tasty-food nor acceptable amount. Nonetheless, I would say this is something you can try!
Mushroom Cheese Bacon Burger - $15 (I can't remember the exact name) with no mushroom. The kitchen was nice to cut our burger into 3 even portions for easy divide of food. However, the mushrooms did not seem to have been divided equally as out of the 3, 2 slices had no mushrooms, unfortunately. The beef patty was pretty dry and disintegrated under the slicing of my knife. Apart from that, bacon was tasty and pleasant to the tastebuds, along with what little cheese was left.
From what my friend says, the chef's recommendations are safe to try (which was what we had). From the 2 dishes we ordered, I'd agree with her. Besides, the portions are pretty large and price is good.
Apart from that, alcoholic drinks are at lower price at happy hour, form 4pm - 8pm. Just an idea of what the price is like:
Frozen Margarita (with choice of fruit flavour) @ $8.80
Vodka lime/lemon etc @ $8 (instead of $12)
Even when it's not happy hour, drinks there seem to be relatively cheaper too. Along with the available televisions that seemed to play on sports channels, it could be a nice place to chill for sports fanatics.
No doubt it's a pub, it doesn't come across as a sleazy place despite being hidden in a corner away from others. It seems to me that many expats visit the place with their children. Has to be rather decent and suitable for a night out with your family members. It kinda reminds me of Hog's Breath, but way better than that.
For the price and portion of food, and of course relatively acceptable quality of food, I'd say this place is ok to go again (maybe at a later time, just to see if it's really a decent place, perhaps). But definitely not an awesome, jaw-dropping chill-out pub nor restaurant. Acceptable, yes.
1=SGD 0.0587
The food were cold. The pork chops were tough to the bite. The place was small, need to go early to get a table. The teriyaki chicken was ok.
Not very fantastic, considering the pork chop cost 8 bucks. Disappointed.
The only thing I like about all Aston's are their sides. Potato salad rocks. :D
Go to the one at Katong, much nicer.
Rating given:
Saw that Dian Xiao Er was rather empty one afternoon while I was at Vivocity so popped in for a quick lunch. Legend has it that a Xiao Er (waiter) at a roast duck restaurant combined herbs with roast duck to help his bedridden master recover. The master showed remarkable improvements in his condition and emerged even stronger than before, thus giving rise to the Herbal Roast Duck, which Dian Xiao Er is known for.
All of Dian Xiao Er's restaurants are painstakingly designed to replicate the teahouses of ancient China and the outlet at Vivo certainly looks the part with its wooden beams, grey brick walls and red Chinese lanterns. Tables and chairs were of the wooden variant as well and honestly I felt that everything was cramped too close for comfort. Overhearing the adjourning table's conversation proved too easy for comfort.
Soup of the Day - The soup of the day was lotus root soup, which came across as light and sweet with chunks of meat and lotus root inside. Definitely a great way to start off the meal.
Poached Spinach with Century and Salted Eggs - This method of cooking usually uses 3 types of eggs but I guess Dian Xiao Er decided to go without the normal egg, using only century and salted eggs. I found the vegetables a tad too soft for my liking and the taste struck me as rather ordinary.
Herbal Roast Duck - There have been many claims that a trip to Dian Xiao Er is never complete without ordering the legendary herbal roast duck. I didn't quite attest to those claims though, finding the duck to be less then extraordinary. Maybe I'm just picky but it was really way too sweet for my liking, even though the skin was crisp and the meat firm. Strangely enough, the duck tasted to me like 九层糕 or nine layered cake sans the texture.
Old Style Steamed Fish Slices -
I don't know what does old style entail so I shall not comment, but the fish wasn't exactly fresh and that definitely didn't sit well with me. There was really alot of fish leftover when we were done.
Overall the lunch didn't impress me much and it wasn't cheap either, standing at about $49 for 2 pax. Quantity is sufficient but there is much room for improvement quality wise. Until then, I guess I won't be returning to Dian Xiao Er in a hurry.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I passed the place a few times before deciding to try it out. I ordered an Egg Mayo and Sun-dried Tomato sandwich and soup based on the set promotion. I love Shitake mushrooms and decided to try it too. When the soup came, it was way smaller than the one at other places I have been to.
When my sandwich came, it was way flatter than any other places I have been to. I was rather disappointed. I didn't realised that the sandwich was to be slightly toasted either since I don't recall the menu stating toasted sandwich.
The iced lemon tea was a disappointment too, it was too small a glass. It didn't felt like the cost was enough for such quantity.
The food tasted average and I tasted pepper more than anything else. The mushrooms had too much garlic and I prefer my mushrooms to be cooked with light seasoning sans garlic.
Rating given:
The best hair wash that I have ever had. My friends affectionately labels the wash, orgasmic *squirts
And orgasmic it has always been.
There's this petite girl in particular, that gives hell of a wash. One look at her, you'll think that the wash she give will be more of a tickleintheoldbushofahair. However, it seems like she transforms into supergirl and gives a powerful yet soothing massage during the wash. They give a fairly long wash and massage, but it never feels enough.
After the massage you will be sitting in one of the most comfortable chairs for the cut. With the nu-lounge music they play, and gentle handling of the stylist, you can't help it but drift in and out of sleep.
The entire place feels very professional, makes you feel good going there for a cut. Not very expensive, considering you can pay 30 bucks for a cut in some normal hair salon, that gives an ordinary wash, blow and cut.
Next charges around 45 bucks for a cut from the senior stylist, worth every penny. You'll feel pampered and exclusive when you're there.
Nice.
Rating given:
Who cares about the service when you can have a rocking good time with the live bands and kick-assing-lecious pizza and thirst quenching beer.
The place feels nicely hidden from all the rush of Singaporean life. They have other food on the menu, but never really bothered, the pizza will keep you wanting more.
They have a nice assortment of choices for the toppings, and are considered enough to have a "half-and-half" pizza. As the name suggest, you can opt for two separate half of toppings for one pizza.
The bands they cover a lot of popular songs that you can bob your head to or simply let out the "closet-singer" in you, having beer as a convenient excuse for your outburst in croaking.
Oh, not recommended on weekends though, too crowded lah.
Rating given:
Orange Julius has been around for as long i remember it, but never have i purchase anything from there before. Neither did i pay much attention to it. So it came to me as a surprise when my friend was buying their orange juice, and i saw that they were actually selling hotdogs also.
Orange Julius ($3.40)
Freshly squeezed orange juice with Julius flavor enhancer blended with flaked ice to create a light, airy, and very refreshing drink which is also low in fat and contains no cholestrol.
Julius Originals come in three sizes, small ($3.40), medium ($4), and large ($4.70). And there’s also smoothies available.
Give me an orange, Julius!
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:
Rabbit Brand, rabbit brand. We are not talking about the rabbit brand sweet. I have heard about Rabbit Brand Seafood restaurant, but i have no idea that they got an outlet selling seafood delicacies, right in the middle of town, Lucky Plaza.
My friend introduce me to Rabbit Brand Seafood delicacies for a budget lunch, i don’t visit Lucky Plaza often, but Rabbit Brand does turns out to be quite a surprise.
A quick look at the menu actually tells you everything about Rabbit Brand, they offer seafood delicacies such as shark fin, abalone, at absolutely cheap prices, how authentic the seafood are remains to be seen, but then you can’t really to expect to have the real deal at a price as cheap as 5 bucks can you?
They have many sets, with the cheapest going at $5.50, to the most expensive at $12.50. Buddha over the wall, abalone, shark fin, sea cucumber, scallops are the seafood delicacies which Rabbit Brand serves.
Set B: Baby Abalone in sauce ($8.50)
The set B option has the baby abalone in sauce, vegetables, rice and chinese tea, and not to mention the cheng tng (literally clear soup, a type of chinese dessert) which comes free with every set.
Whether the baby abalone is the real one or not isn’t really the question here, its the sauce which the baby abalone is cooked in that excites me. The essence of the mushroom and the abalone are clearly all absorbed into the sauce, and just having the sauce with white rice is good enough.
Set J: Shark fin, scallop and scrambled egg ($5.50)
The set J has shark fin and scallop with the scrambled egg. I am skeptical about the shark fin, and scallop mention in the menu because its barely there, but then you can’t complain when the meal is only $5.50. What do you expect?
Nonetheless, i love scrambled eggs, and the one here does well for me. A simple and hearty meal.
Pak Choy Meow ($1.60)
The pak choy meow, or white vegetables comes in four, and two mushroom. Evidently in the picture. The prices for their side dishes selections are cheap, with most under 2 bucks for each one. The white vegetables are good, crunchy and fresh.
Total bill is $16.69 for 2 person. I do think that the prices are rather reasonable for a meal in the heart of the town, Orchard. With normal food and drinks in a food court, prices are about the same, but i think the simple fare here definitely suits me better.
You cannot be expecting to have the real seafood delicacies with the cheap prices you are paying, but its quite a novice tasting such similar ones. Rather than buying you-know-what junk food, have your lunch today at Rabbit Brand seafood specialty!
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:
At first glance, I noticed that it is a rather small place but there is still enough space to squeeze around and we managed to get a table to seat 11 people.
The iced water was served pretty fast. After placing our orders, the waitresses proceeded to place the paper napkins and we decided to do it ourselves since there wasn't enough space. It took them off guard.
We ordered 7th Heaven, brownie and waffle with ice cream. For 7th Heaven, we could select the 7 flavours that we like and we chose Cookies & Cream, Rums & Raisins, Green Tea, Strawberry Cheesecake, Belgian Chocolate, Mango Sherbet and Berry something.
The ice cream were good except Rums & Raisins. Personally, I don't really like Rum & Raisins. It tasted weird. My personal favourites are Cookies & Cream, Mango Sherbet and Green Tea.
The chairs were comfortable but the space was a challenge to navigate through other tables before you can enter the place if it is full.
Rating given:
I like M.A.C cosmetics and though their products are considered quite expensive, I don't really have a choice when it comes to foundation and concealer. I can only use what is best for my oily skin.
I have been using M.A.C Lightful and their eye concealer for years. I find that they are the ones I am most satisfied with so far.
The staff in M.A.C VivoCity are very helpful. They would not bother me if I don't need help. When I need help, they would come to me and help me choose suitable products for my skin. Then they would ask me to sit down while they remove my make up and apply their testers for me. They'd also give recommendations or opinions when needed.
I was asked to leave my details down so that when I return in future, they would be able to check the tone/colour of the cosmetics I'd bought in the past in case I forget.
I'd definitely return, but I really hope they will not increase their prices so soon....
My eye concealer:
Select Cover-up - $27
My foundation:
Lightful Protective Foundation (refill) - $60
Rating given:
Because of how "ulu" the place is, I was pretty surprised yet glad to see that Blooie's isn't that unheard of after all. I'd say it's well-snugged in a corner of the east side of Singapore. And gave the impression of them trying to be like little America! Albeit a little too little. Perhaps being inexperienced in nightlife, I felt like I was in a foreign land with the "dim lighting and dark wood", as quoted from above.
My experience there was fine as I was with a company of 2, before the crowd came. First of all, I'd say this place is not so much recommended for big groups due to the lack of space and seats. Furniture is arranged to meet the diner's maximum capacity so yes, I can imagine it would be pretty hard to move around later into the night.
Main courses at Blooie's seems generally ok to me. We had:
Seafood Pasta - $17 with Marinara sauce and choice of penne or spaghetti. There were 3 good-sized mussels that was cooked (I'm not a semi-cooked/raw-shell-meat person) just well and easy to remove from the shell. Juicy and chewy, rather fresh to the tastebuds. Along with a few slices of fish, squids and prawns. Excess toppings of onions and capsicums, not my idea of tasty-food nor acceptable amount. Nonetheless, I would say this is something you can try!
Mushroom Cheese Bacon Burger - $15 (I can't remember the exact name) with no mushroom. The kitchen was nice to cut our burger into 3 even portions for easy divide of food. However, the mushrooms did not seem to have been divided equally as out of the 3, 2 slices had no mushrooms, unfortunately. The beef patty was pretty dry and disintegrated under the slicing of my knife. Apart from that, bacon was tasty and pleasant to the tastebuds, along with what little cheese was left.
From what my friend says, the chef's recommendations are safe to try (which was what we had). From the 2 dishes we ordered, I'd agree with her. Besides, the portions are pretty large and price is good.
Apart from that, alcoholic drinks are at lower price at happy hour, form 4pm - 8pm. Just an idea of what the price is like:
Frozen Margarita (with choice of fruit flavour) @ $8.80
Vodka lime/lemon etc @ $8 (instead of $12)
Even when it's not happy hour, drinks there seem to be relatively cheaper too. Along with the available televisions that seemed to play on sports channels, it could be a nice place to chill for sports fanatics.
No doubt it's a pub, it doesn't come across as a sleazy place despite being hidden in a corner away from others. It seems to me that many expats visit the place with their children. Has to be rather decent and suitable for a night out with your family members. It kinda reminds me of Hog's Breath, but way better than that.
For the price and portion of food, and of course relatively acceptable quality of food, I'd say this place is ok to go again (maybe at a later time, just to see if it's really a decent place, perhaps). But definitely not an awesome, jaw-dropping chill-out pub nor restaurant. Acceptable, yes.
Rating given: