My BF and I were craving for crabs so we decided to go and have crab for dinner. I have been to this zhi cha stall alot of time since I was young as the place is actually near my house.
We wanted a smiple crab meal so we order a crab dish, 10 pcs of man tou(fried bun) and a bowl of rice.
Shimmering Sand Crab ($29.70)
(Crab - $35 per Kg)
The first time I try this dish I began to like it, I did try other places crabs but I still prefer this dish. The crab were actually not to bad. The sauce is actually thick, creamy, cheesy. If I'm not wrong there is butter, cheese, mayonnaise, chili padi, curry leaves. On top of the crab is actually some fried coconut pulps.
10pcs of Fried Man Tou(Bun) ($2.50)
The bun were serve hot. It crispy and nice. The sauce really go well with fried man tou.
The service were good as the lady will always have a cheerful smile to welcome you. Do try some of their recommend dishes. It really not bad.
Sometimes I get abit sick of normal plain, egg, or cheese prata etc. Yet don't like to take the risk to try other kinds of prata.
Went to RK Eating House at Serangoon Gardens. Then suddenly saw bananas hanging inside the prata stall. Hmm...sua gu me...never knew there was banana prata...
It cost S$2.
Really not bad sia...
The fragrance of the banana made me salivate. The banana was evenly distributed inside the prata and it tasted fresh. The prata was just nice - not too dry and not too wet, abit crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's not too oily too (I dislike oily pratas!). It tasted good with or without curry by the way.
My friend tried the Gambeng soup (mutton soup). It was nice too. The soup was not too oily and the meat's tenderness was just nice.
He also ate his favorite cheese prata. He liked it too.
Anyway the service there was not bad. The people there were not rude and they were quite efficient.
St Regis hotel, the latest glamorous and prestigious hotel to open on our shore. Tout as a 6 star luxury hotel and with so much at stake, Yan Ting, a Cantonese restaurant offers to promise you a totally different dining experience.
Stepping into St Regis is quite an experience on its own, the grandeur of the hotel will simply blow you away. The splendor furnishings and the majesty furnitures are not all, even taking a lift in St Regis promises you a unforgettable reminiscence.
6 Star is not exaggerating, and from the moment you enter the hotel, it feels so good to be rich, even just for that afternoon.
Albeit being a Chinese Cantonese restaurant, the contemporary and classy feel of the restaurant’s interior certainly does not show any indication, with the exception of the 4 seasons painting, and the exquisite chopsticks and spoons plated in gold and inlaid with jade pieces.
An elegant chandelier is the highlight of the low ceiling in the restaurant. Stylish curtains and the comfy seats brings out a cozy and relaxed dining atmosphere.
The main emphasize which makes Yan Ting stands out from the other Chinese restaurant is in the pricing for its dim sum. While others usually charged dim sum by per basket or plate, Yan Ting attempts to break through the norm and bring the pricing of dim sum to another level by its per piece charging.
For Yan Ting’s A la carte menu, just like some of the more prominent Chinese restaurants, they are priced by per person, and the small servings of the food meant that there is no chance of sharing food.
Being in a 6 Star hotel, you definitely will not expect Yan Ting to be easy on the pocket, with most of the simpler dishes priced from $10 to $24 each. And with the small serving, expect to spend up to $100 for a decent meal, per person.
Appetizer Unlike their western counteparts, most Chinese restaurants doesn’t actually serve out appetizer since the Chinese doesn’t have the emphasize on course eating. The small squid is actually quite good, simple enough to start our taste bud going in anticipation of the rest to come. And its free, so no complains there.
Cripsy radish pastry ($1.80 per piece) This is the first time i had a radish pastry before, and i must say it is good, the crispy skin compliments well with the soft radish inside.
Oven-baked fluffy Char Siew Pastry ($1.60 per piece) The Char Siew Pastry is indisputably the star of the show here. Take a bite into the crispy fluffy pastry, and you will discover the juicy and sweet char siew hidden within. Having one each is really not doing justice to the pastry. And i’ll rather pay $1.60 for one of these wonderful char siew sou, than to eat several cheaper ones. Excellent!
Stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce ($4) I never had stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce before, and to be honest initially i mistook this dish for the fried carrot cake done with XO sauce which is commonly found in Chinese restaurants dim sum menu.
Although it tasted more like Char Kway Teow than “cheong fan”, but i find it to be quite all right, and at $4 even though the portion is quite small, its still cheaper and more worth well than the XO sauce fried carrot cake that i had at Peach Garden.
Steamed shrimp dumpling ($2 per piece) The steamed crystal shrimp dumpling, or more affectionately known as “Har Kao” comes at a hefty price tag of $2 per piece. If you do your maths, this works out to be $6 for one basket of three Har Kao. There’s always a first time for everything, and this is really a first time where i had such expensive shrimp dumplings.
However, Yan Ting’s Har Kao is really one of the best that i had tried so far, the thin skin envelops the fresh and succulent prawns. But at $2 each, Yan Ting is really testing the limits for the first-rate dumplings.
Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling ($2 per piece) “Siew Mai” or steamed pork and shrimp dumpling is always the dim sum i’ll base my judgment on how good the dim sum at the restaurant really is. The Siew Mai here passes the test, the combination of the crunchy prawn and the lean pork goes well together.
Xiaolongbao ($4 per piece) To be frank, I never liked xiaolongbao, since i can’t really appreciate the beauty of it. Even though the xiaolongbao is a bigger rendition than your normal ones, to pay $4 for one xiao long bao, i’ll be crazy.
But, the Xiaolongbao at Yan Ting is really different from the usual ones, the pipping hot stock juice literally floods out upon a bite into the skin of the xiaolongbao. Although the xiaolongbao is quite good, but i’ll not order it again if i come back to Yan Ting. For a $4 xiaolongbao experience, once is enough.
Traditional Cantonese egg tart ($1.60 per piece)
The egg tart is done exactly the way i like it, cripsy skin with the smooth egg custard within. I lamented the fact that the egg tart is too small. And at $1.60 per piece, they are not really cheap.
Deep-fried Yam Croquette ($1.60 per piece) The deep fried Yam croquette with diced chicken is excellent. Although the croquette is deep fried, but its not too oily, and the Yam taste is quite unique too.
Steamed Wild Mushroom Roll ($1.60 per piece) We ordered the steamed wild mushroom roll out of curiosity from the name. There’s two to three different type of mushroom, well the mushroom roll is not really my call.
Hong Kong BBQ platter ($16 per serving) BBQ pork, roasted duck, and crispy roasted pork makes up the Hong Kong BBQ platter. Note that its $16 for one portion, andthree of us ordered 3 portions, which adds up to $48. Ripped off is the only word to describe this.
The crispy roasted pork is not too bad, but it comes in only four small cubes. The roasted duck is really ordinary, and the BBQ pork or char siew, does not justify the exaggerated price tag of $16 for 4 cubes of roasted pork, two slices of roasted duck and three slices of char siew.
For $48, you can have a whole duck, with healthy servings of char siew & roasted pork. This is totally what you will not expect coming from Yan Ting, however the truth is there for all to see. This is somehow an anti-climax for the rather excellent dim sum that we had.
Total Bill was $150.20 for 3 person, which works out to about $50 per person. But if you work out the sums, excluding the BBQ platter which was $16 per portion, the amount for dim sum is actually about $34. Although we didn’t have that much dim sum, but i still find $34 to be acceptable given the high quality dim sum we had.
6 Star dim sum comes at a price, although some of the dim sum did not really justified the price, but overall the dim sum was nothing short of excellence. I’ll definitely try Yan Ting again, even though its a extravagant experience, but like they say, good things come with a price. Just that in this case, its a heavier price.
Do note that if you decided to give Yan Ting a try, you must be careful and not over ordered, that is unless you got a deep pocket. Service is good and professional, with the staff knowing when to approach us, and when not to disturb us. Yan Ting certainly test my limits for good dim sum, although i am still skeptical about their A la carte menu. Give that a miss and try their dim sum! And dim sum is only available during lunch, not dinner.
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!
Had dinner with my folks one weekend evening and didn't want to venture far from home so ended up at Ju Bao, which is headed by the former head chef of Lei Garden, Yip Kin Chee.
Located at Teck Chye Terrace along Upper Serangoon Road, or more commonly known to people in the neighbourhood as "Hongkong Street" for its high concentration of Cantonese restaurants, Ju Bao's selling point is purportedly its great Cantonese food at affordable prices. Crowds throng this place during weekends so if you are thinking of having dinner, please go early.
Broccoli with Scallops - Our waitress tried to hard sell this dish to us and we succumbed. After all, how expensive or bad tasting could it be? On both accounts, it was a grave mistake. The scallops were small and lacking in bite but the major bummer was the fishy smell they emitted. The broccoli was still decent but at $22 for such a small portion, you have got to be kidding me.
Crispy Chicken - I suspected the chicken was precooked and left to cool in the kitchen because it was cool when served. And it was very oily. Some parts of the chicken were very salty while other parts were bland. Did I mention that portions were small as well? Sadly, the only positive note was probably the moist and tender meat, which made eating the chicken bearable, but barely.
Steamed Tofu - The tofu was smooth and came topped with mushrooms, minced meat and some other garnishes. However the dish in its entirety tasted rather bland and $8 for 4 relatively small pieces is terribly expensive.
While the absolute prices of the food didn't seem much, but factor in the quality and quantity of the food and its really a case of too little (quality & quantity) and too much (price). An unsatisfying dinner for the 3 of us cost about $47, which would have been better spent elsewhere. From the former head chef of Lei Garden, I had expected way better. Did I go on an off day or is the place just over hyped? I seriously wonder.
I guess not many people know about this place. Kind of good in a way coz it's near my workplace and not too crowded during lunchtime...so far...
As compared to other authentic Japanese restaurants, the prices here are not too high. So it's quite affordable for me and my colleagues to have a more comfortable, "classy" and tasty lunch once in a while. (We try to eat cheaper meals everyday like in hawker centres and food courts)
Tried a few set meals, and to us, we find them delicious, and well-displayed. The service is good and the staff are attentive. The ambience is good and the decor inside is neat and nice.
My colleague ordered the salmon set (forgot the exact name). According to her it was tasty, and the salmon was delicious and tender. The price is like around S$10 - S$12?? Forgot ah sorry...
I ordered Tempura Cha Soba set. Comes wt soba, tempura, green tea dessert, miso soup, a bowl of fried toufu skin wt mayonnaise. I enjoyed them alot. This set costs S$11.90. Not bad huh? The soba is nice with the sauce...The tempura is crispy and tasty! Not too oily and the prawns taste really fresh. The green tea dessert is not bad and the fried toufu skins are crispy and go well with the mayonnaise. Ok I think everything is nice in this set. Lol.
My other colleague ordered this. Tempura udon set. She liked this too. This was the first time I saw udon with egg....or am I too "sua gu"? I tried the soup and found it quite nice. The taste was just right. It costs around S$10.
Safra Yishun country club, take a 15mins walk from Yishun MRT, LIC had the opportunity to visit the place last week and took some photos, so i thought i’ll share them and for people who have never visit any Safra around our island yet.
Swimming pool is definitely a main feature of any country club, be it for the kids or adults who fancy a swim, especially so in our hot weather.
Chalets are also a main feature of Safra, members can get them at a cheaper rates but i think non-members also are allowed to book them. Otherwise just get a friend who’s Safra member!
Personally i didn’t book any Safra chalets before, although several occasions i been to friends organise ones. I guess its pretty cool to book a chalet and just relax with your family, love one, and friends.
The rock-climbing area is one of the unique facilities available at Safra Yishun.
With this, LIC shall end the post on Safra Yishun! There’s plenty of other facilities like tennis court, gym, arcade, bowling centre, pool tables, spas at the country club also. Well you can check them out to see the facilities, some requires a fee, while others should be available for booking.
Don’t be afraid to explore the Safras around our island, they are built by the government for us to use after all!
This is a non-food related post, i’m sorry for any disturbance if you have came to ladyironchef wanting to read about my food adventure, but instead found yourself reading this post which has totally nothing to do with food. The next post will be on Eatzi, which is a cafe eatery under the same management by Jack’s place, which is also located within Safra Yishun.
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!
Eatzi steakhouse & bistro is under the same management of the family-known name, Jack’s Place. The one that we are exploring today is located within Safra Yishun, just besides the swimming pool which makes it convenient for customers who want a hot meal after a swim.
With the green white chequered table cloth so oddly-like to the interior of Jack’s place, the familiar items on both menus makes you wondered why Jack’s place came out with Eatzi.
While some restaurants group came up with different restaurants, but they branded and package the different restaurants. But in the case of Eatzi, they do not hide the fact that they are under the same management as Jack’s place, and with the menu items also mostly similar, it makes us wonder do we go to Jack’s place, or Eatzi?
Nevertheless, Eatzi has their daily set lunch menu which offers different food on different days. The day that we went was a Tuesday, the choice of soup cream of corn. Main course is boiled fish with spinach & mussel topped with ginger cream sauce, or sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken.
Sauteed pasta with crumbled chicken ($9.80) The Sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken comes in the daily set meal. All set lunch includes a soup of a day, choice of main course, and dessert of the day, and coffee/tea.
Nasi Goreng with egg & satay ($9) Asian fusion delights seems weird to be on the menu of Eatzi, a place more for its steak and western meal. Nonetheless, the serving was quite big, and one person will struggle to finish the food. Do note this dish is on the A la carte menu, not in the set lunch.
NZ Ribeye steak with brown sauce ($14.80) Obviously Eatzi being a steakhouse, you ought to try some steak here. The NZ ribeye steak is on the executive set lunch menu, the main different between the normal set lunch and executive set lunch is the different type of food, with the executive priced slightly higher.
The waitress brought the steak on the hotplate over to our table, and pour the brown sauce to make the steaks goes sizzling! This is followed by the potato, which is cut into half and mayo sauce is applied to fill up the centre of the potato.
Eatzi offers affordable eating in a cafe with its set menus. Certainly when the food is so cheap, you can’t be really expecting much quality from it. The place’s great if you want a simple meal and at a cafe environment, its affordable pricing is definitely targeted to the mass market.
However, i won’t be going back because of the apparent lack in quality, and personally its a case of eating good food, not necessary expensive ones, but good food. Given a choice between Eatzi and our local delights at hawker centre, i’ll gladly choose the latter.
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!
We were all craving for sushi the very day and thus we decided to drop by Sakae sushi at causeway point to satisfy our crave. It has been quite some time since we last ate sushi at sakae. This time round, their menu seems to have improved with more varieties. Let alone the chawanmushi, they have three types now. Issn't that wonderful? :P
This time round, we decided to try their donburi and some side dishes. Chicken shiogayaki don is what we have ordered. Although we have no idea what shiogayaki means, we still order them due to the pretty picture. ha. This dish turned out to be not too bad. It may seems rather similar as the teryaki chicken don but i believe the sauce that was used was different.
Some side orders that we have includes the fried toufu, the softshell crab temaki, the potato koroke, okonomiyaki, etc. We wanted to try the hotate but they do not have them on that day. I believe the side orders tasted best when they are pipping hot. This is exactly how they appears to be when they are served before us. Hot pipping hot toufu with a light and thin crust taste amazing nice. Not forgetting the softshell crab that tasted so crispy and tasty together with the japanese mayo.
Of course, how can we give the chawanmushi a miss? The three different types of chawanmushi includes the kani, sakae and udon. We decided to give kani a try and we were told to wait for half an hour before it will be served. Well, i guess the waiting time is worth with the chawanmushi arrived pipping hot and the soup filled with kani smell and taste. Of course, the smooth and soft egg makes the whole dish even more tasty.
Overall, we have a pretty nice dining experience. Although the queue was pretty long that day, we still find them worth while. Staffs were pretty friendly and are pretty attentive in serving all their customers. I remember that one of the staffs even told me that my chawanmushi will arrive in 5 mins time. ;)
Oh, not forgetting that they are having some promotion that if you spend more than 20 bucks, one is entitled a free california temaki. I got them and they tasted just as nice. Probably you can try them too.
A pretty interesting steam boat concept found in the Hotpot culture located at Marina Square. Reason for why i find them interesting is that, it does not only provide steam boat indregients but also the ready cooked food.
Im really not a steamboat fans, but since my friend wants to try them out, i decided to just go along. There are 2 different prices on their ala - carte buffet, if one is going to visit them during weekends, it will cost about 24 bucks, however if one visits them on a weekdays, this buffet price will drops to less than 20 bucks.
Almost every thing that you can find in the menu is considered free flow. Just one thing that is not, will be the drinks. Oh well, just how can one have steam boad without drinks? Haha, so in the end, we have to order some plain water (not mineral water) which is chargeable at 50 cents each.
Some of their items for steam boat were found in the bar, and i certainly do not think that their varieties is alot. They categorise them into two sections - vegetables and meat. For the vegetables section, they have cabbage, yam slices, corn, tomato, etc. As for the meat section, they have hotdogs, fish slices, vegetable balls, prawn balls, tofu, sotong balls, fish balls, crab balls, etc. For a moment, i nearly thought that there were no prawns, beef and mushrooms available. Then did i realize that one will have to specially order for them. Not to worry, they are free flow as well. :)
I pretty like the various types of 'balls' found in the steam boat, each were of a significant size and looks really appetizing when cooked. However, i was pretty disappointed with their mushrooms, as it looked as if they were not washed properly. In the end, we decided to give them a miss.
As for their cooked food varieties, i was certainly impressed. One can find chicken, fish, seafood for their meat section. Not forgetting about tofu and vegetables that were available too. All these cooked food were free flow too. Given the enormous amount of food, its really difficult to taste them all completely. :P
Few of my favorite cooked food, includes the siken toufu, the tahu telor and the handmade meat balls. The siken toufu is super crispy on the outside and super soft in the inside. A marvellous combination and together with some sauce, one will be able to taste the spicy hot (super nice) toufu. Its so nice that i have 3 offerings of that.
The next nice dish have to be the tahu telor. I believe the main ingredient of tahu telor has to be its peanut sauce. And the sauce found here has just the right stickiness and sweetness. One will not feel them over empowering or too nutty.
The handmade meat balls were drizzle slightly with some sauce and this should be considered one of the lightly taste dish. So much so that one of my friend acutally tell me that this dish is tasteless. But, i feel that this dish has a very fragrant smell and the slightly crispy crust gave the meat balls a very delicious taste.
Dessert wise, one cannot forget the chocolate fondue. Although the real fondue may seems very different from the picture shown, it tasted reasonably ok. I pretty like that fact that it uses dark chocolate and together with the sweet marshmellows, bananas and strawberry, it gives one a pretty bitter yet sweet feelings.
Overall, its a pretty decent place to get lots of food. Although not every food can suit alls taste, i believe one should be able to find some to their liking with their varieites of food. Their service was pretty ok and given that is our first time partonizing this shop, they offered to give us some explanation before we start our buffet.
Crystal Jade, i believe is one of the most outlets chinese restuarant available in Singapore. Whenever i feel like eating Chinese food, the first restuarant will definitely be the Crystal Jade. So, when i was in Jurong Point, i decided to check out the Crystal Jade Kitchen in the second floor.
Well, interestingly theres actually two Crystal Jade restuarant in the Jurong Point shopping centre alone. Of course, to differentiate between the two outlets, they were selling generally very different food. Take for example, the Crystal Jade Kitchen has porridge while the other does not sell these.
Speaking about porridge, this is also one of my most favorite item in this store. There are about 20 varieites of porridege available there, it includes the abalone porridge, scallop porridge, fish porridge, chicken porridge, duck porridge, etc. The one that i liked best will definitely have to be the chicken congee.
Firstly, the congee is very smooth, so smooth that one can feed them easily in to their mouth. Not forgetting about little children who can have them easily too. Secondly, the chicken which was cooked together with the congee is yummy and tasty. Not forgetting the the chicken has a nice smooth texture. Yes, i believe such texture is not easy to attain them. Last but not least, the added 'you tiao' is super crispy and when it is soaked in the congee, it forms a marvellous combination.
Other specialty in this store includes the 'shao la', which means the roasted chicken, duck, char siew, etc. Order a soya chicken noodles in soup based, which i find them rather so-so. Probably, i not very usd to eating noodle in soup version, thus find them rather werid. But, this has not affect the springing texture noodles and the roasted juicy meat. One is given a choice to have them in soup or dry kind. Of course, i think i still prefer the dry version. :)
Another specialty of this store is that they offer soups. Yes, those nicely boilded soup with various ingredients in them. I ordered the beancurb thick soup with seafood and it tasted pretty good. Given the name thick, one will not find those diluted soup and definitely not those gluey type of soup. Its thickenss, i can say its just right, and every mouth ful of them will bound to be filled with some beancurds.
Overall, the food here were pretty reasonable and tasted good. Service wise was not too bad, as their staffs seems to be pretty attentively in filling up water and attend to customer needs. Indeed, i have a happy dining experience there.
1=SGD 0.0587
My BF and I were craving for crabs so we decided to go and have crab for dinner. I have been to this zhi cha stall alot of time since I was young as the place is actually near my house.
We wanted a smiple crab meal so we order a crab dish, 10 pcs of man tou(fried bun) and a bowl of rice.
Shimmering Sand Crab ($29.70)
(Crab - $35 per Kg)
The first time I try this dish I began to like it, I did try other places crabs but I still prefer this dish. The crab were actually not to bad. The sauce is actually thick, creamy, cheesy. If I'm not wrong there is butter, cheese, mayonnaise, chili padi, curry leaves. On top of the crab is actually some fried coconut pulps.
10pcs of Fried Man Tou(Bun) ($2.50)
The bun were serve hot. It crispy and nice. The sauce really go well with fried man tou.
The service were good as the lady will always have a cheerful smile to welcome you. Do try some of their recommend dishes. It really not bad.
Total bill; $32.90 (Including rice, towels)
Rating given:
Sometimes I get abit sick of normal plain, egg, or cheese prata etc. Yet don't like to take the risk to try other kinds of prata.
Went to RK Eating House at Serangoon Gardens. Then suddenly saw bananas hanging inside the prata stall. Hmm...sua gu me...never knew there was banana prata...
It cost S$2.
Really not bad sia...
The fragrance of the banana made me salivate. The banana was evenly distributed inside the prata and it tasted fresh. The prata was just nice - not too dry and not too wet, abit crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's not too oily too (I dislike oily pratas!). It tasted good with or without curry by the way.
My friend tried the Gambeng soup (mutton soup). It was nice too. The soup was not too oily and the meat's tenderness was just nice.
He also ate his favorite cheese prata. He liked it too.
Anyway the service there was not bad. The people there were not rude and they were quite efficient.
Will go back again for my banana prata :)
Rating given:
St Regis hotel, the latest glamorous and prestigious hotel to open on our shore. Tout as a 6 star luxury hotel and with so much at stake, Yan Ting, a Cantonese restaurant offers to promise you a totally different dining experience.
Stepping into St Regis is quite an experience on its own, the grandeur of the hotel will simply blow you away. The splendor furnishings and the majesty furnitures are not all, even taking a lift in St Regis promises you a unforgettable reminiscence.
6 Star is not exaggerating, and from the moment you enter the hotel, it feels so good to be rich, even just for that afternoon.
Albeit being a Chinese Cantonese restaurant, the contemporary and classy feel of the restaurant’s interior certainly does not show any indication, with the exception of the 4 seasons painting, and the exquisite chopsticks and spoons plated in gold and inlaid with jade pieces.
An elegant chandelier is the highlight of the low ceiling in the restaurant. Stylish curtains and the comfy seats brings out a cozy and relaxed dining atmosphere.
The main emphasize which makes Yan Ting stands out from the other Chinese restaurant is in the pricing for its dim sum. While others usually charged dim sum by per basket or plate, Yan Ting attempts to break through the norm and bring the pricing of dim sum to another level by its per piece charging.
For Yan Ting’s A la carte menu, just like some of the more prominent Chinese restaurants, they are priced by per person, and the small servings of the food meant that there is no chance of sharing food.
Being in a 6 Star hotel, you definitely will not expect Yan Ting to be easy on the pocket, with most of the simpler dishes priced from $10 to $24 each. And with the small serving, expect to spend up to $100 for a decent meal, per person.
Appetizer
Unlike their western counteparts, most Chinese restaurants doesn’t actually serve out appetizer since the Chinese doesn’t have the emphasize on course eating. The small squid is actually quite good, simple enough to start our taste bud going in anticipation of the rest to come. And its free, so no complains there.
Cripsy radish pastry ($1.80 per piece)
This is the first time i had a radish pastry before, and i must say it is good, the crispy skin compliments well with the soft radish inside.
Oven-baked fluffy Char Siew Pastry ($1.60 per piece)
The Char Siew Pastry is indisputably the star of the show here. Take a bite into the crispy fluffy pastry, and you will discover the juicy and sweet char siew hidden within. Having one each is really not doing justice to the pastry. And i’ll rather pay $1.60 for one of these wonderful char siew sou, than to eat several cheaper ones. Excellent!
Stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce ($4)
I never had stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce before, and to be honest initially i mistook this dish for the fried carrot cake done with XO sauce which is commonly found in Chinese restaurants dim sum menu.
Although it tasted more like Char Kway Teow than “cheong fan”, but i find it to be quite all right, and at $4 even though the portion is quite small, its still cheaper and more worth well than the XO sauce fried carrot cake that i had at Peach Garden.
Steamed shrimp dumpling ($2 per piece)
The steamed crystal shrimp dumpling, or more affectionately known as “Har Kao” comes at a hefty price tag of $2 per piece. If you do your maths, this works out to be $6 for one basket of three Har Kao. There’s always a first time for everything, and this is really a first time where i had such expensive shrimp dumplings.
However, Yan Ting’s Har Kao is really one of the best that i had tried so far, the thin skin envelops the fresh and succulent prawns. But at $2 each, Yan Ting is really testing the limits for the first-rate dumplings.
Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling ($2 per piece)
“Siew Mai” or steamed pork and shrimp dumpling is always the dim sum i’ll base my judgment on how good the dim sum at the restaurant really is. The Siew Mai here passes the test, the combination of the crunchy prawn and the lean pork goes well together.
Xiaolongbao ($4 per piece)
To be frank, I never liked xiaolongbao, since i can’t really appreciate the beauty of it. Even though the xiaolongbao is a bigger rendition than your normal ones, to pay $4 for one xiao long bao, i’ll be crazy.
But, the Xiaolongbao at Yan Ting is really different from the usual ones, the pipping hot stock juice literally floods out upon a bite into the skin of the xiaolongbao. Although the xiaolongbao is quite good, but i’ll not order it again if i come back to Yan Ting. For a $4 xiaolongbao experience, once is enough.
Traditional Cantonese egg tart ($1.60 per piece)
The egg tart is done exactly the way i like it, cripsy skin with the smooth egg custard within. I lamented the fact that the egg tart is too small. And at $1.60 per piece, they are not really cheap.
Deep-fried Yam Croquette ($1.60 per piece)
The deep fried Yam croquette with diced chicken is excellent. Although the croquette is deep fried, but its not too oily, and the Yam taste is quite unique too.
Steamed Wild Mushroom Roll ($1.60 per piece)
We ordered the steamed wild mushroom roll out of curiosity from the name. There’s two to three different type of mushroom, well the mushroom roll is not really my call.
Hong Kong BBQ platter ($16 per serving)
BBQ pork, roasted duck, and crispy roasted pork makes up the Hong Kong BBQ platter. Note that its $16 for one portion, andthree of us ordered 3 portions, which adds up to $48. Ripped off is the only word to describe this.
The crispy roasted pork is not too bad, but it comes in only four small cubes. The roasted duck is really ordinary, and the BBQ pork or char siew, does not justify the exaggerated price tag of $16 for 4 cubes of roasted pork, two slices of roasted duck and three slices of char siew.
For $48, you can have a whole duck, with healthy servings of char siew & roasted pork. This is totally what you will not expect coming from Yan Ting, however the truth is there for all to see. This is somehow an anti-climax for the rather excellent dim sum that we had.
Total Bill was $150.20 for 3 person, which works out to about $50 per person. But if you work out the sums, excluding the BBQ platter which was $16 per portion, the amount for dim sum is actually about $34. Although we didn’t have that much dim sum, but i still find $34 to be acceptable given the high quality dim sum we had.
6 Star dim sum comes at a price, although some of the dim sum did not really justified the price, but overall the dim sum was nothing short of excellence. I’ll definitely try Yan Ting again, even though its a extravagant experience, but like they say, good things come with a price. Just that in this case, its a heavier price.
Do note that if you decided to give Yan Ting a try, you must be careful and not over ordered, that is unless you got a deep pocket. Service is good and professional, with the staff knowing when to approach us, and when not to disturb us. Yan Ting certainly test my limits for good dim sum, although i am still skeptical about their A la carte menu. Give that a miss and try their dim sum! And dim sum is only available during lunch, not dinner.
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!
” dim sum extravaganza “
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Had dinner with my folks one weekend evening and didn't want to venture far from home so ended up at Ju Bao, which is headed by the former head chef of Lei Garden, Yip Kin Chee.
Located at Teck Chye Terrace along Upper Serangoon Road, or more commonly known to people in the neighbourhood as "Hongkong Street" for its high concentration of Cantonese restaurants, Ju Bao's selling point is purportedly its great Cantonese food at affordable prices. Crowds throng this place during weekends so if you are thinking of having dinner, please go early.
Broccoli with Scallops - Our waitress tried to hard sell this dish to us and we succumbed. After all, how expensive or bad tasting could it be? On both accounts, it was a grave mistake. The scallops were small and lacking in bite but the major bummer was the fishy smell they emitted. The broccoli was still decent but at $22 for such a small portion, you have got to be kidding me.
Crispy Chicken - I suspected the chicken was precooked and left to cool in the kitchen because it was cool when served. And it was very oily. Some parts of the chicken were very salty while other parts were bland. Did I mention that portions were small as well? Sadly, the only positive note was probably the moist and tender meat, which made eating the chicken bearable, but barely.
Steamed Tofu - The tofu was smooth and came topped with mushrooms, minced meat and some other garnishes. However the dish in its entirety tasted rather bland and $8 for 4 relatively small pieces is terribly expensive.
While the absolute prices of the food didn't seem much, but factor in the quality and quantity of the food and its really a case of too little (quality & quantity) and too much (price). An unsatisfying dinner for the 3 of us cost about $47, which would have been better spent elsewhere. From the former head chef of Lei Garden, I had expected way better. Did I go on an off day or is the place just over hyped? I seriously wonder.
See all my pictures here.
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No GST, no service charge :P
I guess not many people know about this place. Kind of good in a way coz it's near my workplace and not too crowded during lunchtime...so far...
As compared to other authentic Japanese restaurants, the prices here are not too high. So it's quite affordable for me and my colleagues to have a more comfortable, "classy" and tasty lunch once in a while. (We try to eat cheaper meals everyday like in hawker centres and food courts)
Tried a few set meals, and to us, we find them delicious, and well-displayed. The service is good and the staff are attentive. The ambience is good and the decor inside is neat and nice.
My colleague ordered the salmon set (forgot the exact name). According to her it was tasty, and the salmon was delicious and tender. The price is like around S$10 - S$12?? Forgot ah sorry...
I ordered Tempura Cha Soba set. Comes wt soba, tempura, green tea dessert, miso soup, a bowl of fried toufu skin wt mayonnaise. I enjoyed them alot. This set costs S$11.90. Not bad huh? The soba is nice with the sauce...The tempura is crispy and tasty! Not too oily and the prawns taste really fresh. The green tea dessert is not bad and the fried toufu skins are crispy and go well with the mayonnaise. Ok I think everything is nice in this set. Lol.
My other colleague ordered this. Tempura udon set. She liked this too. This was the first time I saw udon with egg....or am I too "sua gu"? I tried the soup and found it quite nice. The taste was just right. It costs around S$10.
Will definitely go back again. =)
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Safra Yishun country club, take a 15mins walk from Yishun MRT, LIC had the opportunity to visit the place last week and took some photos, so i thought i’ll share them and for people who have never visit any Safra around our island yet.
Swimming pool is definitely a main feature of any country club, be it for the kids or adults who fancy a swim, especially so in our hot weather.
Chalets are also a main feature of Safra, members can get them at a cheaper rates but i think non-members also are allowed to book them. Otherwise just get a friend who’s Safra member!
Personally i didn’t book any Safra chalets before, although several occasions i been to friends organise ones. I guess its pretty cool to book a chalet and just relax with your family, love one, and friends.
The rock-climbing area is one of the unique facilities available at Safra Yishun.
With this, LIC shall end the post on Safra Yishun! There’s plenty of other facilities like tennis court, gym, arcade, bowling centre, pool tables, spas at the country club also. Well you can check them out to see the facilities, some requires a fee, while others should be available for booking.
Don’t be afraid to explore the Safras around our island, they are built by the government for us to use after all!
This is a non-food related post, i’m sorry for any disturbance if you have came to ladyironchef wanting to read about my food adventure, but instead found yourself reading this post which has totally nothing to do with food. The next post will be on Eatzi, which is a cafe eatery under the same management by Jack’s place, which is also located within Safra Yishun.
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!
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Eatzi steakhouse & bistro is under the same management of the family-known name, Jack’s Place. The one that we are exploring today is located within Safra Yishun, just besides the swimming pool which makes it convenient for customers who want a hot meal after a swim.
With the green white chequered table cloth so oddly-like to the interior of Jack’s place, the familiar items on both menus makes you wondered why Jack’s place came out with Eatzi.
While some restaurants group came up with different restaurants, but they branded and package the different restaurants. But in the case of Eatzi, they do not hide the fact that they are under the same management as Jack’s place, and with the menu items also mostly similar, it makes us wonder do we go to Jack’s place, or Eatzi?
Nevertheless, Eatzi has their daily set lunch menu which offers different food on different days. The day that we went was a Tuesday, the choice of soup cream of corn. Main course is boiled fish with spinach & mussel topped with ginger cream sauce, or sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken.
Sauteed pasta with crumbled chicken ($9.80)
The Sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken comes in the daily set meal. All set lunch includes a soup of a day, choice of main course, and dessert of the day, and coffee/tea.
Nasi Goreng with egg & satay ($9)
Asian fusion delights seems weird to be on the menu of Eatzi, a place more for its steak and western meal. Nonetheless, the serving was quite big, and one person will struggle to finish the food. Do note this dish is on the A la carte menu, not in the set lunch.
NZ Ribeye steak with brown sauce ($14.80)
Obviously Eatzi being a steakhouse, you ought to try some steak here. The NZ ribeye steak is on the executive set lunch menu, the main different between the normal set lunch and executive set lunch is the different type of food, with the executive priced slightly higher.
The waitress brought the steak on the hotplate over to our table, and pour the brown sauce to make the steaks goes sizzling! This is followed by the potato, which is cut into half and mayo sauce is applied to fill up the centre of the potato.
Eatzi offers affordable eating in a cafe with its set menus. Certainly when the food is so cheap, you can’t be really expecting much quality from it. The place’s great if you want a simple meal and at a cafe environment, its affordable pricing is definitely targeted to the mass market.
However, i won’t be going back because of the apparent lack in quality, and personally its a case of eating good food, not necessary expensive ones, but good food. Given a choice between Eatzi and our local delights at hawker centre, i’ll gladly choose the latter.
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!
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We were all craving for sushi the very day and thus we decided to drop by Sakae sushi at causeway point to satisfy our crave. It has been quite some time since we last ate sushi at sakae. This time round, their menu seems to have improved with more varieties. Let alone the chawanmushi, they have three types now. Issn't that wonderful? :P
This time round, we decided to try their donburi and some side dishes. Chicken shiogayaki don is what we have ordered. Although we have no idea what shiogayaki means, we still order them due to the pretty picture. ha. This dish turned out to be not too bad. It may seems rather similar as the teryaki chicken don but i believe the sauce that was used was different.
Some side orders that we have includes the fried toufu, the softshell crab temaki, the potato koroke, okonomiyaki, etc. We wanted to try the hotate but they do not have them on that day. I believe the side orders tasted best when they are pipping hot. This is exactly how they appears to be when they are served before us. Hot pipping hot toufu with a light and thin crust taste amazing nice. Not forgetting the softshell crab that tasted so crispy and tasty together with the japanese mayo.
Of course, how can we give the chawanmushi a miss? The three different types of chawanmushi includes the kani, sakae and udon. We decided to give kani a try and we were told to wait for half an hour before it will be served. Well, i guess the waiting time is worth with the chawanmushi arrived pipping hot and the soup filled with kani smell and taste. Of course, the smooth and soft egg makes the whole dish even more tasty.
Overall, we have a pretty nice dining experience. Although the queue was pretty long that day, we still find them worth while. Staffs were pretty friendly and are pretty attentive in serving all their customers. I remember that one of the staffs even told me that my chawanmushi will arrive in 5 mins time. ;)
Oh, not forgetting that they are having some promotion that if you spend more than 20 bucks, one is entitled a free california temaki. I got them and they tasted just as nice. Probably you can try them too.
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A pretty interesting steam boat concept found in the Hotpot culture located at Marina Square. Reason for why i find them interesting is that, it does not only provide steam boat indregients but also the ready cooked food.
Im really not a steamboat fans, but since my friend wants to try them out, i decided to just go along. There are 2 different prices on their ala - carte buffet, if one is going to visit them during weekends, it will cost about 24 bucks, however if one visits them on a weekdays, this buffet price will drops to less than 20 bucks.
Almost every thing that you can find in the menu is considered free flow. Just one thing that is not, will be the drinks. Oh well, just how can one have steam boad without drinks? Haha, so in the end, we have to order some plain water (not mineral water) which is chargeable at 50 cents each.
Some of their items for steam boat were found in the bar, and i certainly do not think that their varieties is alot. They categorise them into two sections - vegetables and meat. For the vegetables section, they have cabbage, yam slices, corn, tomato, etc. As for the meat section, they have hotdogs, fish slices, vegetable balls, prawn balls, tofu, sotong balls, fish balls, crab balls, etc. For a moment, i nearly thought that there were no prawns, beef and mushrooms available. Then did i realize that one will have to specially order for them. Not to worry, they are free flow as well. :)
I pretty like the various types of 'balls' found in the steam boat, each were of a significant size and looks really appetizing when cooked. However, i was pretty disappointed with their mushrooms, as it looked as if they were not washed properly. In the end, we decided to give them a miss.
As for their cooked food varieties, i was certainly impressed. One can find chicken, fish, seafood for their meat section. Not forgetting about tofu and vegetables that were available too. All these cooked food were free flow too. Given the enormous amount of food, its really difficult to taste them all completely. :P
Few of my favorite cooked food, includes the siken toufu, the tahu telor and the handmade meat balls. The siken toufu is super crispy on the outside and super soft in the inside. A marvellous combination and together with some sauce, one will be able to taste the spicy hot (super nice) toufu. Its so nice that i have 3 offerings of that.
The next nice dish have to be the tahu telor. I believe the main ingredient of tahu telor has to be its peanut sauce. And the sauce found here has just the right stickiness and sweetness. One will not feel them over empowering or too nutty.
The handmade meat balls were drizzle slightly with some sauce and this should be considered one of the lightly taste dish. So much so that one of my friend acutally tell me that this dish is tasteless. But, i feel that this dish has a very fragrant smell and the slightly crispy crust gave the meat balls a very delicious taste.
Dessert wise, one cannot forget the chocolate fondue. Although the real fondue may seems very different from the picture shown, it tasted reasonably ok. I pretty like that fact that it uses dark chocolate and together with the sweet marshmellows, bananas and strawberry, it gives one a pretty bitter yet sweet feelings.
Overall, its a pretty decent place to get lots of food. Although not every food can suit alls taste, i believe one should be able to find some to their liking with their varieites of food. Their service was pretty ok and given that is our first time partonizing this shop, they offered to give us some explanation before we start our buffet.
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Crystal Jade, i believe is one of the most outlets chinese restuarant available in Singapore. Whenever i feel like eating Chinese food, the first restuarant will definitely be the Crystal Jade. So, when i was in Jurong Point, i decided to check out the Crystal Jade Kitchen in the second floor.
Well, interestingly theres actually two Crystal Jade restuarant in the Jurong Point shopping centre alone. Of course, to differentiate between the two outlets, they were selling generally very different food. Take for example, the Crystal Jade Kitchen has porridge while the other does not sell these.
Speaking about porridge, this is also one of my most favorite item in this store. There are about 20 varieites of porridege available there, it includes the abalone porridge, scallop porridge, fish porridge, chicken porridge, duck porridge, etc. The one that i liked best will definitely have to be the chicken congee.
Firstly, the congee is very smooth, so smooth that one can feed them easily in to their mouth. Not forgetting about little children who can have them easily too. Secondly, the chicken which was cooked together with the congee is yummy and tasty. Not forgetting the the chicken has a nice smooth texture. Yes, i believe such texture is not easy to attain them. Last but not least, the added 'you tiao' is super crispy and when it is soaked in the congee, it forms a marvellous combination.
Other specialty in this store includes the 'shao la', which means the roasted chicken, duck, char siew, etc. Order a soya chicken noodles in soup based, which i find them rather so-so. Probably, i not very usd to eating noodle in soup version, thus find them rather werid. But, this has not affect the springing texture noodles and the roasted juicy meat. One is given a choice to have them in soup or dry kind. Of course, i think i still prefer the dry version. :)
Another specialty of this store is that they offer soups. Yes, those nicely boilded soup with various ingredients in them. I ordered the beancurb thick soup with seafood and it tasted pretty good. Given the name thick, one will not find those diluted soup and definitely not those gluey type of soup. Its thickenss, i can say its just right, and every mouth ful of them will bound to be filled with some beancurds.
Overall, the food here were pretty reasonable and tasted good. Service wise was not too bad, as their staffs seems to be pretty attentively in filling up water and attend to customer needs. Indeed, i have a happy dining experience there.
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